Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Newspaper

Jon often takes pictures for the furniture company he works for that end up in newspapers all over the country. Here's one. :)

Cutting Costs_ How to Get the Best Deal on Furniture[1]

Monday, March 30, 2009

Hmmm...

I'm sitting down to blog with no idea what I'm going to blog about.

Things are good, overall. I've been really busy feeling, but I'm loving the classes I'm teaching this week. This is the start of my 4th week in high school theatre, total, and I still like it.

Sometimes the kids are a little too much like me, though.

I've been messing around with sidebar items. I know I have too many...they're quite the addiction. I've promised myself now, though, that every time I add one, I have to delete one too. Bother. Can I have a blog that is just 3 sidebars?

I tried to post a fantastic video yesterday, but it didn't work. It was a dog, dressed in a little suit, milking a goat. It tickled me, and I wanted to share. Oh well.

Karaoke has picked up to the point that I don't hold my breath until people show up anymore. It's so fun, and I think I've gotten pretty good at running it. Allison is so awesome. She comes every week she can, helps me set up, sings the whole time, helps me break down, and generally keeps my spirits up. I think I'll keep her.

I've been doing more things at the art museum, and that is great. And, I have a couple of new friends. I love it when I make new friends. Fun times, generally.

Since I have nothing interesting to tell you, I'll share karaoke pictures. Yay for karaoke!


Thursday, March 26, 2009

A stark contrast.

I know I already posted a picture, but Jon took this one, and it is clearly superior in all ways.

A blog I LOVE

There is a blog called The Tiny Art Director. There is an artist, and he draws pictures that his 4 year old tells him to draw, then she tells him what she thinks. It is hysterical. Find it here.

OMG!

So, my very favorite book of all time is Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. If you're unfamiliar with the story, well, here:



Now for the exciting news! They're making a MOVIE!! And the trailer looks AWESOME!!
You can see it here in HD, or below.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Look What We Did!


Last weekend we had the pleasure of photographing a most adorable one year old. I love when we get to do kid portraits, because lets face it, I love me some one year olds.


You can see the whole set here. I'm sorry to brag on my hubby, but they are excellent.

Also, once again, I'm loving the high school experience. Although someone did get expelled for bringing 2 big cut-you-in-the-face knives to school. To my class. Where me and my face could have been cut. Fortunately, my face is still in tact.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ho hum

In list form, things that are on my mind:

1: I'm glad that they caught the murderers that bring Opium into my town.

2: I just found out I get to teach 2 more weeks of high school theatre, but at a different high school! (!!!!!!!!)

3: Looks like karaoke is a big go. I hear we'll keep it going, and that puts a smile on my face.

4: Bertha has been a bad bad girl lately. She keeps breaking the rules, and it is stressing me out.

5: I burned the tar out of my hand yesterday, and it is still very throbby.

6: I'm spending today in my house alone. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but seriously, I think it has been months since I've been able to do this. I am very very rarely ever alone. Mostly, this suits me well, as I like company. But eventually my entire being aches for some solitude. That's where I am today.

7: For the last month and a half, Jon has had a terrible sinus infection, with horrible flash headaches. We've gone to the doctor 2 times, and I think he's on the mend. Yay!

8: I've made myself a big list of things to do while I'm here today, and so far, the only one I've accomplished is blogging while watching the Daily Show.

9: I love Aldi. I cook a lot, and all of my faithful readers know that. Also, I don't like to eat fake crap. Also, if I have money, I don't think about money. So, the result was that my grocery bills each week were outlandish and unsustainable. But, Aldi makes it better. 3 weeks ago, I spent $120 at Aldi. I'm just now out of food. And we've eaten well.


I like links. :)
Also, thanks go to Allison, who helped me a lot at trivia last night.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Oh Nooooo

Corning Cable Systems is one of the biggest employers in Catawba County. They are closing their Hickory plant for good, laying off over 200 employees beginning at the end of this month.

Terrible. Because we didn't lose enough jobs with all the furniture manufacturers shutting down.

Wordle

Wordle: Carmen

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to make this bigger. But if you click on it, you can get a visual rep of my blog in 2 seconds flat.

Poll Results

Only 4 people voted on my what-to-be-when-I-grow-up poll. Allison says it isn't that easy, and I have to pick myself. Boo. Here are the results: I voted for karaoke/trivia host myself, so apparantly no one else likes that idea. I have to admit, though, that stay at home mom would be EXCELLENT.

Howdy Ho

So karaoke was slam packed. This is delightful news!

Yesterday, I got my teeth cleaned, and they feel all silky. This is also delightful news.

However, today is Saint Patrick's Day. I forgot, and I am now teaching elementary school with no green. NOT delightful news.

Oh-and my dad has 3 tiny little cute puppies at his house. Delightful.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Family Reunion

From left:
Cassie, Laura, Me, Dana

Cassie and Dana are my ex-step-sisters, I suppose, and Laura's half sister. Much like my entire childhood, I'm the weird one with the blond hair. When we were little, people always thought Cassie and Dana belonged to my mom and I was the step-daughter.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Hey-I'm talking over here!



Mobile post sent by Carmeneckard using Utterlireply-count Replies.  mp3

Unusual Week

This week has been weird. First, I'll say I really haven't worked a lick. Well, I managed to work 1/2 of a day out of all 5, plus trivia. Several things played into this. Monday was way too pretty to work. It demanded to be spent outside.

Tuesday, I had a funeral to attend. Jon's grandfather, Newell Propst, died on Sunday. He was 89, and we had expected this for a while. The family is doing a-OK, and what a beautiful day Tuesday was for a funeral.

Wednesday, no one called for me to sub, so I made trivia questions and spent the day blissfully with Jon. But, alas, Jon is sick. He has a terrible sinus infection we've been fighting for weeks. He feels OK most of the time, but then he gets slammed with completely unmanageable headaches with little to no warning. So, Thursday was spent at the doctor's office. I think what we did may fix him, but he isn't fixed yet. Last night we also went to see Frost/Nixon. I liked it, Jon didn't so much.

The rest of the week was basically spent cuddling and reconnecting with my wonderful husband.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting Dana and Cassie. I've never really talked about them on the blog...but here's a rundown. From the time I was 5, till 11 or 12, my mom was married to a man. Now, I always hear "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", so we're done talking about him. But, he had 2 daughters. One was my age and one was a year older. They came to our house every other weekend, and I loved them so much. I played with those 2 more than I ever played with anyone else. My favorite regular thing we did was dance for hours in the basement to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Fun, fun times.

But, the divorce was ugly, and I haven't seen them in yeeeears. And tomorrow, my mom, my sister and I will meet them for lunch. Totally excited.

Onto a new topic: I cook all the time. I love to cook. I'm known for my cooking. But I've never baked. It just wasn't my thing. In the last 2 weeks, I've baked a chocolate cake, 2 cheesecakes, and a pie FROM SCRATCH. A couple of weeks before that, I made a beautiful carrot cake, also from scratch. I don't know what has come over me, but everyone seems appreciative of it. So, if you live near me, you may want to stop by for some fresh baked goodies sometime.

One more new topic: Karaoke. First week, terrible. Second week, good. Third week, beautiful weather, horrible karaoke. So I really really need a big crowd this week. Please tell your friends. And please come yourself. I'd like to know at least 15 people in the crowd. Can you be one of those 15? Allison? Liz? Katie?

Monday, March 09, 2009

Bliss

I hate the winter. I hate being stuck inside. I hate the quality of light. I hate to be cold. My fingers and toes freeze and don't thaw, excepting bath time at night, until mid March. I get cranky and depressed, then I stay that way.

I don't like wearing sweaters and coats and 2 pairs of socks. I like wearing sandals and jeans and t-shirts. I like wearing little dresses.

And Spring is here! At least for a bit. But even if it gets cold again, I'll know it isn't for keeps.

The blahs have lifted. I've been outside for days. We've even eaten all of our meals outside for days. My body loves the Vitamin D as much as my ears love Dr. Dog. I've gone without socks, and only worn my favorite t-shirts and my new favorite jeans. Bliss, people, bliss.

Except for karaoke...if you're interested, you'll be sad to hear that attendance was dismal. I think this is on account of the beautiful weather...who wants to go inside?

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Clearly, I don't have enough to do today.

This is my creepy creepy avatar from BeFunky. You would think by my stupid posts today that I have already written my trivia questions for tonight. You'd be wrong, buddy. I'm such a procrastinator. But seriously, isn't that thing creepy?

It'll get bigger if you click on it.

BeFunky.com

I'm currently loving this website, www.befunky.com. They have all sorts of effects for pictures. I'm easily amused.

The Whole CD

So, this is my favorite CD. Favorites of mine include 100 years, The Beach, The Ark, and From. They are all excellent, though. Enjoy

My communication style

From the same site, this was a communications test. About me, it said:

You speak from the heart. You can't separate your feelings from what you're saying, even in a professional context.You tend to speak dramatically, with lots of passion and emotion. It's easy for you to get swept up in what you're saying.You like to connect with people early on so that you can personalize what you are saying to them.When you converse, you try to find common ground and harmony. Even if you disagree with someone, you try to emphasize where you agree.


Has anyone else noticed the word "dramatic" popping up a lot in all my tests?

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Ha!

I took a personality test online. It was awesome. My favorite line, describing my type, the Spontaneous Idealist: "Life for them is an exciting drama full of emotionality."

Yes, it is.

Take it here, then tell me what you are!

Monday, March 02, 2009

Karaoke

From A Hurricane Called Carmen


So, karaoke was fun.

People that live here that love me enough to come: Allison, Jon, Matt, Liz, Brandon, and Brenda. There were lots of other people there, but thanks to my friends that came, and thanks to Katie for posting my ad on the swap and shop.

This is Allison and Liz. They had fun. :)