Our anniversary was this past Monday, so Kyle and I loaded up and spent a long weekend in the Great Smokey Mountains. There is nothing more inspiring than surrounding yourself with nature……and believe me, we needed it. We spent four days driving in beautiful untouched mountains and valleys, randomly stopping at waterfalls, roaring creeks and mills built over 200 years ago. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
It was also good to spend some much needed quality time with each other…….away from everyone and everything that makes up our everyday life. No work, no computers, no pets, no laundry, no nothing……..and I think that it got us back to ground zero…us. Kyle and Heather. It reminded us that all we need is each other.
There could possibly be a lot of new changes in our lives pretty soon. (Don't freak out Queen Pins….I am not pregnant!) But some things could be coming to an end. Which is sad in some ways, but it opens the door to so many other opportunities. My spirits have been really down lately, but I am trying to look at things in a different light. Things are changing in our world…….and we get a fresh start, a new beginning.
And I know that whatever happens, Kyle will be right there beside me.
Apr 20, 2007
Apr 10, 2007
That Spring-Time Yucky Feeling
Do you ever just not "feel pretty"? I know that I am not the most attractive gal in town, but I don't think that I am bad to look at. I mean, people don't run and hide when I enter a room, so I can't be that bad looking……..but lately I just don't "feel pretty".
I know that it has everything to do with the time of year. The beginning of spring is never a good time for me. My white pasty dry skin has been hiding under thick turtlenecks and wool pants suits all winter long. I don't want to be "that girl" that has shorts on with legs that glow in the dark. And get this…….I own a tanning bed. Well, part of a tanning bed at least. My mother-in-law and I share a tanning bed, but it is at her house and I am too lazy to drive 3 miles to lay in it. Well, that is not entirely the truth. Ever since my mother had skin cancer eight years ago, I feel horribly guilty laying in a tanning bed…….and scared of the consequences it might bring.
My skin isn't just pasty and pale……it has wrinkles too. WRINKLES! WHAT THE HELL??? If these lines on my forehead get any deeper I am going to scream. The wrinkles between my eyebrows are starting to hang out in groups and crows feet are starting to appear. Speaking of eyebrows……they look like huge caterpillars on my face. I am in desperate need of a waxing.
I have not cut my hair since January…….which is not odd for me. I only get my hair cut about 4 times a year, usually whacking off about 2 inches at a time. But it is in desperate need of some attention. My highlight roots can be seen from space, my dead-ends are starting to get very fuzzy and the gray hairs are staring to become more plentiful. You can't really tell if I wear my hair curly all the time…….which Kyle is loving. Of course, my beautician is opening a new salon and won't be open for another week, so I have to suffer a little while longer. I think that I am going to do something different this time. Blonde? Red? Shorter?
My fingernails are not polished and they are far from straight and even in length. I am horrible about trimming them…….and on occasion I still bite them. Don't even get me started on my toe nails and winter feet……..but that problem should be solved this afternoon. Sweet Carolina is treating me to a pedicure. I think she has the winter-time bla's like me.
I guess that I am just feeling sorry for myself. Turning 30 didn't bother me……but I don't want to look older. I hate feeling unattractive.
And after feeling mopey and un-pretty and yucky and completely unattractive…….my husband told me that I looked beautiful today as I was leaving for work. That one little sentence has hung in my mind all day. Even though he didn't know how I feel about myself right now......he still thinks I am beautiful. Gosh-darn-it.....I LOVE THAT MAN!
I know that it has everything to do with the time of year. The beginning of spring is never a good time for me. My white pasty dry skin has been hiding under thick turtlenecks and wool pants suits all winter long. I don't want to be "that girl" that has shorts on with legs that glow in the dark. And get this…….I own a tanning bed. Well, part of a tanning bed at least. My mother-in-law and I share a tanning bed, but it is at her house and I am too lazy to drive 3 miles to lay in it. Well, that is not entirely the truth. Ever since my mother had skin cancer eight years ago, I feel horribly guilty laying in a tanning bed…….and scared of the consequences it might bring.
My skin isn't just pasty and pale……it has wrinkles too. WRINKLES! WHAT THE HELL??? If these lines on my forehead get any deeper I am going to scream. The wrinkles between my eyebrows are starting to hang out in groups and crows feet are starting to appear. Speaking of eyebrows……they look like huge caterpillars on my face. I am in desperate need of a waxing.
I have not cut my hair since January…….which is not odd for me. I only get my hair cut about 4 times a year, usually whacking off about 2 inches at a time. But it is in desperate need of some attention. My highlight roots can be seen from space, my dead-ends are starting to get very fuzzy and the gray hairs are staring to become more plentiful. You can't really tell if I wear my hair curly all the time…….which Kyle is loving. Of course, my beautician is opening a new salon and won't be open for another week, so I have to suffer a little while longer. I think that I am going to do something different this time. Blonde? Red? Shorter?
My fingernails are not polished and they are far from straight and even in length. I am horrible about trimming them…….and on occasion I still bite them. Don't even get me started on my toe nails and winter feet……..but that problem should be solved this afternoon. Sweet Carolina is treating me to a pedicure. I think she has the winter-time bla's like me.
I guess that I am just feeling sorry for myself. Turning 30 didn't bother me……but I don't want to look older. I hate feeling unattractive.
And after feeling mopey and un-pretty and yucky and completely unattractive…….my husband told me that I looked beautiful today as I was leaving for work. That one little sentence has hung in my mind all day. Even though he didn't know how I feel about myself right now......he still thinks I am beautiful. Gosh-darn-it.....I LOVE THAT MAN!
Apr 6, 2007
Sounds of a Small Town
We drove to another town last night to have dinner with some friends that we had not seen since our wedding. They were in town from South Carolina where his military service has taken them. It was good to sit for hours and talk with another couple that is very similar to us.
I was thrilled when they said they were going to move back to this area when his military service was finished. They weren't sure about what town to live in, not wanting the city life of Nashville , but something a little more rural and homey. Then, they asked about Dickson.
Now, I tease about Dickson all the time. It isn't hard. Dickson is about as country as turnip greens. There are things in this town that have not changed for fifty years. That is the way that people like it and that is the way it is going to be…….dag-nab-it. If you don't like it…….go somewhere else.
If you listen to the only AM radio station in town, you will get a good feel of what Dickson is really like. WDKN aired its first broadcast in January of 1955 and it sounds like nothing has changed in the 52 years that it has filled the airwaves. Some of the daily lineups include the agri-business news, friendly neighbor time, Crazy Chucky's Country Classic Corner, things to do in Dickson County and the staples of Paul Harvey and Focus on the Family. There are prayers and hymns sponsored by local churches and an obituary report every afternoon. (Because the paper is only published twice per week and someone might be pushin' up daisies before it is in print.)
There are two times in the day that I really get a kick out of…….Swap-N-Shop Times! This is a very popular show in Dickson that comes on in the morning and the evening. If you are ever in the need for fresh farm eggs, chicken manure, guns, puppies, Volkswagen parts, Star Trek tapes, Cadillac converters or ping-pong tables, please let me know. I will be happy to listen to Swap-N-Shop for you.
The best part of the show is listening to the people that call in. Apparently it is the same people every day and the DJ knows them by voice. They talk about how their daddy is sick or how hot the weather is…….and somebody is missing a real deal on the goats that they have for sale.
WDKN also shows a softer side to Dickson. For the whole month of April, the radio station has an auction for one hour in the afternoons. All of the proceeds go to Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. It melts my heart to listen every afternoon. Today is only the fifth day of the auction and they have already sold over 700 items. Almost every business in town donates some kind of item or service. There are homemade cakes, cookies and pies of every kind made by every grandmother in town………some that sell for well over a hundred dollars. There are ferns, peonies, lilies and tulips. Items can range anywhere from a tea-kwon-do gift certificate to a stop sign donated by the public works department…..each item donated in the memory of someone special.
I am glad that I live in a town that has a radio station like WDKN and I think, no matter how much I giggle, that its programming reflects our small town life to a T. I am glad that I live in a place where Sundays are filled with church and family, where people eat dinner together, where there is bluegrass music at the Grand Ol' Hatchery every Saturday night, and where there are more hardware stores than clothing shops. I am glad that I live in a place where I am not scared to leave my door unlocked or my windows open. A place where I look forward to raising my children, where lightening bugs dance in my yard at twilight, and where there is a 90% chance that I am related to the person driving the tractor down the road.
I truly hope that my friends and their children come to live in Dickson County . I am sure that they will appreciate its charm as much as I do.
I was thrilled when they said they were going to move back to this area when his military service was finished. They weren't sure about what town to live in, not wanting the city life of Nashville , but something a little more rural and homey. Then, they asked about Dickson.
Now, I tease about Dickson all the time. It isn't hard. Dickson is about as country as turnip greens. There are things in this town that have not changed for fifty years. That is the way that people like it and that is the way it is going to be…….dag-nab-it. If you don't like it…….go somewhere else.
If you listen to the only AM radio station in town, you will get a good feel of what Dickson is really like. WDKN aired its first broadcast in January of 1955 and it sounds like nothing has changed in the 52 years that it has filled the airwaves. Some of the daily lineups include the agri-business news, friendly neighbor time, Crazy Chucky's Country Classic Corner, things to do in Dickson County and the staples of Paul Harvey and Focus on the Family. There are prayers and hymns sponsored by local churches and an obituary report every afternoon. (Because the paper is only published twice per week and someone might be pushin' up daisies before it is in print.)
There are two times in the day that I really get a kick out of…….Swap-N-Shop Times! This is a very popular show in Dickson that comes on in the morning and the evening. If you are ever in the need for fresh farm eggs, chicken manure, guns, puppies, Volkswagen parts, Star Trek tapes, Cadillac converters or ping-pong tables, please let me know. I will be happy to listen to Swap-N-Shop for you.
The best part of the show is listening to the people that call in. Apparently it is the same people every day and the DJ knows them by voice. They talk about how their daddy is sick or how hot the weather is…….and somebody is missing a real deal on the goats that they have for sale.
WDKN also shows a softer side to Dickson. For the whole month of April, the radio station has an auction for one hour in the afternoons. All of the proceeds go to Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. It melts my heart to listen every afternoon. Today is only the fifth day of the auction and they have already sold over 700 items. Almost every business in town donates some kind of item or service. There are homemade cakes, cookies and pies of every kind made by every grandmother in town………some that sell for well over a hundred dollars. There are ferns, peonies, lilies and tulips. Items can range anywhere from a tea-kwon-do gift certificate to a stop sign donated by the public works department…..each item donated in the memory of someone special.
I am glad that I live in a town that has a radio station like WDKN and I think, no matter how much I giggle, that its programming reflects our small town life to a T. I am glad that I live in a place where Sundays are filled with church and family, where people eat dinner together, where there is bluegrass music at the Grand Ol' Hatchery every Saturday night, and where there are more hardware stores than clothing shops. I am glad that I live in a place where I am not scared to leave my door unlocked or my windows open. A place where I look forward to raising my children, where lightening bugs dance in my yard at twilight, and where there is a 90% chance that I am related to the person driving the tractor down the road.
I truly hope that my friends and their children come to live in Dickson County . I am sure that they will appreciate its charm as much as I do.
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