Last minute procrastination...

It's fly day!! Am I ready? Sort of. I'm packed....I'm just not dressed....and my room is a mess. Ironically...I clean my room before I leave on trips. Something about being rushed? It's ridiculous...but it's true...and how I function. I can't decide if I should bring a book or not...I rarely read, though lately have been trying to, but I'm not traveling alone? And I've recently downloaded Ms Pac-Man on my phone, so it's not like I'm lacking in things to do! lol I also need to study for my NY text-tour guide test-so perhaps I should do that....Hmmm....all these choices! Anyway, I should be off. Packing, bringing downstairs, last minute trips to the bank, mail box, and maybe a bagel and lox for lunch?! Yumtastic! KNOODLES here I come!!

München BOUND!!!

I'm actually pretty stoked for a trip...and yes, that's rare. I love what I do, I love traveling, but I don't get JAZZED. Good, Bad, or otherwise...it's true...but this time? I'm not in charge! I am excited to say things like "I don't know" or "Who cares when it was built"! I also get to see great friends...and eventually....see great family! YAY! So...French? Deleted...Deutsch? It's time for you to be recovered! Uh-oh. Here's a great shot of Silvia, myself, and GQ....note the delicious knoodles and Spezi! YUM!!!!!! (Thanks Fraus for the photo!)

BOO to XM Radio!!

Dear XM,

Never again. NEVER AGAIN! My brother bought me the radio in January of 08....not with the service...my first sign of a problem should have been when hooking it up, the automated person kept getting my zip code wrong, and once I asked to speak with a real person, the set up was an extra $10. So...I had it for a year...loved it, and in January 09, with all my touring, I decided to cancel...they decided to ignore and automatically take it from my debit card. So the calling began. I tried to cancel....they said, how about we give you the year for half price....? Um....okay....well, come July, the service was off....so of course I had to assume that in fact, they charged me for half for the full year, but only gave me half the year....whatever, I couldn't be bothered....I was finally done with them. Oh no no no....so January 10, bills....I call....the guy says, you've had xm all year....I say no, I haven't, he says yes you have, maybe you just need a new station, or it needs to be re-somethingorothered. What? So he gives me a new code, I try it, it works, so in fact, they changed whatever that was, so I thought it was done....whatever, I try and cancel....but then he gives me two months free...I was still naive. So...I take the two months free. Come March....I get a bill....FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS!!! I call...go over my situation again, and he says, okay, how about if I take that price, and delete it, and charge you $24 for another 6 months. I'm still naive, I take it, and he's swearing up and down that it will be canceled in July, and I call in July....to make sure. Fine. Done and done....though, I still receive HEAPS of mail from them. Okay, so then I am GONE forever, and YESTERDAY, in the mail comes a BILL for xm for $55....WHAT?! DUE a WEEK AGO!!! So I call, to cancel....and get transferred, and cancel, and we get "disconnected"....after she offers me a "free month"....I said you couldn't offer me 3 years! So then I call back, and get some other ninny, who tells me I have TWO radios on this account and have a balance of $30....NO I DO NOT!!!!!!! So....we cancel that....and I make sure...AGAIN, that there is NO account whatsoever with my name on it, and put me on any do not call list you want to, but I would like to NEVER hear from you again. Done. And what comes in the mail? ANOTHER BILL FROM XM! And so, I assume it was sent before the conversation, that's fine, but then, literally 3 hours later....the house phone rings. "Hi, this is Sarah from XM....we just wanted to confirm your billing address?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME!????? I said seriously? FOR WHAT?! I am NO longer a customer, she points out the two accounts, (that I do not have) and then says oh....I see they are canceled, I said right, do you see the part where I am on a DO NOT CONTACT? No. Of course not, she puts me on that, apologizes, and does not offer me a free anything, but wishes me a Happy Holiday. I wish her a Merry Christmas, and am PRAYING that xm never contacts me again. BOOO TO XM!!!! I loved the satellite radio...I do, but trying to quit? Worse than a break up! FOR THE LOVE, LET ME GO!!!!!!!!!

Theme? VOLCANO!

Tonight....heading out to play....I grabbed my zip up fleece...and then I saw my hat sitting there...neglected and all...so I put it on, it deserved some play, I wear hats all the time, how could I pass up the chance!? So I get downstairs, and realize? I'm one giant VOLCANO!! My fleece if from Mt. Etna in Sicily (YES, that is ALWAYS in EVERY CROSSWORD PUZZLE! ETNA!), and then my hat....cool as can be....made by hand in Iceland...to represent "Eyjafjalljokull" (the volcano in Iceland that apparently blows up all the time, but because it really messed up flights to/from Europe this spring, was a bigger deal than normal!) So how cool is THAT! Heart me some volcano apparel! I have a volcanic ash necklace from Santorini I should have thrown on for the photo shoot...

Dear Zappos,

I think I might love you....don't tell Amazon.com...

Love, Carrie

(BLOG. Zappos...is sort of new for me. I JUST ordered sweet boots, plural, 3 pair, from them. NONE of them fit right....for that I blame the reese cup I had for dinner, not Zappos. Either way, I mailed them back, done and done. They mailed them to me for free.....I mailed them back-for free. Gorgeous. So then, I received something as a gift that I wasn't head over heels about-pun intended, and well, I took just short of FOREVER to send them back, and they were AWESOME on the phone about it-thankyouReginanotapuppet? Anyway, so she said they'd be there "tomorrow".....WOW...really!? So....okay....crazy quick, but okay. So, then TODAY-which was "tomorrow" yesterday-ya with me? Anyway, I got an e-mail from Zappos, with their SINCEREST apologies about the fact that I wouldn't be getting my shipment today/tomorrow as promised! What? "Due to this situation, and as an apology, we want to give you a $15 off coupon to assure you this was not indicative of the level of service we provide to our loyal Zappos customers." WHAT? YES PLEASE! AND THANK YOU!!! Cool. Very cool. Not at all necessary, but FAB!! FAB! Thank you Zappos, could you now call ebay and tell them to step up!?)

VOTE FOR ROB!

www.127definingmoments.com

Click the thumbs up next to Rob Vernon! JUST DO IT!!

We went to college together! So...keep him in the top 10...pretty please!

The Antibac Angel!

I may have a problem. Isn't admitting it the first sign!? I knew I had extras...but I didn't know I had a LOT of extras!! In my defense...I use the stuff. NOT CRAZY, but enough to go through them, if I quit buying them for a little while! What are they? Anti-bacterials...MINIS! "POCKETBACS" as the Bath & Body Works world calls them! And they attach with that little rubber holder! They are IDEAL when traveling! I attach them on every bag, so I have one, at all times. (Also? They serve well for attaching zippers together, makes it a little harder to pick pocket, just a deterrent...) I think it's what kept me healthy ON the trip with the "GERM". I didn't nickname him that-the bus did....he was an open mouthed no cover cougher. He got a LOT of people sick-I didn't know it was only him till too late, or maybe I'd have booted him?! Nah...I wouldn't have, but I'd have handed him a box of tissues and said "COVER"! Anyway, I didn't get sick till AFTER the trip was over....so THAT was good! lol Anyway, that said....I obviously have too many. I even gave one away to my last Paris guide...I should have given her more huh!? Well, maybe next year! :-)
For now, don't they look like and ANGEL!? Antibac Angel. I love it.

Mmmmmm....the craving for the insides of a peanut butter cup started promptly after my nap this afternoon....I didn't know why....but I knew I MUST have the insides. Sure, I could go buy a Reese Cup, but to be honest, I like them for a brief while, and it's really the chocolate that doesn't hold my interest, but oh the insides. So I google and insides recipe, mind you, my mom makes DA BOMB reese cups, and used to make them every Christmas...along with her famous popcorn cakes, to which my brother and I would DREAD having to deliver on Christmas Eve....anyway, I go downstairs...and I say to mom, I need insides to reese's. She says, I have a recipe, I said I know, butter, confectionery sugar, graham crackers and peanut butter right? Yes, she answers, but I'll do it, I don't want you knowing my secrets....LOL! (Tricky me getting her to make them eh?) Anyway, so she mixes, and then I hear the BLECK....turns out graham crackers can go bad! As the box is from 2006, I pull out another box....from 2008...Hmmm....PROBLEM! Well, I'm too far into it to give up now. SO I put on shoes and grab my keys, she says, get new peanut butter too! (Do you have ANY idea how MANY different types of peanut butter there are!?) I get home, having spent $20 at the store, buying other things I didn't need...I have such a weakness for Snapple too. Anyway, home, and Momma Bear whips up this batch, that has now turned from a tasting to the full blown cup, she's melting chocolate and everything! Which worries me, I JUST WANT INNERDS....and NOW! She hands me a little bowl of it, warm buttery goodness, and BLISS BLISS BLISS! I couldn't even speak! YUMTASTIC!! I'm sure...that home made reese cup innerds will be in my heavens pantry....and is also a way to my heart! :-) Josh Mings....it is NOT just PEANUT BUTTER!!

So today? FIREMEN!

1. If you are capable of raking or have a leaf blower...call me.
2. If you read this blog call me. lol.

On our way to Sunday Sushi (half price from 12-4), we saw to hombres blowing leaves, so we pull over to ask how much, they point me to their "jefe"...who was a kid....a guy...whatever. And he's like, I'll follow you to your house and see? Super! So, he does, and mom and I were discussing what we'd pay...she said $50...I said $80. So this cat gets out of his truck, asks where we want them, I say...off the lawn? He says okay....I can do it for $210. I laugh out loud and say, yeah no, we're good thanks. TWO HUNDRED AND TEN DOLLARS! For him to do NOTHING, and for him to have his 2 hombres with leaf blowers do it!!! So he pays them $10 and hour and pockets the rest!? Note to self...."Earth & Turf"...steer clear. (Unless...you think that is a REASONABLE amount for leaves...)

Mom was "mowing"...(aka...leaf blowing)...she got half done...and then all of a sudden....she opens the door, and says, sort of calm actually..."Um...Carrie, I think I need your help....I...I think the lawnmower is on fire..." WHUUUUUAAATTT? So I ask if there are flames...she says yes. (You THINK it's on fire!?) So I grab my phone, to call 911, and wet a towel, and then the water bottle by the door....I go out...and it's smokin', and mom has her watering can...the pretty one she painted that is on display in our house, and she's filling it with water. I spray the bottle on it-not HUGE flames mind you, but yes, flames. And then the watering can...and I ask if we have a fire extinguisher, she says yes, I say where (which should cause you, reader, to ask yourself if you know where yours is-OR go buy one.), she says by the washer. So I run get it, while she's on the phone with 911. I spray it twice, and it's DONE! (Fire extinguishers are so cool), and I hear a siren...I look at mom..."is that for us I ask"....she nods..."I told them not to come as we'd put it out from when we first called to before we hung up...". A cop shows up. LOL. So he walks around it, assess the situation, and then STARTS it up again! It starts...ooohh! Mom is back in business...and then he says, if it doesn't work...I could use the tires. Ha ha ha. So THEN a firetruck FILLED with firemen, rolls up...8, EIGHT of them pile out, and a truck behind, then another pick-up truck, so all of them crowded around it. It was a sight to see....good times. I felt bad they, all EIGHT, had to come, but I'm grateful. I secretly think mom was just trying to meet the boys. lol. Anyway, the mower, may or may not work, but it did give me something blogworthy!

So....I'm just throwing this out there....my streak of 2 blogs in a row was interrupted by sleeping for 15 hours....IN 4 DAYS! So....perhaps I'll be back for a little bit?! We'll see! For now!? No more SCHEDULED tours....one never knows what may pop up...but my next trip....I get to be the tourist....watch out world! :-)

For now....since I don't like to blog without some sort of photo!? THIS...is a picture of DINNER in London this past fall...INDIVIDUALLY wrapped sushi. Cool...but NOT practical....AT ALL! And I was too hungry to have my food individually wrapped....hmmm...sounds like a diet scheme!

The CROOKED House of Windsor...NOT CRICKET!

Well, what a GLORIOUS day we had at Windsor Castle...I call it Windsor Palace....I have no idea why, but really....Palace...Castle...WHO CARES! Royalty lives there! We had a SUNNY DAY! A first for me...the leaves were REALLY beautiful....as was St. George's, in all it's sun and splendor. Some day? I'll go INSIDE the chapel! Turns out the Queen WAS there that day....but she didn't come say hello. Sad. Maybe next time. So, we do this trip as an option, so not all my peeps go, but on this particular trip, I had two other guides with me. Two FABULOUS guides-thank you Mark & Sarah for being as awesome as you are! Anyway, I tell my people about "The Crooked House" and how it's fun to grab a coffee, or tea, or lunch. However, THIS particular time? Nobody heard Crooked....but nobody! They all heard CRICKET! So when I had a lady say, you have to point out the "Cricket" house to me....I froze, (insert the part where I have to know everything all the time and when I don't, it's failure...and I'm RACKING my brain about crickets, and how do they relate to England, and what cricket house, and should I know this? Is it so obvious that I missed it in my research...on and on my brain goes...) and she interrupts my quizzical face, and says..."you know, the "Cricket House" you said to go to!? PHEW!!!!!!! SIGHS OF RELIEF! I had dodged a bullet! CROOKED! I SAID CROOKED!!!!! (By the way, she still heard CRICKET!) Anyway, I proceed to point it out, and then they go off to the castle. The other two guides and I head through the castle, and take the shortest way out...not without my stopping to have a picture taken with the guard...you know, the ones with the fuzzy hats!? So, I'm never with people here, I've NEVER had my picture take with them...so I DID! And I felt silly, but well, who cares, I can be a tourist. So I stand next to him, and mutter, "just stand there"...HAHAHAHAHAHA! As IF he would do anything else. Then, prompted by Mark or Sarah, I nuzzled closer, and after the picture, I apologized profusely and we went on our way. Ah...the CROOKED house...the reason for the blog. I ordered a hot cocoa...and it came with THOUSANDS of marshmallows! By thousands...I of course mean more than 50, less than a hundred, either way...oodles of mallows! It was great, along with some smoked salmon & cream cheese too, yum-tastic! And it was here, at the Crooked/Cricket House, that I enjoyed, what very well may have been, my favorite hot cocoa to date. Or should I write...favoUrite (a la British spelling!) So...get to Windsor...see the castle...but HAVE A HOT COCOA at the Crooked House! (I'll not vouch for the service or prices or even claim they have honey, but I overlook some things when woo'd by mallows!

So...I love fall...I do...and I love pumpkins. THAT SAID!? I like to LOOK at pumpkins...not eat them...well, seeds, okay, pies? Pancakes? Lattes? NO THANK YOU! They are, however, VERY VERY PRETTY! And I say this a lot, but how can you look at a pumpkin, and not believe in God. I mean they are a GORGEOUS color...they blend perfect with the leaves...which are another beauty all together, but then they are edible too (for those of you that like them that is...) So...God is real, He is big, and He's all or nothing. I'm just throwing that out there...more for me. Enjoy fall...enjoy every crunchy leaf. (My thanks to Lorrie Hanson for the use of her pumpkin for the photo shoot! Glorious time spent with her and Peter outside of Chi-town!)

BLAHHH!

In a nutshell...it's how I feel right now. Not how I felt on that day at SEARS when I was like 4. Not gonna lie. All I want to do is sleep-but in air conditioning...am I so picky!? WHY IS IT A 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently...this is what happens to me when I'm not on tour. Is it bad that I'm alive on the road living out of a suitcase with total strangers to greet me every day!? Mayhaps...but that's how it goes. The blog is called "ViCarrie"....you know...a play on words...like..."VICARIOUSLY"? And...say...MY NAME? Though...I don't think I'm very good at blogging, let alone at blogging so that you feel you are living VI-CARRIE-OUSLY!!! Sorry...I'd say I'd try to do better, but I've met me...I doubt it! See...my tour days typically start with an alarm in the 6am era...though the 5am's do happen...then we go go go go and THEN GO, in whatever weather, walking however many miles, and smiling the whole time, until I run out of bus driver hours....and then we re-check in to hotel/home, and I check in security, no matter how incompetent they are, and I go to my room....sometime around 11 ish. Do I go right to bed? PAH!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!! I want to...but I have to lay out my clothes...because what happens when one of my three alarms doesn't go off? And I have to rush!? I have to do my paperwork, because if I don't glue stick daily...well, it's a mess. And then I have to unwind...shower....stalk facebook, and sometimes...prep commentary for the next day. Usually, on kid tours....I'm safe....it's adult tours.....they ask some questions, and they expect some answers....they PAID for answers...and then I wonder...if I'm the best person for the job! lol I AM...by the way. (since all my bosses have access to this!). And then...maybe around midnight, or 1, I go to bed. I try NOT to go to bed past 2, unless it's the last night, or second to the last night, rarely third to the last night, because I can't recover from that....and I get all "woe is me" on me...and it's not pretty. 1 am...is usually my goal. And 5 hours later, the alarms start ringing...is it Ground Hog day!? And is that one word or two...? Groudhog or Ground Hog...?

So there....I did it....I posted in the year 2010. AND...it was something relevant...a window into my life. And just fyi...it's 1:04....I'm not really in real clothes yet....and on the agenda is an un-needed trip to Home Goods-recent discovery.....and church. Don't hate me because I'm plan-less and you've been up since 5. I don't get weekends...or days off on tour...so I take them all together at home. HOWEVER....parents...you don't get those either....so you can perhaps hate me if you want....but just a little.

Love to all...I'll try to be better.

P.S. I didn't take a picture of it...and I should have...but yesterday...while shopping to stay cool...I saw a pepto bismol PINK Mustang. I would like to take the time right now...to say that is not okay...ever. UNLESS that person ACTUALLY owns the pepto bismol company....and I'm gonna sincerely doubt that.