The rants and ravings of Bob

So...the past couple months have been rough. As I said in my last blog post..things have not exactly been going as planned here. Not much has changed in that regard, but things haven't been all THAT bad either..all things considered. I've had the place mostly to myself for almost a month now. At first, I loved it..Being able to do what I wanted...when I wanted.. Now, I'm getting a little lonely. Its also becoming quite the chore taking care of all the pets. I'm taking care of 2 dogs and 3 cats. So, that means I gotta get up early to let the dogs out, feed the cats, let the dogs back in, feed them, get showered and dressed for work, keep a eye on the dogs in case they need to be let out again, but usually they can hold it until I'm done working for the day, then go through the whole process again. I didn't mind that either at first, but really...my gosh... It just wears me out!

Thanks to a little cash infusion from my parents, I made it through a rough month financially..but that came with other costs.. My parents called on Saturday, at first just asking how I was and all that...it turned into them basically trying to convince me to come home...just without actually saying the words. I have thought of that before.. But, I just don't think I can do that right now. It would be a admission of defeat to me, it would be moving backwards, when I need to keep going forward.

Yes, things here are rough.. They aren't exactly going the way that I thought they would go. Yes, it would be easier back home..well, it might be easier, I don't really know that for sure. But.. I want to make things work here. I am happy here for the most part.. I wasn't really happy back in Wisconsin. I've made some great new friends here. Thats not to say I didn't have some great friends back home, because I did, but people here have just been so kind to me in such a short time, and they've made me feel so welcome.

If I were to go home, it would be a huge step backwards for me, and would probably make me extremely depressed. Now, if things completely fall apart here, I probably wouldn't have much of a choice to go back home.

I do want to get out and visit people. I would love to visit all my Milwaukee peeps, I have friends in Atlanta, and Memphis I want to visit, and get out to Denver to visit Billie, but the big thing thats stopping me, is money.. I can't really afford to go home, or to Denver right now. Memphis and Atlanta are both about 3 hours away from here, so I could drive there relatively cheaply, but..the problem with that is coordinating that with Eric, so he can come home for the weekend to take care of the animals.

I did mention vising home to my parents, and they will probably help with a flight home, so I think I'll do that in the next couple weeks..probably after it warms up there.

Lets see...thats about it for now... Got all that stuff off my chest...

Things have not been going the way that I thought they would when I moved down here..  While I've made some very good new friends, and have had a lot of fun going out, and meeting new people and seeing new places, its been a struggle for me to keep up.  As many of my facebook friends know, one of my roomates decided to go back home, at least for a little while to go back to work at her old job and catch up on things.   While it sucks, it had to be done.  Most of the weight of household bills have fallen on my shoulders, and its been tricky keeping up.  Luckily, I've managed to squeak by, due in part to overtime at work, plus extra pay for working holidays, etc.

This most recent month has been the worst.  A colder than usual January made for a very expensive gas bill..  There hasn't really been much OT at work lately, so... I've had to juggle a few bills.. I'll need to catch up next month..  I hope.  I will be getting a decent tax refund from WI, that'll help this month.  Unfortunately, I have to pay taxes to the feds, but I'll put that off till April and worry about it then.

Last night I went out for a little while, I was bored, and lonely, and wanted something to do. I started the night at Stirrup. Stirrup is quickly becoming one of my favorite hangouts. Nice people, cheap drinks, and a good atmosphere. After awhile, I started to loosen up and talk to a few people. Even had one person hit on my hardcore. He seemed like a nice enough guy, we talked some through the evening, exchanged phone numbers and that. He wanted me to come back to his place and cuddle, and while I did entertain the idea, I decided to decline. After Stirrup, I was going to go home, as it was already late and I was getting tired, but decided to make a stop at Trax, since it was on the way home anyway. I hadn't been there in awhile.

There I met another person, again someone came up and hit on me.. I had saw him earlier at Stirrup, but was too afraid to say anything to him. I ended up going home with him, to make out a little.. He wanted more..but.. I was in no condition for that. All the drinks started to catch up with me, and by this time I was extremely tired. I did get his number too, so my circle of friends is expanding even more now.

Tonight, I'll be heading out to Las Maracas to meet some people from gay.com. We did this about a month ago, and had a blast, so I'm looking forward to doing this again.

So.. I guess, despite all the hardships, things really aren't going all that bad. I've made some great new friends, and maybe a couple romantic possibilities. Sure things aren't going the way I thought they would, but I am still here..still going strong. One thing I've learned here, especially now that I go to church regularly, is to keep the faith. I believe that God will take care of me. I came down here because that is what I was destined to do. And, I believe good things will come to me down here in time. If I make it over this hurdle, things will get better, and I will be better for it.

Ahh..the first blog post of the new year..So much to catch up..  Where to begin..  I last blogged before Christmas, so..  Lets start there.  I was a little depressed around Christmas, it being the first one away from home.  I couldn't afford to go home this year, and because I waited to long, I couldn't get any time off.  I managed to work only half a day on Christmas instead of a full day (Thanks John!).   Working actually was good for me, it kept my mind focused on other things, aside from missing being at home. 

Christmas dinner was a great experience.  After work, I ran to Murfressboro, a city about 40 miles southwest of Nashville to pick up a new friend, Mike.  I had made online. We had chatted on gay.com  for awhile,  and made plans to do dinner on Christmas Day with my other roomates.  I did get to talk to my family on Skype after picking up Mike, so I got to spend part of the evening with my family, if at least virtually.  Dinner was wonderful, and after dinner we went out to Blue Gene's.

As the night went on, with the help of a few drinks, I got up the courage to do karaokee.  My first song choice, was Perl Jam's "Jeremy".  Shortly after doing my song (which turned out quite well if I do say so myself, even though I had a bit of a cold), I had went to use the bathroom.  I got stopped by, coincidentally enough, someone named Jeremy.  We made a bit of small talk, I didn't think anything of it, little did I realize he was hitting on me.  I'm still quite oblivious to that.  Anyway... I assumed he was with the person he was at the bar with, so I didn't even give it a second thought.  After some convincing from my friends,  Jeremy and I exchanged numbers on the way out of the bar.  We talked the Sunday after Christmas, and made plans to meet the following day.

Our first date was for drinks, at Blue Gene's again.  Because he works second shift,  we met late (at 9pm).  We had some drinks, and good conversation.  He seemed like a very nice guy..  I do consider him a friend, but I don't forsee much else developing from it.  A couple other things happened that evening, I do not wish to discuss them in such a open forum, even though it is my own blog, because this will be linked from my Facebook and Twitter I don't want  to go into the details.

Anyway... Suffice it to say, I hold nothing against the guy, some dates just do not work out.   At the mindset I'm in right now, getting my bearings in a new place, the last thing I need right now is a boyfriend.  I need to make new friends, people who can show me around, and make me comfortable in my new home.  So, in the end, this worked out exactly the way I needed it to.

Things were relatively unevenful to New Years Eve, I spent the evening at, big shock, Blue Genes with Mike, another new friend from gay.com, John, and the roomate Cheryl.   We had a fantastic time!  Being the designated driver, and since I had to work the next day, I managed to stay fairly sober.  We still ended up closing the bar at 3, waited till John's taxi came.. I finally got home and into bed at 4:30.  Needless to say, work was a long tough day.

Since then, I've talked frequently to my new friends, and have gotten to know them better.  They are great people, and I value these new friendships very much.    I feel more at ease in  this town, and look forward to making more new friends.

Just this past Sunday, I went out and met a couple of the other people I've been chatting with for dinner at a area mexican place..  Again, making these new connections means alot.  Sorry to be a bit mushy here, I've been in such a good mood lately, and I just had to blog about it.  From feeling down just a few weeks ago, to now...the difference is remarkable.

Prior to Christmas, the only people I knew here were my roomates, and my friend Chris, who I met when I was here on vacation back in June.    I was sad about not being able to go home, I felt a great sadness because I knew me not being at my parents house on Christmas morning was very difficult for me.  These new people, along with my roomates, and going to church have fulilled me so much.  My new friends mean the world to me now, and I look forward to seeing where these new and developing friendships lead.

Its been a little over a month now that I've been in Nashville.   I am starting to learn my way around the city, and feel more at home here.   I've been made to feel very welcome here.  The people are very nice, and seem to be accepting of the yankee who's invaded their territory.  I've already made a couple friends, at least in the online sense.  I've even established myself as a regular at one of the area bars.  As in, when I was there yesterday the  bartender already had our drinks ready.

I'm finding the happiness and comfort I was missing back in Wisconsin, and feel I am really getting a seocnd chance at life.  I've started attending church regularly, going to Holy Trinity Community Church.   Its been a amazing experience,  and I've felt very empowered after each of the services.

Only one thing has marred whats otherwise been a very good experience here.  To be honest, we don't live in the greatest of neighborhoods.  We needed something that would allow all the pets we had (3 cats and 2 dogs), and would also be ok with people who don't have the greatest credit.  That lead us here.  We have a storage shed out back, we had some things in there, mostly empty boxes, but also my old dishes and cookware, and all my christmas stuff.  We had neglected to get a lock for the shed, as we were busy getting other things settled, the tought just never occured to any of us.  Well, it probably wouldn't of mattered much anyway, since the shed didn't have any windows...it had cut outs in the walls where windows would be...but the windows themselves were gone. 

Anyway, one night, around Thanksgiving, someone "broke" in...  I can't really say that, since there was no need to force their way in.  Anyway, the first time they just messed everything up, threw a bunch of boxes around, etc, but nothing was taken.  A few days later though, they did come back, and took pretty much everything.    None of it was anything we needed, I hadn't used the cookware or dishes in well over a year, and had no intention of using them anytime soon.  My christmas stuff was mostly hand-me-downs from my parents,  A few ornaments that I had gotten over the years, and one very beautiful stained glass peice my dad had made for me.  It sucks I cannot decorate the house this year, things seem a little bland around here without decorations to put up.  But, on the bright side, no one was hurt, they didn't touch our cars, or attempt to break into the house hurting us, or stealing anyhthing else.  The things that were taken can be replaced.

If these people really needed those things, then let them have them, and God bless them.  There really has't been much else to say..  Christmas will be spent here, I cannot afford to go home this year, and don't have the vacation time to do it either.  I'll actually be working Christmas Eve & Day.  So, it'll be another day just spent with the roomates.  We'll do a nice dinner, and just relax at home, or probably go out, but it should be a nice day.

So..Thats my update for now.   I just got a web cam, so I might start doing some vlogs soon as well...

Well..its official...   I left home, and moved to my new home as of Thursday evening.  The past couple weeks have been a flurry of activity, packing, getting things in order for the move, getting things setup at the new place.  Pics of the new place will be coming soon, its still a bit of a mess right now.  Anyway...  On to the move..  I left early in the morning on the 12th.  Unfortunately,  I didn't plan the trip very well, and hit Chicago right in the middle of rush hour..  That slowed my down by about a hour, once I got through it,  I was moving along really well.

I got into Nashville around 4pm, again...rush hour..  First order of business, picking up Eric, he had been staying with a friend of his for the past month, so he could be here to find a place for all of us to live.   After picking him up, we headed to the new place.  The new place is awesome.  3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1550 sq. feet..  Hardwood floors throught.  Its a really nice place, its in a...well, a OK neighborhood, maybe not the best but we'll manage.  Anyway, we spent most of Thursday catching up on the last couple weeks, and having a few drinks.  I only brought the bare essentials with me, the remainder of the furniture was to come down the next day by our other roomate Cheryl and another friend of ours.

We did end up going out on the town briefly as well.  First stop was Blue Gene's.  That wasn't new for me, I had gone there when I was here on vacation back in June..Iit was dead there, so we had one and then went to try out a couple of the other bars that we hadn't tried last time.  There was Tribe and Play, both being the dance club/twink bar kind of places.  Tribe, we didn't even get a drink.  The bar wasn't overly busy, but we still sat for maye 5 mins or more and the bartender didn't even acknowledge our presence.  So, we left there, and went to Play.  Litte did we know that it was Drag King night, and the bar was mostly filled with lesbians.  Not a huge deal though, it was a pretty fun place.  I even got called out for being a "virgin".  No, not that kind of virgin, as in the new-to-the-bar kind.

By this time, it was getting pretty late, I had been up since 4:45, I didn't get much sleep the night before either, so I was getting pretty tired.    We headed back to the house,  the only thing we had to sleep on was the floor, we had some blankets, but it still wasn't too comfortable.

I got up early Friday, I had to call to get the water turned on, wanted to get that done first thing in the morning, so we could actually take a shower, and do some cleaning.  That was pretty much how the day was spent.  Each day, I also did a little driving around, Thursday  I had to go get some chairs so we had a place to sit until the rest of the furniture arrived.  Thankfully I had my trusty GPS with me, but I was playing attention to roads and the freeway system so I could start getting the hang of things.  Friday too, I learned where the nearest Kroger is, a couple gas stations and food in the area.  Friday evening was spent waiting for the furniture to arrive, that didn't happen till about 3am Saturday morning.

Saturday was the big day, with the help of a friend, Chris, we unloaded the truck.  It actually went a lot quicker than I thought it would, it felt good to have things unloaded and in place, and things were somewhat getting back to normal.

After all the work of the previous days, Sunday, fittingly was a restful day.  The big event on tap, finally getting the Internet hooked up.  This was the earliest appointment I could get.  Anyway, the technician came early in the morning, said something about the install being somewhat complicated, because of where the serive drop is in relation to the junction box on the house.  He seemed to make it would, eventually.  About 2 hours after his arrival, we had cable...sorta..  The TV in my room was fuzzy on a couple channels, I thought I could live with that however.  Then, the problems started.  The internet kept going in and out before eventually staying down completely.

I had called the installers (it was a contractor who installed it, not Comcast themselves).  They said they would send someone out with a new modem.  About 45 mins later, a actual tech from Comcast was out.  He checked a few things at the poll, adjusted a few things and boom!  The internet was working, my TV was clear, all was good.  I was happy.  I was impressed at how responsive they were.

That brings us to the to today, the first day back to work.  The commute to work killed me, that whole 5 ft I had to go (from my bed to computer desk) just about killed me!  It was a bit difficult at first, getting used to working from home, not having that comaradre (sp??) of co-workers,  or even just the background noise from the office.  I got used to it pretty quick, and actually I think I'll be able to work a little better in this type of environment, since I don't have the distracions of being in a office.

Lets see...  A couple other loos ends here..  Halloween weekend I was in St. Louis for work, doing a installation..  It was a very good learning for me.  I learned alot about a relatively new product we offer, got some hands on experinece working with that, which is good, because I'll be one of the key people supporting it soon.  Basically, in simple terms, we netwok thermostats in hotel rooms, so they can manage them better and save money when the room is unoccupied.  I had said on Facebook that I would share our misadventures while there, but really...there isn't much to tell..  We got our work done, and had some great food and drinks when we were done. I was amused by the fact that the clerks in the Starbucks in the hotel knew what we wanted to drink the minute we walked in (we paid them a visit every morning we were there) .

Hmm..  I think thats about all for now..  I'll blog more soon..  So far, I'm loving it here in Nashville.  The weather is beautiful, the people have been nice to me so far, I think I'm gonna like it here..

Hello faitful bloggers..  Once again, my blogging skills have been lacking..  I've wanted to blog before, I just never was disicplined enough to sit down and actually do something.   So...here we are...  In a little over 2 weeks, I will be departing Wisconsin, for Nashville.  The move has finally been sent.  As it stands right now, on Thursday, November 12th, we're packing up the truck, then on Friday we'll finish cleaning up, and hit the road Friday afternoon at around 2:00.  If all goes well, we'll be getting into Nashville at around midnight.

Its coming up a lot quicker than I probably realize, and I am starting to get very nervous.  Thisa is a huge change for me, and while I know I'm making the right move for myself, I am still nervous at the prospect of pulling up stakes from the home I knew for the past 34 years of my life, and start all over again somewhere new.

This is being made easier with the fact I'll be with two very good friends of mine, one, Eric, has been a huge part of my life for the past almost 7 years now, the other, Cheryl, has become a good friend in the just the past year, and also has become a big part of my life.  They will make the move and getting settled in a little easier.

My family has been supportive of my decision, while they are obviously shocked, and concerned that I am making the right decision, and planing ahead instead of just jumping into things, they still are supporting my decision to make the right choices for me.

That leads me to the whys of my move.   For the past several years, I haven't really been very happy here.   I guess I feel like there is nothing left in this city for me anymore.  I've just been going through the motions for the past couple years, not really feeling or connecting.  I think this change is what I need to start a fresh life, on my own terms, and leave my past here behind me.

While the prospect is very scary, in the end, this will be a positive thing for me, and I am open, and welcome all the great things that will be coming to me.  I'll try and make it back home to visit as often as I can.    I'll also blog alot more with all my doings in Music City!

I think I need to start writting things down I want to blog about.   I've had ideas for blogs in the past, usually while at work, or out at the bar, not in a convienet place to actually write something down.   I think I will remember, and get to it when I'm near a computer, but alas, I don't write things down...the ideas soon slip out of my mind, and before you know it, another 1.5 months goes by without a blog update.  So..here's where we're at...  I'm still in Milwaukee: No word on the move yet...  the house is still on the market, hopefully I'll be out of here before winter hits, but I'm not so sure of that right now...I'm still hopefully though. Keep your fingers crossed I can get there by November (my new goal for right now).

I spent the weekend nursing a cold.  Most of Saturday sleeping...Sunday was more of the same.  Finally now I'm feeling better, more of myself finally.  I hate having colds, they seem lately to take alot of energy out of me..  I guess its a good thing though, in the past a cold would last a week, if I loose a weekend sleeping most of the time and be rid of the cold in two days, that is much better.

One thing I had definatley wanted to blog about was the loss of a faithful companion for the last 7 years of my life.  Oz was my best friend Eric's dog.  I had met Oz a few months after I had met Eric while we we were spending the weekend at a mutual friends house.  After everyone went to bed (I was sleeping on the couch) Oz, who had known me for only a few hours jumped up on the couch, layed on me for a bit, gave me a kiss, and from then on we were the best of friends.

Within the next year or so, Eric and Oz came to live with me.   He had been with me for most of the years that followed, except for a few periods here and there where we could not have Oz at the place we lived, or for other reasons.    He was a joy to come home to, Oz would wait at the door for me, he knew when I came home from work, and every day, he'd be there waiting for his "Uncle" to come home.  The mintue I'd walk in, he'd be there tail wagging a mile a minute, jumping up on me, giving me kisses, totally happy I was home.

Oz and my cat, Simon, had a love/hate relationship.  They pretended to hate each other whenever someone was around, but on more than one occasion, I've caught them snoozing together on my bed, or the couch, on a couple occasions, they worked together to steal some food that had been left on the table.

Oz had become sick, and was in trmendous amounts of pain, he started getting agressive toward people, and even bit me, busting up my lip, requring me to go to the hospital and get stiches.

Eric decided to put him out of his obvious misery, and on September 1st, Oz was put to sleep.  I've always loved him like he was my own, and I miss him very much.  I still excpet to have him run up to me when I come home from work.  He will be sorely missed.  He was a wonderful boy, he is out of pain right now, and happily waiting in heaven for his "uncle" to come home again.

Last month, I got a early brithday present from the city of West Allis, in the form of a parking ticket.  I believe I blogged about this earlier, how I I got a ticket for facing the wrong direction.  As I said, I live on a dead end street, at the end of a dead end street.  The only "oncoming" traffic would come if you pull into our driveway and turn around.  There is hardly anyone going down this street, except for people who live here. 

I thought I would get out of the ticket, because based on my research, the state statute code written on the ticket didn't seem to match the violation. The statute listed on the ticket was 346.55, which refers to parking on a highway.  Also,  the fine seemed to be outrageously high.  I of course set a date to meet with the city attorney to discuss this.  Well, that day was today. She immediately made a offer, reduce the fine to $40 (from $75).  When I brought up the fact the ticket was wrong, she grabbed the statute book, and read from it where, apparently a highway can refer to any other road.   The references I found didn't really say anything, yet I find it odd that there is a seperate rule for parking on streets (346.54).  She stuck to her guns, and said that the ticket could be ammended (not sure if she was referring to changing the statute written on the tikcet, or the fine).  I gave in, and agreed to the reduced fine.   I could of set a trial date, but that would of meant waiting till who knows when, probably would of had to either take a day off work, or see if my boss could adjust my schedule, generally just be a big pain, and who knows if it would of done anything.  I mean, yes, technically I was in the wrong, and just because the street I'm on is a dead end, and sees little to no traffic, I did violate the rules, which don't make exceptions for my case.

On the bright side though, I got 2 months to pay the ticket,  And I'll be waiting till the last minute thats for damned sure!!

I meant to blog this earlier, but as usual...I procrastinated.. As its been said before, I am moving to Tennessee. I had asked my boss if I could work remotely, as they had done for someone else. I hopped that he would say yes, when I asked...he didn't say no, but he also didn't say yes. Well, I had kept that hope alive, but also started looking for jobs in the Nashville area, even applying to a few. Well, about a week ago, my boss called me into his office, and let me know that I will be able to work remotely! So, that is one less thing to worry about when I get down there. It was a huge relief for me!

Another topic I had meant to blog about, July was one of those rare months where I get 3 paychecks in a month, meaning I had one check that was completely free and clear, well my car had other ideas. I knew I needed new front brakes, I didn't know just how bad it was.. $600 later, I got the brakes done, but..so much for the extra paycheck.

I've hinted at it before, but now I'm making it official. In September, I'll be moving to Nashville. I've already started looking for jobs in the area, applied to a couple places already. I had hoped I could keep my current job and work remotely, but that doesn't appear to be likely. As for why I'm doing it, well, there is a couple reasons.

For quite awhile, I haven't been happy here. There just really isn't anything here for me anymore. I feel like most times I'm just going through the motions. I also feel like I just need to try some place new. I haven't lived more than 10 miles from the house I was born in. I want to see life in a different place for once.

As for why Nashville, well, I feel in love with the city when I was down there for vacation last month. Also, both my roomates will be moving down there at the same time. Actually, that isn't quite fair. To call them my roomates cheapens the bond the 3 of us share. That is another reason why I am going. They aren't my roomates, or my friends, they are my family. We get along so well together, and if I stayed here and let them move, I'd be losing probably the best thing I ever had, I'd be losing more by staying here than I would by going. If all goes as planned, I'll be there in September.

So...in other developments, I got a parking ticket Friday outside the house for parking the wrong way. I live on a dead end street, I'll sometimes just park on the street facing toward the dead end instead of pulling in the driveway, turning around, and then facing the right way. I'm going to contest the ticket for a couple reasons. First, the statute code the officer wrote on the ticket refers to parking on a highway. Second, the fine listed on the ticket was $75, again, according to state statues, the maximum fine allowed by state law is $40 for the first offense. Thirdly, I am on a dead end street. At the end of a dead end street. In no way, was I impeding traffic, in fact there is hardly any traffic on the street at all. Now, there are laws that do say how you need to park on a city street, and I may of technically parked illegally, but I think the first reason should be enough to get the ticket thrown out. They put the wrong statute number on there, so technically the ticket is not accurate, and should be thrown out. I'll get up early tomorrow and start the process of fighting the ticket.

It really was the cap of a already expensive day.. I had just spent $600 to get the breaks fixed on my car. Both the front pads and rotors had to be replaced, and a new cylindar in the back had to be replaced.

On Saturday, I went out to celebrate my pre-birthday with the roomates. Had a great time from what I can remember

Time to finish my laundry and get to bed... Bye now!

I haven't upgraded as much as I had wanted too, but I'm really trying to keep up on this blogging thing more often, that was part of the point of the daily updates when I was on vacation. So, yeah I am back, the first day back at work, as usual was hell.. Its always so hard to go back to work after being gone for a week. I guess in fairness, it wasn't TOO bad...it was still bad enough to make me wish I could go back on vacation again.

I told my boss about my probably move, hoping that I could keep my job and work remotely.. While he didn't say no...he didn't exactly say yes. So... I have some thinking to do. I still do really want to go, and probably will. I've already started looking for jobs down there. There is a company in Nashville that does the same thing I do here, I've sent my resume, but so far have not heard anything.

In other promising news, the boy I met when I was in Nashville (Chris) is coming up to visit next weekend. Things between us are going incredibly well so far. We get along well, we have a certain chemistry. While its very early on in this whole relationship thing, it seems like its going in the right direction.

Well.. I'm finally home. We got back to Milwaukee at about 9:45pm, 11 hours after we left Nashville. We decided to take a slightly different way home, taking I-65 North through Indianapolis. About 60 miles from Indianapolis we ran into a major traffic jam, as part of that freeway is under construction so it went down to 1 lane. That probably cost us about 45 mins to a hour, plus other construction delays along the way. If it weren't for those, this way would of been much quicker.

I am glad to be home, but I do miss Nashville. I had a very good time there. The people were very nice, the city is clean, and there is so much life there. I could see me living there as a definite possibility, but more on that later.

I was trying to think of my favorite part of the trip, and... I don't know if I really could pick just one. We did so much, and everything was just incredible, none really stand out more than others.

There were other things I wanted to do (like the Jack Daniels Tour) but our days were pretty fully packed as it was. Lynchburg (where the Jack Daniels Plant is) is about 90 mins from Nashville, so to do that would pretty much kill a entire day. The way things were spaced out was just enough to enjoy them without being overwhelmed and then coming home being more tired from your vacation and needing a vacation to rest up from the vacation.

My first day back in Wisconsin, will be spent doing laundry, I gotta get my hair cut, I think thats about all that I need to do.

Now that my trip is over, I'll try and keep up with this blogging thing on a regular basis. I lost my way for awhile and neglected this, but its time to get back on track!

Well, the day is winding down and the vacation is coming to a close. Today was a quiet day. Spent most of it relaxing in the hotel. After a quick dinner at the Chinese restaurant, we headed back downtown to get some pics of Music Row and the skyline at night. Now its back to the hotel, relaxing and watching TV, getting ready for the long drive home tomorrow. We're gonna take a little bit different route home, instead of going through IL, we're gonna go through Louisville and Indianapolis. I don't want another boring ass drive through the middle of nowhere IL.

After I get back, I'm gonna post a full wrap up of everything. Probably won't get to it till Saturday, since I'm sure I'll be tired tomorrow night

So here we are, the trip is starting to wind down.. One more day left here before starting the long trek back home. Wednesday, we went to the Nashville Zoo. Pretty much your run of the mill zoo. It was nice though. I was almost attacked by a goose who was out roaming around. I bent down to take a picture of him, apparently he did not want a closeup! After spending the day walking around the zoo, we met up with Chris for dinner at Bar-B-Cutie. I wanted authentic southern bbq, and, I gotta say I was a little disappointed. It didn't really have the wow factor I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it was good, I just expected a little bit more.

After letting dinner settle a bit, and dropping off Chris, since he had to work in the morning, it was back to spend the evening at Trax. I had a lot of fun. I really do like that place. It was also fun flirting with the owner

As for today, well I don't know what the plans are yet. Maybe another trip downtown so I can get some pics from Music Row at night. We'll see!

Day 5 has come and gone. We spent the entire afternoon in downtown Nashville seeing the sights. Mostly Music Row, the area of downtown full of Nashville's night life. Not really a bar strip, more a music and entertainment area. Some of the venues here see some of country music's biggest stars coming out to plan impromptu concerts. It was kind of quiet during the day, but at night, the place is packed with people. After walking around all day we worked up quiet a appetite. We had a very nice dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.

After dinner, and a little bit of relaxing down by the river front, it was off to another Nashville bar, Trax. We had only planned on staying for one, but one turned into many more, as we were just having way too much fun with the people there and the owner.

Still having a great time here. The plan for today is to get to the zoo, since we didn't yesterday, and Centineal Park. Sadly, the vacation is nearly over, in a few days we'll have to head back. I almost don't want to go.. Well, I don't want to go, but I'm running out of time and money, so I guess we won't really have a choice. I'm off to shower and make myself pretty for another fun filled day!