A Week of Birthday

This year I was very fortunate to see several of my relatives on my birthday. My sister Michele came over for a visit the night before and then on August 8, my cousin Rob and his bride-to-be, Crystal, had a nice wedding shower near Asheville, NC. Ben, Luke, and I drove over that morning from Knoxville and met up with my Aunt Beverly and Uncle Harmon and my mother and Mamaw in from Murphy. I met Crystal’s wonderful family for the first time and got to enjoy seeing Luke play with her two little nieces. The adults had a great time and the couple received many lovely gifts for their home, but I think the little ones had the most fun of all. I didn’t think Luke was going to want to leave. After the shower, Luke went home with his Nanny and Mamaw for a week of 'cation (vacation) in Murphy. Ben and I had the evening alone in Asheville and took in the sights and dining downtown. We tried two places, Sante and Bouchon, and both were delicious. I think I enjoyed all the gallery space the most, though. The old Woolworth’s department store has been reopened as an art and craft gallery which you can spend hours just browsing through; the soda fountain was still open, too, so you can go for a shake or a coffee while you ‘re there.

Luke relaxing on 'cation

On Sunday, Ben and I headed back to Knoxville while Luke visited with all the relatives back in Murphy. We missed him here, but I think he was having too much fun seeing new people and playing with his cousin that he probably didn’t miss us too much at all. He had the undivided attention of his Aunt Chele, Nanny, and Papa, not to mention the aunts, uncles, and great grands who live in the area, too. In one respect I squandered my week alone at home in the days because I don’t think I accomplished anything significant but I’m going to declare dabbling with your hobbies and relaxing is a triumph if you are a stay-at-home mother.

We had originally planned for Luke to go to my parents for a couple nights because Ben gave me concert tickets for my birthday. So the following Friday night with Luke still away, he and I went down to World’s Fair Park and took in the last night of the The Big Surprise Tour with Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawling and Gilian Welch, Justine Towns Earle, and the Felice Brothers. It was a completely different crowd than we typically see in Knoxville, so it was to see some more diversity and enjoy a nice night out listening to the music. We both hoped for more stage time for Gilian Welch, but I wasn’t disappointed in the show at all. Old Crow did a great job as did all the other acts. I’d go see any of them again. So I guess overall, I celebrated my birthday for one week straight and would recommend you all think about trying that out for yourself sometime. Every so many years, one day just isn’t enough.