May 2010

Well, it's been 3 weeks since the big flood. After all the flurry of activity, things are settling down and the real work begins. There is still work to be done and many people are still out of their homes because they are unlivable. The hard work has begun - I don't mean tearing out the dry-wall or looking for anything salvageable - I mean dealing with the government and the banks and all the other paperwork it's going to take to get things back to some semblance of normal. Please continue to keep those affected in your prayers.

My family and my home were not affected directly, but that does not mean we are not affected emotionally by this. The entire city - and possibly the entire state - is dealing with the emotional affects of all this rain. And while we have had sunny days, it has rained several times since the flood.

This is an amazing city. It is my favorite place. I love to visit different places, but will never live anywhere else. This is one of the best articles I have read regarding our city and this flood:

http://www.section303.com/we-are-nashville-4366

And these videos sums up the positive attitude here. The sun is out and we are recovering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjaQoOdJvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE9m63c3sBU&feature=channel

I still cry when I watch these and the pictures of the Grand Ole Opry House are so eerily like the Titanic pictures I have to close my eyes.

If you live here and can help go to http://www.hon.org/ and sign up to help. Or just check local city and community websites. Most are organizing cleanup days to help with public areas. For instance, Hendersonville (where we live), has most of the parks - or at least parts of them - still closed. And every baseball/softball in town with one exception was under water.

If you can help financially, there are many, many organizations helping out.

Second Harvest provides food and other necessities to people and organizations: http://www.secondharvestmidtn.org/?q=node/54

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee: http://cfmt.org/floodrelief/

Churches of Christ Disaster Relief: www.disasterreliefeffort.org/

Of course the Red Cross is also helping out.

The very best thing anyone out there can do to help is pray.

This is a strong city. Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills mall may be closed for 6 months, but I'm pretty sure, when they reopen, you won't be able to get near them for a while. Many people are displaced and shell-shocked, but all are working to recover. And I'm betting most will stay where they were. The Grand Ol' Opry House may be closed - but not one show was missed. Even the country music stars here were affected. Some lost their homes or had damage, some lost their instruments at Sound Check. But they were on the phone and donating their time and money to this amazing city - which for a lot of them is not their hometown, but their adopted home. Many, many businesses around here have donated a percentage of the proceeds on specific nights to local charities.

I am so proud (even though I live just outside the city) to call my self a Nashvillian!

It has been too long...

Since I've written anything. I can't even figure out what I've missed. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's...Yeah, we do pretty much the same thing for those every year, so there's nothing interesting there. At least not to anyone but us. We're pretty traditional people. And while we don't plot out every minute during the holidays, we usually stick to the same "schedule" so we can see both families and still have time for our little family.

We've had an interesting winter here, that's for sure. My kids finally got to experience true sledding. Living in the south, that happens once every few years and my kids weren't old enough to enjoy that kind of snow last time. This time it was FUN! But, they've missed 10 days of school this year and that's cutting it close with the "built-in" days. We're already going right up to June with the new schedule and none of us wants it to go any longer.

I'm thinking that 9 & 5 are pretty good ages. Even though we're dealing with the smart mouth growing in on the 9 year old and the 5 year old's sudden inability to hear his name being called. But they truly are enjoying their lives and everything is new to them for some reason. That's fun to watch and it reminds us what it is to be amazed by every day life. And they're both remembering the fun.

Maybe I'll think of something more interesting next time...

Pray For Noah

I just added a new link: "Pray for Noah". My cousin's 22 month old son is fighting a very serious medical battle right now.

Please pray for Noah and his parents.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We went to Disney World last month. FINALLY. My kids LOVED it. It was worth every penny we spent on it to see their faces when the saw it the first time. And to fly. Neither had ever flown before and it was quite an experience for all of us. And still, my 5 year old wants to go back and see Mickey. He even told me last night how if he saw a falling star he would wish for Mickey to come and visit him!

We had a blast! Here’s what I learned:

1 – Stay on the resort. We had never done that before and it was worth it. All transportation is provided and delivers you right to the entrance of the parks. No parking fees, trying to find a place, walking miles to the entrance, trying to find a shuttle or remembering where you parked. And – probably more importantly – extra hours in the parks. Also, much like a cruise, your key card is your park ticket, your meal ticket and items can be charged to your room – I recommend caution on that, but at least you don’t have to haul your debit card around with you.

2 – Magic Hours. Magic hours are on different days for different parks. We made our decisions about which parks to visit based on these. The hotels have schedules for all the parks, including which ones have late night shows to help.

3 – Park Hopper. We didn’t buy it, and don’t regret it. If you base your park visits on the magic hours you don’t need it. Why spend more time on transportation between the parks? Just plan to eat in the park you plan to visit.

4 – Meal Reservations. I didn’t make them as early as I should have. We still had some great food, but missed out on some places my kids may have liked. Make them as soon as you have your trip booked. Especially if you want character meals. And make them in conjunction with your park schedule (see above).

5 – Dining Plan. Purchase the dining plan. Really. We had one quick-service, on sit-down and one snack a day for each of us and it was more than enough food. You still have to pay for the tips, but as mentioned above, you can put those on your room. We did that and used our cash to purchase souvenirs. We probably would have spent close to twice what the meal plan cost us on food.

6 – Characters. I never dreamed my kids would be into the characters, but they really were – except for the princesses. So, we stood in line for them. Fortunately, the lines weren’t long and we managed to get lucky several times and not have to wait at all. So we have tons of character pictures.

7 – Photo Pass. Yet another thing we probably didn’t take as much advantage of as we should have. The Disney photographers are everywhere: at the entrances, with the characters and at strategic points in the park to get the best photo. You get a card for this and scan it every time a picture is taken. Then log on to the website at the end of your trip and you have a month to purchase any that you’d like to have. Even items with the picture on them, scrapbooks, Christmas cards, and a CD with all pictures on them. The prices aren’t all that bad, either.

8 – Fast Pass/Child Swap. Two of Disney’s more brilliant ideas, I think. All rides have a posted wait time. Some of the more popular rides (Space Mountain, for instance) have a “fast pass” time as well. If the wait was more than about 20 minutes, we went to the fast pass machines, put in our tickets and got a time to come back. The fast pass line is usually only about 5 minutes long. The Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios for instance had a 70 minute wait at 11am. So, we got a fast pass for 5:50, went through the rest of the park, came back and only stood in line about 10 minutes. Perfect. For Child Swap, Colby refused to ride the roller coasters, so we got a ticket from the line attendant and Glenn & Garrett would go through. Colby & I would wait at the exit. When they were done, Garrett & I would go through the fast pass line. Garrett got to ride things twice and Glenn & I both got to enjoy the rides without having to worry about what to do with Colby, or wasting too much time.

9 – Pin Trading. It’s been going on about 10 years and it was fun. Buy a lanyard. Glenn & I bought the plastic card holder for ours so we could carry the tickets/keys and have them ready whenever we needed them. And then buy pins at every park. The kids got into the trading. It’s a souvenir you can add to over time and it’s a lot of fun to go through them all at the shops to find just the right pin.

10 – Rest. We learned after the first day to walk slowly in the park. Take our time. Stop every so often and look at the maps. Maybe find a playground (if there was one) and rest. The kids weren’t so cranky and whiny if we did that. And felt like they had some say in the process as we’d sit down with the map and figure out which section to go to next. And water. We did buy a lot of water. It kept everyone refreshed – even if we did have to stop at the bathrooms more often.

11 – PARADES/Shows. No one does a parade like Disney – not even Macy’s. And there are no better shows on the planet. “Fantasmic” is phenomenal. The “Spectro Magic” parade is amazing. Both my kids still hum or sing the songs while playing or cleaning. Get a schedule and see as many as possible. It’s also good sit down time. (see above “rest”)

12 – Go in the Fall. We went to the modified calendar this year in Sumner County and we planned our trip for fall break. It was the least crowded I have ever seen it. And even though it was hot the week we were there, most Octobers are very mild in Orlando. And it doesn’t rain as much. I've been in summer, spring break and Christmas and this was the best time of year that I've been.

I’m sure there are one or two other things I could mention – and will if you ask me. If you’re my Facebook friend, I have tons of pictures online. My kids are 9 & 5 – almost the perfect ages. It was a fantastic trip. I’m not one to go the same place every year, but I would go back to Disney next year. I’d go back every year till my kids were too old if we could afford it. As it is, we’ll probably go back in 3 or 4 years. When Colby will actually ride the rides.

For us, that week, it really was the “Happiest Place on Earth”. But then, if my family is with me, any place is…

September 11

Tomorrow is September 11. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was in the kitchen helping my barely 1-year old eat breakfast when my phone rang. We hadn't even turned the TV on in my house yet. So, I turned it on and didn't even settle on the couch, just sat on the edge of the coffee table mesmerized and unbearably sad. By the time I saw it, both towers had been hit. But everything else, I saw live.

Use this weekend to thank someone. A soldier, firefighter, police officer. Remember the New York City firefighters and police officers rushed into those buildings while everyone else was rushing out. Remember that police officers and firefighters all over this country do the same thing every day to protect those they serve.

Remember that our military is stationed all over the world to protect us and others from the same fate. They are away from their friends and families for months, maybe even years, at a time. Remember that our military is 100% volunteer.

Celebrate the unity this country achieved on that day. Celebrate the freedom we have to speak out against policies with which we disagree or in support of those with which we agree without retribution.

Pray for those that lead us. Pray for those that protect us. Pray for those that hate us. Pray that our children never have to experience something like that.

Dear Mr. Obama,

It's not that we, the American people, don't understand your healthcare reform plan. It's that WE DON'T WANT IT.

More Thoughts on "The Speech"

Okay. I read it. I really did. It wouldn't have changed my decision and it doesn't make me regret my decision. I told my children basically what he said. And again, my 4th grader says "we hear that all the time". Just proof that my kids didn't need the president to tell them.

The speech was good. And there are probably some children that needed to hear that. That don't hear it at home, or need to hear it from someone besides their parents.

My problem was never with the speech. But with the timing of it - why during school and only available on the internet for the kids? And with the curriculum recommendations made by the federal department of education.

At any rate, it's over.