Weekend Update

Yea, I know, it's already Monday afternoon and I'm just getting around to telling you all about my weekend.

This was Dorman's last weekend in the U.S. for a while. Because he often the voice of reason, it was decided that we have a "low key" night out on Saturday. And by low key I think he only meant no dancing on bars, hickeys, or sprained ankles. We had dinner with family, and several (20) or so beers at several locations around town. Surprisingly when we woke up the next morning, the two of us seemed to have abused ourselves more than if we would have been drinking shots and doing all of the craziness mentioned above. We were some hurtin pups on Sunday morning. But, there was no time for wallowing in self-pity.

We got our selves moving Sunday morning and into the car to Philadelphia. We planned a fully cultural day in the big city. I got to meet Dorman's friend Tonya who was kind enough to chauffeur us around the city to our various destinations.

We started out at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and immediately went for the 19th century European paintings and sculpture: Monet, Manet, Rodin, DeGas. We found our way to the Contemporary paintings and sculptures of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Brancusi etc. We found the most curious piece of sculpture there. It was kind of disturbing, at least to me. Picture an old enameled kitchen sink. But where the faucet handles are, there were legs, a child's legs coming out. They were two left legs and were covered in human hair...I think that was the most disturbing to me. To read more about at least one of the most poignant conversations of the day, check out Dorman's blog.

And speaking of disturbing, after lunch across from the Eastern State Penitentiary, our next stop was the Mutter Museum. This is the Philadelphia Physicians Museum. We had prepared ourselves for guts and goo and skeletons, but there was much, much more!! We saw the results of chronic constipation, what a skull looks like when it has been beaten with a hatchet and a 70 lb. ovarian cyst. Towards the end of our visit there, Tonya and I decided we wanted to get jobs there refilling the specimen jars. EW!!

We then made our way down to South Street. This street is chock full of shops, bars and restaurants. There were several highlights of this window shopping experience particularly for Dorman. He did get educated on his chakras and which stones would help to improve his chakras. Tonya and I made it a point to beat up on Dorman as much as possible. You know, because it's fun! That meant that a trip through Condom Kingdom was a must! We were all pretty interested in the candy necklace bikini and g-string we saw inside.

Our final destination was to Manayunk. This is a small suburb of Philadelphia with great shopping and restaurants. We found an Irish pub, Kildare's for dinner and finished up the night window shopping.

As Dorman and I both said, we both, along with Mattandriver will need some serious recuperation after all the fun and partying we've had since Dorman's been home. I've had a really good time over the last few weeks. Dorman, I'm sad to see you go, but my liver is breathing a sigh of relief!

Do You Want To Know A Secret?

Did you ever really consider how much people touch your life? I'm not just talking about the people that really impact your life because they're a huge part of it, but think about those people who came in and went out but somehow left a fingerprint...that favorite teacher, coach or coworker who were there for a short time and then seemed to disappear.

I heard a Beatles song on the way home from work today..."Do You Want to Know a Secret." And I thought about a woman I worked with at a department store some 20 years ago. Her husband was in the army and the entire family spent time in Europe. She and her husband had two sons who were teenagers in the 60's when they spent most of their time in Europe. I remember her telling me that her sons were very much into the Beatles and had the Nehru style jackets and Beatle boots.

This woman was the most kind-hearted person you ever wanted to meet. She would do anything for anyone. I never heard her say an unkind thing or be in a bad mood. She just rolled with the punches.

She loved her children and grandchildren but most of all loved her husband Web, or Webby as she would call him. He used to play banjo with a group of men and they would travel over the U.S. to conventions, etc. When Webby died, I immediately knew, that Sue wouldn't last much longer without him. He was her entire world, and she was his.

I soon found out that Sue had gotten cancer and died. She was finally back with the man that she loved. I think of her often and hope that she can serve as a role model for me. To teach me to be kind everyday to every one without bias. I don't think I'm there yet. Still working on that one.

T-13

Thirteen Things about Carney 1. It actually made me smile this morning when I got out to my car at 6:30 a.m. and noticed that the sun was coming up. 2. Last night I thought for sure I wouldn't be going to work the rest of the week or be able to go out this weekend because now I've strained my back. What is WRONG with me? 3. I need to get Sirius radio. On my short drive to work this morning, three stations were playing The Eagles. Two of the stations had the same song on! 4. This pic just cracks me up!! 5. I do have some bad news though...this weekend will be the last of the out of control party weekends. So much for the fodder for my blog!! 6. The bright side to that is, hopefully I won't be injuring myself anymore. 7. If anyone ever hears me utter the words "I think I'm going to try out for American Idol" restrain me, do whatever it takes. 8. That show is another one of my guilty pleasures. It just cracks me up, at least for the first couple of episodes. 9. One (of many reasons) to not get out of bed...a purring cat over your head. 10.Still working on those other reasons for not getting out of bed...ever. 11.Why is it that most museums are closed on Monday? Is that just in PA? 12.Is there a conspiracy against having any sort of culture in the state of PA on Mondays? 13.Will and Grace tonight! Love this show...Karen is my hero! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, IÂ’ll add you here!)

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Guilty Pleasures

I was tagged by Bone (A near perfect man who isn't afraid to wear pink!) to do this meme about my top 5 guilty pleasures. I don't know how I'm going to come up with just 5. But, here goes.

1. Naps-I will catch a nap whenever I can. Except when I'm on something that's moving; planes, trains, automobiles, or when I'm on the beach. There's just too much to look at and Lord knows I don't want to miss anything.

2. Going back to bed/doing absolutely nothing-I will get up at pretty much any hour if I know I can get back into bed and sleep a few more hours. This usually results in doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. I always feel really bad when I've wasted a day laying on the couch, watching TV or movies. Certainly there's something constructive I could have been doing. But I usually get over it.

3. 80's Movies-These are the movies that you can find on TV most any weekend. I have most of them on DVD or VHS, but if they're on TV, I'm going to watch it. My favorites:
Pretty in Pink
The Breakfast Club
Moonstruck
Coal Miners Daughter
16 Candles
Ferris Buellers Day Off
Dirty Dancing
Stand By Me
The Lost Boys
The Witches of Eastwick
The Shining

4. Spa Treatments-Really, does anyone need to be soaked in chocolate and be massaged for hours?? No, but why wouldn't you want to be??

5. Blogging-I'm sure you've all felt like you have other things you should/could be doing but, "if I can just get this one blog entry just right, I'll stop. Oh, but I have to check in on all my blog friends." Four hours later, you're still at your computer.

Misery

I'm sure many of you will remember the scene from the movie Misery where Kathy Bates' psychotic character Annie breaks the ankles of her favorite author Paul played by James Caan, by placing a piece of wood between his ankles and giving them a good whack with a sledgehammer.

I think I can almost understand the pain. You see, I've redefined the term "falling down drunk" by stumbling off a deck onto the ground and spraining both of my ankles on Saturday night. Thanks however go out to MattandRiver and Dorman for being on the search and recovery team by getting me on my feet and back inside again. It is amazing what a good surge of adrenaline will do for a really drunken state. I think I sobered up pretty quick after the fall. Because I do distinctly remember a certain someone saying they were going to take advantage of me in my drunken state. Tease!

Thanks again to MattandRiver and wife for allowing me to crash on their couch! River and I, yea, were dating. He loves me!! Snot, it was great to meet you! I don't think Sunbury can take much more of us.

A Night with the Luv Gods

In true celebrity form, the band didn't have to set up their own equipment but had the "roadies" do it for them. So, that they could all make an entrance to the stage for the show. Paricularly Shea Quinn, the Luv God himself. He's a music icon in this area since the 80's when he was in a band called The Sharks. Girls (still) swoon over this man. He's tall, long wavy hair, pouty kissable lips and a total rock star personae.

A group from work went to see the band last night and by the end of the night, my friend Stacey, her sister Sheree and I were total groupies. So much so we all have Luv God t-shirts!

For the most part, the band did cover songs from the 80's including the Violent Femmes, Ramones, Billy Idol, Tommy Tutone (yikes), Modern English, etc. Thankfully, they snuck a few Sharks originals in the mix as well. Finally by the end of the night they did some Maroon 5 and KILLERS!!

Shea, if your reading this...call me!

Jars of Clay

I had my first class of the new semester last night-sculpture. It's a hands on, get your hands dirty kind of class. I haven't had one of these kinds of classes in so long, it was great fun.

For our first project, she gave us an apple and a clump of clay. We had to model the clay into an exact replica of the apple. We will then make a mold and plaster cast of the apple from the clay.

We'll also be doing projects with metal and wood. We may even get to use power tools as well as sharp, pointy things for our projects! Whoo hoo!

Weekend Update

So much to tell, I just want to cut to the chase and leave out all the unneccesary words. So, here's a review of this weekend. As in all criminal investigations, the names have been deleted to protect the innocent.

Friday the 13th:
work, work, work
drinks
ditched
thank you
more drinks
friends
you ate what?
oh and now you're smoking?!?
bitch slapping
sleep

Saturday (Full Moon Fever):
ah, sleep
house cleaning
nap
check email
oh, unexpected email
butterflies
YAY!
friends arrive
friends meet friends
drinks
food
vocabulary lesson
new location
FREEZING!
Hardware Bar
dancing
drinks
pretty girls
great rack
hot guys
dancing on bar
and i liked it!
pole dancing
problem?
drinks
hey, nice tattoo
Boom-Boom Room
dancing
ass grabbing
dancing girls
she could hurt you
really long goatee
did you just put my hand on your.....?
it's getting hot in herre
FREEZING!
F&$* off taxi driver!
NIN
cigarettes
stray dogs
beer!
how's the view from down there?
up all night
oh my God, there's a hickey on my neck!
The Doors
passed out
what is that noise?

Sunday:
sleeeep
hang overs
sore muscles
home

Just basking in the glow of a really fun weekend!

One Time at Band Camp

I've recently told this story to two people and it reminded me how funny this was. If you're unfamiliar with the title quote, click HERE.

So, my friend's husband likes eBay and yard sales and auctions, etc. He happened to be at an auction at a school that was getting rid of desks, books, and their old band uniforms. So, he proudly came home that evening with the car packed full of about 30 band uniforms, hats and all!

So, one evening we were all sitting around enjoying a beverage and noticed that a couple of the neighbors were also having friends over and enjoying a few beverages. We started discussing the now dreaded band uniforms that were hawking up all the free space in the basement and though it would be funny for all of us to put on a band uniform.

As suggestions go, it seemed like a really good one at the time. So, off we went to find the appropriate sized uniform jacket at least and matching hat. Now we're thinking we're pretty funny and obviously had to take some pictures. Then Stacy and I take note of the neighbors having a party, notice that they're all young guys and take into consideration our need to be center of attention at all times.

"Let's go down there in these uniforms and do 'one time at band camp.'" Again, another really good idea! It's important to note, that at this time, I had never seen the movie, nor did I know what line actually followed the title phrase. If you don't know either, click the link above, it's important!

We tried to coerce the guys into coming with us, but they weren't having any part. Wussies! So, off we march in the direction of the unsuspecting partiers. We get within range when I notice Stacy lagging behind. Now is not the time to change your mind! So, I continue forward, with a now sheepish Stacy next to me. The guys look up and laugh at the initial spectacle of it when I blurt out the famous line. They all have a laugh, and some of them actually completed the full quote, complete with the parts I didn't know! So now, Stacy and I now feel like complete retards, but not as much as I did when I learned within moments of doing this what the remainder of the quote was.

Stacy and I have often considered doing stand up. We have no shame. We also do a mean Sonny and Cher at karaoke.

T-13

Thirteen Things about MOI! 1. How did Thursday get here already? 2. And how did my semester break fly by so quickly? I start classes again next week. 3. Why don't guys try on clothing before they buy them? Is it the same as them not asking directions? 4. Check out my picks in the Flickr box on the right. I added some new stuff. 5. Actually they're old pics, just new here. 6. Dean got himself a great new camera...expect some fantastic pics on his blog. 7. Now I want one. 8. I have been getting like 3 hours of sleep per night and I'm still trying to get rid of this cold thing. 9. Does anyone remember that dating show Chuck Woolery used to host in the 80's? 10. Remember how they would introduce the participants and say, "This is Katrina, she enjoys rollerblading and dates 3-4 times a week." 11. Who dates that much? 12. Is that 3-4 times per week with the same person? 13. The temps are supposed to be near 60 today and tomorrow. Suddenly January isn't so bad! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Oh yea, more stuff about me...

My near and dear Coyote tagged me with the fabulous Ang’s list (what does that mean anyway?), so here goes:

Two Parts of Your Heritage
1. German 2. Irish

Two Things That Scare You
1. Losing someone I love 2. Never finding someone to love

Two fears you overcame
1.Saying goodbye 2. Traveling alone

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1. Friends 2. Music

Two things you are Wearing Right Now
1.Sweat shirt 2. Flannel pj bottoms

Two things you wore too much this year
1. work clothes 2. a frown

This year's Favorite Bands or Musical Artists
1. The Killers 2. Damien Rice

Two Things You Want in a Relationship
1. Lots of hot sex 2. And for him to bring a friend!

Two of your favorite Movies of the Year
1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (yes, I'm kidding)

Best movies of all time
1. The Sixth Sense 2. Moonstruck

Two things you hate (geez, only two?)
1. Liars 2. Stupid people

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. Photography 2. Cemeteries

Two things you learned this year
1. I don't have to be part of a couple. 2. Dating sucks.

Two Accomplishments You are Proud of
1. Going back to school 2. Most everything I do, I do with a clear concscience

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1. Love 2. Peace of mind

Two places you went this year.
1. New York City 2. Ocean City

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. Tahiti 2. Greece

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. Fall in love forever(seeing a theme here?) 2. Do something really courageous

Two Ways that you are a Stereotypical Example of your Gender
1. Makeup, perfume, nail polish, too many purses, shoes and clothing 2. I can be catty about other women

Two things that make you stand out.
1. My hair 2. My pointy toed shoes that make people wonder how I got my feet in them

Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit
1. I'm afraid of a lot of things 2. I think most people are stupid.

Two Goals for the New Year
1. To step outside my box 2. Figure out what I really want in life.

I'm not tagging anyone but if you'd like to do this...please feel free.

Hey! You Wanna Hear A Story?

Saturday night I ventured up to Mattandriver's neighborhood for a night on the town. Unfortunately, Dean's flight changed and he couldn't join us. Next time, for sure!!

Besides meeting MandR's lovely wife, I got to meet another member of Mattandriver's family....River! I think he and I may be dating. I got a fair share of kisses on the lips from him!

So MandR and wife and I started out at the Hotel Edison. Very old and very groovy hotel in town. It all started off innocently enough there as we sat down at the bar. But, within minutes, everything changed. MandR's very close friend (he probably won't admit it but I could tell the two of them go way back) Jeff was at the bar. I think everyone in this town was named Jeff. To start off Jeff gave us his recipe for the very best french fries: a lot of ketchup (my kinda guy), salt and....drum roll please....pepper. I know you are all reading this with baited breath....so were we. But, that's all there was to Jeff's version of the world's best french fries!

That was just Jeff's way of getting his foot in the door. The rest of the stories that night started out "Hey, you wanna hear another one?" All the while his eyes were sparkling and wild. The bartender described it best....he was Beetlejuice...sounded like him, similar expressions...so keep that in mind! Jeff continued with stories about his tree cutting days. One day in particular when he was particularly hung over and the temps outside were 150 degrees. He was pruning an apple tree for a woman and she asked if she could get him anything. He said "yes, a glass of ice water would be great." So, the old lady went inside and came outside with a flyswatter and began to whack Jeff about the head with it. When he asked her what she was doing, she said she thought he needed to keep the bugs off of him. He said "no you crazy old woman I asked for ice water, not flyswatter!" I'm almost sure it was at that point that the three of us were uncontrollably hysterical which resulted in MandR's wife spilling her drink.

We then moved on to another bar, and then finally Dan's Den where the bass was pumpin! We were doing "social profiling" as MandR liked to call it. And discovered a young man that knew every word to every song. Apparently he has lots of time on his hands! Periodically he would go out and dance with his entourage of women. As the night wore on, and the three of us got more daring, MandR double-dogged dared me to go ask this guy to dance. Which resulted in the classic statement of the evening. MandR said, "If you go out there and dance with him, I'll go out and grind his ass." And there you have it folks. Need I say anything more??

And today I got an unexpected visit from Dean after all. He needed to take a friend to the airport so there I was in the front seat of a pick up sandwiched between two soldiers. Could life get any better?

A Lesson Before Dying

I'm sure by now you've all heard, read or seen on the news about the notes the dying West Virginia miner's left for their family members. Certainly, it's a rare occasion to be able to have this kind of opportunity to tell family members that you didn't suffer, or you weren't in pain as you took your dying breaths.

Often with my training classes we do those "exercises" (read: games) that you as the trainee either love or hate. One of these "exercises" I play is with a beach ball that is tossed around with questions on that the participants are to answer. One of the questions is "If the plane you were in were about to crash and you could write a note to someone what would you say?" I've gotten the standard, "I'd tell my husband/wife and kids that I loved them" to the "See I told you flying wasn't safe," which reminds me of the grave marker in Key West that remarks "I told you I was sick."

Bearing this in mind, the thought provoking question for today is: If you knew you were going to die by some means in the next 10 minutes, what would you do or say in your final moments?

Thursday Thurteen!

Thirteen Things about Carney1. Happy Thursday! Thursday came quickly this week since I had off work on Monday. 2. I have to take Lester, a.k.a. Mr. Kitzer to the vet today so he can have blood work done. He's usually pretty good at the vet, he doesn't need to go in a carrier I can just put him on a leash. The problems usually start when the staff tries to pet him. 3. I'm feeling better but still have a pretty good hack going on. I'm sure everyone that sits around me at work wants to choke me by the end of the day. 4. The blog world will collide in a small way this weekend. Three of your favorite bloggers, Mattandriver, Dorman and yours truly will be going out to celebrate Dean's homecoming and Mattandrivers birthday. 5. We will be celebrating Dean's homecoming IF he truly does get home this weekend. Seems some branches of our armed forces aren't as adept in shuffling paperwork as others! 6. I actually heard birds chirping this morning when I was walking in to work. Either I've not been paying attention or the birds were up early and enjoying the slightly warmer temps this morning. 7. While I was at the grocery store last night, I walked down the dish washing/laundry detergent aisle where there was another couple shopping. I had the distinct feeling that I was going to get my a$$ kicked within the next minute or so by the young lady (if she had been paying attention) because her boyfriend kept staring at me. Guys...if you're gonna check out a girl while you are with your girlfriend, be a little discrete, please?!? 8. Guys if you need tips on how to check someone out on the sly, ask your girlfriend or wife. I think we've gotten it down to a fine art! 9. This weekend starts the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show. It is the largest indoor agricultural event in the United States. This is the 90th year for it and ever since I was a kid have always loved to go see, well actually pet all the animals. This is traditionally a popular thing for families to do, because it's free. However, parking is a nightmare. 10. They now have satellite parking lots where a bus will wind you through the grounds of the PA State Hospital. If you've ever seen the movie Girl Interrupted, much of that movie was filmed in the Harrisburg area including the State Hospital. 11. Farmers from all over the state bring their animals, there is judging on many different levels, the 4H kids show their animals and agricultural products. 12. Aside from petting all the cute animals, the next best thing is the food. The Farm Show is known for their baked potatoes which really aren't any different than any other potato but are served slathered in a pound of butter. What isn't better with a pound of butter?? Then there's the milkshakes. I don't know what makes them better, but they just are. 13. Other things you can see at the Farm Show include the butter sculpture, the sheep to shawl competition (one of my personal favorites), and square dancing. The square dancing is often televised on a local cable access channel. Ah, there's nothing like seeing rotund women in loud colored, crinoline skirts that make them look shorter and even wider. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Curses!

I tried in desperation to just close my eyes and go to sleep but no. The thought that Penn State may actually lose at the Orange Bowl was too much temptation. So, I flicked on the TV and there were the repeated missed field goals. I think I even cheered out loud on one of them even in my sleepy state! Then came the triple overtime. But, it wasn't going to happen, some how Penn State won that freaking game. And as Fin and I were discussing today, the Penn State fans around here need to keep their yaps shut. Florida State gave them a run for their money even though they were only ranked 22.

Next time I have to remember to add more wing of bat instead of eye of newt. Dang!

A Peaceable Kingdom

I have added a new link to the list over yonder of worthy animal shelters in my area. I was just informed today by my good buddy Stacey about this place. It's relatively new and located just outside Gettysburg, PA. This particular shelter specializes in rescuing exotic animals from the stupid %$&*# that think it's a really cool idea to get a monkey or hey, why not a tiger?!? This shelter also rescues research animals. Don't even get me started on that subject! I hope that Stacey and I get a chance to visit this place. I would love to work with these beautiful creatures! Anyway, just wanted you to know about it...check out the website!

P.S. There's some really big news at this blog!!!

All Good Things...

It's 7:32 EST, and as the day is coming to a close so is my vacation. I really don't think I could be at home with not much to do for many more days. I need to be entertained in case no one has noticed that. I did start a book for my book club and am almost finished with it thanks to the grunge I had over the weekend. The book's The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch. It's a quick read and it get's a little sassy about half way through...my kinda book!

Since when did the Tournament of Roses parade as well as the bowl games get moved to the day after New Years?? I'm sitting here watching Notre Dame get...wait, they just scored. OK and they just missed the field goal. Geez! They're still behind but there's lots of time to go. Bama pulled a nice win today in the Cotton Bowl, I know Bone and Mattandriver are happy about that!

Yay ND just scored again but oh, there's a flag, oh great! Darn! Incomplete pass. Figures!

So I got myself in gear today and went shopping with a friend. Then got some fun things for the house including some thingys (and yes, that's the technical term) to hold up my swags that my sister lovingly cut for me this weekend. My swag thingys are very groovy, I'll post a pic, there's no sense trying to explain even if you do know what a swag is.

I feel like I've gotten a spark of creativity back. For those creative souls out there, do you sometimes find that people you hang with can sometimes smother or maybe ignite the creative spark? Is it the outside forces changing the creative spark or is it you letting it get smothered by becoming preoccupied with these other people? I've often looked back on the most creative times in my life when I was drawing, painting, writing and try to figure out what I was doing at that point that motivated me and I've still not figured it out. Anyway, I'm going to try to keep moving forward with this creative mood and see where it takes me.

OK, couldn't resist...here's the swag thingy pics...I know you were dying to see! Oh yea, and the shutters from the Martha moment I had a few months ago.