"i regularly use the small of my back as a plate."

~harvey jahue

he said that in the limo. on the way home from the burial. and it was well-timed and friggin hilarious. and I liked it.

for the record, my family is nuuuuuuts. we're a bunch of women--there are only a handful of men and a lot of those married in to our craziness. I hear it's catching. kidding, kidding. well, sorta.

I got here okay. I mean, my first flight was delayed and I almost cried at the ticket counter, and then I missed my second flight due to the delay and got on a later flight that was also delayed, but all in all it was okay. and I finished my book and I'm starting a new one.

AND this wonderful girl named molly went to pick up adam so I didn't have to. thank goodness.

also, I am exhausted. As of right now I've been up for almost exactly twelve hours, and I've spend nine of them in a black dress. I just put on my pjs.

today and yesterday were really sad, and I don't want to dote on them. but I will tell you that my granddad looked like a wax figure of himself, that the service was wonderful (and I even laughed a little--at appropriate times), my mom almost fainted on the way out, I'm very thankful for my Aunt Gayla who is also a planner because we worked for like an hour figuring out the limo and seating arrangements, it was cute that the marines who did the military salute were a husband and wife, the irises I bought were very much appreciated by everyone, and playing go fish with a six year old can be refreshing.

I also got to spend some real quality time with my granny last night. We talked and talked and talked--about granddad, about how my relationship with my grandparents isn't a typical one but how lucky we both/all are for it, how great it was that I'm staying at her house, about plants (trillium, irises, wisteria, etc) and about how we're both stubborn, loud and always cold. :)

and after that conversation she did something amazing...there is this afghan that usually sits on the pink couch in my granny's room. it is green and pink or green and red, depending on how you think of colors--I, of course, think pink. ;) but anyway, I've been eyeing this thing for a long time. It's crocheted in one of those zig-zag patterns that has a name I can't remember, and it is made of variegated yarn--a stripe of pink then green then pink. And it is beautiful.

and now, it is mine.

I am allergic to it. And it has to be dry cleaned. And I have to keep it away from Gobi and Hazel when they get in their clawing moods.

but it absolutely made my day. I'll take a picture of it and share it with y'all soon.

and now, I'm going to bed. night. oh, and next time I blog I'm going to tell you a joke. it's exactly the kind of joke my granddaddy would've loved. I've told it to all of my family who's here, and they agree. get prepared.

dude, I am so buying a lottery ticket.

and then matt is going to buy one too with pretty much the exact opposite numbers and he'll win the jackpot and we'll go on a fancy vacation and he'll buy all his family's homes from them and let them live rent free but he won't pay my rent or buy me a car but he'll always pay for dinner.

um, yeah.

ps, would the exact opposite numbers be, what, reciprocals? do you switch a 1 with a 9, a 2 with an 8, etc? since, y'know, there are no negative numbers available for the choosing....

anyhoo.

so, um. list for tulsa. I go in the AM and the funeral is at 2pm on Thursday in the funeral home on Peoria. Which I went to church by like every sunday for pretty much ever.

upper respiratory infection? check.
codeine-laced cough syrup? check.
anti-bacterials pills that are pink? check.
mucinex? check.
nasal saline spray? check.
moisturizing afrin? check.
maxifed (a relative of sudafed that works for those of us who've had sinus surgery)? check.
aquaphor (man that stuff rocks my socks)? check. and, now in travel-size, too!
travel kleenex? check.

and that's only the sinus/respiratory-related stuff. egads.

so, yeah, here goes the whining: so, I paid a lot of money to go to oklahoma tomorrow. it's worth every penny, but I'm going to be getting friendly with the ramen noodles, methinks. one of my project directors was a HUGE ASS yesterday regarding the whole death-of-close-relative-funeral-thing (but he was nicer today), I had to see *two* doctors today, not just one, because my work physical place won't do prescriptions, my new antibiotic thingie can't be taken within two hours of zantac so I have to plan my eating and medicine accordingly, and also the amount of coughing I'm doing is, well, alarming. I'm also exhausted. * but my across-the-way-neighbor woke me up from my much needed nap this afternoon because he needed ketchup. glad to help him, but still. and and and--this one really gets my goat--so, my cousin lives on the other side of okc from my brother, right? admittedly it's like forty minutes away from adam's dorm--but all in all only adds an hour to his trip total (it's only mostly out of his way). but my cousin will only drive adam to tulsa if adam, who has neither a license nor a car, can get himself to andy's home. in other common situations, fine, fine. but dude, this is for a funeral. it's quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime event. and it's important. and so, instead, I with my rental car shall leave for tulsa at 915 raleigh time, arrive in t-town at noon central and after a lunch and hugs commence the two hour drive to and from norman.

I am happy to get my brother. I am pleased that I can take this burden from my mother. I am annoyed that my cousin won't go get adam, and that instead I am going to travel at a minimum nine hours tomorrow. With an upper respiratory infection.

end complaining. as I'm sure you realize, at times blogs are for venting. and, I do realize that I could be waaaaay worse off--allergic to the air, unable to speak/walk/type, etc--and I'm sure my cousin has his reasons. but, as they say on gray's--seriously.

mmmkay, some quick happier stuff before my medicine knocks me out.

I'll get to the * in just a sec--no happy in the midst of a rant, wouldn't want to muddy the tone. Today Matt and I used yet another handy dandy coupon and tried Brixx pizza for the first time. Quite yummy and a good beer selection for sure (thanks for the recommendation, kim!). We are also rather excited about this program here-and we found out that Matt and I are able to have our Brixx Bash at the same time. We figure we can each invite 5 or 6 people and each can get a pizza with the seventy five smackers. :) We'll be getting that koozie and tshirt in no time at all. And we know we'd better hurry before they discontinue it!

and about that asterisk. I feel like I'm bursting with get-things-accomplished-ness and then I feel like I need to sleep for a week. Like, that I'm oscillating in a sinusoidal fashion (which is sooooooo the best math/sinus pun I've ever made in my life but moving on) and it's awful. But Matt has been so helpful and kind and I'm just really thankful for him. you know how sometimes you see the expression in someone's eyes and their concern makes you feel better because you realize that you have someone else looking out for you just as much as you're looking out for you? yeah. that.

and speaking of thankful...

I have gotten so many comments. And emails. And phone calls. And so many offers of help from so many people. people as close as a mile away and as far as colorado and california and hawaii, and from people I've known since elementary school to people who I just met this summer. and I feel so loved and comforted and I really appreciate it. Thank you for offers of rides and for looking things up for me and for offers of food and distraction.

anonymous from the last post was right--I am a very loved and lucky girl. and I am so greatful.

i'm really going to miss him.

my granddaddy passed away last night. he was old and frail, and he was in buckets of pain, so it's a good thing, it's okay. but I'm still really going to miss him.


the last time I saw him was exactly three weeks ago. after matt and I brought him (and I fed him) his arby's sandwich with horsey sauce and a porter peach, on our way out he insisted we take this picture. and I am so glad. he was so disappointed that I had to leave, but also so glad to've seen me. I'd actually printed out a copy of the picture for him and was going to mail it to him this week. instead I have one copy and home and another at work.

my granddaddy was an amazing man. I liked to tell him that he was my very most favorite person in the whole wide world. because he was.

When I was a little girl he used to do this loud evil muah-ha-ha laugh and tell Anna and me scary stories before bed. He loved reading us the Golden Book about the two twin girl mice who jumped on the bed. And he'd bring surprises upstairs for us--like a big beach ball that had a glow stick in it that we'd bat around in the dark.

He had a crazy punny sense of humor (I totally credit him for mine) and I don't know that I'll ever be able to attend a thanksgiving where I don't think of him, and think of how the two of us were always the last ones at the table, telling the baaaaaad jokes and thereby getting all the lasts of the desserts.

Once in college I made his entire week by inviting him to come to a TU basketball game with me (he's a TU alum as well). He loved it that I went to TU--I'm the only grandchild who has--and he was so proud of me for my accomplishments my entire life long. He often served as my "father"--attending father-daughter scout dinners, giving boys the "firm handshake" when I lived at their house and being the male influence in my life. He came to see me honored as a Top Ten Freshman, was so pleased that I went KD and he always made time for me.

He was patient, kind and a bit of a penny-pincher, but had more patience than any one person should ever have to possess. He was a night owl, too--in the summers off from college I would have lunch while he had breakfast on days I didn't work. When he had one of those stair-chairs he and I used to "race" each other to the top. I always let him win.

He taught me how to play pool. And poker. And how to start the chevy on cold days.

And he wore these great button up shirts. I don't know what they're called, but they all look like this. I think I might ask if I can have one and maybe make a pillowcase out of it or something.

I found out he was a "real" person when I was nineteen or twenty and caught him smoking his pipe outside on the front porch while granny napped--he was supposed to have stopped, but decided if he'd lived this long (he was over seventy at this point) he'd earned the right to have his pipe once a day!

I don't know when the funeral is yet, but I will later today, and I imagine I'll be heading to OK tomorrow or wednesday. And though I'm really sad, I'm trying to remind myself of all the happy things and how lucky I am to have known my granddad for so long.

"that was the best shot I've ever had in my whole life"

said the birthday girl, marla.

and, um, this picture pretty sums up our evening. :)

the day we met should be a holiday it could commemorate all the things we said

~sarah borges

so, I just can't wait anymore, I gotta show you this one. I call it "sub arbore--tortus" which is latin for "under the tree--twisted." and it is the six-month-iversary present I made for matt. it looks better in real life than it does in this picture, but you get the idea.


it's of a picture I took in Pennsylvania that he helped me "see." and I get to give it to him in like five hours and change and I sure can't wait. we're also going out to dinner at bogart's (and my handy dandy coupon book has one for there, yippee!) and then meeting the birthday girl out--and without further ado, I should tell you that today is the birthday of the fantastic, amazing and fabulous marla. she is so much fun. you should be so lucky as to have a friend like her.

my stomach is better today than yesterday. the GI lady tried to talk me into having a colonoscopy despite a)in being invasive, b)my intestines appearing normal and c)my pain being located right at the location of my gall bladder, which my granny had to have removed and which is the only thing that they didn't test my blood for the function of. (okay, that sentence was awkward). even the dude at the xray place said "you know, that's where your gall bladder is. you should maybe see about having an ultrasound done on it."

I'll have a colonoscopy if I have to, but if at all possible I'm avoiding it. Especially when it seems like we're focusing on something other than the problem. I'm no medical professional, but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then, well, you should at least double-check to make sure it's a duck, right?

also, today is the international day of peace. which is, amongst other things, a day to be kind, compassionate and forgiving. try it, you might like it.

and a great way to start your friday--get to work, go to put your lunch in the fridge and have the gal at the coffee put say "did you used to have really long hair?" when you say yes have them say "that's what I thought--this short cut is really cute on you!" I def liked that. :)

so far today I've had...

24 oz of barium suspended in water

at least 90 oz of water

a glass of OJ

and a coke.

that is A LOT of liquid. and especially when you consider that it's in, oh eight hours.

my test this morning almost didn't happen. when they were checking me in they said "that will be $150 for your copay" and I almost lost it. we weren't able to completely clear it up, but it seems that actually the most I should owe is $35.

it's kind of amazing that I paid someone to make me drink nasty chalky stuff with a fruit aftertaste, hang out in a way-too-large hospital gown and take pictures of my innards.

at least the gal who was the technician was really nice and pleasant, got me warm blankets (yes, warm!) when I was shivering and was overall really pleasant. and I got to see the images of my intestines and colon. it was cool to see them move around when I rotated as the doctor instructed.

anyway, my intestines seem to be peachy with a side of keen. all normal. the doctor said that my GI specialist might want to do an ultrasound of my gall bladder.

doesn't that sound fun?

yeesh. so, I know my intestines are okay, but still don't know what the problem is. it's kind of a mixed bag, methinks.

also, last night my boyfriend impressed me by biting into a wax candle. no really. it was pretty hilarious and actually quite necessary. just go with it. I took pictures, but they aren't blog-worthy. I had lots of fun talking to the people nearby and I'm looking forward to getting together with Patty and Darren on October 13th. (hint hint, patty!)

things are still not *right* in my tummy from this morning, but it seems I'm getting better. I'll just keep chugging water and hopefully it'll all be okay. and maybe next week we can discuss adventures in gall bladders! yay!

I am so glad tomorrow is friday. I feel like I think this every thursday. But tomorrow is particularly great since I get to give Matt his presents AND we get to celebrate Marla's birthday!

i'm feeling rather bumble bee like.

bbbbbbbbbbusy.

the game last night was AWESOME. we lost, but we made it to the 9th inning (you usually only go for 5 unless they're really really short) and we were tied for the last few. they were the home team and FINALLY scored a run. it was totally a good game.

see the toxic waste blog for pictures. and our coach got us trophies, which is suuuuper fun.

today we had a visit from the dee-oh-ee, and I had to be here early and eat lunch with them. I even put on real makeup and wore a collared shirt. It made me feel kind of important.

tomorrow is try two for the tummy tests. hopefully it will all work properly. I have to be at the hospital at 715 AM for my 730 apartment, I hope I can figure out where to park. yikes.

and did y'all hear about the guy at UF who got tasered while asking questions of john kerry? weird. here's another POV about it.

chocolate coating makes it go down easier.

last night, as aforementioned, was six months. six months I've reallyreallyreally enjoyed. full of fun trips and rockin' parties and mushy moments and stubbornness and hand holding and movies and laughs and music and too long phone convos and not enough sleep and photographs and stories and cuddling and friends and family and honesty. like, the only thing I can think of that would make it better, really, is if we didn't live half an hour apart--that's it. anyway, matt totally called me out (in a nice, smiling pot-calling-the-kettle-black kind of way) on sunday, telling me how he realizes that I love being the cutest couple at the party.

truth be told, I do. but better still is that I love it that we're the cutest couple at the party and we aren't even trying. I didn't even realize this was going on at all util eleventy billion people commented on how cute we are. (see?)

but to further the cuteness...

so last night I had a softball game I didn't want to miss 'cause I've already missed so many. it was with my church league, and it was at 730. and it started late. and though I'd hoped to arrive at Matt's around 945, I ended up getting there around 1030.

mister wonderful had flowers for me. and sparkling grape juice (since it was late on a school night). and three different flavors of icecream. and he'd picked out three movie possibilities--Tristan and Isolde, The Notebook and The Princess Bride. It was quite late so The Princess Bride it was.

man, I love that movie. and I totally used to have a crush on fred savage.

but anyway, it was extra adorable. and made me extra happy. and these flowers are extra colorful and very pretty and well, yay. best of all? this wasn't even our real celebrating, we just wanted to see each other on the official day. :)

a few other things:
a list of ways to dispose of things.
and I am wearing two kd dagger days tshirts today. one long sleeved, one short. I feel a little silly.
also, I successfully ate salsa today. I am pleased. :)

happy new year!

no, seriously.

so, friday was a fun evening--one that lasted a looooong time, but quite fun. I have decided that I'm def not a fan of playing asshole into the wee hours of the morning. but it was fun to see the show at local 506 (I soooo don't remember the band's name...someone at the country boys? corn boys? something?) and it was nice to meet matt's "imaginary" teacher friend lance and for lance to meet matt's "fictitious" girlfriend.

saturday was busy busy busy

haircut-check
lunch with marla-check
watching matt and justin's (marla's fiance) soccer game-check
shower after game-check
fashion show for evening dresses 'cause I didn't know what to wear-check
drive to charlotte-check
party party party-check
four games of beer pong for me, at least ten for matt-check
moonshine soaked maraschino cherries-check
toast at midnight-check

the party was for kara (in the red in the middle with the blonde hair) who's had a hell of a year (she was diagnosed with leukemia this time last year) and kind of wanted to have a turn-over-a-new-leaf party. it was very fun, except for the sleeping part. the air mattress was GIGANTIC--deeper than my mattress and box springs together--and when I got into bed I was so cold my teeth were chattering!!!

we also watched this very cool video on you tube--if you like dancing, you'll enjoy it, methinks.

the cute ladies with the happy new year headgear!

here's matt and me all dressed up.

my beer pong partner in crime (well, for one game) laura, who is matt's partner's twin sister, and also a kaydee. we had fun gossiping. and maybe had one too many cherry. :)

matt and taylor. ps, I am SO being mocked in this picture.

unfortunately we were unable to locate a place that sold bluebell--when we left at 730 in the morning so matt could be back for his soccer game (did I mention we went to bed at 330 and I actually wore my pajamas out in public I was so tired?)

fortunately we'll be going to georgia the last weekend of this month, so we can get some for me then. whew!

and then yesterday after my four hour nap, errands and youth group kim and I went to Olive Garden. Who has discontinued my favorite entree--chicken giardino. I am bummed.

two last things.
1. my pictures never showed up. I'll be calling winkflash to complain. I don't feel extra confident about my pictures I entered, but we'll see. and here's what I ended up with--more than anything I'm just bummed 'cause the one of the shadows is a 4x6 and everything else is a 5x7 except the daisies--

2. to end on a fabulously happy note--today is six months for matt and me. yay! :D he is such a sweetheart--he brought a blanket and umbrella to the game for me and marla to use (though we got there too late and he was on the field so he couldn't tell us), he always does nice things for me and he is so much fun! we're getting together tonight, but we're actually celebrating on friday and I seriously can't wait to show y'all the gift I made for him.

i'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?

~ms. britney spears (aka, trainwreck)

(and yes, this is the second time I've quoted this song as a title, but considering that we might actually PLAY this song next week to freak out the diamondbacks, I felt it was appropriate. deal.)

so, I feel like I get up, go to work, play softball, go home and sleep, get up, go to work, play softball. seriously, people, three games this week. and yesterday's was the penultimate. well, sort of. technically we'll be playing twice next week, but it's the same team, and we've gotta beat them both times since it's double elimination.

but we will, oh yes, we will.

by the way, incase you couldn't tell, we won yesterday. a screaming 19-11 victory, but quite the game! after two innings we were up 7-0, we let them score 7 runs to tie it, then we got ten or so runs in one inning--amazing! I even got to score! I *almost* scored twice, but the second hit was a weak one to the pitcher, who ran to tag me. Yikes!

my favorite part of the game (other than the winning and the going to amante's afterwards, of course!) was the following course of events.

I was up to bat and we had one out. I took the first pitch, per usual, and it was a strike, followed by a ball. The next pitch was another strike, which I swung at and fouled out to the bleachers of our team. The next was a ball, as was the one after that, and the one after that I fouled again. So now we're left with three balls and two strikes since you get a courtesy foul--the fullest count you can have. And Eagle-Eye-Tulsa over here (better known as the Tulsa Terror, Tulsa Tornado, Tulsa and Carrie) saw that last ball and merrily walked her way to first base. :)

and then, as I gave Nick my batting gloves (because I hate running the bases with them on if I can avoid it) I said "I can't believe I hit two fouls--I haven't hit a foul the entire season!" To which Nick responded "and you almost killed two people in the process."

it made me giggle.

and I liked it. Speaking of things I like--the other members of my team are such cool people, and that's fun too!

so, bummer alert coming up: all of my effort selecting pictures may have gone to waste (pun from my softball team's name not intended). winkflash still hasn't gotten my photos to me. I made backups and I'll show you which ones they are if I end up submitting them. Photos are due at 2pm, so at 1pm, once the mail should've arrived, I'm going to run home, check the mail, mount the photos if they're there and scurry back to submit them. And if they aren't there, I'll turn in the backups. The only real disappointment about this is that instead of turning in 5 8x10s I'll have to turn in one 8x10, three 5x7s and a 4x6, which just makes the photos have less impact. Oh well though, it'll be okay.

happy friday. or fryday, as I've come to think of it sometimes!

when it all when it all when it all when it all gives way you persuade me that I had the whole thing wrong all along.

~hail social

i'll take aggravated for two hundred, alex.

so, I woke up early this morning.

I needed to email my boyfriend our upcoming obligations (seriously people, he is no good with remembering dates, and he's very honest about it, so I feel okay telling you this) and I needed to do a few other things before I went to the doctor.

At 850 I got in my car to get to my doctor's office at 915, fifteen minutes before my appointment--the sooner I began drinking, the sooner I got to leave, right? gah.

so, the machines were d-o-w-n down. and I found out when I was five minutes from the office. and I almost chewed out the lady on the phone--but I did make a point of telling her that I knew it wasn't her fault. and then, of course, I had a nice reality check when she told me that they found out it wasn't working AFTER they'd prepped their first patient of the day for his barium enema.

say it with me people: ew!

and they don't have open appointments for TWO weeks. icks. I am not a happy carrie, no no no.

also, my dryer is going to go the great big appliance store in the sky...which is a hassle, but whatever. it seems that the heating element is dead and the cord that rotates the drum is shot too--but hey, I figure this piece is AT LEAST twenty years old, maybe more.

now happy things:
-playoff game tonight, I'm PUMPED!
-tomorrow evening will be fun fun fun
-I get my hair trimmed on saturday
-and then I'll maybe go to matt's game with marla (her fiance justin is playing on the same team!)
-and then PAR-TAY in Charlotte.

the other thing that could make my day awesome? If my photos arrive in the mail today. we shall see, hmmm?

Oh, and. Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite authors--Mr. Roald Dahl. I loved this particular book so very much that I named my car after it. Oh, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The BFG, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Esio Trot, Danny: The Champion of the World...oh, Roald Dahl rules. I know that J K Rowling gets mad recognition for her whole getting-kids-to-read thing, and she totally deserves it, but I feel like books by Roald Dahl did it first. I remember for, what, like my eleventh birthday my granny and granddad arranged with the man who owned the bookstore on brookside--which is now The Brook, something Myers?, for me to be able to go every month and spend twenty dollars on books. That might've been the best present I've ever gotten. :)

So, in the spirit of remembering--what was your fave Roald Dahl book, hmmm?

photophotophoto

so, apparently I got motivated all of the sudden.

I just mailed off picture submissions to Our State magazine and I entered two photo contests online today. And tonight I'm cutting the boards for the photos, mounting the ones I already have and then making some 5x7 ones just incase darn winkflash doesn't get me my 8x10s in time.

seems like everything just clicked, eh?

yeah yeah, I know I know. lame jokes from carrie. you know you like 'em.

I've already had two fun softball games this week, and tomorrow promises another. Pity that I have choir tonight or I'd be attending a 4th game in four days--that's CRAZY! But it's good exercise, especially since I usually play catcher.

Monday night's game was my first I've been able to make this season--for my church league. It was right after my Communications Committee meeting (which I'd tell you about but then I'd begin ranting and get red in the face and I'd like to just avoid that, if you please) but there was one noteworthy part. So, I played catcher, big surprise, and this tall dude came up to bat and ripped the ball--and our shortstop LEAPT in the air to catch the line drive. Seriously jumped like three feet or something. And he caught it.

As the guy came back by the plate to collect the bat I was holding out for him I said "that was a really good hit, he had to jump really high to catch it. seriously, good hit."

That's halfway through the game. At the end, after going through the "good game" high fiving, three of the other women on my team started yelling my name--'cause dude wanted to tell me how it was so nice of me, and how he really appreciated that I said it, etc. The other women were all "ooooh, he wants your nuuuum-beeer!" It was pretty funny.

and then I made a point of avoiding him even though he was staked out right by where I'd have to walk to leave. a little much? maybe. but it made the situation go away, and that's what I wanted.

Last night's game was a CLOSE one--we won 13-14, they had a runner in position to score and my friend nick fielded the ball to get the runner out at first, and now we're guaranteed third place in the tourney--but let me tell you, we're still shooting for first!!!

here's our team from yesterday. including jim's daughter hannah, who is ADORABLE and very polite. and who hits better than I do--but I don't think she's old enough to play on our team yet, so she's our "mascot."

and do note my shoe--COVERED with chalk.

It was so dry that the dirt got EVERYWHERE and made me look kinda tan--well, until I took off my knee brace, then you could tell it was just dirt. :)

tomorrow is tummy test two. I hope it goes smoothly, does not make me sick, yields results that better "explain" my situation and that I get to play in tomorrow's softball game. I realize that's a mite bit to ask, but it's not totally unreasonable, right?!?

and check out this band. we're seeing 'em on friday. them and some other group--and one of 'em is friends with matt's friend, but I don't know which. but anyhoo, I like! makes me think a little of cake and the indigo girls and bare naked ladies or something. random combo, fo' sho.

anyhoodle, that is all, and happiest of hump days to you.

normal is good, right?

my blood work from last week came back "normal," which I think means no crohn's disease for me! yippee!

now my worst case scenario (which I always need to know 'cause that's how I operate) is better. and I like that. :)

it was a funny little spark

~portastatic

so, good news. today I feel the best I have in two whole weeks. let's hope I get a call today saying "nope, not crohn's" and then good results from thursday's dye drinking, shall we?

I didn't have a chance to tell you on Friday (and the story below should explain why) but I got this INCREDIBLE package from tonya, Matt's sister-in-law, in the morning. It had sundry goodies and totally made my AM. Vintage aprons, tea towels and rubber gloves, oh my! And some potpourri in vintage hankies and pictures of tinka and hans, tonya and george's cute kitties. Adorable, no?

I cannot decide if I like the strawberries or the rooster better. I think rooster, but then the strawberries are so dadgum cute! Now all I need is a tiara!

overall the weekend was pretty hilarious, and I had a good time even though it got off to a rough start. Y'see, Friday I was at work until just a skosh before 8pm (not on purpose!) and though it's awesome that I get to take those two extra hours and not have to use PTO for two of my appointment hours on thursday, staying until 8 on a Friday blows.

thankfully Matt did something he doesn't usually do and planned our evening since my day had been craptacular. we had (non-spicy) sushi and watched national treasure, and then stayed up for a long long time trying to decide which pictures I should submit. we decided I need to do five of these six. it was a hard call, but these are probably 1)most unlike others that will be submitted and 2)don't require you to "really look at it" to see what's good. he kept having to remind me that my pictures don't seem novel to me 'cause I took 'em (case in point the daisies from underneath). I've had all these printed and they'll likely arrive wednesday--when I'll mount them all and then make the final call of which to take out.

thanks mucho for all of your input, by the way!

saturday was brunch at bob evan's, where I'd never been before, and which is an unusual thing since Matt usually has AM soccer games. and then he earned some serious points by taking me to a place in hillsborough near his school where I took all these pretty pictures. it kept alarming him that I wanted to stand in the middle of the road to take some of these. I do wish the hay bale had been closer to the mailboxes, but that's okay...

and then it was to kara and sean's for sean's birthday party (their last party was where we met--six months ago in a week!). some highlights...
-we played beer pong and matt was on a team with a pregnant woman (don't worry, he did all the drinking for her!)
-my teammate and I heel-clicked every time we sunk a ball (and by we I mean me.)
-we played flip cup--and some of the drunkards insisted on labeling the teams "poles" and "holes." classy. and, I must admit, hilarious.
-matt and I closed down the party. we were the last people there, and it was only 1215. granted, we got there 2 hours later than a lot of people, but people started leaving about two hours before we did, so it all evens out. we are hardcore, I tell you!
-I told some baaaaaaaad jokes--about the chemist who wants to be a gravedigger, the man who hears voices in a bar, elephants in a cherry tree and my personal fave, the little red ball. Someone should stop me!

oh, and the pictures from the party? yeah, not taken by me. taken by drunken boys of various parts of their anatomy. joy. hence me not sharing them.

sunday was busy too--church (and the choir sang), lunch with Matt and his sister Kat after picking her up at the airport, youth group and a church bbq and talent show (and the choir sang at it too). I met an older couple, some of the Sullivan's friends, who had lived in ft smith and who had NO IDEA how old I was--people really guess I'm anywhere from 17 to 32. It's crazy! Matt has the same problem, and we both talked about how gray hair and wrinkles won't be such a terrible thing. ha!

I spent some time last night painting as well, but so far I'm not very happy with it. But that's okay, it's just paint, and I used panels instead of real canvas, so that's cool too. And I got to talk to Katie while I painted, and I liked that too!

and gobi and hazel were cute. per usual. see?

i might...

have crohn's disease.
-or-
have a peptic ulcer.
-or-
still be recovering from a stomach virus that has caused a thickening of the ileum at the end of my small intestine.

so next week I get to do this and this. I am told it will not be as bad as the CT scan last week. I hope they are correct.

In the meantime, me and the zantac will continue to be good buddies. Please do hope for it to just be that stomach virus thing. It's eleven days later and I'm still having symptoms (and have a low-grade fever) but that doesn't mean it couldn't've been a virus, they just like to see those symptoms go away after a week she says, and of all the possibilities, that's definitely the best.

yee-haw. and also, yikes.

picture pages, picture pages, open up your picture pages...

it's that time of year again. and do you remember mortimer ichabod marker? right. so, I'm entering the work photo contest again. there are five categories and I get to enter five pictures (but I can enter more than one per category)--the categories are people, landscapes, nature, architecture and miscellaneous.

so, here are my contenders. please cast your votes. and I appreciate your help! on, and I'm planning on ordering these kids on saturday...so respond by friday if you can! and, if you think there's one here that I should've put in the running, do let me know, please!

1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8.
9. 10.
11. 12.
13. 14.
15. 16.
17. 18.
19. 20.
21. 22.
23.

and of course, the ones with my name on it won't have my name on it. :)