The World According to Leslie

While Tony and I were in town, just chilling out (aka making a list of things Chasity needed before we left Asheville), last week, we rode over to Black Mountain.  I can't wait to go to the Black Mountain Arts Center and some of the shops there. It really is a great little place. We came upon a BBQ place called Phil's Bar-B-Que Pit .  We both like BBQ, so we thought we'd try it. We got a plate of pulled pork, pulled chicken, chips, mac and cheese, and hushpuppies to share.  We both preferred the pork, but it was all delicious. So much so that this past Thursday, when Mom, Dad, and I were in town to pick Chasity up to come home for the weekend, we went there to eat! My parents liked it too!  One really unique thing about this restaurant is that there are stickers on the metal bar where you order your food. There are license plates from just about everywhere on the walls. And...there are hats! There are hats hung on the ceiling.  This isn't remotely close to all o...

Junior Gold National Tournament, 2021 Indianapolis, IN In 2019, we went to Detroit, MI, for almost two weeks so that Chasity could compete in the Junior Gold National Championships. She qualified in May of that year, we we took off to Michigan in July.  This year, 2021, we took off on July 8 to Indiana. We drove through a few states to get there. On the way back, we stopped in Kentucky (to see Church Hill Downs) and Pigeon Forge (just because).  On the way to Indiana, we saw a lot of rain, but we saw some beautiful clouds after it.  After one of Chasity's practice sessions, we went to downtown Indianapolis. We found Lucas Oil Stadium where the Indianapolis Colts play. We did not go for a tour, but we did drive around and take a lot of pictures. Chasity took pictures on my phone. I used my camera.  Between her 2nd and 3rd practice sessions, we went to the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds . That place is H.U.G.E! We had to do registration so she could get her badge and b...

We are home.  We got in yesterday evening, around 6:30, I guess. First stop?  My parents' house.  Whether they are with us or not, we always stop there FIRST when we get back into town. I used my Fitbit the entire weekend.  I walked over a mile every day!  LOVE IT! On the way up, it was uneventful. Not much traffic. Great weather. We got there.  We definitely sent pics of lots of stuff to my mom and sister during the trip. Although it's a little blurry, that was the first sighting of the mountains that we had on the way up! While we were there, we had to go to Krispy Kreme.  We went on 3/17 while they had GREEN doughnuts.  We got to watch them make them.  It was AWESOME!  (I did a live video of some doughnuts coming through.  Go check it out on my Facebook page.) They look a little weird, but they tasted like HOT, melty Krispy Kreme doughnuts!  (Sorry if you missed them on St. Patrick's Day!) ...

I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever! Today is GOING TO PIGEON FORGE DAY! It's also Pancake Day at the Boys' and Girls' Club in Cabarrus County.  MAYBE I'll get to go by there before we leave, but it's always PACKED! Today checks off one of my 2018 goals!!  I'm so excited! I will post pics and probably do some live Facebook videos while we are there.  I love Pigeon Forge!  (Have I said that before!?) The sad part is that I couldn't convince my parents to go.  So.... I'm going to work on making that happen this summer.... or at Christmas.... or both! :) What amazing things are you doing today???

Last Friday, Tony and I checked the Princess out of school early. We had the car loaded up, and we headed to Pigeon Forge. The Relentless Youth Group from Remedy Church left earlier that morning for Shabbach Youth Conference 2017. We didn't want her to miss an entire day of school, so we checked her out after 1/2 day. That means that Tony was off work on Friday. We drove up on Friday. We dropped the Princess off with the group just in time for church services on Friday night. We hung out with the group at the Alpine Coaster , where Tony's cart got stuck on the track in the pouring rain! (That's a completely different story!)   We also went to ride go karts and play at the arcade! Sunday, after the morning services, we collected the Princess from the group. We hung around and did some things together as a family. Then we headed home. Tony had some vacation days to use, so he also took Monday off of work. We went grocery shopping (which we normally do on Sun...

Although I haven’t written anything in about 2 months here, I did not fall off the face of the earth. I have, however, sat at the computer wanting to write. Some days it just doesn’t happen.    I have a writing job for the summer—$8/article and I can write at least 2 an hour.   That’s more than I make teaching!  No!  I’m not kidding!  lol  (It’s sad!)   I get to go back to work in just a couple of weeks.  Actually…..  two weeks from today!  WOW!  Same school! More kids.  This year, I’m teaching regular Freshman English and Mythology.  I’ll have about 35 kids in each class!  (I know, right?!)   We went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge on Vacation last month.  We took Mom and Dad with us!  We love going there. We went to a few shows.  Maybe… just maybe…. I’ll do a post about that!    I am now a CRIMINAL MINDS fanatic!  I love this show!  I had never watched an entir...

I can’t believe that I haven’t written in over a week. How could I let that happen?  I have had so much to talk about in the past week!   1. Yesterday was my brother’s birthday. He is now 39 years old.   2. School has been great. The students are good. They announced yesterday that they are officially finished with schedule changes, so I should not have to worry about any kids moving into or out of my classes now.   3. Over the weekend, Tony, my parents, the Princess, and I went to Boone. We stayed in an awesome condo. I now have more things to check when I ask about places to stay. Internet….check. Handicap accessible…sorta check. (It was all one level, but the doors were very narrow and there was no walk in shower.) Central heat/AC….NO! Well, I don’t know about heat because it was in the 80s while we were there, but there was only a WINDOW unit in the place!  Can’t believe I didn’t see that on the description!   I will check better next time. ...

I have the worst time with cell phones.  Not the service.  The phone!   I love L O V E love Verizon. Rarely do I have a place that I don’t have service.  I can call all my family and most of my friends without using any minutes.  I never use all of the data I have.  In a few years, when it’s time to add the Princess (like 7th grade if she plays softball at school—9th or 10th if she doesn’t) my bill won’t go up!   Now…to my phone.  I had the Droid Merge.  There were only a few hundred of them made.  They were sent to Verizon distributors, but not the Verizon stores.  BTW…did you know that every Verizon store is not a Verizon store.  Some of them are through a different company and can get you better deals on plans and phones.   We have a couple like that here in town….that’s how I got the Merge.   The first one I had stopped working.  I couldn’t make calls because the screen wouldn’t stay on.  I c...