Music City

I had a great three days visiting Nashville for a customer conference this week. Here's the countdown:


10. My flight to Nashville was on-time and uneventful. Uncommon!
9. Gaylord Hotels-sure, its big and hard to navigate and expensive. But you never have to worry that your room will suck or that you'll get bad service.
8. Room location about 150 feet from the convention center.
7. Fine cappuccino
6. Got to see my former colleague from my AML days with whom I shared many challenging work years. He works for the enemy now, but I'll let that slide.
5. No PC connectivity for some reason. Whoo hoo!
4. A comfortable bed--another uncommon travel experience.
3. Had nothing to do all day Monday so got to spend hours at the pool.
2. Got to work with one of my favorite people on the planet.
1. Music!


On Monday night they had a private concert event at the Grand Old Opry. I had never been before and really didn't know what to expect. As Jeff said later, its always good to go into anything in life with litte or no expectations and have them exceeded.


I love all types of music and unlike many of my yankee brethren, have no baggage about country music. My dad loved country music and I grew up listening to just as much Charley Pride and Dolly Parton as I did Elvis or the Pointer Sisters. Though I didn't listen to it much as a teenager or young adult, over the past 5-10 years I've listened to more and more of it. I think that some of the best songwriting and musical talent today is in country music and if you like to sing in the car (don't make fun of me at the traffic lights), contemporary country music is spectacular.


I was only really previously familiar with two of the acts-Little Big Town and Josh Turner. I had one Josh Turner album. The whole show ran like a real Grand Old Opry radio show with "commercial" breaks and multiple performers. First up was Emily West followed by The Infamous Stringdusters. Emily has a great voice but she's kind of way too much like Faith Hill. There already is a Faith Hill. She's charming and energetic but will probably suffer career wise due to her similarity. It's kind of like being a great golfer at the same time Tiger Woods exists. The Stringdusters-a bluegrass group were musically excellent. I'm not a huge bluegrass fan, but they were very good and clearly love what they do. They were followed by Jimmy Wayne. I have to admit that I missed his name on the lineup, but damn it if I didn't know one of his songs by heart!


After that warmup Little Big Town took the stage. I knew two or three of their songs and really enjoyed them. One song they sang I had never heard but I really loved it. Then the headliner, Josh Turner came on and was totally awesome. He's way way cuter in person than he looks on his album cover. Charming, talented, funny, and a great performer with tons of great songs.


Here are links to my Top 5 songs of the night. And they're in no particular order because they are all spectacular:


Bring It On Home Little Big Town


A sweet ballad with great harmonies. I swear if you took out the bits of slide guitar you'd never know this was a country song. Open up your freaking minds, people!


Do You Believe Me Now Jimmy Wayne


Nice build up to the chorus. Great song to sing.


Would You Go With Me Josh Turner


More traditional upbeat country sound from an incredibly adorable man. Nice fiddle and banjo on this one.


Me and God Josh Turner


I know, I know. Shocking choice for me. Its just a great song. Maybe its a hint from the big man. It just reminds me of a song I would have loved to have sung in Sunday School at the First Baptist Church in Toms River (in between memorizing-for Lord knows what reason-the books, chapters, and verses of hundreds of Bible passages. Thanks, Mom, for moving us to the reasonable Lutherans!)


And okay--they are in in some order. This is my favorite of the night. Love this song. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.


Another Try Josh Turner



So, Monday night was fantastic. Then, on Tuesday, I noticed a poster in the lobby for the Wildhorse Saloon downtown. Sugar Ray. That night. Not kidding. Poor Jeff had no idea what he was in for. I bought the incredibly cheap tickets and pretty much strong armed him into it--to the extent that is possible. But, really, how could you pass up Mark McGrath in a small venue for $26 bucks? They were fun, engergetic, and clearly having a good time playing together again. He walked through the audience and was charming and cute. Great time.

Now, the only downside is that I'm bitten by the live music bug. This will not be good because Mr. Tate is not a fan of the live music event. Oh well. We'll work it out. They'll have to be some kind of remuneration. Isn't there always?

Their Brilliance

I really try to not hold back my feelings for people. I don't think there's any value in holding close the fact that you like, admire, love, envy, or are seeking things that are wonderful about the people in your life. Even people you barely know--you'll always hear me complimenting strangers about beautiful things they're wearing, their hair, their children's kindness. Whatever. I say it out loud and I love the reaction I get when people are pleasantly surprised that I've done so.

Because I'm that way, I'm hard to surprise. When others give voice to something they admire about me, its great. But refer to paragraph 1: that's the way I think it should be. So, its hard to get me to a place where I am truly touched and grateful for a quick compliment or comment.

My colleague and friend, Jeff, got me this week while we were at the national sales meeting. They showed a new video of the technical and medical directors at our laboratories. The topic of the video was commitment to quality and innovation---basically, helping patients. It was really well done. I personally know almost every scientist or doctor in the video. Many of them I have traveled with or see in the parking lot or cafeteria every day. That means, that I see them as normal people and I truly forget that they are among the most brilliant people on the planet. These are scientists that develop new tests for deadly diseases. These are people that understand the human genome. These are people who save patients lives. It got to me.

So, the video ends. Like any grown children at meeting, we've been writing notes back and forth. I grab the note paper and write the paragraph you see here:

And I meant it. At the moment I wrote it, I really was questioning my place in the company and the value of what I do compared to those truly gifted people. It doesn't happen often, but I was feeling humble, grateful, inadequate, and lucky. Then I got luckier. Jeff took the paper and wrote the word "life". He looked a me and then pointed to the paper and drew that spectrum line from left to right. He nodded at me as if to say "You get it?" I did. Then he drew that dark tick mark on the right third and entered the caption "their brilliance". He looked at me again and I was puzzled. He moved the paper toward me, leaned in and said something like this: "Life is wide. People like those--their brilliance only takes up that little space. Someone like you (he now draws the two center tick marks), you take up all of the space in here." How nice is that? I'm sure I don't have those words just right because I was so touched. It was just what I needed to hear at that moment of self-doubt and it was said in such a perfect way with no forethought or restrictions. It's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thanks, Jeff. And by the way---you're one of those brilliant people that I wonder why they let me work with.

Counting Some Other Blessings

I really don't ever talk about "the rest" of my life here. That being the place and people that I share 45 hours a week with--my work life. It is a big part of my spot in Tatertown, though, and I'm feeling that its at least worth an honorable mention.

My "work-husband" (JS) and I went to a meeting this week with the primary team that we support in Collegeville, PA. They are working on a big project to document their customer segment and strategies and they graciously included us.

It sounds like gushing, I know, but I cannot say enough about the caliber and dedication of the seven other people in that room. At dinner on Wednesday night, the man who is the ranking leader of the group raised a toast and he said that it was to us as a family. And he was spot on. Our dynamic is very familial and strong. We truly love each other and truly get on each other's nerves. But we're an incredibly functional family that is communicative and we all know which direction we're rowing the boat.

Its very challenging to work outside the home while raising a family. But for me, its almost as if the other option didn't even exist. I can't imagine a life without all of these other people in it. People who inspire me, teach me, support me, challenge me, and make me a better person. This other world that I get to visit each day makes my life richer, fuller, and more balanced than it would be without it.

While I'm on this subject, I have to say that JS is a fantastic partner in what I do every day. We have worked together for so long that there's always the risk of the dynamic getting stale--but it hasn't. I use the term "work-husband" seriously. We're a team in tackling the challenges in my work world the same way that Bob and I are a team in tackling the challenges of our family world. Our work partnership just gets stronger and better every day. JS is all you would want in a business partner, but most importantly, he makes all of us laugh every day.

I am a lucky, lucky girl no matter which neighborhood of Tatertown I'm living in.