Virtue is its own punishment.

Look I’m coming thru on a promise!
Okay so here is the first installment of bookshelf review, and if you want, send me you bookshelf or post your own book shelf review on your blogs! Make sure to link me in the comments so I can see yours!

Left side of top shelf-

The first book is Hunger's Brides: A Novel of the Baroque by Paul Anderson it’s about Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and how her work affected a fictional set of people. I have only read the first three chapters, it’s a tough one!
The next one is Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky and Antonina Bouis and it’s about Alexander II of Russia, a life history. It was really good. If you are into Historical Russian history (yeah, I didn’t think so) I’d recommend it.
The next two are some of Seth’s nerd books
After those two is Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George this one is my Mom’s and I have it to read because I read her historical fiction of Helen of Troy (the book that goes in the missing space) and really liked it. I haven’t gotten to this one yet.
The next one is a GREAT book The Red Tent: A Novel by Anita Diamant I highly recommend this one. I learned so much! It’s about the biblical character of Dinah, but it is historical fiction so it elaborates the story a lot.
The next one is Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin and I started this one, but it was right in the middle of our move to Sioux Falls and I haven’t gotten back to it yet.
The last one in this picture is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke and I have heard GREAT things about this book, but haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s about fairies and magic stuff so it might not be to all your tastes. I think I’m going to take this one on vacation because I came across it AGAIN in a blog by an author I like and I want to see what all the hub-bub is about.
On the top of this stack you can see People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks which you may remember I saw her speak (check out the blog post here or here) and this is my grandma’s signed copy I should really get back to her…J

Right side of top shelf

The first one is Katharine of Aragon: The Wives of Henry VIII by Jean Plaidy this is a GREAT series by an author I really like. She does all the queens of the world, I think the lady is dead now, but the way she personifies and bring life to an otherwise dull historical character. These types of historical fictions is what made me fall in love and want to be a history major, because even though most people think history is boring, it’s the mere fact that these people had full lives and grand experiences that most history books never cover, like how Katharine felt when Henry dumped her for Anne Boylen, that’s where historical fiction comes in, and for me, draws me in.
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman the next in the list is my mom’s, which I should probably give back. Its about a family man, well loved by his town and family who has a secret crime he committed that no one can believe and the journey he, his family, and his town take to the unveiling of that crime and realizing one of their beloved is to blame.
Sepulchre and Labyrinth by Kate Mosse are great books. I highly recommend them. This is a GREAT writer. (I have blogged about Sepculchre before here and here)
The next two books are two of my favorites, I always have these books near me, I can’t remember exactly why, but when I was a teen, reading these two books changed the way I thought about a lot of things. They are The Rapture Of Canaan and A Gracious Plenty: A Novel amazing books. They are both about women who live in isolated worlds and have something happen to them where they are introduced to the rest of the world. They are very visual. Every time I hear anything from the Sarah McLaughlin “Surfacing” album, I think of these books because I was listening to it the first time I read them and it imprinted on me.
The next three books are ones my grandma lent me, because I like the movie “Mists of Avalon” these are the books it was based on. Daughter of the Forest (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Book 1) by Juliet Marillier, Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Priestess Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. I haven’t read them yet.
The next book is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer and I love this book as a kid, and even today. I keep it there to remind me why I fell in love with books as a kid.
Then there is a world religions atlas from one of my history classes you can barely see. It’s very old.
On the top there is Gods, Graves & Scholars: The Story of Archaeology by C.W. Ceram another great historical reference. It made me want to be an archaeologist for like 2 years.
And the last book is Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb which is about a white woman being raised in Morocco and then having to migrate to London after the civil turmoil there. It is a good read too.

Well that’s it for today! Did you enjoy this theme? Let me know! I’ll continue if you like it!

Love (sharing books)
Carrie

Cougar Party Food

The whole spread

The Pot Roast


Hand rolled Ricotta Gnocchi


Italian "Gravy" homemade!

Flowers I (and Pam) planted!

The hycenth (sp?)


The tuilips!

Bearded Iris


Bearded Iris open

More random pictures

My cats are possessed

I took a cue from jenifriend and respray painted this holder black and put wedding pictures and put it in the bedroom


My brown curtains and my book shelf

The mirror my Dad made me for our wedding to get ready with, it has one of our wedding symbols on it

Furbaby Pictures

Willow!

My pirate kitty

Pinky and the Brain

Pretty Bags

random pictures

Willow loves the Snuggie Jason and Pam got me


My new Scentsy Pot-and it really works!


Cat Grass and Cat Nip for the furbabies


My herb garden (part of it anyway)

Remodeling Pictures, by request

The new bannister that Seth worked really hard on


A really good example of the old wood (right) and the stripped and re-stained wood (left)


The bain of my existance, doorjams-ugh



And the other hellcat in my life-doors

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.

Happy Birthday Jesse! (more on that in a moment)
And welcome back for a solid MONTH of the theme “I hate it when Wednesday’s”. Let me know if you like the theme and if you want me to continue it in the comments.

I hate it when…
-I hate it when people call you at work and are all like, “What are you doing?” Trying to keep my job, which you are not helping with-but thanks.
-I hate it when you recommend a TV show that you love and it happens to be the most predictable episode ever that week. Give Castle another try people, and appreciate the comic wonderfulness that is Nathan Fillion, if you had seen him sing his own theme song last week you would love him forever.
-I hate it when you make plans with someone and then promptly forget them, I still feel like an ass about it.
-I hate it when I forget to put my tea bag in my hot water and end up drinking hot water all day.
-I hate it when people act like they can’t leave the United States, it is the most ridiculous thing ever and it drives me crazy. I especially hate it when those people send me emails about swine flu and say “That’s why I won’t go to Mexico” like REALLY? You foresaw a pandemic and that’s why you wouldn’t travel out of the US, what’s next week’s lotto numbers?
-I hate it when people discredit people you know are authorities on the subject when you relay information. For example: Me: Bobanna the DOCTOR says that there has been no confirmed cases of the flu in Omaha yet. Friend: Well Bobanna doesn’t know everything, this lady at my work was coughing really hard and I just know she has it.
-I hate when people tag an inane smiley face on the end of a sentence where they just got done insulting you or someone. Example: Friend: Well we all know you are really strange! :-) A stupid smiley face doesn’t make your stupid comment any better, or make me want to punch you in your stupid smiley face any less.
-I hate it when it’s been like the perfect stay in bed and snuggle weather for like three days in a row and I have to get up and go to work. It makes the entire workday pretty unbearable.
-I hate it when people pretend they know some big secret about why you were transferred to another department and instead of just telling you, they say “They don’t want to dig up any old wounds” but then they keep mentioning it! Just SHUT THE HELL UP.
-I hate it when you get caught skipping out on work early last week by another coworker, you kind of sit there in a panicked moment wondering if they are going to tell your boss, and then you hate them for like the next 3 days, goody two shoes.

And finally, from our Heavy Baggage Blogger L’ara, via email:
-I hate it when people tell your boss that you screwed up when you didn't and you have to decide between keeping your mouth shut and taking the blame or walking into his office, stamping your foot and yelling DID NOT like a child on a play ground.
-I hate it when the blogs I follow are not updated early enough for my schedule. What are you people doing!?!?! Wake up and give me something to start my day!!!!

Happy Birthday Brother!
My brother is *mumbles* years old today! Here is a list of things I like about my brother, which is fitting since we are very list-y today.
He is funny.
He can surprise you.
He will show up and mow your lawn when your husband is out of town
He will show up and help you move, even though he seriously just helped you move in 100 degree weather 2 months ago.
He will take over planning your husband’s bachelor party when you have reached your wits end with the best men.
He loves Eddie Izzard.
He always has the best movies.
He likes cats.
He always shows up when you invite him to parties or dinners even though you never show up for his stuff.
He pretty much taught me how to be snarky.
He also taught me how to blog.
He’s always down for trying new places to eat.
He’s grown up a lot in the past couple of years.
He is GREAT on vacation.
He will go up and ask for ketchup for you or get your order corrected if it is wrong.
He lets me listen to rap in the car, really loud.
He will drive if I don’t want to.
I’m super excited to FINALLY go to Disneyworld with him, since he is the one who started my love of all things Disney.
He showed me Hulu, long before my work blocked it for being too popular.
He can get me cd’s I’m not ready to buy.
He takes good care of my parents and will go over to help them with yard work.
He is a lot of fun at parties.
All my friends love when I invite him to do things with us.
I consider him one of my best friends.
He doesn’t ever call me unless it’s important and he doesn’t keep me on the phone for more than five minutes.
He watches and enjoys a lot of the same shows I do.
He makes an effort to hang out with my husband and do stuff with him.
He likes the same music as my husband.
He is my oldest friend.
He always makes me laugh, no matter what.

And Pop, if you are reading this and wondering why you didn’t get a list, you were pretty grouchy about turning 50 and I didn’t want to rub it in. But I love you!!

Random
Whoa! Jon from “Jon and Kate plus 8” is stepping out? It was only a matter of time really, but MAN-Kate’s head is going to explode, I can’t wait to see what Joel from The Soup has to say about this! *disclaimer* I don’t actually really watch this show, I did, and then the sheer number of screaming kids made my ovaries cry so I had to stop.

Curtin
That’s all folks-Have a great Wednesday! Talk to you tomorrow!

Love (keeping the theme going)
Carrie

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.

Wow, it really doesn’t feel like Tuesday today…

Perfecting my pimp walk
So last night I hurt my foot, I was downstairs watching TV and I got up to take a bath and it was like stepping on a bruise over and over. On the left side of my left foot. I went to bed and woke up to pee about 4 and it was AWFUL, it was like sleeping on it made it a 100 times worse. It tried to step on it and collapsed. I put on my tennis shoes and tied them tight and have been making an attempt to stay in my chair as much as I can, which really is hard with my overactive bladder. So yeah, my darn foot is killing me.

Falling apart at the seams
And I’m bloated. Like I’m pretty sure if I pricked myself I would make a balloon loosing air noise. I also made the mistake of washing all of my jeans because I lost track of which ones I had washed in the 2 week cycle and which ones I hadn’t and I didn’t want to risk being the smelly kid so I washed them all, so they are all SUPER tight and squeezing all my lady bits to pieces. And the fruit for breakfast diet is still KILLING ME. Where did I even get this bad idea?

Now that you have been sufficiently TMI’d
So last night was the single most hilarious HIMYM for Seth and I. A back story…
See right after Seth and I went on our first date, he waited three days to call me, and it KILLED me. And I have forever given him crap about it because it was just about the stupidest thing he has ever done. He would swear that it was a “guy rule”. Then last night Barney went on this diatribe about the three day rule and it actually made sense and Seth was justified and I was miffed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NWDXg266A

I love Neil Patrick Harris.

Alright well it’s about lunch time and since I am starving from my fruit breakfast-I’m headed out!
Love (How I met Your Mother),
Carrie

It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree.

Monday-ugh.
Here is the weekend recap for you!

Friday
Friday I got off super early (3) and got home and immediately started working on doors and such. Seth came off early too so it worked out really well. He sanded doors outside and mowed the lawn. I got to lay out for a little bit (though you can’t tell). Then I made fantastic food. I made Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup (yum) and Black Bean and Corn and Cheese quesadillas (I have decided its okay to declare that I make AMAZING quesadillas.) and then I made pasta salad because there was a sale on red peppers this week so I got a TON of them. I also noticed that either my chamomile or my lavender is coming up-either way-exciting!!! We ate dinner and watched tv and went to bed rather early because we had to get up and get to work Saturday.

Saturday
Saturday I got the sad news that Carrie R wasn’t coming up from KC (sad) so after moping about that we got to work on doors and cleaning up the house. I went to wash all the rugs in the house and promptly broke the washing machine. Nice. Around 3 we loaded up Seth’s tinkering project (he was going to get help from my dad) and headed over to my parents. My mom and I went out to Kathy’s Tastefully Simple party and I ate like a pig. Although I don’t think the host appreciated my “Body of Christ, broken for you” jokes when I passed the dipping bread around. But honestly-don’t cut it like the communion bread and I wouldn’t have to make jokes about it.
We spent a lot of time mooning over Kathy’s dog and I caught up with some old friends who I need to see way more often. I saw Kari and Pam who are frequent readers and learned that Becky H. (*waves*) is a reader too! Fun! I love learning about new readers! Makes me feel all special and fuzzy.
Then we went to 94/95 which was a nice little restaurant where I saw semi famous people (they are only famous if you are a crazy husker fan). They had a good band playing and the owner was really nice. I had eaten WAY to much at Kathy’s party though so I was pretty stuffed! Then Seth and I went home and watched Dollhouse.

*nerd sidebar* So how about next week Alan Tudyk is going to be on the Dollhouse and I’m SOOOO FRIGGIN excited. For those of you not as cool as me, he was Wash in “Firefly” and if you don’t know what “Firefly” is then I don’t think we can be friends anymore. I mean, how many times do I have to crow my love of Firefly (and the movie Serenity) and Joss Whedon? Next thing you will be telling me you don’t know of the travesty that was Jericho and how CBS is the most evilest network EVER and that Friday Night Lights doesn’t make you cry. Pssshhhttt. *end nerdy sidebar*

Sunday
Sunday was the single greatest day ever. Because I woke up at 5:12 to the loudest boom of thunder ever. And then the sound of rain. And it stayed like that all day. Hooray! We woke up late and went to Sam’s Club and Target and then SETH suggested we get Pepperjax for lunch (SQUEEEE) we came home and ate and then took a nap. Then we finished staining the doorjams and the door Seth sanded and I cleaned up some more sawdust. We watched some tv and Seth did his homework and we went to bed. Best day ever. Mostly because of the rain.

Randomness
So you may have noticed we didn’t get our garden in, but I’m okay with that because I got to spend Sunday relaxing AND its supposed to frost tonite, so that wouldn’t have been very good for the plants anyway. We are looking at doing it Tuesday now. Or at least getting the plot rotor tilled and the rabbit fence up. Plus the later we wait, the longer we will have veggies in the fall.

NYC plans
We made tentative plans to visit my Aunt Nat in NYC and see a Giants game in the fall. We are looking at either September or October. Seth is pretty excited. Hopefully we actually do it this year!

I married a big dork and I love him
So my nerd husband fixed the washing machine I broke this weekend, actually taught me something about math, and audibly squeed when I reminded him that the new Wolverine movie comes out this weekend and we have a date Sunday for a matinee viewing. I’m telling myself he squeed because he wanted to go out on a date with me.

Scentsy
My Scentsy pot (Seth calls it the Stinkpot) came today. I’m excited to get home and plug it in. If you want to come see how well it works, stop by, and I’ll give you the name of the person I order from. I’m pretty excited to start using the Eucalyptus block because I read it keeps spiders away and last night I was on the phone with Pam and looking in the fridge and a spider crawled up the side of it and I screamed and freaked out and gave both her and Seth a heart attack. So anything to stop that from happening ever again.

Something totally not sexy about me
So apparently Bagheera and I snored so loud last night Seth had to put in earplugs and he was REALLY crabby with me this morning. Oops. Its Bags fault, I’m sure.

End scene
Alright folks, that’s all I got today! See ya tomorrow!

Love (rainy thunderstorm Sundays),
Carrie

It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.

You know that song that’s on Hell’s Kitchen? The “Fire” song, except they sing it “FIIIII-YA”. On Friday’s I always sing “FRRRIIIII-DAY” just like that, in my head, over and over. Just FYI.

Hi All!!!
The fruit breakfast is killing me. I ate an orange this morning and about 9:00 almost passed out I was so hungry. So I just consumed some gold fish and V8. It’s still sorta healthy, right? The fruit breakfast is also making me SMELL LIKE DEATH.

Which brings me to a new theme segment I’m trying. I would love for you to try it too, in the comments or in your own blogs!
It’s called “I admit”, its where come clean about things.

So here goes the first “I admit” on Carrie-on Baggage:
-I admit that horrible smell in my cube is me, and not a possible dead mouse in the empty cube next to me as I lead you to believe, I’ve been eating fruit every morning for a week, things are not right in my colon area right now, sorry.
-I admit that I watched the season finale of Making the Band 4 last night, live. And I’m not entirely sure why. I can’t believe I wasted 45 minutes of my life watching P.Diddy and Aubrey out grandstand each other.
-I admit that some days I don’t do any real work at all, some days my brain just won’t turn on. But thanks for paying me anyway. I promise some days I do more work then I should to make up for it. And I can come thru in a pinch if you need me to.
-I admit I possess an inability to say no, I’m also horribly passive-aggressive, whatever at least I own it.
-I admit that I sometimes pick my nose while I’m driving. Just to clean everything out.
-I admit that I find shows on the holocaust fascinating and cannot stop watching them.
-I admit last night I watched the last 10 minutes of Grey’s Anatomy because I just can’t STAND not watching it the night it airs…sorry Seth, it’s a sickness I can’t help it!
-I admit sometimes I totally cheat at Pilates.
-I admit in my head I secretly hope a lot more people read my blog than I know, since I blogstalk so many people and they don’t know it, I like to think the same thing happens to me.
-I admit that I’m secretly enjoying the nights Seth has class where I just get to hang out in my underpants and eat ice cream.
-I admit I like going to the grocery store by myself and buying whatever the heck I want (yesterday I bought 20 dollars worth of cheese (it was on sale for a dollar-just to demonstrate how much cheese I bought) and 3 boxes of fruit juice bars).

Alright well! I’ve got some fun stuff lined up this weekend, which I will most definitely recap for you when I get back Monday-since I know you are all into what I do!
Tonite we are going to work on the house and I’m going to get rid of some sweet potatoes (either by quesadilla method or French fry method) and try to stay cool while we sand and stain. Seth needs to mow.
Saturday we are so busy, Carrie Rivera is coming up from Kansas City where she lives now (HOLLA! I have a lot of friends in Kansas-must be a cool place to be.) and we either have to finish the sanding/staining or plant the garden depending on the weather. Then we have Kathy’s tastefully simple party and maybe dinner at 94/95. Sunday we need to get the garden in for sure.

Have a great weekend all!
Love (when Friday’s aren’t all that hard),
Carrie

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

Hi all!
Happy Thursday. Grey’s is new tonite and I realized last night that I have 2 weeks until ORLANDO!! Pretty excited. Although I’m not excited about the amount of work we have to get done before we leave. The list of majors is put in the garden, go shopping for clothes, finish the door sanding, clean the house for our furbabies sitter (Chet).
I am currently attempting to scrape all of my fingernail polish off with my teeth I’m so bored. It’s going well I have 3 of the ten nails totally scraped and the rest half scraped. I need mental help *nod nod*
I can’t even comment on American Idol last night because it was SO FRIGGIN HORRIFIC. What was that? It was like Disco Nite at the home. I’m pretty sure I saw an old ladies who-who and more smashed, struggling breasts then I care to admit. Oh American Idol…next week is Rat Pack night-what the frick happened?
In other shows I watched to mentally cleanse my brain of awkward singing men with pirate earrings-Bravo’s Make me a Supermodel-HUZZAH the evil mean black lady is gone, but not with out attacking the Mennonite girl who didn’t know who Andy Warhol was.

*sidebar* I just heard the strangest analogy here, a co-op was trying to explain his radical point to a stubborn old nuke engineer and he said “Let’s just drink the kool-aid for a second here..” What a great analogy, I’m totally swaggerjacking that… *end sidebar*

Also on last night, Bones (getting better), Criminal Minds (haven’t watched yet), and Real World Road Rules Challenge (haven’t watched yet-but usually read the snark blogs about it so I know what to fast forward thru). I taped “Life after People” on the History Channel, but I have no idea when I’ll get around to watching it, those things are best left for Sunday after a big meal.

So! Four things I am trying to attempt in prep for a healthier lifestyle and ORLANDO! (it really must be written like that).
Eating fruit for breakfast
No Pop (Sad face)
Drinking enough water to make me float, one new rule, before I leave work I must refill my water glass (the one I get at the beginning of the day) and drink it before I get home. (and then run to the bathroom as soon as I pull in)
Working out every week night even if it’s just a 10 minute Pilates on Demand.

So far so good! I’ve added these things individually for the last 6 weeks. The fruit is the newest one. And I’m STARVING RIGHT NOW YO.

*Nail scraping update* 8 of 10 fully scraped.

Alright well I’d better get to getting. I have to plan the grocery list so tonite’s shopping goes fast!

Love (to be home with my kidtens, instead of here eating nail polish)
Carrie

When everyone is against you, it means that you are absolutely wrong-- or absolutely right.

Happy Earth Day all, and Happy Birthday Dad!
Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day and I totally forgot. Last night Schindler’s List was on HBO and it was the end and I bawled thru the whole thing…

Three weeks in a row-YES!
“I hate it when Wednesday” is BACK! I’m so proud of myself for continuing a theme *does dance* Without further ado-
-I hate it when you go to bed early and wake up still tired.
-I hate it when you lose an entire weekend to one event.
-I hate it when it’s over 75 degrees.
-I hate it when the casting call for the George Clooney movie being filmed in Omaha is only for men.
-I hate it when the internet can’t find the answer to my inquiry.
-I hate it when I’ve stretched a simple tasks out to last days and then it comes to the end and I miss it.
-I hate it when I plant seeds and they don’t sprout into plants right away like magic.
-I hate it when Seth calls me and asks me if I have seen one of the cats, it makes me worry that they snuck out when I went to the garage and I ran over them.
-I hate it when celebrities grow their male children’s hair like a girls, its confusing for me. I’m looking at you Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow!
-I hate it when I make plans or have tasks to do and all I want to do is sleep.
-I hate it when the clock seems to be moving backwards at work.
-I hate it when the webpages at work take forever to load.
- I hate it when I read about books online and want to read them and then forget about them. Case in point- “If I stay” by Gayle Forman. I will say I want to read it and then never talk about it again.
-I hate it when P.Diddy ruins good bands or songs.
-I hate it when people underestimate the amazing powers I possess in Microsoft Word.
-I hate it when some one releases spoilers as a riddle or a missing letter quiz because they want to be assholes that they know how Grey’s ends and you don’t. Just tell us already!
-I hate it when American Idol gets to that draggy point where you know who’s the top of the pack and you just have to wait every week for the crappy people to get kicked off.
-I hate it when I break a nail. I mean I get devastated, it is so hard for me to grow them!

That’s all I got peeps!
Here’s hoping you have a great day, once you get all your “Hate it when’s” out!

Love (shooting stars but not spaceships from afar),
Carrie

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

Friends, Romans, Blogreaders!
Hello. It’s only Tuesday, sad right? I know I’m sad too.
This weekend I have to put in my new garden and I’m super excited about it. For REAL. I’m ready to eat fresh stuff and cook with it.

Doctor Doctor give me the news, I got a bad case of lovin’ you
My doctors appointment went well, I really like my doctor, but that will probably change the first time she tries to stick me with a needle. I really don’t like anyone much after that. But she was uber nice and I really liked the atmosphere. She joked with Seth and listened to him even though he wasn’t her patient. I’m hoping she goes to the other clinic though because I really don’t like hauling down to the hospital downtown every time I need to see her.

The best new show on tv that you are not watching
Ladies and Gentlemen-you should be watching “Castle” on ABC. It is HILARIOUS. You are seriously missing out. It is like a crime drama, but fun, like what Bones used to be, just not as gross. It has been compared to Moonlighting. I’ve never seen that show, but if it is as funny as this show is, I’d watch it. So you should too. It’s on Mondays at 9.

And I’m out
That’s all the steam I have today folks! I can barely get my brain to wake up!

Love (to be taking a nap right now)
Carrie

History is more or less bunk.

Hello World!
I am going to the doctor today at 11:30-okay that’s a lie, I’m going at 2 but I’m going home early to hopefully catch a burrito and a nap before being assaulted at the doctors office. Yeah it’s THAT yearly doctor’s appointment.
So here’s a quick weekend recap for you:

Friday
Friday night I got off work and went home and wrapped (read-threw into gift bag, which I feel guilty about) and grabbed the pasta salad I made for my Dad’s 50th birthday party. Seth came home on time (I almost fell over from shock) and I even remembered to grab the video “recorder” my mom wanted me to bring.
*sidebar* My mom and I had this conversation on my way home from work:
Mom: Hey! Are you going to bring the video recorder tonite?
Me: The what?
Mom: The video recorder!
Me: We don’t have one of those, we gave it to the vets.
Mom: We just gave you that for Christmas before the wedding! What do you mean you gave it to the vets!?
Me: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??
Mom: Why are you just giving away presents I give you (launches into long chastising of me never really liking presents she gives me)
Me: Mom, seriously?
Mom: (almost sobbing) I just wanted to record the moment your Dad sees the four wheeler-your Dad and I don’t have many other things to record
Me: Do you mean the video CAMERA?? Jesus, that was a long way around…
Mom: Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain!
*end sidebar*
We made it to Dad’s party (a little late because I couldn’t decide what shirt to wear) and we went with everyone out to the garage and waited for him to open the garage door and see his present-a death machine, I mean 4 wheeler. We had fun riding on it (Dad drove me around and Seth drove Kathy) and ate good food and talked with friends, much too late into the night!

Saturday
Saturday I woke up early and Seth drove me over to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Benson (Seth used to live in Benson, for you non-O-towners, it’s a suburb.) and I hung out with my mom and the UMW ladies. It was fun, those ladies are a hoot and it was nice to spend time with my mom and see her really enjoy her fellowship with the women. We give her a lot of crap about spending so much time with Jesus but when you hang out with these ladies, you can see why they do it, its like having 200 grandma’s who all care about you and want to talk to you about mundane things in your life most people are sick of hearing about (like your wedding). I was SORELY disappointed in the UMW ladies lunch though-come on, where are the casseroles?? We had soup and sandwiches.
Saturday was the first day it really felt like spring, I think it was because we slept with the window open and when we woke up it was overcast and rainy but still nice to have the window open.
Saturday night we had Seth’s childhood friend Ty and his fiancée Holly over for supper. We threw it together at the last minute. Like literally an hour before they came we were still arguing over what to make. I wanted to make sweet potato and black bean quesadillas and roasted tomato soup and Seth wanted to grill. We ended up doing meats on the grill, campfire potatoes (much better in individually wrapped sizes-they cook much faster and have more flavor), and grilled balsamic soaked asparagus. Ty and Holly brought a salad. We tried to give them lots of wedding and married advice (they asked!) and then we played Apples to Apples where the ladies DOMINATED.
They left about 11 and we stayed up entirely too late eating ice cream and watching the DVR.

Sunday
Sunday we woke up around 10:30 (which you would think would count as sleeping in, but we went to bed at 4, so it totally doesn’t) and Seth was gung ho for remodeling and I was gung ho for NOT remodeling (I am so SICK of remodeling) I threw a fit and stomped off outside to play with the cats. I found my gardening gloves in the hose house and from there decided to pick up the yard once and for all. We had some GIANT (I mean these things were dead body big) black plastic bags left over from when we moved from Sioux Falls (I used the bags for linens and pillows and other things that were soft but needed to be protected). I filled four of them up with pine needles and tree limbs we trimmed. I also got the trash can pretty full, but since they don’t like when you put yard waste in the can, I discreetly covered it with house trash. I moved about 12 erroneous bricks placed all over our yard to the back of the tool shed until we decide what to do with them. I cleaned out flower beds and sprinkled wildflower seeds (a dollar for a can at Target) all over the beds and around the trees. And I got out some large flower boxes I found behind the tool shed and filled them with dirt and herb seeds, hopefully my herb garden will be better this year. I even managed to mark the pots so I know what’s in them, instead of last year where we wrote it all down and then transplanted after the move and the only one we could figure out was basil. Then Seth helped me load up the truck with all my yard waste and we drove it to my parents (thanks guys!) to put it on the burn pile. Then we went to Menards in Bellevue (another suburb, out of O peeps) and wandered around for what felt like HOURS. I got some more seeds and some garden tools, Seth got the stuff to put my rabbit fence up. I seriously think we might (fingers crossed) get our garden in this weekend, if Seth can get the rotor tiller from my parents. I told him I wanted to do starter plants instead of seeds this year and he agreed. Hopefully Wal-Mart is selling starter veggies. Then to be super nice, my super great husband had me order Old Chicago to go on the way home, we swung by and got it and then went home to finish the DVR and crash into bed.

So that was my weekend! How was yours? How disgusting is it that it is going to be 84 two days this week? BOOOO SUMMER!

Love (to be getting excited about my garden)
Carrie

Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content.

The above title quote is from Louis L'Amour in honor of my dad since today we are throwing him a big ole birthday party. His 50th party!!

I can't even fathom that he is 50-blows my mind.

Any whoo that's about all the interesting I am today.

I'm going to leave you with the single funniest LOL cat I have seen in a while everyone I showed it to giggled.

Love (my Pops)

Carrie

Bathroom Stories; Part Duce

Hello all! I am back to tell another bathroom story. I am bit disturbed, as you may be, that my only two contributions to this blog are about bathroom incidences. So I asked my self why. The reason, I think, is because I only want to post stories that are funny and might brighten your day. Apparently funny things only happen to me in the bathroom…so here we go with the second installment of “Bathroom Stories”

OK, I should start this story by telling you some of my public rest-room habits/routines/phobias.
First, whenever I walk into a public rest-room I try to figure out how many other people are in said rest-room. I do this by listening, looking at the doors that are closed, looking through the cracks in the stalls, and if it comes down to it, looking under the stalls. Once that has been determined I move on to step two and pick my stall. This decision is based on several criteria. First, are there any obvious offensives ie: pee on the seat or someone forgot to flush. Second, is there a stall with no neighbors? Third, the second stall is my least favorite. I read a study that said the second stall is the most frequently used. Least frequently, and my favorite is the first. My worst case scenario is for there to be only one person in the rest-room who is in the second stall. First because then I feel uncomfortable about choosing my favorite first stall because then I have a neighbor and I think that's weird. It's like at the movies or in waiting rooms. You don't just sit right next to someone you don't know unless there are no other options. Second because I hate, hate, hate when there is only one other person in there. Why you ask? Because I prefer all bathroom activities to remain anonymous. If there are only two people in there you know exactly who is doing what. Give me an empty bathroom or a crowd!!! I know what you’re thinking, and no it's not because I don't want anyone to know what I'm doing. It's because after someone lets out a huge sigh of relief while peeing or makes a disgusted grunt when they are changing their lady product I can't stand looking them in the face while we both primp and wash our hands. Heaven forbid you see them later that day or in a meeting at work!! They are going on about gross margin, COGS, and contribution and here I am thinking to myself "Oh yeah, well your vagina smells like cat food!"

Ok so here is my story;
So the other day I walked into the bathroom. I realize right away that my beloved first stall is open!

Yes!!

I also quickly realize however that someone is in the second.

Darn it!!

I carefully walk down the row of stalls peeking though the cracks to see which are occupied and realize that it's my worse case scenario: one person in the second stall. So I do the only decent thing and go into the handicap stall so there is a stall buffer between the two of us. I should also tell you that it is very hard for me to pee when I'm in this worse case scenario. The whole time I am trying to make sure that not a single sound other than my pee hitting the water in the toilet is made. So I'm sitting there trying to pee when I hear a strange sound, a sound I've never heard in a public rest-room before.

What is that? Is that what I think it is? NO WAY!! Is someone seriously reading a magazine on the can in the rest-room at work?!?!?! What on earth is she doing in a public restroom that requires reading materials!?!?

Then as if she could read my mind, she answered my question.


HOLY SHIT!! That came out of a person!?!?! Did that horrible sound come for her mouth or her ass?? A combination of both!?!? Who does that at work!!! I have got to get out of here.

I instantly got up (without peeing) zipped up and ran out of there as fast as I could!!!

I’m not washing my hands! She might come out, and hand washing or not we both know who the gross one is here!! Hurry L’ara before you see who it is and have to sit across from her in a meeting for two hours with a strait face!!!

I was so alarmed I forgot I had to pee.

Music is like pornography: I don't have any definitions for you, I just know what I like.

Hello world! Happy Thursday!
Nothing too exciting here…lets see what randomness I can come up with for you today…

The Red Tent
You know that dude saying about not trusting anything that bleeds for 7 days and doesn’t die? While as a woman I’m wholly offended by that comment, I have to admit, the fact that I bleed for 7 days and don’t die creeps me out too. I’m from the school of blood is supposed to stay in your body. I hate needles, I don’t give blood (coincidently-they won’t take my blood anyway because I lived in Europe when they had mad cow and the Chernobyl cloud was blowing over), and I get freaked out if I bleed even a little bit. So the whole I bleed extensively for 7 days really gives me the willies. I just thought I’d throw that out there-guys you have reason to be scared, women are obviously some form of superhero or mutant.

American Idol
Seriously-who is voting for Danny Gokey and Lil Rounds? You people need to stop. I mean it. And Anoop needs to go too. He has WAY too much attitude and he’s acting like every week is more painful for him. He was ready to go before Scott. Shoot he was ready to go when they kicked off Alexis Grace. Seriously. Can we just skip to when it’s Adam, Kris, Allison, and Matt. Although unless someone puts a hat on Matt or gets that WART removed from the smack middle of his forehead or puts some cover up on it or gets his some clip on bangs, I’m going to have to ask you to vote off Matt too. I cannot LOOK AT THAT THING another week. I had to switch off of HD last night it was bothering me so much. Blech *shivers* And am I the only one who didn’t know what the hell that song was that Kris sang or why it was so “good”? I think I am, because everyone is raving about it. Apparently it’s from the movie “Once” (?). Anyway those are my thoughts on AI this week.

H-B-OOOoooooooooooo
Have I mentioned I love HBO’s documentaries and series? I’m watching this series right now called “Alice” and its only OnDemand and its shot in Brazil I think, and its all about this country girl who goes to city life and it has English subtitles but is originally shot in Brazilian (?) anyway its really good and I ‘m enjoying it. I watch it on the nights Seth has class. If you get HBO you should watch it.

OAMC
Okay so-I’m setting a mini goal for myself. I’m going (in celebration of the fact that we have a brand new HUGE FREEZER in my storage room) to try and do this Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) thing. At least once, just to see if it’s worth the effort and money. So I’m looking for recipes, if anyone has any to share, or good blogs to peruse on tips and such. Hit up the comments if you got them. So far Pam has said she will help out with assembly if she can have a tray of Enchi’s. I know if I make a pot of ricotta I can use that to make ravioli and lasagna. I need a ravioli press though…So ruminating thoughts there. If you want to contribute some cash for me to make you some food (for the massive food bill I’m predicting) or help out with the cooking for your own tray of something, let me know!

Peace out!
That’s all the witty I got for today!!

Love (to be able to hang out at NASA for a day)
Carrie

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow

Its “I hate it when Wednesday” everyone!!
I can’t believe I actually carried a theme in my blog for two weeks-go me!

Leave yours in your comments or put them in your blogs! I can’t wait to read them!

I hate it when…

-I hate it when you get behind someone on a one lane highway who goes 10 under the speed limit. SERIOUSLY? If you are hell bent on driving that fucking slow-pull over to the shoulder and let me go pass you, especially in morning commute traffic when there is no way in hell I would be able to pass you on the left. Jerks.
-I hate it when things fall out of your pockets in the bathroom and slide like five stalls down. This is even more embarrassing when someone is in the stall you stuff slides into.
-I hate it when the people who are in the stall of your fallen bathroom stuff kick it back to you, bitch, I didn’t throw my phone in your stall on purpose, treat it with a little respect or I WILL stand on the toilet and chuck it over the stall at your damn head-on purpose.
-I hate it when American Idol fails to make me get me excited, fist pump, or stand up and shout in exultation at the tv. I didn’t even vote last night.
-I hate it when you complain about your job and people say “Well at least you have a job in this economy.” Like the fact that I have a job means I don’t have a right to complain about it, give me a break. The fact that I have one means I get to complain.
-I hate it when people don’t return emails-drives me bananas, I’ll even take an “okay got it, thanks!” Over no response at all.
-I hate it when there are like 12 new Mexican restaurants I want to try and only 1 night a week to have time to try them.
-I hate it when voicemail cuts me off-peoples voicemail have seriously hung up on me multiple times for no reason at all, then I have to call back and look like a crazy stalker on your missed call log.
-I hate it when you post a blog about all the movies you want to see with a detailed date release and the next day they go and change the release date. I’M LOOKING AT YOU HARRY POTTER (which is now July 15th)
-I hate it when cancellation news comes out about the ONE SHOW my husband actually loves to watch and I don’t have the heart to tell him.
-I hate it when Neilsen ratings won’t count DVR recordings as someone watching a show. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE DVR THESE DAYS?? That’s the whole reason Jericho, Eli Stone, and Pushing Daises was brought down-assholes.
-I hate it when I feel bad for cussing in my blog. It’s my blog and I have a dirty mouth, I’ll cuss whenever I want.
-I hate it when the creepy girl at NPP leers around my cube looking for someone to talk to and I accidently look to see who is standing behind me. Dang it…

And now for something completely different…
Okay so my friend who works in a hospital called me yesterday and what insued was by far the funniest conversation ever.
So apparently yesterday was Penis Day at the hospital. Lots of people were having surgery on their man bits. So my friend called and the first thing she said was “Carrie, I’ve seen more penis’s today then I have in my entire life. All different kinds. Today I saw the biggest penis I’ve ever seen it was HUGE and BLACK. She went on and on about the penis’s she had seen all day, but by far the most impressive was this giant black one, that apparently, like the Cialis commercial says, if you have an erection for more than 4 hours, you get to go the hospital and have surgery and shock my friend when she walks into the OR. I am seriously the only person you can call and have these wildly inappropriate conversations with, for sure.

T minus
23 days and counting until Orlando! I’m making a new commitment to do ab work or cardio every night for a week starting Monday. Let’s hope I can do it!!!

Fin
I hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Love (for the sun NOT to be shining, but it still be warm)
Carrie

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Hellloooo Tuesday! I can’t believe its only Tuesday, but usually at the beginning of the week, I’m wondering why it isn’t the later part,

He Loves Me! He Loves Me!
I have the best husband today. I can’t exactly tell you why, but just know he is doing something for me today that sucks really bad, but he’s doing it for me, with a smile and very little complaining. That makes him the best. And I love him all the more for it. Best husband EVER! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to go see the new Terminator movie for this and on top of that, watch all the old ones so I don’t ask too many questions during the movie and ruin it for him. I think that makes us even, right?

Let’s all go to the lobby! Let’s all go to the lobby! Let’s all go to the lobby and have ourselves a treat!
Speaking of movies, it’s going to be a busy summer for us. Remember when I was complaining about never getting to go to the movies? Well that’s about to change-here’s the movies I know we will see in theaters this summer for sure…
May 1st-X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May 8th-Star Trek
May 15th-Angels and Demons
May 21st-Terminator Salvation
June 5th-Land of the Lost
June 24th-Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen
July 1st-Public Enemies
July 17th-Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince
August 7th-G.I.Joe:Rise of the Cobra

Looking at that list-we are HUGE NERDS. For real. I secretly want to go see Little Ashes with Robert Pattinson, but I actually don’t know any person I’m comfortable enough to watch that with in the movie theaters, so I’m pretty sure its going to wait until it comes out on DVD…

Word of the day: Swagger-jacked

Throwback phrase of the day: Slow your roll

Friday Night Lights
What a great show people. If you aren’t watching it, you should be. The season 3 finale was last night (on NBC, it plays the season on DirectTV first-part of the reason it just got renewed for two more seasons-YAY!) and there was this one scene where Eric and Tami had to say something to each other without using words and it was SO POWERFUL, what great actors, I just bawled and bawled thru the whole thing. The kid that plays Matt Sarcen is phenomenal and so believable, like if I met that guy in real life and he wasn’t like Matt, I don’t know what would happen, I’m pretty sure my head would explode. And I love Landry, even more so when he’s with Tyra. Anyway if you need to catch up and get on the ball, I own seasons 1-2 and season 3 comes out on DVD May 19 (another bonus to having it air on DirectTV, the DVD’s come out faster!) I would love to talk to about this show to people!!

Wanted: a substitute rapper
I’m currently in the market for a substitute favorite rapper while T.I. is in jail for a year, any suggestions? I seriously considered Common and Kanye West, but I’m open to suggestion… I thought about Timbaland too, but technically, he's a producer, and already my favorite producer so the cross over doesn't work...If anyone suggests Lil Wayne or Akon I might invent the internet punch and send one to you.

Start at the beginning and when you come to the end…stop.
Did I ever tell you all I was Alice in our sixth grade play of “Alice in Wonderland?” My mom made my costume complete with a white apron with a blue A monogrammed on it. I’m sad there isn’t pictures…but anyway, if you ever wondered why I know all the lines-there’s why. I’m probably the only person you know who can recite “Jabberwocky” by heart. Also in 9th grade I was part of the Lilliputian players (the drama class) and had to perform “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, and for some reason, that’s stuck there forever too. In my big ole’ brain.

Alright, have a great day all!
Love (my husband),
Carrie

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than ones

Morning All!
Happy Day after Easter-and to all of you who MAY have this day off (does anyone anymore?) PBBBTTHHHHH!!!

It’s coming together
The trim work is finally in the last leg of the project. Janet dropped off the truckload of trim (which I now feel guilty about giving her that much) that we gave her and it looked AWESOME. So now all we have to do is get it back on the walls. We finished the banister (by we I mean Seth, he took an entire day off work to do it) and the insides of the windows. I’m hoping the inside of the door frames when we do the hallway doors goes smoother then the windows. After the doors we have some tile work in the entryway and we can be DONE with trim until next year in my opinion. We still have the old trim in the bathrooms and the bedrooms, but we have been discussing just painting that to compliment the walls (like grey in the master bedroom)
What if we did black trim in the grey bathroom-I think that would look cool-or am I crazy here?

Mr. Freeze (not Arnold) is at my house
Seth’s parents also brought us a HUGEMOUNGOUS freezer for our wedding present and delivered it this weekend to us! I’m so excited!! We always have to cut back on great sales because our freezer was so small!! I’m thinking about getting into that freezer cooking now that people do, where you take a day and make a whole bunch of food for a month (like enchi’s!) and you freeze them. It’s supposed to save tons of money, and with our garden going in soon, I don’t think it would hurt one bit!! It has a cool nickname or acroymn in the blogs and I can't remember what its called now...

Old meter
2999 and counting…today I typed the sentence “You have to just grow up and be mature in these situations, sometimes dreams are just that-dreams, and nothing more. Not all your dreams come true.” OLLLLLDDDD LLLLLAAAADDDDYYYYY That is the saddest thing ever that I type that now and believe it. I remember it was just a couple years ago I was writing all sorts of quotes on my trapper keeper about my dreams all coming true with hard work and determination.

Pimping for my friends
So you probably (if I have your email and know you are a social networker like me) got an email from me today pimping out my friend Jeni's (from http://enjoyerofthejourney.com/) photography business. So I’m doing it here, live and in living color too. This is her photography blog http://friendphotogphotography.com/ and it is FANTASTIC. So book her to take pretty pretty pictures of you and your loved ones. She does travel to the Omaha area-and I’ll do you one better, if you book her, she can stay with me, because I love her and wouldn’t mind having her as a house guest one bit.

Also my friend L’ara (a heavy baggage blogger) is looking for a home for her dog, a pure bred (comes with AKC papers) Husky who isn’t fixed, if you did want one for breeding, her name is Meisha and she’s a sweetie. She loves exercise and being outdoors, is potty trained and great with kids and super smart. If you know a good home, let me know and I’ll put you in contact.

Have I mentioned?
That I LOVE the new onDemand workout video’s section? They just changed them out (they change them every month) and I did this one last night that almost KILLED me, but this morning I was getting ready (I hadn’t picked a shirt yet) and I could actually see the side ab lines and I almost woke Seth up I was so happy with me. They have these really easy 10 minute ones that do target zones (like legs or abs or arms) and its cake to do before we head up for bed for the night.

Adieu
Well that’s about all from this neck of the woods! Have a great Monday everyone!!!

Love (to have this signoff swagger jacked by my friends)
Carrie

Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

Happy Friday everyone! And Happy Easter weekend-I hope you all plan on spending it with the people you love, and if it’s your thing, Jesus too.

Ooooo that smell!
Am I the only person in the world who gets random smells on my hand and then wonder what they are? I swear this morning I was like, is that peanut butter? It took me forever to realize that I had a peanut butter granola bar for breakfast, so it must have been that. I sometimes work with a lot of old documents and files, so throughout the day, I have to ask myself “what’s that smell on my hands? What did I touch?” Some of the WAY older files they put talc powder in them to keep them dry, that stuff smells gross and makes my hands so dry…bah!

Pon de replay
I’m probably the only person you know (or blogstalk) that listens to Island rap, reggaeton, and Spanish rap. And enjoys it. Like immensely. So just so you know, if you need information on any of that-I’m your woman.

Easter Menu
So I’ve spent all week trying to come up with something to serve for Easter dinner with Seth’s family since we will be having it at our house this year. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Ham
Fat Potato Fat Fat (formally known as Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole)
White Corn and Tomato Salad
Cheesy Vegetable Risotto
Crockpot Alfredo Green Bean Casserole
Rolls from Rotella’s

For my Mom’s party I am making Spinach Artichoke dip with crusty French bread. She has a great menu going there and I'm glad all I have to help out with is dip!

The kittens are going to be published before me-nice
My newest celebrikitties were contacted this week by the owners of http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ and asked to be in their next book titled- I Can Has Cheezburger?: Lolcats Teach U How To Take Over Teh Wurld
This is the picture they asked to use-

I’m so excited! I’m pretty sure this makes me the quintessential crazy cat lady-hands down.

Well I’m off to find a ham glaze for the ham and to try and figure out what I need for our Orlando Vacation (besides liposuction and a tan). Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Love (Holiday’s with food),
Carrie

You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.

My brain is on cruise control so I invite you to view this news item and try not to laugh about it and think of that great episode on How I met Your Mother.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30136788/
It is pretty sad-when you think about it-but seriously- SWORDFIGHTING?
That is all-enjoy your day!
Love (that quote that is in the title)
Carrie

Anything too stupid to be said is sung.

One of the radio show’s I listen to in the morning on my way to work has this weekly thing called “I hate it when Wednesday’s” where people call in and talk about how they “Hate it when…” and then they fill in the blanks.
I thought-because I have spotty cell service all the way to work and can’t ever call in-I’d do it here for all of you. If you have a blog-you do it too or do it yourself in the comments.
So without further ado-Carrie-on Baggage’s I hate it when Wednesday Blog post:

-I hate it when a band/artist I vehemently despise comes out with a song I actually like and have to turn up in the car instead of turning off the radio or changing the station. I.E. Akon’s “Beautiful”-I’m a sucker for Colby O'Donis. By the way-did you know Akon’s full name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam? Thanks wikipedia!

-I hate it when people ride up on me in traffic when I’m obviously stuck between cars and not able to move over. Really, Really!?!? How does that help?

-I hate it when you go into the bathroom and there is someone in there obviously taking a dump and they hold very still until you leave, like if they don’t move, you won’t know that smell is them. I also hate it when the cleaning people are in the bathroom, it makes me feel like a horrible lazy human being.

-I hate it when you are trying to write a awesome blog post you’ve been thinking about all morning and your trainer actually feels like training you today-as opposed to every other day you’ve been here.

-I hate it when I decide to rock a new style and I end up looking like a homeless blind person dressed me. Or a twelve year old. I still think I make denim jumpsuits look as good a J.Lo. Not like I’m going on Brett Micheal’s Tour Bus of Love or whatever-PAM AND SETH.

-I hate it when you work out really hard for like the first time in a week and end up eating your weight in ice cream later that night.

-I hate it when the DVR cuts off right before Adam Lambert’s MINDBLOWING performance of “Mad World” and you have to just hope you had it on the same channel so you can rewind and see it.

-I hate it when you get your calendar days mixed up and what you thought was going to be a free weekend or night, you end up having to do something.

-I hate it when you move and your stuff doesn’t fit well in its new space, like my guest bathroom, the style was cute in Sioux Falls and fit really well, and now it looks like a clusterfuck of color and I can’t figure out how to fix it. I’m about to give Ellyn my credit card and tell her to make it a happy place again.

-I hate when my trainer gets in fights with people at work and wants me to be on her side, even though I’m really not at all.

-I hate it when the American Idol blog I LOVE to read is late getting up. Come on people!! Get it together, my work sanity is counting on you-didn’t you hear about the fights??

-I hate it when the guide lies and says your show isn’t on and then when you are upstairs flipping thru channels-behold! There it is and you are 16 minutes late to the show.

-I hate it when the federal government sends my favorite rapper to jail for a year. Even though I know it’s the right thing to do.

-I hate it when update shows don’t actually really update you at all.

-I hate it when my work filter catches emails and I spend all day lonely.

-I hate it when I run out of things for hate it when Wednesday.

Now you go!
Have a great Wednesday everyone!!
Love (new blog ideas),
Carrie

A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.

Yesterday I wrote (in my head) a prolific blog post about how I really wanted to get in a fight one day. But then I never wrote it down and lost it all. Just know, that sometimes I fantasize in my head about how I would be awesome in a fight and totally surprise everyone.
I’m currently trying to shop for our vacation in Orlando. We are about four weeks out on Wednesday. I can hardly believe it. We’ve been working out consistently and trying to stay on top of our diets. So far so good. Now I just have to find a swimsuit that doesn’t look like a 12 year old’s or a 45 year old’s. There is no happy medium. Not that I can find anyway. I’ve kind of been digging those monokini’s.
It looks more and more like we are going to be have Easter dinner with Seth’s family at our place on Saturday. Seth is supposedly taking Friday off work (I’ll believe it when I see it) and he’s going to try to get the house in order. Then all I will have to worry about is the food. He keeps forgetting to ask his mom if she’s going to help cook or not. I think I might just crockpot the hell out of the dinner and then just have a few things to finish up like the ham on Sunday. If I could find fresh green beans I might make almond green beans too because Neil really liked those last time I made them. And maybe some fresh steamed broccoli. I’m going to have to make Fat Potato Fat Fat because my parents aren’t. (What the heck!?!?) I can make that the night before and throw it in the oven with the ham I suppose.
Seth is mad because last night on Chuck, Scott Bakula’s (Quantum Leap!!!) character had a wrist computer like the one he designed for his senior thesis project. He’s still mad this morning and its put him in an awful funk all day. Thanks, Chuck.
I’m sad about my lunch today, it’s pathetic. But I’m hoping to make some pasta tonite and take the leftovers to work for the rest of the week.
Well that’s about it from my sad little world of boringness. Anyone have anything interesting going on out there in blog land?? Any good blogs for me to stalk?? Let me know!

Love (to be at home in bed),
Carrie

Questions!

Here's two questions I forgot to add to ask you all-you can comment below with your answers:

If you were a television news program host (like 20/20 or Dateline) what would your show sign off be? This weekend we were watching Ann Curry on Dateline and she took this really dramatic pause like she was going to say something great, and then she said "Good Night" and I was disappointed. I told Seth mine would be something really off the wall like and Eddie Izzard quote.

The other one I totally forgot in the span of two minutes because I got distracted thinking about Eddie Izzard-so we will go with, what's your favorite book and why?

Love (to peek inside your heads),
Carrie

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.

Hello blogosphere.
*le sigh* the snow was disappointing this weekend, wasn’t it?
I would love to tell you we did great exciting things, but we didn’t do much. Friday we went to dinner with my dad and that was yummy and fun. Saturday we did some shopping and then worked on the house and then cleaned off the DVR. Sunday we blinked at each other because we didn’t know what to do without an overloaded DVR. J And then we worked more on the house. Hopefully we will get a good portion of it done this week before we have Seth’s family up to the house for Easter dinner. Sunday we are going to my parents house for dinner. Usually there are crafts and there is always good food.
Other than that, not much in this world!
I’m currently taking pictures of my bookshelf and then telling you about the books on it. I saw another blogger do it and it was fun to see what books they were reading and why some books got to stay on their shelves, so as soon as I send myself those pictures at work, I will write up a blog on it for you!
In the mean time, here is a picture from Easter’s past:

Also my aunt just sent me this video and it might be the funniest thing I've ever seen...

PS today's title quote is from Marilyn Monroe. :-)

Love (a good laugh),

Carrie

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

Hi all and happy Friday!
I thought it would never get here. Did you all watch ER last night? I did and bawled for three hours straight. It was unreal. My head still hurts from crying and I get all choked up in my cube if I start thinking about it! It’s like I broke up with a boyfriend or something!
So we here in Nebraska are starting that lovely dance of is it going to snow or not? I’m not getting my hopes up, but I am sure getting my errands done before Saturday night.
Tonite we are going to Margarita’s Mexican restaurant on 72nd with my dad. I’m so excited to eat Mexican!
I have to hit about every single store on L street. The Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target bevy. I’m sure Seth will throw Home Depot in there too just because.
Seth had his first class last night and it seemed to have went well. It helps that he is taking it with a small group of people and they are all people he works with and counts as friends. I’m hoping he takes off early today and gets a little rest or else he will crash on Saturday and be completely useless to me.
Other than that, not much. My hyacinths and daffodils are coming up and blooming, my tulips are starting to break the dirt and stretch up. I might actually take the cats out today when I get home, even though last time I took them out, they started a fight with the birds in the backyard and Bagheera turned into one of the Aristocats getting all puffed up, jumping sideways, and making spitting noises. And as funny as that was-I think he’s still a little wound up from it.
Anyhoo-I’m nothing interesting and just praying these last couple hours go quickly because I have a date with a Mexican restaurant and some sweatpants.
Love (for the ability to control time),
Carrie

Cynically speaking, one could say that it is true to life to be cynical about it.

This is the longest week ever. Hands down. I’m excited to get to this weekend because we really have nothing to do and I plan on hanging out in my bed and in front of my DVR for most if not all of it. Here are the MINOR things that I have planned-
-Attempt to make Sesame Chicken for Seth (by the way-THANKS DAD for making Seth a delicious stir-fry dinner of walnut chicken to make him think that I can make stir fry for him too)
-Watch Seth strip the windows in the living/dining room
- Eat Mexican food Friday night, possibly with my parents at that Mexican place on 72nd whose name I can never remember
-Finish reading “Eclipse” so I can give it back to L’ara Thursday when she comes over to help make Easter goodies for our familes.
- Clean off the DVR (L’ara pointed out to me that we are going on vacation in about a month and I won’t be able to watch my DVR for FOUR DAYS-panic ensues)
- Go to Old Navy and Target to start shopping for the ORLANDO VACATION!!

So minor, minor stuff. I plan on wearing sweatpants for most of that stuff.
So I’ve had a random thought-it came to me this morning when I was driving to work and eating toast with grape jam and my hair kept getting stuck in my lips because they were sticky and I was fine with it. I just pulled them off and licked my lips. But Sunday at Cougar Club, L’ara found one of my hair’s in the hand rolled gnocchi and I literally almost threw up. It was one of my hairs! Where does it cross the line from it being okay that its in my mouth but still attached to my head and off my head and in a dish that grosses me out? I’m still pondering it.
I got all excited because they’ve been pimping the stir concert cove on the radio all week. So I checked their website and was sorely disappointed. There’s nothing exciting on that line up at all. I was really hoping there would be someone good so I could get my Dad tickets for his birthday since I am sucking air at coming up with a good birthday present for him. So far all I’ve come up with is the golf club you pee in and Seth says he wouldn’t think that was cool at all. Whatevs.
Sigh…I feel old and boring today…
I think I’ll go try to ponder more exciting thoughts to blog about later-if I don’t come back, I fell asleep from utter boredom.

Love (for it to be the friggin weekend already!)

Carrie

None are so busy as the fool and knave.

100 things about me-yeah I'm back to lists.

1. I was born really close to Thanksgiving, this has ruined many of my birthday parties growing up-however it has not ruined my love of Thanksgiving.
2. My parents have been married like 27 years or something. On their 25th anniversary they took us to Cancun. It was the first time I felt like a princess on vacation and now every other vacation pales in comparison-I’ve even put off my honeymoon because I’m afraid of the let down.
3. I’ve been to more schools then I care to remember, the only one I remember vehemently hating is the one in Peachtree City, Georgia. Which is strange, because I really liked living in Georgia…
4. I’m secretly worried about having to move out of my house when we need more space, because I am working really hard right now to get this one perfect, and I will rip my head off before I start all over again.
5. I am a obsessive compulsive eyebrow plucker-I blame Kathy who told me two years later that the school joke when I first moved to Augsburg was that I had a unibrow.
6. I used to think no one could tell that I dyed my hair blond-because my mom was blond. My dark brown eyebrows weren’t a dead give away or anything.
7. I have no tattoos and would really like someone to invent the tattoo parlor where they put you under to get one or at least gas you up really good. Come on they have dentists that do it.
8. My husband will not let me live vicariously thru him with my desire to have amazing tattoos-instead he wants things like Transformer logos on his wrists.
9. I fight the desire every day to put on my wedding dress-the only thing that stops me is how much I paid to get it stuffed in that tiny box.
10. I’m pretty sure if my husband doesn’t do my wedding remix idea in 5 years, I might have to find another man who DOES want to do it.
11. I’m currently obessed with Amazon’s MP3 download service. I’m not sure if it is because they have FREE SONGS or that they don’t charge me tax like the evil ITUNES when I do buy songs. Or five dollar album Fridays.
12. I am secretly jealous of Kathy because she shops at Target and not Walmart.
13. I don’t shop at Target because I’m a miser and I married a miser who has a BUDGET.
14. I make up names for things to make them more fun. At first my husband thought I was crazy-now he just goes with it.
15. I also make up songs for things and they are elaborate and I can come up with them on the fly. I think it’s a real talent-I credit my excessive exposure to rap music.
16. One time I was on the can and running a bath. I reached to turn of the water while still on the can and accidently crapped on the rug.
17. My family thinks that story is hilarious.
18. My brother especially-and now that I’ve told the world Jesse, this automatically makes up for the time I told your girlfriend in 6th grade that you peed in a can on a car trip and had to hold the can the rest of the trip. Which isn’t even as bad as my crapping on the rug story.
19. Listening to New Kids on the Block still turns me into a mushy pile of girl goo.
20. I have been known to adopt the language, phrases and gestures of the friends I love the most. My husband calls them girl crushes-I just pretend my super power is mimicry.
21. When Kathy graduated from High School my parents decided to take three teenagers in a mini van across the Midwest. My mom called it the “Great American Tour” we call her Clark Griswold to this day.
22. After 23 years my brother and I have finally harassed my parents enough to take us to Disneyworld.
23. I hate giving presents at Christmas. But I’m selfish.
24. If I actually have to think about typing-I fuck everything up.
25. It took me a long time to realize it was okay and totally kosher to have more than one best friend. And even longer to realize it was okay if some of those were my parents.
26. I think wearing high heels makes me feel 1000 times sexier.
27. The first thing I ever watched on Pay-per-View was Camp Nowhere, it was a huge event for me and my mom even let me have snacks in my room to watch it. I was so stressed by the fact that I only got it for a certain amount of time that I watched it over and over again for 12 hours straight.
28. Then I convinced myself it was a really good movie and lamented for weeks afterwards that I did not own it. Camp Nowhere is not a good movie.
29. The first CD I ever bought was “Woomp there it is” and I bought it for my brother on a shopping trip with my girlfriends and I got carsick on the way home.
30. I used to go to Taco Bell and order Taco’s with no meat after school in sixth grade for 59 cents, I thought it was the single greatest part of my day.
31. The first time I remember feeling like a cool, popular girl was in 9th grade-it was also the only time in my life when I had more than one girlfriend I could stand.
32. I hate that there isn’t a cooler name for a friend who is a girl. Why does saying it make me sound like a lesbian?
33. I tend to over exaggerate, a lot. Like enough that people who have known me a while just stop asking “was it really a 20 car pile up, or just one car that hit another?”
34. I love to listen to my parents tell stories about me when I was a kid. It’s like learning about a fun grandma you vaguely knew.
35. There is a guy at my work who cusses and then says “Excuse my English” instead of “Excuse my French”. I have daydreams of stapling his lips shut.
36. I don’t like it when the hairdressers talk to me. It must be why I only go once ever six months.
37. I have so many embarrassing moments in my life that I still turn bright red when I think about them.
38. The first thing I loved about my husband was his black truck, and when he told me it was a stick shift I immediately started keeping a mental list of things I loved about him and then I told him it 5 minutes later.
39. I got cockblocked by a dude at the first party I met my husband at. This guy was literally JOCKING my mack and he would step in front of me to talk to my husband. LOOK WHO WON YOU LITTLE SHIT!!
40. My mother is an Army Veteran and I’m so proud of her that once a year I send Oprah and Ellen and email to have her on their show so that I can show the world how cool she is.
41. My dad was a stay at home dad and I’m trying to write a book to honor the sacrifice he made to make me awesome.
42. I’m kind of disappointed none of my professors in college were uber hot and none of them tried to hit on me. Thanks to Lifetime, I thought that was what happened when you went to college.
43. I can multi-task like a superstar. In fact at this moment, I’m writing a blog post, working, chewing gum, listening to new music, drinking lemon water, and plotting dinner tontie.
44. I once tried to apply for the Peace Corps and was rejected for having no talents that they could use to help poor/needy people.
45. Apparently my extensive knowledge of pop culture and rap lyrics won’t help you grow plants to eat or dig wells-WHATEVER haters.
46. I actually only applied to the Peace Corps because I thought I could get tan and lose a lot of weight since I was sure it would be somewhere hot with a lot of sun and food I couldn’t eat.
47. I’m aware that is the most selfish statement ever-I like to think I’ve evolved from that person. At least a little.
48. I once was talking to my mom about my cervix and she misunderstood and thought I said clitoris. What followed was the single greatest conversation of my life-that she will never let me tell you.
49. I never was aware of my weight or even thought I had a problem with my weight until I dated a guy in college who commented on it more than I did.
50. I have double standards for pretty much everything I do.
51. I wish I could get paid to sleep, read books, and watch tv.
52. I think Eddie Izzard is the single greatest comedian of all time.
53. I like British comedy better than American comedy. Most of the time I don’t get American comedy.
54. I love to read historcial fiction.
55. I’m pretty sure if I were a super hero, my power would be some form of personality shifting so people liked me-because I’m really good at that. Most people wouldn't even recoginze the person I am at work.
56. I like one of my cats better than the other. I’ve decided that this will make my preference with our future children unavoidable.
57. I am secretly worried that I am infertile. I obsess about it on a daily basis.
58. Reading “The Phantom Tollbooth” made me fall in love with books.
59. I fantasize about being on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance…a lot.
60. I think the worlds best judges panel for ANYTHING would be Simon Cowell, Tom Colicchio, Gordon Ramsey, Nigel Fuller, and Shane Sparks.
61. Sometimes I read recaps of shows I don’t like just so I can pretend I watched them and have something to talk with people about.
62. I hate my wedding pictures, I wish the were more candid and arty and modern. You could make them fuzz 70’s print and you would never know they weren’t my Great-Aunt’s wedding pictures.
63. I say hi to everyone I pass by at work and smile, even if I’m listing off the reasons I hate them in my head.
64. I am the QUEEN of snark.
65. I love blogstalking. I secretly pretend those people are my friends and talk about them to my husband like their entries are emails they sent me that day.
66. I’m disappointed more people don’t blogstalk me. Of course this is silly because the point of blogstalking is to be undected.
67. Sometimes I ask people their specific reactions to my entries.
68. I try to blog every weekday and feel like I let someone down if I don’t.
69. I don’t think anyone would notice if I didn’t.
70.I could listen to the Wallflowers “Bringing down the Horse” cd every hour of every day for the rest of my life. I’m not sure why.
71. I hate when I waste my time emailing people and they don’t email me back.
72. I secretly wish Facebook and Myspace would implode so I could get my life back and stop obsessing about who isn’t responding to my wall posts.
73. I’ve found as I’ve grown older, I still have a lot of repressed anger and regret that I can’t seem to shake.
74. It creeps me out when the old ladies at my work talk about their facebook accounts. And how its fun to use and look up people, like it’s a high school reunion with cocktails or something.
75. When I work out, I gain weight. Like five pounds a day. I don’t understand it and I don’t believe my husband (or any of you for that matter) that muscle weighs more than fat.
76. I will probably never get into golf like my family is into it.
77. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight.
78. I can’t spell vegetarian to save my life, thank God for spell check.
79. I find something satisfying about owning TONS OF BOOKS.
80. My husband gave me the best Valentine’s Day present ever this year-he let me go to the book store and buy whatever I wanted. And then we ate Mexican.
81. I love Mexican food.
82. I hate the sun.
83. And the heat.
84. I like telling people random things about myself.
85. Hence the survey
86. I can still remember how to pronounce my ninth grade boyfriends last name. Pol-chen-ski. He was Polish.
87. I am TOTALLY OBSESSED with Harry Potter and have been for years.
88. I randomly google ex-boyfriends and people I knew from high school. Usually I don’t find anything.
89. I randomly quote Eddie Izzard throughout my day and NO ONE gets it and that makes me sad.
90. I fight daily with dying my hair mahogany red like Addison on Grey’s or Neela on ER.
91. I was sure I wouldn’t make it too 100, but I’m really close.
92. I encourage my husband to find jobs in his company that are in Europe or Colorado-for some reason I think its going to be cool to live there. And that my parents and friends will come move down the street.
93. I’m sad its only 3 o’clock
94. If I didn’t have a job, I would stop washing my hair to see what happens.
95. I really want to be a legendary cook in my family and circle of friends.
96. I also want to be a really good photographer, at least good enough that my family pictures look like some form of art on my walls.
97. I hate bananas, but like saying the word.
98. If I don’t watch something off my DVR everyday, I start to have panic attacks.
99. That kinda makes me sad.
100. But not really.