Closing out a tough-at-times 2024 and heading toward 2025 with dread and anxiety

We closed out a somewhat rough 2024 with the unexpected loss of our young, beautiful boy cat, Byron; and then, Andrew, the husband of our friend, Emily; and now moving on with dread as another term under "that idiot" as the leader of our country will begin.  Let's miss those we've lost and hope for the best, I guess.  

You know it's been a down year when one of the things you get most excited about is a new kitty litter that you've found, but this stuff is worth the praise.  No smell, no concrete clumping, no dust.  It's the best thing to come down the line in a long, long time!!   We even got Paige and Andy a "starter" bag for Christmas since it's such a game-changer! 

Saturday, December 14 - This year's Christmas party - Succ It for Santa!!  - was a big success with a half-dozen attendees making beautiful succulent Christmas trees thanks to a great set-up by the Classy Cactus Farm - another brilliant idea by Ashlee.  The rest of us meandered in an out of the house all evening with drinks in hand (there was an eggnog tasting as well), good conversation and laughs at the ready.  Great BBQ and party snacks and even a "hundred-dollar cake" from Ina Garten for a late-night after-party dessert.  It was so moist and delicious!!  

We say every year this will be our last one and then we have such a good time we forget all the hard work to pull it together and start planning the next one!! 

Here are our six succulent Christmas tree crafters...and Danny being a doofus. 

Tuesday, December 17 - After a very nice work Christmas party hosted by my Admissions Department at Cumberland University tonight at Sammy B's, we strolled the grounds of the beautiful and historic Mitchell House here in town enjoying the excellent Christmas light display.  Big props to our current mayor, Rick Bell, for really pushing to make Lebanon a nice town to be a part of now because that has not always been the case here. 

After a few more poses around the grounds of the Mitchell House (photo above), we got in some comfier clothes, picked up Sunny and headed over to the Wilson County Fairgrounds to enjoy a drive through The Dancing Lights of Christmas display once again.  It is now the state's largest drive-thru light and music show.   

12/21 - Well, the UT game stunk as they got roasted by OSU, but the atmosphere where we watched the slaughter was nice at least.  My new work friend, Todd, and his wife, Kelly, invited us over to their new townhome here in Lebanon to hang out and watch the game along with a few other folks they know.  It was a nice time with good food, libations and conversation (about anything but UT football!). 

12/22 - We finally got to visit Working Man Winery here in town for their Pup Pics with Santa event this afternoon.  It was a bit of hectic situation since the location is kind of small.  We had some decent Asian snacks from a food truck on site and a glass each of their wine that was OK at best.  With limited parking and so-so wine, I am not sure this place will make it through 2025, but we shall see. 

We did get some good pics with a pretty authentic-looking Santa and Sunny behaved very well considering it was her first time seeing The Big Man in person. 

Monday, December 23 - We exchanged presents today before heading to Chattanooga tomorrow with the family.  Games are always on the gift list seems like and I got two this year and Ashlee got this one pictured above - kind of a Jenga with challenges on some of the blocks as well.  We were impressed with this being our tallest tower before collapse.  

Tuesday, December 24 - Our first Christmas Eve on Mowbray Mountain!!  Paige and Andy's new house is great and so is the drive, cutting about 20 minutes or so off our commute from Lebanon.  We stopped for gas on the way down, and I bought a MegaMillions lottery ticket that was hovering at $1 billion, but, alas, we only got one number out of five woeful picks.  But nobody else won either!  So, we move on to over a billion on Friday's drawing.  Wish us luck!!

(Editor's note:  There was no luck for us, but someone out in California hit it.  Good for them!) 

Wednesday, December 25 - Merry Christmas!!  No, Ashlee didn't get yet another pet from Santa this year (thank goodness), but Sebastian here is a new acquirement for the Harlins and he's a sweetie.  Oh, and he's over 25 years old!  So, "Parks and Rec" stole the name from him!!  It was a lovely and mild Christmas Day, and we enjoyed spending a lot of it outside on Pagie and Andy's great new property.  

Friday, December 27 - We went to a matinee showing of the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, today with our new couple friends, Todd and Kelly, at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!).  The film was very good.  There's no way Chalamet doesn't get at least an Oscar nomination, if not a win, with this one. 
This evening, we attended the yearly Mug Club Dinner at Cedar City Brewing Company here in town along with our other local couple friends, Curtis and Kate.  The nacho bar menu was good as was the camaraderie.  These folks are a blessing to Lebanon. 

Saturday, December 28 - We finally made it out to a (belated) Christmas Pop-Up today at Nicky's Coal Fired Pizza over in West Nashville.  "Saint Nicky's" theme this year was The North Pole, and it was pretty terrific (photo above).  We had a tasty early dinner with our friends, Wendy and Charley, as well as a couple of Christmas-themed cocktails.   This is a place worth coming back to not only at Christmas, but anytime!  

Sunday, December 29 - We stumbled upon info kind of last minute for a big Cat Show at The Nashville Fairgrounds this weekend, so we had to go check it out.  It was pretty cool with tons of competing cats in several categories from all over the country and even an agility test for those that wanted to participate.  It was hosted by the national CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association); which seems to be kind of a big deal for fancy cat owners. 

Sunny came with us, but had to stay in the car for the cat show for obvious reasons, but we included her in our next stop nearby at Fait La Force Brewing where we waited out the rain with a couple libations and a tasty lunch of homemade pimento cheese with crackers and a tasty chicken pesto sandwich that we split from Jambox Sandwich Shop which is also at the brewery's location. 

The Sun(ny)day Funday continued with our next stop being the rooftop bar of the chic Bobby Hotel where their Camp Bobby pop-up winter fun spot was happening again this year.   Dogs are allowed up here, so Sunny got her first-ever elevator ride and was higher of the ground (unknowingly) than she'd ever been before.  We enjoyed a couple more winter-camp-themed libations, took some fun pics and with the weather improving, we moved on again.  

Our last and final stop today was at the brand-new Urban Dog Bar in West Nashville.  Similar to the one in Chattanooga that we (Sunny most of all) enjoy, this one is bigger and very well organized and maintained.  We got a day pass for Sunny and our entry was free.  The beautiful sunset brought on some cooler temps, but they have outdoor heaters and warm libations for the "hooo-mens" to stay warm with while the doggies of all shapes and sizes romp around having a fun time.  Let's just say that Sunny slept very well when we got home from this fun day in Nashville.  

Tuesday, December 31 - Happy New Year (hopefully)!  We had dinner tonight at Chauhan Ale and Masala House with our friends, Emily, Danny and Brenda.  This excellent Indian restaurant with some Southern U.S. flair seemed to be the perfect place for us and Danny and Brenda to look ahead to our big cruise planned at the end of the 2025 to India and some other Far East destinations.   The food was great, as always.  I had the garlic shrimp, and Ashlee had the lamb chops both with their decadent korma sauce.  We headed back home before the midnight hour and celebrated the new year on the couch with pets and that's good enough! 

DESTINsgiving

 

Sunday, November 17 - We had some "hired help" today to do some outdoor fall cleanup including raking the mountain of leaves that always pile up on our flat back roof (terrible design!).  My co-worker and our friend, Apurva, a grad student over at Cumberland, helped out today in exchange for some much-needed money for the upcoming holidays.  He's been a real help here not only today, but with pet-sitting as well when we travel.  Thanks, A.P.!! 

Thursday, November 28 - Happy Thanksgiving from the beach AGAIN!!  I flew down to Destin, Florida, today to join Ashlee who's been there this entire week for another holiday in the white sands. Today happened to be the best beach day based on the forecast for the weekend, so we plopped down on the beach at Destiny by the Sea and enjoyed watching a very skilled kite-surfer do his thing among the surging waves and stiff breeze. 

Afterwards, we had another nice Thanksgiving meal from Cracker Barrel with all the fixings that was delish.  

After dinner, we all loaded up and went to see the new Christmas action/comedy flick, Red One, at the AMC Theaters at Destin Commons.  It was very enjoyable and maybe a bit better than we thought it might be going in.  

Friday, November 29 - Black Friday ended in gold out on the beaches of Destin at sunset today.  It was just a bit too chilly outside to enjoy the beach otherwise today.    

Saturday, November 30 - Sun's out!  Toes out!!  It was still a bit cool temperature-wise, but the sunnier weather today made it tolerable for a little more beach and surf time.   

Tonight, we went to see Wicked (Part 1) in IMAX at the Destin Commons AMC Theaters and it was spectacular.  It could seriously win best picture and will definitely take home some hardware for set design, costumes, etc.   

Sunday, November 31 - We packed up and said goodbye to another sweet rental house in Destiny by the Sea (we've stayed in the one just to the right of this one also) this morning and made the drive back from Destin without much issue.  We did stop briefly to check out the large Christmas market in Cullman, Alabama, and it looks great.  We may just double back here in a few weeks to really experience it when we have more time.  

This was as close as Sunny got to the beach unfortunately.   It's a county-wide ordinance here in Destin that no dogs are allowed on the beach (even though we saw several).  Nonetheless, she had a fun time hanging out at the swanky house and walking around the posh gated community of Destiny by the Sea.  

We got home to some extra FRIGID temperatures (even for the start of December), but everyone was fine (thanks again, A.P.) and glad to see us (and to get the gas fireplace going!!).

Cruising with Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

Friday, October 11 - We checked out the surprise soft opening of the long-anticipated East Nashville Beer Works - Wilson County tonight along with a large group of friends.  It was great! Lines were long as expected, and the parking was an adventure as even the unpaved overflow lots were jammed.  But the pizza was solid, and the beer was cold and tasty.  What a great addition to our area!!  

October 30 - Damn right, we did!! And early too.   Up yours, Rump!!! 

Thursday, October 31 - We TREATED ourselves this Halloween to some new sofas in the living room as well as a repainting of same said living room and the adjoining dining room.  

Saturday, November 2 - We attended our local Bark in the Park event at the Wilson County Fairgrounds today to help support New Leash on Life Pet Rescue.   Sunny enjoyed herself with a lot of butt-sniffing hellos given and taken.  Our friend, Tarryn, who was in from Indiana joined us as well at this fun time in some beautiful fall weather. 

Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day was a huge disappointment unfortunately.  Gonna be a long four years with Adolf Shitler embarrassing us left and right again.  Hopefully that's all he does...

Friday, November 8 - We flew to Miami today to prepare for our first Sixthman music cruise in a good while. The quickly SOLD-OUT Andrew McMahon's Holiday from Real Cruise starts tomorrow!! This unique line-up headlines with Andrew each day with his three bands throughout his career:  Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness.  Pretty neat concept.  Supporting acts were not very well known to us except for Augustana, who has been probably our favorite band throughout the last twenty years to see live, so we were very excited about this one and we feel lucky that we went ahead and put a deposit down about a year ago to secure our space on this pricey, but exciting, opportunity.   

We stayed overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn near the airport and close to the port as well.  Our room had a nice pool view.  We didn't use the pool, but the view was lovely considering ours is all covered up for winter currently.  We had a surprisingly good dinner in the hotel lobby tonight as well. 

Saturday, November 9 - Holiday from Real Cruise - Day 1 - Our first day on board was great!  Andrew and his Jack's Mannequin band (which is the music where we first discovered him) had a great sail-off show on the pool deck.  But the highlight of the day/night was getting to FINALLY meet Dan Layus, the heart and soul of Augustana, after their great set on The Atrium Stage.  This dude has no idea how long we have stalked him!!!  What is really fascinating about Dan is that despite being a dynamic singer and musician (guitar, piano, harmonica) on stage, the guy is PAINFULLY shy, so getting this selfie and a handshake really means a lot to us.  Thanks, Dan, we really love you!!! 

Sunday, November 10 - Holiday from Real Cruise - Day 2 - The seas were too choppy today to stop at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas since you have to tender to the island from the ship.  No biggie, we've been there before.  So instead, we started to explore some of the other performers on the ship that we didn't know much (or anything) about.  First up was Zac Clark who we've actually seen before open for Augustana in Nashville.  He's also got a great duet with Andrew McMahon.  His one-man crooning set back in The Atrium was pretty darn good. Next it was Nashville's own alt-country (he calls it "dirt emo") artist, Ruston Kelly (photo above).  Witty, deep and talented - we really enjoyed Ruston's intimate set in the yet very large Stardust Theater venue. 

Next up was Augustana again in the same Stardust Theater (photo above).  They were loud and rocked the place to its core.  What a great show!!  
We stopped out on the Pool Deck next to catch some of the poppy and energetic tunes from Misterwives.  They reminded us a little of Fitz and the Tantrums, but lead singer, Mandy Lee, is a force of nature all on her own and their announcement of going on a hiatus as a band after the cruise had us wondering if a solo career is coming her way now.  We shall see.   Capping off the night was Mr. McMahon again out on the Pool Deck stage with his Something Corporate hat on...well, actually they were pajamas.  Yep, the theme tonight was pajamas night, so he did the entire show in a pair of silk PJs.  Classy, Andy, classy!! 

Monday, November 11 - Holiday from Real Cruise - Day 3 - We finally got to get off the ship today as we docked in Nassau, Bahamas, for the day.  It was a bit windy and partly cloudy for any beach activities, so we kind of slept in and then took a walk into town this afternoon.  We've actually been on this ship, the Norwegian Gem, before for two other back-to-back Sixthman Cruises (Michael Franti's Soulshine Cruise and The Rock Boat) back in 2022.  We also recently learned that Norwegian has actually bought Sixthman and will be the exclusive cruise line for their popular music-themed cruises going forward.  

Once off the ship, we took a rather long walk out of the touristy port area of Nassau to Rip Ty'd Craft Brewery which is a very nice place.   The female-owned and brewed establishment had some great craft beer that we enjoyed in their roomy tasting room while playing some spirited two-handed UNO. 

Back on the ship tonight we enjoyed an intimate Q and A session with Andrew going behind some of his songs as well as some cool impromptu song covers including the Guns and Roses classic, "November Rain."  Later, after checking out a few more tunes from Misterwives again, we queued up early on the Pool Deck to get a good view of Andrew's third night as the headliner with his current band, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness.  Another stellar show!! 

Tuesday, November 12 - Holiday from Real Cruise - Day 4 - Our last full day was at sea, so we checked out some of the bands we had missed up until now.  We thought Wildermiss was, well, a miss.  Cartel was pretty good as was Jukebox the Ghost, but nothing life changing.   Andrew was the winner again with a final show out on the pool deck doing covers and oldies of his own along with several other performers from the cruise.  Even Dan from Augustana helped out with "Message in the Bottle" by The Police.  Andrew's second ride in the inflatable duck came closer to us this time and i got this great screen grab above from a video I shot.  

but only for one more night...

Andrew wins the cruise swag game for sure!!  These beautiful, signed posters were waiting for us in our stateroom tonight.  Each night of the cruise, we got special swag including very nice pins and sharp luggage tags as well.  

Wednesday, November 13 - Our disembarkation and flight home from Miami were easy and smooth. Ruston Kelly was even on our flight back to Music City and we got a chance to say hello to him when we landed and to express how much we enjoyed his set that we saw.  Very nice and humble fellow.  Another great cruise wrapped in a musical bow.  Let's start looking for the next one!! 

Another birthday, a little Pilgrimage and a new (and muddy) South Star

Well, the man was pretty smart...

Saturday, September 8 - The birthday presents for Ashlee have started to arrive and first up was this hilarious little door mat that is very accurate in its forecasting of our little Letty Spaghetti, the backdoor escape artist! 

Thursday, September 12 - Happy Birthday from afar, Ashlee!!  While I was on the road for work in East Tennessee, Ashlee was in Austin, Texas, for work as well today for her birthday.   We have a weekend of birthday activities planned to make up for it however.   

Friday, September 13 - Ashlee's birthday extravaganza weekend started tonight with a drive down to Murfreesboro for the Canine and Cactus Mixer at the Wag it Better Dog Training and Boutique, co-hosted by the Classy Cactus Farm.  Along with a couple other friends, we had a fun time arranging our own dog-themed succulent planters and then hanging out with some cute and friendly small dogs that are up for adoption as well.  

1,700 pieces!!! Happy Birthday, Ashlee...and good luck!!! - love, Dudley

Saturday, September 21 - We attended the Duke at MTSU college football game this afternoon down in Murfreesboro with our friend, Tom, and his girlfriend, plus his brother and his wife.  We were definitely for D-U-K-E even though this wasn't basketball.  The game was actually halted due to lightning in the area in the 3rd quarter with a comfortable lead for Duke, so we skedaddled before the storm and rain got to us.  They eventually finished the game with Duke winning 45-17.  

Saturday, September 28 - After learning that our # 1 want-to-see artist, Gwen Stefani, was headlining at the new South Star Music Festival in Huntsville, Alabama, today, we decided to buy day-passes and see her show even though we already had Pilgrimage Festival two-day passes also this weekend.  We figured we could catch Day 2 at Pilgrimage on our way back.  Simple, right?  Not so fast says Mother Nature! 

The rainy remains of Hurricane Helene threatened both festivals with complete cancellation, but we monitored both of their social media pages to see if they were going to try and go through with them.  With no cancellations announced, we headed down to Huntsville today and met our friends, Emily and Bridgette, at a nice Hilton Garden Inn near the festival site where we would spend the night.  We found parking fairly easily, not realizing it was a helluva walk to the festival entrance, but we made it with rain continuing to spit and sprinkle down. 

We headed to the Supersonic Stage and caught a great day-opening set from 90's veteran rockers, The Gin Blossoms.  We decided to stay at this stage throughout the day since we were able to move up to the very front when the next act, Tom Morello (photo above), took the stage...and proceeded to blow the roof off of the place as well as our minds!  Holy crap!  This dude is phenomenal!  As a part of Rage Against the Machine, we now have his band at the top of our must-see-live list.  An amazing show!!  And his "fuck Trump" banner in the heart of Bama was awesome!! 

After a fun and entertaining set from the 90's divas, TLC (minus the L sadly), it was time finally for the big payoff, front row for Gwen herself in all her blonde bombshell glory (video above).  She put on a stunning 90-minute set full of energy covering songs from her solo days and with No Doubt.  A great day and night worth the rain, mud, and sore feet and legs.  

Sunday, September 29 - This is the remnants of "Hurricane Gwen" last night! That joke is in very bad taste to the shocking damage and death toll to our east with the powerful Hurricane Helene path.  Our thoughts are genuinely with them. And, yeah, sure, global warming is a myth.   This pic does give a good idea of what we had to slog through last night in the dark to get out of here from the front row.  Not surprisingly, the City of Huntsville cancelled the second day of shows here for safety reasons due to the poor conditions of the grounds in their park.  
(photo courtesy of the South Star Facebook page) 

We tried our best to carry out the Two Fest Weekend, but Mother Nature made it very hard.  We made it to this year's 10th Annual Pilgrimage Festival with no problems from Huntsville.  Getting in was fairly easy and we even got some free tasty food from the Hardee's tent, but then here came the non-forecasted and not-on-the-radar rain again!! Seriously??  WTF?? 

So, after a very entertaining set by new-to-us artist, Stephen Wilson, Jr., IN THE RAIN AGAIN, we made the tough executive decision to call it a very early day.  There was just no way we could stand for another six or so hours in even more possible rain.  Sorry, Better Than Ezra, NeedtoBreathe and Noah Kahan.  Maybe next time.  It was nice to get home and rest early.  

Tuesday, October 1 - Summer is over, but it's trying to hang on as best it can.  We are closing the pool this week for the season and that's just too sad of a picture to post, so this little beauty got the nod instead for hanging on as long as possible.  

Friday, October 4 - We attended a magic show and dinner at Cedar City Brewing tonight along with our friends, Kate and Curtis.   The food was good, and the two magicians from House of Cards in Nashville were great.  Ashlee even got called up to help with a trick!  

Saturday, October 5 - We attended the relaxing and lovely "Beautifica" show at the Adventure Science 360 Theater in Nashville tonight with and at the suggestion of our friends, Kate and Curtis.    We had a quick, but tasty, stop at Schulman's in East Nashville for dinner beforehand. 

Holy cutie-pies, Batman!!!  Our new fosters, three brothers named Frankie, Gordie and Jett, are just freaking adorable and oh so loving.  They definitely should be easy to convince someone to adopt them (all together maybe??)

Sunday, October 6 - We did a fun and interesting behind-the-scenes at the Nashville Zoo at Windmere today.  We even got to feed a giraffe!  This was a belated birthday present for Ashlee that we both really enjoyed.   Beforehand, we strolled around the rest of the zoo checking out the Komoto dragons, the rhinos, red river pigs and some beautiful azure macaws.  We even had a very tasty lunch at the zoo.  The behind-the-scenes tour was great.  It looked like you were going into Jurassic Park when we entered the giraffe's enormous habitat and state-of-the art barn.  

The Nashville Zoo actually has five total giraffes of which we saw all of them including this gang shot of four of them at one time.  Proceeds from our tours go directly to conservation efforts in Africa for these magnificent, shy but curious animals.