I can’t think of a better way to kick off March and the weekend than with a little celebration of all the great women who walked before me so that I can enjoy all the wonderful opportunities women have today. In many areas, there’s still plenty of work to do for women’s rights and equality, but I tend to look for the positive in all areas of my life, so on March, 8, 2019, I will stand with women all around the world with open minded optimism. Read on to see how you can get involved with my five easy take action ideas.

By all accounts spring is officially here in middle Tennessee so I should be out there digging in the dirt, happily planting flowers and veggies. And trust me, I really want to be doing just that- but I know better.  I’m in a gardening holding pattern waiting for that last frost warning to come and go.

You see, I am a firm believer in all the old farmers and gardeners around here. The ones who read the weather patterns and can tell you if we’ve gone through the Dogwood winter, or the blackberry winter, or whatever winter remains well after the calendar says spring has begun. 

I wasn’t always a believer though. When we first moved to the Nashville area in the 90’s, I still had a west coast gardening mentality and I lost a few plants before I decided I best take heed.  

There are several good resources for you to find out the true planting and growing season in your area.

Naturally, you can Google it, but you may not get an in depth answer.  You can buy a Farmers Almanac, which I would like to do some day- but let’s face it, I’m not a farmer, and so the almanac isn’t exactly riveting reading for me.  You can listen to your daily weather forecast, but most TV stations cover a large viewing area, so again, you may not get the best information for your specific neighborhood.

So what’s a gardener to do? So glad you asked. Go hyper local for your information.

1. Go to your local Co-Op, Nursery or Farmers Market and ask questions. There will always be somebody there happy to answer them.

2. Join a local Gardening club or befriend a neighborhood gardener. I have two lady gardening friends who give me extra plant starts almost yearly. I pay it forward when I can.

3. Get to know your neighborhood. While you are driving from point A to point B, take notice of who is doing what in their yards and gardens. For instance, I noticed the lady who has a lovely border of Buttercups, Irises and other early spring bloomers out in her beds every morning when I went by to take my daughter to her early Glee practices.

I’ve also noticed that 3 of the local vegetable gardens I admire in the summer have tilled but not planted. And I’m betting if I were to stop and chat with the owners, I'd learn that they’ve had their seeds started for weeks and have been tending to them, just waiting for the last frost to come and go. 

Please share with me in comments, what are you planting this year?

Disclosure : I am a member of the Tennessee State Fair's blogger outreach program and received complimentary tickets to facilitate this post.

Saturday, September 14^th couldn’t have been more picture perfect here in middle Tennessee.  It was a warm, almost fall day where you want to spend as much time as possible outside. Thankfully for us, we had the Tennessee State Fair to attend.

If you haven’t been to the Tennessee State Fair in a while, boy, are you missing out! First of all, the venue is huge with all sorts of events to attend. The online scheduler was a handy tool for us. Still, we got sided tracked by another event and wound up missing Hedrick’s racing pigs!

Even though we missed those cute pigs, we got to meet a real sweet young lady and her Black Ram Yearling.  

She was kind enough to let me take her picture. Even Lovey liked me and decided it would be okay for me to take a photo or two.

They went on to win first place in the Ram yearling event! 

Lovey wasn’t the only animal we got to meet. There was sweet Caesar, the softest, sweetest rabbit we've ever petted. 

My youngest daughter wanted to adopt Caesar. My oldest daughter would have settled for any of the rabbits there. But, it wasn’t in the cards.

Next up, we walked through the calves and cows and found ourselves in the poultry building.  I can’t remember the last time I saw so many roosters and hens and fowl of every type in one building like this. Tennesseans showed up and brought their best animals to the fair for our enjoyment and for a prized ribbon or two. 

 After having our fill of the sights sounds and smells of the critters, we made into the Creative Arts Building. We found all manner of creative arts being represented.

Here are a few pictures of our favorites:

 Finally, before the kids burst, we went to the ride section, or Thrill zone.  There were a lot of rides to choose from this year. The Ferris wheel, a fair favorite no matter where you live, was a must. The Tennessee State Fair placed the Ferris wheel up high on the hill, so when you are on it, you got a beautiful 360 degree view of Nashville.

The girl’s favorite ride was Mouse House.  Calm enough to take the little ones on, with just enough twists and turns to keep it fun for the big kids and adults riding along. My Husband loved Mega Drop and Fire Ball too. For me, my joy was in the watching all the happy people around my happy family. If life is getting you down- go to your state fair. It will take 20 years off you!

By now, we are getting hungry and thirsty and there were tons of vendors to choose from serving up everything from corn dogs to turkey legs and of course, funnel cakes! 

We rode and walked and played and laughed our way through the day and before we knew it, the crowds slowly started switching from family and kids to the Saturday night couples and singles vibe and we knew it was time to head home. 

We didn’t get to see the entire fair, but that’s okay. We’ll be back next year.

As we were walking back to the car, my husband was drawn to the sound of racing cars. They look like a lot of fun to watch, so we are thinking of bringing the girls up to a race. 

Want to join us? The dates are below.

Thanks Tennessee State Fair for giving us of super fun Saturday! Has your state had it's big fair yet? Did you go? Leave a comment and give a shout out to your fair.

Disclosure : I am a member of the Tennessee State Fair's blogger outreach program and received complimentary tickets to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

We were watching the Oscars last night,  my husband and I hoping that the last joke Seth McFarlane said flew right over our dear daughter’s heads, when all of our phones started ringing at the same time.

 This usually means only one thing: there will be no school the next day or the schools will be opening late due to inclement weather.

 These messages are met with glee on the part of the kids and since I’m a work at home Mom, I am able to roll with it much easier than my working Mom friends. 

What startled us was the reason behind this closing: a manhunt was happening right then for a man who worked at one of the counties schools and had access to said schools.  According to the news, this man was involved in a domestic violence issue.

I applaud the district for putting safety first. In light of all that has happened in and around public schools of late, I say it was an excellent call, but it raised a deeper question for us as parents. 

What type of background checks are being done for employees in supporting positions such as this man who was a maintenance worker?  Is this another area our public schools need to improve upon?

 I honestly do not know what criteria are in place. But I mean to find out. I am a bit embarrassed that I don’t know.  I just assumed that these workers were asked to go through the same screening process as teachers, staff and even volunteers.

 For example, I am a tier 3 volunteer in our school district which means I have been finger printed and had a background check completed; therefore I am able to go on field trips and volunteer for activities that put me in direct contact with children.

I hope in my search I do find out that all workers entering our schools have had to pass this same level of security, if not more.

We spoke with our girls at length about safety at schools and let them know we felt comfortable sending them to school because our district did go the extra mile to ensure our schools were as safe as possible. 

Thankfully this dialog ran long ( much like the Oscars) and we had stopped watching the show to talk. This saved our kids from hearing any of the song Seth McFarlane entertained the audience with next. You know the one about female body parts? So not kid friendly. 

 By the end of the Oscars, when my kids had been fast asleep for some time, our local news reported that the manhunt had ended. The man safely in custody and that schools would remain closed.

Good.  I am very thankful that this story has a happy ending.

 So has your school ever been shut down for something like this? Do you know what your school districts security policies are?

Please share your thoughts on this.