Okay, pervs, stop crushing on my bebbe nephew. Yes, he LOOKS like a grown-ass man, but he still laughs at fart jokes.
Oh, wait. They do that ’til they’re 95, don’t they?
He does not have a girlfriend at the moment, but give it a few days, I’m sure another one will come around. He’s awfully adorable, isn’t he?
So, Debbie and Brian got here just fine Thursday – in fact, they arrived a wee bit early – and since they hadn’t checked any luggage, just each brought carry-on luggage, we were out of the airport quickly. We came straight home and I gave them a tour of the house (apparently my pictures don’t do the house justice – and she’d gotten the layout all turned around in her head, so she was surprised that the side door led into the computer room rather than the living room and so forth) and then Fred and I showed off the chickens and such.
Debbie developed quite a crush on Newt, and Brian took to Miz Poo, but they didn’t go along with my idea of them taking a couple of cats home with them, damnit.
We had our big dinner, and it seemed like something was missing, but it was enough to fill us up and leave a bunch for leftovers, so I guess it was plenty. After dinner, we hung out and then Fred and Brian and I herded the little chickens into their coop. Debbie and Brian got to witness the fearsome SCOOP HANDS, and I think they were impressed. Or not.
And then Debbie and Brian got to witness Snackin’! Time!
(Of course, we NEVER let our cats on the counter, but it was Christmas. You can make an exception at Christmas, right?)
(Oh, shaddup. I always wipe down the counters once Snackin’! Time! is over.)
We hung out some more, and then opened presents.
Brian was falling asleep where he sat by like 7:00, so he went off to bed, and Debbie and Fred and I watched TV ’til 9, when Fred and I turned in, and Debbie wasn’t far behind.
Friday morning, Debbie had to rouse Brian after he’d had twelve hours of sleep, and we headed out (Fred went to work on Friday). We went to Tractor Supply first so Brian could look into a way to use up his gift card. He found the boots he wanted, but didn’t buy them (I don’t remember why – either there was a coupon back at our house he wanted to use, or he’d forgotten his gift cards), and then we went and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. From there, we stopped by the drugstore so Debbie could pick up a few things, and then we headed out to the shelter. Debbie’s heard so much about the shelter that she wanted to see it for herself.
I think we spent about 45 minutes petting cats and talking to the shelter manager, and then we were on our way home. By the time we got home, Fred was home from work and we hung around the house for the rest of the day. For dinner, Debbie and Brian and I went out for BBQ, and then we came back to the house and hung out.
(Are you sensing a hanging-out theme here?)
We were originally going to leave early Saturday morning to head to Nashville, because Debbie had mentioned going to the Nashville Zoo. But it being winter, her favorite animals were put away ’til it gets warm, so she decided she didn’t really want to go.
I made breakfast for Brian and Fred (eggs over easy – which I am not very good at, let me tell you. I can make the hell out of scrambled eggs, though!)
We hung around the house ’til 11ish, then we left for Nashville. (Fred didn’t go with us ’cause (1) He’s antisocial and (2) He don’t like no damn big cities.) We stopped by the giant chicken for a hug, and then by the Boobie Bungalow so Brian could get a beer and a lap dance, then hit the road again.
(Exit 6 off 65, in Elkton Tennessee)
Our original plan was to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville. And when I went onto Google Maps, I saw a listing for the Hard Rock Cafe in a location other than the one on Broadway in downtown Nashville. So I was all “Hey, there’s a second Hard Rock in Nashville. Since we’ve eaten at the one on Broadway, you want to go to the other one instead?” and Debbie said “Sure!”
After much circling of the huge-ass Opry Mills shopping center, a confused call to Fred, and more circling, we parked and went inside and asked, and guess what? There’s no goddamn Hard Rock on Opry Mills Drive.
LIE. (I didn’t notice the “Unverified listing”, though. Obviously.)
Since we were in the shopping center already, we decided to take time and look around. Holy CRAP, that place was packed.
By the time we were done looking around, we were all cranky and starving, so we left and drove to downtown Nashville, parked in a parking garage, and went to the Hard Rock to eat.
It was while we were sitting in the Hard Rock that I realized that although I’d carefully charged the battery of the big camera the night before so that I could use the zoom to take awesome pictures at the show, what I’d failed to do was double-check and make sure that the goddamn memory stick was in the camera. I was PISSED at myself, to say the least. What a dumbass move. Luckily I had my small camera with me too, though the battery wasn’t fully charged.
We ate, and then I went back to the car and left my heavy-ass camera there (why carry it around if I can’t use the goddamn thing?), and then Debbie and Brian and I spent the next couple of hours wandering around downtown Nashville. It’s an interesting walk, to say the least.
I’ve actually never been to the Opry at the Ryman Theater in downtown – both times I’ve been before have been at the Opry House near the Opryland Hotel – so this was a new experience for me. We got to the theater early, and sat and watched the people go by. On the corner, there were three guys. Two had signs that said “Tickets Needed” and the other guy had a sign that said “Tickets Here”. I don’t know exactly what the deal was (I suspect they buy tickets and then resell them at a profit), but whatever it was, the cop driving by didn’t seem too interested.
They open the doors at the Ryman an hour before the show usually, but it started spitting down rain so they opened the doors about ten minutes early. We went in, checked out the gift shop, and then found our seats. Because I’d waited so long to get our tickets, we ended up in the balcony, but still had a pretty good view. Debbie tried to get a good picture of the three of us, and a guy sitting nearby saw us trying to snap a picture of ourselves, and kindly offered to take a picture for us.
(You will see no pictures of Debbie, because I’ve been forbidden to post them. Hmph.)
The show started on time, and it was a good show – they always are, whether you know the musical act or not.
Acts we saw: Mike Snider, The Whites, Jamey Johnson, Jeannie Seely, Jean Shepard, Chuck Wicks, Jett Williams, Julianne Hough, Riders in the Sky, Cherryholmes, and Keith Urban.
Debbie was more excited to see Jamey Johnson and Julianne Hough and Chuck Wicks than I was, since she actually knew who they were. She’s got a girl-crush on Julianne Hough, and I’ll admit she’s adorable as can be.
Keith Urban came out last, and it was just he and his guitar, no band to back him up. Between the first and second songs, he said that his wife (Nicole Kidman, if you’ve been living under a rock) had her family visiting for the holidays and a few weeks ago she said “Can you play the Opry?”, and they were kind enough to “let” him. He also said that she and her family were in the audience, which elicited a big scream from the audience.
They asked him to do a third song and he did, and then he left the stage, which is when someone (on the first floor) spotted Nicole Kidman, and there was fucking PANDEMONIUM. People were screaming and taking pictures and crowding around her. People sure can be assholes; the poor woman just wanted to see her husband perform, and they have to be all up in her shit.
(In the interest of full disclosure, if I’d been in the area I would have taken a picture of her, but I would have been SUBTLE about it, I wouldn’t have crowded her, and I sure as shit wouldn’t have screamed.)
The show over, Debbie and Brian and I headed for the car, got a little lost (as far as where the car was located in the parking garage), found it, stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, and then made it home shortly after midnight. We almost outran the line of thunderstorms, but they hit us just after we made it across the Tennessee/ Alabama line, which slowed the drive considerably.
Sunday morning, we made a big breakfast (bacon, sausage, eggs, hash brown casserole, monkey bread, biscuits and gravy), ate, and then sat around groaning about how full we were. Fred and Brian used the tractor to do some important man work, then mid-afternoon they decided to watch a loud movie, so Debbie and I went to the movies to see Marley & Me.
Apparently, judging by the conversations in the ladies room after the movie, everyone was fairly surprised by the ending. I’ll spoil it for y’all now – the dog dies. I thought everyone knew that. It was a good movie and I enjoyed it – when it became clear that the dog was about to die, Debbie left the theater. I told her afterward that the dog had made a miraculous recovery and she believed me until I told her I was lying.
We had pork steaks for dinner, and then Debbie and I wanted to get out of the house instead of sitting around, so we went to Madison to check my PO Box, then down to Old Time Pottery to look around, then home again.
Monday was our big out-of-the-house day, where we went out to Tractor Supply so Brian could buy a vest he wanted, then we went to Red Robin for lunch. I’ve never been to Red Robin before, and I got the bacon-avocado burger, which was mighty fine. (They’re huge burgers, so Debbie and I had leftovers for dinner that night.) We went to the pet store because Debbie wanted a Challeng3r’s H0use t-shirt, then went over to Michael’s to buy the stuff to make soy candles, to Target to look around, and then over to Goody’s to look around. By the end of the shopping excursion, Brian was thoroughly bored to death, so we came home and hung out.
The excitement for the afternoon was first a visit from the dishwasher guy (the dishwasher stopped working the day before Christmas. OF COURSE.), then a visit from a roofing guy (we needs a new roof. We’re getting one in the near future.)
Debbie and Brian’s flight wasn’t ’til 6 last night, so we had all day to do stuff. We made our fourth trip to Tractor Supply (what can I say? It’s a neat store!), went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/ lunch, then came back the house, where we hung out for the rest of the afternoon ’til it was time to leave.
Debbie and Brian made it home safe and sound with no problems, thank god, and today I’ve got errands to run, laundry to do, and a house to vacuum.
We miss them, though. It sure is quiet around here without them!
Previously
2007: We were expecting a snowstorm, and we certainly got one.
2006: No entry
2005: No entry
2004: No entry.
2003: My year in review.
2002: Are you jealous of my readers? You should be, because they ROCK!
2001: What if?
2000: No entry
1999: Total potty mouth at the drop of a hat.