Captain Kirk and Frozen Yogurt

I had another eventful weekend; I just wish my weekends could be longer! Friday through Sunday was the Star Trek convention in Nashville, and we had discussed going all three days, then just two days, and ultimately decided to just go one day. The convention certainly had the ability to add up quickly with multiple days and paying for autographs and photo ops, so we decided to keep it simple this time. But more on that later.

So on Friday night what we did instead was visit with Jennifer and Kendall. Jennifer was one of my bridesmaids and I was one of hers, but after she got married and moved to Nashville (and now she's close to White House), I have only seen her a handful of times. We had a nice evening dining at Amerigo at West End and then walking a few blocks down to Pinkberry. I had never been to Pinkberry before, and for a while all I heard was raves, but then at one of our recent weddings my friend Rachael told me that it wasn't as good as Sweet CeCe's. I would have to say she's right, since there are a lot less choices, but it was still a nice treat. I got something safe, chocolate yogurt with strawberries, but Jennifer let me try a bite of her original yogurt, which is supposed to be known for its unique tart flavor. I knew Sweet CeCe's had a flavor like it but never tried it. It was really interesting, and if I go to Pinkberry again I might get that, just for something different. But anyhow, we had good conversation and it was great to catch up with them! I have never gotten to know Kendall super well, and found out we had more in common with him than we realized!

Saturday was a little less eventful. After waking up earlier than we liked, Garrett and I feel back asleep after a while and didn't wake up again until 8:45! We quickly got ready to look decent enough to take my car to get the oil changed, and it decided to pour on our journey there! The good news about that, however, was that the usually busy tire store was much less so. We got home, ate breakfast, and shortly thereafter got the call that my car was ready - much faster than usual! So we went back and got it before we actually had the chance to shower and get ready for the day. Then I went on a brief shopping trip with Mom and got groceries before Garrett and I had a relaxing evening at home with Jet's Pizza, The Undiscovered Country, and a couple of episodes of (Star Trek) Voyager.

Sunday at church was special because it was a celebration of our church's debt retirement. It was a little odd for me because the church I came from in Houston always paid upfront for new buildings and never had debt, but I know that not all churches have that advantage, and it sounds like to get the debt retired within ten years was a nice accomplishment. Garrett played in the orchestra, so we could consider the possibility of skipping church to go to the convention earlier. But that was fine, because we knew we would still have the chance to see William Shatner (Captain Kirk for the uninitiated). We ate lunch and headed to The Opryland Hotel. We were too late to see a couple of the actors speak, so we wandered around the vendors' tables a bit, then staked out our seats as an auction of Star Trek and other sci-fi memorabilia took place. Though pretty much all of it was autographed pictures, which Garrett and I thought was kind of boring. There were plenty of those that could be bought just outside the room. But waiting through it, the moment we had been waiting for finally came.
Waiting for the curtain to go up...

There he is!

He spent a lot of time plugging his latest projects (his documentary on the Star Trek captains, his latest book, and his latest album) as well as talking about his disappointment that his sitcom "$h!t my Day Says" was canceled (and what the process for making the show was like), and then "answered" some audience questions. I put that in quotes because with the majority of the questions, he just told some story that was reminiscent of the question but never actually answered it. But that is part of what makes The Shat who he is. He's just funny and I'm glad we got to see him. And in case it looks like we sat close, those pictures were taken at 200mm. So glad I brought my long lens! Then we walked around the picturesque atrium and had dinner there before heading back home.

The view from our table at dinner. Wish I could have a view like this at my house (not the convention center, the trees and river)!

We should actually be at Opryland next month for a wedding, which will be gorgeous, no doubt.

To add to my last post, I wanted to clarify that I think the biggest struggle I am facing with my writing right now is my story ADD - my inability to focus on one story and especially to focus on its development. Whenever I wonder if I am actually cut out for writing since it's obviously hard, I realize that the stories screaming in my head won't be satisfied to stay there. And besides, anything you want to do well is hard work. I do wonder if I have lost so much interest in my one written novel because it's, well, written. It's not out there for the world to see, but I know how it ended so it's kind of over. But I do need to get back to it and work on it more. Eventually I'm going to miss those characters anyways, it always happens when I spend time away from them.

And I do need to get some other stories out, I just have to figure out in which order I will write them, and I have to find a process that works for me where I balance the methods of pre-planning and not planning too much, as well as working within limited time frames during the week, which is hard since I do my best thinking at the time of the evening I am usually spending with Garrett or going to bed, as well as the fact that I write best when I have extended periods of time. But I want to try to come up with a goal, like to write at least one scene every other day or something like that. I'll have to continue to think on it.