Road Weary

Last week, I spent six out of seven days on the road. That's why you've been greeted with Usher by way of animatronics lately.

Two Thursdays ago, I drove to Chattanooga to film a television commercial, pimping the hottest gifts at L-Way this year. I was the on-air talent. The video is floating around out there on the internet. I'm not telling you where, so if you can find it, you deserve to delight in my trainwreck. The highlight of the day, was of course, my Mom's company. It was a quick trip, spending most of the time in the car, but she certainly made the long day worth it. She was my biggest cheerleader, my hair and makeup, and even provided for some much needed comic relief.

The next day, I left for Knoxville to spend a weekend with Ben & Brittany in their new house. By this time, the weather became quite chilly, and I had to wait until Cookeville to find a Starbucks. I needed a London Fog fix desperately. It took me a long time to get to Knoxville because of all of the fog (not to be confused with that of my beverage) on the mountain. But, I finally made it and settled into the new Brown homestead for the weekend.

Ben & Britt treated me to a really nice time. Brittany and I got pedicures on Saturday morning, and then we went to look at dogs, as they're thinking of adopting. Saturday night, the three of us shopped downtown a bit and then ate dinner at Sapphire. Sunday morning, it spat snow on us as we went to church. Later, I left town to make a quick trip to Amy & Nathan's new home in Lenoir City, where I got to hug Eva the Diva's one-year-old neck. It's amazing what a little love from the five-and-under crowd will do for a single girl's psyche.

On the way back to Nashville late that afternoon, the sun was setting around the mountains full of gloriously colorful trees. I was blown away at the beauty. I just kept saying "majesty" over and over again. There was no other word to describe the glory. I was reminded that everything of beauty comes from the Lord, and how much Satan hates beauty.

By Tuesday afternoon, I was in Huntsville on a store set-up for a relocation. We worked our asses off for more than 20 of 26 hours and I was exhausted when I got home at midnight. Needless to say, I was slightly cranky the next morning at work, and recurring drama with a handful of store managers didn't help. I'd had all I could take by about five o'clock, and failed to make it out the door before I shed a tear (or three) in front of my boss. Now the gig is up. I compromised my tough shell and showed a bit of weakness at work...not good. I've never cried in front of a boss before. It's soooo unprofessional. Damn.

This weekend was a bit of rehab for me though, and my roommates forced me to embrace the Christmas spirit a week before Thanksgiving. In a few short hours, we put up three trees, and by noon, I was singing along to Elvis' Blue Christmas.

I'm moving into the holiday season earlier this year. I'm 75 percent done with my christmas shopping, and its not even December yet. And I've been making daily trips to Apple.com to eye the pretty iPods. Santa (a.k.a. yours truly) is giving me one this year. I've been a good girl. And I'm already addicted to iTunes. It's like crack. Give me more. I'm officially the last person of Gen X to embrace the digital revolution...