Gatlinburg

Next weekend Chase & I are heading to Gatlinburg for a trip with the family (his side). The last time I was there, I was a junior in high school on a forensics tournament (speech & drama, not dealing with crime scenes or dead bodies). I visited the magic store in the mall several times with my teammates as well as a trip to the restaurant Waldo Pepper's. Of course we went on the sky lift, tried to stop the giant ball from rolling on the water outside of Ripley's Believe it or Not (we were successful, but it started rolling again as soon as we let go), and did some general loitering on the streets as high schoolers often do.

The most exciting part of that trip was the Deer Farm Exotic Petting Zoo. It wasn't exciting because of the emus and peacocks, but more because our coach left us in Gatlinburg to fend for ourselves because she didn't think her car would make it down the hill to get to the zoo. Now, this was all the way back in 1999, but there were a couple people on the team who had cell phones that our coach never called. We waited... and waited... and waited... had someone call the police station to see if there had been any wrecks... there hadn't been any so we waited some more. Eventually, we decided it would be best for us to just head on back up to Ft. Mitchell, KY.

When a teammate dropped me off at home, I told my parents what had happened because I had to get my stuff which had been in the trunk of my coach's car. So I called her and she had been home for a couple hours! She proceeded to tell me how she didn't think her car would make it down the hill and just went on home. I went to her house, got my stuff, went back home, and the school had been notified about what had happened. Needless to say, there wasn't a forensics team the next year.

My family used to stop in Gatlinburg for a day or few on the way back from vacationing at Myrtle Beach. We would always go to the year-round haunted houses and make it a point to visit the haunted mansion. We'd also visit Ripley's Believe it or Not. I love that place, but I can't really say why. I know that the exhibits are fakes for the most part, and some even say how things were faked in the past (for example: "mermaid skeletons" were made on Japanese coasts by gluing the top half of a monkey to the bottom half of a fish and sold to American soldiers). But I just really like that place. It's fascinating to me.

I have a feeling that this trip is going to be very different from my past Gatlinburg trips. Maybe not different in a good or bad way, just different...

Sir

In my post yesterday, I forgot to mention that for the first time in my life I was called "Sir" when I answered the phone (this was at work). Now, I may not sound like a woman on the phone, but I've never been mistaken for a man. I definitely have a feminine-sounding voice. On the phone (and on air), I sound more like a 12-year-old girl. I'm much more likely to get "Can I speak to your mom or dad?" than "Hello, sir..."

Granted, the person on the other end was some sort of telemarketer probably located in India, but still...

Foley

Today at work I got to play foley artist for a bit. I think the best sound effect I've made so far is a growl. I recorded myself growling and then dropped the pitch and also used a pitch bending effect. I had Tom listen to it without telling him what it was and asked him what it sounded like. He said a growl or maybe a dog growl. I told him it was me and his eyes got real wide and then he laughed. Later, I screamed several times into a microphone. Why can't every work day be like this?

MacBook

This is my first post on our new macbook. It's pretty awesome. Just how awesome is it? It's THIS awesome:



Yeah, that's me being all excited about the new lappy... picture taken with the built-in camera ON the lappy! It's pretty awesome. I know I already said, "It's pretty awesome," but I thought I needed to say it again.

Now it's time to finish up a wedding video I've been working on for way too long.

Not Words to Express

From SmashingPumpkins.com: The Smashing Pumpkins are currently in the studio in preparation for their first album in 7 years.

There are not words to express my excitement!

Proud Parents of a...

This morning Chase left with Caleb to a weekend youth retreat in Missouri. Chase is the speaker/teacher and Caleb will be leading worship through music. On the way, they planned on stopping at the Mac store in St. Louis. If all went as planned, Chase and I are now the proud parents of a Mac Book! Much fun will ensue. Be prepared to be bombarded with pictures from Photobooth... have video chats... and see videos!

I'm Dreaming of a Xmas w/ temps in the 70s

This year it's going to be a Disney Christmas! My parents' Christmas present to my sisters, Chase and me is a trip to Disney World the week before Christmas! That's the best time to go, too. Disney has Christmas lights all over and you get these 3-D-type glasses that make all the lights look like snowflakes and such, it's way less crowded so there are shorter lines, and the weather is very comfortable. The resort has a heated outdoor pool, too. I'm starting to get excited. (Plus, this means we'll be able to spend Christmas Eve & Day with the Abner clan.)

My parents came up for the weekend. We did a little shopping, Chase cooked some delicious dinner, and we went up to the beach at Rend Lake (where I forgot to bring the bread & chips, so sandwiches turned into lunchmeat roll-ups). Even though I was out in the sun all day, I didn't get a tan, but I didn't really get sunburn; I'm just a slightly darker shade of pale (if that makes any sense)... more of an off-white or mother of pearl color. It was fun.