5 Things I love about Clarksville, TN

Continuing on my theme of things I love about places I've lived, it's time to move back state side. So, come on down to rocky top with me...

1. Wal * Mart This was probably the one time that I didn't hate visitng the Wal Mart. Seriously, no matter where I've lived, I've been anti Wal Mart. Its hard to explain, but I get a head ache just thinking about going to Wal Mart. Not in Clarksville though. Maybe it was the cool house next to the Wal Mart that looked like the Munsters house, but nicer.

2. Proximity to other cool places. We were only a days drive from places like Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Chatanooga, we even got to Orlando in a day's drive. An extra long day, but still. Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Bristol, the Smokies. We didn't necessarily visit all these places, but the fact that they weren't that far was nice to know.

3. A small town that isn't small. Clarksville was one of those towns that had small town charm without being too Mayberry. We didn't all know each other, but everyone treated each other like we did. It wasn't the big city, but still had everything you might want or need as far as shopping and entertainment. Even a good size University (Austin Peay). I never felt out of place or like I was missing something.


4. Fireflies. The first time I saw fireflies was during my brief visit to meet Mike's parents in Pennsylvania right before we got married. But it was so cool to me to sit on our front porch and watch the fireflies in the field across the street. I never did try to catch any, but that's ok, I like the way the look flying around better anyway.


5. The Grand Ole Opry. Ok, its in Nashville, but only an hour away, and its a must see if in the area. We managed to go twice. And while we didn't have any "big" stars show up, it was still a very cool thing to experience. The informality of it all, not big production. Just country music singers getting up and doing what they love to do.

Determined Much?

Yesterday morning as I dropped the older kids off at Teri's house. Joel wanted to stay too, but he had to go to his babysitter's house. So, he wanted to know if he could stay at her house that night. I said I would ask, and he was ok with that. When I picked him up after work yesterday, he asked me if he could stay at Teri's again. I'd forgotten to ask, so I called her. She said it would be ok, but not until she got home. We went home and did a few things around the house until she called. She had a meeting to go to, but Ernie's cousin would watch him until she got home. So I took him over there. He was happily playing outside on the play eqipment when I left.

This morning I learned what happened after that. Not long after I left he decided he wanted to come home. Ernie offered to drive him, but no, he wanted to walk. He wasn't going to tak no for an answer. Ernie walked with him. As they neared the end of the drive, Teri was coming home. That didn't deter him. He was walking home!

They made it almost halfway to my house when he finally told Ernie that he wanted to go back to their house, and to call Aunt Teri to pick them up. Fortunately Ernie was a good sport and considered it good excercise.

Warning: bragging mom post ahead!

With the end of the school year, its time to bring up the accomplishments of my kids. For a change we'll start from youngest to oldest this time.
Joel is becoming quite the little chatter box. He needs to know how old anyone is when he meets them. He's full of questions, and answers as well. According to him he will be starting school tomorrow (everthing with time is either today, tomorrow or in ten minutes) and he will be going to his purple school. Sounds cool to me!

Mackenzie ended school on the same note she started it. She's an excellent student that is not just praised for her abilities, but also for her compassion for other's in her class. She is the first to help when someone needs it. But can I get her to help with the dishes? Her reading level keeps going up. By the time she's in middle school I'm sure she'll be reading at a college level, lol. She just finished the last book in the Harry Potter series. Her fear of water has all but dissappeared and she's become quite the fish, thanks to all the practice she gets in her Aunt Teri's pool. She also finished her last year in Brownies. She recieved a ton of badges and was bridged into Juniors. Here's some pictures from her awards dinner:



Joey finished his first year of middle school with a bang. He made honor roll and was also accepted into the highly capable program for English & Social Studies. We were delighted with his first concert playing the French Horn. Little did he know he was following in his mom's footsteps when he chose to switch to the French Horn that his mom once played it as well. He is also spending as much time as he can in Aunt Teri's pool. He's also started riding his bike with his aunt and cousins from their house to the office in Marysville in the mornings. (Don't worry folks, there is a bike trail, seperate from the road almost the whole way). He doesn't even mind getting up early and having to hang out in the office all day to do it.

Mackenzie and Joey have also been learning some of the ropes at the office this summer. Learning how to work the fax machine, make copies, file and even fill out job records. I can even pull them away from the computer to get them to help out. Again, so happy to help there, but doing the dishes???? That's ok, I've accepted my role as the evil mom/slave driver.

5 things I love about Turkey

In no particular order, as always...

1. Ephesus. This is an extraordinary place. It has some of the best restored Greek/Roman (this city housed both cultures in each of their primes) ruins in the world. It also has great biblical history (Revelations, Ephesians). The house where the Virgin Mary
is believed to have lived out her later life is nearby, as well as the cave of the 7 sleepers.
Go here for their story.
Ephesus is also close to Kushadasi, a wonderful resort area. Cruise ships dock here, there are beaches, clubs, stores, a carnival, cobblestone streets, outdoor pubs, street venders, and tons of scenic beauty.


2. Pamukale. When I went here the first time, it reminded me of parts of Yellowstone. The difference here, you are allowed to walk on the hills. The white is caused by chalk deposits in the water. You can find out more here.

3. Culture, culture, culture. Those little things that make it unique. The "circumcision" parties are a trip. Close to a combination of a bris and a barmitzvah, when a boy turns 7 he is circumsized. Before the act he is dressed in princly clothes and paraded around town in a convertible with a caravan of friends and family members in the backs of trucks banging drums and blowing horns. After the act there is a huge party that will sometimes go on for days. Families will go into years of debt to "keep up with the Jones'" for these parties. Or election time. Election time brings parades of people shouting in the streets proclaiming their candidate. They will walk in hordes for hours around the city tooting horns, shouting and chanting with banners and flags. Bayramis were great because for us Americans it was a free long holiday. The downside is that during the winter Bayrami (holy holidays) everything is closed from sundown to sun up, oh and the about to be sacrificed sheep can be heard on the balcanies of apartment buildings all over. Now I know the meaning of the Silence of the Lambs. I could go on and on, but for a better take on these fun little cultural things that make Turkey well, Turkey check this book.

4. The places I didn't get to see but wish I did. Like Istanbul
, Dyarbikar, Ankara, Pergamum
. And the list goes on.

5. Ekmek. Turkish word for bread, it was about 10 cents a loaf and you had to get it fresh every morning because after a day it was then only good for hammering nails into the cement walls. But when it was fresh, it was SO good. Along the same lines, when you ran out of gas (propane) you put your empty bottle outside of your apartment and your kapaci (door man/janitor) would exchange it for you and bring it back. Trash also went on the doorstep, picked up and disposed of by the faithful kapaci. Out of bottled water? (and you went through a lot, not even the local drank the tap water) Put your empty bottles out and your kapaci took care of that too. But, don't leave your shoes inn the hallway, they will run away.

5 things I love about Bonn, Germany

1. Rheinaue Park.
I liken this park to Cental Park in NYC. The park is huge and has several facets to it. It is on the Rhein river, but away from downtown. It has restaurants, beir gartens, playgrounds, ball fields, trails, ponds, gardens, and meadows. They hold several big festivals there every year and one Saturday a month is the flohmarkt (flea market). That is always fun, because there is no charge to set up a "booth" so this is where people come to have their "garage sales". After experiencing my first flohmarkt, I tended to avoid the park on flohmarkt Saturdays. A little too chaotic for me. My favorite festival was Rhein en Flamen. This isn't unique to Bonn, it is a festival held up and down the entire Rhein River, but at Rheinaue they set up a carnival with rides, concerts, and fireworks. We lived right on the edge of the park, so it was so easy for us to enjoy these things. Mike's favorite was always the BierFest. Bier stands from around the world were set up all over the main meadow, and you got to keep the glasses.

2. Public Transportation
It was so easy to get around in Bonn, actually in all of Germany for that matter. Trains and buses within the cities were very accessible and not tough to figure out. And to travel from city to city, even country to country was simple. The only time we didn't travel by train was to the south of Spain, and to Italy when we had a serious time constraint to catch our cruise ship. Even when we flew back to the states for a visit, we took the train to the airport. We had the bag toss down to a science. I was in charge of getting the kids and personal items (carry ons, stroller) on board. Then, I'd haul the bags out of the dorrway as Mike threw them in. The trains wait for no one, so it an important skill to have down.
3. Deichman's Shoes
No photo for this one, but this was like Payless in Germany, but better! Don't get me wrong, I love Payless, but this place had top quality shoes for super cheap. I still have several pairs purchased there. It was also great for kid's shoes. At the preschool the kids went to, they were required to have house shoes and boots. Well, the PX being what it was, slippers for little kids was hard to find. Boots too, and I had no time to oder anything online. When I was told I needed house shoes for Joey, I asked around about where to get them. Our Irish friend told me about Deichman's. He gave me some rudimentary directions. It was located off the Theatreplatz in the downtown shopping area. There are no streets in the shopping district, its all plazas and alleys. But, I needed the house shoes. So, one afternoon I loaded up Mackenzie in her stroller, got on the bus and headed out. I could not find the store! After a couple of hours wandering aimlessley, I finally sat down and tried to calm myself. I decided I would go back to the fruit stands I'd passed, get some fruit and just go home. As I was walking back to where the fruit stands were, there it was. I must have walked past it a hundred times! But, I got the house shoes and boots as well. And lots of excercise!

4. Getrankemarkts
The drink stores. These are stores set up specifically for beverages of all kinds. Beer, soda, water, wine, alcohol. They have it all. The beauty is the recycling system. You pay a pfand, or a small fee per case or vessel of beverage. When you return the empties, plastic or glass, you get a refund. The grocery stores do this as well, but they don't have near the selection.
5. Recycling.
Germany made recycling easy. Outside of your apartment building were several containers. You had your paper/plastic container, your metals container, your compost container, and then your trash container. These are huge dumpsters. All you had to do was seperate inside, then put it in the correct bin. And honestly, you didn't have to seperate a whole lot. I realize Washington is good at this, but not every state is. In Tennessee, we had to drive our recyclable materials to the processing place ourselves. And the only processers around were for paper and aluminum. South Carolina, same thing. Oh, and how could I forget Spurmule? That is big trash day. Once a quarter, the city would post the dates for each neighborhood's spurmule day. People then would put out the unwanted furniture, appliances and what not. Then, the public at large had a day to "browse" the neighbor hood for finds before the city picked it up and depending on the condition, toss or reuse what was left on the sidewalks. How cool is that?

Introducing.....

Here is Wes, very happy that I snuck a shot of him in between capturing cars, drivers, the track and what not. He and I are both a bit camera shy, so it is very rare to get one of us on our own. We usually have no problem taking a picture together. I guess we both figure the other person will take any attention to the way personally look in a picture.


Here "we" are at the all star race. For those of you living in the Seattle area, that is the sun shining in our faces.

So, this is Wes. Actually its John Wesley, but he's never gone by his first name and even often forgets that his legal name is John. The kids joke with him all the time saying they'll just call him John, but after the moment, they always forget. Anyway, I figured it was time those who haven't met him yet got to know a little bit about this crazy guy that I'm moving across the country for.

I wonder if I should just put his vital stats up here as if he were a profile I was doing for an athelete or something. But, that seems so impersonal. So I guess I'll try to stay more personal. When I first met him the first thing that struck me, to be a little shallow, he's tall. Not super duper tall, but taller than me. Often times I feel a bit like an amazon. I never considerd myself that tall. I'm no WNBA player or super model, but I tend to feel like I'm one of the taller people in a room. Then again, I can reach things on the high shelves. The second thing I noticed was an interesting contrast between being shy, but not being a wall flower either. He wasn't afraid to talk to me, a stranger, but he also wasn't going to presume to get very personal right off. As a matter of fact, I think I did most of the talking (I know, hard to believe).

What seems to be hard for a lot of people to grasp is that our relationship developed over the phone and over IM. I guess some people think that something like this leaves too many unanswered questions, too many places to "hide". BUT, while we have spent a majority of the time that we've known each other over the phone, we've each also had the chance to observe each other in our natural environments. We've each met the immediate family. I've met his friends. Not so much mine, but that's because most of mine live in other state's. And when he did come to visit me here, I didn't want to overwhelm him. He was already meeting my kids and my family in one trip, didn't want to over do it.

The thing about getting to know each other over the phone over a long period of time is, we really did get to know each other. We talked and talked and talked. We talked about ourselves, our former relationships, our childhoods, good things, bad things, silly things. A couple of times I even pulled out the good 'ol Book of Questions. We shared music over the phone, played name that tune. He has no appreciation for They Might Be Giants, but neither did I at first, so there's time for that. They're even a bit much for Joey. He kind of rolled my eyes at me the first time he heard me sing along to Birdhouse in Your Soul.

So what is there to know about him? He's sweet, stubborn, loyal, hard working, he snores, when he blows his knows it sounds like a cartoon. He's a Redskins fan, not really into baseball, but he tries to follow the Mariners for my sake. He's into NASCAR and convinced me to give it a try. He's a Jeff Gordon fan, but generally likes any of the Joe Gibb's racers for the Redskins association. (Joe Gibbs is the former head coach for the Redskins, he owns a NASCAR team) He plays basketball, but doesn't follow it as closely since Michael Jordan retired. Speaking of, he wears Jordans. He's searching for a pair of retro Jordans that he REALLY wants. I tried to get them for Christmas, but alas, I came up empty. He likes to dance, and can even find the beat. He likes country music, but not exclusively. He complains about the weather unless it is 72* with a light breeze, so that means all the time. He has 2 kids. Russell isn't his, but he is his. He's the only dad he's known, and he isn't treated any differently than his daughter. Brianna is the same age as Joey. I still haven't met them. Just wasn't in the cards the times that I've been out there. That and there are ex wife issues. He makes me laugh, knows how to act like a kid still, but also knows when not to act like a kid. He likes to sleep. Everyone does, I know, but he really likes to sleep. He's also a pain to wake up. Unless its a radio blasting in his ear for more than a minute, he won't hear it. Believe me, I've tried calling in the mornings, I know better now.

Last but not least, he loves me, and that proves he has good taste. :-)

I can finally watch the video!!

My little camera that took this video saves them as a file that my media player can't read. I was getting all kinds of frustrated trying to show it to the kids and not being able to. Yes, I could play it on my camera, but it doesn't have sound, and that was the whole point. But it occured to me last night to try and post it here, and whaddya know, it worked!

Places to See in Europe

I thought I'd take my favorite 5 things in a new direction. I thought why not go with a theme? I figure this could keep me going for a while. I'm starting today with my 5 favorite places in Europe. Not in an attempt to brag about it or seem ultra wordly, but because I think it is a place everyone should try to see in their lifetime. Most of us can trace our roots there, and while Western Europe is just as modern and techno as the US, they still seem to keep the small town feel even in the big cities. I look at pictures of cities in Asia and that isn't necessarily the case, but then again, I haven't been to Asia (yet) so its hard to say. But, I digress, in no particular order:

1. Bonn, Germany I figure this is a good place to start since this is where I lived the longest during my 2 stays in Europe. This was the closest I felt to home in my years being an army wife. The feel is very similar to the northwest. My favorite things about Bonn I think will do for another blog. But, it is a nice city to visit in europe because it isn't as touristy, but still has a lot to offer as far as sight seeing. It's close to more popular cities like Koln (Cologne) and Dusseldorf. (excuse my lack of umlaut [the two little dots above letters}) This was the capital of Western Germany during the cold war years, so there is a very international feel still there with some embassies still there that couldn't afford to move to Berlin, plus it has a large UN outpost there as well. This also means it is not hard to find someone that speaks English if you're in a jam.

2. Western Turkey. Is this the Bahama's? Is it southern Cali? Or maybe the coast of Mexico? Nope, this is Cesme Turkey, and isn't it gorgeous? It is also an inexpensive resort area. It's one of many places I reccomend and love about western Turkey. I think Turkey will need its own top 5 as well. But there are beaches, cities, ancient ruins and natural wonders to behold. And contrary to what many might believe, they love Americans! Really.

3. Paris. For me it was impossible to be in Europe and not go to Paris. Ever since I saw Gigi the first time as a little girl (Thank Heaven!) I wanted to see Paris. And it didn't dissapoint. Notre Dame is just as imposing as you would think. The Eiffel tower may not be worth the ride to the top for the price (much like the space needle) but just standing in the park and taking it in is worthwhile. The walk up the Champs E'llyses up to the Arc du Triumph, the little cafe's and pattisseries, the parks everywhere. Palaces, architecture, the Louvre. And if you can afford it, shopping galore. Je t'aime Paris!

4. Santorini, Greece. This place had me in awe. It was a port call on a cruise we took while living in Germany. We chose to explore the surrounding volcanoes rather than the inhabited island, but even just looking at it from where we were anchored was fascinating. I really would love to visit there again, get to the top and just marvel at the way this rocky, volcanic island became such a wonder.

5. Amsterdam. I had a hard time deciding how to round out this top 5. But, I went with Amsterdam because it has it all. Canals like Venice, great architecture, city life, the red light district however odd to us westerners, its still a bit interesting to see. Museums (the maritime museum was one of Joey's favorites in all of Europe) and of course the Anne Frank house. I've read a lot about Anne Frank, seen every movie version of her story, but being in that Annex where she lived in secret was an experience unlike any other. We almost didn't make it. We were only in Amsterdam overnight. We went by the first afternoon we were there and the line to get in was down the block, around the corner, and down that block. We decided to try again in the morning, but we also had a train to catch. When we got there in the morning, before it even opened, the line wasn't as bad as the day before, but still long, but we decided to atleast try and get in before we had to catch the train. What we found is that once the doors opened, we didn't have to wait at all, we made it inside in about 5 minutes and had plenty of time to explore the house and the museum. Extrodinary.
Yes, I know there are other places not on this list that I saw that I think other's should see if they can, but this is a top 5 not 100, and I had to draw the line somewhere.

Some Backstory

A couple of blogs back I mentioned fun things that I didn't elaborate on. I figured I would get to that.

I was supposed to fly out of Charleston to return home from seeing Wes on May 20th. It was a pretty well set up flight for a non morning person such as myself. My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30 pm, about an hour and a half in Atlanta, arriving home at about midnight. So, it would have been a late night, especially to get up and go to work after being off for a week the next morning, but it was either that or leave at 6:30 am, which just would have been bad. Not to mention next to impossible. The likely hood of getting both Wes and myself out the door at that hour is beyond slim.

As we were driving to the airport, an eerie sound started to give me reservations about my flight. For those of you who've experienced spring in the south, you know what the tone over the radio means. Yep, tornado warning. Funny thing is, the sky at the time was perfectly clear. But, we went on to the airport, the warning did not include Charleston County as of yet. I got checked in and headed for security after we said our goodbyes. The weather was making Wes a bit nervous, so he started heading home instead of waiting until my plane actually took off, as was his routine.

When I got to my gate, they were announcing that they needed us to board as quickly as possible once the plane was unloaded so we could get out ahead of the weather. I think we all did a fairly good job, but not good enough. We started to pull away from the gate, the flight attendants started their safety spiel, and we all thought we would be airborne in a matter of minutes. Not so much. We stopped backing up, then the pilot came on the loudspeaker and informed us we had to stay right where we were, there was lightning above us, so we had to wait it out, but that we were perfectly safe on the plane. I bought that as far as lightning was concerned, but what about the tornado warning?


Well, I was right for thinking that. A few minutes later, we pulled back to the gate and were asked to deplane quickly and once in the terminal, stay clear of the windows. YAY!!!!! I've been through this before. A tornado took out downtown Clarksville, TN when we lived there. So, we're back in the terminal, packed into this kind of vestibule. I gave Wes a call to let him know. He could barely hear me through the rain. He was going 20 mph down a major highway and could barely see. He wanted to get off the road, but couldn't even see the parking lots of the businesses he was passing. He opted to head for his grandma's house which was closer than his own.

Meanwhile, back at CHS, the weather keeps updating, but no one is leaving. People start slowly going back into the main terminal, still not sitting near the windows, but not feeling the need to be against the brick walls of the vestibule anymore. Then, another flight announed reboarding. Well, what about my flight??? A few minutes later, our pilot comes on the intercom to tell us, that yes, they are getting a couple of flights out, but not ours. There is another storm system coming through. He also let us know that as we had been deplaning, the air traffic control tower could see the swirling clouds right above us. It never touched ground, but it was "that" close. Ok, phew, we're relieved. When can we leave? Well he tries to make us all feel better about possibly missing connections in Atlanta because, well, Atlanta is now closed too.

Atlanta/McCarran is one of the busiest airports in the world. If it shuts down for even 30 minutes, it puts it hours behind schedule. So, best case scenarion, I leave Atlanta before midnight, make it home sometime around dawn. Meanwhile spending hours upon hours in one airport or another. That is when I surrendered. I called family and let them know the situation, then marched myself up to the counter and changed my flight to the next day. My bag was irretrievable, but at least I was going to sleep in a bed that night.

.
My choices for leaving the next day included the 6:30 am flight again, or leaving at noon with a 4 hour layover in Atlanta. I chose the layover. Wes had to work, but his sister was nice enough to drop me at the airport. I spent my 4 long hours in Atlanta, had an awesome sandwich from the Atlanta Bread Company, played a lot of Sudoku, and got very acquainted with my playlist on my MP3 player. But, my flight left on time, and I did make it home. My bag was waiting for me at the AirTran baggage office (I actually got it before bags from the flight started coming down), met my mom and dad outside, and made it home just in time to go to bed. At my regular bedtime even.

Just a couple of funny side notes. When planning the trip, Wes was trying to talk me into staying until Wednesday, but I didn't want to miss that many days of work. I guess he'd been onto something. And, here's some irony, Tuesday afternoon before I left (the first time) we'd been watching Twister on Encore. I think the Universe had something to tell me. Good thing it finally made me listen!