Saturday, April 19, 2008

We live in the city of Franklin, but we call it Cool Springs because we are oh-so-COOL

Bill was transferred here in 1991 with Bridgestone/Firestone (we have now adapted to calling it just Bridgestone) which was the cutting edge of the Yankee Invasion. We moved to a subdivision called Forrest Crossing, close to I65 in Franklin, TN. It had seemed our realtor had shown us a lot of subdivisions out in the middle of nowhere, and Bill didn't want to drive 10 or 15 min. just to get on the Expressway. Plus, I wasn't happy about the move, so I felt better about being close to an interstate in order to get the heck back to civilization.

Even though we had crash landed in the South, where I might like to think people had just misspelled Forrest, I soon learned we were living in a subdivision named after the a great Confederate Civil War general: Nathan Bedford Forrest. I shouldn't complain, though; the only relative that I have that fought in the Civil War was my (maternal side) great-great grandfather from MS, who fought for the Confederacy. I sometimes tried to use it to my advantage, but that never seemed to fly. Talks like a Yankee: must be a Yankee.

But I digress. I wasn't 100% crazy about the house in Forrest Crossing or the location, so I said to Bill that we would live in it for 5 years and then move. Amazingly enough, that is what we did. Five years later we moved to what would be known in a few years as the "Cool Springs area" or just "Cool Springs." Little did I know I would actually become cool. I drive an RX8, folks. That purchase may not have been a midlife crisis, but because I live in Cool Springs next to the Mazda dealership. Zoom Zoom !

There are four neighborhoods in our subdivision, Cool Springs East. We were the first house built in the subdivision in our neighborhood, the 2nd poorest, or the 3rd richest (depending on if you see life as a 3/4 cup empty vs. a 1/4 cup full). But, although we don't have the most expensive house in the neighborhood (good news in the real estate market they say), we do have the best lot. Also good and pushing us toward the glass is half full. :) I have one son who will be so happy that I am seeing the glass half full; he thinks I'm too dark. I getting glad to just see the glass. Forrest Crossing with only one interstate entrance had become a calamitous cacophony of cars during rush hours. Now, we are 2 seconds from 2 interstate entrances. What more can you do? There seems to be no stopping the Yankees and the Californians. And they all have to live in Williamson County as the Nashville school system is still seen as suspect. So, our neighborhood in the subdivision is named The Woods (we're built on the side of a small mountain), but the subdivision is named after the Cool Springs Mall, which had just opened - not exclusively for us since we weren't so cool yet, but when we were the only house over here it sure seemed like it - in August '91, shortly before we arrived in November. It generates a lot of tax revenue, so our property taxes are very low. And, there is no state income tax. Hello 6% raise as soon as you get here. Why do you think the Yankees are invading? They know a good deal when they see one. Of course there is sales tax and plenty of it, also on groceries; tax the poor is our motto. However, since we are the 7th wealthiest county in the U.S. of A., we are COOL in Cool Springs, Franklin, TN. Here's why:

  • We have neat landscaping - everywhere you look. Now, I'm serious about this one. And happy. I like the fact that they put flowers everywhere now and even landscape parking lots.
  • We have little bridges going over non-existent streams.
  • We have lots of dry stone-stacked walls to remind us that the Scots did settle here once upon a time.
  • We may have to have car lots, but if we do they ain't called that. See sign. They call it The Collection at Cool Springs in case you can't read it. Also, we only sell Lexus, Mercedes, Infinity, Acura, etc. No Hyundai or Ford around here.
  • Dang it! We may have to have garbage in Cool Springs, but if you have to have an unsightly dumpster, at least have the decency to enclose it in brick or stone. Besides, it's the law.
  • We have an attractive mixture of homes, retail, and businesses, not to mention the Nissan North American headquarters which is supposed to be finished this summer. They made them build an expressway entrance/exit just for them and the powers that be said, "yawser. When can we begin?"

No comments:

Meet the parents: Martha and David

Meet the parents:  Martha and David
Aren't they cute?

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Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007
In Atlanta with the Pfaff's

Bill and I had a wonderful time with Dave and Erin at Erin's parents, Roger and Muriel Pfaff, in Marietta, GA. We drove down on Sunday and spent 2 nights at a Drury Inns & Suites, but ate all our meals (except the free breakfast at the motel) with the Pfaff's. Erin has one sister, Alison, and her boyfriend, Mike, were also in attendance. Mike is a med student at MCV, where Bill's brother Jim went (a few year's ago!).

We got hooked on dominoes, which we played when we weren't eating one of Murierl's wonderful meals. Of course, when we played we ate homemade cookies and candy, made by Erin and her mom. Dinner Sunday night was a wonderful chicken dish over pasta; Christmas Eve was 2 kinds of hearty homemade soups and homemade rolls; and Christmas dinner was prime rib. Wow! Were we impressed. Best thing to me: sticky pecan rolls at Christmas breakfast. Super yum.

On Christmas Eve we went to a candlelight service at 11:00 p.m. at the Pfaff's Lutheran church. It felt very similar to our Methodist candlelight service. I think the big Christmas present was something called a Wee, an interactive games thingy played on your TV. Like all playstation things, it's beyond me.


March 2008 Snowfall

March 2008 Snowfall
Our only snow this year which was with us for one evening and the following half day.


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Bill

Bill
Bridgestone Racing Academy



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Favorite Quotes

Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life . . . Picasso

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind . . . . . . . Dr. Seuss

The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away . . . Robert M. Pirsig "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret . . . Henri-Fredric Amiel

What worries you, masters you . . . . Haddon W. Robinson

When we are young, the words are scattered all around us. As they are assembled by experience , so also are we, sentence by sentence, until the story takes shape . . . Louise Erdrich in The Plague of Doves

Queen Lucy . . . RIP

Queen Lucy . . .                  RIP
The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

Princess Gracie . . . RIP

Princess Gracie . . .  RIP
black dogs aren't as photogenic

The girls

The girls

Sharing VandysView

Sharing VandysView
Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. ~Agnes Sligh Turnbull

Lucky

Lucky
Dave and Erin's lucky stray that walked into their front yard and got adopted - he's a very joyful dog

Magi when she was a puppy

Magi when she was a puppy
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Ben Williams

Family

Family
The VandeWater boys - Bob, Bill and Jim

Bob Bill and Dr. Jim

Bill's mom Ann (DeLanghe) VandeWater

Bill's mom Ann (DeLanghe) VandeWater
birthdate: 6/3/1915

Jim and Bev

Jim and Bev
Bill's brother

The Women in my Life

The Women in my Life
Mom, Patti, and Cheryl

Dad's 83rd birthday

Dad's 83rd birthday
Our Christmas baby

Where is that other brother?

Where is that other brother?
Nina, Mike, my handsome older brother, and Bruce, my handsome youngest brother

There he is!

There he is!
Patti and Steve, my handsome younger brother

Sean and Mike - Lake Tahoe

Sean and Mike - Lake Tahoe

My nephew and his girlfriend

My nephew and his girlfriend
They're cute too

The whole Motley Crue

The whole Motley Crue
Aren't we cute?