Heidi Honda

We have a new member of the family, well sort of. We purchased a 2008 Honda Accord this week and picked her up yesterday from Rusty Wallace Honda in North Knoxville. (For non-NASCAR fans, Wallace is a driver and commentator). We had a great purchasing experience, and actually purchased our car from a woman who handles Internet sales. Most of the negotiations took place online, and while it took us several days to get the deal we wanted, we're quite content with our new purchase!



We like to name our vehicles, and this one is Heidi. We sold the 1998 Toyota Corolla named Veronica (David name her when he got her 10 years ago) to David's boss who has a 15-year-old son who will start driving soon.

Heidi has some great features, including a satellite radio, heated seats, sun/moon roof, CD changer and power windows and locks. I mention power windows and locks because Veronica didn't have these (bless her heart), but I greatly missed them.








The view from the sun roof!







Heidi joins her big sister Libby, who is now five years old.

The Bales Baby Shower

Last weekend, we had a baby shower for a fellow Ph.D. student, Steve, and his wonderful wife Mitzi. They're expecting their second little girl within a few weeks. It was a gender neutral shower, meaning women, men and children were welcome, and we all had a great time. Thanks to Jessica for hosting the shower at her house. Steve graduates in December, and his dissertation deals with Aristotle, so David and I suggested naming the new one Paristotle to reflect history and the present, but Mitzi wasn't thrilled with the suggestion :)




We had not one, but two cakes thanks to Karen bringing a delicious ice cream cake!



We sat outside on Jessica's porch while Isabella, a very vocal and bright kindergartener, kept us entertained.



Big sister Stella talking a walk outside with Dad. Don't you just love their similar hair styles!

Another Smokey

Last summer an outside cat kept visiting our porch to sneak a peak at Dolly and Sammie. He was gray and white, and I named him Smokey. I fed him on the porch but never let him come in contact with the girls. He hung around a few months but stopped coming around last fall. I think I still see him every now and then in the neighborhood, but he was truly at outside cat who could fend for himself.

Last weekend I was talking on the phone outside on our deck when I noticed a small cat sitting down below. She acted as if she wanted to come up on the porch, but couldn't jump that high. I walked around to the front door, and she came running and met me there. At first, we thought she was declawed, so we put her in the garage since she obviously belonged to someone. It turns out that she does have claws, but was rather small and loving. She wasn't a kitten but not a full grown cat either. I couldn't stand letting her on the streets again, so we made flyers Sunday and put them up at almost a dozen stop signs in our neighborhood.



On Sunday night, we received a call from woman who said the cat belongs to her neighbor and is sometimes an outside cat. She gave us the address, but it was dark and late, so we kept "Smokey" inside another night. I played with her during the day and probably got a little too attached, but on Monday afternoon, David walked to the house, and the owner confirmed it was his cat and she had "accidentally" escaped. A friend of his had been in the hospital, and he hadn't been home much. I had mixed feelings about returning her even though I knew we couldn't keep her. I just want people to be responsible and take of their animals and not let them roam around the neighborhood, especially if they aren't spayed or neutered. I realize they escape at times, but I still think it's strange the actual owner never called us about the cat. It was a neighbor who cared enough to tell us.

Summer Travels

I know it's been too long since my last post, and while I kept meaning to post, I got busy doing other things such as end of summer travels, getting ready for fall classes and planning a baby shower for some friends.

David and I traveled by car from Knoxville to Chicago (about 9 hours with small stops) in early August for the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual convention. I presented a paper about teaching media ethics at an early morning session on the last day of the conference. I received some great feedback and met other scholars from across the country as well as caught up with some friends who are now at other universities.

Since we haven't had a real vacation in a while, we were able to take in some of the sights in the Windy City, including a visit to the John Hancock Observatory, which the locals say is a better view of the city than the Sears Tower even though Sears is taller. The observatory though has an open-air Skywalk that is 94 floors above the Magnificent Mile known for its hotels, shops and restaurants. We ate lunch on the 95th floor at the Signature Room.

Below are some photos from our trip.


This is our view from the hotel room, at the downtown Marriott.




The Chicago River, which they dye green on St. Patrick's Day each year.



All the sight-seeing tired David out, so we took a brief nap high above Chicago.



We visited the observatory during the day and purchased a bonus ticket to return at night, a beautiful sight!




You can see the Sears Tower in the photo above. It's the really tall black building on the left.



Chicago has a gorgeous waterfront that overlooks Lake Michigan. It's unique in that it's a large city without the industrial clutter and factories on the water that other cities such as Boston and New York have.



They even have a man-made beach with quite a few visitors on a warm August day. Speaking of warm, the temperature was great. It stayed in the upper 70s most of the time we were there.



Another waterfront view!



A view of Chicago!

We left Chicago Saturday afternoon and drove halfway home, stopping in Convington, Kentucky, which is across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio. We dined at the Waterfront restaurant in Convington, looking across at Cincinnati.





We returned home from the Chicago trip on Sunday afternoon and left again Tuesday morning for David's research trip near Columbus, Ohio. David was working most of time, but we did drive into Columbus and see the Ohio State University campus and the downtown area.

The only photo I took on the trip was of the Tennessee Welcome Center on our return Friday that didn't look very welcoming. It wasn't directly off the interstate, but off an interstate exit and then to the left, to the right and up a hill. I should mention they are remodeling the actual welcome center, and the one we visited is a temporary location.



We're back home again for a while without any extended trips planned until next year!

Cat Naps, Hairballs, and Working Hard for the Money

Sorry it's been more than week since my last post. We were in Chicago last week for the AEJMC conference, and I'm busy getting ready for the fall semester. I'll post about Chicago soon and add some photos, but here are a few of Dolly, our "first born."

Also, a special thanks to Lisa, Holly and Paul for coming over and taking care of the girls on our many trips to Florida and other places this past year. They are great, and we all appreciate them. Dolly loves the attention when they come over, but Sammie hides. In fact, when David and I return home, it usually takes Sammie about an hour to come out of hiding and realize who we are.



David and Dolly love taking naps together on weekend afternoons. Strangely enough, Dolly snores quite loudly at times.



Both of the girls have a lot of extra fur, especially Sammie, so we try and comb it out, which results in these wonderful hair balls. The smaller one on the left is from Dolly, and Sammie's is on the right. Wow, it's amazing what people without children will blog about in regards to their cats.



As I was getting ready for our trip last week, I put some money on the bed, and of course Dolly came right over and decided it was hers. I wouldn't mind giving the girls an allowance each week, but they never seem interested in doing any chores, only napping for hours on end. Ah, the life of a cat!

Mexican without the Margaritas

A new Mexican place opened close to our house this week in a shopping center that has been built for more than a year but has few tenants. That's a common site in our area. On the drive home, we saw two more centers that are built with four to six units each all for lease. I don't understand why these places are constructed only to sit there for months on end before a company leases part of it.

Sorry, I digress. Don Gallo Mexican Grille is a great dining experience. There is another location off Northshore Drive in Knoxville, and I hope the new one off Hardin Valley Road brings in customers because we'll definitely return. The salsa was extremely fresh, and the chips were warm. David ordered the Burrito Don Gallo, and I got the Chimichanga Acapulco, a huge portion that allowed me to bring some home. The service was great with a courteous staff, and very efficient.

The only thing missing from our meal was a nice refreshing margarita. There are some strange alcohol laws in Tennessee, and this is one of them. We don't live in the city of Knoxville, only Knox County, and some of these areas can only serve beer, not wine or liquor. I think it's a ridiculous rule since some of the unincorporated areas that can't serve liquor or wine are literally less than a mile away from restaurants that can serve them. The other Don Gallo's location does serve margaritas, and there is a petition right now to allow the sale of liquor and wine in all locations. I think it's also strange that we can't buy wine on Sundays in Tennessee, but beer sales are allowed. Oh well, we still enjoyed a great Mexican meal without the margarita.