Back in the Swing Friday Fotos

 

My last first week of school is in the books. 8 more until my last Fall Break. It's been an exhausting week and I haven't even started seeing my students yet!

I made scones from a King Arthur Mix and they were delicious!

Looks like I wasn't the only one tuckered out by the end of the week!

My stuff is back in the room but no flooring. I'm hearing over "break" but I don't think what break was specified. I'm glad they polished the floor, but the concrete dust was everywhere. 

After over 2 weeks the Mystery Machine is back! CH took her to a place for routine maintenance on the brake line but the people messed it up so he had to have it towed to another place to have it fixed. It was weird not seeing her in the driveway. I missed her!

Gurl Dogg was just too tired to chew on the chewy one morning but she kept it close so Laika wouldn't snatch it from her!

On Election Day I drove over to this restaurant in the mountain town to grab a sandwich.

It's right on the river so you can sit outside and enjoy the sound and the view. 

How cool is this? When you walk in you walk through the chapel to get to the bar area to order food.

As I said...1 week down, and 8 more to go until Fall Break. I'm really making an effort to be in the moment and not take pictures. With school back in session, there's not just a whole lot else going on!

{Weekend Wrap-up} An Emotional Yet Exciting Weekend

It's been a while, huh? Seems like I've said that once or twice before! Things are happening in the Small Town. The big thing is that the roads are torn up in preparation for some major road work. It's supposed to make getting to Knoxville easier. We'll see. I have a hard time believing that the businesses that the new road is going to bypass are okay with the new road. But, the paper says they are, so it must be true. 😖
Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending an "Aggie Muster" in Knoxville. If you read my post A Very Special Weekend in a Very Special Place, you know how connected my family is to Texas A&M. Aggie Muster is another long standing tradition that is embraced by all Aggies. Every April 21st, Aggies gather near their homes to remember those who have passed over the year. Since my daddy passed away in February, his was one of the names called at roll call. My sister (who is currently working on her Ph.D. at A&M) did the honor of saying "here" when daddy's name was called. Following roll call, "Silver Taps" is played. And my tears came. I thought about how Daddy loved the Aggies. He was so proud to be an alumnus. He always had several Texas Aggie Magazines and books next to his chair in the living room. He always watched the different sports teams when they were on tv. He is an Aggie through and through. 

Thankfully, the president of the A&M Club allowed me to go in. My sister had been in contact with another man about my coming, and he said I could come; however, he didn't let the president know. At one point he said that we could eat downstairs and come up for Muster, but then he came back and said they'd bring in a table if they had to. And that's how I got in. And, that's how I met this guy:

This is John Chavis, also known as "Chief". He is the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach for A&M. He also coached at UT (That's the "real" UT: Tennessee!) and LSU. I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to talk to him, but we were able to talk to him following Muster. I introduced myself, told him Daddy was an alum of '50, and that he passed away in Feb. Coach Chavis sounded so sincere when he apologized for our loss. I then told him that Daddy often said that Coach was the best defensive coach around and that he was a big fan. He was just so down to earth. He is now one of my favorite people! 1 thing that he said while he was speaking to the crowd: He said he envied Aggies because of all of the tradition. I know how he feels. I envy my sister that she's a part of this great tradition. Even if I had been a serious student in high school, I would have never had the opportunity to be an Aggie. Daddy was insistent that we all attend a college in-state. 
Okay, enough of that! That probably could be a blog post in itself! After Muster, I opened up a bottle of Peach Mead and we sat down to watch Steel Magnolias. My sister was up at the crack of dawn to head back home...too much to do, and CH & I had an appointment to see about some kitchen cabinets. We were planning on going to the Rossini Festival in downtown Knoxville, but it poured pretty much all day. So, when we left our kitchen appointment, we were hungry. We found this really neat looking place:

The building is an old Texaco station, and they brew their own beer in the brewhouse, which is just to the right of the picture.

It was really cool, and the food (and beer!) was excellent. The inside:

It's definitely a place we'll go back to. We were disappointed about not going to the festival; we went a couple of years ago and it was excellent. A lot of different music groups in the area perform; YS' fencing group had exhibitions as well. 
Saturday night, I attempted to make pizza with my new breadmaker. Now that I know when the dough cycle stops, I think it will work! It was edible; next time will be even better! We watched Chamber of Secrets; well, most of it. I didn't make it to the end...it was past my bedtime.
Since the cabinet shopping on Saturday was a bust (very good price; I just don't think I'll be happy with it in a few years), we did more shopping on Sunday. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want; now we'll see if I can get what I want with my budget! With any luck, my kitchen is going to look very different than it does now:

And I can't wait!!!

{Weekend Wrap-Up} Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

My Cooper SIL & I have been talking about doing this for a couple of years, but we finally did it! Since we both have a birthday in March, we thought this would be a perfect month for a girls' weekend. Chattanooga was the perfect spot since it's halfway between both of our houses. The hotel where we stayed couldn't have been more perfect. We were able to park our cars there when we arrived, and didn't need them until we left on Sunday.
On Friday, we sat for a while & caught up, then we had to find some dinner. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we had to find an Irish Pub, and the hotel employee we spoke with had the perfect spot for us. 

At first, we sat in the pub, until we realized there was outdoor seating. We were able to escape the smoke in the pub, and, thankfully, it was warm enough to be very comfortable sitting outdoors. 
After we ate, we walked around for a bit and strolled into the Moon Pie General Store.The only thing I bought was some vanilla Moon Pie Coffee.  I love moon pies, but I knew if I bought something, I'd want to eat it. And, I've been doing well with not eating sweets...until Friday night. My SIL makes a wicked peanut butter cake, and she brought one for us. With a glass of cold milk, the cake was just amazing. We got back to the hotel, watched Miss Congeniality 2 and had our cake.
Saturday, we followed some friends' advice and ate at a popular biscuit place.

The line was long, but moved quickly. It was very worth it. They had maple coffee that was so good that we dropped back by that night to buy some to take home.
We strolled down to the Rivermart in the parking lot of the Tennessee Aquarium. We visited booths of some very talented artists. Our favorite booth was jewelry made from classic books. They had earrings, necklaces, bracelets. We were mesmerized and couldn't pull ourselves away. If you have a book-lover in the family, check out their Facebook page. These are some pictures of some of the other jewelry they offer. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the book jewelry.

 There was also a lady that made jewelry out of hardware; it was beautiful. How she could look at a sprocket and know it would make beautiful earrings is beyond me. She has an Etsy shop, so go check it out.
We walked over to St. Paddy's on the Parkway and were instantly under-whelmed. The entry fee went to a good cause, but it was much smaller than we thought it was going to be. The most excitement I had was meeting Tank:

My SIL said he was unhappy because he had on a green tutu. Poor little thing! He was such a sweetheart.
Then, we saw these guys the night before, and they showed up on the Parkway:

There were bands on the outdoor stage:

And we knew there were going to be some inside, too, so we headed in The Honest Pint:

We were awed by the building:

 I ordered the same kind of beer I had before we came in, and was disappointed. My SIL ordered Harp, and was told that they were out. So, we ordered Guiness Blonde, and it was flat. I felt sorry for our waitress...she had a few tables upstairs and downstairs. We ordered a couple of appetizers, but were told that they were out of the dip. (And then my SIL saw someone eating some later.) All of that didn't deter us from sitting at the table for a few hours and enjoying some of the music. This was our favorite (Molly Maguires):

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw some interesting structures. The Dome:

Part of the First Methodist Church in 1881:

A random gate that my SIL noticed:

Eyes on a building. There's also a confederate statue on a fountain and a cannon in front of the building. This would appear to be a popular hangout with the college crowd.

My SIL noticed the tile on this building:

We ate a supper of biscuits & peanut butter cake (with milk, of course!) and watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. Overall, it was a pretty low-key weekend, but it was so nice to be able to spend time with my SIL...alone. Without the guys and without distractions.
Before I left Chattanooga, I went to Mass at the Minor Basilica, Sts. Peter and Paul. I saw the building as we were walking back to the hotel (it's across the street from The Dome Building), but I didn't realize that was it because it looks very non-descript on the outside. Oh, but inside!

 The altar

The 3 physical signs that a church is a "lesser basilica": 

 The first is the presence of the conopaeum — a silk canopy designed with stripes of yellow and red, traditional papal colors.  The minor basilicas also have the right to display the papal symbol as in the above picture (the crossed keys). 

The third is the tintinnabulum, or bell. It is mounted on a pole and carried processionally, along with the conopaeum, at the head of the clergy on special occasions.

 I'm not sure about this side of the altar. 

This side is pretty self-explanatory, especially if you're a Catholic!

 The stained-glass windows were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The Stations of the Cross:

 Kilgen Organ. The Basilica has had the same organist since 1960.

 As American Churches go, this one is pretty old: 1890. But, as in European Churches, it's always important to look up.

The Mass was different than what I'm used to: lots of chanting with Latin thrown in, and, during the Eucharist Prayer the priest had his back to the congregation. It was just amazing.

So...back to work tomorrow, but no kids, making it almost like a day off! 9 more weeks until summer break!