# 124 Boo! Parker Who?

I'm sure this might come as a surprise to those of you who know me, but I love my Parker. I know I don't talk about it much and most people who spend time with me probably don't even know how much I adore Parker. I mean, I rarely talk about her, you know. And she's rarely mentioned on this blog-- she prefers to keep her internet presence to a minimum, like my friend Adam. But I do have a dog and I do adore her and think she's adorably cute, even if I only mention it, say 143 times per day.

But today, I'll admit, my love for Parker has been a bit displaced.

Today, I met Boo. Boo is, the self-described, "cutest dog in the world." I pretty much concur. Even Parker took one look at the computer screen and ignored the cookie I tried to give her and walked away. She knows.

I worked in Indianola today and, after court, Ann Marie and I were fairly brain-dead (although, to be fair, she had a reason since she actually worked. It doesn't really take much effort for me to sit there and watch. Regardless, I was a bit brain-dead!) and when she saw these pictures on facebook, we spent quite a while giggling over how ridiculously cute this dog is. Apparently, Boo has been on Oprah and has written a book. I can't even get Parker to straighten up the pillows on the couch before I get home everyday.

Look at these pictures and tell me this isn't so outrageously adorable. I mean, really. Its disgustingly cute.

Parker made me put this one in there. But she's pretty darn cute, too, right?

# 123 You put the lime in the coconut...

Last night was a fun night here at the Carr Household. Last week, when I got my wild hair and made the peanut butter bar recipe, I also bought the ingredients for a coconut-lime cookie. I don't like coconut. At all. But something about this recipe looked really good to me, and I love lime. So last night I finally had the chance to make this recipe-- and it was GOOD!!!

While I was making the recipe, I got some visitors from across the street-- Jennifer Walker and her daughter, Abigail. Jennifer is the Sunday School teacher at FBC, Cleveland, in the class I went to Sunday. She wasn't there Sunday, but wanted to come meet me. We had a good time talking and dodging the mosquitoes outside!

After they left, I headed back to the kitchen (where women belong!) and finished my cookies. It was hard work to make cookies from scratch but I'm super proud of myself! Here are some pictures:

Start with coconut, lime and sugar- smells really good!

See how I am working so hard? I even got flour on my hands!

All mixed up-- this would have been a lot better if I owned a food processor. Anyone have an old one they want to donate to this blog?

Kneading the dough:

My fancy cooling racks:

Yum-o! I made a lime glaze for the top-- and it was fantastic!

One lesson learned: Its not a good idea to use a grater on a lime while trying to dance to the song "Footloose". Perhaps another song, but not that one. I was injured, but luckily I was able to push through the pain and carry on. This picture doesn't do it justice-- you can barely see the blood.

# 122 The Tunica Tea Party...

Last night I headed on up to Tunica- not to try my luck at the slots, or even to eat at the Paula Deen Buffet (though I'm really wanting to eat some yummy Paula Deen food soon!). Instead, I headed a mile or so from the casinos to the Recreation Center, where the Red Cross had opened up a shelter for the victims who were displaced because of the flood. It was a very interesting evening. My shift was from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and there wasn't a whole lot going on. There were approximately 30 people "residing" at the shelter, and probably two or three times that many who were living in campers and RV's nearby, who came over to eat and to shower each day.

Several Red Cross volunteers, all from the Knoxville area, had arrived in Tunica and Memphis the week before and were in charge. Each day, a local business (McDonald's for breakfast, a local deli for lunch, and a rotating group of local restaurants for dinner) delivered dinner for the residents, non-residents and volunteers. There were dozens of cots set up in the gymnasium, a really nice computer lab with Apple computers, a dining area, a nurse's station, a recreation room with a pool table, tv, books and games, and they could use the nearby gym or pool for exercise. Not a bad set-up, except for the obvious-- these people have totally lost their homes. Most had been there for nearly two weeks and all have been restricted from going anywhere near their homes-- so they are not for sure their homes are lost, but they are pretty sure. They were also told that it would probably be close to three weeks after the river crests before they can go back to survey the damage.

The people there were mostly white, but there were a few black people as well. Most of them come from an area called the "Cutoff" and many had lived there their whole lives. I believe most of the homes in the Cutoff were trailers, but there were also some really nice homes there, as well as a lot of weekend hunting cabins. A lot of people, up and down the River, have already evacuated or lost their cabins or hunting cabins. The people at the shelter were super nice and, for the most part, upbeat. There isn't much information that we know for sure, so people gather around the television for the news all the time and basically sit around the rest of the time. A group of them went fishing yesterday and were super excited that they caught a whole lot of fish and were planning a fish fry for tonight. It was all-in-all a pretty good experience, albeit a terribly sad one for most of those people. I felt incredibly blessed in so many ways.

I didn't do a whole lot to help-- I kept asking if there were things I could do to help, but there wasn't really a whole lot. I did some filing, checked some residents in-- they have to sign in and out when they leave-- did some cleaning in the kitchen, ate one of the delivered dinners, watched America's Funniest Videos with some of the residents, listened to their stories, learned some poker tips from one guy named Carol, and a couple other things.

Here is a map of the area-- the numbers 1-4 indicate the 4 separate "camps" where these people lived.

One of the more exciting things was a tea controversy that rivals that of the British tariffs back in the day. It seems that the Red Cross has pretty strict rules about the food and drink that they can provide for victims. Hot food can only be kept out for 4 hours-- after that, it must be refrigerated or thrown out. Cold drinks must be kept below 40 degrees and hot drinks above 140 degrees. And drinks are really only supposed to be coffee, juice and water. But some higher Red Cross power sent koolaid and sweet tea down to the Tunica shelter. Thus starts the beginning of the problem.

See, the Red Cross day-shifters are strict rule-followers-- the rules don't say anything about koolaid or tea being allowed, and therefore, in their opinion, it shouldn't be made. No matter that the drinks were there-- they were not to be touched. In the court system, these would be the judicial restraint judges (only my law school geeky friends will appreciate that).

In the opposite corner are the Red Cross night-shifters. These renegade do-gooders preferred a more activist approach-- if the Red Cross manual DOESN'T say koolaid and tea CAN'T be made, then it can be made. In their opinion, anything that can be done should be done to make these people's lives a little bit better. And sweet tea at mealtimes is certainly something these people are probably used to drinking.

So the philosophical clash hit its head about 5:30-- when the night shifters' arrived early and there was some overlap with the day shifters. Words were said, meetings were fled, emails to corporate were sent. In the end, the day-shifters went home (to the Royal Inn next door) and the night-shifter's won (their attitude? Fire us and send us home if you want. We are VOLUNTEERS.) Then came the time to put their sweet tea where their metaphorical mouth was-- making the tea. And here is where the plan hit a flaw.

Apparently, no one really knew how to make sweet tea for such a large group.

So, I did the only thing I could think of-- that is, call my mom. She walked me through it, and we were able to make a pretty good cooler of sweet tea. Not sure if it was kept at 40 degrees or below or not. But the residents sure enjoyed it!

It was a big cooler-- I had a bit of help from one of the night-shifters who led the charge for sweet tea, but he wasn't much help other than holding the cooler for me.

Its not easy making tea like this into 5 gallons!!!

Another exciting part of the night? For the first time I can remember, I tasted cabbage. It was part of the dinner that evening and, furthering my previous posts about my culinary exploits, I went crazy and tasted a couple bites. It wasn't the best thing I'd ever eaten, but it was good enough that I'd be willing to try it again sometime! Aren't you all proud of me!!!

# 121 Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I hope all my readers have a great day and get to spend lots of wonderful time with their sweet mothers. I have the greatest mother in the world-- I couldn't have asked for a better mom for me! She's the best! I gave her the best Mother's Day gift ever-- I volunteered to go furniture shopping with Dad and Nicholas yesterday, so that she wouldn't have to. It wasn't pretty, folks. More on that later! I have planned a fabulous Mother's Day tribute to Deb, but unfortunately, it will have to wait-- I'm still having problems scanning my photos-- I can scan them, but they are sideways and won't save if you try to switch them. I could go ahead with my Mother's Day planned post, but then you'd all have to turn your computers to the side to see the pictures. And I don't want you all fussing at me when you get a crick in your neck because of my blog!

I tried to fix this glitch yesterday but didn't get very far. And today, I'm a busy busy girl, so this will have to wait. I'm headed to FBC, Cleveland for Sunday School and church (for the first time!) and then almost immediately, I'm headed to Tunica to help out at the Flood Shelter they've opened up there. I'm scheduled from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and its an hour and a half drive, so it will be a long day!

Now before you all think I'm a total saint, giving up my Sunday afternoon, let me be honest-- this is required by my work. Everyone in my office has to do it. Lucky for them, they mostly live a lot closer, but its still a good hour for most of them!

Speaking of mother's, my mother passed down a love and enjoyment of volunteering to me. I really love doing stuff like this. If only I were independently wealthy and could spend all my time doing stuff like this instead of working! I've volunteered for VBS and children's classes at church my whole life. I once was a "Pink Lady Teen Volunteer" in high school. In college, my favorite part of the week was teaching preschool mission friends. I worked with the Salvation Army after Katrina. I've logged hundreds of hours with the Lauren Rogers Museum and Laurel Junior Auxiliary over the past couple years. I don't tell you these things to brag. I tell you these things so you will realize I'm not a terrible person even though I'm not entirely happy about having to head up to Tunica this afternoon. My point is-- I don't mind volunteering-- at all-- I love it. And under normal circumstances, I'd be glad to work in this shelter anytime. But I do hate that I'm having to go so far away-- I'd be much happier if there was a shelter closer by!

Let me leave you with a Happy Mother's Day wish to all my readers who have mothers. Or are mother's! I love you each and hope you have a great day! I'm a mother to a sweet little shih tzu who was smart enough to send me the sweetest card via my mother...

# 120 America's Next Top Models...

I'm constantly on the lookout for cool new blogs to read-- for fun but also to get new ideas about blogging. Since I'm apparently not going to give up this blogging thing anytime soon, and I've not (yet) gotten bored with it, I want to keep my blog looking fun and new. I mean, I know my blog will never look as cool as some of the people who actually understand what an RSS or editor template actually is. But I try to get on-line occasionally and come up with tweaks here or there for my blog to make it look nicer. I've been noticing on other blogs that lots of people take way cooler pictures than me. I just don't have the eye for neat-o angles or interesting features in my pictures. My pictures are just what they are-- pictures of what I'm talking about. And now that I have a pretty awful camera, they are actually getting worse, not better. One day, I'll buy one of those fancy-smancy cameras and we can all oooh and ahh over all the pictures I take of Parker. Since she's my main model.

But I'm trying to keep this blog fresh and relevant and fun, and I'm super worried that you dear readers will quit coming to my blog each day and instead go to some other random single-gal-in-the-little-city-with-a-cute-dog-and-not-much-else-to-say-blog. So, I'm shaking things up. I just spent an hour Saturday night researching ways to take cooler pictures. And I discovered this:

Be Funky.

You can upload pictures and use all types of special effects. For free. There are even cooler special effects that you can pay for, but the free features are good enough for who its for. That is, you!

So I played around on there, using a picture of me and the sweetest girl I took earlier that afternoon. Let me know which ones you like the best!!

The original:

I like this one-- it looks cool!

This is my favorite one-- its what I was looking for-- cool and funky!

This is similar to the lighting they must have used in the Sex and the City 2 movie. Some very generous lighting.

Isn't this one great-- its the "Vintage" one-- it reminds me of all the old photos we all have. Which are apparently now "vintage". Ugh. I'm getting old.

# 119 Top Chef Beginners...

Friday night was a wild one around here at the Carr household. After work, Parker and I took a little walk and then I headed to the kitchen (where women belong, right?). Last week, my colleague (sounds better than co-worker!), Ann Marie had brought a Better Homes and Garden's recipe magazine to work (when she's training me, there isn't a whole lot she can do while I am slowly but surely figuring things out!). I'd made some copies of some of the more yummy-looking recipes. When I was making my file folders the other day, and cleaning out my desk drawers, I found the recipes and yesterday, I got a wild hair (Rebekah, that's for you!), and decided to make a couple of the recipes. I went to Kroger after work yesterday and once Parker was situated, I got to cooking.

First, I made the Potato-Topped Beef Casserole. It was essentially a Sheperd's Pie, but it was pretty good. I have a lot of leftovers.

Doesn't it look fancy with the parsley that I was too lazy to actually chop?

Not a bad dinner! I won't bother posting the recipe since it basically the same as a Sheperd's Pie (although, usually I don't like vegetables in my Sheperd's Pie, but this was not bad. It does, however, make me a bit nervous, what with all the food touching and mixed up and all.)

My next masterpiece was Peanut Butter Bars-- and they are FINE!!! I am all about these things! They are yummy-- you start out making a crust- from scratch!!

Then its melted butter and chocolate-- its hard to go wrong when that's the basis of your recipe!

Peanut Butter icing-- also made from scratch! I'm a ridiculously talented cook!

Cooling on the baking rack. I've even got all the cool baking tools!

Ta-da!

My evening reward for all my hard work in the hot kitchen! Peanut Butter Bar and Ice Cold Milk!

# 118 Reaching out of the comfort zone...

In an effort to "find myself", "love myself", "conquer my issues", etc., I'm trying to reach out and do things I don't normally do. I mean, besides the obvious of closing my law practice, packing my belongings, starting a new job and moving 4 hours away from my family to a town where I don't know anyone! But on a smaller level, I'm trying to make smaller changes in my life and branching out of the way I've always done things. For example, I almost always eat the same thing at any restaurant. I try something the first time, and if I like it, that will be my go-to meal from then on. I rarely will try anything new, or at most, I will pick between two different things, but never try anything else. I will think about trying something else. I will sit down at the table with every intention of trying something different. I will ask the people with whom I am dining what they eat or recommend. I will peruse the menu and try to narrow down my choices. Sometimes I will even ask the what what he recommends. But inevitably, when it comes time to actually order, I will get so flustered about not having made a decision and so worried about making a wrong decision that my hands get sweaty and my heart starts racing and I'm concerned about not liking what I've just paid to eat, that I will impulsively order the same thing I always get. This used to happen a lot. Now, I just accept this as part of who I am and don't even bother to pretend I'm going to order something different.

But I'm trying to branch out. Become more well-rounded. Love myself. Listen to Oprah. Yadda yadda yadda. So, I've challenged myself to eat something different everytime I eat at my new favorite restaurant-- Hey Joe's, here in Cleveland:

I've been several times, including my first trip to Cleveland back in February. Whenever anyone has come to visit, its the first place we've eaten, and I believe everyone has liked it thus far. I have made a concerted effort to order something different each time I've eaten there. And only once have I panicked and ordered my old standby, the hummus. Thus far, I've eaten a Caesar chicken wrap, nachos, hot dog, Hawaiian burger, gyro, and cheesesticks. I am so proud of myself!!

However, in other areas of my "self-enlightenment", I've failed miserably. Like today, for instance.

I don't like my food to touch on the plate. I think its yucky. Some foods are ok to be eaten together, like a roll and gravy. But, putting a roll near butterbeans or rice and gravy next to corn--- GROSS!! In the same vein, I eat one food at a time. I don't bother with the whole, "a couple bites of this, a bite of that, piece of cornbread, another bite of this" philosophy. I've done this since I was kid. My Aunt Ju does the same thing. I believe my brother has started doing this same thing. But today at lunch, buoyed by my exciting triumph with the Caesar chicken wrap at Hey Joe's last night, I got a wild hair and decided to eat my food NOT one type of food at a time, but instead, mixing it all up. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, the Clarksdale hospital across the street from my office had a Mexican-fiesta themed lunch. I headed over there and got some chicken enchilada casserole (which was fabulous!), refried beans and green beans with a roll.

Readers, I tried. I really did. I ate a couple bites of the casserole and then ate the entire roll before I remembered my experiment. I adjusted my focus and tried a couple bites of the green beans. It wasn't pretty. The tastes of the green beans mingled with the casserole I'd just eaten. It was awful. I tried to switch gears and eat some beans. Just as bad. I had to give up. There is a reason I don't eat the food all mixed up-- when the flavors get all intertwined, it is awful. Food was meant to be eaten alone, not all mixed up. Don't even get me started about those people who literally stir up all their foods sometimes. Disgusting. I'm going back to my regular, normal eating habits. So, when you come visit me, we will go to Hey Joe's and I will order something I've never had. But I will eat it, one food at a time.