"a long december and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last..."

december is always a rough month for me and my family bc it marks the anniversary of my brother, spencer's passing. this december has been the best one for me since december 16, 2003. here's a few reasons why...

shopping for jaycees christmas party.

dinner & movie with robin.

making cookies with the kiddos at school.

chaperoning the high school christmas dance.

christmas program at school.

ginny ann.

visiting spencer.

karen, allizea, pacey, and gabriel.

santa and his helper.

jaycees christmas party.

jaycees christmas party.

12.1.09 dogfish head beer dinner - the distillery - savannah, ga

one of the exciting things i experienced during my involuntary, extended stay in the lowcountry was the dogfish head beer dinner. matt's restaraunt, the distillery, was hosting it and of course, he was the chef. there was an ingredient from every continent throughout all the meal. here are some pics of the dogfish head beer dinner...

the distillery - 416 w. liberty st. -savannah, ga

dogfish head beer dinner menu

taste of the world - something from EVERY continent

ben volen - describing the dogfish head beers and how they will compliment the courses.

matt kubiak (head chef) - describing courses.

scallop with shitake orange vinnegrette with dogish red & white.

indian cashew chicken curry with dogfish head 60 minute ipa.

cherry port glazed duck with dogfish head raison d'etre.

beef tenderloin & grits with dogfish head indian brown ale.

chicory stout taramisu with dogfish head cherry stout.

me and mrs. volen (owner)

me and matt.

late november - early december 2009 savannah, ga

well, since i was stuck in savannah and matt had to work, i had A LOT of time on my hands! i wasn't still 100% from where i had been sick so i just relaxed the first couple of days i was there. by wednesday i was stir crazy and wanted to get out so i decided to go exploring. although i've been to savannah more times that i can count, it's rich with history you can never see it all so i decided to go exploring for the rest of the week during the day. at night matt would usually cook (he's a chef) and we would just hang out. we went out on friday night and braden came through town on his way to the keys on saturday night so i really enjoyed myself even though i was "stuck." here are some pics from my extended stay in savannah.

wicked trees.

i fell in love with this lil' place.

SCAD - art school

trees on river st.

boats.

sweetgrass baskets being made.

cobblestone on river st.

one of many historic sights downtown savannah.

river street.

slave trade statue.

character.

ga hussars.

cobblestone stairs that lead from river street up to the rest of downtown.

me, jigga, and santa.

colorful paintings at city market.

downtown home.

more trees.

chatham artillery.

a brick of the rememberance walk

red doors and palms.

more palms.

christmas time in the lowcountry.

dar cemetery.

jigga dragging a palm through the park.

braden, me, and matt.

me, matt, and jigga in the back.

we(mostly ben, his roommate)decorated matt's house in christmas lights.

november 2009 continued - lost...and not found.

keep in mind this entry is still an extension of what i like to call the "month of madness," starting with that last minute, unexpected trip to mikwaukee (see previous posts). that being said...i'm still in charleston at this point. we have an 8hr drive ahead of us on sunday...karen and i have to be back at work on monday morning. well, i stayed up late...which i shouldn't have bc i was sick and slept through the entire day on sunday. i left the hotel late saturday night to go stay and my very good friend will's house but failed to let ray and karen know i was leaving or where to find me when they were ready to leave to go back to tn. well, needless to say they still could not get in touch with me bc i was DEAD asleep...it was after 6pm and they HAD to leave...100% my fault. i woke up around 7...not voluntarily...matt was shaking me, trying to wake me up...said that he had fallen asleep watching football and that he had tons of missed calls from ray and karen and voicemails that they were looking for me. anyway, that had already left...about an hour before i got back in touch with them so...i immediately called into work and left a message that i wouldn't be there the next morning...next step...to figure out how i was going to get home. if you read my earlier charleston post i mentioned that flights were VERY expenive in and out of charleston...and that's in advance. this was going to be last minute and i knew it would be $600+...and that wasn't happening. LUCKILY i have a very good friend who works for delta so i called her to see if she could get me a buddy pass. buddy passes don't guarantee you on the flight you want...you are flying stand-by, which means you only get on the flight if there are any open seats available. there are no direct flights from charleston>nashville...you have to go through atlanta airport (which is horrible) so really, you have to make sure that you can get on 2 flights stand-by...not just the one. however, i did have options...dyon was driving to the atl airport the next morning and matt was going back to savannah so not only did i have the charleston airport to chose from...i had those two too. keely checked all the flights out of the three airport choices i gave her and she said that going to savannah would probably be my best bet...meaning there were more seats on those flights than any other. so, i get my stuff together and i head to savannah with matt. we stopped at a gas station on the way and i went in to get gatorade and gummy bears. i went to pay for them and guess what??? NO WALLET!!! i searched frantically all through my purse...dumped everything out, searched through my bag...dumped all the contents in the parking lot...threw some what of a fit you could say. it was no where. how was i going to fly home with no license? matt and andy somehow calmed me down...there was nothing we could do about it that late at night so we just continued on to savannah and crashed as soon as we got back to matt's place. he woke me up when he left for work the next morning. i called keely (friend with buddy pass) and told her my situation. she told me to call the savannah airport to see what their policy was on this and what i needed to do. i did that and they told me that was fine...no license...that i could just use my birth certificate...like i had that in my back pocket. i called my mom...didn't have it. called my dad...he didn't have it. finally, my dad went to the health department, had a new one made, and mailed it to me. by the time all this went down it was thursday...i had to take the whole week off work (yikes). since it was already thursday by the time i got my birth certificate i just decided to stay through the weekend. i always enjoy visiting savannah..and the company wasn't too bad either. well, sunday rolls around and guess what? no seats available for me to get on the flight. REALLY?? i got on the first flight out monday morning and FINALLY made it home monday afternoon. i did not step foot in my own home from november 20th until december 7th. i was only even in town those few hours on thanksgiving day. that is why it was the "month of madness!"

november 2009 - home away from home

charleston, sc...oh how i love thee...however, you always seem to be a pain to get to and from...weather it be by plane (expensive and layovers) or automobile (about an 8hr drive). either way, i'll still be in love with you.

love.

downtown charleston - king st.
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since the trip to charleston is so far we decided to break it up this time. ray and karen picked me up in manchester and we drove to atlanta and stayed with some friends for the night to break up the haul. i went to bed soon after we got there bc i was still not feeling well at all. i felt even worse when we got up to leave the next morning. we stopped by the marta station to pick up gugs and jenn. they flew in from new jersey and were riding the rest of the way with us. i felt so bad that i got in the back of the suburban and slept the entire way to charleston. i woke when we got there and went straight to the pharmacy where i had a script of antibiotics that had been called in and was waiting on me. i took some emergen-c and some meds and was able to hang out before the show...then just took it easy at the show, and went to bed soon afterwards. the friday night show was definately good but nothing compared to what saturday night had in store...

11/27/09 North Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, SC

1: Glory, Holden Oversoul, Dyin' Man, Clinic Cynic, Heroes > Impossible > Pleas, Thin Air (Smells Like Mississippi), Protein Drink > Sewing Machine

2: Ain't Life Grand > Who Do You Belong To?, Party At Your Mama's House > Three Candles, Fairies Wear Boots, Bear's Gone Fishin', Contentment Blues > Surprise Valley > Drums > Postcard > Surprise Valley

E: This Part Of Town > Pigeons

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when i woke up saturday i was feeling MUCH better. matt and i walked across the street from the hotel and got some lunch, came back to the room, watched some football, and then ppl came over and we started pre-gaming. i was so thankful i felt so much better! it's a good thing because the show saturday night was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE...better than i could have expected...even for a tour closer! i mean, monster sandwiches in the first set, waitin' for the bus>jesus left chicago (zz top), spanish moon tease, slow porch, arleen>jr...WOW! now THAT is how to close a tour, boys...thank you!

11/28/09 North Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, SC

1: Chilly Water > Henry Parsons Died > Chilly Water, C. Brown, Driving Song > Bowlegged Woman > Jam > Driving Song > Papa's Home > Ride Me High > Papa's Home > Action Man

2: Flicker > Fishwater > Greta > All Time Low, Waitin' For The Bus > Jesus Just Left Chicago > Crazy > Tall Boy, Tie Your Shoes > Jam > Porch Song > Arleen > Junior

E: On Your Way Down > Up All Night > Love Tractor

[Only 'Jesus Just Left Chicago', First 'On Your Way Down'; Slow 'Porch Song'; 'Spanish Moon' tease after 'Tie Your Shoes']

ray, karen, me, and matt pre-gaming - yes, that's an ice bucket under ray's jacket!

schools & jb.

light show.

turkey day

like i said in my previous entry, i was only home for about 12hrs for thanksgiving. when i got home from milwaukee>chicago i drove straight from the airport to aunt bevie's to help prepare the food for our family thanksgiving lunch the next day. we had told nannie that it was time we learned how to do all the cooking so we took initiative. we prepared all the food wed. night and got up early and actually cooked on thursday morning. we had thanksgiving lunch, as usual, at aunt bev's. i went to my dad's for a little bit afterwards then headed to manchester where ray and karen were picking me up to head to charleston for the weekend!