People Are Interesting

Sunday we had basically a customer appreciation sale on the guise of Friends and Family. We put out refreshments for the customers to enjoy while they shopped. Watching people get free cookies and snacks can be entertaining. One little boy (about age 11)was touching several of the items - picking them up and putting them down. When we told the child to touch only what he was going to take, he looked at us like what we were doing to telling him to tell him such a thing.

When we get ready to draw a ticket for the door prizes, I find it fascinating to observe people's behavior. We generally ask a customer to draw the ticket for the door prize we are giving away. When you come toward them with the basket, some turn their head and put their hand in the basket and pull a ticket. Others close their eyes as they pull a ticket. Regardless of how they pull the ticket from the basket, they all eagerly look at the the ticket and read the name on the ticket before they hand the ticket back to us. Of course, everyone else crowds to the front of the store to watch the drawing.

This is definitely a psychology experiment waiting to happen.

A Treat For the BSYO

Monday nights are Meghan's rehearsal with the BSYO. Tonight they received an hour long concert (called a master class) from the Vienna Piano Trio. The Melbourne Chamber Music Society brought the group to our area and then brought them to perform for the kids. This group was fantastic. I have heard a lot of professional musicians in my time but they are among the best. I have never been a huge strings fan (I know - weird since my daughter plays violin. I still think woodwinds are the best - the rest of the world is uninformed.), but they were good enough that it made me almost want to play violin. Be sure to check out their website they are fantastic.

***Sometimes the links do not show up as links, so run your cursor over the different group names and it should show up then.*******

Don't Confuse Us

Alan and I began developing a love affair with lighthouses when we visited a Fort Niagara in 1992. The love was cemented when we spent our honeymoon on Tybee Island 13 years ago. However, to keep the whole lighthouse thing in check, we came up with the rule that the only lighthouses we can collect are ones that we have been to. So now here we are are 17 years after our first lighthouse and we have only managed to see a total of four. With us and our mom's looking, we have quite a collection of Tybee Island lighthouse items.

We have rearranged the living room and have this huge open spot on the wall that is begging for some type of very large picture to be the focal point. The place where Meghan rehearses with the BSYO has paintings that you can place bids on if you are interested in acquiring. Well, there is a painting simply titled Lighthouse that closely looks like it is the Tybee Island lighthouse. Alan and I have been "discussing" whether this was Tybee Island Lighthouse or not. Alan looked at a framed puzzle my mom has of lighthouses and noticed that the painting and the puzzle did not match. Then we continued to "discuss" whether the puzzle was wrong. Alan went to our photo album and looked at the picture that we took 13 years ago. That photo matched the picture we took. While he was doing that, I looked at the magnet on the frig and the framed post office stamp collection I bought Alan for an anniversary gift a couple of years ago. Both these matched the painting. So now we are still "discussing" and not really sure what the heck is going on. We turned to the Internet and found that Tybee Island has been painted in six different ways throughout the decades. In 1999, Tybee Island was reverted to the fourth daymark. So both are right. Now we simply must decide whether to bid on the painting. For all our "discussion", we were both right.

Alan Jackson Concert

Last Saturday we went to the Alan Jackson Concert which was fantastic. We were in a group of 12 that went to the concert. We met the group we were going with at the home of one of the guys sisters who lives near the UCF arena. While we are there waiting for everyone to get ready, the sister's roommate came in and was talking to the everyone. Then she looks over and sees Alan and I and said "There are adults here, I hope I did not drop any F bombs". Yes, we were the oldest of the group there, but really was it necessary to call us ADULTS. Of course now I am really confused, because just a few weeks ago the store manager where I am an assistant informed me and the other assistant manager (who is in her 50s) we were not adults :)

Anyway we divide up into two cars and proceed to leave for the concert.We drove my Tahoe which limited the number of number that could go with us. Of course only 3 of us were sober enough to drive. (The sister, Alan and me - wait maybe that is why we classified as ADULTS.) The sister was driving a van with the rowdiest if the group which had three cameras going and the flashes were going off every few minutes for the entire drive.

So, we get to the concert and we find our seats. Everyone begins filing in for the concert and I noticed one of the t-shirts someone was wearing was an AC/DC t-shirt. Dude...are you confused? Of course Alan and I have a very eclectic taste in music so maybe he does to, but AC/DC t-shirt seems a little out place at a country concert. The opening band was from Georgia and the fiddle player was awesome and made me wish Meghan was with us to hear him.

We rally enjoyed the concert. Alan Jackson performed all my favorites for Home. He did not play Alan's favorite Midnight In Montgomery.

Help Needed

One of the guys that works me is in a band that needs votes so they can win a local contest that will allow them to play at earthday birthday. They have worked really hard, so please log on to WJRR and vote for them. The band name is Angels of Nightfall.

No Win Situation For Alan

With Glasses


without glasses



Alan managed to create a no win situation for himself this morning. I wore my glasses for the entire day to day. I prefer my contacts and tend to leave them in longer than I should; however, today I left them in the entire day. So we went for breakfast and he says I really like you in glasses - "You look smart". Of course I immediately pick up on the implication that I must not look smart with out them. Of course this creates a no win situation for Alan...he cannot possibly get out of this. So I took pictures this evening with and without glasses.

So Excited

Tomorrow night Alan and I are going to a concert in Orlando at the UCF arena. I am really excited. The last concert we went to was the Hilary Duff concert we took Meghan to a couple of years ago. We are going to see Alan Jackson's Good Time Tour. We are gong with a group that we know from Alan's job. They are all younger than us but that's ok. I get to see Alan Jackson in concert.

Before we moved to Florida, we lived near were he grew up, and I even worked with people that knew him when he was growing up. He performed frequently around Atalnta but I could never go. Rather ironic, I had to move away fro the Atlanta area in order to actually make it to one of his concerts. Every now and then when I listen to him sing Chattahoochee, I become a little homesick.

Hopefully we will have a good time.