Home Blogging

This is my first post from home since I have set up my AOL account here. Such fun!

Josh and I watched "Hide & Seek" with Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning. It was kind of scary... just to watch the reactions on Dakota's face when the crazy stuff happened.

Josh took Lucy to the v-e-t this morning while I had band practice w/ the high school kids. He said that she was sweet, but so pitiful when they had to take some...shall we just say... samples! However, at least she's done with the shots. All she has to do now is the spay/microchip session. She'll be under anesthesia for that. We're doing that in two months when she's 6 months old. With all the cats that hang out at our apartment complex, we definitely don't want her going into heat around here!

Yay! I finally bought a cordless optical mouse. I was going to get one of those new laser mice, but Circuit City was out of them even after the poor sales guy talked me into it LOL. It's for work anyway... I'm tired of those P.O.S. standard two-button scroll Logitechs they give out. I had one before that my dad gave me. It was everything this new one is except it was corded. I finally have my fwd-bkwd internet buttons on the side! I missed those after the one that my dad gave me died out.

I'm on pg. 574 of Harry Potter 5! Not long now! I hate that I'm reading so slow, but I can't help it since I'm in band season now. Book 6 might take longer. There are some band trips coming up, though... maybe I can catch up then... plus get back to Dante's Inferno and re-read Patricia Cornwell's "Portrait of a Killer", which I started way before any of the others! I swear I will finish at least these four before I start anything else.

Oh yeah!
Dude - we're gettin' a Dell! Josh ordered it tonight for my October birthday. It'll arrive after 8-10. I know it's early, but hey - we got the credit tonight without even knowing if we were eligible. The interest rate blows goats, though... if I write it down here, it'll piss me off next time I see it. Hopefully, we can pay it off earlier and avoid alot of that anyway. So far, with all of our debt, we've done that - even with my car loan I pay extra. With just paying 20 bucks extra a month, I pay it off 3 months early, and I have sometimes paid as much as half a payment extra. I get paid bi-weekly, so for two months out of every year, I'll get one extra paycheck. That usually catches me up or lets me get ahead. Last time, it let me get ahead - woo-hoo!

Starting diet Monday - not really dreading it this time so much. Josh promised me that if I lost the weight I want to lose, he'll quit smoking cigars (don't worry - he's not one of those "you need to lose weight" jerks, I mentioned the deal on my own). That really gives me the momentum to do it... as if I needed another reason, right?

Yeah, well - enough writing. Time to read. Goodnight!

Goal Post (pun intended!)

Ok - that's my only possible ha-ha for the day. I have no amusement left. It's the end of the month and we are being pressured to get pending orders "out the door". Therefore, everyone comes to me and my associate for our part of the job first. It's going to be a long day...

Which brings me to my next topic: I am FINALLY going back on a diet starting Monday. It's easier for me to start a diet on a work week rather than the weekend for some reason. My goal is to lose 10 lbs. at a time... working my way down to my ideal body weight. It's easier for me to work for little goals instead of discouraging myself looking at the big picture that will take me forever to reach.

Also, I'm going to embarrass myself by posting my weight here (I have put up pics of myself, so it's not like you'd think I'm lying, right?). My current weight is 256lbs. Yikes - that was hard to write down. It makes me not want to post this, but I'm going to! I'm sick of not fitting into my cute clothes! I have such a great wardrobe about four sizes smaller than I am now. I know it'll take some time to get there, but that's my "down-the-road" goal... to fit into those clothes.

Wow - I think this is enough frankness for the day. I'll write more later, but it'd better be funny!

PS: I'm on pg. 531 of HP5 - I'm getting closer!!

Quote for the day

This came from my company's healthy life newsletter - I don't know whose quote it is though - sorry!

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.

Rock Band Fun

My cousin David is the lead in a local rock band called Insidious Demise. They're playing next Friday night at the Handlebar. It's only 7 bucks for them and three other bands! Josh, Danielle (friend from work) and I are planning to go. I hope nothing crappy happens that keeps us from making it.

David is my closest cousin. We're only three weeks apart in age. He was even one of the groomsmen in our wedding! I'll put a pic up sometime. :)

new additions!

I have finally added a hit counter to the site - woo-hoo! Let's see if I can mess up my html code anymore (You should have seen the effort it took to get it placed correctly!)

Oh - and check out the clock!

#100!!!

I have reached the 100th blog post!! I should celebrate - no really - I should.

Next few classes

Here is a tentative list of the next few forensic classes I want to take:

• Police/Community Relations
• Industrial/Retail Security (already have minor experience here by sitting in with the crackhead thieves we used to nab at Kmart)
  These two classes should complete my Associate Degree in Public Service, then on to the Forensics Certificate, which will open the door to the county/city job!
  
  Some of the other forensics classes I want to take soon:
• Intro to Criminal Justice (I tested out of that class, but it's a pre-requisite to everything else and I am tired of having to get approval to take everything else I want.)
• Fingerprint Science
• Criminology (causation theories, society's reactions, etc)
• Forensic Photography (this looks like alot of fun!)
• Practical Crime-Scene Investigations (hands-on to evidence collection & crime-scene preservation, etc)

I'm excited to get back into the program, since I have been gone so long! Of course, it'll take a while to get all of these under my belt since I am full time work-force now, but I will stick with it!

Home at Last

Lucy's cosmic twin, Abby, found a home last night! When I got to work, I asked about Abby. Apparently, no sooner than we got the email with Abby's pictures, someone swept her away!

By the way, I got really nervous last night when I went home and couldn't find Lucy! As it turned out, she was hiding from me and effing with my mind, but I felt a twinge of pain when I couldn't find her AND had thought that someone else had a kittie that looks exactly like her! I also had a dream that she ran away! :*( I had to call Josh this morning and make sure he saw her also!

BREATHE - It's ok!!

Lucy's Twin

Ok, this is Lucy...



...and this is not! This is Abby, a stray we're trying to find a home for! How uncanny is that?!?

Harry Potter

I am at the halfway point in book 5 of Harry Potter. Eventually, I'll be able to read book 6, the one Josh and I stood in line for at almost one in the morning! What’s unfair is that he got to see the fourth movie preview first!! Which, by the way, he says looks really good. I can’t be jealous, though… he said he’s willing to go see it with me again. I think he saw something having to do with the Triwizard Tournament, which would have caught his eye - LOL.

Dante is on hold for now while I'm trying to catch up with Harry Potter. :)

Besides, it’s not like I can read book 6 anyway if I wanted to. I left it at my parent’s house the day after I got it!

Now I have word that my sister is supposed to go into the hospital on Thursday, not yesterday like I had originally understood. I had time to at least send her a birthday card this morning. I can’t send the care package yet, because she can’t have any friend/family contact for 45 days. So now, I’ll just hang on to what I have and make it even better, and I’ll send it closer to when she can appreciate it.

Band Director

Finally!! We have a band director for the school (she's from Michigan and is supposed to be hard-core, so that's a plus for me - I won't have to do what I did last year which was basically baby-sit some of the students). We switched shows, too. Now we're doing the Magic of Mangione. Those of you in the music can attest that a ramped-up version of Carmen is definitely ALOT harder for middle/high school students than a Mangione show actually written for high schoolers... I can breathe a sigh of relief, thank you very much!

I can also stop writing drill... awesome! It was going to be a struggle having CARMEN ready for camp. I'm sure the drum captain who was doing it on his own was further ahead than me, since I was busier working on instrumentation and balance.

Wow - I just found out we're getting paid alot more than last year - this will cover my Christmas presents as well as whatever else I was planning to use it for!

Time to go - goodnight!!

Funny Headlines

Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Random Stories) Hey, true or not, they're hilarious!

I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the Poison Control Center. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants. I told her that she better bring her daughter in to the Emergency room right away.

********************
Seems that a year ago, some Boeing employees on the field decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home. When they took it for a float on the river, they were quite surprised by a Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them. It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator that is activated when the raft is inflated. They are no longer employed there.

******************
A true story out of San Francisco: A man, wanting to rob a downtown Bank of America, walked into the branch and wrote "this iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag." While standing in line waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and surmising from his spelling errors that he wasn't the brightest light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. Looking somewhat defeated, the man said "OK" and left. The Wells Fargo teller then called the police who arrested the man a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America.

*********************
Drug Possession Defendant, Christopher Jansen, on trial in March in Pontiac, Michigan, said he had been searched without a warrant. The prosecutor said the officer didn't need a warrant because a "bulge" in Christopher's jacket could have been a gun. "Nonsense," said Christopher, who happened to be wearing the same jacket that day in court. He handed it over so the judge could see it. The judge discovered a packet of cocaine in the pocket and laughed so hard he required a five minute recess to compose himself.

*********************
Oklahoma City: Dennis Newton was on trial in a district court for the armed robbery of a convenience store when he fired his lawyer. Assistant District Attorney Larry Jones said Newton, 47, was doing a fair job of defending himself until the store manager testified that Newton was the robber. Newton jumped up, accused the woman of lying and then said, "I should have blown your (expletive) head off." The defendant paused, then quickly added, "if I'd been the one that was there." The jury took 20 minutes to convict Newton and recommended a 30-year sentence.

*********************
R.C. Gaitlan, 21, walked up to two patrol officers who were showing their squad car computer equipment to children in a Detroit neighborhood. When he asked how the system worked, the officer asked him for identification. Gaitlan gave them his drivers license, they entered it into the computer, and moments later they arrested Gaitlan because information on the screen showed Gaitlan was wanted for a two-year-old armed robbery in St. Louis, Missouri.

*********************
A guy walked into a little corner store with a shotgun and demanded all the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but he refused and said "Because I don't believe you are over 21." The robber said he was, but the clerk still refused to give it to him because he didn't believe him. At this point the robber took his drivers license out of his wallet and gave it to the clerk. The clerk looked it over and agreed that the man was in fact over 21, and he put the scotch in the bag. The robber then ran from the store with his loot. The cashier promptly called the police and gave the name and address of the robber that he got off the license. They arrested the robber two hours later.

*********************
A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously waving revolvers. The first one shouted, "Nobody move!" When his partner moved,the startled first bandit shot him.

************************************
A True Story. If she had killed herself, God forbid, she'd be a shoo-in for the Darwin Award. Last summer, down on Lake Isabella, located in the high desert, an hour east of Bakersfield, California, a woman, new to boating was having a problem. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get her brand new 22-ft Bayliner to perform. It wouldn't get on a plane at all, and it was very sluggish in almost every maneuver, no matter how much power she applied. After about an hour of trying to make it go, she putted over to a nearby marina. Maybe they could tell her what was wrong. A thorough topside check revealed everything was in perfect working order. The engine ran fine, the outdrive went up and down, the prop was the correct size and pitch. So, one of the marina guys jumped in the water to check underneath. He came up choking on water, he was laughing so hard. (remember, this is supposed to be true.......) Under the boat, still strapped securely in place, was the trailer!

Sarah's Poem

Obviously this isn't a true story, but it rings true for many children in the world...
It's just part of a fwd I got, but it got to me.

My name is Sarah
I am but three,
My eyes are swollen
I cannot see,

I must be stupid
I must be bad,
What else could have made
My daddy so mad?

I wish I were better
I wish I weren't ugly,
Then maybe my mommy
Would still want to hug me.

I can't speak at all
I can't do a wrong
Or else I'm locked up
All the day long.

When I'm awake.
I'm all alone
The house is dark
My folks aren't home.

When my mommy does come
I'll try and be nice,
So maybe I'll get just
One whipping tonight.

Don't make a sound!
I just heard a car
My daddy is back
From Charlie's Bar.

I hear him curse
My name he calls
I press myself
Against the wall.

I try and hide
From his evil eyes
I'm so afraid now
I'm starting to cry.

He finds me weeping
He shouts ugly words,
He says its my fault
That he suffers at work.

He slaps me and hits me
And yells at me more,
I finally get free
And I run for the door.

He's already locked it
And I start to bawl,
He takes me and throws me
Against the hard wall.

I fall to the floor
With my bones nearly broken,
And my daddy continues
With more bad words spoken.

"I'm sorry!", I scream
But its now much too late
His face has been twisted
Into unimaginable hate.

The hurt and the pain
Again and again
Oh please God, have mercy!
Oh please let it end!

And he finally stops
And heads for the door,
While I lay there motionless
Sprawled on the floor.

My name is Sarah
And I am but three,
Tonight my daddy
Murdered me.

A list of 100 things about me you never wanted to know! - a work in progress

updated: 9-19-2005

1. I am female.
2. I live in South Carolina (United States).
3. I was born at 11:11PM at Greenville General Hospital.
4. I have an associate of arts degree and I am very slowly working towards another one in forensic science @ Greenville Technical College.
5. I am a senior credit investigator for a major barcode products distributor. The best company in the world!!!
6. I have never been farther west than Nebraska, farther north than Wisconsin, farther south than Florida, and farther northeast than Philadelphia.
7. I have two cats, named Macy and Lucy, and a 15 year-old false map turtle named Doc Holliday (I don't know what a true map turtle looks like).
8. I play flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, a little percussion and a little saxophone.
9. I attempt to be a perfectionist but don't usually achieve it.
10. I have light blue eyes that border on gray.
11. My favorite food is chicken cordon bleu.
12. I love butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds enough to stalk them with my camera.
13. The only carbonated things I will drink are Sprite and anything orange (Crush, Sunkist, etc).
14. For the past five years or so, I have been making a valiant effort to develop my own green thumb. I’ll post this season’s plants here and let you judge for yourself!
15. I like chocolate, but I don’t need it!
16. I hate coffee – but I love to smell it. I’d get a coffeemaker and brew coffee just for that reason.
17. I love to read.
18. I have a 2001 Nissan Sentra. I love my car!
19. I had a job during my senior year of high school as the Easter Bunny.
20. The only seafood I like is calamari.
21. I worked at a Dairy Queen during the summer after sophomore year and part of junior year.
22. I also worked at Kmart for 7 years, and then again for three months after my next job.
23. I worked for AMF (bowling) Greenville Lanes for 4 years until they closed, causing the Kmart relapse.
24. I was in the right place at the right time, and I was lucky to get the job I have now.
25. My parents are still married and they really are the perfect couple.
26. I have no children yet, but I have two nieces and a best friend with two boys who work just as well!
27. I take up a significant amount of time blogging, but it’s cathartic, so I can justify it.
28. I take my camera anywhere I go. I have it at work right now.
29. I love camping and I wish I could still do it on a regular basis.
30. I am fascinated by any type of bad weather – hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, etc.
31. Bugs I love: Ladybugs, fireflies, dragonflies, and butterflies
32. Bug who love me: Mosquitoes
33. I have VERY vivid dreams to the point of not knowing whether they were real or not.
34. I am anxious, but just b/c I’m nervous or excited, not to the point of needing medication.
35. Racism pisses me off and I feel that discrimination is pointless.
36. Edwin McCain is my favorite male singer. I even met him once!
37. I only wear shoes when I have to.
38. I enjoyed catching fireflies when I was little.
39. I haven’t liked the card game 52-Pick-Up since I was about five.
40. I have an older sister in Myrtle Beach and a younger brother in Greenville.
41. I am a borderline “Sunday” driver. I use the cruise control to keep from speeding.
42. I detest the smell of mayonnaise or even touching the jar for fear of touching the mayonnaise. My husband hates it too.
43. I love to bake, but I’m not the best in the world! My super-duper brownie rocks, though! I’ll post my recipe.
44. I have a lot of hope for our justice system.
45. My favorite show is Law & Order.
46. Josh and I went on Acrophobia at Six Flags over Georgia and Josh almost passed out from fear (he's not a wimp, it was just really unexpected!)
47. I still want to be a high school band director.
48. I used to collect Beanie Babies.
49. My family is goofy… and they’re passing it on to the younger generations.
50. I have never been in a cult.
51. I love rainbows – by golly, I do!
52. Qu-bert has always been my favorite video game.
53. My maternal grandma was the youngest of 17 children.
54. I like my in-laws.
55. My best asset is my long auburn hair (I used to get called Strawberry Shortcake in elementary school).
56. I wear size 8 ½ - 9 shoes.
57. I wear reading glasses when my eyes get lazy. (usually at night)
58. I marched piccolo in band for 5 year in high school and 4 years in college.
59. Volleyball is one of the very few sports I am good at.
60. I have acid reflux. Blah----
61. I was in a sorority for four years. Gamma Omega Sigma!!!!
62. Rascal Flatts is the only country band I like.
63. I cannot listen to enough of Loreena McKennitt or Sarah MacLachlan (my favorite female vocalists).
64. My favorite colors are kiwi green, lavender, purple and kelly green.
65. I firmly believe in saying what I mean.
66. I used to watch Xena religiously.
67. I enjoy learning about Scottish revolutionary war history and I’d like to go there one day and visit the battlefields and castles.
68. I am a registered organ donor… and you should be, too!
69. I like Disney Movies and own a lot of them.
70. I love the apartment we are in – the whole complex is so quiet - believe it or not!
71. I have the two sweetest kitties in the world!
72. I have a dream of dancing with Josh while Edwin McCain plays live in the background.
73. I love red trees (hence- fall season is my favorite!)
74. I hate okra.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.

Dante's Divine Comedy

Lately, I have been fascinated by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. So far, I've only been reading Inferno, but I'm hooked. I had a mild Inferno setback due to Harry Potter, but I haven't quit yet. I'm working my way down the spiral!

This is a good site as well as the one in my blog title...
http://www.greatdante.net/

Post-a-rama

Geez, I must love posting today. I haven't written in at least a week, and here I go making up for it now LOL.

Does anyone even read my blog? Here are my ready-made reactions to your answers:

Yes:
Good on ya! Winkie buttons for all!

No:
Do it! You'll get a winkie button!

Carri, you suck:
don't read it! Go away!

I'm just browsing, don't pick on me:
Aww... poor thing!

Sis

My sister had to go to the hospital (details more than that will cost you a serious amount of euros/bucks/lira/pesetas. Just know that it is going to be an extended stay). My mom (her stepmom) and I are going to get together a care package to send her. She loves anything to do with flip-flops (for some reason, that's really popular. It is cute, I'll have to admit), so I've picked up some cute stuff to send her.

I hope she gets better soon. It's in her best interest... no doubt about that.

PS: It's her birthday 7-31, so I want to finish her care package before then.

College Blab

I found out that I only have three more required classes to take before I earn my forensics associate degree (note that I am out of regular age to be in college... more like grad student age). Although I plan to take just about everything the school has to offer in that field (fingerprint science isn't even a required class if that tells you anything), I will at least have the degree and qualify again for lottery assistance. Then I can take the forensics classes that have the labs requirements and have fun collecting fake evidence!

Josh is really encouraging me to take the forensics road. He, however, would cringe if he had to see some of the things I'll be seeing. Funny if you think about it.

Josh's favorite quote

This is from Pulp Fiction (& the Bible, of course)... Josh loves it and can say it at anyone's request!

Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

Piggy Bust-Out

I had to dive into the piggy - I have caused major swine damage.

I do not know the final casualties, but I will post as soon as I do...

Poor piggy...

Piggy $$ Update

$67.33!!

July 4th

Our concert went well... somewhat! Josh and I arrived early to picnic and watch another music ensemble perform before ours. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous. My in-laws arrived; some of us even had Dippin' Dots. We were having a really nice time.

About ten minutes before I went on stage to warm up, the clouds started rolling in. It got REALLY dark and we knew it was going to start raining. I walked up to the stage and I felt a raindrop. By the time I sat down (we had to wait for the stage to clear), it started raining a little. When we got out our instruments, it was pouring! I saw this mass of umbrellas come out all at once, my in-laws included. I had to tell Josh to run to the car and get my umbrella (rain wasn't really expected that day). About a third of the crowd left, and we cut our performance by around 5-7 songs.

By the time we played 1812 Overture, the rain was down to a trickle. The cannons still went off and the fireworks still went off as well. All in all, it was a good performance.

Poor Josh, though..... he was ABSOLUTELY SOAKED by the end of it all. Even his wallet took two days to dry out.

Pictures

Can everyone see my pictures now? I have a bunch in June 2005 archives, so let me know if you can't see them. Apparently, there was some glitch in blogger-bot's programming and my pics disappeared along with some other people's pics I was used to seeing. They seem to be back, as far as I can still tell. I'm tiptoeing around my website just in case I might do something wrong!

Countdown

Three and a half days until Harry Potter is going to be sold in stores!!

Piggy Update

$59.33!!

Also, I sold five more pens today! Woo-hoo!

Craft Update

Lauren and I made cute flower pens this weekend! I’m selling them at work to try and re-coup the $$ I put into it. The way it looks, I might just keep on making them anyway. They seem to be a hit – I’ve sold four already! One of my co-workers is using that as an idea to help fund-raise for a girl to go to college. I think that’s nice.

Click on CRAFT UPDATE title for a fun place for crafts!

Piggy Update

$56.33 - another woo-hoo!

Grr

All of my pictures here are gone - I don't know where they went or when they plan to return, but I am getting to the bottom of it. I can't post any new ones, either. Trust me, I will hopefully fix it! :(

We have a long weekend, so I might not even post on Monday. It's going to be a busy day anyway, with getting ready for and performing in the 4th at Furman concert.

Wow - it poured rain today for about 30-45 minutes. I'm surprised that no flash floods showed up anywhere.

I'm picking up my niece tonight! We're going to have such fun together. I haven't had her over since the night before our wedding. We stayed up so late that night, too. We were both hungover from lack of sleep! We'll probably be like that at least one night this time, if not both nights. Her mom told me that she got up this morning and said something like, "It's going to be such a beautiful day today!" Her mom asked her why, and she said it was because I was picking her up today. That makes me feel so good! :)

Anyway, to whoever reads this in the U.S.: Happy Fourth of July!