Backtracking a bit: Kelly turned 26 on Friday! "Cinco de Mayo plus 1" as she always says. The theme of the party was something about heads and hats, i.e. wigs and/or hats were required to enter. Apartment 310 showed up and brought their best game. (No one was surprised.)
Here is another shot at our favorite hang-out, Red Rooster. Notice how we actually continued to wear the hats out in public. Unfortunately, the turkey hat was left at home. Thank you Jason for letting me borrow such a masterpiece. My kiddos didn't know what to make of the turkey on my head when I wore it, but they all asked to wear it. Due to questionable lice issues, it remained on my head only. I should also add that Kelly received a lap dance from some random boys and they were actually really fun and not creepy at all! I realize those two phrases rarely go together, but they were awesome!
Sunday, we drove 3.5 hours west to the Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia border for White Water Rafting! (Note to self, when teaching TN history, remember that TN borders NC. Oops.) We went WWR in the Ocoee River. Pronunciation still unknown. This is a picture of the stray we found there and no one would allow me to take him home. I am still convinced that if we had not had 5 people in the car they would have let me take him home. He loved our apartment. FYI Spencer, I can't be certain he will not be a 310 resident when you return in August.
After suiting up, we were ready to go. We were warned that the yellow t at the top of the paddle was the most dangerous part of WWR. Clearly, this meant that Kristie and Cari would begin twirling it and Spencer would start some type of battle.
We rode down to the river, hopped in our raft with our guide Stan and began our voyage. It was about 82 degrees, sunny, and lovely out on the river. Stan thought we were up for every challenge (which we were) so he took us on every difficult hydrolic in the river. Liz fell out pretty early but we got her back in quickly enough! Then, he let us flip the boat on purpose to cool off (not that we weren't soaking wet). We also got to "ride the bull" which meant while going down the rapids, someone say on the front tip of the boat holding only two black strips of cloth while the rest of us paddled. It was epic.
Then, while minding my own business, a HUGE arm came out of nowhere and threw me into the river. I can't make this up. Spencer screams, "How did you fall in?! It wasn't that bad!!" The guide gives a sinister face and shrugs. BECAUSE STAN THREW ME INTO THE WATER! I laughed it off (until I realized I lost my contacts). Thankfully, we were at the end of our trip so I didn't miss seeing anything really. Here is a group shot post-WWR with my best friend Stan :)
Other exciting news this week. Katey, Jason, their mutual friend Jordan, and I went to dinner on Wednesday night. We went to Rosepepper Cantina in East Nash. Incredible Mexican fish tacos. Jason ate something so spicy he was sweating. The margarita hit the spot for sure, after a long day with no AC at school. I'm lucky to be in a portable, but the rest of the school was not so lucky. Imagine 1,000 children sweating, complaining, and complaining some more. Yes, what I needed was a margarita. Afterward, we went to this awesome home-made ice cream place called Pied Piper. They are family owned so close really early. Jason called them minutes before they closed to say we were on our way from out of town and begged them to please stay open. In NYC, they would have laughed. In Nashville, they told us to come on by. I tried something called Trailer Trash and it was vanilla was like 8 different types of topics inside it. Everyone else got banana and next time we go back, I would try anything on the list. Delicious hole in the wall place. After they closed, we sat on the balcony and chatted for a while. They just asked that we turned the lights off after we were done. Heart the south for their hospitality.
Two more updates and then I'm done, I promise.
THE CICADES ARE HERE! THE CICADES ARE HERE! Every 13 years they grace some part of the country with their presence and believe you me, Nashvillians are not pleased. We had them in Chicago like two years ago and I grew up with them in Jersey, so I think it's sort of funny. But seriously, they are everything. A special shout out to Special Sheilah for bringing 15 of them to me on Friday in a container so I could show my students. Her mom told me that if you squeeze them, green ooze comes out. Seriously, thanks!
Last but not least, I volunteered to help with a fundraiser at school to raise money for benches and bike racks. I got to sit in a dunk tank and students heaved balls at a target to dunk me. It was SO much fun. There are no pictures that I know of and I'm glad about that. I felt like I was in a wet t-shirt contest of sorts. I was dunked more than a dozen times.. and guess who the first kiddo was that got me? Mr. Joshua. Of course. The kids loved it so it was totally worth it.
Looking forward to visiting Chicago in less than 2 weeks!
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