Category Archives: Local

Education Humor Local Parenting Touchy Subjects

Season’s Greetings

December 3, 2010 – 8:04 am

A local radio station here in Chattanooga (98.1) has been playing Christmas music for about 3 weeks now. Normally that would annoy me, but I promised Paul that if he didn’t make me do all the things that stress me out on the holidays I would ooze so much damn Christmas spirit he would be shocked.

That means the kids get to blast Christmas music all the time. Pandora in the living room, the car radio, the radios in their rooms…

We were driving somewhere the other day and Baby, It’s Cold Outside came on. (You know, the one that’s a duet with the lady trying to leave and the man talking her out of it. I’m not saying the song is about date rape but at one point she does say, “Say, what’s in this drink?”  Hmmm….)

Thirty seconds into the song, Gracie asked, “Why does he keep interrupting her?” I explained that it was a duet. Then the man sang, “It’s up to your knees out there.” Wesley said, “It’s up to her knees? I wonder how tall she is. Mom, how tall is she?” I really don’t know, but I am starting to suspect that most van accidents are caused by children’s questions.

I’m off to eat some mistletoe…

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Crafts Local

Christmas will be here before you know it

November 29, 2010 – 7:27 am

If you are looking for the perfect present for the little girl in your life read more »

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Humor Local Videos

Writing about traffic circles in a roundabout way

November 8, 2010 – 8:07 am

According to Channel 3 we are in for more traffic circles here in Chattanooga and North Georgia… read more »

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Family Home Improvement Humor Local

Weekend Lynx

October 15, 2010 – 10:57 pm

-Ya know how I said I wouldn’t give you anything to do this weekend? Well, I didn’t expect the frickin’ Nina and Pinta to show up. They’re discovering land that people already live in up and down the Tennessee River. All joking aside, this version of the Nina was made using the same technologies available during the 15th century. I’m pretty sure that was before Twitter and nail guns, so kudos to them. Tours are available for a small price. Link

-More Americans opting for natural burial- I find this article amusing because every time my mom says, “Don’t spend a lot of money on my funeral. Just bury me in a pine box,” we say, “Pine box? We were just going to dig a hole in the back yard.” Now we might have that chance. I just need a big shoebox.

-Does Your House Attitude Need a Paint Job? Simple Mom has a great article about how it’s easier to fix my attitude about my house than to whine about the things I never have the time to fix. I think the most encouraging part is the comments section because that is where I realized that I have plenty of company when it comes to a half-remodeled house.

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Local

Prater’s Mill

October 8, 2010 – 3:13 pm

Prater’s Mill Country Fair is this Saturday and Sunday in Varnell, GA. Admission is $5 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. If you don’t get the chance to go, do read the history of the mill on the website. It’s very interesting. Prater’s Mill was built in 1855 and restoration began on it in 1970.

They are expecting over 200 exibitors with arts, crafts, music and food. I love the quilts and woodworking and the kids love the petting zoo and the blacksmith. I’m sure someone there will be deep-frying something that shouldn’t be, like Oreos or Snickers, so Paul can threaten to buy it while I pretend to pick who my next husband will be after he has a massive heart attack. It’s a great family event.

The Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The efforts of the Prater’s Mill Foundation to preserve the mill and its skills and traditional crafts of those bygone days were recognized in 1991 by the Georgia Trust which presented the Foundation with the Award for Outstanding Historic Preservation. We have been recognized as a Legacy of American Tradition by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress and were included in National Geographic’s Discover Appalachia. -by Mikey Sims  Scroll down on the main page to read more.

pic by J. Stephen Conn

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Local Tree huggin' hippie Uncategorized

Speaking of the environment…

October 7, 2010 – 7:06 am

The RiverRocks festival, benefitting local land trusts, has been going on all week (schedule here).

One of those land trusts, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, is hosting 20 Minutes and a Million Miles Away next to Outdoor Chattanooga at Coolidge Park tonight from 6 to 8. It’s a family friendly event that will have lots of exhibits (including a falconer) and free food from Taco Mamacita, 212 Market, and Food Works. Now, I know most of you saw “free food” and ran out the door, but for those of you who decided to stick around for the rest of the post, thank you.

TRGT will also have an environmental film festival Friday, from 7 to 10 at the Tennessee Aquarium Auditorium. Admission is only $15 per person and that gets you “drinks, popcorn, and a one year membership to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust.”  Get some $10 raffle tickets while you’re there because they are raffling off 5 amazing prize packages. If you love the outdoors or know someone who does (you do, you’re reading her blog right now), check out this list of amazing prizes.

Now I’ve written “Tennessee” so many times that I have to go ice my hand.

-picture of the river gorge by Larry Miller

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Local Videos

Free Fun in Chattanooga This Weekend

September 24, 2010 – 7:53 am

The Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship is this weekend right here in Chattanooga. The event is being held at the AT&T stadium (where the Lookouts play) on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30-5 and it is free! I don’t know about yours, but my kids would love to see some airborne dogs and frisbees flying discs.

The Nightfall free concert series at Miller Plaza continues this Friday. Edit: This is the last night of this concert series and some places around downtown are offering some special deals. Check out the Nightfall facebook page for a list of them.

The Dismembered Tennesseans start playing at 7. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the Dismembered Tennesseans live, it is a great experience. I love bluegrass music anyway, but they really know how to put on a show. Their between-song banter is hilarious.

The headliner, starting at 8, is The Lost Fingers, a Canadian band with a ”love of classic gypsy jazz and ’80s pop hits.” That’s a fancy way of saying they do jazzy covers of 80′s songs. I had to find a video, of course. I’m a sucker for accents, so a guy singing “Pump Up the Jam” with a French accent is enough to give me the vapors. Just watch this while I find my smelling salts….

Now, Wesley’s soccer coach instructed us to get them to bed at a decent time Friday night because they have a double-header Saturday, but it’s not like they’re going to be World Cup contenders this year. To my soccer field friends, if you see a little boy asleep on the sidelines keep in mind that he saw some great bands the night before.

Pic by Todd Jones Photography

EDIT: I completely forgot that the Hamilton County Fair is this weekend. It is taking place at Chester Frost Park Saturday and Sunday, 10-6. They have satelite parking at Northgate with a shuttle running back and forth. The shuttle is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children ages 3-12 (under 3 free) but entrance to the fair is free. Thanks, Lance, for reminding me!

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Local Videos

Inspiration

September 21, 2010 – 9:21 am

This video is the inspiring story of a 22-year-old man who started running and lost 120 pounds and his depression. It was recommended by my friend Jim Johnson who is a great runner and biker. He was also a support biker during my first marathon and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for someone whose conversation distracted me from the pain I was feeling 18 miles in. He runs Bike Tours Direct, a company that offers bicycle tours all over Europe. Dream vacation!

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Education Family Local Parenting Touchy Subjects Uncategorized

Educating Our Children

September 20, 2010 – 10:36 am

Tsh at Simple Mom has an article up today about how we parents are responsible for educating our children.

It’s a timely article because I just spent the last week doing the line for CSAS. That involved leaving the house at 5:30 every evening to check in, pulling a 12-4am shift at the tent, and getting up at 5am on Saturday to sit in line and turn in our application. There were a couple of nights when I got about 4 hours of sleep.

Meanwhile, I had a cold that had taken my energy and my voice, and I couldn’t quite recover from it because of the lack of sleep and the fact that my stress level was redlining. If I missed check-in, lost our official number, or forgot the application, we would lose our place in line. I and the parents of about 155 other kids did all this so we could get them into a “public” school.

I did it because I’m not happy with the public school we are zoned for, because we can’t afford private school (a private school nearby is $800/month per kid), and because I think homeschooling would be a study in why some mammals eat their children.

Wesley is currently in a magnet school, but that school only goes up to 5th grade and then we would have to reapply to the lottery. If we could get into CSAS, they would go all the way through 12th grade.

This application process isn’t the end of my involvement. No matter what school they go to I will be involved in their education, by communicating with their teachers and making sure that my kids’ needs are being met. I will take them to libraries, museums, zoos, and forests, so that they can explore the things that interest them. I will show them how I learn and solve problems. I want them to have a love of learning and a love of reading that lasts a lifetime and isn’t restricted to the walls of their school.

Related:

pic by brianjmatis

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Local Tree huggin' hippie

Park(ing) Day 2010

September 17, 2010 – 9:40 am

 

Today, Chattanooga is part of a global event. Today is Park(ing) Day, when people around the world transform parking spaces into parks to promote the need for green space in our cities. This event will be taking place in various parking spaces downtown and at the CreateHere office on East Main Street.

An event like PARK(ing) Day gives us the opportunity to demonstrate how more urban green space would make an indelible impact on the way we live, work, and play in Chattanooga and across the country. We’re one of many cities participating and we get to demonstrate the local flavor, personality, and imagination we have in Chattanooga as it pertains to urban green space.  -CreateHere

pic by iomarch

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