who says you can't go home.....

The CEO conference that comes around this time of year moves to different parts of the state each year. This year it's in my home town of Kingsport. My small home town, population 45,000, now has a very nice Marriott convention center. My room overlooks the clubhouse and most of the front 9 of the golf course. Nice view.

The drive up was good, no delays. Plenty of rain from the office to just past Lebanon, then light rain through to Crossville. From there on out, just cloudy. Knoxville traffic was minimal, thank goodness. After checking in, I spent some time in Johnson City before having dinner with Mom and Dad. Nothing like being out of town yet still getting a home cooked meal. The meal was very good, but the homemade chocolate pie was the best. I haven't had any in a long time. And it was still a little warm. Eaten with a large glass of cold milk, perfection. Those 5 pounds I've lost over the past 2 weeks? Got a feeling I'll find them up here.

After dinner I drove back to the hotel and acted like an 11-year-old. No, I didn't jump up and down on the bed. I set up a screen name on AOL instant messenger and chatted on-line with Sara and Meg. That was a first for me. I'm not as good at it as they are. I'm too anal retentive; I have a hard time not capitalizing words, using punctuation, etc.

Chris and I are going to be able to get together for dinner Thursday night. After dinner, we're going with Landon to a local church gym to play pick-up basketball. I may not be able to move Friday morning.

I'm looking forward to the meetings this week. This is supposed to be the best attendance for this conference in over 20 years. But I like being back up here in East Tennessee the most. I don't know that I could live here full-time, but I love to visit. The scenery is beautiful. And there's something about coming back to your home town.....