international whiskey/BBQ relations
It was always interesting to hear what French people would say when I told them I was from Tennessee. I expected the Elvis comparisons and even country music would not have surprised me. However the first thing they usually said was 'Jack Daniels Whiskey'... The first time I heard that I thought how strange. Then I heard it almost everytime. I just never knew how famous the whiskey was outside of America. However this weekend I understood it!
I grew up about 30 minutes from the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. It is located in a small county that we rivaled in football when I was in high school. My senior year our physics teacher actually took us on a field trip to the distillery. The lemonade samples were great. Lynchburg is in a dry county so they can't actually serve the whiskey in the county. What a strange little world.
On Saturday for the first time ever I attended the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbeque. I spent the day weaving my way through crowds full of leather wearing motorcycle riders, small town folks, big town folks, canadians, and europeans. No I am not kidding about any of those. I saw more things covered in leather than anyone should ever have to see!!! But I digress...It was the countries represented that amazed me. Canada, Germany, Great Britian, Ireland, Poland, and Estonia just to name a few. I couldn't believe that people had actually come from all over the world to proof their BBQ skills to everyone else. Now I understand why people know about Jack Daniels well that and the whiskey is suppose to be really good....Those people from Europe sure did have some great BBQ, but I never had any when I lived there. I guess the French haven't attempted to turn it in to haute cuisine yet:)
short and sweet due to ADD...
eight milllion things running through my head and am unable to focus on anything...my lack of concentration is really starting to bug me. since i have changed job (read huge yay!!!) i have had way more free time of my hands. i don't have a desk or a computer right now so i spend all but 2 hours of my day reading in a chair in the corner looking over the head teller's shoulder. Yes i am serious....you would think this would allow me some serious thinking time which i never get. i am dwelling on things that i haven't thought about in months. i am considering things i have never considered. i am thinking about what ifs like you wouldn't believe. and you know what solutions i have come up with? NONE!!! i have just stressed myself out...
Redneck Cinderella
I love that one is never too old to do something new and different. Over the last few weeks I have gotten to do two things I never thought I would do. One I never even thought about and the other I always wanted to try but never thought I would get to. I believe the two activities together are the perfect definition of where my life is right now...
A couple of weeks ago some girls from my Sunday school class were boyfriend/husband less for the night so we decided to have a girls night. We range from ages 20-29…yes I am the old one:) We got in the big red double cab pickup truck that all 6 of us could fit in. We drove to super fancy Franklin and had dinner at PF Changs. We ate more food than I ever really thought 6 girls could eat and watched the gaggle of junior high kids prance around in their formal dresses(it was homecoming for them and I sure never dressed that why when I was in 8th grade.) After dinner as we headed back to sticks we decided to drive to the railroad tracks in Chapel Hill and see if we could see the headless ghost that haunts the area. We stopped at few different spots and sat on the railroad tracks and waited. Unfortunately we never saw the lights. I can’t believe I actually sat in a big redneck truck and looked for ghosts. We screamed, acted scared and made some u-turns in very sketchy places. Apparently this was a common thing done by teenagers in my neck of the woods. However I waited until I was 29 to experience it. That was my first real ghost hunt
http://www.johnnorrisbrown.com/paranormal-tn/chapelhill/index.htm (this site offers a little info about the famous headless ghost)
Last Saturday I drove to Franklin to stay with a friend. When I got there she decided that she wanted to take me to her ballroom dancing class. I was able to fulfill a childhood and an adulthood dream. I got to go to a group class and attend a party. I learned how to waltz, rumba, push/pull and remembered the swing from that one time in college experience. I don’t remember the last time I had that much fun. I was able to dance for about 2 hours and loved every minute. I was able to waltz and be spun just like Cinderella. It was amazing. I wish I could afford to indulge in that treat. I guess we will continue to fulfill my dancing desires in my zumba class. Not as elegant but still really fun:)
I figure as long I balance the redneck with the Cinderella I will continue to function in my small town…
cruddy decision maker...
I usually come off as a decision maker. When among a group of people trying to decided what to do or where to eat, I am usually the one who helps narrow it down and often time makes the finally call. This happens alot because most of my friends are not decision makers. There answer to most things is that 'i don't care'. I can make decisions on the easy things but on the big things... yikes it is a little scary.
Not only do i think it over for days, weeks and some times months...even after making the final call i find myself thinking that maybe it was the wrong decision. I think about every possible problem or solution or what if...
I know that God has control of it, but I just want him to clue me in sometimes. Just an indication that it is a wise chose and the best way to do things. When do you get that peace that it is a good choice? I never seem to experience until after the decision is made and I can't go back!!! I don't like not knowing...read i don't like making a mistake:)
