In English please...

Does anyone watch So You Think You Can Dance? I will do a post one day about my love for that show. I love it. I was just watching last week's show and all I have to say is...

Dear Lil' C,
What???? Please speak in English. No one understands what you say. Not because your depth surpasses our understanding, but because you make no sense. So from now on, a simple critique in English will do.
Sincerely,
Erin Hamilton

This week is REdic. I will post better soon.

(Update: Apparently I'm unoriginal. I watched the results show and they did a whole montage of people's faces while Lil' C was talking. Everyone's face was either confused or amused. Which is exactly how I felt. But let the record show that I have thought this about Lil' C for several seasons. He's wacko. I just happened to put it in writing during the same episode that the producers did.)

I run to you (or maybe bike?)

Have you heard "I run to you" by Lady Antebellum? I love it right now. I first heard it last Fall-ish when they opened for Josh Turner and liked it then. Then when we were up in Kentucky over Memorial Day it was all over the radio up there and I decided I loved it. Then we come back to Atlanta and... nothing. Nowhere to be heard. But finally, 3 weeks later... I heard it last night, and twice already today! So I think it's finally made its way down to Atlanta radio. So here are some theories I've come to when it comes to music and geography. It seems that Kentucky gets the good new country first (or at least before Atlanta). Atlanta seems to catch on to the good hip-hop/rap first (or among the first). And Florida gets everything last. Ha! That last one may not be true, I can only base it on my limited time in Tampa. Maybe they get something first that I haven't experienced yet. Thoughts on those theories?

This morning I went for my first bike ride on my new bike that my precious little Lee got for me. And I must say that I love it. And him. So a new discovery: Smyrna is HILLY! The Silver Comet Trail is 3.5 miles from our house, so no problem, I'll just include that in the bike ride. Well getting to and from the trail was quite an undertaking, and it definitely introduced me to the magic of proper gear shifting. The SC Trail itself is just absolutely wonderful. I love it. It's perfect for running and biking, nice level of slightly difficult but not too difficult, and beautiful scenery. And if you get there early enough, you will definitely see bunnies, which always makes my heart a little bit warmer. This was my first time biking on the trail and I got to see a lot more of it than when I've run it. And I wasn't disappointed. So my bike ride's total distance was 20 miles, which I was really glad I was able to do since I'm supposed to do 18 miles as part of the mini-triathlon I signed up for, so I feel some reassurance.

Here's a couple pictures of my bike, one straight out of the box, and one of it fully assembled.


Lee and I did go to Boston 2 weekends ago and had a fabulous time, and I will post about that soon. It just takes more time when I want to add more that 1 or 2 pictures. So it will come, as soon as I get some good quality time in the blogging world.

Have a great Wednesday!! Pretty much the weekend, right?

Things that I was amazed by today

Number 1: The winter/cool months are just long enough for me to forget how stinky the Georgia Tech Trolley can be. The university setting brings lots of different nationalities, backgrounds, and cultural norms. One that I will go ahead and say that I can't really appreciate is the lack of deoderant, especially combined with what I can only assume is a lack of showering. And I forget this during the winter when there isn't as much sweatiness and there are lots of clothing layers to restrict the flow of odor. But I can always count on GT's university transportation (cleverly called the Stinger (go jackets!) and the Trolley) to bring this fact back to full conscious memory. Today I sat on the trolley and was just continually met with wave after wave of stench. Every stop prompted movement that introduced me to a new aromatic-experience. And the funny thing is that each time it happened, I was equally shocked. There's no desensetizing. But here's the thing, before you think I'm mean. I honestly can put up with a little B.O. On a hot, sticky summer day, moments of unfreshness happen to the best of us. But these are honestly like punches in the face. Someone might as well smother me with a pillow (although that might be more pleasant), I literally can't breath. I hate to admit this because I am not one for public displays of drama, but I have put my face in my bag before. But it was literally for survival. A girl needs oxygen. So here is my question. In cultures where this is normal, are they able to breathe? Do you get used to that? Or do they get bothered by the extreme cases as well?

Number 2: It took me over an HOUR to get home today. It is normally a 15-20 minute drive. It was POURING. The reasonable results of rain are obviously that people are slower and more cautious, and also slightly worse drivers because of the visibility restrictions. This I understand. What I am amazed by is that when it's raining it seems like there are at least 2 to 3 times the normal amount of cars on the road. Where do they all come from?? I never see as many cars on the road as I do when it's raining. Does rain give people the urge to drive? Or maybe cars are like gremlins and they multiply in water.

Number 3: People are strange. Everyone has their oddities, particularly in social settings, but there is a lady at work that I am confused/baffled by on a regular basis. When I walk by her and give the obligatory smile/nod/hi, she laughs. And I am always wondering what's funny. It's in the place of where normal people would smile. She giggles. I've never understood. I know this lady is odd just from being in meetings and seminars and watching her function, so I always have my little curiosity of what is going on in her head, but generally just blow it off and smile. Well today I walked into the bathroom and she was standing in there by herself looking at what I assumed was the wall, and laughing. As if someone just told her a funny story. So I smiled, definitely thinking it was odd, but didn't want to make her feel judged, so acted like she was normal and proceeded to a stall. So she goes "I'm laughing at this hand sanitizer." I was dumbstruck. I had nothing. How do you respond to that? So I smiled and finally said "hmmm new technology huh?" and went into a stall.

Number 4: I witnessed two grown people get into a screaming fight today at the Costco gas pump. Apparently one almost hit the other when they were pulling in, but usually people just honk and drive away. Well these people honked and got all hot and bothered, and then had to park next to each other and get out of their cars to pump gas. Which turned into two normal looking grown people screaming at each other until another man came over and asked them to stop because his kids were there.

Number 5: I am amazed at how differently two people's brains can work. I am a Teacher's Assistant for a class that is about engineering design (for medical devices). It's a Biomedical Engineering course, but there is a guy from the Industrial Design department working with the class to really give them the full perspective on the "design" side. And I'm the representative for the "engineering" side. Which makes sense since they're both really important for the course and it's good to get the different perspectives/backgrounds. But it is also the perfect environment to realize some major differences. He's a super nice guy by the way, it is just a situation that has me constantly thinking "Really??" He and I have meetings to discuss the content and assignments, how we're gonna run the class, how we're gonna communicate the concepts, etc. And I honestly have never felt more like I might as well be speaking Spanish. Our brains work in SUCH different ways that I think I could communicate just as well with him by barking or chirping at him. We would get the same results. I will explain a thought to him. Then he will respond with something that to me has NOTHING to do with what I just said. Or in fact might be the exact opposite of what I said. And I am left wondering did you not listen? Or did you really totally misinterpret what I just said? Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying back to me? Or did I just get transplanted here and am joining a completely different conversation already in progress? Total confusion. And I feel certain he probably has the same experience on his end. The more I interact with him, the more I realize that we both have great intentions, but it's our thought processes. He's all creative, free-flowing, "oh this would be really coooool and beautiful"; while I like to keep a goal in mind and keep some practicality (a.k.a. don't waste my time). When he is talking, sometimes his flow of thought is SO different from mine that I literally MUST stop listening and processing what he is saying or my brain might explode. It's amazing. I would LOVE to see a brain scan of both of our brains during our conversations just to see the difference in the activity areas. I guarantee it would be complete opposites. But like I said, he's a super nice guy, it is just a genuinely baffling situation.


And those are my reflections for the day. Thoughts?

Is there such a thing as Gambling Rehab?

Lee and I went up to Kentucky for the long weekend to see his family. We had a really great time and of course it flew by! And tragically I forgot to take my camera. It was great to see his family, we always enjoy being with them. I even had my first experience at the horse track (Churchill Downs). I can definitely see how someone could let the momentum of the betting get the best of them! I was doing $2 bets all day (and actually won a few!), but did end up in the hole. But for some reason I was still convinced if I analyzed long enough that I could figure the whole thing out... the stat books are pretty ridiculous. But my trouble sensor kicked in and I stayed within the bounds of "fun". Lee on the other hand wasn't doing too hot at first, but then hit a random 10 cent bet that was such a ridiculous combination of like 4 or 5 different horses with such slim odds that he turned the 10 cents into $38.50! He was really excited and proud of himself. I was proud of course, but mostly glad he left on the plus side to make up for my losing. But I am now a seasoned veteran (and fully prepared for the second annual Derby Party).

School's been non-stop, so it's been consuming most of my time, but Lee and I are heading to Boston this weekend to celebrate our 1st Anniversary (it was Sunday the 24th). We leave on Thursday evening and I will head back on Monday morning (Lee has to go somewhere else to work). Lee has rented a boat for the two of us to take out in the Harbor on Saturday, which I'm slightly nervous about but mostly really excited. The other two days are up in the air at the moment, but I'm sure we'll come up with some fantastic things to see and do while we're there.

A new goal of mine is to increase my vocabulary. If anyone has any good tips, send them my way. Otherwise, be prepared for me to pull out my dictionary at any moment.

Have a happy Wednesday!!

An attempt at a mid-week update!

Welp, it's been a whirlwind of a week so far, but I'm feeling the weekend near. This picture is in honor of the fact that I wore workout clothes to school today (I do actually work in a somewhat officey atmosphere), no shower, no makeup and my hair in a messy ponytail... and never actually worked out. I didn't have time. But I was hoping no one saw me multiple times so they could just assume I was on my way or returning from the gym. Whatever, students don't have to impress anyone.

I have an issue with coming up with blog content when I haven't been doing anything exciting, particularly something where I would take pictures (I enjoy pictures). To me the past few days have been exciting, but you know enjoying your job kind of exciting, not the kind of thing that would keep a reader's attention for very long.

So since I need an update... my topic of choice... Since I did take a little vegging time in front of the TV last night... I will give you my opinion on The Biggest Loser finale. ***If you haven't watched it and plan to and don't want the end ruined, stop reading!! ... but please come back later.*** Ok, I wasn't real excited. Don't get me wrong, I love a good before and after shot of weight loss stories. It was definitely exciting to see everyone's progress. But as far as the final result... ehhh. I really like to be happy for people and get all excited for them and feel the emotion with them especially when they've worked so hard. But I just don't really like Helen. Or maybe it's that I just have zero respect for her. She definitely missed the maturity/wisdom boat, and honestly acts like a child. Two specific examples: A) she let her daughter go home so she could stay (every parent on that show ALWAYS goes home so their child can stay), and B) she was ridiculous the night they had their "freedom" and did all their wild-oat-sewing. She was the oldest (48) and acted the most like a kid let loose in a candy store (and then was clearly so proud of herself about how absolutely cooool she was). So on the finale... I don't even know what to say, I've started typing several times and had to erase because I don't even know how to summarize. I'll just say if there had been 3 Helens competing (not only for the $250,000 but for camera time, speaking time, center of attention time), there would definitely have been some hair pulling and probably literal backstabbing. And let's keep in mind this woman is 48 years old. I just feel really sad for her daughter. Anyway, Helen won. I wish Tara had, she was definitely the superstar in the challenges. But oh well. And side note, I hate to go back to poor Helen, but I thought she looked unhealthy. And I'm not just saying that because I don't like her, or cause I might not mind looking unhealthily skinny for a day (juuuust kiddiiiing), but really she looked great the day she left campus and I was a little startled when she came out on stage. She's 5'6" and got down to 117. She didn't look like she needed to be checked into a clinic or anything, but I just thought she was nicer looking with a little meat to hold up that skin. Ok I'm afraid to post this now, I seriously try to judge sparingly in my general life. But it just really bothers me when adults seem to have learned nothing from the years they've lived. It's one of those things I find disturbing. The end.

I have zero plans for the weekend at the moment except to relax. I was just chatting with my friend Jen about trying Flip Burger Boutique (Ashley, I will give you my full review and maybe even send you a picture) which is apparently started by a guy from Hell's Kitchen or Top Chef, or maybe another reality cooking show (I'm a failure at remembering these things). Anyway, Ashley (my sister-in-law) told me about it and I've been wanting to go ever since. Lee has had an equally crazy week so we'll probably do a whole lot of non-crazy stuff. And I'm pretty excited about it. We have to rest up for our big travels next weekend to the old KY :)

One more note... in 11 days Lee and I will have been married for 1 year :) I love him.

The Atlanta Zoo!

We took a trip to the Atlanta Zoo thanks to my Dad and IBM. It was a friends and family type thing, so all the family came and we had a really great time. I mean my family's my family and all but I have to say they are just wonderful. Here's Evan as a panda:

And Drew and Alli with their snow cones:

And Alli on a gorilla:


And of course someone had to tip off the paparazzi... we can't go anywhere:


And me and my sisses:


Here's me and Drew... she broke her wrist at school. She can't play softball any more so it's a sore subject, don't try to talk to her about it.


Here's me with my Mommy and Daddy:


Here's Lee who was particularly happy with his popcorn:


Here's a picture of us on the train.


And Carrie and Alli at the front:


And here's me and Alli on the carousel. She rode a panda. And Drew rode some type of bird. And Dad and Evan rode a panda too I'm pretty sure. And I was just the weird aunt taking pictures.


Andy ended up not being able to come because he was on call for work, so we missed him. But other than that it was a super fun day at the zoo. Until... dun dun dun... There was an announcement over the park that there was a tornado warning in Fulton County and that all outdoor activities were canceled. So in a matter of MAYBE 2 minutes here were the next events: Mayhem with the entire population of the zoo trying to get to the exits... I zipped Drew's broken arm into my purse and hung it on her shoulder... JUST as the bottom dropped out of the clouds. And we swam out of the park in the midst crazy sounding winds (I won't lie I was scared, and Evan, who I was carrying while I ran, kept whispering he was scared, so I played super calm and said it's just rain, no big deal)... we made it to our cars completely soaked, and had to forgo dinner together for the sake of getting dry.

But other than the dramatic ending to the day, I had a blast! And for the animal highlights... these were my favorites:

The meerkat with excellent posture:

The otters:


And this guy:

A last minute Derby Party!

Saturday was the Kentucky Derby, and well on Friday night we were out with friends (as seen in the previous post) and were discussing that a Derby party would be particularly fun. I started thinking about it and the fact that Lee is from Louisville, and I think I've spent enough time there at this point to pull something decent off... so we got more and more into the idea and made it happen. We did sleep in on Saturday, but then ended up throwing together a particularly wonderful Derby Party.

I pulled out anything we had relating to Kentucky and here is the starting center piece. (I didn't have time to iron my tablecloth, so don't look too close).


And here are our appetizers. The key Kentucky ingredients were the Mint Juleps and we even made Benedictine.

Lee was our house bookie and we did our own version of betting on the races, he even kept us up on the current odds. Our game was complete with prizes (a girl prize AND a boy prize since the genders had very different methods of bet placing). I picked "Mr. Hot Stuff" and "Chocolate Candy" based purely on the names. My favorites. And they let me down. I should have known. Here's the cutest bookie in Smyrna:

Here's some more pictures, Stephanie getting really into the horse racing with her horse whip, and Jen and Jaime in their fabulous hats:

And then dinner of course. Lee grilled out. We got so into our classiness that we pulled out the fine china and silverware and monogrammed linen napkins for the occasion:

And of course Derby Pie for dessert, that Jaime did an excellent job on. And also in this picture (for Lee's Mom!) is our inaugural use of the utter creamer that I am in love with:

And in conclusion, we all decided that this will be an annual event. It was too much fun to not do again. We thought of so many ideas for next year. But of course we have to actually go to Kentucky one year soon for the ultimate experience. I'll close with the picture we made the boys take with their Derby Hats. Left to right, Scott (Jaime's friend from NC), Matt (Lee's friend) and little Lee.