Appreciate the Adventure

And a bit of conversation…

Posted on 08/12/2015 by ashleekiser

Take the last train to Clarksville.
I’ll be waiting at the station.
We’ll have time for coffee flavored kisses
And a bit of conversation.
Oh… Oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

“Last Train to Clarksville” Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart’s answer to the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” hit the music scene August 16, 1966. Just 13 months shy of its 50th anniversary, I finally managed to hear Mickey Dolenz perform the Monkees’ first released single live in concert.

Summer 1996 found me at 12 years old in between 7th and 8th grade. One evening, my parents made a huge deal about all of us sitting down to watch a show together. It was some old show they had both watched in the 60s that was now releasing a new episode. Some music group? I couldn’t understand their enthusiasm, and felt lost through most of the episode (what was the big deal about a green ski hat?), but the music was decent. But then the old versions of this show started airing every day on VH1, and my parents insisted that we watch. And my addiction to the Monkees began.

Mike, Peter, Davy, and Mickey. Over the course of my summer break I would come to learn about these four performers and memorized the lyrics to every single one of their songs. I began acquiring each of their albums (on CD, of course. I am, after all, a true 90s child), and even sought out the Missing Links CDs that featured previously unreleased songs (including the original version of “Words” which included the haunting flute solo instead of that ridiculous organ solo) and other interesting bits, like the cereal commercial jingle the Monkees performed. My family even enabled this obsessive fangirl behavior. My parents found and purchased an old movie poster at an antique store for my bedroom wall. Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike purchased me a beautiful, picture-filled history book about the Monkees –did you know that such a thing really exists!?! And then Davy Jones came to Knoxville. While Davy was far from my favorite Monkee, he was step one of a four step bucket list.

Fast forward almost twenty years! I don’t watch much television and honestly do little to keep up with local news and happenings. I only listen to public radio on my short drive to work in the morning, and home in the afternoon. But two Tuesdays ago, I just happened to be listing to NPR at just the right time. I typically switch stations during commercial breaks, but as I was a bit distracted on my drive, I didn’t this one time. Through my distracted fog, I realized that I heard the familiar organ riff to “I’m a Believer.” My long dormant inner fan-girl sat up and began listening to hear one of the best announcements of my life: The Monkees in concert, this Friday at the Nashville Symphony! So I did the only thing I could think to do. I called my mom and asked her what section she would like for me to buy seats in.

Friday evening finally arrived and there we were, staring at the stage that would soon
support my beloved Mickey…and Peter. The speakers played old Monkees songs, a few songs by other artists performing songs the Monkees had written (actually, songs that Mike had written), and some covers of the Monkees’ songs (why would you cover a Monkees song. NO Smashmouth!). And then they took the stage…

Mickey Dolenz began by belting out “Last Train to Clarksville” and sounded exactly the same as he did 50 years ago. Which means that he was not particularly great. But it was still wonderful. He’s learned to play a few more instruments in the last 50 years, as opposed to receiving his first percussion lesson just hours before the Monkees performed their first concert ever. Peter, one of the only Monkees with any musical training, has lost some of his edge and does not play as well as he once did. There were missed notes, cracking voices, and a guitar change at one point that left the band without lead guitar for several measures…and I didn’t care. At one point I may have threatened to my mother that I would pitch an obnoxious gal who kept screaming throughout several songs over the balcony if she did not shut up and let me listen to step 2 and 3 of my 4 part bucket list. I still haven’t decided how I feel about the concert goers who got up to dance in front of the stage. This is the only rock concert I’ve ever been to where those dancing were in their 50s and 60s.

When Mickey and Peter left the stage, a bit abruptly, they of course returned to perform their encore. Finally, here came “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” I’ve kept this song title in my back pocket for nearly two decades now. If I ever own a palomino gelding, this will be his show name. I have dibs, so no stealing! Then they ended with their final number, “I’m a Believer.” While “Believer” is far from my favorite Monkees’ song (check out “Shades of Grey” or “Mr. Webster” when you get a chance), I truly believe that it is the most iconic Monkees song. It is absolutely bubblegum manufactured pop, which totally describes the entire concept of the Monkees. Four guys with little musical training who were cast to be the faces that Boyce and Hart could not be, performing a weekly half hour episode of A Hard Day’s Night.

The only sad parts of the show included the tributes to Davy Jones. While Mickey will always be my favorite, he just can’t sing Davy’s numbers. But the videos of Davy himself performing were sad and wonderful all at the same time.

Michael Nesmith remains at large as number 4 on my list. If he will ever venture out anywhere near Tennessee, I will finally be able to complete my Monkees bucket list.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged concerts, rock and roll, The Monkees | Leave a comment

Three years into this…

Posted on 05/20/2015 by ashleekiser

Holy moly. It’s been 6 months since I’ve been back to update our life happenings! Where did all this time go? Hopefully over the next few months we can do some flash backs to catch glimpses of the lost time. We’ve had quite a few adventures during that time, and not the least momentous of those was Ian turning three!

Last week my big boy officially reached three years of age. I don’t understand how I went to bed the exhausted mother of a baby, then woke up the mother of a little boy. I feel like he spent a whole 10 minutes of his life as a toddler. After a few precarious steps with Chaco’s help, Ian has been off and running and requires little assistance from any of us as he explores his world.

Because birthdays are a big day in the Kiser home, I took an annual leave day from work so that we could celebrate all day with Ian. We began his day visiting Charity’s Bakery. For weeks, whenever we asked Ian what he would like to do for his birthday, his answer remained the same: get lots of cakes! Because there would be a cake at Ian’s party later in the week, we compromised on getting lots of cupcakes for the day. Our next stop took us to the TTU Farm. The university agriculture department opened their organic strawberry patch open to outside customers this year, so we loaded up our quart containers and took off to let Ian pick as many strawberries as he could eat. After picking around a gallon and a half of strawberries, Ian proceeded to eat about a quart on the drive home.

Later that day, Brinn and I took Ian to meet up with Ian’s Nana, my grandma, and my uncle Nat for a birthday/later Mother’s Day together at one of our favorite Cookeville establishments: Crawdaddy’s. After a nice dinner, we pulled out the cupcakes from Charity, sang happy birthday to Ian, and dug into fresh butter cream frosting. Ian enjoyed his butter cream with all the enthusiasm that it deserves.

A few days later, Ian celebrated his birthday with all of his friends and family. We held his party at Tri-Color Acres this year. If any local parents are looking for an affordable all-inclusive party venue, this is the place. Ms. Terri, the owner and head trainer at Tri-Color provides horses and handlers for kids to ride, awards for a mini horse show, a weenie roast, additional horse themed activities, and all the tables and additional set-up items a parent may require for a party. Her prices match or beat most other birthday party packages locally. I can’t say enough wonderful things about Ms. Terri’s services. Ian is still talking about his birthday party at Ms. Terri’s house.

Since Ian and his friends are all still quite small, we decided to have a shorter party than Ms. Terri typically hosts, and we brought Ian’s ponies to use instead of the full-sized horses. Did I mention that Ian has ponies now? See, something else that happened during our “lost months” from the past year. We’ll catch up on the ponies soon.

Ian helped set-up for his own party, and was a big helper by unloading Badger and walking him to the indoor arena. There was originally an 80% chance of rain for the party date, so we planned all of our activities to take place inside. Ian and his friends rode ponies, led ponies, brushed ponies, and drew on ponies with live-stock crayons. They painted horse shoes, played with Ian’s new bubble machine, ate cake and ice cream, watched Ian unwrap presents, and then used some of those new presents (garden tools from Ms. Marilyn) to work the footing in the arena. Ian opened some fantastic presents, including a bubble machine from Grandma Cross, fishing bobbers (another
life story to catch up on) from his friends Gauge and Ms. Cori, a tackle box from Gauge and another one from his GrandBobbie! Ian also received two dinosaurs, some cute clothes, an assortment of other toys, and my favorite, a new saddle for his ponies!

Ian’s Aunt Joy outdid herself this year and had the perfect cake made for Ian’s birthday. It was accompanied by some delicious cupcakes, but Ian would not even consider them. He had eyes only for his cake, and that is in fact what he requested when it came time for munching after blowing out candles. All-in-all, I’d say that Ian was pretty satisfied with his party “at the stable, at Ms. Terri’s house!”

Posted in Family, Friends, Holidays, Ian, My Critters | Tagged birthday party, birthdays, Ian, pony party Tri-Color Acres | Leave a comment

Curious George and the Horse Show

Posted on 10/27/2014 by ashleekiser

For most parents, that moment is when they hear their child say, “I Love You.” And I agree; hearing Ian whisper those three words absolutely melts my heart, but there are two words he has recently learned that affirm my success as a parent: “heels down.”

Ian rolls out of bed every morning and asks, “Ride Reggie?” He’ll still double with me on Reggie, but he prefers to ride by himself. When Brinn tries to rest a hand on his leg to help stabilize him atop of Reggie, he pushes Brinn’s hand away and says, “Ian d0.” Lately we’ve been working with Ian on his body position. He’s picked up heels down quickly, and now he’s working on “look forward” when he walks across ground rails. Unfortunately (for this nervous mama) Ian looks past the ground rails and yells, “Big jump!” Maybe in the distant future…

This past weekend Ian finally participated in his first horse show. Tri Color Acres held its annual Halloween Fun Show, where Ian competed in the costume class with Reggie. Lately Ian is obsessed with “monkey.” Curious George books are Ian’s favorite, and he will actually sit down and watch episodes of the show. Marilyn, from work, helped me locate a Curious George costume for Ian’s third Halloween, and Terri provided a yellow cone to transform Reggie into the man with the yellow hat. I won’t say that Reggie was thrilled with wearing a cone/yellow hat on her poll, but she didn’t protest too loudly. And of course, a monkey has to wear blue-topped Justin cowboy boots with a crepe sole.

Creative costuming will never be a parenting strength of mine, but Ian’s cuteness factor goes a long way. He knows how to cheese it up at the right moment to gain favoritism. I suspect his charisma has more to do with his first win than his mom’s pitiful attempt to throw together a costume at the last moment. Nonetheless, Congratulations, Ian, on your medal from Ms. Terri for a first win in the show pen.

Posted in Ian, My Critters | Tagged costume class, Curious George, heels down, horse show, Reggie Rocket, Tri-Color Acres | Leave a comment

Cancer in the Past Tense

Posted on 09/25/2014 by ashleekiser

Two and a half weeks have passed now since a close friend had to share the news that her beloved mother’s battle with ovarian cancer had come to an end. Two weeks have passed since a beautiful memorial service commemorating this beautiful lady who touched so many lives. Four years have passed since her diagnosis. 10 years have passed since this family entered into my own life.

When we move away from home to attend college, we know that we will be making new friends during the experience. I stumbled upon Betsy during the anguish of upper division Spanish inflicted upon English majors. We clung to one another as the only representatives of our major in this series of courses, and somehow came out on the other side with matching diplomas. While I was fortunate to make several other close friends during my college stay, I was even more fortunate to enter the families of a few friends. Betsy’s family is one of those few. Betsy’s parents became part of a collective friendship that has endured even after Betsy and I went separate ways to graduate school and careers.

The Allen family are those people who always leave the door open for their friends. I’m speaking literally here. During our long drives home from the Ocoee River, they urged us to join them for dinner since their home is conveniently located halfway on that drive. They’ve shared in my excitement with obtaining new jobs and the arrival of Ian. They’ve offered words of encouragement for raising a child and having fun with it. But most importantly, they’ve offered words of wisdom for maintaining a strong marriage. I hold Jack and Connie up as the model of an ideal marriage. They never put on any pretenses that they never have disagreements or rough patches, but they quite honestly shared some crucial advice that has helped carry Brinn and I through some of our harder times.

While I have missed Connie everyday, my heart hurts most for her sweet family. I know that Connie no longer hurts, and eagerly awaits the rest of us, but Jack and Betsy deserve to have her with them longer than she was. As September draws to an end, and with it the month of Ovarian Cancer Awareness, I would like to share Betsy’s message for all of us who need to practice more awareness.

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn, my Mom’s favorite month. And September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, is almost over. Last year I was more diligent in sharing information about Ovarian Cancer on my Facebook page. Last year I had slides prepared with facts and figures. Last year I had a posting schedule, so as to get the word out without flooding anyone’s feed. Last year was different.

This year, one week into Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, two days after National Wear Teal Day, and 1,625 days after her diagnosis, my Mom died. That’s the only fact I have this year. After a 4 year, 5 month, and 11 day battle, ovarian cancer took my mother.

You know this already, because you have followed our story. But if you back up from that final morning two weeks ago, when Mom and I ate SweetTarts like a communion, and later that night when Dad and I sang the Beatles and held her hands so tightly while my childhood stuffed rabbit lay beside her, you will find the three of us sitting in a doctor’s office in Nashville. It is nearly July 4th. We are minutes from entering a clinical trial. We have done everything, have searched for this everywhere, and finally something is working out. Mom is finishing some basic blood work and Dad and I are giddy and making plans. An immunotherapy trial is opening in August. Slots are open. This could be our answer. For the first time in what feels like a lifetime, we have hope. We cannot wait to contact her other doctors and support team, who have helped us search and search for a cure. We have hope, we will tell them.

And then in an instant, it is gone. The doctor is back, and telling us that the CT scan shows the cancer is now in Mom’s brain. We cannot enter the trial until it is treated. We find more wonderful doctors, we try the treatments, but it’s too late. Mom’s too sick to return to the trial. And suddenly she’s too sick to return home.

We were so close.

Mom was 54 when she was diagnosed, and had none of the risk factors for OC. Her original tumor was tested after surgery, and she did not carry the BRCA gene. The only possible contributing factor was that she had one child, not several. But that’s it, and hardly seems consequential. One March morning she went to her doctor with back pain and digestive trouble. Within 24 hours our lives were forever changed. I don’t even know how it could have been prevented. OC can grow from stage 1 to stage 3 in a matter of months. And the stage doesn’t matter as much as the aggressiveness of the cells. Mom’s were aggressive. We never fully beat it back, and likely wouldn’t have if it was caught any sooner. The only true comfort is knowing we did everything we could.

My family isn’t alone in stories like this. September is not just Ovarian Cancer Awareness month: it is also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Blood Cancer Awareness Month. When October begins, it will bring awareness to breast cancer. There are so many cancers the months have to double or triple up. At each year’s Relay for Life, we see more and more luminaria bags. It is enough to feel like we are losing. But we aren’t, and this is important to remember.

We are so close.

Every day there are studies getting us closer and closer to a cure. Research is being developed. Patients are signing up for trials, knowing that while they may not get more time on this earth, they are creating it for someone else.

And the rest of us, those of us who carry on, we are here. We are the lancers, fighting alongside the heroes. We are never, ever, ever giving up, until one day we wake up and it’s over. Until one day we can talk about cancer in the past tense, like polio. As a monster that was slaughtered, thanks to the efforts of millions.

However you can, please be a part of making this happen. Because we are too close to stop now.

Posted in Friends | Tagged cancer, college friends, Connie, family friends, ovarian cancer, Ovarian Cancer Awareness, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month | Leave a comment

A River Runs Through It

Posted on 09/23/2014 by ashleekiser

The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are.
– Lynn Noel, Voyages: Canada’s Heritage Rivers

Ian took his maiden river voyage Saturday surrounded by friends and cousins. The last weekend of summer found us up early Saturday morning and on the road to the Hiwassee River to sneak in Ian’s first paddling trip before cold weather sets in. Summer in Tennessee doesn’t leave many options for the local paddlers. The lack of adequate rainfall leaves the local creeks too low to scrape over the rocks, so boaters must follow the dam controlled water ways. The most suitable of these rivers winds its way through the Cherokee National Forest and into Reliance, TN. The Hiwassee River contains many friendly class I rapids, and enough class II rapids for many less advanced boaters to endure the long drive for a beautiful day on the water.

We could not have possibly had a better trip Saturday. Tom, a good friend and paddling
buddy who lives near us, brought his little boy and piled in with us for the two and half hour drive to meet up with my cousins from back home. We all met at the river and headed upstream for one of the most enjoyable runs we’ve ever taken down this river. The day dawned clear and bright, with temps approaching the upper 80’s. This is crucial on the Hiwassee as the water typically runs right around 55 degrees. That’s Fahrenheit people! So despite the sunny rays beaming down, I clad Ian and myself (and Mogwai for that matter) in fleece to combat the water’s chill.
Early on, Ian sat fairly politely between myself and Emily through two class I rapids. When asked what he thought, he quietly responded “Gin?” Translation: Again, please. After the first class II, Ian refused to sit in the middle any longet, and jumped up and down while pointing out every white cap to us, screaming: “‘Nother rapid! ‘Nother rapid!” To say the least, he was excited. Mogwai spent his time jumping from funyak to raft and back, and a couple of times even landed on Tom’s spray skirt. Aside from one brief mishap at Devil’s Shoals, Mogwai had a successful trip.

An exciting sport is cause enough for a good time, but good company just makes it that
much better. Brinn and I reveled in spending the entire day outdoors in one of the most gorgeous river basins, while joking and laughing with friends and family. Rafting thrilled Ian’s inner dare devil, but having Travers alongside really made his day. Most six-year-olds I’ve experienced would not tolerate a two-year-old hanger-on with half the patience that Travers exudes. Ian absolutely adores Travers and wants to
copy every move Travers makes. And let me tell ya, Travers can paddle! Brinn had to ask him to stop paddling a few times because this kid could turn the boat by himself!

Ian may not remember his first trip down the Hiwassee, but he will be running it enough times in his future to never doubt that it was the first river he ran. Brinn first ran this river exactly 30 years ago as a four-year-old little boy, so it seemed appropriate that he share this special place with his own little rafter.

Posted in Family, Friends, Ian, paddling | Tagged end of summer, first time, Hiwassee River, Ian, kayaking, white water rafting, white water sports | Leave a comment

Why I Didn’t Give Up Facebook

Posted on 09/11/2014 by ashleekiser

Lately my Facebook feed has been full of friends hemhawing over deactivating their Facebook accounts. There are countless links to blog posts on “Why I Gave Up Facebook” or “What I Learned in 30 Days Without Facebook.” While I admit there are days that Facebook, like any form of socialization, can sometimes become a bit tiresome, I have reached the ultimate decision that to deactivate my account would be a decision based entirely in selfishness.

Facebook changes as we age and (hopefully) mature. Young people are full of college plans, then party pictures, and finally graduation pictures. Then come the midnight rants about the woes of graduate school. Afterwards we move on to the difficulties in entering the working middle class, and eventually we end up at the babies and new house pictures and brags. Some of us sprinkle our pet and hobbies in amongst those various steps. Never lacking for self-esteem, I’ve always assumed that my friends want to hear how my life is going (as I wish to stay update about theirs), so I frequently update Facebook with reports on my marital, career, and parental happenings. Usually the same group of friends and coworkers like my images and comment on the cuteness of Ian or wow at the show pictures of Reggie jumping over small jumps. Until recently, I thought this was for my enjoyment. I get the chance to brag a little, receive some cyber pats on my back, and hear from friends who live hours away. Facebook has been a fun place for me, until this week.

This week marked the passing of a wonderful and dear friend. I would like to share her with you one day, but I can’t type a message about her yet. Technology and tears don’t mesh very well, so on another selfish note, I’ll look forward to reminiscing about her when it doesn’t hurt quite so much to type with blurred vision and sniffles. This wonderful friend had a strong Facebook presence, and set a beautiful example for how one should conduct herself on a public forum. I hope to follow her lead for social media etiquette. Her family received friends this Tuesday evening in her home town. Connie battled ovarian cancer for four years, and spent a great deal of that time on Facebook sharing in the joys and sorrows of all of her close friends. Less than 30 seconds after a gigantic hug from her husband, he pulled Brinn and I to the side and made a statement with such impact that my social media outlook will forever be altered.

Jack announced, “Just 3 days before Connie died she was talking about how much she loved you guys and loved seeing your Facebook updates about Ian.”

Posted in Friends, Ian | Tagged Connie, Facebook, Ian | 2 Comments

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”

Posted on 09/03/2014 by ashleekiser

2014 has swept the rug of summer out from under my feet entirely too soon, but after a few extremely hot August weeks, I will admit that now I am more eagerly anticipating hot cocoa evenings around bonfires wearing hoodies. To combat the rushing wave pulling us away from summer, we have lived up the last few weeks with as many summer activities as we could possibly cram in.

Two weeks ago, Ian and I attended the Frozen Head Craft fair with Grandma. I lived out a great deal of my childhood wading in the creek and riding bikes at Frozen Head State Park. That’s a whole other story for another day though. Two Saturday’s ago, they hosted the annual craft fair, where artists (both local and from afar) come in and display their arts and crafts. Some artists are there to sell, while others, like my grandma, are just there to share their talents for others to enjoy. The quilt show took place in the visitor’s center of frozen head, and probably 30% or more of the quilts were made by Grandma or her sister. I may be a smidge partial, but I will staunchly defend my uneducated claims that Grandma and Aunt Wanda’s talent as quilters are unrivaled. Let me share some of the quilts we saw at the quilt show:

Aunt Wanda’s purple iris and Grandma’s stars are some of my most favorite quilts on display.

Ian enjoyed spending the afternoon with his Great-Grandma, and had a great time running under and through the quilts.

In addition to a craft fair, we’ve also crammed in several trips to the creek, a rafting trip, a few more days at the splash pad here in Cookeville, and a quick run to Nashville Shores. Then, to end summer with a big bang, we packed up and headed to Lake Winnipesaukee for Labor Day weekend. To say that Ian had a good time would be an understatement:

Posted in Family, Friends, Holidays, Ian, paddling | Tagged craft fair, Frozen Head State Park, Ian, Labor Day, Lake Winnipesaukee, quilting, summertime | Leave a comment

Ka-chow!

Posted on 08/04/2014 by ashleekiser

Ian still doesn’t care to spend much, if any, time watching television. We’ve attempted to entice him with various cartoons to gain 15 minutes to get caught up chores such as washing a sink full of dishes or sweeping the floor without little helping feet walking through the dust piles. Despite an aversion to most children’s programming, Ian has discovered Lightening McQueen. Ian will occasionally watch Cars for a whole 5 minutes at a time. Ian has taken his new favorite phrase from Lightening McQueen: “Ka-chow!”

Last week we purchased Ian’s first kayak. He is still far too young and small to be ready to paddle his own boat, but a great deal came available and we couldn’t not take advantage of it. A friend who lives nearby, who happens to also be a paddling buddy, has a little boy of his own. His son has outgrown his Jackson Fun 1. Tom decided it was time to move his tike up to a larger boat, and mentioned that he was going to be selling the Fun 1. Coincidentally, this is the same boat that Brinn and I paddle, just much smaller of course. So despite Ian’s lack of age and size, he is now the proud owner of his very own kayak.

Ian’s been going to the creek with us all summer and floating around in a funyak to get familiar with being out on water. So far he’s been a huge fan, and gets excited when we paddle through the small “rapid,” which is essentially a narrow slot through the rocks where the current picks up a little more quickly. After picking up his new boat from Tom, we asked Ian what he wanted to name it. Of course he had no response, but since it’s a red boat, I asked if he wanted to call it “Lightening McQueen.” With a little prodding from Tabitha, Ian declared that he wanted to christian his boat: “Ka-chow!”

Rather than letting Ian’s new boat sit in our kayak shed for the next year, we decided to take it up to Spring Creek to see what Ian thought. Rather than climb into his boat and wait for one of his parents to push it off the bank into the water, Ian immediately drug it by himself onto the rocks at the edge of the water. He proudly declared, “big, big boat!” and stepped on in for his maiden voyage. I assumed that I would paddle around in the funyak while Brinn would push Ian around in Ka-chow, but we were mistaken. Ian seized my paddle (my beloved bent shaft Werner Twist) and gave it his very best effort to paddle himself around the creek. The paddle is entirely too long and heavy for Ian to make much progress, but he wants to be mobile in the worst way. I guess we’re in the market for a youth paddle much sooner than we expected to be.

On Sunday Joy and I discovered a method Ian enjoys sans paddle. We stood about 10 feet apart from each other in the lake and pushed Ian’s boat back and forth to one another. His big smiles indicate that this activity will be repeat worthy.

You can see that Ian’s legs come nowhere near his thigh braces, and we haven’t even attempted to blow up the happy feet as his feet come nowhere near close enough to push against. And of course he doesn’t sit up high enough yet for a spray skirt to fit. Our first prerequisite for Ian to begin river running will be the ability to pull a spray skirt off on his own upside down even when panicking. He’s a strong dude, but spray skirt rubber is pretty strong too, so this little boy won’t be throwing down in Hell Hole anytime soon, but I think we can safely assume that he has a future heading towards weekend paddling trips. The bigger question: Will he be a river runner like his momma, a creek boater like his dada, or a rodeo boater? Hopefully he’ll give us a few years to prepare my heart before he starts hucking falls or pulling McNasties in a big hole.

Posted in Ian, paddling | Tagged boating, Cars, Fun1, Ian, Jackson Kayak, Ka-chow, Lightning McQueen, paddling, Werner | Leave a comment

Holding Out for Summer

Posted on 07/29/2014 by ashleekiser

As July fades into August, cool air from Canada descends into Tennessee, bringing some serious hints toward autumn. At this same time, Putnam County residents send their children back to school to begin the fall semester (yes, we start early here), and my pumpkins have even started turning orange out in the garden! All of these events culminate into an undeniable feelings of fall lurking right around the corner. I love fall, and eagerly anticipate this time of year, but this year I have some serious problems with these feelings. To begin with, look at the date of this post: it’s still July! Simply put, I am not quite finished with summer, and not ready to put it back in the box to pull out again in May. After such a long winter that drug on well into March this year, I plan to revel in the hot sunshine as late into September as possible for 2014.

Here are just a few reasons for summer to linger later this year:

Trips to Centennial Park —Unfortunately Cookeville does not contain a Trader Joe’s. So when I have a hankering for Cookie Butter or organic tortilla chips, we have to make the trek to Nashville. Ian and I leave early, hit TJ’s while it’s cool enough for Mogwai and Chaco to hang out in the jeep, pack all of our cold items in coolers, and then head off to Centennial Park for a picnic with our TJ’s finds, a walk around the park, some urban squirrel chasing, and then a climb up the Parthenon. This routine has worked well for us this summer, and hopefully will prepare Ian to appreciate Percy Jackson when he’s ready for chapter books.

Rafting and Camping —Prior to Ian’s admission to the family, Brinn and I spent majority of our summer weekends (those not at horse shows, anyway) camping and rafting at the Ocoee. Paddling is typically a winter/early spring sport simply because that’s when enough rain falls to raise the creek level enough for paddling. The Ocoee, on the other hand, runs during the summer. It’s controlled by TVA’s dam release schedule, so we score with regular water during the months that you actually want to jump in a river. From March until October, we’re guaranteed at least two days a week of 1200 cfs water flow. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day TVA opens the flood gates more often and provides five days of water flow each week.

Once Ian debuted, camping and rafting had to take a brief vacation from the Kisers, but now Ian’s ready and has fully embraced camping. It’s the only time in his (brief) life that he’s been allowed to stay outside as long as he’s wanted. Due to some wonderfully gracious friends and family who have volunteered to entertain Ian during the day, I’ve even been able to cruise down the river a few times in our self bailing Aire. Our big yellow boat needs a name. Any suggestions?

Gardening —There’s just not much better than stepping outside and pulling dinner off of the vine ten minutes before cooking it. The last several weeks we’ve been enjoying squash, zucchini, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, onions, green beans, cilantro, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, mint, and peppers. A few times we’ve indulged in fried squash and fried green tomatoes, but largely we’ve been enjoying these items well seasoned and placed on the grill.

One of my favorite summertime treats is fresh pico made straight from the garden. One can never use too much cilantro, so we had to put out two cilantro plants to carry us through this summer. I think we’ll just make it to autumn before the stems are bare.

Outdoor Dining and Cool Treats —The gift of gab has finally graced Ian, providing him with the distinct ability to declare what his innermost desire is: ice cream!

To proceed Ian’s evening ice cream cone, we’ve been enjoying the relatively cool summer to eat outside on the deck. One evening, Brinn’s birthday actually, we even had a crawfish boil outside. Despite the mess, everyone had a good time and stuffed themselves on crawdads, shrimp, mussels, potatoes, mushrooms, and corn. We may have to repeat this meal before the leaves begin turning.

Outside Play! —With the extra daylight during the summer, we try to get outside as much as possible. Each evening, after Ian and I return from work and preschool, we all pack up and head outside. Sometimes to go for a hike at one of the local start parks, but more often to get in the water at a local spot called Waterloo. This unique location along Spring Creek features a small set of waterfalls that are perfect for swimming under and climbing on, with a much larger set of falls on down-river. The wide deep pools below each falls are perfecting for getting our boats out to paddle around.

On our tired evenings, we enjoy sitting out on the porch swing and watching Ian tear around the yard on his John Deere. He has such important tractor oriented tasks to complete, you know.

So you can see just a few reasons why we’re not quite finished with enjoying summer yet. Am I looking forward to fall? Absolutely! I’m just not looking forward to cold rather than cool mornings, shorter days, and brown stalks in place of my thriving garden. So instead, we shall carpe diem (an educated version of YOLO); the seizing for this day involves all of us going to the woods for a long walk!

Posted in Family, Friends, Gardening, Ian | Tagged camping, Ian, rafting, summertime | 2 Comments

Mothers Day!

Posted on 05/12/2014 by ashleekiser

Mothers’ Day blew by this year in a whirlwind of activities. We had Ian’s second birthday party on Saturday, which kept us busy for three days with preparations, and from there we launched right into mother’s day.

Brinn actually purchased my mother’s day gift moths ago when he replaced my Kindle (the original one is still MIA, by the way), and Matt, one of my football players gave me his gift weeks ago when he finished it. He actually made a cast iron cornbread mold. Matt’s an engineering major, and used one of his labs to knock out several mothers’ day gifts for all of the mammas in his life. This is actually the first cast iron I’ve ever had that already came seasoned to perfection before cooking in it!

We packed up late morning and headed off to… you guessed it, Rock City! But this trip held a special attraction, the Andersons came!

David and Anne lived across the street from the house Brinn grew up in. Their son was the same age as Brinn, and the two have been best friends since the 80’s! Dr. and Mrs. Anderson are practically surrogate parents to Brinn. They taught him to kayak, which led him to working at the Ocoee River, which is where I met him. So indirectly, I owe them for leading Brinn and I together! Their daughter is a few years older than Brinn, and has a little boy two months older than Ian. Their son has a daughter who’s about 8 or 9 years old now. Mrs. Anderson, her daughter, her granddaughter, and grandson all came along to meet us at Rock City, and Brinn even came for once!

My mom rotated between Ian, Chaco, and Mogwai for the day, and helped introduce Ian to Dip N Dots ice cream, one of our favorites! Ian smiled and clapped after his first bite. Ian and Charlie were able to have someone of the same age to hang out with for the day, while Mogwai and Chaco were thrilled that they both were actually able to go to Rock City on the same visit.

With each trip, Ian learns his way around the park a little better, and becomes more daring. On this visit, perhaps in an effort to show off a little bit, Ian frequently insisted that he walk Mogwai without grown-up assistance. Mogwai seems to be happy regardless of who holds the end of his leash.

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