Noshville - the day after Thanksgiving

... no I did not mistype - let me explain.

We arrived in Nashville mid afternoon on Thanksgiving day and checked into our hotel in downtown. We decided to stay in the converted train station. It is a beautiful hotel with original wood, marble and stained glass - as you can see in the picture. We headed over to Lisa's for a wonderful dinner of Mama's turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing, homemade rolls and so much more.

Today we spent the morning exploring impressionists at the Frist and the afternoon Christmas trees at Cheekwood. For lunch - well that is where Noshville enters the picture. Laura took me there for the first time last year and now it is starting to feel like a tradition - a good tradition.

Location : Address not available

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Location : Address not available

Posted via Blogaway

Location : Address not available
Posted via Blogaway

Twas the week before Thanksgiving ....

and what a tough week it has been.

Work has been very stressful for both of us. Planning for healthcare for next year ... planning for college ... a few days of not feeling well ... my work laptop blew up ... and it just seems to pile up.

The good side is that we have each other to help us get through all of this.

I am definitely looking forward to going to Nashville next week ... Lisa always has a nice dinner and Laura sent some really nice wine for next week. Hopefully we will get to take our trip to the gardens on Friday and see some more of Nashville as well. I guess i should see if there has been a Man vs Food Nashville version as we have been hitting some of the places that the show goes to I the cities we visit.

We hope your Thanksgiving is a great one as well.

.... cu


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School News ......

There has been lots happening over the last few weeks .... as you can tell ... but one of the things that I have even neglectful on lately is updating everyone on school news. Thankfully it has all been good news.

Sam and Kris got their report cards for the quarter and both are doing really well - all As and Bs. Interesting enough they are doing best in math and sciences :-) Along with them doing well in school their school football team has been dominant so far this year with a 11-0 record. Their game last night they won 55-0. I hope they can carry it forward to a State Championship.

Martika is doing great as well. She submitted her application to the School of the Arts at VCU a few weeks back and received the news this week that she was accepted. That means that with a few courses over the summer semester she will be on track to be a 2014 graduate. Of course she was more than a little excited. The good news for me is that I can now start wearing my VCU ARTS hoodie that Laura bought me.

Martika has also been very active with her sorority helping raise money for the Kidney Foundation (she raised the most of her sorority so thanks to all who helped) and she has also been involved in other community events.

It is great to see the girls doing well and having fun at school. It is sometimes hard to see them growing up so fast but it is great to see that they are doing it so well.

....cu


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Will this get me fired?

I have officially been a step-mom for 1 month today. How has it been? Great! After a fun day with their Dad in DC, eating half-smokes covered in chili and onions at Ben's Chili Bowl washed down with cup cakes from Red Velvet Cupcakery, they arrived giggling and bouncing around like, well, teenagers. Gary stepped out of the room, and the fun began (like it usually does when we are up to no good). Sam spilled Coke on the floor (shhhhh....don't tell Gary) and then asked me if she should put 4 pieces of gum in her mouth. Well, I stepped up to the plate as step-mom, and firmly said "no, put 8 in your mouth"

Laura

November 1st ....

November 1st is a very special day for me. November 1st is the first time I saw Laura in person. She had invited me to have pancakes for breakfast at Silver Diner in Reston. Up she drove in her Mini Cooper S looking radiant. That day changed my life and I love to celebrate it :-)

Of course November 1st is also the day after Halloween. I have always like Halloween. OK - free candy may have had a little to do with it but there is also the excitement of the kids when they are dressed up and I get to carve pumpkins :-)

So this year I did two pumpkins - one modeled after Achmed from Jeff Dunham fame and the other a little bit of a celebration pumpkin as this was our first Halloween as Mr & Mrs Moore. I think Achmed could have used a Turban - maybe a bit better planning for next year :-)

.... cu