Help us name our new kitten

Well, we got a new kitten last Saturday. A friend of Marcus’ mom found five kittens on her property that needed homes. Marcus was already going to Dallas last Saturday to look at a car with a friend, so we decided to take one of the kittens.

He is about 6 weeks old and very very sweet. He is a people cat. He spends the day sitting on my chest sleeping while I work on the laptop. He also enjoys eating. He has a huge round tummy, the kind you typically find on a puppy. So far, the dogs really like him, and he enjoys playing run from under the coffee table to under the bed with them. The cats aren’t crazy about him yet, but that usually takes a few weeks. Hopefully he and Gus will become best buddies.

We haven’t named him yet. The good thing about having a kitten is you can take your time with a name, it’s not like he is going to respond to it or anything. We’ve narrowed it down to a few names, and would like you all to vote on them (check below the picture of us on the right side of the screen). Keep in mind that our other pets are named Bailey, Emma, Gus, and Shiloh.

Sad, sad day...

Today was a sad day for me and many other facebook users. Scrabulous, a super awesome application, is no more. I think no one is quite as sad as my friend Shannon, who was beating me by 100+ points in our current match. That is until scrabulous went poof. Happily, my undefeated record against Shannon stands.

Marcus and I have been playing scrabulous a lot recently. It was way better than regular scrabble since it would tell you if your word was not really a word and tally up your score for you.

Apparently Hasbro has a scrabble application on facebook, so I may have to check that out.

You can read about the demise of scrabulous here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25914209/

what's playing on my ipod monday

So.... I don't really like popular Christian music. Never have. I like Christian music in church though. Either sung acapella or with a good full band (like at the Delcambre's church). Sometimes we sing songs in church that are popular Christians songs and I like them in that setting, but not on the radio. (I do realize that this makes absolutely no sense.)

Now before you get all worried that I'm missing out, I have always liked country music. The majority of country songs include at least one of the folowing themes:

1. love (typically the gone wrong kind)
2. alcohol
3. God and/or Jesus

So my song this week is one of the God themed country songs. It's When I Get Where I'm Going performed by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton, from Brad Paisley's album Time Well Waisted.

Barbie was wrong, math isn't tough

A recent study comparing standardized test scores of boys and girls from elementary school to 11th grade found no statistically significant difference in math test scores between the two genders. Previous studies going back 20 years indicated that girls and boys showed no difference in mathmatical ability until high schoool, at which point boys consistently outperformed girls. Leading many (including the former president of Harvard University) to conclude that boys are just naturally better at math and the type of thinking skills associated with it than girls. This recent study, among others, challenges that idea.

I'm sure this will be less than surprising news to two of my BFFs from high school, Anitra and Irene, one an OBGYN and the other a computer software developer, my college friend Rachel who has a degree in biology, my cousin Meredith who has a degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A & M, my female colleaugues and students in the math and science departments at ACU, or my little sister who recently got a perfect score on the 5th grade TAKS science test.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25836419/

Christian the Lion

You may have caught this video on the Today Show earlier this week, but if not check it out. It is so sweet, and with Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You as the sound track it is also funny.

Did you tear up? I told you it was sweet. You can read the article about it here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25797678/

Anytime I see footage of big cats, or see them in person at a zoo, I am struck by how much they are like domesticated cats. While my cat Gus isn't big enough to hug my neck, he does do the head nudge thing (to me, never to Marcus) all the time. And of course our other cat Shiloh is a mighty huntress. Although she is tiny, she can take down rats, birds, lizards, mice, and even squirrels.

Why Do We Like To Make Ourselves Look Funny?

Hi there. Special Guest Blogger Marcus here.

I've come to realize, we have an epidemic. Kids of all ages, at carnivals all over the country, get a kick out of looking at themselves in the Fun House mirrors. I don't know why, but we seem to like to laugh at the absurdity of ourselves being all distorted.

My Macbook has an application on it, called Photobooth, that allows you to sit in front of the little camera and take goofy pictures of yourself. I admit it is a fun little treat and it is somewhat addicting.

Here are a few of the pictures taken by different people when they were playing with my laptop.

I seem to be a little congested.

Donnie the Demon

Julie (my sister-in law), doing her Jay Leno impersonation

Chris, there's something in your eye...

I only had two pizzas.

Ah, Polyphemos

what's playing on my ipod monday

So a few days ago I posted about how I sometimes read the blogs that my friends have posted on their blogs. http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/07/do-you-do-this-too.html

Becky, a friend of my brother-in-law Chris and his wife Stephanie, commented on that post. We’ve met a couple of times and she was reading my blog that day because there was a link to it on Chris’ blog. That prompted me to check out Becky’s blog. She posts music that she likes on her blog every Monday. I thought that was a really neat idea, and I have decided to steal it. So, from now on you will find What’s Playing on my Ipod Mondays on my blog.

I’m really excited about this because, well, let’s face it, I don’t have kids and I’m not working right now, so what do I really have to blog about? This will guarantee at least one post a week and lessen my feeling that I should post (see my post: http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-should.html) Thank you Becky.

So here is my first song. It is Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore off of Bon Jovi’s latest album. This is my current favorite song, and if you lived in Abilene you would see me driving around town in my Obama stickered yellow car singing at the top of my lungs to all the songs on The Lost Highway Album (Thanks Jeanette). Enjoy. Oh and FYI: I will try to keep the Bon Jovi songs to a minimum. Although they should be, I know not everyone is as crazy about them as I am.

Is Abilene ready for it's training wheels to come off?

Abilene is a small town.  Sure it's got 116k people, but it still has a small town mentality and culture.  I drive 6 minutes to work, our traffic lights  start flashing at 9pm, it takes you 15 minutes to get across town, we only have one mall, 4 movie theaters (none of which show the same movies), and only 3 Starbucks.  (Of course, the small town feel is one of the things I like about Abilene, and so I like to poke fun at it.)

However recently, we have seen evidence that suggests Abilene is growing up. For instance, all over town there have been 

appearing these fancy ginormous digital billboards that cycle through  a slideshow of digital advertisements and announcements.  I know!  who would have thought that little ol' Abilene would have such high tech signage.  Of course it's the talk of the town: 

"Hey, have you seen the new billboard out by the Wal-Mart?!"

"I know, they should show movies on those things!"

"I keep getting distracted by it and missing the green light."

...and so on and so on. Now don't get me wrong, I'm excited about them too.  In fact that first quote was me.  I just think it's funny.

But what I really find funny, and an indication that Abilene isn't all that grown up yet, is that they shut the signs off every night sometime before midnight.

I think it's comical, that's all.

Marcus, SGB

starbucks coffee

I’m sure you’ve heard that Starbucks is closing 600 stores in the U.S. While I totally hate coffee, and think it is silly to pay so much for it (of course I pay a lot for cold stone ice cream, so who am I to judge?), I am sad that they are closing so many stores. They are a socially conscious company that really treats their employees right. Plus, their toffee almond bars are awesome. I was happy to see that they aren’t closing the store in Baird, Texas. Marcus and I often stop there on the way home from Dallas.

Here is a complete list of the 600 stores slated for close:

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf

silly pet pictures volume II

Gus, the best cat ever, is just hanging out.

Emma after an unfortunate date with the groomers.

Scout is just taking a nap.

Shiloh in a box.

Bailey is about to get pounced on by Toby.

revisited

I’ve always been a voracious reader. My mom says it’s because she read to me all the time when I was a baby. I’m sure the fact that I was an only child until the age of 12 also contributed to my love of reading.

Several years ago I read an article that suggested you should re-read a favorite book every few years, especially if you have entered a new stage of life. I thought that was a really good idea. I wondered if I would feel differently about my favorite books when I revisited them.

One of my absolute favorite books is Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. I first read it as a sophomore in high school completely by chance. We had a LONG list of books we could choose from to read and write a paper on during the summer break. I went to a used book store and went down the list, which was arranged by author. I got to Buck, read the description on the back of The Good Earth, and got it. I didn’t read it again until after college. There were many things that I noticed the second time that I missed the first time. The big one was how many times Buck said “That is what happens when the rich get too rich and the poor get too poor.” (Thank you liberal sociology education!) I have now read that book four times, and the part where Wang Lung takes Olan’s pearls from her still makes me furious.

I’ve read Toni Morrison’s Sula at least three times. I just love her writing style. That book is such a great story about a complicated friendship between two women.

I first read John Steinbeck’s East of Eden three years ago and absolutely loved it, so much so that I read it again earlier this year. I think that Cathy is one of the best written characters ever! She is pure evil.

Do y’all every read books more than once? Do you notice anything new when you do?

do you do this too?

Ok I have a confession to make. When I visit my friend’s blogs I occasionally view the blogs of their friends that they have listed. These are people I don’t know, so I feel guilty about reading about the details of their lives. On the other hand, they are just out there on the internets, so maybe they don’t care if random strangers read about them? Plus occasionally I find someone who is obviously going through a rough time and I pray for them, does that make it ok? Do any of y’all do this too? I’m starting to think that maybe I have too much time on my hands and need to go back to work!

i should......

I don’t really have anything worth blogging about at the moment. Marcus and I had fun at a family wedding last weekend, I mysteriously reinjured my ankle, I saw a piece of flair on facebook that totally made me mad, my brother started college, etc. Nothing really exciting enough to be a blog in and of itself, but here is the thing, I feel like I should blog every three or four days. This ironically brings me to an actual blog topic worthy of its own post.

As most of you know I started seeing a therapist in November. Overall it has been a good experience (especially once I settled on a therapist in January). I’ve gotten a lot out of therapy, but hands down the biggest thing is that I learned that I either say or think the word should ALL THE TIME. Hence the blogging even though I have nothing to say. I think I should be blogging, so here I am blogging. This constantly thinking I should do something is technically called a cognitive distortion.

I can’t believe I reached the age of 29 before realizing that I do this, like I said all the time. (Read: I should have figured it out earlier) For instance, back in January I posted on facebook that I was currently reading a book even though I was really going to start it the next day. When I woke up the next morning I didn’t feel like starting that book, but I thought “I really should read that book because I posted on facebook that I was reading it.” Seriously. My therapist laughed at me when I told her that one.

I have no idea where this came from. In many ways I am a nonconformist, or at least I thought so until I realized that I am pretty much always thinking about what I should be doing. Right now I’m thinking that I should be sleeping, so that’s what I’m gonna do.

they’re cuddlin’

In May, I blogged about my poor cat Gus and how no one will cuddle with him.

http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/05/marcus-and-i-have-two-cats-gus-and.html


But, today he managed to cuddle with Emma. He waited until she was asleep and then jumped on the couch and lay down right next to her and put his head on her back. Emma didn’t run away. Marcus and I were so excited. I know it sounds silly but have you ever seen a cat try and cuddle with a dog? It is both pathetic and hilarious at the same time. All the poor cat wants is some lovin’, and today he got a little.