Road Trip: Nashville

Nashville is a city I'm really starting to love, though honestly, I haven't seen that much of it. This past weekend was Parent's Weekend, so Roland and I hit the road Friday in the hopes of seeing Kyle, at least for a little while. We did see him in the afternoon, and then took him and his friend, William out for a great dinner.

Saturday, we knew Kyle would be sleeping late, so we found a great little neighborhood coffee shop, Sky Blue Coffee & Bistro, then after wandering around downtown a bit, we finally found the Ryman Auditorium & Museum. This was really for Roland who discovered that you could record your own CD, and in particular, one of his favorite songs, King of the Road. Once I can figure it out, I'll try to put in here, and you can hear him. He sounds pretty good, but one can really only hear that song so many times.

He's keeping his day job.

We managed to connect with Kyle at lunchtime... notice a theme? Then it was shopping because the poor boy only has 3 pairs of pants, and winter is coming. You gotta know that college boys just don't do laundry that often. Then if it's Saturday in the fall, that means college football, so it was back to the hotel room to watch the UGA-LSU game. We had to leave before it was over (turned out to be a good thing for these Bulldog fans) so that we could head to the Vanderbilt-Ole Miss game. Had a great time, but by the 4th quarter we had had enough.

We love college football. Didn't love this game.

Here's that food theme again... Sunday morning we picked Kyle up at his dorm for brunch, and then the grocery store for snacks for his room. And that was it. Had a great time, and it was nice to see him in his environment. The semester is going great for him, and we're thrilled.

Yep, we really did see the boy. Here's proof.

Back to School

The Etsy Blogger Team's Blog Carnival is always so timely and topical, and this time is no different. What does back to school mean to me? For all those Etsy Bloggers with the young children heading off to elementary school, getting up early, making lunches, and mounds of homework... enjoy it if you can, because all too soon back to school will mean something totally different. Time flies is a saying that really is true!

My oldest graduated earlier this month, but my youngest is just starting his sophomore year in college. Back to school for us meant last minute packing, with nagging on my part, and declarations like "it will only take me an hour to pack all my stuff, mom" on my son's part. Shopping was kept at a minimum this year (unlike heading off to a freshman year) so that was good.

So, after a day's worth of packing (that was one LONG hour!!), last Saturday we headed north, spending the evening walking around campus, scouting out the new dorm, checking his mailbox for the coveted parking permit, and a last evening of bonding. OK, honestly, after dinner he met up with his friends that he hadn't seen in a couple of months, returning to the hotel room in the wee hours of the morning. We didn't even hear him come in, but about 2:45 a.m. I heard my husband shuffling around, and then a frantic, "have you heard from Kyle?" Um, no, I was sleeping, and my cellphone was somewhere in my purse across the room. But then, he said, "never mind, he's here sleeping." About 3 feet away on the sleeper sofa.

Sunday, after snagging a prime unloading spot by the dorm, we had a nice "free" hotel breakfast, and then the unpacking started. Kyle's dorm room is so small, that it's crowded with 2 people, downright uncomfortable with 3. He's so happy to be there, though.

Mama and her Baby Bird in his new nest

Since getting home, I have been wallowing around in our nest, which seems much too big for just the two of us, looking for birdies to take care of. I should snap out of it soon, and enjoy sleeping through the night again. Life is so much easier when you don't know what time they get home or what they've been doing!

Happy New Year!!

It's New Year's Day and 2009 is off to a rousing start. I did not ring in the new year at midnight last night, but had to greet 2009 this morning when I woke up.

Did you make any resolutions? I'm not one to make a lot of resolutions, but this year, I am making a couple. One is tried and true. Is it resolution more people make every year and don't succeed at? Possibly. But here it is. 2009 is the year I am going to lose at least 10 more pounds. Yep, it's in writing now, and it will happen. It goes along with resolution #2 which is to be a more focused and committed Weight Watchers leader. I'll be in the trenches with my members tracking my points and moving forward with momentum.

I also resolve to get some business goals down on paper. Last year, I was more reactive than proactive in both my Etsy shops. So, the January 9 post (you heard it here) will list my business goals.

And I think I'll stop there. I'll be eating my black eyed peas for good luck (and their low points value), and I'll even eat some greens for prosperity (they have a VERY low points value).

This year has started off great... Georgia just beat Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Vanderbilt won their bowl game yesterday. And all is well in our house. I hope all is well in your house, too.

This Weeks Excitement

Okay, I know. I've been MIA from this blog. But I had a good reason. Really. Last weekend (wow, has a whole week gone by) Roland and I drove Kyle up to Nashville, and helped him move into his dorm at Vanderbilt. Our nest is officially empty. But doesn't he look happy in his new room!



So, this week I've been recovering. Just two WW meetings, but one of them was a Week 1 and that always means more organizing, more paperwork, and more stress... emails, phone calls, etc.

Then there was the trails of debris left from all the packing for the above mentioned move. I haven't really even made a dent, but it's not going anywhere.

My biggest etsy excitement was an appearance on the front page! And it all had to do with my membership as an Etsy Blogger! Admin wrote a Storque article on the Etsy Bloggers, and along with it, featured us on the front page! After much fumbling about, I managed to get a screen grab:

My goals for this week:

1) A daily listing for my new shop, Elle Quilts
2) Reconnecting with the Etsy Bloggers Message Board. I'm sure there's a blog carnival to be written.
3) Reconnecting with the Etsy Host Team.