FREAK OUT!!!

One of the things I love the most about living in the south is when there is a forecast for snow. Tonight, Cornelius is under a "severe weather advisory" because 1/4 of an inch of snow/wintery mix is predicted. For those of you who do not live in the south, let me give you an idea of what will happen this evening.

Quote from the looming blizzard...
"Look out Carolina, I'm coming!"

First of all... the grocery stores are now sold out of bread and milk. For some reason when snow is predicted southerners feel the need to buy multiple loaves of bread and gallons of milk. Apparently if any snow does fall, southerners sit at home and do nothing but constantly eat bread and drink milk.

Secondly... the major headlining story for EVERY news station will be the winter weather. I already witnessed this today when I got home from work. The 5:00 news really talked about nothing other than the weather. I really think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could have been won today and we in the south wouldn't know... there's snow a'comin!

Finally... we actually had to have part of our staff meeting, plus an additional email, dedicated to what will happen if we get any snow. We, of course, will close the schools and then get to make-up our missed days in March. Don't you just love it!!!

This is what I predict downtown Cornelius will look like tomorrow morning.

Angry

Tonight, I am angry. I am angry because my brother was supposed to be coming home within the next few weeks, but instead the army decided to keep him in Afghanistan for another 4 months. I am angry because Clay packed up all of his belongings to prepare to come home (because before today he thought he was leaving Afghanistan next week) and now he has to unpack. I am angry because last Friday Karen went to a redeployment meeting to prepare for Clay's homecoming, and tonight she had to return to Fort Drum to hear about the next 4 months. I am angry because our president didn't realize that no exit strategy for Iraq was a problem. I am angry because Clay's unit isn't the only unit to have their deployment extended. I am angry because soldiers are dying every day, 25 in Iraq on Saturday, and most of America doesn't even notice. I am angry and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.

News Release

Safety Notice!!!

I got this important safety bulletin in an email today and thought it was best if I share it.

The American Medical Association has announced a new symbol to indicate choking.

The Old Symbol


The New Symbol

Russ, we are happy you won the office pool.

Jokers Dueling Piano Bar

Last night, after a dinner at Lancasters BBQ, Harry and I went Jokers Dueling Piano Bar on Lake Norman with some friends. The piano bar is unique because the music is provided by 3 musicians who play, mostly the piano, but also percussion when necessary. The crowd requests songs and the pianists will play almost anything requested. When I first heard about the piano bar, I thought it sounded a little stuffy. After having been there though, it is anything but. The music is really good and most of the time people request fantastic songs. Of course Journey was requested quite often, we heard Sublime, Ben Folds 5, Dave Matthews, Nine Inch Nails, and plenty of country music including the best damn country song ever "You Never Even Call Me By My Name".

Of course one of the best things about going to a bar here on Lake Norman is you get to see the most ridiculous people. Some of the funniest people there were a bunch of Hooters waitresses celebrating one girl's 21st birthday. They really classed the place up as Hooters waitresses tend to do. We also got to see some high class fashion. We got to see leather pants, crop sweaters (in the 30 degree weather), a shirt that literally tied on, and a man that thought he was Tom Selleck on Magnum, PI. He was wearing a silk shirt with drinks on the mint green front (the back was black and so were the sleeves), navy blue tight jeans, brown shoes, and to top off the Tom transition "the mustache". Oh, and did I mention he was probably 55? He was awesome!

Go Checkers!

Last night Harry, my friend Joanne, and I went to the Charlotte Checkers game. The Checkers are Charlotte's AA hockey team. They are named after a checkered flag (Charlotte is the racing capital of the US).

We had a great time last night, for many reasons. First of all, the Checkers won 5-0 against the South Carolina Stingrays (the first win Harry and I have witnessed in person). Secondly, the bar was unable to take credit cards, which they didn't realize, so we got free beer!!


If you have never been to a hockey game I highly recommend it. It's a great game to watch, a great place to people watch, and a good way to get out any hostility you may have (watching the players beat each other up).

"Chubby" the Checkers mascot.

Martha's Baby Shower

Yesterday I threw a baby shower for Martha to celebrate Luke's arrival. We had a ton of fun, good food, almost 30 guests, and Martha got some really nice gifts. Check out the pictures of our shower.

This was our food table. As you might be able to tell, we had a TON of food. Mom brought champagne salad, bacon wrapped sausages, deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail, and sweet bread. Jean Ann (Edward's mom) brought a vegetable tray and spinach dip. I contributed chocolates (molded into bears, baby buggies, and baby booties), the punch, mints, and the flowers on the table. Everything was delicious (except the tulips, we didn't eat those).


Here you see the ladies eating and getting ready to open presents. As you can see there was a ton of loot for Martha to open.


A lot of the guests had husbands deployed to Iraq, or their husbands were working at the hospital (so Edward could be with us to celebrate) so we also had a lot of baby guests. Madison was thrilled because this turned into one giant play date. Here you see Madison and some of her friends (and their moms) partying out on the deck.

One of the funniest things at the shower was watching Edward run the daddy daycare in the backyard. Here you see him entertaining 4 girls on the swing-set. He had 3 of them swinging at the same time while Madison was climbing up the rock wall and sliding down the slide (she was taking a juice break at the time the picture was taken.

We all partied pretty hard yesterday; especially the parties 2 youngest guests, Sammy (who is 6 weeks old) and Catherine (who is 9 weeks old).

Bring on the Embarrassing Pictures!

Inspired by my last post, where I posted embarrassing photos of Harry, I thought it might be fun to show some embarrassing pictures of both of us. (Yes, Harry will now have been hit twice, but it's all in good fun!) These will be those pictures of us when we were little that, when you look back at old albums, you hope will never see the light of day... let alone be posted on the internet. Check them out!

Here you see Clay and I doing the hula one day when we were home sick.
I think my knee socks are hot; and Clay is rocking those sunglasses.


Harry and I call this pose the "praying mantis". We don't know what he was doing, but it sure was weird.


I know what you are thinking... "What's weird about this photo? Mer, that looks pretty accurate." Well actually, those are bocce balls. Scary how this picture taken in 1986 could predict the future.


Now, this picture could make you feel sorry for Harry; but no, his parents didn't do this to him... he did this to himself. Yep, he enjoyed cramming himself into milk crates and making a cage.

I think more than anything these pictures make both Harry and I realize how lucky we are to have each other. I think it is pretty obvious that we are both freaks and it's amazing that we found anybody to marry either one of us.

I encourage our fellow bloggers to look back at some embarrassing photos and create a post similar to ours!

Fish Tacos and Improv

A weird post title, right? Well, weird or not, it is a perfect description of our evening here in Charlotte.

Tonight, Russ (Harry's cousin), Bobby (one of Harry's best friends since he was little), Harry, and I went out for a night on the town. We headed into Charlotte and ate at Cabo Fish Taco. I was a little sketchy about fish tacos. The name alone makes me giggle and I am just not THAT big of a fish fan. Lucky for me, they had other cuisine; but Russ, Bobby, and Harry all said that the fish tacos were awesome.

After dinner we all went to the SK Netcafe. It is a small coffee shop in Charlotte (near Central Piedmont Community College) that also doubles as a bar/comedy club on nights and weekends. Tonight there was a small group of 5 locals that work as an improv group. They were hilarious! My favorite part of the evening was when the comics took 3 ordinary tasks and changed 3 things about the tasks; then one person from the audience (a friend of the comics) had to guess the task and the 3 things changed. The comics weren't allowed to talk, only act out the changed tasks. The first task was curling. Instead of curling with a stone, they acted out curling with kittens (my suggestion), using a hockey stick instead of brooms, and on watermelon Jell-O (also my suggestion). The second task was rodeo roping. Instead of a lasso handcuffs were used, instead of lassoing a bull the comics had to act out lassoing Michael Jackson dressed as Santa Claus, and instead of this taking place in an arena it took place on an iceberg. The final task was spelunking using a stripper pole instead of a repelling rope, wearing Brittney Spears instead of a harness, and the comics were repelling into a cosmic black hole instead of a cave. Somehow, the comics were able to act this out with such accuracy that the audience member was able to guess all 3 tasks with all 3 changes in just 6 minutes!!

If you have not seen an improv group, I highly suggest it. Just be ready to throw out some great suggestions when needed.

We didn't get any pictures tonight, so I figured I would post some pictures of the guys when they were kids so you could see who everybody was (and embarrass them, too).

Here you see Russ (on the left) and Harry (on the right) having a gay old time, literally.


Here you see (from left to right) Harry, Trey (another one of Harry's friends from when he was little), Russ, and Bobby.

Ever Left Something at a Hotel?

While perusing fark.com today I stumbled upon an interesting article. It dealt with the annual press release of lost and found items from Travelodge. Check out the article below...

Travelodge: You Forgot Your Porsche Keys

Travelodge released their annual list of lost and found items for 2006 and once again, the list is shocking. Included in the survey of found items: a spy’s dossier, keys to a Porsche and Aston Martin, and a $30,000 racing bicycle.

The high-priced items aren’t the most interesting, however. How about these:

- false teeth
- six feet of snake skin
- a hollowed-out bible containing $400 cash
- Elton John’s sunglasses

Our hope is that the above items were left by the same person, and an incredible one at that.

This article really interested me, for many reasons... first of all, I know that Harry wishes that he could raid the lost and found for the Aston Martin keys (hopefully with the liscence plate number written on them) and for the $30,000 racing bicycle. Secondly, (which Harry pointed out) if you can afford to drive a Porsche or an Aston Martin, why are you staying at a Travelodge? Third, who is traveling with 6 feet of snake skin? Finally, if you thought far enough in advanced to hollow-out a bible (which I wouldn't want to answer for later, if you get my drift) to hide $400; how can you possibly forget it??

My interests being sparked, I looked for the actual press release myself. Check out what I found below.


Where would you find Aston Martin car keys, a Spy's secret dossier, a wooden leg and suitcases full of collectable spectacles from famous people, including Elton John? Where else but Travelodge's Lost and Found office.

Travelodge, the UK budget hotel chain, today announced the mysterious objects left behind in their hotels in 2006. With over six million guests staying each year with the budget hotel chain, some other bizarre items left behind by its customers are false teeth, a pet dog, snake skin, a diamond, a bible containing £250 cash and a diamond ring belonging to an ex football player. The ten most bizarre items left behind at Travelodge:

1. Australian cycle racing team bike worth £19,000
2. Spys dossier
3. Pet dog
4. False teeth
5. Porsche and Aston Martin keys
6. A hollowed out bible containing £250 cash
7. A full six foot length of snake skin
8. Diamond ring belonging to an ex football player
9. 2 briefcases containing collectible glasses from famous people including Elton John
10. BBC ID card

The most common items left in a Travelodge room in 2006 include:

1. Mobile phone and chargers
2. Toiletries
3. Clothing items
4. Shoes
5. Books
6. Hen/ Stag Night accessories /adult toys
7. Jewelery /watches
8. Laptops
9. Electrical Gadgets Ipod, digital camera
10. False teeth /limbs