Fall in East Tennessee

There is just a hint of the leaves turning but you can feel it in the air. I have never lived in place so geared towards fall. We've had more rain than normal and the folks around here say that translates to even more brilliant fall colors and those colors lasting longer. This fall is special to me personally because I was so sick last year I missed fall. By the time I got out of the hospital and was well enough, the leaves were all but gone. I have resolved to enjoy them each day and appreciate their splendor and contemplate the One who made them.

To a much much lighter note, this fall also holds a new excitement; its football time. I have never been one to follow the sport except to pick a team while my cousins were watching a game, but here football takes on a life of its own. Saturday was our first game; first in a couple ways. Mostly we have a new coach Lane Kiffen, who was an assistant coach with the Raiders. Also they refurbished Neyland stadium and installed a new jumbo tron. Saturday was our first game (yes, I said "our") Norm and I were out and about; I donning my UT earrings, and UT pants (that's right), Norm with his UT cap. This would look completely out of place anywhere else but as we went about just about everyone was sporting the old orange and white. We even made football snacks and all watched the game as a family. Never has this happened in Nelson history. Of course we crushed them, Western KY, 63 to 7. Go Vols.

Family Get-Together

Well we are just completing a great time with a houseful of family. Tina's parents, Steve and Linda came from California. Her sister, Rachael and her three girls also drove over from North Carolina. We have seen the sites! We had just completed a few projects around the house prior to their arrival. These involved installing molding and finishing off the archway that use to be a wall between the livingroom and dining area. Then it was painting the livingroom, dining room, hall and foyer. I installed a very nice light fixture to go over the dining room table. Back the family's visit.

While they were here we drove to the Great Smokey Mountains and hiked up to Laurel Falls. This was an 3 mile round trip hike on a paved trail. The falls were beautiful. Steve, Linda, Sivana and Grace rode in my car. On theway home we stopped at the NASCAR go-cart track in Seiverville.

(gotta go, will post more later).

Grace's Birthday Cont.

To celebrate Grace's birthday we decided to go to Dollywood and bring a couple of Grace's friends. We are about 20 miles from it so we bought season passes. Dollywood, for those who not followers of Dolly Parton or do not live in the Southeast, it is an amusement park replete with terrific rollercoasters (seriously) and of course canned Dolly music plays throughout. It was Memorial Day so we thought it would be croweded but with the threat of rain looming, it kept people away. We had a great time and the skies broke as soon as we were leaving Pigeon Forge. I have disparaged Pigeon Forge earlier but it is growing on me. We found the old part of town aptly named Old Mill. Very charming with a real working mill.

A couple of days later one of Grace's friends had been out of town and had missed the day we went and wondered if it was too late to go. Of course not. So we went to again. Unfortunatly I was sick so I dragged myself around while the girls rode ride after ride. Once again, there was a threat of rain. We are prepared for such an event with disposable rain ponchos. It came down for a ten minute period during that time they decided to go on the water rides. They had a blast (literally). While we were there a huge family was enjoying the day. We found out that the had their own show called 18 kids and Counting(?) I have never seen it but Hope overheard them talking about it with other park patrons. We had great fun and plan on going back June 12 the Kratt Brothers from the PBS show, Zaboomafoo are here (this show I know).

Birthday Week 2009

Well, we have just come through a week that included my birthday and also Grace's birthday. I remember hoping that Grace would be born on my birthday. Now that she is 12, that just simply would not have worked! She is awesome, but likes her own stuff and would not want to share her day. She started saying at the end of May "it's almost my birthday"!

I worked on my birthday (Thursday) and it was an extremely busy day. We are putting together an employer forum and I am doing much of the legwork. The day was spent contacting and inviting employers and business owners. That evening was spent grilling, relaxing, opening gifts and enjoying family time.
Grace's birthday was yesterday. Most of the day was spent just lounging around the house. Grace chose dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Then it was back home to open presents and a fantastic ice cream cake made by Tina!
All in all it has been a great week! I am counting down the days until this Forum is over when I can breathe again.....

Weather today 87 degrees and absolutely beautiful!!!!

It's Spring In Tennessee!

Along with the spring weather, things have changed. Everything is in bloom, the kudzo is green and the weather is just picture perfect. I recently had my iron level checked and I am in the normal range (by a hair). I have also got a new job at the airport Starbucks and start this Thursday. It was a tough decision and I will miss my friends but I feel like its time.

This weekend was the end of the Dogwood Arts Festival which featured sidewalk arts and miles and miles of dogwood trails along with music and fun. It also was the weekend of the Rosinni Italian Festival. We all saw the opera Don Giovanni and walked around enjoying the sights and sounds of all things Italian (with a touch of Appliachian).

First Post of 2009!

Looking at my last post I see it has been awhile since we've added anything here. Tina has completed a series of iron infusions; seven iron tranfusions in total done at the hospital. They tried her on a different iron and it caused anaphatic shock that shook her up pretty good. She has had two of the IVs infiltrate leaving her bruised and in a lot of pain. She seems to have more energy following this series. But it been pretty rough on her since she has started working again. A couple weeks ago Tina and the girls went to Atlanta to purchase Hope's fencing equipment, the nearest place to purchase such equipment. HVA had started a fencing club that has now developed into a team. Come springtime (wait a minute, isn't it spring!) she will be competing in tournaments. This trip just before Tina's infusions so she was very fatiqued and felt pretty worn out when they got home. I had to work so they went without me. I did get to play a couple rounds of disc golf while they were gone.

Last weekend Hope participated in a shoot for a American Ladders, a commercial that is being shot locally by a group of University of Tennessee students. She is one of the zombies and is the youngest undead. This evening we are going for the final shoot. The students are creating this film to submit it to people who fund such things. All shooting last week was done in a huge warehouse and required multiple shots. It will look pretty neat once it is all edited together.
This past Tuesday we attended our first HVA PTSA meeting. It was pretty interesting to see how other Presidents run the meeting. There was a good turnout and I was not the only dad there! PTA is extremely active here in the Knoxville area. It is great to see all the opportunities that are available and the community support. We served as PTA Board members at the girl's schools and in 13th District in California
for a number of years.
I have been busy in my new job attending networking meetings with other supported employment providers in eastern Tennessee and activities with the Chambers of Commerce. We had a great meeting with a local hotel that could be very advantageous for them and the people we serve.
Most recently, I have been attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. The 13 week video version was offered at our church, so I have been attending on Thursday evenings. It comes with a great kit of resources and tools to eventually become debt free. I can't wait to get to that point, house and all!! There is a link to Dave Ramsey's website to the left of this post.
As you can see we have been pretty busy with life here in eastern Tennessee. Tina told me she was driving back from work the other day and thought "I like the south". I agree. It is beautiful. Hearing about the housing market, unemployment, fires, drought and everything else going on around the country, we feel very blessed to be here in a place we really want be. Now that we feel pretty acclimated to this area we have a goal to get out and explore the Smokys and other sites throughout this region. There's alot to do and we can't wait for Spring!!!

I think that might be all for now.

-Norm