A Belated Father's Day Note

My Father's Day dedication is a little late, but only because I had the joy of being with my father on this Father's Day.  Randy and I rode with our friends, Russ and Heather, to Nashville on Friday night.  Saturday morning we went to Center Hill lake for a picnic with the whole family.  We set up picnic tables, played cornhole, ate really, really good burgers, and got to go out on our boat and wakeboard on the beautiful waters of Center Hill.  Other than being insanely hot, it was perfect.  We had to leave earlier than we would have liked to go to a Southern Supper in honor of my cousin, Will, and his new wife, Maggie, who got married a couple of weeks ago at Martha's Vineyard.  Think good food, a beautiful pool, and tons of hydrangea blooms in a picturesque backyard.  On Sunday we went to church with my parents and then had a Father's Day meal with my dad.  The only thing that would have been better is if we could have spent time with Randy's dad too.

When I was younger, I would probably have been described as a "daddy's girl".  Always riding in the middle seat of his beaten up truck and falling asleep on his shoulder once the sun hit, I oftentimes was his little helper.  I remember summers where I would help him build decks or shingle roofs.  My job consisted of handing him the tools when he needed them.  As I got older, we became huge lovers of the lake and enjoyed going even when no one else would.  The cold month of November didn't even stop us one year.  With all of our similarities, it is easy to say that I looked up to my dad a lot and we were very close.  It was, however, a bit of a struggle once I got to high school that all of the guys I knew wanted to be my dad's friend, which usually meant it would be "weird" to date his daughter.  He also was an excellent track coach while I was a runner, and everyone assumed I would be good, but it was quite the contrary.  It was probably not a surprise to most people that I followed in his footsteps in pursuing his own career: an art teacher.  What is so ironic about how much I love my dad is that he was quite disappointed in my birth if I remember correctly.  He wanted a son pretty bad...and after trying to turn me into a boyish shot putter, I think he decided to embrace the fact that I would not become a boy or even a tomboy.  Last year, I saw the humble and emotional side of my father as he had to "give me away" to Randy, a yankee who does not like Nascar.  As hard as I know that it was for him, we both knew that I would always be his little girl, the big cheese.  

A father is such an important role in a family, and I believe my father made us the family we were through his strong faith and dedication.  There are so many correlations between our heavenly Father's love and our earthly fathers' love, and I am thankful that I have seen this firsthand.  

I also have my Pa (my mom's dad) who has a huge faith and lots of love for his four grand daughters.  He amazes me with his health-he skydived several years ago!  Unfortunately I never met my dad's dad, but my Lulu married Mac, who has stood by her side and shown much love for our family over the years.  I also have my new father-in-law who I like to call 'D'.  He travels all around the world and appears to be a genius (even though I'm not quite sure what he does).  He is one of those selfless people, always helping others, and I've been able to see him as a leader at their church.  The best part of having him for a father-in-law is that we share the same love for food!  What could be better than that?

Happy Father's Day to you all...

LOVING my Job!

(All those reading this that are currently working, please don't hate me.)

I have recently discovered how teachers end up teaching for so long after enduring so many days of just barely staying alive.  The answer to the mystery of teaching is simple: SUMMER.  Just when you don't think you can handle one more inappropriate comment from a middle schooler, you get to choose your own daily schedule and go on vacations while the county still mails in the paychecks.  I have to admit, it feels pretty good....really good.  And, at the same time, I do think I have deserved it!  I know that other teachers feel the same way too, and that anyone who is not a teacher despises us during the summer months.  I would probably despise us too.  

Anyways, I will be going back to work the first of August so I have to live it up while I still can.  The best part of June has been that Randy is off too!  Our days consist of TV, movies, laying out at the pool, and playing with Jack.  After gorging ourselves at the lake, Randy decided we should do something productive, so we have been doing a workout five days a week.  For the first time since high school (and even then I found some way to cheat) I am lifting weights and using the actual "machines" that are in the weight room.  I'm so proud of myself!  I still fear I might get "big"...even though both Randy and my dad say that won't happen.  Our friend Heather has started to do the workout too and we were saying how we wish we had taken 'before and after' pictures...or maybe not.  In addition to all that, I've also gotten to read more than usual which I have enjoyed.  I finished Marley&Me and have now started the Shack.  If anyone is reading this that has a fun beach read suggestion, I will need one when we go to Mexico!  

And, of course, I have to share my favorite picture of our handsome son, Jack.  Randy and I joke that he would be worthy of a kitty calendar with this shot!

Pina Coladas: Tim's Ford '09

Summer would not be complete without a trip to Tims Ford Lake.  

Since I was about 12 or so, my family has been extreeeeemely blessed to get to spend time at my Mom's boss' lakehouse.  We have watched it transform over the years, too.  What once started out with a couple bedrooms doubled in size, then more boats were added, and now a whole separate house AND tree house (not just your ordinary tree house) have become part of this amazing space in Winchester, TN.  

Waking up and eating a home cooked breakfast, followed by a mid morning boat ride, tubing and wakeboarding...lunch, afternoon lake run, then more amazing home cooked food and being lazy on the couch.  That pretty much sums up the time spent at the lakehouse over the years.  This year's trip consisted of my mom and dad, Randy and I, and Jodi and Matthew.  We had such a great time.  Of course, it wouldn't be a Tucker vacation without a few glitches, and we did experience a few minor misfortunes this trip.  Yes, the gas cap sank down to the bottom of the lake and the tip of the boat got chipped, but worse things could have happened.  One part of the trip that Randy introduced was the daily pina colada (non-alcoholic of course).  Every day was the same- "Who wants a pina colada?"  He put blueberries, strawberries, basically any fruit we had in the drinks, and they were delicious!..hence the title of this post.

One day we were there was unfortunately cold and not a great day to be in the water.  Instead, we went into town.  Downtown Winchester has lots of old-town charm with old buildings, the "square", and little stores and coffee shops people have really fixed up.  And there is also Hammers, an auction-type store that we have been to each summer for cheap clothes, tools, and homemade jam.  This year I also found a fabric/art store that is in a building that was the first gas station in Winchester.  

Other than wakeboarding, which everyone participated in except Mom, we also got to tube (Randy is much more of a risk taker than me on those things) and we got to play on the old rope swing in one of the coves.  The only thing we didn't get to was taking the boys to jump off the bridge into the water...guess we'll have to wait until next year.  We also did the usual dinner boat ride to the marina to eat seafood.  Of course, everyone ordered seafood except Randy who had a burger.  I'm still convinced he'll come around one of these days.

I'll stop rambling now with a simple but true statement:  I think going to the lake is as good as it gets.  Honestly.  Yes, I still want to go to Hawaii and Italy and Scotland and Australia and.... but give me the lake and I am perfectly happy!  (and I think I'm starting to turn Randy into the same type of lake lover as the rest of my family)

'I Do's' in the Park

It is now officially summer.  All of the hard work and teenage crap that I have dealt with all year seems absolutely worth it when realizing that I now have a little more than two months OFF!

On Friday night, Randy and I headed to Nashville for my Aunt Sandi's wedding.  On Saturday, my mom, dad, sister, and Randy, and I all head out to Edwin Warner Park to set up for the 5 o'clock nuptials.  When we arrived at park #11, a Korean church was having a cookout and playing games.  Because we had already gotten a late start, it was not a good thing to find someone in our territory.  Thankfully, my mother is very good at being in charge and getting what she wants.  All it took was a flash of our park permit and the group was gone--slowly, though.  

The wedding consisted of a little more than 30 of Jack and Sandi's closest friends and family.  It could not have been a prettier day for a wedding (much cooler than the day Randy and I got married) and everything went extremely well.  My cousin Autumn (Sandi's daughter) made the cake which was very yummy.  We did have one tablecloth set on fire when it blew up onto the candle, but that was easily fixed with no harm done.  As the reception was winding down, Randy, Amber and I decided to go wading in the Little Harpeth River.  As we were trying to walk through the extremely slippery moss-covered river, my dad thought it would be funny to throw a log into the water.  This was no ordinary log, more like a giant tree stump.  Needless to say, I got soaked (somehow Randy and Amber did not) and was also covered in slime on my backside.  

A year ago I would have just let it go.  But now, I have a husband who stands up for me...my partner in crime.  Randy told me quietly, "we'll get him back".  About thirty minutes later, as my dad is just lounging in a chair with family, Randy hands me the gatorade ice bucket and my dad gets SOAKED.  You would have thought his track team had won another state championship.  It was pretty sweet revenge, and fun entertainment for all those watching.

As Sandi and Jack left, we decided to send them out in style by throwing leftover m&m's in place of birdseed or bubbles.  One landed in Randy's shirt pocket.  

A quaint and personalized wedding in the park, Congratulations Sandi and Jack!

(my camera battery died like 15 minutes into the wedding so I didn't get half the shots I wanted)