A weekend of double-dates
Forgot to post about this past weekend. Angel and I went up to my parents' house for the weekend just to hang out and have a good time. We'd been trying to find a chance to do this, but scheduling issues kept us from having a free weekend. So, this time, we aimed way ahead and managed to make it up to Nashville.
One of the main reasons we were going to do this was so we could take new family pictures. Honestly, I don't think we've had family pictures made since my parents' 25th wedding aniversary, and that was like seven years ago. At first, my parents kept trying to find an opportunity for just myself to come up, but as it turned out there was one weekend in which both Angel and myself were free. That was how Angel got family pictures done with the rest of us, since she will be joining the family here in about a month-and-a-half.
We took off about mid-day on Friday. The idea was to get up there early enough so that we could accompany my parents to the dance studio so they could sign up for Showcase, which is this MAJOR dance show they do every year. My parents have an excellent reputation there, partly because they are such good dancers, but mostly because they are good dancers combined with the fact that they dance with one-another rather than with a professional. Things got a little messed up in the communication. My mom told me that, because of the Showcase sign-ups, Angel and I wouldn't be able to have a lesson that day before the dance party. Angel misunderstood ME, and thought that we weren't going to dance AT ALL this weekend. Luckily, we caught this about a block away from her house, so we turned around and went back for her dance things.
When we got to TN, we only had a few minutes to relax before my dad got home and we left for the dance studio. When we got there, turns out we COULD have our own lesson. It was a PAIN since I thought we weren't having a lesson, so I wore clothes (and shoes) that are not the best to dance in. Another problem was the small sound system playing the Showcase demo music always overrode the actual dance-floor music. For all my rhythm, I'm still a drummer. That beat is paramount to my existence. Still, it was great to dance with Angel.
That evening, we went for dinner at Kobe Steakhouse. Ahem, excuse me. *NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM* *burp* Ah, that was excellent. Favorite restaurant in the UNIVERSE. For the amount of food we ate, we had no problems on the dance floor when we returned to the studio.
They had a group lesson an hour before the dance party. Angel and I are SEXY dancers when we're together. The rest of the world just sort of fades away. I guess that's how we kept bumping into people. After that, the dance party... WHEW! Was that a rush. We danced our butts off... literally! When we went home, the whole family was just exhausted. Mom and dad got to show off their showcase from last year for the last time. Everyone loves watching them because, as a married couple, they can REALLY raise the sauciness factor of their dance routines. I think its in their student contract that they have to make out at least one time in any routine. Stefani also showed off her Showcase routine, dancing with her teacher Brian. She's quite often a very closed-off person, difficult to get to know or even talk to sometimes. But, when she dances, she really lets go and enjoys herself.
The next day were pictures. Did them at home for convenience. I think we did every combinatorial permutation of my now-five-member family possible. That was fun. Angel and I got our own, so we'll be able to have prints of it down here.
That evening, mom, dad, Angel, and I went for dinner theatre on the General Jackson. Funny, I lived in Nashville all my young life, went to Opryland and other touristy-type places, but have never been on the General. It was frakkin' HOT OUTSIDE that evening. *GRAH* She and I partook of fruity (as in made of fruit, not gay) drinks made with rum and tequila. That really cooled us down. We explored the General, which wasn't a whole lot, let me tell you. You can wander to the upper deck, middle deck, bow and stern observation decks, and... the gift shop. Gift shop was fun, though. Nashville gift shops have a habit of being quite music-y. Got another shotglass for my collection, and Angel got us an ornament for our first Christmas tree.
We then went down to the main hall for dinner. This dinner was WONDERFUL. Prime rib and scalloped potatoes. ("PO-TA-TOES" / "GO AWAY, SAM!") Angel and I each enjoyed a glass of our wine over dinner: Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon. After dinner, I also indulged in a glass of Jack Daniels Single Barrel on the rocks. Its strange to think. My parents have loosened up a lot in recent years. I remember going to Kobe on my twenty-first birthday, and my dad getting kind of upset with me when I suggest he buy drinks now that I was of legal age. We even got into a discussion of various drinks that we like. Mom sat beside me as I ordered the whiskey and asked if I normally drink this much. I said no, and that I got the whiskey because it is a really good digestive aid (digestif). Mom then went on to tell the other people at the table how she had used whiskey at different points in my childhood to deal with certain ailments. She did the whiskey-on-the-finger trick with me when I was teething. There were other times she gave me whiskey whenever I got some sort of throat / bronchial infection, which I've had a few of in my life.
The show was fantastic. "Country Music USA." Simple title for a great show. And anyone who's ever heard enough country music could instantly pick out the intro song right as the band started playing: "Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up" by Garth Brooks. The whole show was essentially a history of country music and of its effect on Nashville. They started from what is the origin of all country music: Gospel. What the did was show off an underlying thread in all the songs they performed thereafter. They then went on with the old-school favorites from the forties and fifties, sometimes tying them back with folk music. The performers were excellent: each one did at least one impersonation of a performer in the show. For those who weren't big fans of country music, for each new song they showed the name and picture of the performer on the back wall of the stage. After going through the oldies-but-goldies, they went on to the "new crowd," starting with Garth. And, in true Garth Brooks style, the lead singer got the entire crowd to sing along with "Friends in Low Places." I knew about two-thirds to three-quarters of the songs they played. Angel knew a lot of them I didn't. Very rarely did we come across a song that neither of us knew. When they finished with that, they did a tribute to the armed forces and all the vets in attendance that evening. They finished off with a patriotic song and that was the end of the show.
We went home that evening almost as tired as we were the previous night.
The next day, Angel and I finally got to see mom and dad's new church. Honestly, I can say that it is not for me, and whatever differences they had with our old church, I still prefer it over where they're going now. Then again, that's me. If this place does the trick, then God bless 'em... literally...
After enjoying lunch at McAlister's with my grandfather, we went back to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening just hanging out with my parents. Mom and Angel sat out in the living room and talked for HOURS. Dad and I explored the mysteries of LittleBigPlanet. We left TN about an hour after I had meant to be home. Oh, well, such is life.
Safe to say, we had a great weekend.
One of the main reasons we were going to do this was so we could take new family pictures. Honestly, I don't think we've had family pictures made since my parents' 25th wedding aniversary, and that was like seven years ago. At first, my parents kept trying to find an opportunity for just myself to come up, but as it turned out there was one weekend in which both Angel and myself were free. That was how Angel got family pictures done with the rest of us, since she will be joining the family here in about a month-and-a-half.
We took off about mid-day on Friday. The idea was to get up there early enough so that we could accompany my parents to the dance studio so they could sign up for Showcase, which is this MAJOR dance show they do every year. My parents have an excellent reputation there, partly because they are such good dancers, but mostly because they are good dancers combined with the fact that they dance with one-another rather than with a professional. Things got a little messed up in the communication. My mom told me that, because of the Showcase sign-ups, Angel and I wouldn't be able to have a lesson that day before the dance party. Angel misunderstood ME, and thought that we weren't going to dance AT ALL this weekend. Luckily, we caught this about a block away from her house, so we turned around and went back for her dance things.
When we got to TN, we only had a few minutes to relax before my dad got home and we left for the dance studio. When we got there, turns out we COULD have our own lesson. It was a PAIN since I thought we weren't having a lesson, so I wore clothes (and shoes) that are not the best to dance in. Another problem was the small sound system playing the Showcase demo music always overrode the actual dance-floor music. For all my rhythm, I'm still a drummer. That beat is paramount to my existence. Still, it was great to dance with Angel.
That evening, we went for dinner at Kobe Steakhouse. Ahem, excuse me. *NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM* *burp* Ah, that was excellent. Favorite restaurant in the UNIVERSE. For the amount of food we ate, we had no problems on the dance floor when we returned to the studio.
They had a group lesson an hour before the dance party. Angel and I are SEXY dancers when we're together. The rest of the world just sort of fades away. I guess that's how we kept bumping into people. After that, the dance party... WHEW! Was that a rush. We danced our butts off... literally! When we went home, the whole family was just exhausted. Mom and dad got to show off their showcase from last year for the last time. Everyone loves watching them because, as a married couple, they can REALLY raise the sauciness factor of their dance routines. I think its in their student contract that they have to make out at least one time in any routine. Stefani also showed off her Showcase routine, dancing with her teacher Brian. She's quite often a very closed-off person, difficult to get to know or even talk to sometimes. But, when she dances, she really lets go and enjoys herself.
The next day were pictures. Did them at home for convenience. I think we did every combinatorial permutation of my now-five-member family possible. That was fun. Angel and I got our own, so we'll be able to have prints of it down here.
That evening, mom, dad, Angel, and I went for dinner theatre on the General Jackson. Funny, I lived in Nashville all my young life, went to Opryland and other touristy-type places, but have never been on the General. It was frakkin' HOT OUTSIDE that evening. *GRAH* She and I partook of fruity (as in made of fruit, not gay) drinks made with rum and tequila. That really cooled us down. We explored the General, which wasn't a whole lot, let me tell you. You can wander to the upper deck, middle deck, bow and stern observation decks, and... the gift shop. Gift shop was fun, though. Nashville gift shops have a habit of being quite music-y. Got another shotglass for my collection, and Angel got us an ornament for our first Christmas tree.
We then went down to the main hall for dinner. This dinner was WONDERFUL. Prime rib and scalloped potatoes. ("PO-TA-TOES" / "GO AWAY, SAM!") Angel and I each enjoyed a glass of our wine over dinner: Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon. After dinner, I also indulged in a glass of Jack Daniels Single Barrel on the rocks. Its strange to think. My parents have loosened up a lot in recent years. I remember going to Kobe on my twenty-first birthday, and my dad getting kind of upset with me when I suggest he buy drinks now that I was of legal age. We even got into a discussion of various drinks that we like. Mom sat beside me as I ordered the whiskey and asked if I normally drink this much. I said no, and that I got the whiskey because it is a really good digestive aid (digestif). Mom then went on to tell the other people at the table how she had used whiskey at different points in my childhood to deal with certain ailments. She did the whiskey-on-the-finger trick with me when I was teething. There were other times she gave me whiskey whenever I got some sort of throat / bronchial infection, which I've had a few of in my life.
The show was fantastic. "Country Music USA." Simple title for a great show. And anyone who's ever heard enough country music could instantly pick out the intro song right as the band started playing: "Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up" by Garth Brooks. The whole show was essentially a history of country music and of its effect on Nashville. They started from what is the origin of all country music: Gospel. What the did was show off an underlying thread in all the songs they performed thereafter. They then went on with the old-school favorites from the forties and fifties, sometimes tying them back with folk music. The performers were excellent: each one did at least one impersonation of a performer in the show. For those who weren't big fans of country music, for each new song they showed the name and picture of the performer on the back wall of the stage. After going through the oldies-but-goldies, they went on to the "new crowd," starting with Garth. And, in true Garth Brooks style, the lead singer got the entire crowd to sing along with "Friends in Low Places." I knew about two-thirds to three-quarters of the songs they played. Angel knew a lot of them I didn't. Very rarely did we come across a song that neither of us knew. When they finished with that, they did a tribute to the armed forces and all the vets in attendance that evening. They finished off with a patriotic song and that was the end of the show.
We went home that evening almost as tired as we were the previous night.
The next day, Angel and I finally got to see mom and dad's new church. Honestly, I can say that it is not for me, and whatever differences they had with our old church, I still prefer it over where they're going now. Then again, that's me. If this place does the trick, then God bless 'em... literally...
After enjoying lunch at McAlister's with my grandfather, we went back to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening just hanging out with my parents. Mom and Angel sat out in the living room and talked for HOURS. Dad and I explored the mysteries of LittleBigPlanet. We left TN about an hour after I had meant to be home. Oh, well, such is life.
Safe to say, we had a great weekend.