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Not sure if I ever mentioned I got promoted at work a few months ago. I should stop having ideas for things, because then I end up doing them. :) I really enjoy my work 97% of the time.

My boss went on vacation at the end of June and I had to be on-call. That was interesting. Some days things apparently went smoothly, some days I'd get 5-6 calls. No rhyme or reason to it, either. But all in all things worked out well and we hadn't had the place shut down by the time she got back. And I was glad she was back!

Right after that I went on a trip to meet up with some friends/downhere fans (also known as "downhomies", a term coined by the band's singer/guitarist/pianist Jason Germain) in Nashville for a few days. A few of the people I have talked to for a long time, some were fairly new to me. But everybody was really nice, and a lot of fun was had.

One of the days we volunteered with the downhere guys at a charity called Feed The Children. They provide nonperishable food, toiletry, and "luxuries" boxes to poor children and families. Luxuries... like little Avon lotion and a candy bar. Hmm. Makes you think a little bit about that ___ you just HAVE to have.

Anyway, they didn't need any boxes filled at that moment, apparently a large event in town needed a few thousand, and the volunteer groups before us had taken care of those. So they were low on all sorts of things needed to make the boxes. Part of our group split off to box up a over 1000 pairs of Crocs for that event. Kudos to them for donating so many new pairs of shoes. After we were done, we set to folding and taping new, empty boxes into shape for the next set of volunteers. We must have done a few hundred of those. I didn't count, but there were tons.

The other part of the group set to removing the tops from cases of donated food so it could be arranged for the assembly line setup they have for putting food boxes together. A couple of guys even compacted old boxes to be recycled. There were a lot of things to do, but the Feed The Children staff seem to have everything down to a science. Nothing is wasted, everything is organized. It seems to be a well-oiled machine, down to having volunteers coming in regularly to do this sort of thing.

That evening downhere's label, Centricity Music, hosted a little "marketing meeting" with us. They picked our brains about how we get our music, what we like, what we don't, ideas, challenges, etc. It was an interesting insight into this world I know very little about. I mean, I get the idea of marketing, the question of how best to connect consumers to your product. Anyway, I learned a bit and was glad to know I'm not the only one frustrated with the local Christian radio station (KCMS - boo!).

Then we went out to dinner, which they graciously covered as well. It was delicious, too.
Pretty much felt spoiled. Afterward we celebrated two birthdays with delicious cupcakes from Ivey Cake in Franklin, and walking into the room where we were all gathering, we heard a familiar voice singing... It was the band's upcoming Christmas album playing.

We were very excited to hear it, but with all the talking it was hard to. Especially for me, since I was sitting on the complete opposite side of the room from where the music emanated. But never ones to disappoint, after another chat session and downhere playing an intimate acoustic set of songs by request, the fabulous Centricity guys handed us all advance copies of the cd! You can just imagine (maybe?) the ensuing chatter. There was much excitement that entire day, and it was the perfect way to wrap it up. Talk about a souvenir.

I only finally got to listen on the way home on the plane, but then my MP3 player's batteries died, since I hadn't recharged them after using it all the way to TN. I did get to listen one time through and love, LOVE, LOOOOVED all of it. I keep getting Good King Wenceslas stuck in my head, as well as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

We also got copies of a new artist to their label, Matt Papa. What I've heard of it, I've liked. I need to really sit down in some peace and quiet to really let it absorb into my brain. Maybe it'll knock the Christmas tunes out of there so they can be fresh again come November. :)

We rounded out the weekend with a hilarious photo scavenger hunt and a bit of church in one of the hotel rooms. And lots of twitter. It was an amazing and one-of-a-kind experience... That I hope for more of in the future!