Fryin' Pan has WIRELESS!

John and I are sitting here in a Fryin' Pan in Yankton, SD with our good friend Ronnie. I don't want to type long... cause it has been so long since we've seen him... we've got some catching up to do. But... I'm also excited to find out that the Fryin' Pan really does have wireless internet (Cassy told me they did... but it just seemed too good to be true.)

Right now, we're stoppin' in Yankton on our way to Sioux Falls. Got some more catching up to do with Denice and the peeps up in the Dakotas, too.

We've been in Nebraska since Saturday visiting the Petersen clan. Good times. Good times. Sure wish there wasn't 1000 miles between us.

OK... must go. Thanks for all the cool Christmas wishes on my phone, e-mail and my space. Can't wait to tell you more about our travels when we return to Music City.

XO.

A Shuffle and John Heffron

Clocky and I exchanged Christmas presents last night... and he confirmed once again that he's the coolest husband EVER.

Knowing that I have big plans to work out and take better care of myself in 2007, he gave me a cute little iPod Shuffle. It's soooo adorable and I've already loaded, charged and listened to it. Yummy.

AND... he also surprised me with tickets to see Jon Heffron in at Zanies in February. YAY! He's soooo hilarious. Can't wait.

Now... we're on our way to visit family and friends in Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa. Cassy has been here all week and is riding back to Nebraska with us... It's been so fun. I wish she could stay here every day.

So if you don't hear from me for a little while... it's because we're having fun celebrating the holidays with our family. I'll miss ya... but will tell you all about it when we get back.

Happy Holidays!

Cassy Elf and My Holiday Sweater

First there was BB Elf.
Then there was Johnny Elf.
Now.... here's Cassy Elf.
Heh heh.

And, you know what else I discovered?

There are tons of other sites to visit from this page. Roll over the Office Max logo in the bottom right corner and you'll see them.

Check out my awesome sweater. I made it myself with My Holiday Sweater.

Or try these, too.
Shake the Globe
Reindeer Armwresting
Save the Snowman
Don't Shoot Your Eye Out

What a GREAT viral idea.

6 weird things about me

Way back on 11/30 I was tagged by Linda... unfortunately life has been getting in the way of my blog posting and reading time latesly. So, I finally saw the post last week... and I know it's late... but I'll give it a shot anyway.

6 weird things about me

1. This farm girl used to get confused by eating times... for example, to me "lunch" meant "dinner" and "dinner" meant "supper". (Lunch is a snack you have at 4 or 5 in the afternoon, usually out in the field.) Of course, now that I'm officially a "town girl" after living away from home for almost 20 years, I've settled into the city terminology. Now, when I go home to visit I get confused. Heh... go figure.
   
   
2. My favorite Christmas movie ever is "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas".
   


3. I used to chase hot air balloons. Seriously. My friend Kay and her husband Mark are professional hot air balloon pilots. I crewed and flew with for her for several years... and even trained to be a pilot. It's amazing. I highly recommend it.
   


4. I graduated from college without having to borrow money to pay for it. Had a little dough from my Grandparents and I sold my 4-H animals to help save for college tuition. Since that wasn't quite enough to complete my college experience, I always had at least two, sometimes three jobs. I was a pizza delivery driver, an X-ray transporter, a waitress, a cook, a marketing assistant and a resident assistant... all the while carrying 18 - 20 credit hours a semester. Needless to say, between studying, class and work, I slept about 2 - 3 hours a night. (My friend Denice recently confessed to me that she thought I was certifiable at the time.)
   
   
5. I don't like to sleep. I always feel like I'm missing out on something. It may have something to do with #4.
   
   
6. I'm a little OC about cupboard and fridge organization. At home, everything has its place and, thankfully, John only occassionally uses my obsession to mess with me. I even find myself reorganizing the cupboards and fridge at work. All the snacks in one place, all the soda on the same shelf in rows, etc. Oh yeah... and there can only be one of something open at a time... one peanut butter, one butter, one milk, etc. It's a sickness.
   

Tagging: Denice, Tessa, Eric, Sarah, Chez Bez and DPop. Show me the weirdness!

TONIGHT: Benefit concert performance by LeAnn Rimes & friends

I'm thinkin' about going to this tonight in Leiper's Fork. It's a benefit to help a 6-year-old boy who burned 1/3 of his body in a bonfire accident over Thanksgiving.

From the Tennessean story in today's paper: The lineup includes not only Rimes and Jay DeMarcus (of Rascal Flatts) but also Jeffrey Steele, Chris Janson, Holly Williams, Sarah Buxton, Tom Bukovac, Jeffrey Flowers, Chris McHugh, Darrell Brown, Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, Jill Colucci and several “unannounced, surprise guests.”

A silent auction from 6 to 9 p.m. is also planned. Musical entertainment starts at 6:30 p.m.

And, if you're like me, I wasn't sure where to find the Hillsboro - Leiper's Fork Community center... so, here's a link to it at Google Maps.

Maybe I'll see you there!

7 TONIGHT at Lyrix Cafe

Hey friends... did it again. Forgive me for the short notice, but just wanted to let you know that Karleen, Lala and I are kickin' off a fun night at Lyrix Cafe TONIGHT at 7 p.m.

Come at 7 and plan to stay.
It's going to be a grat night of great songwriters and performers hosted by Mark Stephen Jones.

7 - ??? p.m.
Lyrix Cafe
94 Peabody (1st & Peabody - just east of downtown)

We'd love to see your smiling face!
And, if you don't have a smile... one will be provided for you.
**wink**

Hope to see you there!
**mwah**

Elf Yourself

Thanks to Chris for finding this holiday fun.

Go ahead... make an elf of yourself!
**wink**

I did.

And... HEEEEeeeerrreeee's Johnny Elf, too. (He's funky dancing.)

Pay it Forward

Got home from my round tonight (it was a blast BTW... thanks to everyone who came out!), to find Pay It Forward on TBS.

I really, really, really like this movie. It says something. As someone who owns zero movies... this is probably one I would own. Everytime I see it, it motivates me to try to be a better person.

And, I guess it does the same for other people, too. I had no idea there was a Pay It Forward Foundation.

Nice.

9 TONIGHT @ 12th & Porter

Wow... today snuck up on me.
So, forgive me for the short notice, but just wanted to let you know that Lala, Karleen and I are singin' in-the-round tonight, 9 p.m., at 12th & Porter in Nashville.

Come on out!
Thankulicious.

Phishers Use Coke and McDonald's as Brand Bait

Don't take the bait friends... they're thieves!

From the AdAge e-newsletter...
Bogus Web Sweepstakes Use Identities of Nonfinancial Companies - NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A November e-mail signed by a Hong Kong-based Coca-Cola sales and marketing manager promised a Mercedes-Benz ML Jeep convertible and a chance at $800,000 cash for entries submitted to a link in the e-mail. The offer didn't signify an aggressive interactive-marketing effort. It was a "phishing" expedition. And the first clue might have been that there is no such car as a Mercedes-Benz ML Jeep convertible.
>> FULL ARTICLE

If you receive suspicious e-mail, report it to: PhishTank.com

How many have YOUR name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 183 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

991 marathons, triathalons and races

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son team that have run more than 991 marathons, triathalons and races together. Oh yeah... and they've also climbed mountains and stuff, too.

Amazing by itself, right?

Well... how about this?

Rick was born a spastic quadriplegic, cerebral palsy, non-speaking person. He can't walk or talk. Which means Dick, his father, has pushed or pulled his son across all those finish lines.

That is super human on so many levels.

Find out more at TeamHoyt.com.

Thanks to Chase and Lemmie for telling me about this inspiring story.

Gratitude.

My friend David at Teambonding e-mailed me about a cool experience he had at the airport yesterday.

"At the airport, we had to change planes so in between, I went to get lunch for the flight, a sandwich. I was standing behind two men. The one in the front of the line was a soldier on his way back to Iraq. The guy in front of me thanked the soldier for his service and they had a conversation about how the American public looked and thought about the effort. The guy in front of me was a Vietnam Vet and I listened to the conversation, entranced in the moment of the soldier really appreciating the kind words. When they got to the cashier, the guy in front of me paid for the soldiers lunch. It was a heartwarming moment only topped by the cashier saying that it was the third time it happened that day. No matter what your politics, it was nice to see and it made me proud that there were people out there doing that."

The story inspired me... so I thought I'd pass it along to you.

We need more of this in the world.

The Wayback Machine

I had forgotten all about this handy little tool until I ran across it in an online marketing article. So, I thought I'd share it with you.

Basically, you use the "wayback machine" to see the evolution of a website... in fact for more than 83 million sites over the past nine years.

Go ahead... try it.
It's pretty cool.

I thought it was morning.

Been feelin' sick this week. Basically, I have the crud that's been going around I think. Went to the doctor today. As I expected, they basically told me I have to wait it out. Drink lots of fluids, take cold medicine, get plenty of vitamin C (you know the drill).

So, I worked from home a little this morning before my appointment at 11 and then had big plans to work from home after my appointment.

Yeah, right.

I had a little soup for lunch at around 1:30 when I returned, worked a little and then at about 3:30 I decided to laydown for a little bit. Just couldn't keep my eyes open and was pretty much not coherent (remind me to check the work I did get done... heh.)

Well... at around 7:30 p.m. I woke up from "laying down" for a little bit. AND, when I woke up, I thought it was morning. It was one of those times I wish someone besides the cats would have been here to witness it. I was very confused and I'm sure it was a funny, funny sight. Heh. But, I guess I slept pretty hard if I thought I slept all night.

In fact... I think I'm going to go back to bed right now so I can actually work tomorrow.

Night, night.

Franklin Cinema closing 1/15/07

John and I have been talking about taking in a movie in Franklin forever... and we still haven't done it.

Guess we'd better hop to it, huh?!

And, if the theatre can't be sustained, I hope they find a way to preserve it for other uses... like concerts or a dinner theatre or something. It would be a shame to let rent money determine the fate of such a historical building.

Do Not Resuscitate

An 80-year-old woman from Dyersville, Iowa had "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on her chest.

I guess that's one way to make sure her wishes are carried out.

Wow.

New axles... arrrggggghhhh.

Well... after seeing two mechanics... the verdict is in:

Both of the axles need to be replaced on my Subaru Forrester.

Apparently the U-joints went out and even though I've asked about the shimmy when I turn twice in the last six months and even had work done on the wheel in August when my clutch took a dive, no one thought to look at my axles / U-joints until now.

So... looks like I'll be putting another $600 - 700+ dollars into my "paid for" car. At more than 167,000 miles there are bound to be things crapping out... I'm just not sure I have the patience for it... I think it is time to go through the budget and see how much we've spent fixing it this year to see if it is actually worth it.

Train cake pan

Got a link to this in a Williams Sonoma e-mail.

It's a must have for all you Train lovers out there (John, Tommy, Chase, Chris, Colin... and oh I know there are more!). So, Santa, if you're reading this... you may want to add this to the wish list of a few people.

**wink**

What the heck is dark dining?

Chris (head of cabedge) hipped us to a concept called "dark dining" last night.

Basically, there are restaurants, like Opaque in LA, where you dine in complete darkness and all of the servers are legally blind.

Watch a report about dark dining at CBS.com.

Intriging.

What American accent to you have?

Thanks to Jer and Tessa for posting about this quiz.
(Still not sure why Ohio is considered the "Midland"... it's not in the middle.
Oh well.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
North Central
Boston
The West
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

TWO Gigs Saturday!

Got a couple gigs on Saturday night (tomorrow).

Come on out if you can swing it... come to both if you want to!

Saturday, 12/2
6 - 8 p.m.
Douglas Corner
Connie Carter, Me, Scott Lindsey & Steve Cranford

THEN... one hour later....

Saturday, 12/2
9 p.m. - 12 a.m.
Jonathan's (Bellevue location)
Danny Torroll Band featuring Danny Torroll on guitar, Me on vocals, Tommy Mac on bass and
Rick Schell on drums and vocals.