A Cold Day in Knoxville

The first half of the weekend was largely uneventful; when you distinctly recall how nice the employees were at the new grocery store you tried, little of note is happening. Sandi revisited one of her previous video game purchases while ailing from a stomach bug that hit us both. The weather has taken a turn for the less wet, which means that Ranger has been able to spend more time outside, which makes for a happy Carroll household.

On Sunday, Bethany hosted a picnic for adoptive families at Tyson Park in Knoxville. Each family was supposed to bring a covered dish for the occasion -- a problematic situation for those of us with a two-hour drive. Sandi and I settled on sausage balls, and we spent the morning getting them baked and ready to go. We ended up about half an hour late due to some inexplicable foot-dragging on our part. The fact that we drove past the park (in spite of a 'Bethany Picnic' sign at the entrance) and had to circle back to it exacerbated our tardiness a bit. Once we arrived, we got to see a couple of families from our earlier waiting families meetings who have been placed. Catching up with Chris and Leigh Ann, who are the proud parents of an adorable near-Christmas baby named Chloe, was fun, although the weather was a bit uncooperative. After several days of warmth, the temperature took a nosedive that made the afternoon a little chilly. At least I had talked Sandi into wearing full-length pants rather than capris.

I am proud to report that we performed a successful experiment during our trip. Since the conditions outdoors were supposed to be nice and sunny, we decided to leave Ranger in the back yard rather than leaving him in the kennel for six hours or more on a nice Sunday. In hindsight, this could be the cause of our aforementioned lollygagging. We were quite concerned that the Big Bazooka would hurdle the gate and trail us after our departure, so we circled around the Food City parking lot and drove back past the house. We held our breath when we saw a large black dog loping along the street, but that big fella had several pounds on Ranger. By the time we got back to the house, our beloved half-giant had begun a fresh patrol of the yard, acting confident that we would return. This is a boon, as leaving him in the kennel for extended periods during the day has never really been part of our plans as dog owners. He has stayed outside while we have gone to work the last two days, and we still have no ill news to report.

Have a great week, everyone!