Visiting glorious Franklin

I have *got* to spend more time in Franklin, Tennessee.

Today was the FFC Banquet in Franklin, and I leapt up at the crack of dawn and headed out for the wilds of Nashville in plenty of good time.

OK, so, that's a total lie. I overslept, then I ran around like an idiot trying to drink coffee and iron my shirt at the same time, then I threw things in the car, and then Woodrow decided he was coming with me, and then we finally got in the car, and *then* I headed out for Nashville, and I was already running 55 minutes late.

Fortunately, I drive like a maniac and I made up almost all that time, getting to my Franklin exit at about 12:10, only ten minutes late.

Sadly, I got lost at that point and wasted untold piles of time driving back and forth on one single road, trying desperately to find the road that Mapquest said I was supposed to turn on. Mapquest doesn't give you landmarks. I wish it did, because I drove past my road five or six times. In the meantime, I had left all the phone numbers at home and couldn't call Pam the hostess or Shona the teacher to ask them where the heck I was.

Very, very luckily, Sabrina was there, and she asked Shona for my number and called me. I literally answered the phone yelling, "I'M LOST!!!!!" Sabrina is the *best*. She told me exactly where to go and how to get there. YAY, SABRINA!!!!

So I was something like 49 minutes late for the party... but I did make it.

YAY!

I got there, and Pam greeted me -- and she's *so* lovely and warm and friendly and fun! -- and I said hi to Shona, and then I went to the kitchen to look at people's albums and chat. Girls were doing make'n'takes in the dining room, and there were margaritas and snacks in the kitchen (yum! but I didn't drink because I knew I would have to drive back). A few of us chatted in the kitchen, and I met a lovely gal named Mia who is a mostly digi scrapper. She didn't know that CS has a digi kit. She does now. I'm just sayin'. Is all.

After a while, we gathered in the dining room and Shona started her spiel with an intro to CS and then we all introduced ourselves. Then we dived into the project, which was a mini Wild Wild West ALSB, and it was *so* cool.

While all that was going on, my son Woodrow was doing his best impression of a ghost that I've ever seen. I had told him I needed him to be nice and quiet, but I had no idea how quiet he could really be. It was almost like he wasn't there! That is weird, and it's definitely new to me. Usually he pesters me to death. Does this mean Woodrow is growing up?

Also, I was kind of going through baby-withdrawal. Pam just had a baby, and I could hear her cooing and gurgling in other parts of the house, but I didn't get to hold her. That's probably best. Wesley might divorce me if I suddenly developed baby cravings at this late date. But man, I wanted to snuggle me a baby, and I didn't get to. Dang it!

It seemed to take a little longer to do the six pages than I would have thought, but that was probably just me. (I'm still a member of the "special" class, y'know.) I did totally mess up one of my cuts, but I used the gold foil CS sticker from a package to "adheze" some paper back together and fix my mistake.

I'm trying to do the math -- I think there were five real guests. Some of them were CS members; two of them were not. Then there was Pam the hostess, and Shona's MIL Mimi, and me.

Everyone seemed to have fun, and Mia the digi scrapper was attaching photos on every one of her layouts before moving on to the next!!!!!! That was amazing to see. She really does go for the most efficient way of doing *everything*!!!!! Sabrina had brought a ton of supplies, and I borrowed some Ranger Distress Ink from her at one point. Almost everyone at the workshop fell in love with inking, and they were all hogging the Palette inks that Shona had brought. I'm not complainin'... I'm just sayin'... is all! ;)

I got to chat with Sabrina just the teensiest bit before every thing finished -- she's going to be in Knoxville this week, and I'm really kind of thinking -- I need to go say hi when she's here. I'll email her and see what we can set up. She's going to the Knoxville Zoo and the children's museum, but she's staying in West Knoxville which is very near me.

The last thing Sabrina told me was to drive over to old downtown Franklin, and I'm so glad and so sorry I did. Glad because... it's GORGEOUS. Sorry because... it's gorgeous and I didn't have enough time to play and explore!!!!!!!!!!!

There I was, trying to drive and gawk at the same time, and I kept yelling to Woodrow, "I wish Mama were here -- she would've loved this. OH! Look! That house's plaque says it was built in 1850 -- GORGEOUS!!!!! Dang, I wish Mama could see this!"

Maybe Mama did see it -- after all, she stomped around on this earth for 39 years before I came along -- but dang, if she didn't... I'm feeling badly for her right now. Franklin is *exactly* the kind of place that Mama would have loved.

I glimpsed one plaque that said the house was built in 1805. I absolutely must go back to Franklin and build in more time for touring. That place is sublime. Why does anyone live in Nashville? Or Brentwood, for that matter? Franklin has all a body could want, and more.

Then I hit the road for real, and I tore up the interstates to get home before dark. I don't know why "dark" was my time limit -- I just wanted to get home. I called Wesley and let him know where I was, then I called Amy and left her a message. Much later, I got hold of her and she confessed that she had forgotten I was going to a Banquet today! Then we spent twenty minutes talking about what we're going to do in Las Vegas next weekend.

Las Vegas is fun, but man, it could use some houses from the 1850's to spiff up the joint a little. I'm just sayin'.

Woodrow and I stopped at a Waffle House for dinner, and we still made it home just as the sun was setting. At the Loudon exit, I pointed to the big red ball that was the sun, and by the time we ran into Philadelphia, that big red ball was below the horizon. Coooooooooooool.

Wesley was asleep when I got home, so I'll show him my pages some other day.

In general, I just have to say that it was a lovely day. I met some wonderfully nice people, hung out with old friends, made some gorgeous pages, and saw an absolutely breathtaking antebellum town that I never even knew existed in Tennessee. I expect to see architecture like that in Georgia and South Carolina, but not in Tennessee. I am totally undone by the beauty of Franklin.

So if you're ever in the area -- visit Franklin. Seriously. Would I lie to you? No! So go see Franklin! And tell Pam and Sabrina and Mia that I said hey!