Schrader

Ehh, I am not really sure what this blog is about other than B and I threw ourselves a party last night and then went out to dinner for some chicken, steak, and quesadillas. We are going to Charlotte on Friday and I am terribly excited. There is a RUSH event for my fraternity on Friday night, so I finally get to meet the new Brothers that were initiated in December.

Why I don't provide the background of Theta Tau - Pi Gamma since I have nothing else to talk about today....

In the Spring of 2005, two of my friends I had met through the College of Engineering Leadership Academy approached me with the opportunity to leave a legacy at UNCC. Joseph DeVoe and Christopher Roberts had noticed the desire among the students of the Lee College of Engineering to have a professional organization unlike the rest - an organization structured to embrace our choice to pursue engineering while preparing us for a career. Two and a half months later on May 3rd, 2005, we were initiated as the UNC Charlotte Colony of Theta Tau.

As an official Colony, we began pledging new leaders to help us build the dream we now shared. A true sense of brotherhood emerged as time passed, something not only felt by each Brother, but clearly visible to all whom associated with us. Along the way we lost a few and initiated almost thirty new Brothers. On August 25th, 2007, 22 Brothers of the UNC Charlotte Colony were initiated as the Pi Gamma chapter of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity. Four of us had been there since the beginning - Joe Devoe, Nahir Habet, Tiffany Lemmons, and myself. The initiation represented the culmination of hard work, commitment and the beginning of a legacy.

Theta Tau is what comes to mind when I think of my college career. Theta Tau was not something you "joined" - it was a full time commitment. We strived to have eight RUSH events, three community service, three professional development, three fundraising, weekly meetings, eight weeks of pledging, and multiple social events each semester.

As a "founding father" Theta Tau is my baby and I am very sensitive to everything Theta Tau. Living in Virginia it has been even more difficult because I haven't been able to provide my input and participate as I would like. In fact recently it has caused me some headaches and heartaches because being so far away I feel out of loop and it tends to be like pulling teeth to get the information I need - and of course when I start to feel frustration or out of control I say and do things I typically regret. Hence is the case with Theta Tau often. I have got to find balance there - let go a little, observe and smile. If I miss out on pertinent information or feel out of the loop I need to just let it go.

In other news you have to search PS22 Chorus on youtube. They are a chorus in NYC and sing Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, and all the rest of my faves! They are amazing!!!

Dashboard

B went with me to my cardio kickboxing class last night – you tell me how many men you know that would be the only man in 40 person aerobics class!?!?! Anyway it was the most adorable thing I have ever witnessed in my life – a 250 lb man doing cardio kickboxing is a sight to behold. Anyway he did it for me since I really miss doing all the classes with my friends in Charlotte, and it was so sweet. He continues to amaze me.

I was fortunate to be able to watch the swearing in of Barack Obama as our 44th President today. Moving inaugural address – it brought tears to my eyes and provided a little glimpse of what it might have been like when Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King spoke. It would not be in my character to go without mentioning Rick Warren, an opponent of gay rights, gave the invocation, yet President Obama spoke “that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness". I guess he forgot to include except homosexuals. It needs to be articulated around religion and homosexuality that you can have your theology and also sign off on gay and lesbian civil rights and full enfranchisement, including marriage. You know, a lot of Christians think Jews and Mormons are going to hell. Right? And yet Jews and Mormons can get married in our culture. No one's attempting to strip Jews or Mormons of their civil rights in our dominant Christian culture. Addicts, rapists, Muslims… think about it...

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - The late, great Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eeeek. I am way off track and tearing up… I just do not get it. Regardless I am hopeful and excited for our country; I have enormous confidence in President Obama and I am electrified by his oratorical skills. Tomorrow he is expected to redeem his promise to begin the withdrawl of U.S. forces from Iraq, and I am ready!

Switching topics… back in the day I wrote a semi mission statement for my life after college. I hope to find it on my old laptop so I can post it here. One line stated that I must travel to see my favorite musicians in concert whenever possible. Live music by talented artists is AMAZING and I am not a music buff by any means. So, outside of all the astounding movies I am peeing in my pants to see, there are concerts GALORE in March. I already have tickets to see Elton John and Billy Joel in Charlotte on 3/7; however now Dave Matthews Band and Ani Difranco are playing in that timeframe as well. I thought I would go with Ani since the ticket prices are about ½ the price of DMB, but Ani is playing the exact same week as Elton and Billy in all my driving distances.

The Circus will be here in a couple weeks as well – I really want to go to the Circus.

So much to do, and so little time and money…

I started to plan a Mediterranean cruise for B and me late this year or next, but instead we have decided that before we go exploring other cultures we would like to see and better understand what our country is comprised of first (one of my co-workers from Colombia always refers to Colombia as “My Country” and I just adore it). So we are going to go all Jack Kerouac-Neal Cassady-Bonnie&Clyde-Thelma&Louise on yall – to be dazzled by the romance of a cross-country road trip. There is no better way to get a feel for the expansive size of America, no better way to see the diversity in culture and climate of the different regions of the US and Canada than a cross country road trip, and we cannot wait!



It is going to go a little something like this (if your name is in brackets I may be contacting you for a little visit ;) – a * means we may bypass):

Charlotte, NC
Nashville, TN [My fave cuz Leigh]
Memphis, TN*
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX [Fuckface Kannen J]
Sedona, AZ
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA [Shmeggles]
Yosemite National Forest
Lake Tahoe
Provo, UT [Oldhams]
Denver, CO*
Mount Rushmore (SD)
Omaha, NE [Steph… this stop will alter depending on where Steph is living these days]
Chicago, IL [Bob Waninski]
Niagra Falls
New York, NY
Washington, DC [Kristen]
Lynchburg, VA

Additionally, if you happen to live in one of these areas and I was unaware, shoot me an email [Arrington.hannah@gmail.com] so we can drop by or you can provide some advice on places to see.

A little piece of my heart is reserved for StoryPeople, and this was on their blog on MLK day – thought I would share…

I don't know much, but I know this. Want to live for justice? You're going to have to make a few people uncomfortable.

Want to make a change? You're probably going to have to reach out beyond the already converted and the circle of friends. That's a clique, not a change. That's a tight-knit circle, not a movement.

Right now, as a nation, as a world for that matter (whether or not you voted in this administration), we have the chance to move out of rhetoric into action, from hope spread on whispers to thinking out loud.

This is our chance to start, as a nation, as a world, a great romance with life.

Mihb Weekend

Well this weekend started off with a bang - B and I hit Walmart right after work. We spent $40.00 over budget, but that was to be expected for Mibh Weekend.

Mags and Ice arrived around 9 and after a chat session, we hit the 24 hour Kroger for a Redbox and whipped cream to go with my bangin cake [yes das right - my cake was a hit!].


I also made sure to fill the voodoo toothpick holder so they would understand fully my love of the gift they gave me.

I regifted(?) the balloons I was given at lunch to fully welcome them.

I hit the Y the next morning and returned to cook up a delicious medley of beans and turkey in my taco soup {yea das right - hit #2 for Hurricane in the kitchen during MIBH weekend}.

After my fab soup (hey, I only repeat what I am told :)) we headed to Roanoke for a Milk showing at an awesome little theater that Billy and I will be frequenting (hopefully for Revolutionary Road, The Wrestler, and The Reader... ahhhh so many good movies during awards season).


There was this little store next to the theater that I am pretty sure I am supposed to own one day...

B hooked it up with homeade ribs, potato salad and bean for dinner.



Then we hit the slopes for serious business. Mags is officially the best tuber.





We got up to go hiking this morning, but our favorite mountain was closed so they could chop down more trees and destroy more land in order to create more Libery icons. Ugh. So we rented the theater for football and movies instead.



Can you believe that in less than 48 hours we will finally have a new President??!!! I still have hopes for Hillz, but I was a very late bloomer in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Suits.

It’s funny how a reputation can stick with you into your adult years (I’m responsible for various aspects of a nuclear power plant, so I think that constitutes an adult). Over the course of the wedding season a few tidbits of gossip were passed to me, concerning me and/or my close friends being drunkards (my choice of words). While it obviously was not repeated word for word back to me, there usually is some bit of truth in it.

When “the juicy” was passed to me, I found it pretty funny because once upon a time, it was very true [in the words of one of my favorite, smack talking friends “puhhhlease! I have only been kicked out of one bar in the last couple months as opposed to 50 in my crazy years. GROW UP!”] However, while I hate to admit it [since I thoroughly enjoyed living the wild/reckless life of a college kid and pride myself on my spontaneity], I have grown up. Party has become a word only mentioned around holidays and celebrations; drunk is only relevant after football games and the rare party; and wine is enjoyed with a nice meal.

I am not really sure where I am going with this – I guess I am just still surprised how people hold onto reputations and stereotypes into their adult years.

I had hoped to find some hard partying pictures just to send a big “suck it” to a chosen few, but I can’t seem to find any…

The picture below represents my company Christmas party where B and I were given $24 in drink tickets and ended up with a $150 bar tab.

NYE… only description necessary.



Drinking during lunch… OMG!!!



My fraternity after a weekend drunkfest at the beach.



Beer bong!!!!!!



Christmas Party in NJ 2007 – it took me an entire week to recover from this open bar. {Pictured below: Hannah (awesome/drunkard), Billy Fox (awesome), Maria Paget (awesome), Bob W (the awesomest) }


Luckily I can laugh about that sort of gossip now, and turn it into my own snark; however I am sure I would have been offended in any other year.

In traveling news, it looks like I will be off to France for a couple weeks in February [and possibly two years in 2011]... YAYAYAY!!!

Gosh, I have so much to blog about, but I am blogging on my lunch break today - the selling of Club Banana at Oak Island, my baby Theta Tau, work [maybe... I am not sure if anyone from work read this], living on a budget, to buy or not to buy, etc.

Until next time... SUCK IT GOSSIP BITTIES!!!!!

Delhomme Sucks...

Yesterday was a big night for B and me… PANTHERS PLAYOFF GAME. We prepared early by getting dressed and hitting all the local hotspots in our outfits – Wal-mart, Target, Kroger, ABC store.


We rented the Theatre for the game…



… and packed our cooler with our ABC goodies, lil smokies, and jalapeno poppers.




B and I were ready for the game, but “we” (aka B) spent the game making an effort not to yell curse words directed at Delhomme at the top of our (B) lungs. I finally made a compromise and asked for just no f words. I mean, I really couldn’t care less which four letters words came out of his mouth but I know some people are offended by it. Why? I have no idea, and neither do they… I mean who decided that “ass” will have a negative connotation, but “heinie” is acceptable. Anyway, I will ask my husband not to yell the words in order to respect you… now respect us and do your research and understand why the it’s wrong.

In babies news, I have now had these plants for almost a year… YAY! I love my aloe and jade!




Mags is coming up next weekend!!! I am so excited I can barely stand it. We are going to do some hiking, see Milk (in Roanoke, of course), and go snowboarding. They won’t get here until late Friday, so I will do my grocery shopping and cleaning Friday after work instead of our typical Saturday morning. I am contemplating what to cook for them.

B and I also got Y memberships yesterday – this is contributing to my overwhelming state of excitement as well. I absolutely love the Y – swimming, basketball, boot camp/step/plyometric classes, and more! Plus when we return to Charlotte our membership will transfer, and the Charlotte Y’s are AMAZING!

Finally, this is the current state of my thank you writing...

PURGATORY

It's FRIDAY!!!!

I am officially off work, although I am hanging here for a bit longer in hopes that a few co-workers will provide a couple document numbers and references for a project I need to complete this weekend.

B just called - he is already home and cooking pot roast tonight. So much much for my WOW HIM WITH SHRIMP idea.

I completed my 2008 performance review today. We just implemented a new program, AGORA, and I believe I have now been AGORA-ED... it can be verb, right? Man, that sh*t took me an entire day to complete, only to have my boss mention "I did not complete the 2009 objectives because..." Thank you for letting me know now that I am already in AGORA purgatory!

Anyway, I hate those assessments. I feel like I am just spewing crap all over the place and trying to make it smell better by using words with 6+ letters. Actually for 2008 I ripped myself a new one. I didn't feel like BSing and I hope my boss appreciates the honesty. I feel like 2008 really opened my eyes to my specific developmental needs and I feel I know a route to improve those competencies (ehh I guess incompetencies?). I tend to be a little tough on myself, so hopefully I don't come across as Negative Nelly either. I just didn't want to look ignorant or incompetent enough to where I actually thought I was working to my potential and being as productive as I could/should. I know I wasn't... at least not the last three months.

I think I am getting a little wordy on my blog blog... I need to use more pictures.

If you aren't on the Postsecret or Storypeople train, then you better get some...

I love that postcard. For the record, my mom does not approve of the "f" word and did not teach it to me.

Yeah, I pick my nose, and I always have. I wipe it on something near me, never myself and never in plain view. True story: shortly after telling B I was going to marry him, I caught him picking his nose and he WIPED IT ON HIS JEANS!!! You better read this now, because he is going to EDIT -> DELETE this as soon as he reads it.


That reminds me of my career - I keep falling into perfect situations with amazing opportunities, only available to me because the young professionals my age didn't take it when it was before them. TRUST ME, if you put an advantageous adventure in from of me, I will run with it.... whether I deserve it or not, I will make it mine.

office space

[Peter, Michael, and Samir are chatting as they hang around the printer]
Peter Gibbons: Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.
Samir: So what did you say?
Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.
Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is bullshit to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean shit up if they had a million dollars.
Samir: You know what I would do if I had a million dollars? I would invest half of it in low risk mutual funds and then take the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities...
Michael Bolton:Samir, you're missing the point. The point of the exercise is that you're supposed to figure out what you would want to do if...
[printer starts beeping]
Michael Bolton: "PC Load Letter"? What the f*ck does that mean?

B was up all night sick and I had to be in the office around 5:30-6 this morning to prepare for a meeting - so this was me....

Since I let you see me, I might as well show you the current state of my little cube in our cube farm.

I don't claim to be the neatest, cleanest, most organized ANYTHING, but right now my cube is destroyed. There are no OSHA or health violations though - that plastic container held chili only ~ 6 hrs ago.

That is my pathetic attempt at personalization. I am only going to be here 9 more months, so I thought I would spend my precious time elsewhere.

I would put more interesting pictures up, but the nuclear industry isn't really down with me sharing the goods to the world, so that will have to wait for another day.

And because I am pretty...

In B news, he is still sick :(, so I have been cooking. Wait, is that what I should even call it? I have been yucking. Seriously. Now I am in no state of denial regarding my cooking... I know I have a couple dishes that turn out pretty well, but outside of chili, dinners w/ cream of chicken soup, and fish, you girl ain't sh@t in an apron... but really, what do you expect from a girl who ate peanuts and Wendy's 2 side salads and a chili for four years? Anyway - the problem right now is that my typically delicious (ehh... edible) meals are "ugh". I made a pot of chili on Tuesday since it has been cold and B could take it for lunch. I was determined to use my new crock pot, so I threw all the raw ingredients in and Waaaa la... over-cooked beans and completely dry chili! Last night I tried this chicken casserole (anything w/ cream of chicken soup comes out decent), but I didn't cook the INSTANT rice long enough or didn't put enough water... and WHAAA LA... gross. I have two more nights to redeem myself, although we will probably end up going out.

I thought about giving you guys a little insight into what I do, but I shall save that for another day as well...

I am about to pee in my pants if I do not get to see Milk or Revolutionary Road soon. Bless Jerry Falwell and Lynchburg for essentially banning multiculturalism in this small town - WHITE CHRISTIANS ONLY ALLOWED! YEAH! Ok, I shouldn't say things like that, I know. My mom taught be better than that, and I am supposed to be working on tolerance and embracing the conservative looneys. Eeeeeek, see that is my problem. I recognize my problem, start to address it, and then send another little kicker along with it. I don't know why I do it. It makes my mom want to slap my sweet little mouth, but anyway, I will keep you updated on my quest for tolerance within.

UPDATE: We ended up hitting Buffalo Wild Wings tonight to drink a couple beers and watch the game - B's idea... I guess he lost hope in my cooking this week already. Hmm.. I might have to bring out the big guns for tomorrow night ... SHRIMP boiled w/ one bottle of Foster's and my mom's recipe for homeade cocktail sauce.

We bought a new file cabinet tonight, so after organizing bills, taxes, warranties, etc. we went through old love letter we wrote each other during our "courtship". SO FUNNY!!!!! B repeatedly uses LOL and cannot spell a word for his life. We died laughing.

henry and mark

Two days back at work and my stank attitude has already reared its ugly head.

Luckily I have a totally awesome husband [well 95.5% of the time] that gets off work before I do and cooks dinner for us [see below]. {aside: your girl Hurricane did cook dinner the majority of time during the first two months in LYC because B was remodeling a house after he completed his landscaping work each day... yeah das right! Hannah the Homemaker and Billy the Builder!} {another aside: that last "aside" totally reminded me of my thermal-fluids class when I would work out a really long problem completely wrong, but then I would put an "aside" in the margin to explain what I was trying to accomplish... my "asides" never failed me with partial credit.}

Now to the meat of this post and coincidentally, the title. I am learning quickly that husbands not only are a rock, a best friend, a lover, soulmate, work out buddy... but they are also a big child. This week alone we have had to review "don't leave crap in my car", "pick up your video games", don't wear too much cologne", "do not steal", and yesterday was "do not backhand your co-worker". Now it is no secret that Billy was a little rough around the edges when I met him; however, since we have been together he has not been in a fight or laid his hands on anyone until yesterday. Billy took my car with him to work because he needed the GPS to get to his doctor's appointment. Sometime during the day someone or something cracked the windshield [see below]. Billy was convinced ole Mark, a coworker, had busted the windshield, and was very vocal about it. Mark then decided to use my name in vain (uh ohh big mistake), and that was the end of Mark on Monday afternoon. No worries, I gave B a verbal lashing when he got home.. "B what the heck were you thinking... this isn't Peace College! You can't go around punching people because they piss you off!" Oops.

As for Henry, he was just brought into this blog because B was going to download some music for him which required my help since we had some compatibility issues going on. As mentioned above (Figure 1: Stank Attitude) I had some attitude problems, so Henry, while not present, caught the brunt of it. Sorry Henry.

Aside (word of the day!) from Henry and Mark dealings, B has been to two orthopedic doctors the past two days to get his broken body examined. Some good news, some bad... the shoulder's (result of falling off a roof while carrying shingles) best option is physical therapy. The doctor said he could take a piece of his hamstring and wrap it around his [insert name of some shoulder bone here] to hold his collarbone down. Obviously that would be very invasive and require a long painful recovery, so B opted with PT.

Now as for the ankle, his only real option is surgery. He has two torn tendons and arthritis from a football injury, which he played on for the rest of the season! Poor B. I only have a picture of the ankle x-ray.

This picture made my heart smile, so I thought I would share... In the perfectly written words of Butch "on this day just hanging out was an art form".

Yeah, they're cooler and cuter than you.

Klassy

B and I have been a little bored the last couple days... writing thank you notes, watching football, blogging, catching up on a little work related items, etc.

I thought I would share the highlights (cue eye roll)...

This is B playing Madden:

I am not a fan of the ole PS2, so B's way of including me is to turn me into a tranny mess of a strong safety...

In other news, I am a huge consignment store fan... I live for a quaint little store with a lot of character. These are repesentative of my recent CSS (consignment store successes):

That butterfly-licious coaster set above was a result of a stop in Southport, NC.

The end table above, and his sister on the other end of the couch, came from Klassy Konsignment (for obvious reasons we had to make a stop at that shop).



Ever since Ms. Gimmel in 2nd grade got me hooked on Chris Van Allsburg, I treasure my books almost as much as my perfect collarbone. Thus, this bookshelf was a hell of a find in downtown Lynchburg for $16.

Finally I would like to share this extraordinary piece of pottery (not from a consignment shop), the ever stylish Mike Smith gave us...