And then there were three

Meet Coal, the newest member of our happy family. We got her Wednesday from Ester's sister and absolutely adore her. She likes Kleenex, my left flip flop and playing fetch (big sticks only). She's housebroken and rarely barks. She sat completely still for her first bath and killed an icky bug for me. I rearranged furniture in our room to make space for her pen and added an air freshener so the house doesn't smell like dog. Puppy bliss. :)

Since I haven't written in a long time, here's what's going on:

* Pete accomplished a huge task today by renting a splitter to split the wood in our backyard. Here's the old way:

* I had a big day as the hostess of a double baby shower. It was part finger foods/gifts and part spa party.

* I have also developed an appreciation for day lilies, which, like my beloved daffodils, grow without me doing anything.

* Last night, Pete, Sara, Sarah, Derek (Sarah's boyfriend) and I went to a concert at the Double Door Inn in Charlotte to see our friends play. I went to high school with the bass and guitar players, Mike and Joey Pepe. Their band is called Side By Side. We also met another guy we went to high school with. We played pool (well, Sarah and I watched), then went to Brixx Pizza.

Here's a video of Side By Side. They were chosen by Billboard as one of the top bands in the Southeast! (You can skip about halfway and see the second song.)

http://www.billboard.com/features/botb-southeast-1005066142.story#/features/botb-southeast-1005066142.story

* Amanda invited me to a Keith Urban concert last week, so I visited her in Columbia for a day. I'm not usually into country, but it was a great concert. At one point, he was about 7 or so aisles away from us, singing Amanda's favorite song.

* The posse also got together last month for the inaugural girls' weekend. We watched movies, went to Taste of Charlotte, had lunch at Pike's, took the light rail downtown and visited Discovery Place.

* Pete and I went to my cousin's wedding in early June. She wore pink Converse shoes under her dress.

* On May 21, Seth graduated. Yes, the little brother who once poured my body glitter down the sink and dumped my nail polish into the bathtub is a high school graduate. So proud. ;) He moved to Nashville a couple of weeks ago. He will attend the Nashville Auto Diesel College this fall while working at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Eternal pets

A blog I wrote for work yesterday ...

*****

"The next best thing to pet salvation in a post Rapture world."

I imagine most people reading that sentence have the same reaction I did: What?

I came upon the most ridiculous thing today, courtesy of fellow reporter Heather Smith. It's a website called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets — a service run by atheists who have generously offered to care for Christians' pets after the Rapture, ... just in case the atheists are wrong. (eternal-earthbound-pets.com)

Faith aside, I find the site intriguing and hilarious. It's a decent-looking website with an adorable puppy in the top right corner, and I give kudos to the web editors who accurately anticipate my burning questions in the FAQ section.

Question 1: Is this a joke?

The answer: No.

I have a hard time pinpointing my favorite part of the site, but the "notice of rate increase" is particularly amusing.

"Due to the increased activity associated with the May 21, 2011 Rapture prophesy, we have increased our service rates for all new contracts submitted as of 1/13/11."

The price of ensuring your pet's safety post-Rapture is $135. You have to pay up front, of course, but it's good for 10 years. (A portion of advertising revenue goes to local food banks.)

For that amount, the rescuers take one pet per residence into their care. Additional pets are $20. They take dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and small caged animals. Horse, camel, llama and donkey owners will be happy to hear that their own dear pets are accepted in New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho and Montana.

Twenty-six states, including North Carolina, offer this service, which employs 40 rescuers. Reps are screened to make sure they're really atheists with no criminal background.

"As atheists," the website explains, "we do not hold beliefs in the supernatural or a divine being. Thus, we do not believe in the Rapture. However, we respect the beliefs of others and are open to the possibility that our perspective could possibly be wrong." Later, it says, "Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus."

All you have to do is give them your name, address, email and pet care instructions. Voila! No more sweating Pepper's future. ... Oh, but you can't communicate with the reps. That's off limits.

So what if you're a Christian when you sign up, then change your mind? What if you THINK you're going to Heaven, but find yourself still sitting on the couch, watching "Dancing With the Stars," when a news report interrupts your program with an urgent bulletin that a large portion of the world just disappeared?

Oops. ... Terms and conditions spell it out.

"If subscriber loses his/her faith and/or the Rapture occurs and subscriber is not Raptured (aka is "left behind") EE-BP disclaims any liability." No refunds.

On the bright side, if you're whisked away and it's a loved one left on the couch, the company will happily release your animal into Aunt Martha's care.

"We expect in these circumstances that the pet will offer the family member some comfort and stability given the trauma of what has occurred."

There, there, Aunt Martha. Have a camel.

While I think it's sweet of the atheists to take a parrot off my hands, I remain skeptical of this business venture. $135 up front, huh? No refunds, you say? No interaction with Fluffy's new parents? Sweet! Count me in!

(They also sell T-shirts, made of durable, pre-shrunk cotton, for both you AND your pet! Who doesn't want a little extra bonding with Fido pre-Rapture?)

The one-year mark

Since Pete and I celebrated our one-year anniversary May 2 (woo hoo!), I thought it appropriate to make a list of what I've learned:

1. The rocker in our bedroom will always be covered in his unfolded clothes.

2. It's a bad idea to wash his jeans without checking the pockets for spearmint gum.

3. He knows more about cooking than I do. (I can't decide if this is good or bad.)

4. Dirty dishes in the sink drive me nuts.

5. Our Internet will never be down for more than 10 minutes.

6. One of us will inevitably cook an intense-smelling meal just after I plug in an air freshener. (The conversation goes like this. Me: "Did you put garlic in that?" Pete: "Yeah." Me: "It's overpowering my Seaside Escape!")

7. I enjoy weekly devotions more than he does, although his attempt to shorten the assignments at the end makes me laugh.

8. We shouldn't go to Costco when we're in a hurry because Pete will get distracted by the electronics at the front of the store.

9. He loves to grocery shop. Bless him.

10. Yard equipment is expensive.

We had a lovely anniversary weekend, and I can't believe it's been a year. :)

I should also mention that Mom, Emily, Mamaw and Papaw came to visit us over Easter. It was one of the best Easters I've had. I showed them where I work, we ate lunch in downtown Monroe, browsed a "seed and feed" store, picked strawberries, played the Wii and went to church. Oh, and Mom and I hid Easter eggs for Emily.

Last weekend, I went to a double baby shower for my friends Jessica and Alison. Two other girls there are also pregnant, making me one of only three at the party not expecting and one of two who is not yet a mother. (Although I was also one of the youngest and haven't been married as long as they have, either.) Naturally, the conversation turned to everything babies. It was beautiful and terrifying. I laughed when one of them referred to her "lactation consultant," but no one else laughed, so I stopped. Afterwards, we had a girls night -- dinner, ice cream, live music and lots of chatting -- and Pete went downtown with the guys.

I also found a great website called "(in)courage me" yesterday with two stories that spoke to me. I've felt really overworked and underpaid lately, so this is a good read.

http://www.incourage.me/2011/05/overworked-and-underappreciated.html

So is this. ... And it's funny. :)

http://www.incourage.me/2011/05/swivel-sweeping-gadget-thing.html

Also see the stories under "Links I Like" under my profile picture on the left.

Lookie, lookie!

We have irises!!!

North Carolina, end to end

I've had two great weekends in a row. The first weekend of April was spent at Western Carolina, visiting Amanda. Last weekend was spent at the Isle of Palms with Pete and his parents.

Visiting with Amanda is always an adventure. This one involved flying meat and a roll of toilet paper. ...

The first night I got there, I met a bunch of her friends and we explored Sylva. The courthouse had a massive staircase and we promptly made an Amanda-Tiffany version of "Rocky." I also found a sign outside a dance studio featuring stuffed dance recital bears, claiming they are "the gift that lasts!" Thank goodness; no more sweating those last-minute gifts.

We planned to participate in Relay for Life. We walked around a bit, realized no one needed our help and went to Ryan's for dinner. Prices went up since I was there last, ... you know, all of three or four years ago. Then we went to the local Walmart where we shuddered at ultra-short zebra print shorts fit for a size -2.

The next day we met up with Amanda's friend, Betsy (who is sweet as pie) and attempted a picnic on top of Max Patch, a beautiful spot on top of a mountain that takes half an hour of windy dirt roads to get to. There were still patches of snow on the ground and it was SO windy that we decided not to re-enact a picture of Betsy jumping in the air for fear of blowing away. We barely got the blanket on the ground and cracked open our lunch meat when we decided it was miserable and the chips would blow down the hill. We ate in the car and descended the mountain, stopping at a free-standing stone toilet on the way. The door was nearly impossible to open, and when we finally did open it, we found a disgusting bathroom FULL of dead lady bugs and decided to hold it. We did leave a roll of toilet paper inside since Betsy had a value pack in her trunk.

Next on the agenda: The Road to Nowhere.

http://www.westernncattractions.com/rtnstory.htm

Basically, it's six miles of a promised 32-mile road that was never completed around the time of World War II. It literally just ends after a tunnel, but there are some trails that people hike or ride horses around. The tunnel was spooky, and a little boy walking out with his family said in a perfect Southern twang, "Some say it's haunted."

That night, we met up with another friend of Amanda's, Andrew, and went to Soul Infusion Tea House and Bistro. Yum.

The next day was church, more walking and heading home.

Jumping to this past weekend, Rik and Karen came to visit from MN. All I can say is that I have awesome in-laws. I was sad to see them leave. They helped our yard look fabulous with some real flowers instead of fake ones and a little sprucing up here and there. Beautimous! We still need grass, but at least we don't have faux flowers that blow away when it's windy.

Then we went to Isle of Palms and Charleston, still one of my favorite cities. We had great weather and discovered a wonderful restaurant on the water called Huck's.

There was also an incredible kite some guy had on the beach back at Isle of Palms. (See video.)

I have a couple of other things to add. At the beginning of March, Pete and I went to Knoxville to see my friend, Morgan, get married. I met Morgan in fifth grade, but lost touch with her when we moved to Charlotte. She found me on Facebook last year and came to visit. I also saw a couple of other girls I went to elementary school with, but we were never close. I decided not to tell one of them that I remember her with huge glasses.

Before the wedding, we drove around to see some of the old stomping grounds. I saw the playground at my old school (which is now the older of two elementary schools along the same road) and our old house. I think the new homeowners should have left it painted yellow.

I am also proud to announce that Pete qualified for a statewide Skills USA competition in Greensboro earlier this spring. He competed against other students to diagnose malfunctioning vehicles and do electrical work. Team members also took written exams to test their automotive knowledge. He had an interview at a BMW dealership the next day, so I made him some brownies. :) Chocolate celebrates everything.

Last but not least, I snapped this picture several weeks ago at work. Elementary school students wrote to our paper to thank us for what we do and here's what Brianna wrote: "Dear Enquirer Journal thank you so much for telling us how many people get killed and where so we know not to go there also thank you for telling how many students got a b onaroh (A/B honor roll)."

Glad to be of service.