Our day started at WonderWorks, the upside-down building filled with interactive exhibits like a climbing wall, a bubble room, and much more. Evelyn was thrilled, and her excitement was contagious.
Last night, I had a strange dream. Two of my twentysomething, fun, and very cool female clients were at my home. It felt oddly flattering, like I’d been chosen as someone they wanted to spend time with. In the dream, I was jotting down notes about their experiences, as though we were in session, but one of them confronted me about crossing professional boundaries. The realization hit me hard—I felt insecure and worried I’d broken their trust. The more I tried to justify the situation, the messier it became, like trying to shove chaos back into Pandora’s box.
Dreams are peculiar. I don’t see them as prophetic, but I do think they can reflect what’s stirring beneath the surface. It made me wonder: are there areas in my life where I feel uncertain or untrustworthy? As a writer, a parent, or even a woman in her 40s, am I questioning whether I’ve overstepped or let someone down? I don’t have an answer, but it’s something to sit with for now.
Later into the evening, I made a major blunder. After leaving Wonderworks for lunch, then to the Christmas store where Dave told me I needed this:
we drove up into the Tennessee hills, wasting time before our show.
Pulling into the Pirate Voyage Dinner and Show lot 45 minutes early, I didn’t think much of how empty it was. It’s the off-season in the Dollywood area, and things have been quiet. But the darkened front walkway and lack of people exiting their cars felt… wrong.
I pulled up my email confirmation, read the date, and asked, “It is February 18th, right?”
Dave looked at me blankly. “No, it’s January 22nd.”
What the heck?! I know I double- and triple-checked that date when I booked it. So how did I mess this up?!
We laughed it off and made the best of it. Since our earlier WonderWorks tickets allowed reentry, we headed back for round two. Evelyn’s enthusiasm for the ropes course was still strong, so up we went again.
Dave and I took turns lying on a bed of nails, colored pictures that transformed into animated creatures on a virtual junglescape, and capped off the day with ice cream from the Marble Slab Creamery.
Sometimes plans go awry, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that those detours often lead to some of the best memories.
Frugality also led me to Groupon, as it often does. A deal caught my eye: admission for two adults and two kids to the Science and Energy Museum for just $15 instead of $30. I wasn’t planning on going at first, but the discount convinced me to take a closer look. It turns out, Oak Ridge was one of three key locations in the Manhattan Project, where uranium was produced. The other two sites were Hanford, Washington, where plutonium was made, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, where the bomb was designed and developed.
One small oversight (this is becoming a trend) —I didn’t realize the museum was an hour and a half away instead of just down the road. So, our visit will be on our drive home in two more days.
Tomorrow is unlimited snow tubing. With it just down the street I imagine we’ll have a lazy morning before bundling up and taking the trolley a mile down the road. Unlike yesterday, hopefully it’ll be running.
That’s it for today. I’ll see you tomorrow for day three in Gatlinburg. Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 