New Experience #113: Drive a Tesla

Bobby's Tesla after I safely returned it.

The Tesla car hood logo.

Last night during my monthly massage with Bobby at Northwest Massage Therapy (go see him and tell him I sent you, trust me), we were chatting as we often do about politics, religion, world events, etc. when Bobby mentions he and his wife recently bought a new car. Then he casually tosses in that it's a $94,000 car.

A what? That's more money than my condo cost and more money than I've ever made in a year.

And then it hits me . . . he bought a Tesla. He'd been talking about it for awhile and I was thrilled they'd finally gotten it.

As he continues to tell me about all the bells and whistles this car has, he says, "would you like to drive it after your massage?" Um, Hell yes! That's not what I said though. I hemmed and hawed thinking, "I could never drive a $94,000 car!"

After my massage, we went outside so I could see the Tesla and so I could go home. Bobby unlocked the car so I see inside and then tells me to get in.

Thinking I'm just going to get in so I can see better, he walked around to the passenger side and got in. He showed me how to turn it on and taps the enormous dashboard screen to adjust the car for his wife (she and I are similar height). Suddenly the seat starts moving forward and up, the steering wheel adjusts, and all the mirrors move into place.

The next word I hear is "drive." So I did. I drove all around the parking lot and then Bobby says, "take a left on Irving Park." Okay.

So I drove to the Schaumburg Regional Airport (about a 5 minute drive).

The Tesla is completely silent and could have almost driven itself. It has a sunroof that is more like a convertible top in the way that it opens the entire roof. It goes just under 275 miles on one full charge and charging it for a month costs about $18, Bobby told me. He also told me that if he's driving from Chicago to Michigan, there are Tesla Supercharger Stations across the country that will charge the car for free and take about 30 minutes to fully charge it. The car goes from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. Don't ask how I know. Take your foot off the gas and the car slows down as if you'd pressed the brake peddle.

I tried to convince Bobby to let me take the Tesla home and he could take my Camry. They're practically the same car, I argued. My powers of persuasion failed me and I drove my Camry home. Trust me when I tell you that driving a Camry after driving a Tesla feels like you're driving a horse and buggy.

I have to tell you, the Tesla is the greatest car I've ever driven. If I could afford a Tesla, I would buy one in an instant.

Thank you Bobby for giving me this awesome new experience!

Hypothyroidism: One Year Later

Image from The Encyclopedia of Science

Over Labor Day Weekend last year, I went to the hospital with an uncontrollable bloody nose. Because I don't think I'd ever had a bloody nose before and certainly not one that wouldn't stop bleeding for close to 30 minutes, I was terrified as I drove myself the four miles to Lake Forest Hospital's emergency room. When I arrived, I was still bleeding and was a nervous mess.

Of course, the ER doctor was able to stop the bleeding, then did a full exam of my nose and throat, and ran a battery of blood tests that (seriously, MORE blood that they took from my hand with a needle! couldn't they have taken some of the blood I'd just lost?) to make sure I was okay to send home. Unable to find the source of the blood and with a clean blood panel, I was sent home with instructions to come back if it happened again and told to see an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor for follow-up that week.

When I finally made it to the ENT a couple of weeks later, all went well until he found a 2-inch lump on my thyroid that I didn't know was there. Of course, I also didn't know my thyroid was located at the base of my neck.  It didn't hurt and it wasn't impeding my ability to swallow, but he was concerned and sent me for more blood work, an ultrasound, and ultimately, a biopsy.

The ultrasound confirmed that the lump was about 2 inches in length and had completely taken over my thyroid. The blood work confirmed that my thyroid wasn't working at all, which explained a number of physical symptoms that I was experiencing. The best news was that the biopsy came back showing that the lump was completely benign.

To be sure, the two weeks between the discovery of the lump and the results of the ultrasound were the two most miserable weeks of my life. I was an emotional wreck. What if I had cancer? What if it was incurable? I know a number of women who've beaten thyroid cancer and that it's one of the most treatable cancers, but that didn't alleviate the terror I felt that I could die at 41. I was so paralyzed with fear that I mostly kept the whole ordeal to myself. Given that I process things externally, this was quite the feat for me.

Good news in hand, my ENT told me I needed to see an Endocrinologist about the fact that my thyroid didn't work and to determine a course of treatment.

My awesome Endocrinologist sent me for more blood work (yay, more needles!) and then decided that we'd watch my thyroid numbers for a month or two. After two more rounds of blood work that showed my thyroid numbers getting worse each time, it was decided that I would start treatment with Synthroid, a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone.

Finally, my June 2013 round of blood work showed my thyroid numbers back in the normal range, and in August, I realized that I was feeling like me again.

What does "me" feel like? I have almost boundless energy again. I no longer want a nap was 2pm daily. I'm sleeping normally. My skin is in much better shape. My nails are growing again and are no longer brittle. My hair is also no longer so brittle and has stopped falling out. Weight is coming off. My menstrual cycle is like clockwork again.

It was not easy getting to this point. In fact, for months, I believed I'd never feel like myself again. But I did and all those needles were worth it. I still have to have thyroid related blood work, but not nearly as frequently, and I'll be taking the Synthroid for the rest of my life.

Here's what I've learned: Check your neck. Lumps are a big deal, even the benign ones. Your thyroid is located at the base of your neck and it controls an awful lot in our bodies. Metabolism, menstrual cycle, mood, skin, hair, hairs, energy levels, body temperature, and much more. Are you depressed? It may be due to your thyroid. Are you gaining weight and can't figure out why or can't lose weight no matter what you do? It may be due to your thyroid. Has your menstrual cycle gone berserk and you're no where near menopause? It could be your thyroid. I've had zero side effects on Synthroid. It does exactly what it's supposed to do with ease, although it does take a little tinkering with the dosages to get it right.

New Holiday: Int'l Stay In Bed & Read A Book Day

When I got up this morning, I learned, thanks to social media, that today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. I don't know about you, but I've never been into pirates. Not even Johnny Depp could convince me that pirates are cool.

I'm not going to tell you not to talk like a pirate though. In fact, I think you should do whatever tickles your fancy. I'm all about your right to choose for yourself here. I'm Pro-Choice.

As I showered, dryed my hair, did my make-up, and made important fashion decisions for my day, I could hear many claps of thunder and the sound of pouring rain hitting my roof. I also quickly realized that although it was 7:45 a.m., it looked like midnight outside.

The thunderstorm combined with Talk Like Pirate Day got me to fantasizing about what kind of fake, but widely celebrated holiday would I enjoy and that would have universal appeal.

And thus was born . . .

International Stay In Bed 

and Read A Book Day

Here's how it works:

Stay In Bed and Read A Book Day is a floating holiday that can be used by all adults on any regularly scheduled workday. It will not count against any other paid time off you have (e.g., sick, vacation), although it is a paid day off. You get to choose when to celebrate it each year (see, more of that pro-choice thing) so that it fits best into your schedule. Children are strictly forbidden from celebrating because they need to be in school and they have too damn many days off anyway.

In order to invoke Stay In Bed and Read A Book Day, you simply need to email your employer and let them know by 6:00 a.m. local time on the day you are celebrating. You may not provide advance notice.

I recommend you choose a snowy or rainy day so that you are not tempted to get out of bed, but it is up to you. If you want to stay in bed and read on a perfectly nice sunny day, go for it.

That's really all that's required.

Here are helpful FAQs because I know you have questions:

1. Am I required to remain in bed alone? Absolutely not. If you'd like to have company, enjoy!

2. Is there a number of people I'm allowed to have in my bed on Stay In Bed and Read A Book Day? No. As long as they are all consenting adults, you can have a party, in bed.

3. Do I have to read a book or can I read my Kindle or a stack of magazines? Again, it does not have to be a book. You may read your Kindle, the newspaper, magazines, mail, or anything else you'd enjoy reading. The only thing forbidden is work related reading.

4. Do I have to read? Can I engage in other activities in bed? Of course! I encourage it. You may sleep or engage in any other activity that can be done in bed in a reclining position. You may engage in these activities alone or with the companions you have in bed with you, as long as they're consenting adult people.

5. Can I wear a costume when I celebrate? Sure. Feel free. Playing dress up is fun.

5. Is there anything else I should know? Pace yourself. The last thing you want is to over exert yourself and have to call in sick on the day after Stay In Bed and Read A Book Day. That's just bad form.

6. Can I post pictures of my celebration of Stay In Bed and Read A Book Day on social media? Yes. Use the hashtag #StayInBed and please keep the pictures G-rated.

Enjoy!

Reason, Season, & Lifetime Friends - Not a Repeat, a Three-Peat

I originally wrote this post on February 12, 2008. I published again, almost exactly 12 months later, on February 1, 2009.

Tonight, I'm publishing it for the third time because it still resonates so deeply with me and remains one of my absolute all time favorite blog posts. Five and a half years after its original publication on Little Merry Sunshine, I find myself going through a Season change. Yes, we are literally transforming from Summer to Fall, but some of my relationships are also transforming. Some are ending and others are just beginning. I see it quite clearly; perhaps more clearly than I've seen it ever before in my life.

So it's through the dual lenses of grieving the relationships ending and hopefulness for the ones just beginning, that I share with you my most fundamental beliefs on relationships of all kinds.

-----


I have always believed there are three types of friends: Reason, Season, and Lifetime. None of them is bad. In fact, they are all equally important.

Reason Friends come into my life for a specific reason - to help me grow, to help me learn a lesson, etc. Once the reason is over, the friendship comes to its natural end. Sometimes work friends fall into this category. We may become very close to Reason Friends and share many intimate details from our lives, but they are still Reason Friends. I usually mourn their departure, but sometimes it's so gradual neither of us notices until it's too late. I also usually hope that our paths cross again.

Season Friends are in my life for a period of time. Some of my friends from college fall into this category. They were there for those 4 years, but after that Season in our lives was over, we went our separate ways. I always mourn when these friendships end because it means a significant time in my life is over, but it is also a time of exciting opportunity. Like Reason Friends, I hope my life path will cross again with my Season Friends.

Lifetime Friends, however, are my touchstones, my lifeblood. Without them, my life is empty. They are there through the thick and thin, exuberance, and sorrow. No matter what happens in our lives, our friendship remains. Sometimes we aren’t as close as others, but we always come back together. The thing about Lifetime Friends is that we can be apart for a decade or more, but when we finally come back together, it's like time has stood still and we pick up right where we left off. Being a Lifetime Friend has nothing to do with when the friendship began. It could be a 40 year old friendship or a 4 week old friendship.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't treat any of my friends differently. Most of the time, I don't even consciously know which category they fall into.

Because February is the season of Love (and not just the romantic kind), it reminds me to tell my friends how much I love them. I know I don't say it often enough. But I do really and truly love each of my friends. So this Valentine's Day, I'm sending big hugs and kisses your way.

Like Nana, Like Jessica

I've shared my experiences with Nana visiting me since her death here and here. She visited me again last night/today.

Background: Last night's dinner was Grandmother themed. No, it wasn't all soft foods, suitable for the denture crowd. Dinner consisted of my Grannycago's Grilled Chicken (That's my Gardner Grandma, who lived in Chicago. She hated that name, so I loved it even more.), Nana's Rice, and Christopher's YaYa's Green Beans. My dinner was heavenly and the leftovers are even better.  Doesn't this meal look divine?

About midnight, I went to sleep and had a dream about being at Nana's house with both of my parents for the last time. We were cleaning out the house to put it on the market, just as we did almost exactly 12 months ago. In my dream, we were having breakfast when in the door walks Nana. We had a lovely visit, got caught up on the last four years since her death, and then she left.

Okay, now you know the context of what I got up to today.

You should also know the following story about Nana:

About 20 years ago, when Nana was still working at NationsBank (now Bank of America), I would call her almost nightly to check in with her. Sometimes our chats were short and sometimes they were long. Nana was never a complainer, so it struck with me some concern when she began complaining in all of our calls about how much pain she was in. Every night, she would tell me how badly her feet hurt after work and she just didn't know what to do. Maybe, she would say, it was time to retire (she was almost 80). This went on for at least a couple of weeks. It was hard to hear about all the pain she was in because I was in DC and there was nothing I could do. One night, she got on the phone and just couldn't stop apologizing and telling me how embarrassed and ashamed she was, but didn't mention the pain in her feet. I didn't understand and couldn't imagine what was causing all this embarrassment and shame. Finally, she explained that as she was taking off her shoes that night, a bunch of balled up tissue paper fell out of one and she realized that both shoes had tissue paper stuffed into the toe of each shoe. Her feet were in so much pain because her size 7 triple narrow feet were essentially crammed into size 5 triple narrow shoes.

This morning, I was rushing around getting ready for work and decided that the only shoes that would work for today were some super cute black patent leather flats that also hurt my feet so badly I can barely walk by the end of the day. The things we do for fashion.

I slipped on the flats, looked down and saw what I thought was a piece of white paper towel peaking out of the top of the left shoe. I took it back off and bent down to remove the paper towel only to discover that it wasn't paper towel. It was a huge hard piece of grayish cardboard stuck in the shoes to help them keep their shape. My feet were being pinched by this cardboard.

Needless to say, I couldn't stop laughing. Like Nana, like Jessica.

Then I looked up, thanked Nana for the visit, and told her I look forward to next time.

Congratulations Diana Nyad!

For the past three years, I've been glued to Diana Nyad's pursuit of her lifelong dream to swim from Cuba to Florida. She's attempted to achieve her goal five times since she was 28 years old. She turned 64 a couple of weeks ago.

Don't know who Diana Nyad is? Never heard of her? Leaving aside that you may live under a rock, she is a world renowned swimmer. In the 1970s, she was the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world. Oh, and she's a Phi Beta Kappa member of the Lake Forest College Class of 1973.

As I said, she's attempted this swim FIVE times. First, when she was 28. She did not make it and at the age of 30, after setting the world distance record, she quit swimming. In January 2010, she realized that her dream was still alive and well, burning deep within her. So she started training and training.

She made her second attempt at the Cuba to Florida swim in August 2011, because she wanted to prove to other 60 year olds that it's never too late to pursue your dreams. Just 29 hours after she started, she had to abandon her dream due to weather conditions and box jellyfish stings.

Just one month later, in September 2011, Diana tried again, but was again stopped because of box jellyfish and Portuguese Man-of-War stings.

Never one to quit, she gave it another shot in August 2012, this time covered in a special jellyfish suit, but that attempt failed too. Three days later and only half way to her goal, she was forced to stop due to a horrible storm that put her swim too far off course and jellyfish stings.

Just about 52 hours ago, at 9am ET (August 31st), Diana Nyad began her fifth and final attempt to swim from Cuba and Florida. Just before 2pm ET today (September 2nd), Diana completed her swim. 110 miles in 52 hours without a shark cage.

This time, the universe seemed to be on her side. According to her team's blog, the first jellyfish siting happened this morning and Diana hasn't been stung. The weather has been practically ideal, with just relatively brief storm.

Diana gave an inspiring TedTalk in October 2011. Watch it. I promise you'll be glad you did.


CNN has also done a great job covering Diana's journey.

Watch the trailer for The Other Shore, the movie about Diana's journey.

President Barack Obama congratulated Diana shortly after she arrived:

Listen to Lake Forest College Athletic Director Jackie Slaats talk about Diana Nyad on WBBM Newsradio.

Diana's pursuit is heroic. She has not only pushed herself beyond her own limits and lived to tell about it, but she's inspired millions of other people around the world to stop beating themselves up, forgive themselves for the times they fell short, and told them that dreams are ageless. For Diana, this is about proving that no matter your age, you can be your best self.

For me, she answers the timeless question that I grapple with daily: "What would you do if you were not afraid?"

What would YOU do if you were not afraid?

Congratulations Diana! Foresters around the world are celebrating your victory today!

New Experiences #37 & 38: Give Up Diet Coke & Drink 64oz of Water for 30 Days - Part 1

It's been a very busy three months. I've accomplished a great deal since I last posted on May 28th and I'll be posting some of those tales shortly.

Tonight, I want to talk about two new experiences that start tomorrow, September 1st: Give up Diet Coke (and all soda) and drink 64 ounces of water daily for 30 days.

I used to be an avid water drinker. No matter where I went, I always had my water bottle with me and I drank 64 ounces without effort daily. There have also been times when I drank no soda. Over the past three or four years, however, my intake of Diet Coke has increased and my intake of water has decreased.

I know that drinking diet soda is not any healthier than drinking regular soda and that drinking lots of water is the healthiest choice of all. I also remember how good my body felt when I didn't drink soda at all.

Over the past year, I've had a few medical issues that are being treated, but I know that if I simply cut soda out of my life and returned to drinking 64 ounces of water per day, my body would naturally become healthier and I'd feel better physically and emotionally.

As part of my 100 New Experiences, I'm giving up Diet Coke and all soda for 30 days and replacing it with 64 ounces of water. My ultimate goal is to never drink any soda again, but I'm starting with 30 days. When I celebrate my achievement on October 1st, I'll start another 30 day regimen of no soda and 64 ounces of water. Then I'll keep going until it's just a natural habit.

Given that caffeine is addicting, I imagine that I'll be experiencing a bit of caffeine withdrawal this month. Hopefully, it will only last a few days, but I want to apologize now if I'm a bit irritable.

Wish me luck.

I'll keep you posted on my success.

Victory is Mine! New Experience #65: Get My Work Email Inbox to ZERO

Hi. I'm Jessica and I am an email hoarder.

(The first step is admitting I have a problem)

When I got to work on Friday morning, I had over 2,500 emails in my Inbox. I have no idea how many I had in my Sent Mail folder, but my Deleted folder had over 9,000 emails all waiting for me to hit the button and permanently delete them.

My entire mailbox was 1,058,359 kilobytes (that's 1.00933 GIGAbytes for you techies) in size. That's pretty big.

My goal for the day was to reduce my overall mailbox size by as much as I could. I know that's not very specific, but it honestly wasn't even within my realm of possibilities that I could achieve the infamous Inbox Zero status.

I simply wanted my email to easily convert easily from life on our servers to life in the Cloud so I would be able to work this morning without incident. The smaller the mailbox, the quicker the conversion over the weekend and the less risk for problems.

Immediately, I understood that there was no way I could review every single email and I was going to have to make some decisions. I started by deleting everything in my Inbox from 2011 (when I started working at LFGSM). That knocked out some, but didn't make a dent.

Next, I organized my email by sender and this was the key to my success. I started by deleting all unsolicited emails from businesses trying to sell me something, all emails from listservs, all one-off emails, and all personal emails (there were only a small handful of those, really). Now, I'd gotten somewhere. That took me down to about 750 emails.

Up next on the chopping block were emails from former employers. I was able to quickly glance through those, file any that I needed to keep, and delete the rest. This cut my Inbox in half.

375 emails were manageable, so I reviewed what was left by sender and subject. If I'd answered the email, there was nothing for me to follow-up on now, and the project was complete, I hit delete. If they were emails I needed to follow-up on, I created a "to do" on my calendar for tomorrow. If they were emails that contained valuable information for a project that's active, I filed them in the appropriate project folder. This took me to 20 emails.

Twenty emails that required immediate action. I took action, deleted the emails, and viola! I had achieved Inbox ZERO!

Now, my whole mailbox is 179,973 KILObytes (0.17164 Gigabytes)! That's right, I reduced by mailbox size by 83%! That's so great, I've got to say it again, but slightly differently. My mailbox is a mere 17% of its former self. Damn. I'm good.

How does this feel? It feels freeing. I am liberated from the stress that I've overlooked something in my email. I'm not worried that I should go back through my email and find out what's there. 99% of it wasn't important.

My goal now is to maintain this and to go home nightly with nothing pending in my Inbox. To achieve this goal, I've created new rules for my listserv emails and other low and high priority emails and I've unsubscribed to vendors who have nothing to offer me.

What types of folders and rules have I created? I created folders for emails for my boss, for departments, for subscriptions from LinkedIn and CASE, and out of office replies. Emails from my boss are obviously high priority, so I have directed them to one folder where I can easily find and reply to them quickly. Out of office emails from alumni often contain valuable information (e.g., "Bill Smith no longer works at Xerox") and they're mildly important, but I only need to review them weekly. If they're in one place, I can quickly scroll through and extract the important information. Likewise, my CASE, LinkedIn, and Listserv emails sometimes contain information I like to know about, but I don't need to review them daily.

Those are just a few of my secrets to keeping my email organized and reduce my stress level.

What are your tips?

P.S. I came home tonight at Inbox Zero. Day 2 is in the books.

Here's what Inbox Zero looks like.

New Experience #55: Homemade Granola

Homemade Granola

Yes, I know I'm long overdue in filling you in on the details of my progress on the completion of 100 New Experiences this year. I will catch up. I promise.

I've been busy though, you should know that. Since my last post, I have completed items #8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16.1, 48, 51, 56, 65, and 55. This post is about #55.

Eighteen months ago I found a recipe in the Chicago Tribune for homemade Granola. I've been holding on to this recipe and been thinking about making it ever since.

Great news! Today was the day. And you know what? It really is yummy. I can't wait to enjoy it tomorrow morning for breakfast with my yogurt.

Because it's so yummy and so easy to make I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Homemade Granola
Prep: 15 - 30 minutes
Bake: 35 minutes
Makes: About 7 cups
Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups quick-cook rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Mix: Stir together oats, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds and sale in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
2. Boil: Measure butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil (watch closely; syrup will bubble up). Pour hot syrup into the well. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are thoroughly coated.
3. Bake: Divide the mixture evenly between two rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Slide into a 300-degree oven. Bake, rotating trays and stirring the granola every 15 minutes, until golden brown and dry (but not brittle) to the touch, about 35 minutes. Let cool.
4. Store: Tumble into an airtight container; seal. Keeps at room temperature for 2-3 weeks.

Source: Home on the Range column by Leah Eskin, Chicago Tribune, September 4, 2011, sec. 6, p. 30; original source: adapted from a recipe shared by Leah Eskin's friend Vanina Wolf, who adapted her recipe from the Hotel Fauchere in Milford, PA.

JLG notes: I used salted butter because it's what I had. In the future, I would not add the additional 1 T salt because the end product is a little salty for my taste, but still yummy. I did not use any pumpkin seeds because I could not find shelled ones and I attempted to shell them, but had no luck. Instead, I added an additional 1/2 cup each of almonds and pecans. The recipe says it takes about 15 minutes to prep, but I had to slice the pecans and almonds. If I had raisins or dried cherries, I'd add them. It's all about personal preference. I'll definitely make this again.

100 Experiences: Items 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (aka Nashville 2013) - Part 1

Two weeks ago, I did something I've never done. I vacationed all alone. This vacation had nothing to do with my family. I did not have to take care of anyone or anything. It was all about me. Just me. (Experience #2)

And it left me asking one thing: Why the heck didn't I do this sooner?

Let's take a step back for a second . . . I agonized over this trip. I went back and forth on whether I should spend the money (I worried I was being wasteful), whether I should take the time off work, whether I was safe traveling alone, whether I would be seen as selfish by my family, and a whole host of other ridiculous worries.

I debated between going to Nashville and Sanibel Island. Nashville had the distinction that I'd only been there once about seven years ago for a Mary Kay retreat and only left the hotel long enough for a quick concert at the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium. I love country music and each time I drove through it on my way to Crystal Beach last year, I kept thinking I should go back for a weekend. Sanibel Island had the beach as its big "pro." We lived in Ft. Myers when I was little and my Gardner Grandparents lived on Sanibel Island until I was in college. I'd been there a million times, but not in almost 20 years. I remember loving Sanibel, but I've spent far too much time on the Gulf side of Florida over the past 13 years and I swore I'd never go back. It's going to take some time to be able to love Florida again.

Nashville won out. (Experience #3)

Immediately, I started planning every moment I'd be in town. I had a little over three days to spend in Nashville and I was going to make the most of every single second. Let's just say I had an itinerary any professional travel agent or tour operator would be proud of.

Thursday Night

My first night in town, I had dinner with my dear friend Kalee at Chuy's at Opry Mills. If you go, get the Steak Burrito with the chorizo sauce. Trust me. The food was amazing. The only thing better than the food was hanging out with Kalee. Kalee was my first boss after college, when I interned at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C., and she quickly became my friend because we're the same age, we have similar backgrounds, and we both love politics. As an intern, I worked in her office. I remember we had the best conversations that sometimes had nothing to do with work. Now Kalee lives in Nashville with her wonderful husband Jack.

Until my first night in Nashville, we hadn't seen each other in almost 15 years. And trust me, after just a couple of seconds, it was like time had stood still. You know how there are times in life when you don't realize how much you missed something until you have the opportunity to experience it again and then suddenly you can't imagine it being gone from your life again? That's how hanging out with Kalee was. Fortunately, we were able to make plans to get together again on Sunday for brunch.

Kalee and Me. 

I'm not going to wait another 15 years before hanging out with Kalee again.

Friday

Friday morning, I got up early and headed into downtown Nashville for a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B, known as the Home of 1000 Hits. Studio B was built for Elvis and he recorded over 200 of his songs there. Many legends recorded at Studio B, including The Everly Brothers, Dottie West, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Roy Orbison, and many more. Elvis was famous for recording late at night and into the wee hours of the morning.

The best part of the Studio B tour was being able to sit at and play the piano Elvis loved and played. He once tried to buy the piano he loved so much, but was told by Chet Atkins he didn't have enough money to buy it. I haven't played the piano in many years, but sitting at that piano and playing just a few keys was magical. I could feel Elvis in the room.

Me tickling the ivories of Elvis's favorite piano. (Experience #6)

One interesting note about Studio B is that it closed on August 17, 1977. If that date sounds sort of familiar, it's the day after Elvis died. That's just a coincidence though. The closure of Studio B had been planned for awhile.

After an inspirational tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B, I stumbled into the Dukes of Hazzard Museum, run by Cooter, of course, which it turned out, was around the corner from my hotel. If you're a child of the 80s, you may have had a crush on one of the Duke brothers or Daisy Duke. I liked Bo Duke. If you're too young to remember the Dukes of Hazzard, you may be impressed to know that Daisy Duke was the inspiration for Daisy Dukes.

Who's sitting in the General Lee? ME!

Friday night found me at the Grand Ole Opry for a taping of the 88-year-old radio show and post-show backstage tour. I had 5th row seats for one of the best shows I've ever seen. It opened with the Queen of Country Comedy, Minnie Pearl (well, an impersonator). Bill Anderson (member since 1961), Kristen Kelly, Riders in the Sky (members since 1982), Jesse McReynolds (member since 1964), Shelley Skidmore, Jim Ed Brown (member since 1963), Mike Snider (member since 1990), Chuck Wicks, Crystal Gayle, surprise appearances by Lone Star and Little Jimmy Dickens (member since 1948), The Whites (members since 1984), and The Isaacs.

One of the great things about the Opry is that they encourage you to come up close to the stage to take pictures of your favorite artists. When I took the picture of Crystal Gayle below, I was kneeling just in front of the stage.

If you're going to attend the Grand Ole Opry, you must take the backstage tour. You can take this tour in the afternoon, which I guess is fine, but if you have any desire to meet the stars, do it after the show. As we were on our tour, Crystal Gayle walked up, signed autographs for everyone, and took some pictures. She signed my show poster, listing her as one of the performers, and I got the picture below showing her famous floor-length hair.

Crystal Gayle and her famous floor-length locks.

At the end of the tour, I was able to stand in the center of the Grand Ole Opry stage where 1000s of performers have stood before me. What I loved about the center of the stage was that when the Opry moved to the new location in 1974 from the Ryman Auditorium, they cut a circle of the flooring from the entrance of the Ryman stage and placed it in the center of the new stage. The thinking was that  every artist to ever perform at the Ryman had walked across that piece of Ryman flooring, so they'd all now be part of the new Opry stage as well.

6-foot circle of oak from the Ryman Auditorium. I stood there. (Experience #5)

When I finally crawled into bed on Friday night, I slept better than I've slept in ages. I was exhausted, but happy and filled with wonderful memories.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Nashville adventure, including exploring the honky tonks, a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, more Kalee time, the rest of my pictures, and much more. Coming later this week.