A Night with the Stars

A couple months ago, Tiffany & I saw that the James A. Naismith Awards for Sportsmanship were going to be awarded to ACC Coaches Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, and Kay Yow. The ceremony was to take place at the Progress Energy Center in Raleigh (that's Raleigh Memorial Auditorium for us true-blood Wake Countians!). Initially, it was an invite only event for coaches, players, and honored guests, but I was determined to be in attendance! I contacted my friend, Nora Lynn Finch at the ACC and with her & her office's help, we were able to get tickets. (Later, by the way, it was eventually opened up to the public.) Last night was the big event & to say the least, we were star-struck in so many ways!

Going into this event, we knew to anticipate some "bigwigs" to be in attendance -- particularly coaches & former players, but to say the least, we also got several surprises! Prior to the awards ceremony, there was a reception with a wide variety of foods & a silent auction -- a time to mix, mingle & observe whose presence we were around. Upon entrance into the grand lobby, we immediately spotted so many of our beloved NC State Women's Basketball "family" members, including former Assistant Coach Stephanie Glance & Kay Yow's youngest sister, Susan.

We made our way towards the silent auction area where it seemed many had gathered. Each school (that would be UNC, Duke & NC State, for those of you who forgot who was being honored) had donated several items for auction, their cheerleaders & mascots were even there. We couldn't resist having our picture made with Mr. & Mrs. Wuf (who by the way LOVED my shoes, ha!) And well, yes, I was even nice and gave a polite little wave to Rameses.

While walking around the silent auction area, we saw several other people we recognized including, Debbie Antonelli, Debbie Yow, Tommy Burleson, Sylvia Hatchell, David Thompson and of course, Nora Lynn Finch just to name a few. One person that I saw, and was very excited to see, was Duke Women's Basketball Coach Joanne P. McCallie (known as Coach "P"). I eventually made my way over to speak to her and even had my photo taken with her. She is such a kind person and really has brought the Duke Women's team a long way (here's hoping for another ACC Championship!)

Prior to speaking with Coach P, Tiffany & I went back to the NC State table to speak with our friend Felicia Mangum, who works in the NC State Women's Basketball office, and is such a kind & caring person. While speaking with Felicia, I heard this voice that sounded somewhat familiar heading in our general direction, so naturally I glance around to see what all the commotion is about. (At this point, I must apologize to Felicia because I literally cannot remember one thing she said from this moment onward ...) Upon first glance to my left, I see someone probably within 10 feet of me that I immediately recognized & I think at that point, not only did I hit Tiffany to get her attention but I let out an audible gasp. It was none other than Governor Bev Perdue waltzing around with one of her staffers. She ended up passing in between myself and Felicia and just mingling about as if she's any other person (her staffer, by the way, ended up running slam into me and apologized -- which led to a great segway moments later!).

Tiffany & I end up walking back around to see the items again, all the while, I'm just jibbering non-stop about Governor Perdue and how she was within inches of me. (Side note: for those of you that aren't Perdue fans, please do NOT assault me for my next comments. Governor Perdue has earned quite a few "brownie" points with me by sending me a Christmas present, literally on Christmas Eve. You might be Bev haters, but get over it! She ended up signing an inaugural program & personalized a message to me & sent back to me -- so that gained her some favorable points) Anyways, I had always wanted to meet Governor Perdue & have my picture made with her. But obviously, it is VERY, VERY hard to get that close with the most powerful person in the state. Well, this event was non-political & I felt it was the opportune time for me to intervene. I ended up going back to the staffer (the one that bumped into me), tapped him on the shoulder and asked if there was any way possible to get our picture made with the Governor. His response "ABSOLUTELY!" Needless to say, I think I drifted above Cloud Nine at that point and was probably hovering somewhere in the mesosphere.

We patiently moved to the side while the Governor was speaking to some other people. The staffer got her attention and brought her to us. She warmly greeted both Tiffany & myself, and I was immediately captured by her exquisitely blue eyes (they are gorgeous!) I also noticed that her accent isn't nearly as heavy & thick as it typically sounds & I realized the camera makes her appear much older. Governor Perdue had on a very cute black dress with white flowers along the sleeves; she actually looked very pretty. When she came over to stand between Tiffany & myself, she wrapped her arms around us and commented "yay, I have fans!" I complimented her on her dress and she replied by saying "I just wanted to be like a girl tonight" (because she usually always has to wear pant or skirt suits and never the cutesy dresses). She looked at both Tiffany & myself and at our outfits and while standing between us and commented "look, we all match & coordinate and I'm the Mom in the middle!" (How cute was that?) By this time, I had moved on up into the thermosphere!

After the staffer took our picture, we thanked him & Governor Perdue for their time. As she started to walk away, she turned & came back to me standing directly in front of me and holding my eye contact (which was a slight bit intimidating), she told me she "liked that" and pointed to my hairpiece. Then off-hand she was like "you know there is a name for that? What's it called? What did Kate (Princess Kate) call that thing?" I couldn't think of it to save my life, but praise the Lord for Tiffany for blurting out "I think it was a fascinator". Sure enough it was and the Governor was like "yes, that's right, a fascinator. I like your fascinator." And she goes to walk off and turns back and adds, "and you look fascinating!" Needless to say, at that moment, I had soared slam out of the exosphere. Wow, I was blown away by how down to earth she was & how cute she can be. It's not very often you get to talk to the Governor about fashion & she give you a compliment or two! (No comment from you Bev haters -- I don't want to hear it, just be happy for me!)

Anyways, wait a minute, where were we at? Oh yes, an awards ceremony. Just like last night, I was so pumped with adrenalin at that moment, I momentarily forgot where I was and who I was there to see - my hero & friend, Nora Lynn Finch!! (Well, yeah I was also there to see the awards ceremony, too!)

The ceremony itself was very special. A video tribute was played for each coach, someone spoke on memories of each coach, former players & coaches lined the stage, and then the individual or a representative accepted the award for the coaches. Sportscaster Bob Holiday emceed the event & did a very good job. Bobby Cremmins, former Head Coach at Georgia Tech, delivered the keynote address. He was absolutely hilarious. He loved picking on Coach K and told quite a few humorous stories about himself, Coach K and Jimmy V. Ian Naismith was there to speak on behalf of the Naismith family and present the awards to all the recipients. Nora Lynn Finch delivered a very, very moving speech on her friend, Coach Kay Yow. She eloquently intertwined humor, sports, passion and spirituality into a very touching speech, which was probably my most favorite of the evening (and not because it was Nora Lynn). Debbie Yow accepted the award in Coach Yow's memory. Dean Smith appeared on stage with the help of Coach Roy Williams. Charles Scott shared memories of Coach Smith and Coach Williams accepted the award on his behalf. Steve Wojciechowski delivered the memorybook of Coach K, and Coach K graciously accepted his award and spoke on memories of all three coaches. And ACC Commissioner John Swofford closed the ceremony.



The ceremony was very touching. Each coach was memorialized for their achievements but also for their sportsmanship. What a neat experience to be in the presence of so many awesome coaches. North Carolina truly is the state to be when it comes to basketball. Yet even with all the jubliation & fanfare, the evening was not yet complete -- I had not had my chance to see Nora Lynn. Now granted, I did see her from a distance in the lobby prior to the ceremony, but the Governor distracted me from getting to talk to her. So after the ceremony ended, we made our way down to the front of the auditorium. Nora Lynn was on stage greeting people but saw us and stated how glad she was we were able to make it & such. Of course, as typical of the two of us, we had to have our picture made! Nora Lynn in her glittering, Broadway style outfit (I particularly liked it!) and myself in my fascinator!


The evening with the stars was now officially complete!

Smoke

What a day in North Carolina.
I leave the house headed to work & it is a fairly pleasant day, but suddenly, the air is filled with a horrible aura of burning smoke. The sky is hazy and to look out the window you would think it's snowing -- but a snow of smoke rather than cool snow. All this is coming from the wildfires down east. It's amazing to me how something so many miles away can create such havoc and wreak such smells this far away.

But it's also amazing to me how many things in my life are associated with the word "smoke" -- just hold on one second & hear me out.

Do you ever find a "pattern" in your life? I don't mean numbers or signs/symbols you see over & over (though I do have that myself). But by a pattern, I mean do you have things in your life that are the exact same but mean something totally different? For instance, maybe you have friends/family in your lives who have the same exact first name ... I have a cousin named Jennifer, several friends named Jennifer; I have a co-worker named Christy & a cousin named Christy; two friends named Phyllis. (I mean really?!?!, I didn't know THAT many people existed that had the same names.) In addition to names, maybe you have patterns of favorites you like -- colors, foods, numbers, etc.

But in some way, shape or form, we have patterns in our lives or keywords that exist in our day-to-day lives. And while they may be the exact same word, they mean something totally different. Neither Christy is the same, nor Jennifer, nor Phyllis. They are all different and sometimes to differentiate between them you must assign them nicknames (ie: 'Rissy -- don't even ask!) or there is something different about them that makes their name (although the same as others), different to you.

But anyways, rabbit trail aside, this all goes back to where the word "smoke" comes back into my life. Today "smoke" is associated with the horrid scent inside and outside my office (God bless my poor car and the scent it must smell like). But what other things are associated with the word "smoke"?

First, there are the Great "Smoky" Mountains, where I love to vacation. Do you know why they are called "Smoky" Mountains? Well, it's because the clouds will often get trapped along the various elevations and it creates a false sense of making you think the mountains are actually "smoking".


Second,who can forget "Smokey" the awesome & cutest mascot in college sports from the University of Tennessee. Since Knoxville is so close to the Great Smoky Mountains, they adopted "Smokey" as their mascot. Tennessee has both a "real" Smokey (a blue tick hound) and several "stuffed" Smokey's. Either way, he's still cute!

Third but certainly not the least ......the best definition of "Smoke" that exists --- Mr. "Smoke", his royal hotness himself, my boyfriend (who doesn't know it, yet...) TONY STEWART! So many people have asked me why I like Tony Stewart. Honestly, I don't know why. I think it's that I like the fact he's honest -- he isn't afraid to speak his mind or what he stands for. He's not going to beat around the bush; he's going to talk straight-forward, tell it like it is. The sad part, it gets him in trouble. But at least he's not going to cower in the corner and shy away from it. He's a great driver, who drives the wheels off his cars. He's got a slight bad-boy mentality, but in the past few years, as he's grown older & become a car owner/driver, he has matured. Sure he's not bad looking either :) I just love me some Tony Stewart!!


So see isn't it so amazing how one simple word "smoke" can have so many different meanings? I guess that's just life and how our minds work.

SURPRISE!!!!!

Who doesn't love a good surprise?
I am sure, at some point in our lives, everyone loves to be surprised by something or someone. If you don't, then please explain why!

I've always been somewhat intrigued by surprises. As a kid, I used to crawl under the Christmas tree and shake the presents or feel their shapes and try to figure out what my gift was. I guess in some way maybe that takes away from the surprise, especially if you can figure out what it is. But if you can't determine what the present is, then you're all the more excited to find out what it is.

I'm also one who you can rarely pull a surprise over. It's hard to have a surprise party or something for me and I, either, not already know about it or else not be able to figure something is up (I must have a good sixth sense or something!) The office once threw me a surprise birthday party -- well, I knew we were having a birthday party (as we always do that), but I didn't anticipate when I walked into the conference room that two of my friends would be there, too. So I was royally surprised at that moment!

It's also fun to give surprise parties, too. I remember when my Mom was turning 50, that my aunts & cousins and I were having to scheme to figure out how to plan this shindig without Mom finding out. That was hard because Mom knows EVERYTHING, and she has a large family (FIVE brothers!!!). So trying to get in touch with all of them, giving them instructions, etc. without her knowing it was all going on was difficult. But in the end, even though she protested & didn't want to eat at the place where the family was gathered (that was about to be a big mess!), I think we truly surprised her. That was a fun night!!

But it's not always about parties and gifts, it could be just a simple phone call, card, e-mail or something simple. I had a great surprise recently from a friend of mine. She called me during the day (a day in which had not been going so good at work). Initially, I was confused as to why she was calling me and then I figured it was to chat (which was fine by me!), but then she asked if she could take me to lunch!! Talk about a surprise ... on a day when I needed an escape, I not only get a surprise lunch but I get to see my friend! That was an awesome surprise.

Little spur of the moment things are what brings lasting memories. Plotting and planning elaborate parties or whatever is fun, but to me, I like the small things -- I like getting cards, I like getting e-mails, I like getting unexpected phone calls, I like getting visits from friends. Those small things will leave a lasting impression and you never know when that person may be needing some cheering up! So a big thanks to my friend for her kindness and her perfect timing (as always!), what a neat treat, what a surprise & what a good/fun lunch!!

What to say, what to say ...

I haven't written in awhile, but I just don't really know what to say nor do I have anything really creative to say like I did in my "Complimentary Sampling" post a few weeks back. So I'll resort to rambling, ha!

Lately, I'm beginning to see why so many people compare life to a rollercoaster. Now, I am one who LOVES rollercoasters and all the thrills that coincide with them. But the rollercoaster of life, ehhh, not so much. Some days you're left clueless and questioning your purpose in many aspects of life; other days you may feel you've accomplished a great deed and the world is back on track. That constant up and down can get burdensome and even take a toll on you.

I'll admit I've had a TON on my mind lately - work related, friends/family related, health conditions & Heaven forbid these blessed kittens at our house! We get ourselves wrapped up in so many things that we can't sort thru everything to ascertain what should be prioritized. But in the end, it should be our faith that keeps us strong and holds us together. God will see us thru any storm or trial we may be facing.

My rollercoaster is all over the place right now. In some areas, it is returning to what I hope to be a normal (or maybe when you're at the highest peak!); in other areas, it's starting that descent downhill (a descent that on a true rollercoaster is where ALL the fun should be!); and well I'm sure there is a part that's probably a bit "loopy" too.

But even though the wild rollercoaster ride of my life will continue to cycle thru, just as everyone else's does, too, we must keep our focus, not get too burdened and just keep going. Keep the faith and God will see you thru all your circumstances