I don’t know if Jay has plans to write today; however, I for sure am not in the mood for it. It suddenly feels wrong to be writing without her by my side.
We both had trouble sleeping yet managed a few hours. By 4am we were zombies. We kept the conversation light and didn’t really talk about what was coming. We left nearly on time and made it to the airport in record time. I’m sure that was people the rest of the sane people in the Nashville area were still sleeping.
We had a small chat as we pulled up and a hug as a send off. Jay did great by not crying. I knew if she would, I would and then I would be an utter mess on my way home. I went home and she checked in for her flight. We texted a little and then I drifted off to sleep again.
It was eerie when I awoke. There was silence. There was no Jay practicing her French in the next room. There was no waiting in line to use the bathroom. There was no guitar to trip over.
We cannot believe that our week is practically over already. It is sad, and bittersweet. We are confident that our paths will cross again in the very near future. We ended up waking up without alarms and decided to just have a lazy day in our pajamas. Woo hoo! We talked, Jay broke out my guitar (and then left it in the middle of the floor. No surprise that she tripped over it as well. I put it away) and we sang some of our old songs.
We spent lunch with Sherlock and it was delicious. We spent hours working on our book, mostly working with setting. We continued to ask questions and fine tune what we wanted to have happen.
At 6:30, we met up with my friend Rhonda at the local Indian restaurant called Taj. This was Jay’s first Indian experience and it was a success! She loved it. We talked about everything. On two different occasions Rhonda and I got Jay to snort laugh. It was epic. Before we knew it, four hours had passed and we were the only ones left in the restaurant. We had no idea that they closed at 10pm and they were just waiting for us to leave.
Dinner at Taj with Rhonda, Jay and Kay
Jay’s flight is requiring us to wake up in less than four hours (thanks Jay)! On a bright note, she had to purchase a THIRD suit case to carry all of the goodies she got in Nashville.
We had an amazing vacation together. Thank you for allowing us to share it with you.
Kay: Today was so packed that thinking back to this morning is almost a challenge. Have no fear though, I think I can manage. Last night I got a full night’s sleep. I used the new night mask I picked up at the mall yesterday. I never used to wear one of those, but when I do, I tend to fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer. Yay! Breakfast was quick since I pressed the snooze button past 7am! Blueberry yogurt and a banana! Jay was up before me and was practicing her French lesson that I managed to complete the night before.
Jay: Unlike Kay, I suffered from sleep deprivation. My night consisted of extreme pain and a short conversation with my husband on the phone while I balled my eyes out. Needless to say, it was not a fun night, regardless, I was looking forward to the day. I had a banana for breakfast. I took enough pain pills to dope up a horse. I also practiced my French this morning. After the third try, I finally finished the lesson. Let’s just say my pronunciation and learning French is not going as well as Kay’s.
Kay: I had a lot to accomplish at work this morning. I knew I was going to be out of the office for a few days so I needed to take the time to schedule out the store’s Facebook posts until at least Tuesday. I have many ideas that I want to see come to fruition; however, there is only so much time in my workday and some of my ideas simply had to wait. I hope to soon get to my volunteer request for the media department, and I would also like to highlight the different departments. Part of my newest position is going to require me to socialize more, which is always a good thing. While I worked on the online campaign, Jay finished up her final day of volunteering at ThriftSmart. Thank you for helping this week!
Jay: No problem, Kay! It was my pleasure. While Kay was working I got to work myself. I processed a box of VHS, shelved some books, and straightened up the book department after which I got to do a little shopping! When I say little, I actually mean a lot. When you are a student and you receive 50% off, you want to stock up. I was able to get seven shirts for myself, seven shirts for my husband, quite a few books, ties, magazines and one dress… no wait, I got two now. I forgot about the one I picked up at the last minute. All of this for $70. Thank you ThriftSmart! Once I was done with that, it was time to go to the InterNashville Tea Room gathering at ThriftSmart. I got to meet some new people, had some amazing rice and gyro meat. Oh, and don’t forget the tea, which was amazing. That basically concluded the work day.
Kay: InterNashville, run by the amazing Tamara Banks is held on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at ThriftSmart between 11am and 1pm. I work every Friday and try my best to make it to every one. I am excited that Tamara wants to start volunteering in the book department over the summer. After the amazing food and fellowship we stopped by DQ and grabbed dessert. It was amazing until Jay spilled the rest of my blizzard on the carpet.
Jay: I didn’t mean to Kay, I promise! I just got a wonderful hot fudge sundae that was perfect soup consistency by the time we got home.
Kay & Jay: The next three to four hours were absolutely amazing for us. We stayed home, got comfy, opened the windows to hear the buzzing bumble bees and we started plotting. Mwahahahaha… okay, not that kind of plotting. We finally sat down and started a timeline for our book. We have been talking about writing this for years… literally. We realized that it had to be now and we got jiggy wit it. We worked out a ton of unresolved issues and created the timeline from start to finish–all 19 chapters. It pretty much took us until past the time we wanted to leave to go to the restaurant; however, we were not going to leave until it was finished. Talk about dedication!
Jay: So we went to this restaurant called McNamara’s, which happens to be an Irish pub with live music every night. And if you remember in one of my previous blogs, I wrote that while in Nashville, I wanted to see some live music and purchase a CD. I got to do just that. The performer there was named Colm Kirwan. He does country and Irish. Not only was the music good, but the food was amazing.
Pear and Blue Cheese Salad, Sweet Potato Fries, and Homemade Kettle Chips
Irish Nachos
One of my favorite parts about this evening was getting to meet Colm Kirwan. He signed my CD, and here is a picture I got with him.
Jay with Colm Kirwan at McNamara’s Irish Pub.
Here is a small video I took of his performance tonight. It does not do him justice.
Kay: We are finally home and in our pajamas! We are downloading music to our laptops while working together on this blog. We have had a few distractions, and they have been great fun. As soon as we hit the publish button, we are going to complete our final act of the day: I will give you a two word hint. No wait, I will give you a picture hint.
Sher Lock!
Today’s post was longer than originally intended and at the same time just long enough. Tomorrow is Jay’s final full day here in Nashville and we plan to have a ball. But first, an episode of Sherlock and sleep await us.
I will be the first to admit that today started off quite rocky. Aside from only sleeping about three hours, I (Kay) woke up with an upset stomach. Normally this goes away with a little breakfast; however, the more I breathed, the sicker I felt. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was real. My reaction time was slow at first. The sink? No, I’d have to clean that up later! I knew making it to the bathroom was out of the question and the garbage bag in the kitchen was full. It took all of my strength to break off a new bag and open it. A millisecond before hand, I turned to Jay, told her how so terribly sorry I was and started puking. I managed to take myself and my bag to the bathroom just in time. Needless to say, I called in sick to work.
By 9:30 or so I was feeling much better, and truly hungry. Jay and I went to Cracker Barrel. I love eating breakfast! We both opted for the French Toast with apples on top. It was heavenly. I only now wish I had taken a picture of its yummyness! If only I could figure out a way to attach smells or samples with the blog posts! Maybe one day in our not so distant future. (I am posting on Jay’s laptop and I just realized that you have to punch the letter U in the face in order to get it to work.)
After breakfast, we headed to the West End of Nashville and visited The Parthenon and its small art museum. Here are a few pictures from our adventure today. As incredible as inside the Parthenon was, and how gigantic Athena was, some of our favorite moments here were in the art gallery where pictures were not allowed to be taken. We were able to reminisce about the Humanities courses we had to take when starting out our bachelor’s degrees together. I know I for one really liked that I was able to look at the paintings there, enjoy them, and talk about them as if I actually knew what I was talking about.
After our morning at the Parthenon, we drove through downtown and then over to the Opry Mills Mall. We did some investigating earlier and knew that there was a 12:20pm showing of Divergent and neither one of us had seen it yet. So we went! It was really good. We were skeptical about a few of the actors, but in the end it really worked out.
Kay and Jay in front of the Divergent poster at the movie theater within the Opry Mills Mall. Nashville, Tennessee
After the movie, we went and ate at the Aquarium restaurant where Jay had her first taste of Mahi Mahi! It was a success. I’m not sure how the fish felt about her eating fish in front them! We enjoyed watching a diver swim around the tank to feed the fish. Lunch was a success!
After lunch we window shopped and found Jay a couple of cowgirl hats to take back to Massachusetts with her. We also each got some 1800 thread count sheets for only $29 each (thanks for that Jay!). We also picked up a few other things before heading out.
We are now home, dinner is ready, and Sherlock Holmes is waiting for us in the living room. We do not want to keep him waiting! Until tomorrow, friends! Sleep tight and dream happily.
Morning came way too early for the two of us! Especially Kay, who apparently didn’t get much sleep last night. Of course it was another day at work. This time we had a couple helpers, which means we got a lot of things done. After work we went to this amazing Thai restaurant. The food was good, but the best part was our waitress. We call her Air, although that is not her real name. We probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce it right anyway. She is quite the card! She makes you laugh with her wild stories and her way of serving you.
After lunch we came home and Kay and I (Jay) went straight to our homework. Once the homework was over it was… HARRY POTTER TIME!! We watched the 5th one and this time Kay fell asleep through the last 20 minutes of it. She needed it though. We had a business meeting this evening with lots of laughs and friendly people. At one point the speaker told me to tell my friends it was “Kronk”. I said “I don’t think I’m going to be able to say that, cause it will not come out that way!” There was quite a bit of laughter and a bit of red cheeks from me.
We are now home from the meeting and although we have to get up early we decided it is a great time to start the next Harry Potter movie! Yep.. #6! Looks like we will be able to get through them all this week after all!!
We have a huge day tomorrow so stay tuned for more adventures!!
Well friends, it is quarter past eleven and I (Kay) am barely awake. Jay fell asleep (and woke up) twice during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If you have been keeping up with us, no, we did not skip Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, we simply watched two movies today! They were both great. I am coming to seriously LOVE my blue ray player (PS3).
Jay came with me to work this morning and time (as expected) flew by. She sat in on our weekly meeting and we had a blast using our new favorite word (dicker) in any sentence we could… which means we tried to use it in them all! We got a fellow co-worker to join in and had a really great time. I gave her a quick tour of the store and my daily routine and then we tagged nearly 500 children’s books getting them ready to go out at the end of this week or early next. We have several ideas planned for work tomorrow!
Steve and I took Jay to our favorite Mexican Restaurant (Las Cazuelas) for lunch. Jay and I spent the afternoon trying to get my Nook to work (which we finally accomplished five hours later) and we took 5 beginner French lessons. I really look forward to practicing this and trying some new lessons out. If you have a smart phone, and you are interested in learning another language, then you should definitely check out the FREE app: DuoLingo.
We practiced our business presentations and enjoyed each others company. Spicy Spaghetti was made for dinner and we tried out this Pasta Express thing we picked up at my work when we first moved to Nashville. It nearly worked. I will give it at least another go before making a final verdict.
I believe tomorrow will be our first real outing, but will save that for tomorrow. I need to be up in a little more than six hours for work. I am absolutely ready for bed. Time to set the alarm and get horizontal.
What a joy it is to wake up and be able to sit and chit chat with friends. That is how we started our morning together after a wonderful night sleep. Laughter immersed from our lips as we reminisced about times gone by and even future plans. We truly kept our day simple and relaxing. It took us until nearly noon to get dressed and ready to head out the door.
The clouds seemed light and airy. The sky a brilliant and bright blue. You want to know how we celebrated the day? Lunch at the local Chinese restaurant and grocery shopping! Lunch was amazing; however, we shared more laughs looking for typo’s on their take out menu. Here is our favorite from this particular menu… In case you are curious like we were, here is the definition:
DICKER (pronounced exactly how you think it sounds): treat something casually or irresponsibly; toy with something.
And this is how our conversation went:
Kay: Don’t dicker with me!
Jay: Fine, I won’t dicker with you, I’ll dicker with someone else.
Kay: Don’t spread your dicker around!
Jay: I’ll do what I want with my dicker!
Kay: I wouldn’t share my dicker with anyone! You don’t know where your dicker has been!
Jay: What? I know exactly where my dicker has been…
…there was more, but we think you get the picture! Where were we? Ah, yes, groceries. But don’t think this was any ordinary shopping trip. We fully took advantage of the killer tunes that were playing over the speakers of the local Food Lion and we had a mini dance party in the middle of isle five.
While we were there we also got the fixings for this amazing chicken taco soup.
It was well worth the four hours it spent cooking in the crock pot. Before the meal had begun though, we took a walk around the property and saw some of the highlights of the apartment life in Nashville. The pool and tennis courts, the picnicking area, and the lovely birds.
We finished off the evening with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This time everyone stayed awake! Woo hoo.
After we post this blog, we SHOULD go to sleep as Jay is coming with me (Kay) to work tomorrow. But alas, neither one of us are really tired. We will get some writing done in one way, shape, or form and head to bed when we are good and ready.
It has been an epic day. Steve and I (Kay) went to church this morning with some friends (Truman & Melissa). After we got home from church, I was able to squeeze in a 30 minute video chat session with my mom (I miss and love you! Thanks for FINALLY checking out our blog!). Before we knew it, it was time to get Jay from the Nashville International Airport. Her plane was delayed by a few minutes, but that didn’t matter. She arrived and we picked up right where we left off. I helped her roll her suitcases to our truck where Steve was waiting for us.
It didn’t take us long to get on the road with the windows down and the country wind in our hair. It was a beautiful afternoon in Nashville; however, it was time to head South to Franklin! We had an amazing lunch with cousins and Steve’s Aunt and Uncle. After lunch we hung out on the porch, talked, and simply enjoyed the beauty of the world around us. After the visit we headed out seeking the world’s best sno cones from a little stand called “SnoBalls” at the corner of Downs and Columbia in Franklin. They were heavenly!
Jay enjoying her Pina Colada sno-cone in Franklin, Tennessee
Steve enjoying his Mango Sno-Cone in Franklin, Tennessee.
Kay enjoying her Watermelon Sno-Cone in Franklin, Tennessee.
After arriving home, we settled Jay in to our apartment, went out and grabbed some Thai food to go and settled in to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I (Kay still) stayed up and watched the whole thing. Steve went to our room to play a computer game and Jay zonked out on the couch. We had planned on writing all of the blogs this week together; however, I didn’t have the heart to wake her up.
We have an entire week together. There will be no shortage of a good times in the days ahead and we will do our best to document everything!
From our lives to yours, we wish you a very MERRY Easter! Also, all three of us want to wish Jennifer a very happy 31st birthday!!! We hope you had an amazing day!!!
Kay, Jay, and Steve savoring their sno-cones in Franklin, Tennessee.
Nerd To The Word 