Do You Have Lotto Dreams?

Do you play the lotto? Did you know we have one in TN? Of course you did! There are billboards everywhere informing us how much it's worth (in a timely manner) that we pass on our daily commute. Do you ever dream about what you would do with all that money? We do! It's a favorite pastime for us when we are on a road trip and see how much it's worth. Today it's up to $120 million. Wow. We could do a lot of damage with that pile of change. First thing we would do is quit our jobs, then pay off all our bills, set up the kids so they can enjoy their adulthood and then probably go on a long (well deserved) trip.

Past winners went a bit over the line when it came to spending. Solid gold toilets? Check! Mansions? Check! Become a drug addict? Check!

What would you do with all that money? Take the poll on my home page and tell us!

Photo Series Part Four: Celebrities

Being an avid photographer I have quite a collection of favorites that grows daily. They include insects (especially spiders!), sky shots, celebrities and Nashville City Streets. Hence this four part series of my proudest captures so far. This one is titled Celebrities. All these photos were taken in Nashville.

Note: These are all my photos. Please do not “borrow” any of them. You may reproduce this article as long as you give me credit.



Faith Hill at Nashville4Africa


Keith Urban at Nashville4Africa



Taylor Swift at CMT Awards




Karolina Kurkova at CMT Awards




Naomi Judd at Can You Duet

Photo Series Part Three: Critters

Being an avid photographer I have quite a collection of favorites that grows daily. They include insects (especially spiders!), sky shots, celebrities and Nashville City Streets. Hence this four part series of my proudest captures so far. This one is titled Critters.

Note: These are all my photos. Please do not “borrow” any of them. You may reproduce this article as long as you give me credit.

Photo Series Part Two: Sky Shots

Being an avid photographer I have quite a collection of favorites that grows daily. They include insects (especially spiders!), sky shots, celebrities and Nashville City Streets. Hence this four part series of my proudest captures so far. This one is titled Sky Shots.

Note: These are all my photos. Please do not “borrow” any of them. You may reproduce this article as long as you give me credit.

Photo Series Part One: Nashville City Streets

Being an avid photographer I have quite a collection of favorites that grows daily. They include photos of insects (especially spiders!), sky shots, celebrities and Nashville City Streets. Hence this four part series of my proudest captures so far. This one is titled Nashville City Streets.

Note: These are all my photos.Please do not "borrow" any of them. You may reproduce this article as long as you give me credit.





Photo #1: dog on horse pulling a carriage on Broadway Street in downtown Nashville
Photo #2: homeless man playing for tips on Broadway Street in downtown Nashville
Photo #3: nude karaoke sign in Printers Alley in Nashville
Photo #4: view of Nashville in rear view mirror at sunset

A Perfect Rainy Day

It rained today.

Weekends are usually busy in downtown Nashville and as a resident I try to avoid the crush of tourists by going out of town. This weekend was different. The rain gave me new eyes and the city looked somehow magical as I drove up 1st Avenue this afternoon. People were huddled together under trees at the greenway and even a horse drawn carriage clomping by seemed romantic.

The slick roads reflected the cloudy sky. That may not sound unusual but on a Saturday afternoon the streets are normally bumper-to-bumper with cabs, tourists trying to find a parking spot and the folks that like to cruise up and down Broadway Street. Today they were nowhere to be seen and they were not missed.

It was almost as if Nashville had become a ghost town on this sparkly rainy day. The sidewalks were devoid of people and because it was during daylight hours-no neon signs flashed over storefronts. There were no hustlers calling out, no sidewalk musicians playing, nor were there frantic shoppers rushing about with arms laden by bags of new cowboy boots and t-shirts.

The only thing missing on this perfect day is a rainbow...

Who ya gonna call?

It's been a hectic week due to work and personal obligations. But I got to thinking about who I would call in case of an emergency. Since we are transplants to Music City we don't have any immediate family close by and not many close friends that I could call in the middle of the night.

Recently my husband needed to spend some time in the ER and was later put in a room for observation. As I was wandering in a daze around the parking lot, taking a breather from the chaos, I saw other spouses talking on their cell phones explaining their situations to loved ones. I wondered out loud "who do I call?" And it dawned on me that I didn't have anyone I could contact locally. So I did what any daughter does-I called my mother. Thank goodness we are in the same time zone but it was still 1AM and I woke her up from a sound sleep. I explained the situation and we cried together over the long distance and her need to hug me to make it all right. She couldn't do much else-after all she is in another state but it was nice to talk to mom and share some of the burden of helplessness of the situation with her.

The call helped. I was able to shed some much needed fearful tears and bonded with my mother. But what does everyone else do in this kind of situation? Who do you call?