Day Two Hundred Eighty One 2011

I Hear The Train Coming Down The Tracks

Neil and I took the grand peeps to Cream City for some yummy ice cream this afternoon. We haven’t been here in a while. They’ve added these comfy chairs.

After ice cream, Elijah and Shelby always want to go see the trains on display at the Cookeville Depot just across the street from Cream City. They love climbing all over these things, inside and out.

They especially enjoy this train car—the caboose—where they can climb up into a crow’s nest type cubby and look out the windows.

Shelby says it’s like the Hogwart’s Express in the Harry Potter novels. And, yeah, it is.

While we were exploring the train cars, we heard the train track crossing bells going off and the train whistle blowing at the intersection down the street. And sure enough an actual real live train was on its way toward us, coming down the tracks.

What a cool surprise this was today. As many times as we’ve been to the Cookeville Depot, we’ve never seen a working train traveling on the tracks.

There’s nothing like a train that brings out the kid in you. I think Neil and I were just as excited as Shelby and Elijah.

You can see Elijah covering his ears when the engineer blew that whistle right there beside us. It was LOUD! But he got the biggest kick out of that.

The train stopped here for a minute or two. No one got on or off, except maybe one of the engineers.

This was indeed a passenger train. We could see people sitting inside through those little port holes.

In October, you can pay to ride the rails from Cookeville to Lebanon or to Monterey just to have the experience.

The Tennessee Central gliding by and picking up speed.

People on the train stood in the doorways and watched from their windows as they sailed by us. And of course we all waved happily at each other as they went on their way—I’m assuming to Monterey, maybe points beyond.

Several people sat outside the train at the tail end which was probably a lot of fun once the train really got going.

So we enjoyed some unexpected excitement during a random trip to get some ice cream on an awesome blue sky Saturday in October. Happy Fall, y’all!

Day Two Hundred Seventy Two

There's just nothing like an Autumn sky! I took these on my way to pick up some Krystal burgers and chicks at lunch time today. Fluffy white clouds in deep blue sky--awesome! (The only regretful thing was not getting Mom a milk shake!)

Day Two Hundred Sixty

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

I'm hoping all this rain will make for a colorful Autumn.

Day Two Hundred Fifty Nine

Today's Forecast: RAIN!

The big news in my neck of middle Tennessee today is rain. Our town got over 6 inches. This spot in our back yard always floods in a heavy rain.

Schools let out at 2 PM today because roads were flooding. When I walked over to the school to pick up Shelby, the water was ankle deep.

The road that runs behind our house and just across from the school flooded a bit, along with some pavement erosion. I did not envy the crossing guard's job this afternoon. Shelby had to remove her shoes and socks before she could walk through our yard to the house. The rain has slacked off this evening. Thursday's forecast: 60% chance of rain.

Day Two Hundred Fifty

Remains Of The Day

The sunset turned our storm clouds into an awesome display this evening. After a mostly rainy Labor Day in my neighborhood, it was nice to see some blue sky.

I took these pictures with my cell phone in a moving car. I'm lucky they weren't blurred. I never seem to have my camera when I need it.

Day One Hundred Sixty Four

I love the night life. I like to boogie. Hahahaha! Yeah, right. This is restaurant row in Cookeville, Tennessee, at about 8:30 P.M. on a Saturday night. The day got long for some reason and supper time got late. We ended up at Chili's for better or worse. My stomach will hate me later.

No boogie.

Day One Hundred Fifty One

A gorgeous Sunday, high temp, low humidity, deep blue sky, nice breeze. What more could we ask for? Ice cream! We decided to sit outside and eat. Kelly got this tiny cup of cheesecake mixed with strawberries and graham crackers. I got a huge cup of the same. Killer stuff! Neil had white chocolate with sprinkles of all things. He can do chocolate as long as it doesn't look like chocolate I guess. Good times, great calories!

Day One Hundred Thirty One

My niece, Sarah Foy, did an awesome job tonight performing 'Part Of Your World' from 'The Little Mermaid', which was one of seven sets of Disney tunes in the chorus spring performance. She wore a beautiful red mermaid tail (she said it fell off at one point), and of course I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera. I get emotional when I see her perform. She's been in lots of plays and I always end up with tears streaming down my cheeks when she sings. Keep up the good work, Sarah! Love you!! (PS-just noticed the program is dated "March" 11)

Day One Hundred Twenty

Drive-by shooting: I drove by the courthouse and shot a picture. The flags on the north side of the courthouse were whipping in the gusty wind around lunch time today.

Day One Hundred Five

Our favorite Thai restaurant, Ocha, reopened this week. Elijah loves the rice and dug into a big pile of it. He brings his own drinks. Coke Zero seems to be his fave right now. Next time remind me to move Neil's cup out of the way! Honestly. Who takes these pictures.

Day Ninety Six

As I've said before, it's a rare treat for Neil and me to get to enjoy a lunch with both our daughters on a weekday. But Kelly decided to stay over Sunday night. She was jumping at the chance to have lunch at Ocha, our favorite local Thai restaurant. It was supposed to have re-opened today after a month long hiatus, but when we got there, a note on the door said it would be closed until April 13. Bummer. So the question of the day became: Where do you want to have lunch? And the usual answer: I don't care. Which is never true. Because when you start mentioning names of fast food joints around town, someone will invariably groan. Holly suggested the Soup Kitchen. We've talked about trying it for probably years but we never go. Well, today is the perfect day for some soup. It's cold, windy, and raw and we've had snow flurries off and on all day. Homemade soup and bread hit the spot and we all wondered why we had put off coming here for so long.

Day Ninety Four

My great great grandfather, Robert James Campbell Gailbreath, a Confederate soldier from Gainesboro, Tennessee, was wounded in the Battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862. His arm was amputated and he died January 12, 1863. He is buried in a mass grave along with 2000 other Confederate soldiers in Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I've always wanted to visit his grave site and got the chance today. Our daughter, Kelly, lives in Murfreesboro not far from the battlefield where her great great great grandfather was wounded and later died. We spent this beautiful afternoon with the dead, walking around The Confederate Circle at Evergreen, then heading over to the battlefield at Stone's River where the thousands of Union soldiers are buried. We spent a lot of time in the cemetery. The next time we visit, we plan to walk the battlefield and maybe get a feel for some of the last moments of RJC Gailbreath's life. By the way, his name is misspelled on the headstone.

Day Eighty Six

The Nashville Flea Market has been my little piece of heaven once a month since 2004. I like old stuff. (Insert joke about hubby Neil here) I'm a junker and a collector. Anyone who has been to my house can attest to that. There's just something about rust and peeling paint that appeals to me. I guess I was born out of my time. Today, Neil found some beautiful plants for our yard--these blue and pink hydrangeas and some ferns. The Fiesta ware lady is always there with her colorful dishes. And see that crock sitting on top of that great pie safe? It's mine now. You can find literally anything for sale at the flea market. From vintage clothing to brand new fishing poles. And of course the proverbial tube socks. Lots of practical and plenty of weird. I highly recommend a visit to this flea market. You don't have to like old stuff. It's just fun. http://www.tennesseestatefair.org/FleaMarket.htm

Day Eighty One

Sunday after church at El Tapatio with Neil, my sister Jane Foy, and her two daughters (and my awesome nieces!) Sarah and Julia. El Tapatio is, in our humble opinion, the best Mexican restaurant on the planet! The cheese dip alone is worth the trip and the chicken chimichangas are to die for. Really.

Day Seventy Six

Couldn't resist posting more than one picture today. It's Spring Break for schools here. We all descended upon our mom's residence at the assisted living home where she lives and had a good time together. The top picture is my brother Ken, my sisters Ann and Jane, Jane's daughters Sarah and Julia, and my grand kiddos Shelby and Elijah hanging out in our mom's room. She recently moved to this new room, so we hung her pictures and arranged stuff on her new cork board.

The middle picture is Ann, Sarah, Julia, Shelby and Elijah soaking up the sunshine down by the pond where they threw some rocks in the water and made wreaths for our hair from the willow tree branches.

The bottom picture is Jane and Mom, also soaking up that sunshine and watching the kids play (that includes Ann!) and the geese diving for good eats in the pond.

We had a good afternoon together. What more can we ask for? Life is good!