Only in East Tennessee...

The results of sunning and waterskiing are painful, yet they are a lingering reminder of how much fun I had this past weekend, spent in Kingston, TN with five gals from the Menagerie (Amy, Ashley, Grace, Christa and Ginny) and three of their husbands (Nathan, Jonathan, and Cuyler). Amy's parents were gracious to open their home to us, overlooking beautiful Watts Bar Lake.

Ashley and I left Nashville on Friday afternoon, and caught up on the man drama in our lives as we made the trip to East Tennessee. We started to get hungry at Crossville, and settled on the Cracker Barrel just off the interstate. Unfortunately, one swing around the parking lot left us wondering if the CB was the only restaurant in the small town, thus the "place to be" on a Friday night. I mumbled, "only in East Tennessee...," not knowing the statement would be used many times this weekend.

Saturday morning, after stuffing our faces with Sheila Calloway's Famous Breakfast, we headed straight for the pool and swam until Christa and Cuyler, and Ginny and Jonathan arrived. The weather was beautiful and perfect for water sports. We spent the greater part of the afternoon out on the boat. Amy attempted to teach me to waterski, and my efforts were fruitless for the most part, ingesting and snorting more lake than actually gliding on top of it. I had a fun time trying though. Later that afternoon, Christa and I got tossed around the lake on an innertube.

After a long day in the water, we all hung around the house and played a wild game of Cranium. Ashley's depiction of a "fan" and Christa's personification of a skateboarder were definitely the highlights. We also had a bit of fun with the "humdingers."

Earlier in the day, I accidentally called Jonathan, "Chris," the name of Ginny's ex-boyfriend. This is not the first time I've stuck my foot in my mouth like this. In college, Amy was out on one of her very first dates with Nathan, and I saw them in the video rental place. I accidentally introduced Nathan as "Ryan" (Amy's ex-boyfriend), to the person I was with. Upon realization of my mistake, I was so embarrassed that I couldn't even get composure to correct myself. I was for sure that Amy would never speak to me again.

Anyway, I called Jonathan by the wrong name. And then, as we're all sitting around Saturday night playing a game, Cuyler looks at Jonathan and says, "Daniel, it's your turn." None of us catch this the first time around, but the second time, Christa and Ginny ask Cuyler if he just called Jonathan, "Daniel." He realizes that he unconsciously made the mistake, because he went to school with a "Daniel" by Jonathan's last name. Jonathan replies with, "just call me Bob," which we thought was hi-larious. We finally decided it was time for bed when Cuyler accidentally found Amy's old Jordan Knight doll (NKOTB era) in the game closet, partially nude and complete with a six-inch long rat-tail.

On our way to church Sunday morning, we found ourselves riding behind the largest pig that any of us had ever laid eyes on, and for some reason, we found it really funny. Of course, the jokes followed: "the pig is off to be slaughtered" and "the fatted swine is on its way to be sacrificed as a burnt offering at the temple." Only in East Tennessee...