Hope you're not afraid of heights..

This was from my plane ride last fall - see the Courthouse in the center?

From my Sunday night walk a few weeks back.

The County will be starting a construction project up here in a few weeks. The cement in the ceiling here is starting to fall apart. :S When the crews are up here taking care of that, they'll also tuck-point the entire belltower, inside and out.
Once this project is complete, they will have renovated every area of the building. VERY cool!

The E. Howard Clock Co.
Boston - New York - Chicago
1905

Excuse the bird netting - this area was full of 100 years worth of crap prior to this :)
I'm in that open "arch" area just under the clock, facing north.
Our Post Office (brick building, gray roof, white door - just left of the center of the image) has some historical significance, too. In the lobby, there's a massive mural painted by the WPA during the Depression.

Northeast.

Southeast. You can see the 3M and Hormel plants in the upper left, here.
The white building with blue across the top was the home of my house-family's business for nearly 100 years. Under the metal siding, there are several really pretty brick buildings downtown.

South. The black and pale green building right in the center of the block is our 1922 movie theater/opera house that will be undergoing a HUGE restoration soon. I hope to write about that, too!
Grand Theater
Behind the theater is our Carnegie Library (clay tile roof, yellow/orange brick) and the Dixie Gebhardt House (red tin roof). Dixie was the designer of the Iowa Flag. Both of those properties are undergoing some renovation as well!

Southwest - you can actually see my house in this picture :)

West.

Northwest, toward the Knoxville Raceway and VA Hospital in the distance.
Knoxville Raceway

And back to north, again!

After climbing another loooong ladder, I ended up in the very tippy top of the Courthouse..

...next to these. VERY cool! :)

An article from the Knoxville Journal in 1905, talking about the purchase and installation of the clock and bell..several years after the Courthouse was originally constructed.

Spring Break!

The last couple weeks have been pretty cushy for me - it's Spring Break after all!
First off was a weekend trip to Minneapolis with a group of friends for a concert at the Target Center.

This past week was a week-long trip to Texas with the family. We drove down and stayed with my uncle and his family in their new house. VERY nice place, and a beautiful neighborhood!

Loved the trees in Houston.
Anything green was especially attractive given that we left Knoxville at the tail end of a long winter! :)

It's definitely a different environment there!

One of my favorite stops on the trip - Central Market by HEB. Probably 100,000+ square feet of great food!
Central Market

Hands down the best food we ate on the trip: pork chop at Perry's Steakhouse.
Perry's Steakhouse & Grille

Nobody lives here without paying rent..

If last year was the Year of the Bat, 2013 will be the Year of the Mouse.

Not in the ‘Chinese New Year’ sense so much as in the ‘Things That Are Temporarily Living in My House’ sense.

Yes, last night – while brushing my teeth – I learned that there was a small mouse in my house. Specifically, in my bathroom. By my foot.

After trying to quickly think of something I could use to catch the little guy, I decided I’d be better served by trying to brutally kill it instead.

Rather than go to bed, I pulled on my coat and shoes and headed across town to Wal-Mart for a midnight mouse trap trip. Of course, now that all the traps have been set (10, to be exact), I’m wondering if I did the right thing. Not in terms of animal cruelty or anything like that…no, eff that. No I’m wondering if this mouse is heavy enough to trip the trap..he’s only about the size of my thumb..

Anyway..this is my life. I’ll report back soon enough if anything other than my finger gets snapped in one of the traps.

Don't unpack, buddy..

Sunday Night Walk

I see our courthouse all lit up every night out my kitchen window - I finally decided I'd go get a picture of it..before it started snowing again!

Lazy Sunday

After a pretty eventful Saturday, I just needed one of these days Sunday to get myself ready to return to work Monday.

After all my activity Saturday during the day, I went and picked up the projector we use for our outdoor movies in the park and brought it home for 'date night' with my lady-friend.
Go big or go home :)
As you can see, we agreed 'Forrest Gump' was probably the best movie of all time.