Day 274 - August 28
Listening to: Another One Bites the Dust
Thought for the Day: The problem with sports and war is that God is on everyone's side. ~Duane Alan Hahn

Wet nap cornhole anyone?

Tonight I went to watch the Titans game with good friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. I ended up having a choice of playing wet nap cornhole, watching football, OR watching some kind of boxing.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the boxing. This wasn’t your average boxing. There was blood flying everywhere and more than one eyeball was threatening to come out of its sockets. I thought to myself……….society is appalled by dog fighting, so why do we allow this type of sport with humans? Then I looked at the football game and realized it’s not much different…………..you just can’t see the injuries. I came to the final conclusion that if it was not for football, boxing, or other over-the-top physical sports, our wars would be more intense and violence would increase. Watching these sports is really cathartic………..even for a wet nap cornhole champion wannabe like me.

Day 275 – August 27
Listening to: What a Girl Wants.
Thought for the day: When you are stressed, float awhile.

What a beautiful day! The photo was taken during my lunch-time walk.

When I saw these two images in my field of view, I immediately thought “how do you stop a sailboat?” Yeah, you know I Googled it. There are a plethora of Youtube videos and websites describing the process. It’s not easy. As I read through the steps, I found myself making correlations to hurdles I face in my life. The first step requires you know the direction of the wind. I haven’t figured out the direction of my life’s wind yet, so the hurdles will just have to exist a bit longer. If anyone has a life weather vane for loan, please help this sistah OUT!

Found Noah's lessons while searching for sailboat stopping info. You couldn't stop a sailboat with these instructions, but they are useful!

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark:
One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Day 277 – August 25
Listening to: Good Morning Star Shine
Thought for the day: Let the good times roll!

Tonight I ventured out to the land of Mt. Juliet to sample the New Orleans-style cuisine of Larriviere’s. Before arriving at the appointed Wednesday night dinner group destination, my attitude was enveloped in work-related sadness. Said attitude insisted we were going to order a beer, onion rings, and the brownie ala mode. When I walked in and saw the cheerful faces of my friends, my attitude took a back seat to reason. I ended up ordering the jambalaya. The flavor was good, but they weren't very generous with the shrimp. Three of my friends ordered Grouper Acadian and gave it high marks.

Forget the food though. They have these fried garlic rolls that are gobsmackingly good. As long as you have one of these babies, you won’t care what your entree is. Seriously.

I’m so full that my brain isn’t working, so if there is evidence of any grammar implosion, it’s Larriviere’s fault.

http://www.larrivieres.com/

Day 278 - August 24
Listening to: Giving All My Secrets Away
Thought for the day: Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye?

This is a sad week for me. When I started working at the DuPont facility in Old Hickory, there were around 1300 employees. After this week, we will be down to less than 300. Over the years, the numbers have ebbed and flowed, but here lately it’s all ebb.

When someone leaves my DuPont site either through redeployment to another DuPont site, retirement, or your good ole fashion layoff, they are given a framed photo that everyone has signed. These framed tokens of farewell are featured in this photo. They are lined up like coffins waiting to be signed. Can you say writer's cramp?

Let’s do the math. I’ve worked at this DuPont site for 22 years. That’s 45.4545 people leaving each year. I’ve basically said goodbye to 40+ people every year. Though I haven’t known them all, I’ve known enough of them to know IT SUCKS..........for me anyway.

Day 279 – August 23
Listening to: Claire de Lune
Thought for the day: Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star. ~Lucy Maud Montgomery

This view is a hop, skip, and jump away from my house. It is one of the most peaceful views in Old Hickory and the best place to watch the moon rise.

While I was taking the photo, a quaint older gentleman that lives nearby walked over to me. After a quick hello, he immediately launched into a lengthy diatribe of his life. He was starving for someone to hear him. His life’s soliloquy twisted, turned, and went places that I’m sure made sense in his mind but totally lost me along the way. I learned about his father who had the foresight to purchase property on the lake, a wife with Alzheimer's that divorced him, and about a new companion in his life. After about 20 minutes of storytelling, he held his hand out to shake mine and with words dripping with sincerity said, “thank you so much for talking to me.” I wanted to say, “I didn’t talk!” I just smiled and said, “You’re welcome.” It was indeed a full moon moment (though it’s not full until tomorrow).

Be on the look out for Jupiter near the moon this week!

Day 281 - August 21
Listening to: You’ve Got A Friend
Thought for the day: Fruit only angers my need for chocolate. ~Jason Love

Nothin’ says Tennessee like a get-ta-gether of good friends, fried fish, and a plate of tomatoes and Goo Goo Cluster candy (are they bars?).

When I verbally pointed out this unusual party display to 365 follower and good friend Eddie, he said, “There’s your picture of the day right there.” I said, “But what do I say about tomatoes and Goo Goos?” He didn’t know. Suddenly, I felt challenged. I asked party hostess extraordinaire Stephanie, “any reason why you have Goo Goos and tomatoes on a plate at your party?” She said, “Nope.”

Back to the drawing board.

Eddie and I started to talk about it again. Eddie said, “Goo Goos are named for the Grand Ole Opry……… G-O-O…….Grand Ole Opry.” I said, “nuh uhhh.” He whooped out his Droid phone and Goo-Goo Googled “GOO GOO” to prove his claim.............. but he failed. For the REAL story behind the Goo Goo name, visit http://www.googoo.com/history.asp

If nothing else, the tomatoes and Goo Goos were a conversation piece……….. for Eddie and me anyway.

Day 284 - August 18
Listening to: Your Kiss is on My List
Thought for the day: Grills Just Wanna Have Fun….

Sunset Grill - Grouper Cheeks?

My Wednesday night dinner group went to Sunset Grill, a well established restaurant in Nashville. Yeah, yeah…………..we all know it’s good so I’m not going to talk about the food………..well not exactly. My problem with Sunset Grill is that my redneck brain is too incompetent to decipher the menu. They use phrases like ginger infused sticky purple rice, almond gremolata, smoked green tomato ponzu, roasted red pepper coulis…………I could continue. THEN……..tonight on the special menu…………..duh duh duh……….Grouper Cheeks. GROUPER CHEEKS???? Would these be the butt cheeks or facial cheeks of the poor fish? This inquiring diner would like to know.

After minimal sleep, not being home much, and being in the possession of a mushy brain I was tempted just to order the freakin’ cheeseburger for safety sake. I ordered the pork loin. It was way too salty for me, but had a wonderful flavor. The high scorers for the night were the Shrimp & Grits and the Ode to Zola Paella. After seeing the dessert menu, next time I go to Sunset Grill I’m going for dessert.

http://www.sunsetgrill.com/home