OK-here we go again! I'm so very excited to start a new trivia game tonight at Drips. I love Drips, and I'm hoping it will attract a different crowd, it not being a bar and all. I hope some of you will come...it should be fun!
Being up on the rooftop where Jon and I got married was a really, truly wonderful experience. I took a bunch of pictures on the roof, and stitched them together for your viewing pleasure. I won't go into the roof top details, but it was exactly what we needed. Click on the picture for a bigger view.
I haven't talked about this on my blog, because it wasn't set in stone, and my mom hadn't told people yet. But, there has been major discussion of my family moving to Nebraska, and I put on my happy face and pretended that was OK. For the last month of so, I've been assuming that my mom, stepdad, 2 step brothers, my sister and my 4 nieces and nephews were headed that way.
AND THEY AREN'T! Word is in today, and it is final.
My mom will not live across the country from me. I like it when she is a simple hour and a half away.
And a brief overview of my weekend...and no pictures right now either. Sorry. I'll add pics later.
Went to Bele Chere, where we met up with some friends, walked around, and listened to the Wailers. Now, Jon wasn't thrilled about that, because he isn't a reggae fan, but I was in heaven. They sang all my favorites as fireworks went off in the background.
Saturday we spent the evening on the rooftop where we got married. That was lovely, oh so lovely. And private. And as the sun set, all these birds came out. It was very very cool. We spent the night there, but not on the roof, and just really had an excellent time.
This whole time, my dog was with the inlaws, so Sunday we went to get her. I thought she would have a heart attack when she saw us. It's always thrilling when we're reunited.
Yesterday, I made a lasagna. I made a really good lasagna, if you wondered. Next time I make one, I'll take pictures and explain my process.
I'm feeling very ho hum right now, but I think it is only because I didn't sleep enough this weekend. I'm perhaps going to nap now.
Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. My mother in law called me from the dentist at 8:30, saying an appointment opened up, so I was at the dentist by 9. I'm fast. And now, my teeth are squeaky clean.
Then, I went to Winston Salem and met my mom for lunch at Cracker Barrel. That was wonderful. We both needed to see each other, I think. We had a lot of wonderful talk time, and I feel a lot better.
On the way home I stopped at the store to get food for dinner. We had our friend for dinner...she's never been here before, and it was wonderful. We ate good food, talked forever, and looked at pictures of our wedding and honeymoon. We got married on her roof right in downtown Hickory. I'll get back to that shortly.
Today we had lunch with the in-laws and met with a client. Now we get to hang out together all night. Tomorrow, Bele Chere! I'm so excited.
And Saturday, back to our friend...she's invited us to spend the evening on her roof! That will be so sweet, us up there, for as long as we want, right where we got married!
My life is really good. Really good. I am very thankful.
On a side note...just watched a special about the year 2012 that freaked me out. All these different cultures, ancient and modern, and even Nostradamus point to that year as something major. Major and end of the world bad. The stars and the earth will be aligned in some crazy way. A lot of things in Revelations have happened, and there isn't much more that needs to happen for Biblical prophecies to say the end of the world is here. And with the human race marching so steadily in a bad direction, things could be very bad by then anyway. I'm totally freaked out. I should not have watched that. Read above...my life is good, and I would prefer it go on a little longer than 4 more years.
1: Jon is deeply and wonderfully creative.
2: Jon listens to me, especially when I'm ready to discuss anything logically.
3: Jon is terribly handy: he remodeled the bathroom, the back porch, and countless other little things that I didn't even know needed fixing.
4: Jon sees me as so beautiful.
5: I read this book about the Languages of Love. It was all about how there are several different ways that people show love and feel loved. But most people are only into 2 or 3 of the 4 or 5 ways. So, you get the wife who doesn't feel loved, because she needs a man to touch her and buy her things, while he shows his love by spending time and complimenting her. Anyway-we show and feel loved in very compatible ways, so it is very easy to love each other.
6: Jon loves my dog so much that she is in every way Our dog now. I know it is probably silly to say, based only on a dog, but I think he'll be a very good daddy. And Bertha-sometimes she even says hi to him first when we come home! That's never happened with anyone before. She loves him.
7: Jon takes care of me. Even when I'm falling apart, and I'm sure I'm pretty irritating...Jon takes care of me.
8: He's dead sexy.
9: He's more domestic than me...he cleans and does laundry much better than I do. And he can bake! He made a cake last week. And, even though he is a great cook, he lets me do all the cooking, because he knows how much I love to feed him.
10: He is so sensible. And sometimes it drives me mad, because I'm so the opposite of that, but I need a sensible person with me. He calmly explains why I shouldn't do something I was going to do, and then I avoid the horrible consequences that could have followed.
11: He loves me so much that he couldn't hide it if he tried.
12: He doesn't mind me blogging.
That's enough for now.
I was born, a month early, on September 15, 1981. That makes me a Virgo if you keep up with that sort of thing. I don't really, and I'm certainly not neat and orderly like Virgos are supposed to be. Anyway, I digress. I was born in Sanford, NC, where my mom and dad had grown up All of my grandparents lived right there in town, and I was the first grandchild for all of them. I was doted on. I loved it. I'm told that I was pretty cranky when my mom wasn't around. I've been a mama's girl from the start. I weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, but I was a chubby little thing that first year. I landed in the hospital for a while early on because of a bad case of jaundice. My weight dropped to something like 5 pounds while there, before I got chubby, especially my knees and my chubby little feet. They had to make special shoes to fit my almost square shaped feet. And I had the blonde curly hair even then. My mom has this picture of me laying on her stomach, and her on the couch...I love that picture, and I suppose it sums up my first year pretty well. Mom said all she wanted to do was hold me. I think that's sweet.
Thank you, LoveyH, for noticing my beautiful porch.
I want to take a minute to explain one of the many ways my husband has enriched my life. Because he is oh so wonderful.
When I met Jon my patio was in this state:
My old refrigerator was out here, because I'd gotten a new one, and hadn't figured out what to do with it.
There was a horribly crappy old style cheap K-mart outdoor table.
There was a huge, ugly storage unit that the old guy I bought the house left. And he left it full of crap.
Much as he did the laundry room, which is adjacent.
My grill was out here, but it was surrounded by too much assorted crap to use.
Several old stools and ugly chairs.
No plants.
My old aquarium, which was partially full of disgusting water, and I was horribly avoiding.
The back door was falling apart like mad.
And then Jon came into my life. He sold the fridge in the Iwanna. He took all the crap to the dump. He cleaned out the storage unit and took it somewhere else. Then, slowly but surely, the beautifying began.
He built a new door. From scratch, and then stained it blue. I love that it is stained blue. The outside is stained black to conform.
My mom bought me awesome furniture for my birthday, and then we bought another piece to go with it. We found a great umbrella. The plants-he keeps them all alive, and we've gotten them from all over the place. One is a bougainvillea, which also covered our porch on our honeymoon. It is healthy, and should have beautiful blooms that I will share with you all right here. My other favorite is a little tiny garden of carnivorous plants. There are 6 or so different kinds, including a couple of venus fly traps. Those are nifty.
My patio is now a place of peace and loveliness. I love to sit out here with Jon, or Bertha, or my computer, or Allison. We have coffee out here, and eat sometimes. I love it, and everytime I am out there, I think "Ah-Jon is good."
Recently the peace has been disturbed. We have new neighbors-5 people in a tiny condo, and there are 3 boys-2 younger, and they are all the time coming to talk to me. Or just hanging out in the back yelling a lot. The youngest one is oh so very precious, though, so it's not too bad.
I love to cook. While making lunch today, I thought-I'll blog my recipe! So, coming up, Pimento Cheese burgers with zucchini. But first you have to pinkie swear that you won't use icky store bought pimento cheese. I mean it. Pinkie swear. Pimento cheese is easy to make and so so delicious. I'll start with how to make that.
Get a big block of extra sharp cheddar cheese. Extra sharp. Repeat that part. Grate it up.
Get mayo. Real mayo. Put about 3 Tablespoons in a bowl with your grated cheese.
Get your diced, drained pimentos (Near mushrooms and olives at the grocery store-you need the small jar) and toss it in the bowl.
Throw in some pepper and garlic to taste. I use garlic paste, but whatever kind of garlic you have is fine.
Mix. See, easy. If it is too cheesy, add mayo. When I've got mine made, I always microwave it for 25 seconds and then put it in the fridge. It seems to make it taste better.
Ingredients you will need for this grill meal:
Light your grill. Now, you're going to mix some salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil like so:
You're going to get that mixture all over those zucchini slices, however you see fit. I kind of roll them around on the plate. If you start running low, just add more olive oil. Lightly coat the insides of your buns with the extra. Then make your meat into patties. Make them flat and big enough to fill up the whole bun:
Flip your burgers when they're ready. Then, flip zucchini. Put the pimento cheese on top of the burger, and don't be afraid to put a lot. Put your buns on the grill.
When the zucchini looks delicious, take it off.
Who doesn't love the Smurfs? My very favorite glasses are my Smurf glasses-a whole set that I'm sure were originally sold at Hardees or something. Below, Jokey Smurf:
And what joke could be funny enough to put on Jokey Smurf's glass? Oh, it's a riot:
That's right kids- sending explosives through the postal service is HILARIOUS!
I'm sick to death of hearing people talk about how much Hickory sucks. I really like it here. So, in protest of all of those people, I give you a partial list of fun things to do here. I hold, the problem is that those people just aren't creative enough, or they have a very narrow idea of "fun". I may add to this list in the future.
1: Disc Golf at Glenn Hilton Park. It's fun-the course is pretty, and sort of secluded at times too. And, there are swings! I love swings! Not many towns have such a thorough disc golf course. But, once you get your discs, it's free fun!
2: Trivia night at Beef's on Mondays. Because, of course I have to mention it. And it really is fun.
3: The SALT block. Very cool little place. It includes the library, the Science Center (with a planetarium and an aquarium), and the Art Museum. The library is nice, and convenient, but the real fun lies in the Science Center. It's a fun way to spend an afternoon. And when you're done, you hop over the the Art Museum, which is free. They change the exhibits a lot, and it is better than you expect.
4: The Carolina: Hickory's $2 theatre, with comfortable seats and cheap popcorn. And coke icees. Rock on.
5: Hickory Alive. Sometimes, honestly, it isn't the coolest. But it is a free gathering of a bunch of people, where you get to listen to music, eat hotdogs, and drink beer. And (!) your dog can come.
6: Drips. Remember how you used to say "Near where Drips used to be". Well, Drips is back, so now you can go back to saying just "Near Drips." But, if you're from Hickory, you might be more comfortable saying "The Place where Funky Night Owls used to be". Back to my point, though...Drips is a chill little place. It's artistically decorated, quiet, and has free Internet. I love free Internet. They have open night mic on Tuesdays, a movie on Wednesday, and coming soon...trivia on Thursdays.
7: Lots of bars. I'm not much of a drinker, but I still know the good ones. I used to love McGuires, but the service has steadily slid downhill for quite some time now. The Tap Room is alright, although it can be pretentious. I like Beef 'O' Brady's, but it's pretty sportsy. People to to Sundries and the Tavern, and seem to enjoy themselves.
8: Hickory Community Theatre. If that's your thing. It is my thing, and it's my list, so there.
9: Go to a Crawdad's game! Especially on Thursdays. They have "Thirsty Thursday", where beer is cheap. Now, I don't like beer, and I especially don't like Baseball Stadium beer, but it means a big, rowdy crowd. That's fun times.
10: My favorite thing to do in Hickory, honestly, is to grill on my back porch, with my best friends around me. I'm extremely fortunate that I have 2 best friends and a husband who love to eat what I cook.
11: There is an Ostrich Ranch! I've never been, but Allison, could we get on that?
12: Hickory Dickory Dock, where you can play laser tag!
So people, stop telling me how boring Hickory is. If you hate it that much, move. I bet $20 you'd be just as unhappy somewhere else. Probably because you're a big fat whiner.
Let me by preface this by saying that I have never been a big fan of the comic book movie-Superman, Batman, X-Men-whatever...not normally my bag. And I have to admit that I had never seen Batman Begins until last night. But I watched it last night, and loved it. I was riveted, and so I was quite excited to only have to wait one day for the sequel.
I don't know any Batman background-I've never picked up a comic book in my life, and I've never seen any Batman movies ever until last night-but the movie was complete unto itself. It told an incredibly exciting story in a visually stunning way. Heath Ledger reminded me of what attracted me to the stage to begin with-he was what an actor should be in every way. He was freaking committed. He was living in the moment-he was the Joker. Stankislovski would have been proud. And that kind of acting takes a toll on a person for sure-I had a friend in college who played Hamlet, so well and so completely that it took over his life-he failed every class, broke up with his girlfriend, and stopped talking to his friends.
Had Heath Ledger not died...this movie still would have been incredible. It would have launched his career to a totally new level.
It's for sure worth a trip to your local cinema.
Katie Bonk had a thirtieth birthday party last weekend where this fabulous, most wonderful picture was taken. Please click, it will be worth it.
14: When I read in someone else's blog comments how awesome my hubby is!
15: Blog entries entitled "Carmen Rules".
I don't really know what this blog is, but this is a nice list to be included on. I'm #23.
Sounds like a nice way to spend the summer.
I was born, a month early, on September 15, 1981. That makes me a Virgo if you keep up with that sort of thing. I don't really, and I'm certainly not neat and orderly like Virgos are supposed to be. Anyway, I digress. I was born in Sanford, NC, where my mom and dad had grown up All of my grandparents lived right there in town, and I was the first grandchild for all of them. I was doted on. I loved it. I'm told that I was pretty cranky when my mom wasn't around. I've been a mama's girl from the start. I don't remember what I weighed when I was born, but I was a chubby little thing that first year.Especially my knees and my chubby little feet. They had to make special shoes to fit my almost square shaped feet. And I had the blonde curly hair even then. My mom has this picture of me laying on her stomach, and her on the couch...I love that picture, and I suppose it sums up my first year pretty well. Mom said all she wanted to do was hold me. I think that's sweet.
Obviously, I don't remember those days. But it was really the only time my mom and dad lived together. Knowing them both as I do, I can't imagine what that would have been like...but they were both so young! I was so immature when I was 20, but my mom raised a kid! So she was 21, and my dad 26, and me crawling around on the floor. We had a dog-Harry. He was an Airedale, I think my dad's first of many.
Based on pictures, and stories told, I figure this is how I spent my days:
Hanging out with my mom or grandma. Figuring out how the world works. Learning to walk. Learning to talk. Going to church every Sunday. Spending lots of time with grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles. Also, by the end of that first year, I had developed a love of pickles. There are a lot of pictures of me toddling around eating a pickle, so I must have had a lot of them. Raisins too. And, at my house, there was a bathroom that had a mirrored wall. I think I can remember staring into that mirror. Last time I was in Sanford, my mom and I rode around and looked at our old houses, because we're sentimental like that, and I took a picture:
I was feeling uninspired, and I wanted to blog, but I couldn't even really do that. No ideas...nothing new to talk about. Just blah. So, because I have a little too much time on my hands, I'm going to write my autobiography. I can't really even promise that it will be an entertaining read, but I'm excited about it. I've giving myself no real deadline, so I can take my time. I may spend too much time on some parts, and I may lightly tiptoe over parts that I don't want to be general knowledge. I think I'll try to write a one year chapter at a time...so they'll be shorter in the beginning...my memory isn't so good. That's one of the reasons I want to do this...I know my memory isn't so good, and writing it down will help me remember.
So...coming soon.
My Story
September 15, 1981-September 15, 1982
Waking up morning after morning when I am ready instead of when my alarm clock goes off. I think an alarm clock may be my least favorite thing in the world. I actually prefer spiders.
Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with stress. I tend to work myself into mini-frenzies on a pretty regular basis (part of my hurricane nature). I'm a cool girl, don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm a high maintenance kind of friend/wife/daughter/etc. But, I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband that lives with me and a best friend who lives next door.
I talk about Jon all the time, though, so this post is for Allison.
Allison is and has been since the day I met her, 12 years ago, a person with whom I am totally comfortable. Allison knows the real me, and she still loves me. She has seen me at my very worst, and at my very best. She has been a wonderful, supportive, awesome best friend. There isn't a thing in the world I wouldn't do for her, and it makes me want to cry when I think that someday we won't live next door to each other anymore. I mean, just imagine living next door to your best friend. Yeah, it's that cool.
Allison is the coolest and funniest person I know. It boggles my mind to think of all of times we've laughed together. And laughing, I think, is my favorite thing. And not only is she funny, but she thinks I'm funny too, which is conducive to us always having fun. And she is the best Taboo partner in the world. Seriously, we are unstoppable.
And you guys know me...I'm fiery. I'm quick to argue. Allison and I have never, ever fought. That is a real testament to something in her character. She is incredibly level headed, and so freaking peaceful that you would never want to pick a fight with her. The other day I witnessed a drunk acquaintance really piss her off. I've never seen her mad. I've seen her irritated plenty, but never visibly shaken by anger like she was. I was so proud of her restraint. I would have handled the situation horribly, and I'm sure I would have made it worse. But, she was graceful, even when dealing with such a schmuck.
Sometimes I get my mind set on something...Allison is very good at helping me think it through more logically...she's all the time asking questions I haven't thought of.
So much, so very very much, of my personality has been influenced by her. We were friends/roommates throughout all of those years where you figure out who you are, not that I think those years are over. The biggest thing she taught me? To be whatever I want to be. Allison has never been the type to get wrapped up in other people's opinions. Even in high school, she let herself be different from other people...just let herself shine though. I've never known her to make any decision based on someone else's opinions, and there have been times when that would have been easier.
And she is such a loyal, supportive person. She goes to all of my stuff...and I tend to have a lot of stuff. She is there playing my
Basically, there is no way that I would be as happy or as cool if I hadn't known her.
Allison, I am so thankful that our paths crossed again in college.
I am so thankful that we are friends.
I am so thankful that we will be friends.
I am so thankful I get to see you everyday.
I think you're cool.
Footcandle is a film society in town. You join, and then you get to watch a cool movie each month, and discuss. The selections have been fabulous, and the dudes that run it are really neat blokes. They also happen to be my Twitter buddies, which is cool. I haven't been able to stay for the discussion until this week, because I was a little Cinderella who had to get to bed early, but I don't anymore. The discussion is now my favorite part.
So...to join, you can go to the website www.footcandle.org, or you can come to the Carolina Theatre, the 2nd Thursday of a month at 7 and watch the movie. You can come watch one to see if you like it, and enjoy a free evening of entertainment. There are forms to join there if you like it as much as we do.
It's very nice to talk to intelligent people about interesting things...karaoke/trivia has meant that I've associated mostly with bar regulars, and let's face it...bar flies aren't known for being great conversationalists...at least not most that I know. What a long run on sentence, but I'm leaving it because it's 1 am. Did I mention our discussion was at Drips, where I had much coffee?
So, coming soon, Trivia on Thursdays at Drips, except on Footcandle nights. I'm going to attempt sleep. Ha.
Know how last post I said "I need to find something to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays"? Well, I just happened into something, which is a perfect example of positive thoughts bringing positive things. I went to the Footcandle movie, which was awesome-The Apartment. Then we went to Drips to discuss the movie. One of the owners looked at me and said "You're the karaoke girl". I said, "Yup". He asked me to run a trivia game on Thursdays. It will be a totally different crowd, and I'm stoked.
If you'll recall, I've said that trivia is my favorite thing I do each week. Now, I get to do it twice! Yipee!
And, Shirley McLaine was hot when she was younger.
The Farmer's Market rocks my socks off. And Bertha's too-she loves to go with me. There are usually about 15-20 different booths, including organic produce, regular produce, fresh goat cheese, locally raised beef, herbs and flowers. It's a little bit like heaven. I don't know why, but I feel much better about my life when I eat local or organic food.
I think it is because it feels more real-more authentic-more like what humans were designed to do. I mean, were we really meant to cram our bodies full of fake crap, or produce that is shipped from half way across the world? I don't think so. And I'm not opposed at all to the occasional mango or banana, but I don't see why I should go to the grocery store to buy tomatoes that were grown in another country. The tomatoes grown right here in Catawba county-they are great. Not pink, or infected with salmonella-just delicious and juicy and bright red.
And going to the Farmer's Market means that Bertha gets to walk around amidst all of the people and the other dogs. She loves it, because she likes meeting new people as much as I do. Although sometimes the asphault gets a little hot under her little feet.
In other news-I'm learning how to play chess. I never cared before, and I guess I should learn how to play sometime.
Also, my arm is so very very achy from my tetanus shot. I stuck myself with the quill Sunday, and got the tetanus shot Monday. The internet says it might hurt this bad for a whole week-but seriously, my arm hurts more than my leg. Why would the cure hurt worse than the injury?
I need something to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm feeling a wee bit trapped in my house.
Last weekend was awesome. We went to Boone for a little bit, and hung out with Matt and Josh, then we went to the cabin. I love going there. 14 acres, completely secluded, and beautiful. The kind of place where you walk around outside naked just because you can. The perfect cure for living in a condo. We played outside a lot, and just spent some excellent time with each other.
Trivia last night...only 8 people came. On the one hand, that is pitiful. On the other hand, it was the Monday after July 4, which is a very slow time for bars. Still...I'm hoping more people show up next time.
Yesterday I hung out with Allison for a bit, then we both retired to watch TV on the couch. I ordered pizza, and when they came, they went to Allison's door instead, so I went outside to say "Hey-it was me!" But, Allison had ordered pizza from the same place at the same time as me, and he was delivering both. I thought it was a weird enough coincidence to share with the group.
Last night I played taboo, which is only my very favorite game since childhood, with Allison, Jon and Matt. Fun times.
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