Nation’s Neighborhood

As some of you that read my blog may know, I am on the Board for the Tennessee Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. Just last week we had our monthly meeting at Cabana in Nashville. It is located in Hillsboro Village across from its sister Sunset Grill.

Ever since I have moved to Nashville, I have absolutely loved Sunset Grill. I spent many late nights at Sunset Grill with my college friends enjoying the late night menu. I even tok my wife on a couple of dates there. It has great atmosphere and great food. They also have a creative dessert menu.

A couple of years ago Cabana opened. Cabana is owned by the same people who own Midtown Cafe and Sunset Grill. I visited the venu with my wife right after it opened. It has a great menu with southern fusion cuisine. Cabana is at its best when the huge glass doors can be opened to create an open air dining experience.

Cabana also has private booths that can be used that have curtains to create a private dining experience. There is also a flat screen TV in each booth.

When out monthly meeting was scheduled for Cabana, I wondered what it would be like. I did not have to wait long to find out. We had record attendence for a July meeting, and seating was limited. With that being said, we had the best service you could ask for and the environment created at Cabana was perfect for networking.

The food was outstanding. They started with an Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Mozzerella Salad with fresh basil, drizzeled olive oil and a balsamic reduction. The Heirloom Tomatos were grown in Tennessee and they were absolutely delicous.

The main course was a beef tenderloin with lobster and it was cooked perfectly and had a exquisit taste. This was followed by a blue berry cobbler served with cinnamon ice cream. I was quite satisfied at the end of the meal.

The food was great, so I recommend Cabana for a nice dinner. I also recommend Cabana if you are going to have a private event or meeting.

Walkscore.com recently ranked America's most walkable neighborhoods and cities. Where does your hometown land in the rankings? And how much do you actually find yourself walking instead of driving?

Well, I went to the site and entered my current address. On a score of 0-100, with 100 being the best, most walkable city, our address yielded a big fat ZERO, or "car dependent," which is completely understandable for these parts. Curious of our family's past homes, I entered all our old addresses. The verdict (in order of living)= 55 (which was declared "somewhat walkable," which also happens to be pretty accurate for that home), 25, 38, 18, and 0......yeah, we've lived a lot of places........

 I have always thought it would be nice to live in a place where I could go for weeks without getting into my car, not really for environmental reasons, but because I just don't really like to drive. Being able to commute via mass transportation as well would be nice. Now that I have a kiddo though, that does not really sound too intriguing anymore. I am curious as to how people in NYC, or some other large city, make it through travel with a toddler in tow, especially when they do not even own a car, completely relying on subways or cabs. I mean, do you haul the car seat out into the street, wave down a cab, and then lock in the seat, situate the belts, etc. That would be exhausting! One summer, I pulled a long stint on my bike, visiting friends, going to the park, and making errand runs via those two wheels and my two legs. At that point, we lived at the 55 walkscore home, so it was not too bad, other than the poorly kept city sidewalks. Again, with Daniel, that would not be too feasible anymore. I could just see myself losing my balance and tumbling my poor baby over into the street. Yikes!

So, as for me and my zero "walk score," it looks like I will be relying on my car and nearly $4 a gallon gas for a long time---unless I am going to the neighbor's house to chat or borrow a cup of sugar :o).

One of the reasons I like working with youth.

Qurkey sense of  humor struck me on this . Given all the times I have had to find the result for x

Thomas and I met in college at The Wesley Foundation. "Wesley" as we affectionately call it, was our home away from home during those precious college years. We met some of the most amazing people while there, and we learned so much about faith and life through Wesleyan influences. And, through all our Wesley connections, we can quickly get in contact with some pretty helpful people: doctors, lawyers, optometrists, engineers, teachers, dentists, full time mommies, therapists, nurses, veterinarians and so forth. Pretty fortunate, eh? Needless to say, Wesley holds a very special place in our hearts, for without it, we would not have some of our closest friends, nor would we have each other.

Every summer, Wesley holds a summer picnic. Graduates and current students attend, meeting new folks and catching up with the old ones. This summer, we officially realized that we are the "old" Wesley Alumni (most of which are pictured above). This picnic was a bit different than previous due to the crazy toddler we had to chase. Last year he was just a little fella, and the year before that he was extremely portable and agreeable via the womb. Daniel had his fair share of cute moments, as well as frustrating ones, but it was nice to see some of the younger Wesley folks humor him with silly follow the leader type games. He even had a few playmates, thanks to Honey and Clark. While he and Luke explored the grounds, I managed to snap this cute little photo of some Wesley love.

Time went way too fast this year. I felt like I had to cut several conversations short, especially due to my mobile son. Plus, we had a commute this year, unlike last, so we had to head out a little earlier than I would have liked. Poor Daniel was pooped (hence his absence in the larger group photo.....he was already in the car, stuffed animal in hand). Even though we do touch base with many of our Wesley friends throughout the year, there are others we only get to see at the picnic. We hope to keep making our trips to THE Wesley Summer Picnic, for where else can you get your picture taken between two lovely gals named Summer? :o)

I saw this license plate on the back of a sewage truck and I figured that I should take a picture:

Can you read it? It says "GOT POOP?" Such a plate seems fitting for a sewage truck.

We took Daniel on his very first trip to "Where the Wild Things Are" a.k.a, the ZOO! We met up with Thomas' s sister and her family as soon as the zoo opened in order to avoid some of the day's heat. Yeah right---it was HOT. But we did have a nice time regardless. The zoo was not too crowded (guess many folks were not silly enough to venture out in the heat), and the animals were out and about, so Thomas was able to take some really great pictures of the animals that the zoo had to offer.

There is also a huge playground at the zoo, which happens to be one of the best I've seen in our area. It even had a "Tot Town" bounce house. Those two items alone made the trip worth it. We, however, did not get to playing until the end of our visit, so everyone was a little hot and bothered by that point. Regardless, Daniel was very happy (see right) while exploring the enormous playground. He even gave a tiny bit of resistance (perhaps all his tiny body could muster) upon our playground exit.

I dreamed of a city called Glory,
So bright and so fair.
When I entered that gate I cried holy;
The angels all met me there:
They carried me from mansion to mansion,
And oh what sites I saw.

But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for all."

Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
  "Holy, (holy) holy, (holy) holy."
    Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
      Glory to the Son of God."

I thought as I entered that city,
My friends all knew me well.
They showed me the streets of heaven;
Such scenes too numerous to tell;
I saw Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Mark, Luke and Timothy.

But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for me."

Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
  "Holy, (holy) holy, (holy) holy."
    Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
      Glory to the Son of God."

Meet Petie, my mom's dog

He was an early Christmas surprise to my mom from me and Thomas (she had been wanting a dog). My friend, Molly, had to give him up, for she was moving to a new community that had some restrictions on the number of dogs you could own. The limit was 4, and being that Petie was doggie #5, he was the one they decided to part with. I guess the last to come is the first to go. Anyway, their loss was my mom's gain. Petie is an excellent dog. We were worried at first that things might now work out so well at his new home, but he soon adjusted to his new surroundings in the country very nicely. He began to lose weight from chasing squirrels and such, and now he looks like a much healthier Jack Russell.

Recently, mom has discovered that Petie is a BIG FAN of water. After work, she will turn on the hose and let him run wild. Petie is in dog heaven. He chases the spray and chomps at every drop. He loves to get his fur wet, and running straight into the hose's spray is one of his favorite moves. If you stop for too long, Petie will beg for more, literally. It is quite an enjoyable sight to see this dog so happy over the water. Daniel loves to help spray the water for Petie as well. All in all, it will provide a great laugh and lift anyone's spirits.