Music Review: Tuskegee

My college roomie, Melissa, left a comment earlier this week asking me to post a book review; and, while I would love to oblige her, today is not the day. I haven't really read anything as wonderful as The Hunger Games lately, but I am reading something right now that is getting better by the day so I may have a review of that book before too long. I will try to put something together for Melissa and the rest of you before then on some books I liked and maybe haven't reviewed on here.

In the meantime, however, I did want to tell you all about a really great new album I purchased from iTunes this week. The name of the album (I have a hard time spelling and typing that word) is Tuskegee and it's by none other than Tuskegee native, Lionel Ritchie - love that guy! This album is a remix, if you will, of some of Lionel's (yes, we're on a first name basis) greatest hits. However, instead of Lionel singing along by himself or with some anonymous back-up singers, he sings with some well-known country music stars. Well, they may be well known to you; not all of them are well known to me.

I'm not a fan of country music by any stretch of the imagination, but I must admit, I really love this album. It's got a classic Lionel sound, but also a new twist and it brings these old classics to life once more. My favorite song I think is probably "Stuck On You" with Darius Rucker, which may not surprise many of you that know I am secretly a big time fan of Hootie and the Blowfish. Blake Shelton and Lionel open up the album with “You Are” which is also a good one.

Other artists include Jason Aldean (who my little cousin Sydney likes) singing “Say You, Say Me”, and Tim McGraw singing on “Sail On”. There are also songs with Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson.

If you are a lover of Lionel like I am, then I really think you will like this album a lot. I would almost venture to say I love it more than the originals…almost. It is truly great and I have been listening to it ever since I downloaded it. If you are looking for some good music, then give Tuskegee a try and then try not to sing out loud while listening at work – it’s not an easy task!

She’s Not Sure She Can Help

On Monday night, we had our monthly Ladies’ Night Put event for the gals at church. We got together at the home of one of my favorites, Idova and she grilled hot dogs for us. We talked and ate and had a really fun time.

Before the night was over, we played a game called Songburst. This particular version was songs from the 1950s and 1960s. I would read a few words from a lyric and the two teams would try to guess the name of the song. The participants were supposed to sing the song which didn’t always work out so well. The toughest part for me was when I did know the song – it was hard for me to not sing.

Somehow during all of this singing and reading of song lyrics, I ended up showing the girls my not so awesome dance moves; particularly the dance moves I used when I was at Patrick’s wedding reception on Saturday night. Well, needless to say, the ladies got quite a kick out of those dance moves of mine.

Myrtle, who is the sister of Idova, basically told me that my dance moves were terrible and that she needed to teach me some moves. After the game was over Myrtle told me she had taught all of her girls to dance and that she in fact won a dance competition when she was younger – I have got to get more information about that!

I demonstrated some more of my dance moves and she told me not to move my arms around so much. I told her I could not wait for these dance lessons she is going to give me. She probably will try to pass on actually showing me something, but I will not rest until I learn some sweet dance moves from Myrtle!

Sadly, as she was leaving for the night she told me she didn’t know if she could help me – apparently my dance moves are that bad! I assure you, I will keep on Myrtle until she gives me some dance moves and of course, I’ll be sure to tell you all about my progress right here on The Chronicles of Nat!

It Was a Party All Weekend

Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly had a busy weekend; and, by the time Sunday night rolled around, the last thing I wanted to do was sit down and write a post. So, I'm a day late getting things started here this week; but hopefully all will be forgiven.

Friday night I managed to mow most of the back yard on a very high setting and knew that without a doubt it would have to be mowed again on Saturday. I also managed to pull up two dead tress from the backyard and the holes in which they once stood now pose a hazard every time I walk in the general area. No doubt I will have to fill the holes with mud so I (or The Tide for that matter) don't break a leg.

Saturday morning I woke up early to do a little cleaning before I went to the gym and then after the gym I mowed the front yard and the back yard again. Thankfully the yard is at least now somewhat manageable provided I don't wait weeks to mow again, which I don't plan on doing. I will also have to bring out the weed-eater on the next go around because some areas around the house are in desperate need of a trim and the lawn mower can't reach. So, I have that joy to look forward to.

After mowing and showering, I did a little more cleaning and then got all dolled up to go to a wedding. My friend Patrick got married at Grace Lutheran Church and then the wedding reception was at the Huntsville Museum of Art. It was a nice ceremony, but the best part was that they had a bagpiper play when Meredith walked down the aisle and when she and Patrick left the building. It was awesome! He also played when they were introduced at the reception. The food at the reception was also really good. They had chicken fingers and rolls at one table and a cheese and bread table and then the main course was roast beef or chicken with potatoes and carrots, asparagus and a squash, broccoli, zucchini mixture. The bride's cake was red velvet and white and was kind of dry, but the groom's cake was chocolate with peanut butter frosting and was very moist and quite delicious! They had a DJ mixing tunes for the dance floor and I must admit I kicked up my heels and did a little dancing. It was such a fun night!

Speaking of weddings, a guy I work with also was married over the weekend. He came in to work on Friday and worked half a day then drove to Biloxi with his girl and got hitched. I thought that was so strange that he would come in to work and then get married in the evening. He was back at work today as if it was no big deal. Totally cracked me up.

On Sunday, I cooked birthday dinner for my mom, whose birthday is today, March 26! Happy Birthday Mother! We had chicken tetrazzini, salad, garlic bread (thanks Cheryl!) and apple dumplings for dessert. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. I made it home about 8:30 Sunday night, cleaned up the kitchen, watched one TV show and then called it a weekend. I was more than tired by the time I hit the bed and I did not want to get up this morning.

I'd like to think the next few weekends were going to be a little less eventful, but that couldn't be further from the truth. At least I will have something to write about! Sadly, I'm not sure what I will write about tomorrow seeing as how I've told you everything that happened over the course of the last three days, but maybe I'll be able to think of something. I hope you had a great weekend as well and that your week is off to a tremendous start!

I Need To Mow My Yard

I don't have anything exciting to end with this week. Hopefully you're not too disappointed. I'm sure you all have already mowed your lawns, whereas I have not and now my grass is out of control. I heard Robert Reeves say that you should mow on March 23 or 24 so that the green onions wouldn't come back and so I decided to hold out for the 23rd, which is tomorrow (or today if you are reading on Friday). However, it poured down rain Thursday and I think we are supposed to get more rain on Friday; so, now I have no idea when I'm going to mow. Fingers crossed it won't rain on Friday and I can get it done then. Otherwise it will be Saturday morning after a trip to the gym, which sounds like too much physical activity in one day! At any rate, it needs to be done before The Tide gets lost in the tall grass never to return.

I wanted to tell you all another story about that neighborhood cat. On Saturday when I left to go to the gym the cat was on top of the roof of the house across the street (where its owners live). The roof over the porch of that house is a little lower than the roof over the living portion of the home and that's where the cat was chilling out. When I got home, it was still there. Then moved to the higher portion of the roof. I took a photo with my phone, but you probably can't tell much about the scenario. I found it to be really strange, but what do I know?

This photo makes it look like I live in the ghetto!

Here's another photo from my phone that I thought was funny. On Saturday when I went to the concert with Maria and Jackie, I took this photo of my two friends. It cracked me up because Maria wasn't even looking at me, her eyes were turned towards the tour bus. She was not going to miss it if one of The Avett Brothers walked by!

My neightbor Charlie broke out his fire pit this week. This cracks me up. You can read all about Charlie and his fire pit here. That's it for the week, friends. I hope you all have a great weekend and that your yard is perfectly trimmed!

I Eavesdropped In On The Solution

You probably know by now that I seem to often have problems with my sinuses. I end up with a sinus infection every time the weather changes, or at least the seasons. It’s quite a curse, if you ask me, but one I deal with because I live in the land of pollen.

Last Wednesday, I overheard a conversation before our morning meeting. One of the guys said that he had heard eating local honey would help with allergies. I had never heard that before, but was willing to give it a try because I was close to finishing my medication from the doctor and on that particular day was feeling quite terrible.

So, after work on Wednesday, I stopped by Ayers Produce and bought some local honey, made in Meridianville by Bill Mullins, whoever he is. I then stopped by the liquor store, yes, Aunt Linda, the liquor store, and bought some bourbon. I wanted to make a hot toddy that evening so that I could get a night of good sleep.

After church that evening, I ate a few spoonfuls of honey and then made a hot toddy and soon after went to bed. Ever since that night, I have eaten at least one, usually two spoonfuls of honey a day and I am here to tell you, I am feeling so much better. My eyes have not been watering and my nose hasn’t been dripping as much as it was. The soreness in my throat finally went away on about Sunday. I really do think it’s helping!

If you have trouble with your allergies and sinuses, I would definitely recommend giving it a try. I feel better than I ever have in the spring and that’s saying something. I guess you need to like honey, otherwise it might not be a good solution for you. I have been a lover of honey since I was a young child thanks to my parents who used to put honey on my pacifier. I’m sure parents wouldn’t dream of doing that nowadays. But, in the 1970s, it was a-okay. If you give it a try, report back and let me know if it’s working for you as well as it is for me.

What Have You Got To Lose?

So, y'all know I love to save money and try to do so in each and every way I possibly can. I recently read on one of the money saving blogs I read that you should call your internet service provider every few months and see about getting a lower price, or a promotional price and once that runs out, call them again. I stored this little nugget of information in the back of my head and didn't think much about it again.

Last week my dear friend David stopped by my cubicle for a visit and told me about his recent call to DirecTV. Last year about this time, he called and complained about a gaming channel they were doing away with and so he threatened to change service providers and they gave him some free movie channels and $20 off his monthly bill for a year. This month, David’s promotional $20 off per month ended. So, he gave them a call and asked what they could do to help him out – times are tough, man! So they gave him $20 off per month for another year.

David inspired me to make my own phone call and so on Thursday night, I called DirecTV and asked them what they could do for me. After speaking with a third person, I was also offered $20 off per month for six months. I took the deal. The guy I spoke with said I could call back in six months and ask for it again. Then we continued talking because I had a question about an old receiver I wanted to send back. As a result of asking about the receiver, the guy I was talking with discovered I was being overcharged for a receiver that wasn’t being used and he gave me a credit. He could only go back six months on the credit so that was another $36.

The next day when I logged into my account, my bill, which is usually around $106 was only $45 for the month of April! Score! It was so worth the phone call.

David later called his internet service provider and ended up with $20 off per month of that bill as well. I haven’t called mine yet, but it’s on the agenda. In this competitive society we live in most companies will do what they can to keep your business and it will benefit you as well. So, pick up the phone and give your cable, dish, and internet companies a call this week and let us know your success stories!

It Happened Again

After arriving home late Saturday night, I still managed to wake up around 6:30 on Sunday morning. Since I didn't have any studying to do (we had a guest speaker during the Bible class hour), I decided to peruse iTunes for some Avett Brothers tunes. Seeing as how I didn't know very many songs at the show on Saturday night, I figured I needed to download some of their music so that maybe next time I will also want to jump up and down like Maria.

I found a set of songs I wanted to download but rather than smoothly downloading, I received an error message that the transaction had been declined. I looked at the card number on file at iTunes (my debit card) and it was entered correctly. Rather than try to figure out what was going on with this card, I just entered in the information for my credit card and the songs downloaded. Strange, yes, but not all that unusual as I had some problems with my card on iTunes around Christmas time because I had not downloaded any songs in a long while.

During church I received a phone call, but it was a 1-800 number so I didn't leave worship to answer it and to be honest didn't think much else about it after I declined the call. When services were over, I went to Publix to pick up a few things because I had to make some food for a funeral of one of our members. Then I went to Newk's to get some lunch for myself and tried to use my debit card (I had used my credit card at Publix) and the card was declined so I had to use my credit card. I had no idea what was going on, but I was concerned at this point.

On the way home, I stopped by the ATM to see if I could get some information. I selected a balance inquiry (even though I had checked my balance that morning and all was okay) and the transaction would not go through. I received a message that said to contact my institution and thought to myself, um, this is my institution.

I went home and ate my lunch and then prepared to call my bank. I realized I had a voice mail and checked it first. It was from the call I had received during church and was alerting me to possible fraudulent charges on my debit card. I called the number and spoke with a nice girl who went through all the recent charges with me and indeed they were all fraudulent, with the exception of the Pet Store where I had taken The Tide on Saturday morning to give her a bath. The girl canceled my debit card and told me to contact my bank about having a new one issued.

This morning, I went to my bank at 9:00 a.m. when they doors opened and spoke with another nice lady. She made sure my card had been cancelled (it had) and issued me a new one. She also filled out paperwork disputing the pending fraudulent transactions. There were far fewer transactions pending than I had been told about on the phone Sunday and the lady at the bank said that I will have to come back in and dispute those separately if they show up. I'm hoping they won't show up so I don't have to spend any more time on this matter.

So, for the second time in a month someone has stolen my card information. This is really becoming annoying. Thankfully this was stopped before it got out of hand. I don't know how the card companies know to notify you when there are possible fraudulent charges but I'm glad they do! The lady at the bank said someone could have hacked into the pet store information since that was my last transaction or a dishonest employee somewhere could have gotten the information and used it. She also told me she had some customers who had their social security number stolen and didn't know until they went to file taxes and the government would not accept their return because someone had already filed under their number! It's a scary and crazy world we are living in! Be sure and watch your information as closely as you can!