It's been a couple of weeks, and last time I had two posts in two days so I had best be forgiven my current lapse. It is also the beginning of a new month and I want to say that June is looking to be a good one. If today is typical of the rest of the month, it's going to be pretty fantastic. Here's the rundown:
My alarm went off at 8:30 and I stumbled out of bed this morning at 9. I then trekked my booty down to the Y and attended, and mostly participated, in a Dance it Out class. It was pretty hardcore and unfortunately I was not physically able to do all the moves, but I modified it for my not-so-much ability level and stuck it out through the whole class. After even the warm-up song I started feeling asthmatic, and then there was a little heart burn to go along with that which was difficult to handle while jumping up and down and shaking my booty. However, I was really proud I stuck it out, introduced myself to the instructor, and thanked her afterwards.
In the early afternoon I left my parents house and headed to Starbucks at Glenbrook, where all my friends are :D , and Danny made me a fabulous Tall Mocha Frappuccino Light with Extra Whipped Cream. That means it was in a Grande Cup with lots of fluffy white stuff on top. Talked to Troy and B-randon for a little while, then headed down south of Nashville.
I walked out of the house with Monster in tow, intending to maybe go park it in a Barnes and Noble or somewhere else with free Wi-Fi to chill and do some internet research (also known as trolling Facebook and playing online games). Then I got a wild hair and decided I was going to go walk Historic Franklin, see all the shops and generally waste my Saturday afternoon. Lo and behold it was the weekend of the 36th Annual Town & Country Tour of Homes and Historic Places. I saw a sign, purchased a ticket at Landmark Booksellers where the proprietress was super-helpful, and started my little walking tour. (Digression: I parked at the store and when I returned from my tour decided I was going to thank the proprietress for her help. Unfortunately, she was not there, but her husband the proprietor was, and he said he was going to pass along the message. I hope he did.)
My first stop was the newly refurbished and updated Historic Franklin Theatre. It was awesome to go on a tour of the state-of-the-art projection and live-even theatre. One of the neatest things was that there is cafe seating at tables closest to the stage, a stage that contains drawers at the front for the storage of said tables and chairs so that it can become a dance-floor. How super-awesome-fantastic is that?! I know, it's the little things. Then I walked several blocks to the "Ewing-Green House" that was built in 1911. The renovation was done by the previous homeowners, but the current lady of the house was fantastic to talk to for a little while. She answered a couple of questions I had about the 3-car detached garage (like that it has small apartment above with a full bathroom), and talked to me about the fantastic renovation of a galley kitchen and two bedrooms into a fabulous chef's kitchen, breakfast area, living room, half bath, and living room. During the renovation was the addition of a rear sun room/office space that is accessed from the living room and can be viewed through an original window over the sink which is the former rear wall of the home. My next stop was the Brownstones at First Ave. & Church Street. All I am going to say is that it was a fabulous example of modern convenience and living with the perfect touches of historic style and elegance. All the brownstones have four levels, three stories plus a basement, an elevator and garages. According to one homeowner, a neighbor and volunteer on the tour, most homes have two utility rooms. My last stop was the Franklin Masonic Temple. Firstly, how many non-masons get to tour the lodge meeting room? Pretty much never, and I learned all kinds of things I didn't know about masonry. (Not that I knew much to begin with so, there you go.) The building is of historical significance for several reasons: Andrew Jackson signed a treaty with the Chickasaw indians to send them to reservations, it was both a barrack and a hospital during the Civil War, was the beneficiary of the State of Tennessee's first official lottery, (Take that Hope Scholars!), and is the oldest standing Gothic Revival building in the state.
So, I was geeking out all afternoon, and only had time to go to four places because it stopped at 5pm and I only started at about 2:45. I think I did pretty well. During the whole tour I tried to speak with and thank everyone who was helping host such an interesting and entertaining afternoon for me. I met nice people, though we usually didn't exchange names, and I thanked all the homeowners for being gracious enough to open their homes. It was quite an enjoyable afternoon. The only thing that was missing, besides a bottle of water in the 90 degree heat, was The Husband. I thought about him the whole time and wished he could have geeked out with me and protected me from the swarms of inappropriate cicadas.
Now I am probably going to be kicked out of Panera since I have yoinked the interwebs for close to an hour now. But, I wanted to share my day and let you know that I am still working at being Closer to Fine.
