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I got to cross Tennessee off my list today. I think now there are only eight states in the union that I haven’t visited. I’m in Nashville for a work meeting, and it just so happens that the Country Music Awards are in town tonight. Our hotel is downtown, and the Gaylord Entertainment Center is only about three blocks away.

Of course, my co-workers and I couldn’t let all that activity happen around us without at least venturing out in search of some famous faces (never mind that I don’t actually know what any of them look like). In the rain. The good thing about the rain is that it kept the crowds away, and we were able to get glimpses of the red carpet area. The bad thing about the rain is that it was quite wet.

Because of the rain, a tent was erected over the red carpet. As each limo approached, a guy would walk up and ask the driver who was inside. If the occupants were deemed important enough, the car was allowed to proceed and stop under the tent. Then another guy would announce the people or group as they emerged from the car, and they would turn around and wave to the adoring fans before scurrying into the brightly-lit larger tent for interviews and photos.

The conditions for taking photos were terrible. We were relatively far away, I didn’t have my long lens, it was dark and raining, and I was trying to balance an umbrella and take pictures at the same time. Excuses, excuses. But I did manage to get a shot or two of the Female Vocalist of the Year. Can you see her?

Exhausted

Well, today was the big day. It was the Blessing of the Animals to benefit the rescue we work with, and we took family/pet portraits. As you can see, we went with the simple, no-frills background. Toward the end of the day, we had everyone sit on the floor (amidst the dog hair) and I think it worked out well.

I also bought some fabric that’s similar to the backdrop and made a sort of tablecloth for our coffee table. We hauled the table down to church, where the event was held, and threw the tablecloth over it for people to sit on. That worked pretty well for small pets, but was somewhat problematic with the bigger ones because the humans’ faces were so far away (vertically) from the dogs’ faces.

Rather than set up in the fellowship hall where all the commotion (and fluorescent light) was, we chose the narthex. It was good from a lighting standpoint, and I think the photos turned out better because of it. But we were also away from the traffic, so I think we probably ended up with fewer shots overall. But we still did pretty well—I think we raised around $200 with the portraits, and the other events (raffle, silent auction) raised $500-600. So it was a good event.

After everything was over, we had to rush home so I could turn around and head out the door to meet a friend at the mall. T and I have known each other since we were five. She left Minnesota for college in Washington (state), finished her Ph.D. there, then went to San Diego for her post-doctoral work. Then about three years ago she took a job in Pennsylvania, and now lives about 40 minutes away.

We did a little shopping and then took a break for a long dinner and a couple drinks. Shopping after that was pretty entertaining. Even the sales people at Eddie Bauer thought so. Or maybe they were just pretending to laugh along with us. Not sure, but who cares? We had a good time.

And now? It’s finally time to turn off this computer and rest my weary eyes.

Mine eyes

For the last few weeks my eyes have really been bugging me. They feel tired all the time. They itch and burn and water. I thought it was my contacts, so I took them out and wore my glasses for a day. It helped a little, but not much.

Then I thought maybe it was my eye makeup. I got a new tube of mascara, thinking the old stuff was dry and flaking off into my eyes. That didn’t do much either.

So for the last two days, I’ve gone entirely without eye makeup. I look like some sort of feral animal with beady little eyes, but it has helped a bit. At least I can freely rub them when they start to itch and burn without turning into a raccoon.

After all this trial and error, I think I’ve figured it out. And I’m not encouraged. Because if I want my eyes to feel better on a regular basis, I think I’m going to have to spend less time on the computer. I sit in front of my work computer for 9-10 hours a day. Then I come home and do the blogging/Flickr/Sudoku/Photoshop thing, often for several more hours.

So if I’m not around to your site as often, you’ll know why. Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t want to give up my blogging habit, but quitting my job isn’t really an option. So do you have any suggestions for me?

Priorities

So I realized this week that I have two appointments scheduled for Friday afternoon. One is with my oncologist for a regular visit. The other is with my hairstylist for highlights and a cut.

Which appointment do you suppose I rescheduled?