JDRF and the Rossini Festival

Well it's Monday morning and I'm recovering from a busy, but good, weekend. On Saturday, my sister Rebecca and I went to the World's Fair Site to walk in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 5K walk. My employer, UT-Battelle, had a team of walkers, so it seemed like a good opportunity to support JDRF and meet some colleagues at the same time. I did get to meet a couple new people, which was really nice, and Rebecca and I enjoyed a nice walk. After the walk, we went up to Market Square and Gay Street for the Farmer's Market and Rossini Festival. My friend, Chrissy, was dancing with her bellydance troupe at the festival. The street vendor food at the festival was super delicious, and we had a good time looking at the vendor booths, listening to opera, eating, and watching the dancing. I got a sunburn on my face from being outside so much, but we had a good time.
In other news, Mister Frodo has been causing more trouble, breaking out of his kennel and just being stressed out. I bought him a ThunderShirt yesterday, but we haven't left him alone with it yet. I am optimistic that it will help since I've heard so many good things about them. The peeing in the kennel and the destroying of blankets is annoying, but the real problem is that Frodo is so clearly distressed, and he scratches his face in these escape attempts. Charles was able to track down the offending pieces of kennel by following the tiny blood trail, so we now know which part of the kennel he is scratching himself on, but we don't have much at our disposal to stop it. So hopefully the ThunderShirt will help.
Well, Happy Monday, everyone. Let's get this party started.

Sherlock

So people that know me know that I love British stuff, and Scifi, and nerd culture and all that jazz. I'm a big fan of Doctor Who-- not a "I know everything about DW" kind of fan, but a fan that gets excited and loves DW stuff. Well... I feel like I am cheating on Doctor Who because I am falling in love with the BBC Sherlock series. Sherlock is so fantastic. Last night I was watching an episode and it mentioned Liberty, Indiana. I got a little giddy. My grandparents lived in Liberty, Indiana! It was neat hearing a town of <3,000 people (thank you, Wikipedia) get mentioned like that.
I change favorites a lot... favorite actors, songs, shows, movies, foods... but right now, Sherlock is my favorite. I'm devouring Sherlock pins on Pinterest like a crazy person. If you like British stuff, or just good TV, or cheekbones, or scarves, or mysteries, you should check this show out. Season 1 is streaming on Netflix. 3 episodes per season, but they are about 80 minutes each. You will love Dr. Watson. What a guy.

Ott's BBQ

I am sure I must've eaten at Ott's sometime in my life, since it was on the road between my family's house and the small horse farm we had in Lenoir City growing up. But I don't remember it. I recall in recent years driving past it and not feeling too compelled to go in. However, Ott's recently moved from Lenoir City/Dixie Lee to Bearden, and a coworker told me that she and her family really enjoy going there, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is a very like-minded coworker; we have a lot of similar tastes, so I figured that if she liked it, I would like it. "What do you normally get there?" I asked, and she said she likes the pulled pork sandwich but that her husband and son like the quesadilla. o_O   You get a quesadilla at a BBQ place? She said it was good.
So last night I asked hubby if I could treat him to dinner at Ott's and he agreed. He got the pulled pork sandwich with fries (fat potato wedge style) and a drink. I got the quesadilla (which had pulled pork and chopped chicken, which I thought was strange, but hey, whatever) and a drink. The total came to almost $20 which was steep, but I brough half the quesadilla home (it was huge!) along with a mound of fries (big portion), so I guess when you consider that we got an extra meal out of it, it wasn't that bad. The food was very tasty. The atmosphere was meh, but I am totally OK with that. I don't go out to eat so I can look at artsy prints. I go to EAT, and the food was good. I will definitely go back.

SLA Spring Board Meeting

Getting ready for a mini-trip to Nashville for the spring board meeting of my SLA chapter (Special Libraries Association). My hubby is going to go with me this time and we'll leave a day early so we can stop by Murfreesboro to see our advisor from our MTSU days. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the hubby, visiting our old stomping grounds, seeing Tom (Dr. B!), and just getting away. The SLA board meetings are always somewhat fun and very fruitful, so I'm looking forward to that. I am currently serving as the Membership Chair for our chapter, and the numbers aren't looking great. I love being part of SLA and I definitely feel like I get my money's worth out of the membership. However, times are hard, and I can completely understand when someone can't justify the high cost of membership. It puts me in a tricky spot because I want to encourage people to join, but I don't feel comfortable pushing people. I guess what I can do is think of the things that I get out of SLA and share those with people, then they can make their own choice.

In tangentially related news, my Frodo has been a wild puppy. This week he escaped from his kennel while my hubby and I were out. He didn't do any harm to our place, but he scratched himself up a little in the escape. He managed to undo a carabiner in order to get out, which was pretty impressive. After that incident he has made some other escape attempts, scratched himself up in the process, peed in his kennel a couple of times, and was just generally stressed. Last night when hubby and I got home, he had shredded his blanket in the kennel and peed and pushed on the door. I don't know what to do, really. With our upcoming trip to Nashville, I worry that he'll be even more stressed out. I might have to try anti-anxiety meds with him. Poor puppy. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing??