Monday, November 22, 2010

Blogging is my specialty

It's crazy how I just leave this blog alone for months at a time. I'm really not even that busy of a person.

What's happened since August? Well, a couple things. On Labor Day, we took a few days off and headed to a beach-house with Hal's family. It was a great time. Having 2little boys around never leaves you with a boring situation. We had a great time.

In October, we went to Chicago for vacation. The main purpose was to attend a hockey game, but I'd never been to Chicago and definitely enjoyed it. The Chicago pizza was fabulous at Gino's East. We had a great time on the architectural river tour in the Chicago River. We hit up Willis Tower (the Sears Tower) and the John Hancock building (2 times). I'm VERY afraid of heights, and both places gave me a heart attack, but it was a great view. It would be embarrassing to see me on video in situations like that. I stay so far away from the glass and my heart is racing the whole time. My body is in panic mode, but I got through it.

We also explored Wrigleyville (kind of snooze) and Boys Town for a drink, but it was a little too far for me via train to spend too much time in. If I'm going to be drinking, a couple of train transfers make me impatient. Apparently I'm getting too old for bars anyway. Can I get a second wind on that?

It was a great trip though, and we won the hockey game. We had great seats and people were nice to us.

I've been back in the typical work/relax Nashville land since then, but it's Thanksgiving weekend. I'm going to see my grandmother on Thursday, and I'm looking forward to it. I havent' seen her since May. She's a gem.

This is where I'll wrap it up. I still exist, y'all. I'm just too boring for a lot of blog updates.

==Casey

Monday, August 2, 2010

Can I get a summer break?

Hey there. I'm not even sure this thing is still on sometimes. It's been about 3 months since my last post, and the only comments that I've had since then are from the billion spammers who've somehow found a couple of years old post and decided they wanted to comment on it. I'm not giving up on this thing though.

I've pretty much just been rockin' & rollin' this summer without a lot of exciting stuff to report. My most favorite thing about summer comes on the weekends. Hal & I can sit outside on the porch on Friday & Saturday nights (with the ceiling fan on of course) and have some drinks, listen to music, and chit chat and just enjoy a southern summer night.

We haven't been on a vacation since February, so I'm looking forward to going somewhere and having some time off work. My birthday is coming up on 8/26, so that's kind of close...and a bonus is I get a day off work. I'm taking it on that Friday (8/27) for a long weekend. I wish we could travel for my birthday, but my boo has a job that requires him to be around at the end of the month. blah

We are going somewhere for Labor Day weekend though. Hal's family always goes to the beach that weekend (usually Gulf Shores, Alabama). I like it down there on the Redneck Riviera, but I haven't gone on their family trips before for a variety of reasons (nothing bad), but I've decided to do it this year. We'll rent a big house on the beach and just chill out for a few days. Hal has young nephews, so it will be 'interesting.' They're adorable, but they're still wild & crazy little boys sometimes.

I'm anxious about getting down to the gulf. Hal's mom loves Gulf Shores, but it was up in the air about if we would really go there or not due to the oil leak. They decided that whatever the situation is, she wanted to go and support the local businesses anyway. I think that's awesome! And, it doesn't seem like it's as crazy there as we may have though (with oil on the beach). I can't wait to go!!!

In other exciting trip news, we're going to Chicago in October! I've never been there and love big cities, so I'm really antsy to get there. We've planned it so we can see our beloved Predators play the Blackhawks (hockey, Josh). Chicago won the Stanley Cup (best team last year), so it will be interesting to see how the game unfolds. We'll be there for 4 nights, and I can't wait to explore the city.

I love traveling with Hal. Neither of us make a 'have to do' list, we just let things play themselves out however we feel that day. That's one of my favorite things. It is vacation after all...time to relax.

That's about all I have for now. I hope someone other than the spammers from India read this. :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010




Hey, yo. Here I am again.

Since I last blogged, Easter happened. My great aunt from Detroit came down to East TN to visit, so I also made a brief weekend visit to see her family *and my ladies--my gram and great-gram*. I had a great time seeing them and two sets of twin cousins. Twins are adorable. It's so nice to leave them with someone else though.

Moving on to something totally different, Hal's father was diagnosed with terminal cancer several years ago. We lost him a few weeks ago. He outlived the doctors expectations by about 4 years, so don't ever believe those crazy expiration dates. I'm so lucky to have known such a special--and well known man. It was amazing the support and recognition the family received. The Nashville newspaper even reported it, but I think his sister's post is well said.

I lost my mom 20 years ago from the day of Hal's dad's visitation, but I now realize that it's really not easier if you expect it or if it's sudden. It's a blessing though to know that someone has moved on to something so much better..and Cancer sucks.

Am I a negative Nancy or what? Also, umm, Nashville flooded this weekend. It's UNREAL what happened here. Here's a link to our newspaper if you haven't seen the pictures. Our mayor estimates $1 Billion dollars in damage. WHAT? Crazy.

On a positive note, our part of the neighborhood is fine. Our driveway sucked after the fact, but my boo fixed the important part. Our utility basement barely had any water. We know we're set for... oh, another hundred years--unless it decides to rain more than 25% or our annual rainfall in--two or three days.

Stay dry!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

An Avatar kind of weekend.

Wow, is it true that I am posting twice in a week? Yep.

The weekend is over unfortunately, but another one is on the way. This past one was so much fun. Some weekends are very chill for us, but we got out a little more this time.

We had dinner with some friends on Friday night at Korea House. It was my first time eating Korean here in Nashville. It was pretty darn good and we had a great time there and hanging out later with friends, some vino--and my favorite dog, Molly the Boston.

Saturday was fun in my opinion, but really, all we did was go bowling. I bowled like shit--only broke 100 in 1 of 3 games, but it's always fun anyway. Sadly, I was still sore on Monday. Tragic and embarrassing.

Sunday was a highlight. I had put up a brick wall against seeing Avatar. It's totally not the style of movie that typically drives me to the theater. Well, I bucked up on Sunday and went with Hal to the IMAX theater. THE MOVIE WAS AMAZING! It was so beautiful with the animation, 3D and IMAX effects. If you haven't seen it, you should DO IT--at the theater. IMAX would be ideal. It didn't bother me a bit that it was so long. It went by so quickly for this short attention span person. I can't wait to see the sequels.

Sadly I came home and watched the USA/Canada gold medal hockey game. The USA as you well know lost, but on the upside, one of Nashville's players got a silver medal and one of our players got a gold medal--and I freaking love him.

That's about all I've got for you, but GO SEE AVATAR! I mean it.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Why did it have to end?

Ahh, NYC. It's still my favorite American city. Even after finally experiencing it in a darn cold & snowy week, I LOVE IT!

We headed there a couple of weeks ago for my boo's milestone bday. (yes, I am street). We got there on a Tuesday evening just in time before 'blizzard conditions' set it. Oh, umm, nevermind that two members of the Kings of Leon were on the plane with us. I'm not sure I've mentioned our obsession with them before. Umm, yes I have.

We had a freaking-fantastic view from our room right across from the Empire State Building. A planned late dinner at the somewhat well-known Spotted Pig was in order that night. We were lucky to get to a table overlooking the snow falling in Greenwich Village. nice!

Wednesday was really the 'blizzard.' I won't say how late we woke up, but when we did, it was really snowy. We got out to shop in our neighborhood (Herald Square). Well, uh, it took stepping into one or two slush puddles before I realized I wasn't prepared for wet socks & shoes. I was over it. I had to buy some boots. Walking around was miserable. BUT, there was a silver lining! Our NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden was that night! The Predators won & we were thrilled!

We were ready to trek out on Thursday. We headed up to MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Crazy stuff we saw there, from Jackson Pollack, Monet, Salvador Dali, Van Gogh, DeKooning, we saw it. A bonus was a special exhibit of works by Tim Burton! Who knew he had so many artistic things to show off?! Fabulous.

We weren't finished with Thursday though. We regrouped at the hotel, went out to Koreatown for a fabulous dinner and then to the Christoper Street area. We went to the actual Stonewall instead of just driving by as we had done before. It was an emotional feeling for me. We hit up 2 other places in the same area which were a blast, but it's hard to forget Stonewall. It's amazing it even had to happen.

Friday was getting closer to the end, blerg. We chilled, had a great pizza at THE Lombardi's and then headed to Lower Manhattan to see what had changed with the WTC site and Wall Street. Actually, you couldn't really tell much had happened aside from more fencing, but the experience was still very emotional. I actually felt worse about it than I had after seeing it soon after 9/11.

Sadly, we were kind of exhausted that night and didn't do anything very exciting for my boo's actual bday dinner. I don't even remember the name of the blah restaurant we picked that night.

I'm going to shut up with this. I LOVE NYC! The first time I went, it was perfect May weather. This time, it totally sucked and was typical of what you think about for February. I don't even care though!

So, umm, we have some pictures, I haven't even looked at them though (3 weeks later). I'm sure we'll post them online at some point though. Seriously!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

What? I have a blog???

Wow, wow, wow. It's been 4 months since I've blogged. Surprisingly, some of you still have checked in on here to see if I've posted, and I thank you!!!

I'm not sure I can even recall some events of the last few months, but I'll do my best.

I love musicals / Broadway and had the opportunity to see 'Little House on the Prairie: The Musical' starring Melissa Gilbert as 'Ma.' I couldn't convince the other half to go with me, so I took one of my best girl friends and we had a great time. I thought the musical basically sucked... Melissa can't really sing and they did a bad job casting 'Pa,' but I wouldn't trade the fun that Dusty & I had for nothing. The bottom line is that I saw THE real life 'Half-Pint.' YES!!!

Hal and I took a week off in early November. Our Las Vegas plans didn't pan out b/c we were stupid basically, but we had a great time. We chilled out a lot & made a 5 hour road trip to St. Louis to see our beloved Nashville Predators (professional hockey, Josh) play the St. Louis Blues. It was our first road game and the Preds won. AWESOME!!! We also went up in the famous St. Louis Arch. I'm a freak about heights, and it was crazy but also neat...despite the older lady in our pod/elevator asking if we were going up. Really? No, we are going in the basement of the Alamo.

I had a great Thanksgiving with my family in East TN. It was sadly the last time some of us would be together. My dad's sister came to Vanderbilt for cancer surgery the next week. Fortunately, I was able to see her when she was here. She was on the mend, but I left and told her "I Love You" as I left, she nodded b/c she couldn't talk. She went home, but sadly passed away a few days later unexpectedly. I'm so glad I had that last loving experience with her. She was an awesome lady.

Christmas was fantastic. I saw my nieces and nephews again. I can't believe how big they are--well, aside from my 2 y/o newest niece. She is growing too, but wow, I have a nephew in the 7th grade, one in the 6th, and a niece who is in the 3rd or 4th grade? who sometimes chats me up on Facebook!

Hal & I got bad news on New Years Day. A dear, dear friend of ours passed away unexpectedly. He & Hal worked together somewhere, left... then Hal worked for him & his brother, he sold his interest (Hal stayed) and went to work for Hal's family's real estate company. He was our realtor when we bought this house (my first house). 45 y/o is way too young to leave, but we'll always remember him fondly. It makes me appreciate yet again the fragility of life.

On a more positive note, 2010 is going to be fun! My boo is having a milestone birthday in February. The stars aligned for us to make a long anticipated trip to see our Predators play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden 2 days before his birthday. We're going to hang out in NYC for a few days and just have fun. I've never been to MoMA, so that and the hockey game are our only real concrete plans. Please, please, please have a freakishly warm streak that week, NYC--or at least a time without weather delays. It is, after all, my favorite US city!!!

I'm going to shut up for now, and hope to be more timely with my posts. We'll see :)

Friday, September 18, 2009

No one mourns the Wicked

Hey, y'all! Yay, yay, yah... It's finally Friday.

What's been going on in my world? Well, I mentioned a few months ago that I got my tickets to see Wicked. Well, last Thursday, it was finally show time. We went went a couple of friends and had fabulous seats up close--yet far enough back to easily see the whole stage. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I had been tempted to get the soundtrack prior to the show, but then thought that it might spoil some of the show's suspense. Everything was awesome in my opinion. The stage sets, the singing, the script, the cast and the songs. If it comes to your town or you're somewhere it is playing, you should go see it.

We took the next day off work to relax and b/c we were up late. The Titans opened the NFL season that same Thursday night, so we recorded it and watched when we got home. It was a great game that went into overtime, but, boo... we lost in the end. Here's hoping that this Sunday is better.

We mostly just chilled the rest of the weekend aside from picking up our favorite canine guest, Molly the Boston Terrier. She's been staying with us this week. She's adorable.

Guess what else is back besides the NFL season??? Yep, my beloved Predators. It's hockey time again. The Preds opened up their preseason here in Nashville last night. We were happy to get back in that groove again. We're also going to another game on Saturday night. The preseason is kind of pointless from the standpoint that it doesn't count, but it's nice for us fans to get our fix--and more importantly, for the team to evaluate their younger players performance.

I'm so glad it is the weekend! After a 3 day work week last week, 5 days this week was kind of a snap back to reality. Now it's time for fun. I love this time of year because of sports weekends. I know you're excited too, Josh. :)

I'm going to wrap this up for now. I hope you have all been having fun too. Go Preds! Go Titans!!!