It's Just A Flesh Wound

Wow, haven't posted in a long time. I've been very very busy. Let's see, Thanksgiving was great, lots of pie and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. Jellied, of course. Then Friday was the big shopping day, just one small thing for Dad left and I'll all done Christmas shopping. Darn good thing too, cause I'm just about broke. Friday night was a bonfire with the Porters, very nice. Saturday was more shopping and then out Saturday night for sushi (um..yuck) and the USC/Notre Dame Game. Go USC! Then we went to the Sunset Grill bar and accumulated a crazy amount of people I didn't know, but oh well, it was fun. Sunday was sleep in a little, church, and lunch at Macaroni Grill, then drive back to Manchester. Class yesterday, decorating the offices for Christmas, and some homework last night and today.

This brings us to the present. Nothing much going on right now, so let me tell you about a certain visit to the doctor I had over the break. I was sitting in the waiting room when a lady walked in with a baby. Very cute little toddler. He was looking at me, so I smiled and waved, which is par when in a room with a cute kid. I caught the mom's eye and gave her the polite "you have a very adorable son" smile. Then...she winked.

I don't believe she was a creepy woman, so I have to assume it was just a casual wink. Now, I'm not sure when society started accepting the casual wink, but I am very against it. Winks should be reserved for two people sharing a secret, or an inside joke, or planning a conspiracy, or maybe for Grandpas, but that is all. Being winked at by strangers is definitely not something I want to become commonplace. If any of you out there are casual winkers, I beg you to cease. Consider less creepy forms of greeting, like a handshake, or a simple hello, or just a smile, but down with the wink!

Update

Hey, I wanted to let everybody know, Mom's doing well. For those I haven't talked to, there were some complications with her surgery, but she's out of the hospital and back home now, and feeling much better. I'm looking forward to a weekend of waiting on her, studying, and vegging. I'll be back to school Monday.

Night all, and thanks to everyone for all the well wishes for Mom!!

Save the Cheerleader

Save the World.
Alrighty - First of all, Sammy is doing great, the best behaved pug in the world. As for me, Friday went fine, sat around doing homework most of the day and then went to a barbecue at Jeni and Kevin's that night. The barbecue was fun, we made a great fire and I found a really fantastic stick to poke the fire with. Unfortunately, as it got late, the fire died down and my stick was confiscated for firewood. Tough luck.

Saturday Sammy and I headed to Nashville for some shopping and then a drive to the lakehouse. We got there late, and believe me driving on spindly little mountain roads in the dark is not something I'm anxious to do again. But we made it, and we had a great time. Of course the first thing Sammy does is take a big crap on the floor, but he was nervous. Not a single accident at home, but he has to act out in front of strangers. Oh well, he was very well behaved after that.

We came back to Nashville Sunday for a bit and then back to Manchester. I then tried to do some homework to no avail. Turns out I know nothing about fluid mechanics, even when it's disguised as math. Classes Monday went fine, Dr. Kupershmidt was on a class participation warpath, but I managed to duck out of answering any real questions. Also, there was a helicopter parked in the circle in front of school today, how cool is that!? Came back here to Nashville after classes today, and here I'll stay until Thursday morning when I'll head back to school.

Pray for Mom, surgery in the morning. Night kids!

Peppermint and Pipe Tobacco

Good day today, getting a little lost again in Inviscid, but hopefully I can keep treading water. Math is going well, and my Wavelet class is boring but steady as usual. I was, however, a bit tired this morning due to one pug who shall remain nameless. He does this weird licking/smacking thing only at night and the noise drives me crazy. Finally around 1:00 we had a come-to-Jesus and the licking stopped. Hopefully tonight he'll remember our little talk.

To round out the day, I watched Parent Trap before bed. I don't know why, but I just love that movie!

P.S. Pray for my mom, she has surgery on Tuesday - night kids!

Happy Hump Day

(Hump Day=Wednesday -- the "hump" in the middle of the week -- I thought it wise that I clarify..)

Wow, I haven't written anything on here in over a week! Life is busy with a little pug. Sammy went to the vet today, and he did great! He was so well behaved, and in excellent health. They even had to draw blood and he was a perfect angel.

In other news, school is going well; I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break though. Actually I'm looking forward to all the eating that goes with Thanksgiving. And the shopping that comes with the day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday. I should explain to those who do not know about Black Friday. It is one of the biggest holidays there is for the Cartier women. We are lovers of all holidays, but this one is pretty major. We scour the Thanksgiving newspaper for sale ads and plan our attack after the turkey tryptophan has worn off. We start the shopping early, 4am most years, unless there's a store opening at midnight, and go all day. It's tough, not for the faint of heart. I took a roommate one year, and we had to get rid of her because she couldn't hack it.

This year, we've even got shopping requests from some people who want the deals but can't handle the stress. Many people, like my father, get upset and agitated by the crowds and cranky shoppers. I've known him to go out and abandon a whole cart of stuff due to frustration. That's why I advise Black Friday virgins to train for this type of activity, you wouldn't run a marathon on a whim, you have to be prepared. A tip: to diffuse cranky people in line, carol. Many a year, we've stood outside in the freezing cold waiting to get into stores and started a whole myriad of Christmas music singing. The crazy people are way less likely to run you over for a digital camera if you've sung with them.

Anyway, if there are requests for anything, let me know, and if anybody needs some Black Friday advice, I consider myself an expert...