Writer's Block

 

~photo credit~

14 years ago I started college at Western Kentucky University. I never finished. 

Last fall, I decided it was time to give it a go again. So I took two classes, an Office/Business course and a General Education credit. I did the same thing in the spring. After sitting out the summer semester, I've began my third semester at WKU with Office Administration and English 100. 

I think I'm totally going to fail! I feel like I have the hardest time figuring out what the homework assignment truly is or when it's due. I'm 32! I should understand the syllabus! I hope I can make it through this semester with passing grades. I don't know what I'll do if I don't. You know, you think to yourself "self, you're not the worst writer in the world". Then you have to take ENG 100. 

Just wish me luck... I think I'm going to need it.

The Long and Winding Weekend

Well... We decided to pack a bag, yet again. We all had a long weekend, so we decided it would be fun to get away. Smoky Mountains, here we come! 

We got into Pigeon Forge in the afternoon on Saturday and traffic was insane! Everyone else had the same idea we did. After sitting in traffic for a while, we finally got to our hotel. We had just enough time to change and freshen up a bit before heading over to The Dixie Stampede for dinner. 

(Here we are waiting for the show.)

After the show, we headed back to the room where we all pretty much crashed early. It felt good to crawl into bed after a long day on the road in Labor Day Weekend traffic. 

Sunday morning, we headed over to our favorite pancake place for breakfast. Here, Nolan wanted his photo taken with this tree statue. So... here's our little tree hugger...

 

After breakfast, we headed over to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Nolan has only been asking to go there for like two years. LOL. Finally... we decided to take him. I think we all had a really good time. 

 

(Top: Dad, Nolan, and Mom enjoying a pretty school of fish. Bottom Left to Right: A lovely jellyfish, Nolan enjoying a display, and a shark swimming around us)

 

(Clockwise from Top Left: Seahorses, Lion fish, Nolan watching the fish, and the most awesome thing ever... a Sea Dragon)

 

(Left to Right: Starfish, Nolan and Mom looking into the penguin habitat, Mom and Nolan crawling through the tunnels of the penguin habitat)

After enjoying the aquarium together, we decided to take a pic!

 

The flowers were so pretty. There were lots of these flowers and bushes alongside the aquarium. 

We headed back toward the hotel after visiting the aquarium and decided to let Nolan play a little at The Track. He didn't get to ride too many things because it began to rain. 

 

He did get to ride the tilt-a-whirl type of dizzy car and also race on the go-karts. Well... before he hurt his knee and had to get off. We're still not sure what exactly happened. But it was red and he was crying. Mom and Dad came back from their walk across the parkway to the Harley shop just before the rain started coming down pretty heavily. Nolan decided he wanted to ride the bumper boats. So Mom and Dad decided they'd ride with him. Then Nolan decided he was not into that. LOL. So we left... headed back to the room to rest a bit. We ended up doing a little bit of shopping at the outlet mall and then headed to dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. Nolan fell asleep on the way there and slept the entire time we were at dinner. Mellow Mushroom was awesome and we discovered the best pizza on the planet there. You've got to try it, if you haven't already. Yum!

Before dinner, we had decided on going to Wonder Works (the upside-down house). Nolan talks about it every time we go to the mountains. So this time, we decided to check it out. Because he was asleep, we decided it would be our adventure before leaving town on Monday.

Wonder Works was pretty cool. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect to begin with. But there were things for everyone to do. It was a children's museum for adults, too. So much fun!

 

(Left to right: Mom snowboarding, Nolan pitching to Ken Griffey, Jr., Nolan landing a space shuttle, and Nolan the astronaut)

 

(Left to right: Dad playing with the robot arm, and the Spacewalk Challenge... you'll see...)

(Clockwise from top left: Larea and Dad waiting in line to do the Spacewalk Challenge, Larea suiting up just before realizing this wasn't going to happen {hey, she did better than me! I didn't even want to get in the line. haha!}, Dad made it to the top of the challenge, and Dad walking the ropes)

After Wonder Works, we decided it was time for lunch and headed back into downtown Gatlinburg for a Fannie Farkle Ogle dog. They're the best corn dogs ever and well worth the travel back into town to get them. After all of that, we headed home. The traffic was crazy, yet again. But everyone else was heading home, too. There was also rain... lots of rain. We did take a short cut from the downtown Pigeon Forge traffic by utilizing Veterans Memorial Drive off of Dollywood Lane. It was good to not have to wait so long in that awful traffic. But, we caught up with it in Sevierville. I-40 traffic was pretty much stop and go. But we eventually made it home. 

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm about ready to go again. I guess that's how it is when you come from a traveling, on-the-go kind of family. This weekend, we're staying put though. There's a very special little boy who's turning 4 on Sunday and we all get to celebrate that with him. So excited! But so sad that he's growing up so fast. 

Until the next post, have a great day!

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday Night...

Sometimes I look into the mirror and see a 32 year old staring back at me. But I'm not so sure I feel like a 32 year old. And I'm not so sure I look like a 32 year old should look. I just know I'm 32. So I see 32 when I look in the mirror.

But you know that saying "you're only as old as you feel"? What kind of crap is that, really? Yeah, sure... I feel like I should be in my mid-late twenties. I feel like I am can still be fun. I feel like I am can still dress up and have a good time. But is that only in my head? Some days I feel 100 years old. And some days I feel 19 again. So do I take those ages and average it out?? If that's the case, I'm nearly 50. That might be more like it.

And then there's the whole "biological clock" mumbo-jumbo. I'm apparently already out of my prime child-bearing years. (tic-tock, tic-tock) I wish Nolan had someone to play with. And I wish there were some sweet baby in my life. But saying that... I wonder what that would be like, for real. (tic-tock) And like I've always said... I don't know if I could ever love another child the way I love Nolan... and he isn't even mine! I know, ridiculous. What's the age you should stop having children? I need to make sure I make up my mind about kids before that age gets here and it's too late. (tic-tock) And then... I'd need to find someone willing to drop a few tadpoles for that to happen. I'm not seeing too many takers lining up outside my door.

Speaking of Nolan... he's got a birthday coming up soon. I've already been doing a little pre-birthday shopping for him. I might need to pick a few more things up before then. Time goes by way too fast for me.

Okay... so that was a typical "5 minute thinking session" on a typical Tuesday night. Thanks for sharing it with me.

Eyes Fixed on the Sun

So... I just wanted to post that I hated that Cage The Elephant did not win Best Rock Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. And yes, I voted daily. There's just a sense of pride you get when someone from your hometown... a band you've seen play at your hometown bar many times... gets nominated for such an award. What a great thing it is to have such an awesome band from Bowling Green, KY. Congratulations, guys, on your nomination. And who knows?! Maybe there'll be  Grammy in your future.

~Video Credit~

In other news... my boss is retiring this week. He's been with the company for many, many years and I'm so happy to see him doing something for himself. Friday night, we took him out for a good time of hot wings, beer, and waitress-ogling. LOL. Most of our instructors showed up to wish him well in his next endeavors. It was so good to see such a great turnout. And I'm so happy he had a great time. I hope he'll remember how much we care about him and that we wish him the best!

Saturday, I was about to die to get out of the house!! I wanted to get out and go somewhere, anywhere. I tried to get everyone to go to the mountains with me. But no one was taking the bait I was tossing about. We ended up doing a little shopping in Lebanon. Well, I say shopping but no one bought anything except for mom. LOL. Later on, I met my best girl at Friday's (BG's most under-rated restaurant/bar... yeah I know the food is decent but the drinks and the atmosphere make up for it). We had the best time catching up and laughing about everything. I've missed those nights. It was so good for both of us. 

And today, I started shopping for my nephew's birthday. It's only a couple of weeks away (2 weeks from today exactly). So I thought I'd better get a move on it since games were on sale this week. I'm already wondering what to get him for Christmas. You know it's just like 15 weeks away, right?! That's like no time at all!! So I need to get a move on. Also today, I cleaned up around my room a bit and tried to de-clutter. It's so hard to do when you're a pack-rat. But I'm getting better at getting rid of things. I bought some more scarves today in hopes that weather will cool off soon and I can really enjoy them. There's nothing worse than buying clothes for the next season so early. But if you wait, they'll be gone. 

Oh well, that's my weekend in a nutshell. Happy dreams my friends...