Home Sweet Home????

Got the opportunity to make a quick trip to Nashville for the weekend. I flew in late Thursday night so I could also take advantage of Friday. Immediately remembered why I don't love South Florida. Maybe it is just because it is how I grew up, but I find something very beautiful about hills and trees. The leaves have fallen, but it is still breathtaking scenery to me. All the houses were mostly beautifully (a few over the top) decorated for the Holiday - no lighted Palm trees here. There was a pleasant nip in the air with the smell of wood burning fire places. It felt like Christmas.

Friday morning began at the gym where I ran into an old friend. Probably not my most intense work out ever, but great to catch up. Next we were off to the mall. Had forgotten how much fun it is to shop with Kris. As usual, I did way more damage than Kris, but justified it by concentrating on how much money I "saved". Had already finished my Christmas shopping so everything was for me - I know I really do have a problem.

Brief stop back at home for the kids and Bassam, and then back to the mall.

I had finally talked Kris into letting me take the kids to Build-a-Bear, and I didn't want to give her time to change her mind. I can't speak for the kids, but I had a blast. What is not to love about watching an adorable "cuddly" get chosen, stuffed, washed and dressed. The amount of clothing and accessories that they had for these bears was mind blowing. It would have taken me days to decide, but the kids knew exactly what they wanted. Grace walked out with an adorable Reindeer named Clarice that says I love you. Matt landed a royal blue Star Wars bear that came complete with the theme music.

Saturday saw us off to the Skating rink. That's right - I said we went roller skating. Now keep in mind that I haven't skated in about 25 years, and you can see where this story is going. The look of the place hasn't changed much. It still has the disco ball and the same music I remember from childhood. What has changed is my ability to stay upright on a pair of roller skates. I am probably the exact same height that I was the last time I was on skates, but it sure did seem a lot further down to the ground. I didn't stand a chance of keeping up with Matt or Kris, but thankfully Grace was willing to travel at my speed. We spent a lot of time holding to the wall and sitting on the carpet. I escaped with only minor bruising, and much more respect for the waiters at Sonic.

We capped off the day with a trip to see Ice. Ice for those of you not from Nashville is this amazing show put on at Opry each year where an entire Christmas story is told in ice sculptures. There is a different theme each year (The Grinch, Charlie Brown, etc). This year it was Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It is usually at the Gaylord Gas Light theater, but things there are still recovering from the flood so it was inside a "tent". It was as beautiful and as cold as ever. Even with the parka's they provide over my own substantial layering, I could barely feel my face when we left. I spent a lot of time going to the Opry as a kid (my parent's are huge Country music fans) so it was nice to see it back up and running. However, the Opry Mills Mall (which was an amusement park when I was a child) still has not recovered, and it was quite sad to see it standing empty except for the Bass Pro Shop which is the only store to reopen to date. We finished the night with a nice dinner and a movie at home.

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and cold. The rain from the day before was now beautiful snow flurries. However, they were predicting significant accumulation as they day progressed so slight adjustments to the travel plans became necessary. I was able to make it to church to see the kids perform the annual Christmas play (they were awesome), but had to leave shortly after as the snow was starting to come down in earnest. Our plane required significant de-icing, but we were able to get off relatively "on-time." My initial flight was eventually cancelled, and all the other flights to Florida that day were significantly delayed so good thing I left when I did. After a brief stop in Tampa, I arrived back in Miami.

Talk about a change in climate. I left Nashville at 24 degrees with snow falling, and arrived in Miami to a slight drizzle and a balmy 72 degrees. I know I should be happy to be back home to the warm weather and the passable road ways, but a large piece of me still wishes I was back there. Sure cold weather is not my favorite thing, but having friends and amazing scenery nearby sure make it worth it.