Vacation: July 18th Part 1

This day was bittersweet. Just after lunch time we had to say good-bye to Cindy, Jirka, & Jakub. Because of the difficulties we had flying to Paris, we missed out on the day of exploring Prague. Cindy said we couldn't come to the Czech Republic & not see Prague... even if that meant leaving them a day earlier than planned. So Cindy found us a hotel on the internet & Jirka called & booked a room for us at the The Hotel Beranek. And by the way, if you're ever in Prague, I'd recommend the hotel. It was recently remodeled, has air conditioning, is close to a subway station, & just a few subway stops away from all the tourist areas. Here's Cindy, Jirka, & Jakub. And if you've been wondering, Jirka is pronounced more like "year-ka" not "jerk-a" & Jakub like "yeah-coo-b" not "jay-cub". Or at least they weren't correcting me from saying it like that. Actually Jakub was called Cuba ("coo-ba") most of the time.Here's the bus station in Prague & the yellow bus was the one we were on. I was very impressed with the bus company that Cindy recommended. We got a movie & a couple of episodes of Friends. Unfortunately we spent most of the trip trying to unlock the lock on Trina's backpack. She had a combination lock & apparently what she thought she set as the combination was not the combination. Finally I was able to muscled the lock enough to slip it off. Getting to the hotel from the bus station was very easy, we just went around the corner, bought a 24hour pass for the subway & took the subway 3 stops (didn't even have to change trains). Once we got checked in, we took off for Staromestske Namesti (the old town square). The subways in Prague were very easy to use... even with the language barriers. We actually took the subway to Vaclavske Namesti (Wenceslas Square - a very important place in the end of communism) & walked over to the old town square. We were walking down a narrow street from Wenceslas Square... just following all the other tourist when suddenly the street opened up to this scene... the old town square. Breathtaking! The Astronomical Clock in the square. There's quite a show at the top of the hour. We actually had a very late dinner at an outdoor cafe in front of this around 10pm. Very cool.
This was my favorite building of the entire trip. I somehow took about a dozen pictures of it. I later learned that it's called Dum u Minuty ("the house at the minutes").
You can't really tell, but that's me in the pink shirt. The Astronomical Clock in on the left, The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn is behind me, and the cafe we ate at is behind all the people on the right.
Jan Hus Memorial. Hus was apparently burned at the stake for calling for Church reform - of course all I really knew at the time was "oh pretty statue must take photo." It stands right in the middle of the square. The little red things are bicycle taxis. Maybe I'll try one on my next trip to Prague. And I do plan to take another trip. There was so much in this city that I didn't have a chance to see.
Another view of the square. The Jan Hus Memorial is at the right. And pretty buildings all around. I would've loved to just spent a day exploring this area. But unfortunately there was much more to see.
And here's Trina taking a photo. If I had to guess it was probably the Jan Huss Memorial.

I have so many pictures that I'm dividing this day into 2 parts... not to mention the photos I have of Prague for the 19th. Stay tuned for photos of Karluv Most & Prazsky Hrad.

Chickidee Randomness

To get a few more posts on here, I've decided to post my "random thoughts of the day". I hope it will be at least a semi-regular occurrence.

• Does anyone else confuse Jack White & Jack Black? I'm constantly using the wrong name. So just to help. Jack White: strange pale musician. Jack Black: strange funny actor. Maybe I'd do better at keeping them straight if they both weren't so strange.

• The coolest video I've seen recently... OK Go's "Here It Goes Again". The Gnarls Barkley video for "Crazy" is the second coolest video. I was a bit disappointed the other night when I surfed by MTV's Music Video Awards & saw that OK Go was recreating the video... and therefore completely lip-synching. I hate lip-synching!

UT Football

Let me just say, I refused to drink the orange kool-aid this off season. Why get your hopes up only to be dashed again by another terrible season? But I must admit Tennessee looked really good today... especially the defense. I'm not ready to say the season's going to be wonderful just yet. Cal may have just been extremely over-rated. Now we'll just have to wait a couple of weeks for the next big test.

TV ramblings

Wow, 20/20 is having a really happy fun show tonight. What's the topic, you ask? Oh only various ways that the world may end. You know, super volcanos, black holes... why am I watching this?

I can't believe it. ABC is moving one of my favorite shows - Grey's Anatomy to the exact same day & time as one of my other favorite shows - CSI. Do these people just want to torture me? Then again, I'll be spending a lot of my Thursday nights over the next few months down at the GEC watching hockey. So no need to worry.

Rock Star: Supernova. Well I was wrong. They sent Ryan home tonight... the guy that I had decided had displaced one of the other singers in the top 3. It's down to the final 5 & I really don't know who they're going to send home next. By this point in the INXS show last summer I had already picked out the final 2... & ended up being correct. I just can't decide with these guys.

(I love the blogger spell check... who would ever want to replace volcanos with folksongs?)

It's Football Time in Tennessee!

I've often heard that here in Tennessee the 4 seasons of the year should be called winter, spring, summer, & football. I however believe there are only 3 seasons: football season, post football season, and pre football season.

Football season begins with the first football game played of the season... high school, college, or pro. During football season nothing else exists. Local TV sports coverage begins & ends with football. ESPN is either showing a game, analyzing last weeks games, or breaking down next weeks games. The sports section of the newspaper consists of 11 pages of football with everything else squeezed onto the one remaining page. And unless something earthshattering happens, the big photo above the fold on the front page of the entire paper on Sunday morning will be a shot of the hero or goat of the UT vs. whoever game.

Post football season begins 10 seconds after the end of the last game of the season. This is a time of navel gazing. It's a time to decide what went right & what went wrong. The fans call into the sports talk radio shows to whine & complain about the coaches & players. Or on that rare instance, there's a lot of celebration. Occasionally you can find someone willing to talk about basketball & hockey during this time of year. Only 5 pages are devoted to football in the sports section with all the other sports sharing 3 pages (& notice the sports section often shrinks during this time of the year).

Pre football season begins on signing day for college football & on draft day for the NFL (I'm a little more uncertain when it begins for high school). This is the time all the fans stop whining about the last season & start dreaming about the next. It's the time of year that everyone's drinking the "kool aid". Everyone's going to go undefeated because their team signed or drafted the one missing piece to make their team the champion.

Well it's that time... football season. High school started a couple of weeks ago. College starts next weekend & then the NFL the following weekend. Let's hope it's better than last year. But if it's not (& I have my doubts especially with the Titans), I still have pre season hockey starting in about a month.

Vacation: July 17th

On Monday Cindy, Jirka, Jakub, Trina, & I hopped onto one of the city trams & traveled into the city center of Brno. They got us as far as the tourist information center when Jakub decided that he had had enough of all the traveling & site seeing that he had been doing the past few days. So after pointing out a few points of interest on the map, Trina & I were left to discover the city center all alone. Don't worry we were very brave big girls... and Trina's great sense of direction was very helpful. Cindy made sure to point us toward a yummy pizza place for lunch. When I asked the waiter if he spoke English, he asked me if I spoke German. So I ended up using the little German I remember along with pointing at the menu to place our order. After seeing some wonderful sites, we safely made it back to Cindy's where Jirka finally got to pull out his new toy to grill some chicken for dinner.

A view down a street in Brno.

Mahen Theatre. This was our starting point into the city center. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the trams that took us into town. I just read that this was the first theater in Europe to use Edison's light bulbs.

Namesti Svobody (Freedom Square). This is the main city square... and wouldn't you know it... there's construction going on. It's just one more reason why I know I have to visit Cindy again.

Another photo of the city square. I noticed that the buildings in the Czech Republic seemed to be very old or very modern. Notice the buildings on each side of the white building.

Petrov (Cathedral of St. Peter & Paul). This was an absolutely beautiful cathedral. We went inside & just sat for a few minutes. Once again we weren't allowed to take photos of the interior but I will say it was stunning & awe inspiring.

Even Lady Luck loved the Cathedral

An up close photo above the main entrance into the cathedral.

Surprise, that's Trina taking more pictures of the cathedral. Here camera's battery died shortly after this & she took over taking pictures with my camera.

The pink building is the Capuchin church & crypt. If we had been feeling a bit more morbid, we could have gone in to see the bones.

I thought this was funny. I just can't escape country music?!

The entrance to the Old Town Hall. The tourist information center is found here along with....

The famous Brno Dragon and wheel. I realize that the dragon looks a lot like an alligator... go here for the story of the Dragon. And here for the story of the wheel. They are both entertaining

And I had to share this one. This little boy was just too adorable. But it just shows you that kids are the same all around the world... when you start to let them dress themselves you never know what will happen.

For the science geeks out there, I forgot to mention that on Sunday we drove by the actual gardens in Brno where Gregor Mendel did his genetic experiments with pea pods. You can go here to see some photos. This is a great site for general info of Brno... and there's a web cam too.

My new obsession

When I was at Cindy & Jirka's, we made sandwiches one day. I don't know if it was a joke or not but Jirka suggested Cindy put out some Thai sweet chili sauce along with the mustard & mayonnaise. Trina & I didn't exactly know what it was but all Jirka had to say was it was spicy... and well... we are our mother's daughters after all. So of course we had to take the challenge & put some on a sandwich. And it was yummy! A little bit spicy & a little bit sweet. It was perfect on a turkey sandwich.

I found some at Kroger last week & am now obsessed with trying it out on everything. I love it on sandwiches, salads, crackers, Thai food (ok so it was a frozen meal). I'm trying to think of what I'm going to try it on next...

Vacation: July 16th

Let's try this again. On Sunday, Cindy & Jirka took us to Lednice... a beautiful chateau near the Austria boarder. This one quickly became Trina's favorite of the 2 castles we visited in the Czech Republic. I'm still hanging on to Pernstejn as my favorite. But I will agree that the inside (which we unfortunately couldn't take any photo's of) were beautiful. The staircases in particular were amazing. Try this link to see some photo's of the staircases. A view of the chateau from the gardens. A view of Lednice. I think this was the middle part of the chateau.
A different view of the chateau. This was the start of the tour we took. And once again we got to carry around scripts. You know, you get some strange looks when you have them.
Just to prove I was really there. Here I am in front of the stables. Yes I said stables. There were some lucky horses that got to live in this place. And just to keep up with the construction trend of our trip... it appeared that they were beginning to renovate the stables.
An upclose pic of the stables. I was just drawn to it... can't explain why. The required photo of Trina taking a picture... this time of me! Jirka's in the background on the phone with Cindy. Cindy was hiding out somewhere in the gardens taking care of Jakub.
A view of the gardens.
Lednice has a huge greenhouse. Yes those are full size palm trees. I started to guess how big it was but decided to look in a book I bought. It's 92 meters long, 13 meters wide & 10 meters high. Let's see, in feet, that's um... 100 yards long, 14 yards wide & 11 yards high. You know I did think it was about as long as a football field.
I took a lot of pictures of flowers because I know how much mom loves flowers. This was one of my favorite flowers in the entire greenhouse. Can anyone tell me what it is?
And one of the strangest flowers I've ever seen in my life. I'm including the photo with Lady Luck so you can tell just how large it is as well as to have the required photo of Lady Luck.

Rock Star: Supernova

They finally came to their senses last night. Zayra was voted into the final 3 & after she sung a song no one had heard, she was voted off!

I think Patrice will be next. She's a really good singer but she has a bit of a Ani DiFranco vibe which I don't really think meshes well with the Supernova vibe. So that combined with the fact that she's been in the bottom 3 several times means that she's gone.

After that, I think there's a shift in the top 3... Ryan's in & Lukas is out. In the end I think it's Dilana's to lose.

(And how in the world does this spell check not know the word "vibe"??)

argh!!!

I just spent an hour working on a vacation post. I click on the publish post button & suddenly it can't find the blog????? WHAT!? Sorry, but I'm giving up for the night. I'll try to get it posted tomorrow.

By the way, I think it's funny that the spell check in blogger doesn't recognize blog as a word:o

Rock Star: Supernova

I missed several shows while I was on my trip so I'm just now getting a good feel for the show. And all I really want to know is who are these idiots who keep voting for Zayra??? She's not terrible but there's nothing that really stands out about her voice... especially when there are some really great & unique voices on the show. And don't even get me started on her outfits.

Tonight was another elimination show. Lowest 3 vote-getters have to sing a song of their choice & then the band decides which one to send home. Last night I decided that I would rank the 10 singers in order of how I thought they did. Only 1 of my bottom 3 matched the actual bottom 3. Strangely enough, the band decided to send 2 people home this week. The one that got to stay was the one that I had in the bottom 3.

As much as I like some of the singers (& the 2 that were sent home), I don't really think some of them are right to front a band that has Tommy Lee as the drummer. Right now I'd have to say it's a 3 person race: Dilana, Toby, & Magni. That is unless the idiots keep voting for Zayra...

Vacation: July 15th

Well after Jirka tracked down my luggage, we were off for our first sightseeing trip. We visited Perstejn Castle & I completely fell in love! This is the type of castle that I always think of when I read Hamlet... or fairy tales. Ok, so I haven't read Hamlet since college but it's still what I would imagine. This is the area where we started a tour of the interior of the castle. For some reason they don't get a lot of English speaking visitors so we were given scripts of what we seeing in each room & followed a Czech speaking tour. The only problem was that my script didn't match Trina's but we were smart enough to realize which was correct.
A few years ago when Trina went to Peru on a mission trip, the gnome travelocity commercials were just starting. I thought it would be fun for her to take pictures in the same way only she was very limited on her packing space so I bought her a lady bug PEZ dispenser. We call her Lady Luck. I have several pictures of her enjoying the sights.
This is the other trend of photos I have... photos of Trina taking pictures or maybe video. You never know with her.


The gates going into the castle. The scaffoling you see at the upper left of the picture is from repair work they are currently doing because of a fire last year. It also was the beginning of trend we encountered all throughout our vacation.
This is inside a little chapel on the castle grounds... and the only interior place we could take pictures.

After leaving Pernstejn, Cindy & Jirka tried & tried to think of a restaurant in Brno that served traditional Czech food... we ended up having Italian. But it was wonderful.

Vacation: July 13th & 14th

If I were superstitious, I would have to say that it's unlucky to travel on the 13th. I'll just say, if something has to go wrong, it's good to get out of the way early. And that's exactly what happened.

It's amazing to think how much chaos a single person can cause. Our flight from Nashville to Cincinnati was already a bit late pulling away from the gate and one man had to create a scene with the flight attendant. Just a warning... don't do this... especially when the flight attendant doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Suddenly we were going back to the gate & the man was escorted off the plane by 3 police officers. And then to make sure we were good & late, all the paperwork had to be filled out right then & there. I knew right away that this was not a good thing. We only had an hour lay over in Cincinnati . This little incident put our flight 1 hour & 7 minutes late. I know that because when we landed, I booked it off the plane to talk with the airline who told me that the flight we were suppose to be on left 7 minutes before I called. When I was told that they had re-booked me for the same flight the next day, my look must have made the woman I was talking to think twice because she quickly started to look for alternatives.

We got lucky, she was able to get us on a flight to Paris at 7PM (the original flight was suppose to leave at 4:30). Unfortunately, it meant that we would have nearly a 4 hour layover in Paris. She even did something very nice in the process which I didn't really realize until we got on the plane. She gave one of us a window seat & the other an aisle seat which meant we had a empty seat in between us. The flight was uneventful except I couldn't sleep... at all. I even took the bendryll. It didn't help.

I will just say, NEVER book a trip going through Paris. It may not be so bad if Paris is the final destination but a lay-over is not recommended in that airport. It was all very strange, the plane didn't go to a gate. We were met by a bus that took us to a gate. The driver of that bus knew 2 speeds... fast & stop. And I should mention that seats were very limited, most of us were standing & since our bodies thought it was the middle of the night, we weren't too coordinated. Once we arrived at this gate, we were told to go to a certain area... where we were put on another bus to get to another part of the airport. Guess what? This bus driver apparently went to the same driving school. We get there only to find out that we are much to early to have a gate assigned. So we went looking for a place to sit only to discover there are no places to sit. All the places to sit are at the individual gates & you have to have a ticket to the flight boarding at that gate to sit there. And as you know, we were too early to have a gate assigned. We finally bought something to eat & just sat down beside a staircase. Yes, we got a few stares but that point, I don't think either of us cared.

Finally we were able to get out of there, & yes, we had to take one more bus to our plane. We decided that we just wanted to get on to Brno when we arrived in Prague. The original plan had us sightseeing in Prague all day. So with an uneventful flight, we arrive in Prague. We go to wait for our luggage... and wait... and wait.... and wait, until we finally realize that no more luggage was coming out. Trina had her suitcase but me & about 7-8 other people were missing luggage. I was told at lost luggage that my bag didn't make it on in Paris & was being put on the next flight out. I still don't know how something sitting in the airport for 4 hours doesn't make it?? When I told him that we were going on to Brno he said they could get it on a late night flight to Brno so we didn't have to stay in Prague.

Thankfully, the rest of the day was uneventful. Cindy had given us wonderful directions to the bus station & everyone we had to talk to very quickly switched to English for us. I was reminded of middle Tennessee on the ride from Prague to Brno. We finally got to Cindy's around 11PM. Cindy had thought of everything. They put a mini fridge in the bedroom with lots of drinks & snacks just in case we got hungry in the middle of the night. Then for the first time in what felt like forever, we slept.

I'm Home!!!

Ok... so I've been home since Sunday evening. Between work & jet lag, this is the first time I've felt like posting. I'll get into more details later but I had a wonderful time. The Czech Republic, London & Scotland are all beautiful. We had lots of fun and adventures along the way. But at the end, I was very glad to get back home... to sleep in my own bed... to see my family & cat again... and strangely enough, to get back to work.

On a side note, I think this jet lag is doing strange things to me. I'm actually liking the new Christina Aguilera. Surely, this is just temporary.

Bye For Now

Sorry I've been so lax on posting. The last minute details & packing have me very busy. We fly out early in the afternoon on Thursday. Please keep us in your prayers for a safe trip. And say an extra prayer that I'm able to communicate in Czech when we arrive in Prague. But even more important to me, keep our family in your prayers that they don't worry too much. Also, say a little prayer for my co-workers who have to do my job while I'm away... and that they don't hate me by the time I return.

Check back here around the 1st of August. I plan on posting pictures & recapping the trip so much that everyone will beg for more hockey news:)

Later!

Cat Blogging

Scully's in rare form tonight. On top of the usual stuff she does to irritate me, she somehow shut down the computer at the power strip... she's never done that before. I think she knows she's going to visit her grandparents for a few weeks & is letting me know that she's NOT happy about it.

I missed it

The first episode of Rock Star... that is all except the final 3 singers. :( I thought the show started at 8:00 so I didn't think to record the show since I knew I'd be home at 8. Unfortunately it started at 7:00.

Last summer, when they were finding the new lead singer for INXS, my cousin finally convinced me to watch the show. I didn't want to at first because you just can't replace a lead singer of a band. But there were some really good singers on the show & I got hooked. Granted I just didn't think some of them, especially the women, were right for the band.

So when I saw the commercials for the new season, I was excited. This time, I can actually pull for the best singer including the female singers. That's because it's a new band, so I don't feel like the singers have to have a certain kind sound. Actually, that's not true, I do think there has to be a certain sound. This is a band formed by former members of Motley Crue, Metallica, and Guns N Roses... the lead singer of this band has to really rock! I did get to hear the reminder snippets at the end of the show. There were a few that I knew right away are not right. You just can't sound like John Mayer (& I love John Mayer) and front this band.

Another signing

While I was posting about the Mason signing, the Predators were taking care of the biggest hole on the roster. Word is that Jason Arnott, previously with the Dallas Stars, is now a Predator!

Now I can happily go on vacation knowing that all the big glaring needs are filled. Anything else they do will be icing on the cake... at least in my eyes.

Mason Re-signs!

I guess the birth of your first child changes things? A few weeks ago, Chris Mason, the Predator's back-up goalie, had decided to test the market to see if he could get a starting job elsewhere. So I was a bit surprised to see that he had decided to re-sign with the Predators just hours after the signing period started yesterday.

I'm having mixed feelings about this. As much as I like Mason & wanted him to stay, the fact that the Predator's went so hard after him after saying they would let him test the market makes me more worried about the starting goalie's health. Then again, maybe the Predator's just didn't like any of the other back-up goalies that were available and were willing to offer a bit more money to entice the new father to stay in town.

On a side note, I'm shocked that the word "goalie" is not a part of blogger's spell check!

For the Nashville Area Folks

We lost a very good local reporter yesterday. Dana Kaye at WTVF lost her battle with cancer.

You Ever Do This?

I had a little note from FedEx on my door this evening. I ordered train tickets last week & apparently I needed to sign for them. Since I knew I wouldn't be home to get them when they would try to deliver again, & since it was an option, I thought I'd go pick them up. I looked up the address & glanced at the map. "Oh I know exactly where that is. No problem. 10 minutes round trip." And as a little aside - "Hmm... They've got that road connecting at the wrong place."

So, without printing the map, because I KNOW where I'm going. I get in the car but I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. The road I thought was it ended up not being it. Neither were my 2nd, 3rd, or 4th guesses. I finally stumbled upon it after I had decided to give up & go home to look at the map again. Long story short, 30-45 minutes later I finally found it.

So now I know, listen a bit closer to those little side thoughts.... and print out the map!

They Did It!

The Predator's selected the hometown kid! Who knows how well the kid will actually do on the ice but this selection was a slam dunk in the public relations game. When you have a sports media juggernaut like the Titans, anything that gives the team a bit more media attention is a good thing. Flipping around the local late news tonight, it looks like it's working... and it's not often that you get to hear hockey talk in June.

Quiz Time

I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition the other day & heard this story about American accents. Click on the "listen" button to hear the actual story. Being the amateur anthropologist that I am, I thought it was very interesting. I had to go take the quiz.

Suprise, suprise - my score was 87% Dixie. So what's your score?

If you're interested there are several links to other stories about language at the bottom of the NPR page.

Just a day late

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SABRINA!!!

You're one of the best two sisters in the world! But don't think I completely messed this up. I did call her yesterday to wish her a wonderful birthday.

Congratulations

The Carolina Hurricane's are the 2006 Stanley Cup!

Good fight Edmonton. Carolina was expected to make it this far. Edmonton barely made the playoffs as the 8th & final seed. They made history by being the only 8 seed to ever make it to the finals... that's nothing to hang your head about.

I have to say, it's a very cool sight to see these players in their home rink, surrounded by their families, carrying around the Stanley Cup.

And now, it's time to get ready for the draft... this Saturday.

Something about Marley

I'm ripping the last of the CD's (ok, parts of CD's due to hard drive space) & just realized... sometimes I just HAVE to listen to Bob Marley. It's usually during or after a very stressful day. As strange as it may sound, nothing mellows me out like his music does. And no, I'm no rastafarian so don't even try to accuse me... yes Marion, I'm looking in your direction=)

So what about you? What the one artist that's always able to de-stress you?

Ouch!

I finally listened to my mom & went to get some immunization shots today. I think with my fear of needles, I had just delayed it as long as I could. I ended up getting a tetanus & a hepatitis shot. I don't care what anyone says, THEY HURT!!!! And now, 6 hours later, it still HURTS! You'd think that by now, these pharmaceutical companies would've developed a pill.

By the way, I found out after calling several places, an international travel doctor's office is the only place to get some of these shots. And don't even try calling the health department. All you'll get is a rather rude lecture about planning ahead & then phone numbers for one of these doctor's offices.

We're just too clean

I saw this article in the paper this morning. Strangely enough, I had a conversation this past week about something similar to this. Now we weren't saying we weren't dirty enough but we were wondering about the sharp rise in childhood allergies in the past few years.

At first glance, this seems to make a bit of sense. If you were anything like I was as a child, you were constantly outside playing in the woods and mud. These days, kids tend to stay inside more because parents are so worried about idiots in the world. So whereas I was coming in constant contact with all kinds of germs, kids today are living in a much more sterile environment with air purifiers & such. I guess time will tell if this is a valid study.

Tennessee's first draftee

Sometimes you just have to go read the article. What a great PR move it would be for the Predator's to draft this kid! Then again, that's why I'm not in charge of the draft, I decide with my heart instead of my head.

LOL!

A few weeks back during the softball college world series, people were calling into The Wakeup Zone (a local morning sports talk show) wanting to talk softball because Tennessee had made it to the world series. Of course one of the guys had to be a bonehead & say that he could hit a homerun off of Monica Abbott (Tennessee's star pitcher). And of course that guy wasn't either of the media guys, who knew better. It was the ex Tennessee Titan, Frank Wycheck. After much smack talk by the other guys and callers, a challenge was born. Frank, being a good guy, decided to make it a charity fundraiser.

Yesterday was the day. Unfortunately I wasn't in the car & listening while it took place. I did get to hear Frank talk about it later. He did not do well at all & I believe he now has a bit more respect for these players. Of course the local media was all over it - check it out here.

Just in case you care...

30 Days Until the trip!!!!!

I just finished buying our tickets for the Tube in London. As well as tickets for the Tower of London & The Original Tour (you know those cute red double decker buses).

And the icing on the cake... tickets to see Mary Poppins!!!!

Chills last night

I thought about writing this last night but I really am trying to hold back on some of the hockey posts. But today I was discussing it at lunch & it still was giving me chills, so I'm sharing...

Like all sporting events in the USA, they play the national anthem. Only with the NHL, since there are some teams in Canada & some in the states, whenever teams from both countries are playing each other, both anthems are played. Last night with the game in Edmonton, the singer sings the Star Spangled Banner & I was shocked to hear the crowd singing along. That gave me a small case of the chills. Then the singer began Oh Canada. He got just a few lines into it & then just held up the microphone. It was absolutely stunning. The crowd & Canadian players just continued to sing the rest of the anthem accapella. You could understand every word.

By the way,I love when the Preds play a Canadian team. Oh Canada is a really great national anthem... and no hard notes to hit. I like to sing along.

The next game will be in Edmonton on NBC Monday night 8PM EST. I'm not asking you to watch the entire game. Just check out the national anthems.


Update: It wasn't just me. I found this via Kukla.

Is it irony?

Last week at church we started a series of sermons about the importance of becoming more involved with the church family. Last week was the importance of being regularly involved in worship. Today, during the sermon on group Bible study, it hit me. I'm going to be away from my church family for 4 straight Sundays. I thought that was a bit ironic. Then again, there was a reason I was nowhere close to being an English major. I can never really get what is & isn't ironic straight. Maybe I should just call it freaky coincidence?

Cat Blogging

This isn't my usual Scully post but check out this tough kitty!

What most people don't realize

I know I seem pretty much a fly by the seat of her pants kind of girl... but I'm really a bit obsessive about details when I'm planning things. I'm sure most people would feel very good about vacation plans when with a month left they have flights & hotels booked.

That wouldn't be me. I like to make lists & have several going on at the moment to hopefully help me make decisions. Here are a few of them....

• which sights to see in Prague
• which sights to see in & around Brno
• which kind of ticket to buy for traveling around in London
• which theater show to see
• which of the many sights in London to see & what day to see them
• which option to use to get to the hotel from the airport in London
• which train/bus to take to Edinburgh from London
• which outfits to squeeze into my carry-on bags
• which songs to load onto my player

Hopefully I'll be able to get these things sooner rather than later... especially the tickets (since I can get several of them cheaper here than if I wait until we arrive). I'm just thankful that Cindy's given me detailed instruction on how to get from the airport in Prague to the bus that will take me to Brno. So any advice... other than "don't worry so much about it"?

Pet Peeve

People who have their dogs ride in the back of their truck. It's one thing if you live on a farm & want to take the dog along to check out the back 40. It's a much different thing if you are driving around in the city. I was running an errand this afternoon & found myself behind a SUV towing some kind of flatbed behind it. In that flatbed, completely unprotected stood a newfoundland (gorgeous dog by the way). I just hate what could've happened if the driver had to break suddenly.

What a day

I admit it, I'm a bit sentimental about my teams. That being said, today was not a good day for the sentimental fan.

First I wake up to see the big, above the fold, article in the newspaper being that the Titan's were trading away #9 Steve McNair. And you know you're in Tennessee because it's not above the fold in the sports section... I mean front page above the fold. The sports section only had 4 pages of articles on the deal. I knew something like this was most likely coming. But it still stinks! McNair's the whole reason I became a Titan's fan. He's one of the toughest quarter backs I've ever seen play the game. I understand professional sports are a business, so management sometimes have to make decisions purely on a financial basis... but why did they have to trade him to the Raven's?! WHY??? Just about any other team would've been better.

Then this afternoon I discovered that the Predators had decided not to resign the team captain Greg Johnson. I started expecting this a few weeks ago when they re-signed a couple of younger guys a few weeks ago that play the same position. He was one of 3 original players left from the first season. I was really hoping that he would be able to retire as a Predator. It just seemed like the right thing to do for the team captain. Unfortunately the team has a lot of young talent ready for their turn & he wants to keep playing.

I don't believe what I just saw

I keep flipping over to game one of THE Stanley Cup Finals. Edmonton looked to be in control of the game. I was about to write an "I'm happy" post & decided I should know the final score. So I turn it over to OLN. And Carolina had tied it up at 4-4!? And the back-up goalie is in for Edmonton!? What happened to Roloson!? It's under a minute to go in the game, so I'm thinking overtime. Then the unthinkable, a bad exchange between Edmonton's goalie & a teammate & Carolina wins. WHAT!?!?!?!?!

Looks like we're going to have a good series. Even though I'm pulling for Edmonton because of Rem Murray, it wouldn't break my heart for Carolina to win either. I mean Carolina's representing all of the "non-traditional" markets. Shoving it in the faces of those traditionalists... what's not to like there?

My cool new toy

My Zen player came in last week. It's so cute & cool! Granted I haven't loaded any songs onto it yet. Silly me is still deleting songs and adding other songs to my computer. I did however copy photos from my camera to it... oh how cool. Maybe, just maybe, I may be geeking out a bit. Next I have to figure out how to use the organizer/calendar thingy. Then I can use it to keep all the travel information on. But before you say anything, I'll also have hard copies of everything - one for me, one for Trina, and one for our parents.

The 4400

For some reason I thought this show was canceled. But I was wrong. These USA Network shows are so strange in that they seem to start once all the other shows have their season finales. It looks like today they're having a marathon of last season's episodes.

So just in case you care, the new season starts next weekend. I highly recommend it... especially if you like a little sci-fi mystery. Granted if you haven't seen any episodes, you might need some help getting up to speed.

I think I've found it

The best band name ever... I was driving home from work tonight & heard a commercial for some concert festival. As they're listing the bands, suddenly the announcer says "Les Honky More Tonkies". How fun is that?

I did a search & found this but since I couldn't get the music to play, I still have no idea if these guys deserve to have such a great name. A part of me doubts it. The website says they've been around... in the same city that I live... since 1995 & I've never heard of them.

FYI

When you decide that you want to rip your entire music collection to your computer, 1st make sure you have enough hard drive space to do so. Of course, I had to learn that the hard way. Who knew music files took up so much space?

A Pet Peeve

I do not like it when songs I love become extremely popular. Why is that, you ask? Well let me tell you... Once a song becomes popular, radio stations believe they need to put it on heavy rotation. Then I get sick and tired of hearing it, thus ruining a wonderful song. Right now that's what's happening to James Blunt's Beautiful & I'm hating it!

A Pet Peeve

I do not like it when songs I love become extremely popular. Why is that, you ask? Well let me tell you... Once a song becomes popular, radio stations believe they need to put it on heavy rotation. Then I get sick and tired of hearing it, thus ruining a wonderful song. Right now that's what's happening to James Blunt's Beautiful & I'm hating it!

Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?

You're Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen!
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Thanks to Dianne, I found this cute little quiz. But I don't really think I'm outspoken...

Time to help

The people of Indonesia need our help again. The devastation these people have had to endure is unthinkable. I don't like guilt trips but if you have the extra money laying around to pay for a computer & internet service, then you probably have enough to give a little to help those who've lost everything. Remember, even $5 helps.

If your excuse is that you don't know where to donate money, here ya go. I did some research on charities after the tsunami a couple of years ago & discovered Mercy Corps. I've been very impressed by them but I encourage you to do your own research to see if it's right for you. And just so you know, I'd never ask anyone to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself.

The Trip

I just did the math on the time differences & arrival times for the trip. All the arrival & departure times listed are local times. So when the flight from Cincinnati to Paris says it departs at 4PM & arrives at 6AM, your immediate thought is "no problem, we'll sleep on the plane". Then you do the math... It's only an 8 hour flight. My body will think it's only 11PM and I'm rarely even ready to go to bed at that time.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. We have a hour lay over followed by a 2 hour flight to Prague. So, that means, when we get to Prague, my body will think it's 2AM. And the day's just starting. Since it's just 9AM locally, the plan is to walk around Prague for a few hours... see the Charles Bridge, the castle, and whatever other cool little things we see along the way. Then we still have the trip to Brno after that... It's going to be a long day.

Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to handle this? I've only traveled over multiple time zones once & I was not able to sleep on the plane... even though I had strep throat. Needless to say, that worries me a bit because I've got to be on my toes when we arrive. I'm leaning towards staying up very, very, very late the night before so I'll be so tired that my inner night owl will be forced to sleep on the plane. And then once we land, I'm thinking lots of coffee. Luckily Cindy says the coffee is great.

Yeah for me!

I went to the GEC this evening & picked out seats for next season! It's not the section that Michelle & I really wanted but it was the more practical choice. I tried to make a list of the pros & cons of each section. It ended up being a very short list consisting of good friends vs. money. Ultimately we realized that we can still upgrade to those seats for at least 20 games (approximately half the season) & it still be cheaper than season tickets in that section. And that is exactly what we're planning to do. Once the schedule comes out, we'll make a list of the games we want to upgrade & send it on to our account representative.

Only 4 more months until pre-season...

Sorry... I can't help myself

I just watched the craziest, most exciting period of hockey that I've seen in a really long time. (qualify that with a "that didn't involve the Predators"). Edmonton vs. Anaheim game 3 with Edmonton leading the series 2-0.

The only score prior to the start of the 3rd period was in the 1st period - a fluke goal by Edmonton. Early in the 3rd period, Edmonton scores 3 times in just a couple of minutes. So you think, it's over. But no! Anaheim then scored 3 times in less than 5 minutes. One of which was scored by bouncing the puck off the camera they had placed in the goal which made for a pretty cool camera angle. If that's not enough, both teams went on to score one more goal each. 8 goals in one period. Now that's a game! Go here for more.

I had forgotten that Rem Murray now plays for Edmonton. He played for Nashville last season before being struck with some disease that caused his neck to freeze. While he was still with the team, the doctors were trying all kinds of treatments just so that he could move his head enough to look forward. I guess they finally found something to work & now he's made his way back into the league. I've been looking for a reason to cheer for a particular team.. This seals it... as long as Edmonton's alive in the playoffs I'm cheering for them!

Time for a list

I'm in the process of getting my entire music collection onto the computer... no small task. It's times like this that I notice not just how many CDs I own but what artists I am strangely lacking. So here's tonight's list in no real order:

10 Artist I Like That Are Missing From My Collection

1. The Rolling Stones
2. Willie Nelson
3. George Clinton
4. Queen
5. The Beach Boys
6. Ella Fitzgerald
7. Nirvana
8. Elvis Costello
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd
10. Roy Orbison
11. Britney Spears... just joking

So there you go guys. Feel free to store this bit of information away for Christmas & help me complete the collection - as long as you don't get me #11 ;)

We survived!

Here's the Reader's Digest Condensed version of the weekend.

Trina graduated. She called it a "celebration of mediocrity". No one cried... much. No one argued. We had way too much food at the after graduation cookout. The cats do not like that many people in the house. Trina's cat Brooke somehow got stuck out in the garage. We couldn't find her for 5-6 hours. Do you know how hard it is to find small black cats in dark places? We didn't get too much sleep. We were all nodding off during church Sunday. Mom actually snored. It struck me as very funny & I lost it... right in the middle of the sermon. It was so so so hard not to burst out which made it even more funny. I think I snorted a couple of times while tears were running down my face. When there are less than 50 people, it does get noticed... by the preacher. And then I came home.

The End

Happy Anniversary!!!

I know I'm a day late but...

Happy Anniversary Belinda & Marion!!

I'm glad you're my sister & brother-in-law! And Belinda's a saint to put up with you when you become M. Fearghail :) I Love You!!

I'm not sure how it happened

But this cute little girl is graduating high school this weekend. I remember when she was born & I blame her mother for letting her grow up. However, she's become a great young lady & I'm so glad and proud she's my niece. Congratulations Trina!

I can't think of anything better to say so I'll let Will Hoge's Baby Girl say it all.

May the sunlight find your face
Even when the rain does fall
And get back on your feet again
Every time you slip and fall
Keep your heart wide open
And always taking in
And even when it's broken
Be strong enough to fix it up again

And I hope your hands are steady
And never need to make a fist
And I hope that when you're ready
You'll get one never ending kiss
And I hope that deep inside of you
There's a sweet eternal song
And I hope the words are pretty
And that you'll always sing along

And I hope your friends are many
And your laughter's always loud
To help you when you're lonely
And pick you up when you're down
I hope your eyes shine bright love
And learn to see the light
Take the time to listen
Decide yourself what's wrong or right

Oh little baby girl
Sweet little baby girl
Be strong in this great big world
Oh little baby girl

Why???

I've always enjoyed shopping. Need to find a good deal on shoes or purses? I'm your girl. Want some home decor or antiques? I'm there. How about some great new music? Happy to help. Want to know the best places to find artisan soaps? Try and stop me. Need a washer and dryer? mmm... not so great but I can be helpful. How about a TV, computer or MP3 player. Now you've lost me.

Nothing stresses me out more shopping-wise than buying anything electronic. I start to read all the specifications and I feel like I may break out in hives. I feel like I'm reading Greek or something written by Charlie Brown's teacher.

I've been looking at MP3 players for my trip. Simple buy you think. Oh no... Once I started looking at them, I thought it would be nice if I could also find something that I could download photos to directly from my camera. Well then I had to try & weed through which of the players show photos and which actually can download them from a camera - all while trying to read Greek. Then I started talking to a few people & discovered that most of these players have an internal re-chargeable battery. Once that wears out then you have to send the entire thing in for a replacement.

I thought I had finally found that fit the bill and sent a link to the web site to the IT guy at work & my friend Anne. I'm thinking great, it does everything I want & is less expensive than the only others that I had found. Only one problem... the IT guy, who apparently reads Greek very well, discovered that you have to buy an extra part so it can download. I read the same web site, I never saw that. So I go back to read what exactly comes with the player... I don't see the battery. Do they just consider the battery as part of the player? At this point I don't know. They sell batteries with the accessories... I start to stress out. Are the hives coming? Why does it stress me out? I really don't know. Anne told me to basically take a deep breath & buy it.

So this is what I'm getting. I'll let you know how it goes... I so need a mall & clothes & purses. I need to get back into my element!

Just slightly late

To all the moms out there.....

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Music

Here's what I bought the other night:

Snow Patrol - Eyes Open - very cool. If you haven't heard of them, I'd say their sound is a bit like Coldplay but not exactly. I have their last release Final Straw (which has been on high rotation on my CD player for a long time). When I saw that they had this new release and it was on sale, I actually bought it without listening. It's slightly less atmospheric as Final Straw. If you just want to check them out by sampling a couple of songs of this CD listen to "Hands Open" and "Set The Fire To The Third Bar". The later is a duet with Martha Wainwright & absolutely haunting. Right now, I'll give this 3 stars out of 5 (it may eventually grow to 4 ).

KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope -Wow!! They've played a couple of her songs on my favorite radio station, I just didn't have a name to put with the songs. This album was at one of the listening stations & I'm glad I found it. The reviews I've seen are saying Beth Orton & Sheryl Crow. I get the Beth Orton comparison a bit but that doesn't help most people. I don't really get the Sheryl Crow one except that they both use a lot of acoustic guitars. KT's voice is much more soulful. I might actually make more of a comparison to Jennifer Knapp. Anyway, check out "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", "Suddenly I See", and "Stoppin' The Love". I'm already giving this one 4 stars!

Last Night

After work last night, I wanted to buy a book about Scotland. Since I am going there, I thought I should learn a bit more about it. I know, I could just look it all up on the internet, but I'm a bit of a traditionalist and there are some places you just can't carry a computer. So I could go to Davis-Kidd, a local independent bookstore in town. Which happens to be my favorite bookstore in the entire world. Or I could go over to Opry Mills, go to Barnes & Noble & look for a good raincoat in Bass Pro and Sun & Ski Sports at the same time. Being the practical person I am, I chose the later. I found a good but thin book on Scotland which can go in my suitcase. Then, I found a Columbia raincoat at Bass Pro at a very good price.

And then I succumbed. The draw was just too great! I had to go into my favorite store in the entire world - Tower Records (Target runs a close second). I occasionally buy my music online but mostly I go to Tower. Online, I can only hear snippits of songs & have bought my fair share of stinker albums and even stinker downloads. At Tower, I can use the listening stations to listen to an entire CD if I want. And I have to say I have done that a few times. Yeah, you do get a few strange looks. I have to say, going to Tower with me isn't a short, pop in, pop out trip to the store. I actually go around to all the listening stations in the store to see what they have (ok, I tend to skip the classical, & show tunes and if I'm in a bit of a rush I'll skip the country, folk, world, & bluegrass). Now they even have a couple of locations where you can type in a particular album and if it's in the system, you can listen to it.

So after all that, let's just say I found a few good albums to add to my collection. I'll let you know more on that later.

Just as I always known

Nashville's the #1 Smart City to live in the U.S., or at least that's what Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine thinks. And you know, I happen to agree with them.

"Our top pick offers affordable homes, a mild climate and a phenomenal entertainment scene that goes far beyond country."

While you're at it, try this quiz to make sure you're living where you should be living.

Why???

I know that it's said that crickets are good luck & you should never harm them. However, I don't think those people have ever been tormented by one of these little critters. I came home this evening only to be "serenaded" by one & I can't find it. Every time it starts making it's little noise, I try to find where it is only to have it shut up. As usual, Scully is completely useless - you'd think a cat would really want to capture a bug.

How does something so small make such a loud noise??? Trust me, I find this thing, it's a goner!

Sorry

I know I said no hockey until the draft, so I won't actually write anything specific. But if you want to know go here to see who got resigned today with a BIG raise.

The Trip

There's no backing out now. Before I left town on Friday, I paid for our plane tickets. Then on Saturday, I booked the tour we're taking in Scotland. We leave mid July & fly Nashville to Cincinnati to Paris to Prague. Then we'll take a bus or train to see my college roommate Cindy & her family in Brno. After a few days with Cindy, we'll go back to Prague & fly to London. We'll spend a few days in London then take a train to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh we'll take a tour with this company. I have to say, any company that uses Haggis in its name surely has a similar sense of humor. Once we return to Edinburgh we'll fly to Atlanta & then on home to Nashville.

Now all I have to do is reserve the hotel rooms & decide what we absolutely want to see in London. Well & there's the whole thing of training someone to fill in for me at work. I'm very excited but I'm starting to wonder if I'll survive??? I've already threatened Trina that I may strand her in Prague if she's too mean.

Then end of an era

I just finished watching the final episode of 7th Heaven. As I said before, this is one of my favorite shows. Amazingly, I didn't get as sentimental as I thought I would.

Anyway, here's you're spoiler alert. If you haven't watched the episode & plan to do so, do not read any further.


I have to say, it was a very satisfying way to end 10 years. First, I really liked that all the kids made it home. Well, ok, Mary didn't actually make it home - she was just in a dream of what the parents hoped would happen at Simon's wedding and shown talking on the phone. But almost all the loose ends were tied up nicely.

I loved that Simon didn't marry Rose. Granted she was nicer in the end but I never bought the entire suddenly sweet Rose routine. And I didn't like that the audience didn't get to see how they stopped the ceremony.

I liked that Matt & Sarah were finally getting their marriage back on track. I don't know why but I always loved the story line of how they met & married all in the same day. The actors has such great chemistry together that you just bought the whole storyline.

I was also surprised that Carlos & Mary were back together, even though I never understood that relationship. Granted they threw that one out there after the actress who played Mary had left the show full time so there wasn't time to really flesh it out.

But all the babies... please. Can we say overkill? Yes the parents have a set of twins. Did Lucy & Kevin, and Matt & Sarah, and Mary & Carlos all have to be expecting twins?? Seems a little insane.

Then there's the big question that makes you wonder if they're thinking of a spin off show in the future. At the end of the show, Sandy arrives at the reception (if you can call it that) & when Simon asks how her son is, she tells him that they "need to talk about that". And that's where they leave you. All along I thought there was a chance that Simon was the baby's father not Martin. But since Sandy & Rose were friends, Sandy went to long lengths to make sure everyone thought it was Martin's. This sounds more like the basis for an Aaron Spelling show than 7th Heaven ever did.

The Weekend

I did my part this past weekend in overusing foreign oil, but, I have to say, it was well worth it!

After I captured Scully & put her in her carrier, we made the 3 hour trek over to Knoxville to visit with the family (and yes, Mom insists that I always bring her grandcat when I visit & for the most part she travels very well). I was shocked to realize that my last visit was back in late February. I usually make it home more often than that but it's been a crazy spring. The last time I visited, there was an empty lot at their exit, now there's a Target about to open. It just proves that a lot of stuff happens in a couple of months.

Trina's church was honoring all the high school graduates on Sunday night so I had to stay for that... and I admit I became a little teary eyed during the slide show. But that didn't last long. I believe I may have taught her the art of sarcasm a little too well. She's well on her way to becoming a master.

So NoTORIous

Have you seen the new show on VH1 So Notorious staring Tori Spelling? It's a hoot. It's one of those shows that's based in reality but with an added zing. She makes fun of "the business", other celebrities, her family, and especially herself? The flashbacks are great. And her take on Scientology was so funny. So now that I've seen several episodes, I'm comfortable in recommending it to everyone. Go to the website to find the times because I never can remember when it's on but like most shows on VH1 it's constantly repeated.

By the way, nothing is worse than seeing one funny episode of a show, recommending it to friends. Then your friends watch the show and it's not at all good. Then you try to watch it again and discover that the one episode you had seen must have been the only good episode ever.

Some Navel Gazing

I promise... This is the last hockey posting... until... um... the NHL draft or maybe training camp. So you got a good month:)

Well, the navel gazing articles and posts have begun. Did they lose because of the "soft" division they played in? Or was it all the stupid penalties they took? Who will get resigned? Who will get released? Who made the grade? And who didn't?

The most amazing thing I discovered... David Legwand tore his ACL back in December. I was at that game & he looked to be in an amazing amount of pain. At the time, all they did was scope the knee & made it sound like it wasn't too bad of an injury. He was out until the Olympic break & then returned to play the remainder of the season with no ACL. Can you imagine?

There's a smile on my face now

I just saw that the Dead Wings are done. I tried to muster a bit of sympathy but... nope it's just not there. I completely respect the team. They have really great players & have the team concept down. I just don't care for their fans. I thought Vandy & UConn fans were obnoxious... they're cuddly little teddy bears compared to some of these guys.

There are a lot of Detroit transplants that came when the Saturn plant opened. I haven't decided which ones are worse: the Dead Wing fans that think they know it all & that we're all a bunch of rednecks or the PredWing fans who are Predator fans until they play the Wings & suddenly we're all a bunch rednecks.

A part of me had thought that it would be a good thing for the Dead Wings to win tonight since people around the league have said Detroit & Nashville's records were inflated since the other 3 teams in the division were so bad. If Detroit could get to the next round then those people would have to be quiet. But then I read this blog post & suddenly became an Edmonton fan. Wonder what they'll be setting on fire in Detroit tonight with this loss. Oh wait, that's what they do when they win.

At least the Predators were a 4 seed losing to a 5 seed, this was a 1 seed losing to an 8 seed. I've got to go send a few "sympathy" emails.

The Season's Over

I admit, I didn't have a good feeling going into game 5, down 4 games to 1 in a best of 7 format and feeling a bit sentimental, I took my camera with me to the game to take some photos & video. I didn't trust myself with the camera out during the actual game but here what the view from my playoff seat looked like during warm ups.

And here's a zoomed in shot of Paul Kariya in warm ups. He used this same shot during the third period to score Nashville's only goal.


I've been feeling a little philosophical today (& I use philosophical in its loosest terms since this is nothing life altering). In the grand scheme of things, sports are nothing more than entertainment. Some people get their entertainment from hearing the soprano hit that high C note, some from hearing the perfect guitar solo, and some from seeing actors... um... act. Then, there are those of us who find the best entertainment is that last second shot from the 3 point line, or a kick off returned for a touchdown, or a top shelf slap shot. The only thing that makes those things even better, is when those great plays happen for the home team and the home team wins.

So here's what I think. No, the Predators didn't win the Stanley Cup this year, but it provided the best entertainment for its fans. The Predators lead the entire league in home wins during the regular season. Only 9 times out of 44 regular season home games did the fans leave unhappy. For a team in only it's 7th season of play, I'll take that. This team shattered most of the previous season records. They turned a lot of non fans into casual fans & even more casual fans into serious fans. And they turned at least few people into fanatical season ticket holders.

I could whine & make excuses for this team in the playoffs but this season I won't dwell on that. The bottom line is that this team had a great season & exceeded expectations. Give the young players another year or two to understand the playoffs & I completely believe they'll be hoisting the Cup.

Gardening

I admit it, I have a brown thumb. Just about everything I've ever planted has died. When I moved in 5 years ago, I was in a gardening mood & planted a lot of things. I took some pictures today of the thing that's actually survived... pink lemonade honeysuckle.


And look here's a happy... um... scary looking little bee. Shortly after I took this picture, the bee started chasing me & I had to go back inside. I hate bugs.

"With the 3rd pick...

in the 2006 NFL draft, the Tennessee Titans select Vince Young, quaterback, University of Texas."

I can't believe I almost forgot about the draft today. I guess between work & the playoffs it had slipped my mind a bit. I heard all the sports talk radio guys talking about it but didn't really connect that with it being today. Who could blame me, they've only been talking about the draft since October or November. Most years the talk starts at the end of the season but this year the team was so bad that the fans got a head start.

I don't know how

I don't know how other bloggers post every single day. There are a lot of days that when I finally get home from work, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of another monitor. I could always post at lunch, but I think that would be frowned upon. Unlike at a lot of other companies, I can still get on the internet & go to ESPN. I don't want to ruin that. So if you don't see anything new for a few days, it's not that I don't care. It's that I can't string together anything coherent after a long day of work.

Best of 7

Today didn't turn out how I wanted. The Pred's laid an egg, losing 3-0. They looked sloppy & didn't take care of the puck. And like they've done from time to time this season, they fell in love with passing instead of shooting the puck on the power play - even with a 5 on 3 man advantage. Let's hope they get it together Tuesday night in San Jose.

Just got to keep repeating... best of 7... best of 7.... best of 7.

Interesting

I scanned around the web today to see what the media & bloggers thought of last nights game with the Preds. I noticed 2 constants. 1st, was the surprise in a Predator's win & in the play of Mason in net. 2nd was the amazement of how loud the crowd was.

Personally, I thought the crowd was a little quiet last night. It was loud but I've been in the GEC for some games that the crowd was so loud that you could feel the vibrations in your chest & couldn't talk to the person next to you. The loudest being the playoff shut out game from the last season (I believe game 4) where I left with my ears ringing. It makes me wonder what the crowds are like in the traditional hockey cities?

It's constantly stated in some of these traditional markets that Nashville should have never been awarded a team. And that people in Tennessee don't know anything about hockey & never will. blah, blah, blah.... you get the idea. It's just my theory, but I think sports fans in this city just took their knowledge of "THE SPORT" in this state & how the crowd can change momentum of the game & applied it to this new sport. We didn't know you weren't suppose to cheer & yell & boo. All I have to say is get used to it. We're not going away & we're not going to change.

(by the way, for those of you who for some reason may not know, "THE SPORT" in this state is football)

As promised

Michelle gave me a picture of me with the Stanley Cup last night. I had to scan it & apparently I have a few things to learn about that because it's a bit grainy. But, none the less, here it is.


As is typical for me, I don't care much for me in the picture. But it's funny that it seems I was so enamored by the Cup that I couldn't stop looking at it long enough for Michelle to take my picture. LOL. For those of you who don't know the coolness of this trophy, what looks like a bunch of little marks on the side of the trophy are actually the names of each player on every team that has won the cup. In other sports, the athletes play for the championship. In hockey they play to get their name on the cup. For more on the coolness of the Cup go here.

Just noticed something

I was looking over my recent posts & even though I said this blog would be random, it's looking a lot like a hockey blog right now. But don't be scared off yet. I promise, I will write about other things later. After all, hockey season won't last much longer. My life is just a bit consumed at the moment.

1-0 Predators

With the win last night, the Predators lead the best of 7 series, 1-0. Now only 3 more wins to go to get to the next round. Great game, great crowd. Paul Karyia was on fire, setting up 4 goals. And Chris Mason had some absolutely amazing saves.

The next game is tomorrow, starting at noon (central). I've already passed word to the preacher to keep it short. Luckily, services start at 10 & the building's only about 10 minutes from the arena. So I should be able to get there, get my lucky cherry icee, & get to my seat before the game starts.

It's like magic

Suddenly I got the camera to play nice with the computer. I didn't actually do anything different than I had done any of the other time, so who knows what the deal was. That being said, it's time for some cat blogging. Sometimes Scully is so strange, she'll just sit & stare.... at NOTHING. I took this picture the other night of her doing just that. But you know, she wouldn't be my cat if she wasn't at least a little bit strange!

How am I suppose to concentrate

The 1st round of the playoffs start tomorrow night! I've already got my ticket in my bag. If you got Fox Sports South the games on at 7pm central. Sunday's game on NBC starts at noon central (although it could be regional coverage & you may actually end up watching some other teams). Look for me, I'll be there!

Not a single site I went to in the past few days are picking the Predators to make it out of the 1st round. Who can blame them really. The Predators are now without their star goalie, Tomas Vokoun, who is now sidelined until next season. And the Sharks do have the points leader & the scoring leader in the entire NHL. So unless you've watched the Predators all season & realize that the team is more than just Vokoun, you'd think so too. But who cares what they think. I like cheering for the underdog. Go ahead, let them underestimate the Preds. And just like the new starting goalie Chris Mason says here...

"When you lose a guy with the impact of Tomas, everyone's going to think you're done. I hope other teams are thinking that. That's good. It makes it easy to get motivated."

LETS GO PREDS!!!

6 Weird Facts/Habits About Myself

Dianne's tagging everyone to join in. So here I go...

1. I hate mashed potatoes. I love baked potatoes, potato chips, french fries & just about any other kind of potato dish you can name. There's just something about the texture of mashed potatoes that I hate.
2. I like to watch all the cheesy kids shows & movies on Disney channel.
3. I prefer winter over summer. I can always put more clothes on but there's a limit to how much clothing I can take off.
4. I would rather add several miles to a trip & keep moving than to sit in traffic.
5. I can't remember phone numbers. I do good to remember my home & work number. I sometimes remember my cell number. And since my parents moved, I can't remember their number. If I couldn't store numbers in my phones, I don't know what I'd do.
6. I read magazines from the back to front.

Apparently I'm suppose to tag someone else now. The only other person I know of with a blog who might play along is SarahK. And if you want to play along but don't have a blog, just post your list in the comments.

The Trip

Well it looks like Trina's uncle will be in Tennessee when we're in Europe. How's that for timing. So I guess Switzerland's back off the agenda. I think we're going to go to Scotland instead. Granted, I've got to get this planned FAST!

One day I will get to Switzerland & go see my mountain. By the way, I now consider the Jungfrau to be mine. I saw a show on the Travel Channel where they went there & have been fascinated by it ever since. Granted it's not going do anything exciting like Dianne's mountain.

What's the Deal?

For the past month, on my drive into work, I've passed a homemade sign hanging from a railroad bridge that said "3/17/06 Cadance" (I may be slightly off on the exact date). It's just after the I-40W & I-24W merge, if you're in the area. Suddenly, last week, the date was gone & replaced with "I hate". So now it reads "I hate Cadance". I wonder what that's all about?

Oops

Question: What happens when a night owl takes a 2 hour nap during the afternoon?

Answer: It's almost midnight & I'm wide awake... tomorrow morning is going to be brutal.

I Just Realized

There's a bit of bad blood between the Preds & San Jose. The last game they played against each other was the 1st game Brendan Witt played for the team after the trade. This was also the game that a San Jose player being ejected from the game decided to jump over the glass separating the 2 teams' benches & started swinging. Since Witt was at that end of the bench, he started swinging back & unfortunately got ejected as well.

It's not quite a goalie fight or a coaches argument (which have happened with Calgary) but it should make for some interesting video & commentary.

It's Set

With the Preds being set in the 4th spot (& the last team with home ice advantage), all that was missing was the opponent. The teams in the 5th through 9th spots have been battling for the last 4 spot available for weeks. At one point it looked to be Calgary which I loved since the Preds have owned them this season, winning all 4 games against them. Then it looked like it would be Colorado which I liked since the team has played well against them, winning 3 out of 4 games. Then up until a few days ago, I was sure it would be Anaheim, which I absolutely hated since the team hasn't played well against them, losing 3 out of 4 times. Suddenly, out of the blue, the team we get to play is San Jose. I'm a bit mixed on playing this team. I like the fact that the Preds beat them both times at home & even that we took both the away games to overtime. But, you can probably gather from the out of the blue comment, that they've been playing red hot hockey as of late. So in that way, they are a very dangerous team to play. Guess we'll just have to wait & see how it goes.

Now if the league would just get the dates set. The rumor mill at the game last night was that the first 2 games would be either Saturday & Monday or Sunday & Tuesday.

Very Cool

Just to let everyone know, last night I saw the Stanley Cup!!! Michelle took a picture of me with it but I didn't touch it (I'll post it when she remembers to send it to me). For those who don't know, I'll have to explain why I didn't touch it as well as why the Stanley Cup is so cool later. For now, I want to go to sleep.... it's been one of those weeks.

Oh & the Preds clinched home ice for the 1st round with their win last night! Depending on when the games are played, I could very well be spending my birthday in the GEC watching the team!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

According to Mom, she's still hanging on to 32 & who am I to question her;)

In honor of her birthday here are a few sites to check out. Mom loves the Food Network & is constantly telling the rest of the family to go print recipes for her (since she doesn't like those "scary" computers). Her favorite personality on that station Rachael Ray. I think she could very well be another daughter. And I'm sure she & Paula Deen would be the best of friends if they ever met. They both have that same outgoing & cheerful personality.

Mom also loves crafts. She seems to be able to do any kind of craft but Christmas ornaments are her specialty. Growing up, all the ornaments on our Christmas tree were all made by her. So here are a few that I found that, if she would ever get on the computer, I know she'd love.
Joann Project Ideas
Michaels Projects

But I think everyone would agree, Mom's biggest passion in life is her family. And if you've ever met my mom, she considers you family! And well, there just aren't any web links that I can find for that.

So happy birthday to my most favorite-ist mom in all the world!

No-Koun

Preds fans got the bad news today. The goalie, the team MVP, Tomas Vokoun is out for the rest of the season. As a fan I'm thinking, ok... screaming "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" But looking at the bigger picture, what he's dealing with is something extremely serious, so I'm just glad they caught it when they did. I don't even want to think what could have happened if he took a bad hit out on the ice with those blood clots. So now it's time for Chris Mason to step up & show why the coaches have such a high opinion of him. And it's time for this injury bug to stop! This team's already had way too much.

On my heart today

Before the storms hit, this was the story that was breaking my heart today. Maggie Dixon's Army basketball team was one of the highlights of March Madness when they won the Patriot League championship and the cadets stormed the court. Unfortunately, after that they had to face Tennessee in the first round of the championship.

If you want to read more, Women's Hoops blog has several links to articles. If you only have time to read one, I suggest this one.

To me death is always sad. The only comfort I find is in a long life well lived and the knowledge that they've gone to live with the Father. When death happens out of the blue, for no real reason, to someone so young, I have a hard time finding that comfort.

I'm ok

Just in case you were worried about me with all the bad weather in the Nashville area today. According to the non-stop weather coverage on the local stations, most of the storms right now are south or east of town. So far, the worst hit has been in the north part of the county in Goodlettsville & Sumner County which is one county over (& the last place I lived). They've already reporting 8 deaths in Sumner County alone. They're currently showing video on the local stations that's just amazingly sad.

If you want updates via the local media, here are the television stations:

WTVF
WSMV
WKRN

I often call the people who live on the coast or in California crazy because of the potential danger they put themselves in with the hurricanes and earthquakes. I guess I need to remember that my favorite place on Earth has it's own potential dangers as well.

I've also discovered that scientist are a bit different. When we got the warnings this afternoon, the non-scientist in the office were concerned about getting to the safest spot in the building & asking if anyone had a battery operated radio and flashlight. What were the scientist doing, you ask? Well, we could all be found at the windows to see if we could see anything. That is except for the people who decided that it was the perfect time for a smoke break outside.

Kakuro

I like to work puzzles... Just about any kind of puzzle. And once I find something I like, I tend to obsess on it until I get bored. For a while it was jigsaw puzzles, then I got Scully & that was a little hard to do with her around. Then I went on a word search obsession, followed by fill-ins, and crosswords, and well you get the picture. Lately my obsession had been sudoku. To me, it was much easier than any of the word puzzles I'd tried - must be the math geek within I guess. However, I was starting to get a little bored of them. So when I was waiting for my prescription to be filled when I was sick a few weeks ago, I started looking through all the sudoku books & magazines trying to find something a bit different in them (I once found a magazine with a grid that you went 1-16 instead of the usual 1-9). But this time I wasn't having any luck. That's when I stumbled upon kakuro. It's a crossword puzzle but with numbers. Like sudoku, you can only use each digit from 1-9 once in a row or column. Unlike sudoku, you don't necessarily use all 9 digits but the digits have to add up to the sum given. Now this is a challenge! So much so that it wasn't until last night that I actually finished an entire puzzle.

They're Here!

After a tough day at work, I came home tonight to discover that my playoff tickets had arrived!! Now the Preds just have to get on a winning streak so I get to use them all.

Now what...

The national champions have been crowned. For men it was Florida (which by the way I had winning on my brackets). And for the women it was Maryland (& like my mom always says, if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything at all).

But now, after gorging on basketball all month, what am I suppose to do??

Daylight Savings Time

It appears that Indiana's joining most of the U.S. in springing forward (which I hate) & falling back (which I love). I discovered in college (when girls in the dorm from Indiana didn't understand the process) that Indiana didn't observe the time change. However, I was under the assumption that it was the entire state. Apparently it wasn't and I don't have a clue how anyone in that state was able to keep this straight...

"Under the old system, 77 of the state's 92 counties were in the Eastern Time Zone but did not change to daylight time in April. Instead they remained on standard time all year. That is, except for two counties near Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., which did use daylight time.

But the counties in the northwest corner of the state (near Chicago) and the southwestern tip (near Evansville), which are in the Central Time Zone, used both standard and daylight time."

You have to admit, they had to do something. Can you imagine one of those math question with the trains & what time will it arrive if it were set in Indiana? Makes the head spin.

A Little Math

one girl
+ 7.5 hours at work Saturday
+ going to a hockey game
+ late dinner after the game
+ time change
+ up for 10 am worship
+ 5 more hours at work
= one very tired chickidee