everyone has these on their face.....

Tulips! Giggle....

In addition to an abundance of wallpaper in the house, the previous owners surrounded the place with flowers. I am much more tolerant of flowers outside than I am on wallpaper. I moved in at the end of the year so most of the flowers were gone. It's been a pleasant surprise. They are springing up everywhere.

It seemed like the trees sprung leaves overnight. The town takes on a whole new character in the Spring. I'm driving to Nashville tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the scenic drive.

Happy Vernal Equinox to everyone.

bratwurst, anyone?......

It was like a switch was thrown - it was 56 degrees this morning after months of sub freezing temperatures. I was able to wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt for my little early morning run. I've worn tights since December so the legs are a little white. I'm glad it's dark at 5:00am - the fewer people that see the overstuffed sausage casings which are my legs in tights, the better. I'm going to tempt fate and stash the tights in the closet until next December. I'm ready to declare winter over. I've had these tights for years and they seem to shrink while in storage. The first use each year always seems a little tight. giggle

finishers medal....

I have found a fun little running activity in Tennessee. There are road races at many of the state parks over the course of the year. The races range from 5K to a half marathon. Many races on city streets cost upwards of $75 for a half marathon. There are bands and "goodie" bags and finishers medals for all participants. The entry fee for these state park alternative races is $6. If you want a race shirt, the fee jumps to $19. For $6 you get a race number which gets recycled at the end of the race. No bands. No goodie bags

I did my 2nd state park race today. It was a 15K run (9.3 miles). Half of the race was along the rim of an incredible gorge and the other half of the race was on a paved path in the middle of the woods. I may spring for a cabin rental next year. The best part of races in Tennessee is that in place of a commemorative medal, they hand out Moon Pies at the finish. I don't bother hanging my Moon Pies in the closet with the rest of my medals. I enjoy it on the drive home. yum

sun burned chest.....

Sun burned chest. Sorry for the junior high humor but the robin red breast has returned to middle Tennessee. This is my second spring season in Tennessee and it's kind of fun using the robin to mark the passing of time. The robins return here a lot sooner than they did in central New York but return they did. I need to do the googles and find out where they go. They were never in Texas so maybe it is someplace in between. Or maybe they went to Mexico. If it was Mexico, I'm glad that they were able to get back. What a mystery.

Step 2.....

My obsession with the sun room continues. The hot tub is gone but there was an ugly carpet under it. Since it was in a hot tub room, the carpet was closer to astro-turf than carpet. I anguished over the type of floor to put in. The room is not climate controlled 100% of the time so my first choice of hardwood was out. Then I priced tile. Yikes. I settled for a Berber carpet and a thick carpet pad. Step 1 in my room redo was to get the tub out. Done. Step 2 was to get the carpet out. The damn thing was glued to the floor rather than tacked along the edges. I survived the ordeal and the carpet installation is next. I will conquer this room yet. giggle

the same but different....

I've been here for a year and a month and i noticed some differences between the 2 locales. I don't know if it is a difference between large city vs big city or central Texas vs middle Tennessee. As a public service, here are the top 3 differences between here and there....

1 - I go to the store twice a week and I have yet to see anyone graze at the grape display. Are people hungrier in Austin? Why are they always sampling the grapes?

2 - My vehicle in Texas was a Honda Accord and I loved that car. I took great pains to park it far from other cars but after a year, it was covered with small door dings. sniff. After 13 months in middle Tennessee, my Mazda 3 doesn't have a single ding and I work at a construction site. Freaky.

3 - I run at 5:00am and I'm struck by the number of empty vehicles warming up on cold mornings in neighborhood driveways. It does get a little colder here but it's not frigid. Were people scared to idle their cars in Austin for fear that they might get stolen?

No one probably finds this stuff interesting but there it is.

i'm dreaming of a white january 12th.....

We had our first significant whiteness today. It doesn't compete with a New England snowstorm but it was still a little exciting. It was 47 degrees this morning and by the end of my work day it was 24 degrees. The weather reports mentioned flurries but they said there would not be any accumulation. That type of forecast and miss is rare - they usually predict life threatening storms and then nothing happens. It will be curious to see what tomorrow looks like in terms of work attendance. Most people will take advantage of the snow and stay tucked in bed in the morning. Remember how we would walk to school in the snow when we were kids? Barefoot? Up hills both ways? Jeeesh.