What's in a name?

What's in a name? This is not something I have given a lot of thought to in the past, but considering the activities of the last couple of months, it has been in the forefront of my mind.

I was born Carrie Grace Sharoff, grew up this way, graduated high school and college this way, got my PhD this way. I never thought I would change it, but once I met and married Chris McLean, I knew instantly that once we were married, I wanted to have the same last name as him (lucky for both of us he did not have a weird last name). Not really totally sure what to do about my body of scientific work,  I decided to keep Sharoff for science and McLean for everything else. . . we will see how this works out!

This past weekend, Chris and I traveled to Michigan for Chris's brother's wedding.

We had a great time bopping around MI, spending time in Ann Arbor and East-Lancing, and meeting/spending time with family. This weekend I got to really test-drive a ton of new names, and I loved them all!

I got introduced countless times as "Chris's wife". Loved it.

I got introduced as sister-in-law for the first time. Loved it. (crap, no photos of my new sister-in-laws, must do better photo journaling next time!)

Most notably though, I got to be called "Aunt Carrie" by my 5 new nieces/nephews. I particularly loved this one.

"Aunt Carrie, watch me jump in". Ok!

"Aunt Carrie, take my picture". Ok!    Call me Aunt Carrie, you get your way instantly!

"Aunt Carrie, take our picture with Uncle Chris".  Ok, twist my rubber arm.

I remember how much I coveted the attention of my Aunts and Uncles at those ages.   I am happy we were in the same position and able to spend some quality time with them.  I particularly loved when Toby asked me what I did for a living and I told him I was a scientist.  His next question was, "have you ever blown anything up?".  After a long pause I said "no", but I instantly realized there is still plenty of time for that!

We also got to met our nephew Count.  He is adorable and full of love.

We enjoyed taking Count for a run and wandering through the grass and trees.  We also introduced him to the playground.  Yes, we are crazy.

We had a fabulous long weekend.  We enjoyed great coffee, time with friends and family, and wonderful moist cool(ish) air.  Coming back to Arizona was hard.  Luckily we have wonderful animal to come home to.

Stay classy San Diego

Chris and I decided to escape the heat in PHX and take the family to San Diego for a few days. We came home from work on Friday, packed up ourselves, the dogs and Dodge (yes Dodge came too), jumped in the truck and drove the 6 hours to SD. We got in late but we were happy that we were going to be able to get up and see the Pacific Ocean in the morning.

On Saturday morning we found a suitable place to introduce the dogs to ocean water. We chose Mission Bay because we figured the waves would be small and we would be able to see how the dogs like the Pacific. Everything about the experience was perfect. It was cool (bordering on cold for this thin blooded AZ girl), overcast, and not crowded. Rocco is a champion swimmer so we were sure he would love the water. Adriane, however, is a little timid around water so we were unsure if she would like it. But really, what is not to love?!

The animals played tugs and fetch for hours, it was great!

We also got to experience the finer things that are not available in AZ like Pete's Coffee (note the hot coffee, not iced, another vacation treat!!)

The next day, everyone was ready to step up their game and try the ocean.

There were hours and hours of tosses and romps in the waves. We brought out the big guns (aka high class dog toys) for such adventures.

Rocco was in love with the waves. He even learned to body surf!

Adriane, on the other hand, was a little freaked out by the waves. By the end, this was her version of water play:







All in all, it was a wonderful and fun beach trip.

Walking around town, we realized that our pups were dressed in 80's attire. Nothing wrong with a retro look!



Chris and I recharged our batteries and where happy to relax. (google, please create a "fix my hair" button, thanks.)


Everyone is exhausted, we will sleep well tonight.



Oh, you were probably wondering. . . yes, Dodge liked the ocean too!

Sorry to leave all my new blog fans hanging! I was at the ADA meeting in Orlando sweating in the wet heat that is abundant in Florida.

Conferencing is not the same without my usual conference buddies. Missed all you guys!

Our newest addition: Dodge

A couple of weeks ago I found a kitty that we are probably going to end up keeping. I know this sounds like when a 6 year old comes home with a baby kitty and says "can I keep her" but it was not like that. I "found" this kitty trying to cross 4 lanes of rushing traffic with her brother. She looked like trash tumbling across the street, and once I realized that the trash had legs, I was out of my car, stopping traffic, and encouraging her into my arms. I never found her brother, though I did see him make it safely across the street, hopefully he is still safe.

Anyway, I brought the kitty home and Chris and I were keen on making sure she was healthy and safe. We brought her to the vet, got her a clean bill of health, bought her toys, food, and a house at PetSmart. At first we were intent on finding a good home for her figuring with 160+ lbs of dog in the house, there was no way this kitty was ever going to be comfortable. We kept her separate from the dogs and made sure she was safe. She slept a lot the first few days and tried to get comfortable.


As the days went on, it was clear that this kitty did not want to be away from us or the dogs. She cried at night and still missed her mommy very much! In turn, our dogs were curious about her. Our little dog, Adriane, was especially curious. She wanted to smell and lick the kitty so badly she would whine and tremble! We started the introduction by letting the kitty and Adriane peer at each other.


Then I let Adriane sniff the kitty (whom by now we have named Dodge) while I held her. Sniffing turned quickly to licking. . .

Eventually everyone got comfortable enough to let Dodge wander around, or even watch TV while we were in the room (Yes, that is our wee TV in the fire place. Really, do you think we are going to use our fireplace in Arizona, please!).


Adriane has really taken to Dodge. She likes to lick her and today I even witnessed Adriane sharing her ice cube with Dodge. She chewed it into smaller pieces and then pushed the small pieces toward Dodge so she could have a lick.

It is really heart warming to see these two animals actually play together and keep each other company. It is nice to know that in our house, the saying "fighting like cats and dogs" means only this:



Welcome Dodge (unless we find you a really great home!)

Opening Remarks. . . .

"Absence makes the heart grown fonder". . . Bayly

That is what your supposed to say when someone moves away, right? Being away is supposed to make you miss the person more. It is supposed to reveal how much that person has added to your life. It is supposed to make you realize how much you like being around that person. For the most part, absence does do these things. But, it also makes you forget things. You can forget how funny the person is. You can forget the person’s distinctive laugh or even that they are very very punny. You might even forget that they are the world's worst speller.

By popular demand (mostly my friend Amy, but I assure you, she is very popular), I have decided to start this blog to stay more in touch with the people I love. Over the last couple of years, I have enjoyed reading friends and relatives blogs. I love the little glimpses I get into their lives. I love reading funny, scary, exciting events that are described with such care and detail and in such a way that is so distinctly different from recounting the event over the phone. I love how the corresponding pictures can add just the right about of detail that you feel almost like you were there.

I did not start a blog before now because I really did not think that I had that much to say, but really, I always have something to say right?! I cannot promise that I will be a great bloger. And I warn you now; I will probably end up writing mostly about our animals because they bring great joy to our lives. I will try not to harp on the Arizona heat and I will try not to be too boring! I will try to watch the spelling, but if you remember anything about me, you remember I do not even notice the mistakes so how can I fix them! Everything looks spelled right to me! Mostly I look forward to letting you see what our Arizona lives are like and that way, I will not feel so far away.