Is it over? Its over, right? Fan Fair. CMA Fest. Whatever you want to call it.

Oh don’t get me wrong.  I did have a lot of fun. And I didn’t mind making some extra money. And having two dear friends staying with us while attending the festival was so much fun. But… as someone else wrote on Twitter, I am glad it only comes once a year.

My “Fan Fair Recovery” consists of eating vegetables (instead of eating whatever on the fly), drinking more water (and fewer shots), and catching up on hours of lost sleep. It also means re-starting my blog here and getting photos edited and posted. (The only problem is I was too busy to take many photos!)

The long and short of it is that I’m just exhausted. I don’t know how the festival goers kept going for days on end! It was hot all week, and lots of walking was done by everyone. Perhaps its the rush of the event that keeps you going. I guess I’ve forgotten in the years since I attended as a fan.

On top of it all, I had a busy weekend before Fan Fair. I got to spend time with family… I captured this sunset as I was out visiting with my brother.

I got to catch one of my niece’s last softball games of the season… they lost by one point in sudden death over time. Sadness!

Then it was a fifteen hour drive to Nashville with friends… fifteen because we were stuck for two hours on I-40 outside Little Rock, AR due to an accident that forced a crazy detour. But, we found humor in the situation, and enjoyed just hanging out together.

Then I spent most of my days and nights in Printer’s Alley, working.

But, hey, even in the craziest moments of bartending, I had some of the best music I could ask for…

And within it all, not once did I not feel safe…

So, despite exhaustion, I look back on the week with a satisfied smile. I don’t regret being in the thick of it all. I only do regret not getting past the Alley and into some of the fun events. It always nets me the best photos, but I was just too darn busy (or tired!) to do it. Oh well…

Another Fan Fair in the books. Thanks to all the visitors who came and enjoyed my beloved city! And please, please, please don’t be offended by  my doing a happy dance over here to see this come to an end and things settle down. I need the next 12 months to recuperate to be ready to do it all over again in 2012!

(Weekly Winners — June 5 – 11)

This post is serving double duty as my Weekly Winners post for the week of June 5 – 11. Better late than never…

Weekly Winners is a fun little thing bloggers do to showcase some of their favorite photos from the previous week. It is brought to you, me and everyone by the lovely Lotus, aka Sarcastic Mom. Visit her site and find all the participants. See some amazing photos brought to you by bloggers around the world. Leave a little love when you do — its like food for the soul!

Photos taken using a Sony DSLR A230. View all of my photos on my Flickr stream.