Time Travel Tuesday - Yesterday

I have finally decided to do one of Annie's "Time Travel Tuesdays." A lot of them have not applied to me and my 21st birthday was about the most annoying ever so I've decided I can blog about "Yesterday" (which was Labor Day for those who may live in another country.) Yes, that means one thing most importantly: I got a 3-day weekend! Praise the Lord!!!!!

So, you now ask, how did I spend my day. Well, here is my story.

I got up way too early yesterday morning. What is about those days when you don't have to be up that make you get up even earlier than you would on a work/church day. Well, I was up. So I managed to let the dog out, feed him, feed me, and then do laundry and dishes. Once the kitchen was semi-clean (my kitchen never reaches really clean because I love to eat!) I started making my dessert for the cookout I'll tell you about shortly. It was for Strawberry-Pretzel Salad. It is so yummy! It combines sweet & salty and cream cheese and fruit. So it is healthy because fruit is involved. And besides, calories don't count on holidays or days that end in "y".

I spent the rest of the morning working on a side bookkeeping job I do for a local landscaper. I then thought I should lay out in the sun which worked perfectly until a wasp decided he wanted to sunbathe in my chair. So, inside I went. What else is a girl to do at this point but take a relaxing bath prior to her nap. So, bath, nap, and then it was time to go to the PaRtAy! My best friend, A, lives at the end of a driveway which contains her parents home, her Mammaw's home, and her aunt & uncle's home. Well, Aunt L and Uncle B have a pool. So that was my first stop. You see, Uncle B has fallen in love with my Wii...so I had left it there on Sunday afternoon for the kids to play. Since they play my Wii, I get to swim in their pool. After some pool time, A and I went in to help prepare the feast for grilling: steak, vegetable kabobs, salmon...YUMMY! After we ate the food, A, her boyfriend C, and I got in the pool with 5 of the 8 grandkids. It was a blast. I have recently been spending more time at Aunt L and Unclel B's so their grandkids are warming up to me quickly. Let me just say, if you are having a hard time getting kids to open up to you, bring a Wii. I have become the next best thing to sliced bread in their eyes. So, Wii time, Pretzel salad, swimming and eating with good friends. What more could a girl ask for?

Memory Monday - High School Spirit

Since this past June celebrated me being out of high school for 10 years I've decided to do this "Monday Memory" which I saw over at Vader's Mom and she snagged it from somewhere else. So, enjoy my trip down memory lane with me.

1. Who was your best friend? Connie...and she is still one of my best friends
2.Did you play any sports? Nope, but I think I attended at least one of every activity as a fan, even cross-country (I lived one mile from the park that held the course... am I not the best friend an athlete could have!
3. What kind of car did you drive? Honda Accord then a Dodge Neon
4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Either a football/basketball game or with my parents
5. Were you a party animal? No. I need sleep.
6. Were you considered a flirt? It would depend on who you asked
7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Choir senior year
8. Were you a nerd? If I would have tried harder, I suppose I could have been
9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Nope.
10. Can you sing the fight song? I don't know if we had one
11. Who was your favorite teacher? Kathleen Terry
12. What was your school mascot? Trojan
13. Did you go to the Prom? Junior only
14. If you could go back, would you? There is not enough money in the world to make me go back
15. What do you remember most about graduation? I sat next to my friend Justin, and he made up his own words to the Frank Sinatra songs the band played
16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? At school
17. Did you have a job your senior year? I worked at a pharmacy
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The cafeteria...we weren't allowed anywhere else
19. Have you gained weight since then? Too much...but I would never want to be that skinny again.
20. What did you do after graduation? Went to Project Graduation then left at 8 the next morning for MissionFuge
21. What year did you graduate? 1997
22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? Didn't go...Mom & Dad took me out to eat and then shopping. Then I hit the after prom breakfast at my friend Emily's house. My WHOLE youth group was there
23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? Nope.

I Could Be in the Record Books

But I'm not. This weekend I went to Bristol Motor Speedway for the race under the lights. It is the pentultimate nighttime race in the series. For years they have done a card stunt where you have a card on your seat and you raise it up at a certain time and it makes a picture. For the past few years it has been only in turns 1 & 2 that they did this. However, this year they wanted to get it in the record books so all 160,000 seats had a card on them. So, where was Carrie during all of this record breaking you say? She was in the pits. Below are pictures of the two card stunts. The first one was done during the National Anthem (160,000+ singing it will send chills up and down your spine regardless) and the second was while the drivers were getting in the cars.

In this picture, my actual seat is direction north of the "M" in Million.

More to come on this exciting weekend. Oh and I bought a digital camera so expect more pictures on my blog. :-)

It's Finally Friday

Well, another week has come and gone. It's been a fun one too! The McAmis boys and I made it to Atlanta and saw most of the game. Because we were driving back that night we made a deal that if either team was up by 5 or more runs by the end of the 7th inning we would leave. The Hot-lanta Braves were up 6-0 at the end of the 7th so we headed home. They won 6-4. If they had lost, I would have been ever-so-stinking mad that we left early and I wasn't there to lend them my support, but they won so I am ok with the decision. Mercy Me sang the national anthem so it was really nice. We had to scalp tickets and ended up being able to sit behind 1st base about 37 rows up (or something like that.) Quite the nice view.

Sunday provided a nice blessing of a steak lunch at my best friend A's house. I have adopted her family as my place to eat for Sunday lunch. Her sister had found steaks on sale that week so I was blessed with an a amazing lunch (including some DEE-LI-CIOUS hash brown casserole.) The remainder of the day proved not to be as restful as I had hoped because I had to go granny-sit. My mom had to take my Papaw and two great-aunts to the funeral home so I got to granny-sit. Lucky for me she was in a really good mood that day. And I got to see Cousin J's pictures from Austria. So it was a nice day of family, friends, and food. A girl can't complain!

Monday I went with my boss and her three kids to Dollywood's Splash Country. I was just expecting to stay with the youngest in the kiddie area most of the day. However, as he and I roamed the park (because it would be too much to ask that they keep all kiddie things in one area) we discovered he isn't so little anymore. He's actually tall enough to go down some of the slides. So, life jacket in hand, off we went. Raging River Rapids is his choice of rides. The lines moved at a pretty good rate and the closer we got the more excited he got. Now, not having any children of my own I never dreamed I would be so nervous. I mean, what if we get to the top, get on the float, and he hates it. I would have single-handedly felt responsible for hit life-long hatred of water slides. Well, we got in the raft with a lovely mother and her daughter who were in line behind us....and down we went. I watched him like a hawk as he sat expressionless in the float. My mind is going a million miles an hour. "He's hating it." "He hate me." "He is going to have a phobia of all things water related." And the ride ends. He is still expressionless. "I'm going to have to carry him out of this pool kicking and screaming. Then find his mother and explain to her what I have done to her son. He's still emotionless. I have never seen such a blank look on someones face. The screaming is about to start. I just know it. We get out of the raft and are heading up the stairs. HIS FACE LIGHTS UP!!!! "I want to do it again...let's do it again!!!!!!" YEAH! I didn't scar him for life. Thank you Lord! It turns out his mom, sis, and bro saw us in line so they watched part of the ride down. The rest of the day we stayed together and rode more rides like this. It was such a privilege to be with him when he experienced his first water slide. Yet, I do believe I lost 3-4 years off of my life in the process!

There were some tennis games this week and I got to play Wii with some good friends on Tuesday night. The rest of the week has been pretty low-key (thankfully!) Tonight I'm off to see the Bourne Ultimatum. I'll blog on this next week. Have a great weekend and give your family lots of hugs!!!!

It's Official

I can now leave the country. I walked to the mailbox yesterday thinking "wonder what bills came today" because it is bill paying time of the month. I opened the mailbox and thought it was interesting that there was a fancy USPS envelope in there, but the roommate is getting married so the mailbox has had more interesting things lately. However, this envelope was addressed to me. And it was from the government. And it contained my passport. WOOHOO! I had applied for it in June and was told that it would arrive around September 20. And they say the government never does anything in a timely manner. Well, they got this baby to me in about 6 weeks. So now I am "have passport, can travel" girl. Well, I can go to any country that requires a passport but no special series of shots. If I need shots, I probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I hate shots. I fear them worse than anything. But that is another post for another day.

The Evolution of Sports...Or Something Like That

I watched the movie "Glory Road" tonight. A very powerful movie about the Texas Western basketball team that became the first Division I team to ever start 5 black players in the NCAA tournament. However, the one thing that stuck out to me throughout the whole film, set in the 1960s, was this: the players shorts were very short and the cheerleaders skirts were very long. Flash forward to today and it's the reverse: the players shorts are very long and the cheerleaders skirts are very short. Just an observation. I'm a dork. I'm ok with that.

Heading to Hotlanta

Tomorrow's the day. It's the day I attend my annual Braves game. I guess I've gone 5 out of the last 6 years. There's just something about Summertime that makes me want to sit outside and watch some ball. This time I'll be heading to Atlanta with a couple of guy friends (my girl friends all think baseball is boring.) We're going to do a little shopping, eat some yummy food (Cheesecake Factory or California Pizza Kitchen), and watch some baseball. It will be a fun filled day for sure. I'm not sure it will produce as many funny stories as our car-trip to the beach, but I'm sure there will be several fun stories to tell.

Recent happenings:

1) Dad turned the big 59 last weekend. That means next year he hits the big 60 followed by me hitting the big 30. I'm ok with that. My friend asked me recently how old I think is too old to have children. I told her 29. ;-) However, my dad is the coolest. I can't thank him enough for all he does for me and my sister. I'm the luckiest girl in the world Thanks, Dad. I love you!

2) I bought a Nintendo Wii. Normally I do not get into video games, but the guys at work talk about how much fun this is so I now own one. It is a great group activity and actually gets you up and moving so I consider it cardio. Win-win for sure! Uncle J also bought one for the pre-teens at church. I'm going back to the 5th grade so I can hang out with them!

3) Transformers rocks. If you haven't seen it, you need to. This is a movie theater movie for sure. I'm talking full price movie theater movie. You need to see it in all of its high-def, surround sound wonder.

4) I got to hang out with some of my friends this week who work in our college department. Rebecca, Meggan, and O'B...thanks for letting me hang with you!

5) I am still avoiding the Harry Potter madness. Not a movie seen nor a book read. And I plan on continuing this trend. Sorry AB, I'm not coming over to the dark side.

6) Work is still work. I still have a job which is good. I appreciate Dilbert more than I ever have in my life at this point though. I'm convinced that Scott Adams has a mole in every large corporation in America though.

Well, I guess that's enough. Maybe if I blogged more often then I wouldn't have such long posts.