oh dear.

my poor granddaddy is in the hospital again. his legs have been collapsing/crumpling, and his blood pressure was sky-friggin'-high. I love him so much, and it makes me very sad to know he's having to live like this. he was in the marines, if you didn't know, and I know he's always been a tinkerer, so this way of living is probably killing his mind as much as it is his body.

it makes me think of the tire swing he hung on the big tree in front of their house on 31st street, and all the tools in his "workshop" in the basement, and what a big deal it was when I was allowed to go in there. and all the things he installed or fixed himself. and his most excellent muah-ha-ha laugh he used to use to scare anna and me when we were supposed to be sleeping in our beds, but were whispering to each other instead. it makes me miss him. he's pretty much the best man I've ever gotten to know, and I don't know what I can do to help him, other than pray.

they're trying to get his blood pressure to a normal level, and to figure out how to proceed. I believe he's going to have to stay in a nursing home from now on, which I'm afraid will wear down what spirit he has left. it just makes me so sad. sorry to be a downer of a blogger today.

on a happier note there are new pictures on my blog. like this one.

and why not? it worked in blazing saddles!

~achoo
from robin hood men in tights

well, this sure explains a lot.

also? achoo! it has been a sniffly weekend. I woke up on Sunday with a horrid sinus headache (stupid rain) and then sniffled my way through the afternoon. I kept sneezing in church! And last night, while on the phone, I heard the telltale sniffling on the other end of the line. while at the wedding, at Kim's last night, everywhere, sniffle sniffly sniff.

but yeah, T-town is the ruler of all things allergies, it seems. Figures. My mom so needs to move.

Oh, and last night was a wonderful way to end the weekend--deeelish food and excellent company at Kim's. I cannot believe it--I ate THREE helpings! Plus, girl time is always fun. :) and after some phone time I went to sleep all snuggled with the cats. which really just makes me wish I were still in bed! I REALLY didn't want to get up today!

also, I've been craving this, recently. I blame my mother, for sure.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we play softball tonight. It's been coooooold here but I really want to play! So far we're still on, but who knows how that will turn out. and does anyone have any gloves? my hands are FREEZING in my cube-o-doom.

"we might give them heart attacks!"~olivia "brings a new meaning to the word heartbreaker!"~carrie

yeah, so, at the wedding last night those sentences transpired. y'know, 'cause the dj guy came up to olivia and me to try to convince us to do the swing dance lessons at the beginning since we were "good looking ladies." actually? it was pretty fun. and the VERY old men that we danced with were pretty cool, too.

here's me, olivia and frances with the lovely bride and then the three of us at our table. special thanks to the photographer, chip. the wedding was all high society and pretty pretty pretty.

and the bride and groom at their dance...

and olivia and my fork toast. that cake was deeeeelish!

but before that...

I got a WONDERFUL surprise from my friend Nick. mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm! and yes, I will share. here is the loveliness in my freezer. We joked about how he's going to be my icecream dealer and help me get my bluebell fix. [wanna come over, audrey?]

and here's the KDs volunteering for the setup at picture this for PCA-NC. Last year was more fun, but at least I still spent the evening dressed up and drinking!

and lookie here--the pictures I gave for the auction. cute, no? and aren't those paintings behind it FAB? wow.

oh, and on friday night? a date. :D
to sum it up: no darts were played at the dive bar (which was SCARY), I met another identical twin and discussed the hierarchy of the twin elite (identical, then fraternal of same gender, then fraternal of different genders. go with it.) and heard about how this 28 year old guy had cheated on his girlfriend with a 45 year old woman and how he worked with her husband (yikes), and susan saw us eating our pizza outdoors at the mellow mushroom. 'twas funny. and fun. and I liked it.

I have to say though, the most fun part of the weekend so far was DEFINITELY right after the wedding. Olivia and I were seriously cutting a rug at the wedding--and dancing with each other, people prolly thought we were super drunk!--and then went out downtown while all gussied up. We met Matt (the science teacher) and his friends out, and had a faboo time. It's been quite a while since I've danced so much--good times, people, good times. everybody needs an olivia. Oh, and? Some day I'm going to pay her to come and design my yard for me. Y'know, in like 2012 or whenever I actually own a house, but still.

time to go have fun with the ladies now!

the needle test and comh for friday the 13th

hi again.

two things.
1. have y'all heard of the needle test? it came up in conversation yesterday. I just so happened to have a needle and thread at work (hey, I'm a girl scout, I'm prepared, leave me be) and I did it. allegedly I will have three children, a boy, a girl and a boy. We shall see.
2. these are pretty flowers that are growing outside my front door. thanks, katie! they just started blooming!

"and this is carrie...our social magnet."

~kim lauer

last night was so so so much fun. despite my terrible retelling of the little red ball joke. at least I got to tell the one about elephants painting their toenails red.

by the time I arrived all of my friends were already there--except no one knew each other. terry and tom were at one table, kara, sean and their friend eric at another, and kim and kara at yet another table. and susan hadn't arrived yet. so we had to gather the masses. y'know, to me, the social magnet. :)


and, in the true passive sentence form a good time was had by all.

also, I tried to find a picture of "social," just to see what that would be, but no dice. I'm pretty sure I'd be a pink magnet though, not a blue one. don't you think?

yesterday I admitted something to a friend of mine that really made me think. he needs home recuperation time. though I enjoy me some naps/relaxing/tv watching, I de-stress by going out with my friends. I'm pretty sure that's why I'm always doing just that. That's how I recharge. Makes sense, methinks.

I tried to show you today's c-o-m-h, but my scanner and camera wizard thingie is being weird. maybe I'll add on later.

i can't help but admit it...

this just in: I must be an engineer.

The following thoughts just went through my head while trying to work through these mass balances:
1. this would be easier if I did it on paper first.
2. crap, where's my paper?
3. I'll go get some engineering paper from the supply closet.
4. I can't find the key. This sucks. Now I have to use regular paper.


what?!?
I have now achieved a new level of nerdy patheticness.

I now return you to your slide-rule sporting, calculator-using, pocket-protector wearing, bespectacled programming. yeesh.

save a horse, ride a cowboy!

uh, yeehaw?

man oh man oh man. I have that song stuck in my head because I read it on a dadgum shirt. I was looking at cute printed tees, okay? So sue me. I REALLY want to get the one that says "I'm too pretty to do math." Except if you didn't know me? You might not find that shirt so funny.

but these made me giggle!

so, last night? my friend nick deserves some props. at least my setup is working now. apparently I need a power filter thingie or new cords or something. when it comes to electronics I am SUCH a girl.

I mean, even my phone hates me. I used up eleven minutes yesterday trying to get back to someone when my call got dropped repeatedly. What?!! I'm glad it was nights and weekend, but seriously! At least it's a going to be a leeetle warmer today. At least.

thank goodness it is thursday, and I have fun plans for tonight, and that I'm going to collect on the pint-age owed to me by Tom. because of his lack of bulls. :)

oh and, I need a book suggestion. I bet you've all heard about Kurt Vonnegut passing away. Well it makes me want to read another one of his books. I've read Player Piano, Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. What's another one that you enjoy?

i need a man.

so, this is one of those times I wish I were technologically inclined. y'see, I have this fancy-schmance tv, right? and this awesomely cute little sound system. it was a treat to self earlier this year. and it was all good 'cept if I played a DVD there was this hum on the speakers. so I thought I would use my rocktastic engineering troubleshooting know-how to whip this bad boy into shape. um, yeah...guess I forgot how much technology and I don't get along.

oh, if I play by the rules we can manage okay. I mean, I can operate a computer or a toaster or whatever. But if I want to do something like, say, burn a data dvd or use a command prompt or put in a bagel instead of bread, suddenly all things with microchips or plug-ins or wires turn against me. It all started with a curling iron that burned my forehead...and it's been downhill from there.

yesterday evening after work I went to the batting cages with two of my teammates, Andrew and Nick. We had fun, hit some balls and talked good-natured junk to one another. I even managed to hit the ball back through the hole where the pitch comes out--which was our goal for the evening and earned me a beer! We had dinner together and I introduced them to the yummyness that is Uno's chicken fajita pizza.

then Nick took me to pick up his thanks-for-taking-pictures-of-my-dad's-awesome-car gift to me--(ps, this is last week's comh, okay?) this lovely coffee mug. Two of the things I enjoy most are the color pink and blue bell icecream. :) Now if only I could have some blue bell icecream...road trip anyone?

anyhoo. Like you didn't already know this, I love all things colorful, and this looks GLORIOUS with the rest of my mugs. Also? I'm so pleased Audrey introduced me to the concept of eating icecream out of coffee mugs--'cause that's so what I'm going to do! and I've gotta say, I find great humor in putting my Trinity UMC and PGUMC mugs beside my MoSex mug (that one's the black one behind the trinity one). I think it's blissfully silly...

so, back to the television ridiculousness. I have a mere THREE things with plugs that I have to contend with--the cable box, the TV and my sound system. It shouldn't be that complicated, right? but it is, it is. after batting, after dinner, after the coffee mug and after talking to Susan I wanted to watch an episode of the gilmore girls and go to bed. This was my brilliant plan. Instead I wrestled with the damn cords for AN HOUR before getting so annoyed that I just placed everything on the ground and went upstairs to bed. Yes, I went to bed angry--but the anger was directed at an inanimate object, so I think I'm okay, right? quite honestly, and I'm soooo not ashamed to admit it, this is one of those times that I could really use a man--they all seem to be able to just magically make the electronic things work. And since I've admitted that to Paul, my fellow ChE and coworker, I figger I can admit it to y'all too.

to sum up:

I've got a TV that will only give me cable picture or sound. not both.

I have eleventeen cables haphazardly thrown/placed in my living room.

and, to quote Ringo, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"

so much for that whole painting and playing the geetar idea, eh?

i love your funny face your sunny, funny face. for you're a cutie with more than beautie. you've got a lot of per-son-a-li-ty.

So, a brief update. Incase you didn't already know, I’ve been dating a 6^th grade Science teacher and soccer coach/player named Matt. He’s the one took me bowling and gave me the stop-killing-the-pins pointer, and I only beat him when he played left-handed. (though I was disappointed he didn’t switch at the end and say “I am not left-handed!” in true Princess Bride style. But at least when I pointed it out to him he began spouting PB quotes with vim and vigor.) and anyhoo.

Last night we watched this:

Funny Face. Have you seen it?

Tres cute. And, well, funny. Plus it’s a musical with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, and what more could you ask for? I mean, Fred dances with an umbrella—which is marvelous! The costumes are pretty dang cool, too. And I seriously want someone to go out into the middle of a beautiful landscape with me, while I'm wearing a pretty poofy dress, and dance with me—especially across a little river. It’s a good movie. You should see it.

I heart musicals. I think I’m on a kick. Next is Annie Get Your Gun. And My Fair Lady. And Rent. Any other musical recommendations?

and for good measure, a list:
~my teeth are really pissing me off. I have to pay so much for 'em, dangit. I heard this advertisement on wknc about feedthepig.org, and how last year was the first time since just before the great depression that americans spent more than they earned. at first I felt bad about this, but then I though about how I'm spending $1100+ on my teeth just this month alone.
~I think I've changed my mind about my career path again, at least a little. I've decided it's dumb to move to Florida until I know that I have been accepted into law school. If I moved there before getting in, and then didn't get in, that wouldn't be worth my time, money or energy. So instead? Masters at State. And then we'll see. I know I keep changing my mind, but guess what? Better to change my mind a billion times than go down the wrong path. And if you're annoyed or whatever 1) you don't have to read this and 2) if this were about a guy to marry instead of school, you'd completely understand.
~i think my former acquaintance is involved in a pyramid scheme. not sure, but I'm supposed to call him back and he sounded all salesman-ee on the message. weirdness. he's a fellow TU alum.
~i want to paint some more. maybe I'll do it tonight.


mmmm. enough of carrie's random thoughts. please suggest musicals. :)

oh, and--question of the day?

on a scale of one to ten, how weird is it that I own pipe cleaners?

just checking...

bunnies, bowling and beer, oh my!

well, this might have been one of the most fun weekends I've had in a while. I mean, don't get me wrong, I try to have fun every weekend. but this one just might take the cake!

to begin with, the good friday tattoo. no, strike that, tattoos. after some half-price sushi and a trip to 9th street (where they didn't have time for me) we drove through some ghetto parts of durham to get to a different tattoo parlor--tattoo asylum. A very nice man, Jonas, did the tattooing, and I went ahead and got both. Pictures of them both are in the blog before this one.

here am I right after getting the tattoo--and look at the alice in wonderland tattoo on that magazine.

then? to the ale house!!! my, how I missed Michael. I need a good pick-on-Carrie session every now and then. so, here's the cuteness from the Ale House.

after getting home waaaaay too late and then getting up at 9am and taking a blissfully long nap, my guests arrived--a small group, but a super fun group to be sure! we had dee-lish food (thanks for bringing the ham, mary alise!), dyed eggs and hunted. and those eggs we hunted? yeah, they were a drinking game. Michael hid 'em all--including the "golden egg" (which was really silver since it was covered in aluminum foil, but whatever), and then referred to us as his bunnies--Bunny K, Bunny M and Bunny C.

Guess what he called himself? Yep, Hef. We drew the line at bowling in lingerie! And apparently we were quite amusing at the bowling alley--but I'm pretty sure that's 'cause of our bets. Mostly color-blind Michael and I made a bet about whether the green and teal dyes were labelled correctly--it was his idea, and he won. So when he got his first strike, I had to do this:

Yeah, go out on the lane, get down on my knees, and tell him he's the greatest person I've ever known. But later, when I won a game, Michael had to kiss my feet! In the icky bowling shoes!!!

yowzers.

Sunday was wonderful too. I made it to the sunrise service, had breakfast at church and then sang in the 830 and 1100 services. And Sunday school (which I hardly ever go to) was great, too! We performed rather poorly the first service, but the 1100 went very very well.

Here's a picture of the cross in front of my church--we placed flowers, a sign of life, onto it, a symbol of death. It was just beautiful.

And then I had lunch at the Sullivan's house. There were nineteen of us in all--including a bunch of eight year olds, and I spent most of my day hanging out with Challie, who is fourteen. I am so glad to know the Sullivans--they're great people. I sat with them for the Sunrise service, had breakfast with them and Lucinda and I are "choir buddies," so we spend a lot of time singing next to each other! Very very fun. Here's some pretty green stuff I saw on my way to their house! Oh, and I took some easter lily pics too, but haven't gone through 'em yet!

Last, but not least, I walked to the grocery store last night. And on my way home I was singing "was it a morning like this"--and I had NO IDEA that I had an audience. It was dark, and a lady was walking on the sidewalk across the street. It was great though--when she was about to her house she told me that she was really enjoying my singing and that I had a beautiful voice. Kinda made my day. :)

Now? I'm tired. I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

the new tattoos...

I am too sleepy to tell the whole story. This weekend was hella fun though. More tomorrow.

Until then, here are pictures. I'm afraid that I just might have to get a third one. (I have a thing about odd numbers) and I'm going to get that star filled in a little darker. They said I should start lighter though. But yeah. Carrie=happy. And really? Didn't hurt tooo much. Definitely less than the first time. When he finished the nautilus on my foot I was like, "what? you're done already?" The nautilus is a touch-up of one I got on Good Friday four years ago, and is on the inside of my left foot. The star is on my right hip. Both are roughly the size of a nickel.

more crazy weekend pictures to come, don't you worry. :)

a visit from a familiar friend.

yesterday afternoon I was visited by an old friend. we've spent countless hours together, going to parties, taking naps, eating meals--you name it, we've probably done it together. when this friend is around there's no separation, no leaving, no "alone time." he even goes to the bathroom with me! and though I always manage to forget exactly how miserable and icky this friend makes me feel, when he comes around I find my mind suddenly flooded with memories from days of yore.

who is this friend? Mr. Sinus Headache, that's who.

le sigh.

He made singing the cantata last night kind of miserable, but relief set in around, oh, 8pm. but this morning? back in full force, dammit. I sooooo wanted to stay in bed, sleeping in my cute'n'comfy pajamas and snuggled in next to my kitty cats. Even Hazel's "making biscuits" wasn't so bad. all I wanted to do was turn off the alarm, sink back in and blissfully sleep. but alas, that is not to be. however? sooooo not going to softball practice tomorrow. I'm sleeping in! I'll just go to the batting cages before the game on Wednesday--yeah, that's the ticket!

thank goodness for coffee and ibuprofen. it really sucks that I can't take most sinus meds now. really and truly. sinus surgery happens to be one of my personal heroes, but still. sometimes you want the instant gratification, no?

oh, and? HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE WARD! :)

did the grass sing?

so, I'm a little ahead of myself. It's Good Friday today and I'm already thinking of Easter...but I blame choir for that...

anyhoo. I'm in the choir, right? and sometimes the lyrics of songs make me batty--I mean, what? convoluted sentences and expressions that literally make no sense if taken out of context.
last night we sang for the Maundy Thursday service. It was a combo MT/Good Friday service. And afterwards I practiced the Easter music.

we're singing this song called "Was It a Morning Like This?" and as I sat with another lady, Cindy, who helped me find my notes, I was hit.

the lyrics go "did the grass sing? did the earth rejoice to feel You again?"

now take a minute and think about that--the grass singing. the earth rejoicing. can you imagine?

know what? I'd kind of like to think it did. The grass straightened up, taller and prouder, reaching for the risen Christ. The flowers and fields of the earth shown brighter. The sky was bluer. The clouds whiter. The oceans stronger. Can't you just picture it? And even hear it? Wow.

all because Christ the Lord is Risen.

and on Sunday? Christ the Lord is Risen, indeed.

happy Easter, a little early!

maybe I should learn something from nadine stair...

when she was eighty-five she said, when asked what she would do if she had a chance to live her life again, she said:

"If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax; I'd limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after the other, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over again, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dance; I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."

since the spring has sprung, perhaps we should all remember to pick more daisies--or maybe leave 'em there to flourish, but admire them just the same.

ps-happy six hundredth post. yowzers!

orange juice.

this morning I woke up, hit snooze a few (too many) times, and showered while Gobi and Hazel hung out in the bathroom like they always do.

in my towels, per usual, I went downstairs to feed them their wet food and get my breakfast. and then it happened.

I poured my kashi into a bowl, grabbed a glass and went to get the silk and the orange juice out of the fridge. And found that, much to my disappointment, I had no orange juice.

grape juice, cranberry juice, water, milk, silk, three types of beer, two bottles of white wine (one which really needs to be chucked!), diet pepsi, sprite, dr pepper and cherry coke, but no orange juice.

I almost cried.


Me and orange juice, we have a special relationship. I have had it, oh, pretty much every single day of my entire life. It is such a part of my routine that I kinda don't function without it. This probably sounds silly to you, but it is what it is. When I go on a trip, I make sure there's orange juice. It's what Karen Chen and I laughed about during pref, and that's what really made me want to be a KD. It's something that everyone in my family and all of my friends KNOW I've got to have. And on the few very rare days when no orange juice has been consumed at all, they've all turned out kinda crummy, really.

and thank the good Lord the cafeteria sells orange juice here. It's no Tropicana Pure Premium with Calcium, no pulp, but it's still orange juice. And it goes quite well with another of my faves, oatmeal. Which is perfect for this colder-than-usual thursday. mmm-mmm-mmm I LOVE oatmeal.

boring, dull, unexciting, uninteresting, unstimulating

according to answers.com, that's how I'm feeling today. the opposite of interesting, y'see.

not writer's block, per se. more like, well, not feeling like I've got something to blog. which is okay, 'cause I'll have plenty to say after this weekend...

so, um, yeah.

glad it's holy week?
yeah, me too. wanna come hunt easter eggs at my place on saturday? it'll be fun, I swear.

and I got to talk to jessica last night, so that was nice. got to tell her about my goings-on. :)

and, uh......I got nothin'. 'cept that I'm long-distance-helping li'l bro Harvo with some al-gebra tonight (anybody remember that? anyone?)

ooh, I know, I shall tell you a joke.

how many mice does it take to screw in a light bulb?

two, but we don't know how they got in there.

is it time to go to choir yet? we sing half the cantata tomorrow (maundy thursday) so I'll be glad to have it over and get "see, they come with torches..."out of my head!

ps-at least there's a new layout, right? hope you can read it...

if i could cheat, i would skip to the end, and decide if it's worth going through with,

skip to the last, paragraph, just before we start, to see the happy ending, or the broken heart.
~the futureheads.

I've a confession to make--I'm completely a book cheater. I'm a skipper-to-the-end-er--I go and read the last paragraph or page sometimes. Like, often. Not in sci-fi books, usually, but anything emotional. Or sometimes mysteries. I figure I can do it if I want to--I'm not ruining it for anyone else. So I do. Almost always.

and that, m'dears, is how I'm feeling right now. about boys, about law school, abotu photography, about moving, about friends. I've never wanted to cheat so badly in my life. I just want to know. And I know that's part of what life IS. you've gotta live it to find out.

That reading the last page first thing--it doesn't usually make a whole lot of sense, but it gives me a glimpse--and that's what I needed. I need a hint, people. An idea. A notion.

there's nothing to fall back on. (nanan, naaa, nanananana)

and if it's good enough, if it's tempting enough it makes me want to hurry to get to the finish line--and if it's really good? I'm going to go through the time on my way skipping.

why am I thinking about this? because I got my GRE score yesterday. and because I kicked the writing portion's ass and they put a makes-carrie-very-happy number beside it. because I realized how very well I did on verbal and how superb my analytical writing skills are and then noticed my still-good-but-not-so-stunning quantitative skills. and it got me thinking about how I often pursue things 'cause I feel like I *should.* but, hey, being a patent lawyer is kinda like being a technical writer, right?

I so wish I could skip to the end. like, hand-in-swinging-hand, head-bobbing, take-a-peek, skip to the end.

my personal dna.

what's yours?

hey, it's okay that I over-analyze too much.

that's why Mary Alise loves me. :)

yesterday was awesome. the weather was good, church was fun and I spent, oh, eightish hours painting pictures. for the first time since AUGUST. this one is my fave that I did--I did another like it that was smaller, and then wanted to do one bigger and with pink. and then I finished one that I'd been asked to paint forever ago. they are all up on my art blog.


I also watched umpteen episodes of the Gilmore Girls and talked on the phone for hours and hours and hours. So what if I gave up procrastination for Lent? It was Sunday, dangit!

my knee is feeling much better today, thank goodness. but my forearms? yeeeowch! guess I need to stretch 'em more after batting.

so anyway, last night I was talking to someone about tattoos, and he said he was thinking about getting another one. and there were three options--one on his side, one on his shoulder and one on the inside of his bottom lip. people actually do this. like, for reals. see? ick ick ick. no thank you, no thank you.

is it friday yet?!? le sigh.