It's funny that while life is more or less back to normal here in Nashville, the floods and recovery efforts are still all that is covered on the news.  It's un-escapable around here.  I do love that Nashville has rallied together to get through this rough patch.  Nashville has a new "battle cry"- We Are Nashville.  I like it. :) We watched the telethon that aired on GAC on Sunday night (and raised over $1.7 million to help flood victims!), and I couldn't be happier to be living here amongst some really great, giving people, both famous and not.  And I still love the fact that that show was airing from the Ryman Auditorium, live, just steps from our door.  This town has really grown on me.


 My 28th (GAH!!!) birthday was last week and Will showered me with gifts every 28 year old ladee would be happy to receive- flowers and a screen door for our living room window.  Unfortunately the weather has remained craptastic lately so we haven't had a chance to install it yet, but I'm looking forward to being able to open our door and let some fresh air into our place, while keeping bugs out.

We went out on the town for my birthday dinner last Wednesday.  We dined at Germantown Cafe, a local restaurant that was darn tasty.  While we were at a rather nice restaurant, our Salmon Curry and Rib Eye steaks were served on Chinette paper plates, and our wine was served in plastic cups.  Nashville is still on a water restriction since the flooding happened.  Area restaurants are pitching in by serving on paper and plastic to cut down on dish washing.  We have done very limited loads of laundry in the past few weeks, and have only run the dishwasher twice since the beginning of May.  Hopefully the 2nd water plant that was damaged by flood waters is up and running soon. 

We are in full-blown planning mode for Norway.  We have booked several parts of our trip, which is now less than 3 months away! We've made reservations for our own version of the popular "Norway in a Nutshell" tour that involves taking 2 trains that have been listed in the World's Top 25 train list, as well as a ferry right through the Sognefjord to Bergen.  We've also rented our car, which is super expensive, but a necessity for us to be able to see all that we want to see.  Andy and Sandy are contemplating joining us for a portion of our trip before they have to attend a wedding in London.  We're holding out hope that they can meet up with us for a few days.  Traveling with a group is always a good time.

And....hmmm....Welp, that's about it for now.