Monday, July 31, 2006
So far, so good
My new hair cut has shaved off over 10 minutes of "getting ready" time in the mornings. Whoo hoo! Maybe I can get up at quarter to 6 instead of 5:30...mmmmm, 15 minutes extra sleep......well, I take that back now. I have to blow dry later...I'm guessing this is going to even itself out. I'll let you know. :)
posted by Jen @ 6:13 AM   0 comments
Saturday, July 29, 2006
The deed is done!
I'm now the proud owner of short hair with purple streaks. :) If I may say so, I look fabulous. Not in that Billy Crystal "Yooou looook FABulous" sort of way, but in a "hey...cool!" sort of way. But I digress. I still do the reach-back-and-gather-up-the-ponytail thing from time to time, just out of habit...but take into consideration and I habitually try to push up my glasses-whether or not I'm wearing them. Go figure. Edward took a picture with his cell phone before I left, but I was horrified at the size of my forehead...to which he replied, "Well, I can't help how big your forehead is." Heh! I'll post a pic once I can line up my exclusive photog again. :)

Now I have to go buy a brush and remember how to use a blow dryer successfully. Those of you smartasses in attendance that have already thought of witty quips regarding my lack of a brush...I've been using a wide-tooth comb, thanks very much. So there! Regardless, I get to go shopping. :) It's been a good birthday!
posted by Jen @ 12:43 PM   0 comments
Thursday, July 27, 2006
My early-to-mid life crisis
So I turned 31 yesterday...whoo hoo! Frankly, I never really expected to be alive at this age...not that I was some wild-n-crazy teen or something. I just never thought about what it would be like as a "thirty-something". I spent the day at Camp, running around, sweating like a pig, and screaming and yelling at my kids out on the driver's ed range. It turns out that two of my students were also born on the 26th, and so we wished each other "happy birthday" all day long. One of them said, "I'm 15 now, Mrs. Smith! How old are you?" Shoo...well, twice your age, and then some. They all guessed between 23 and 28...though I'm willing to bet that they were hoping that a little brown-nosing might get them out of the sun a little sooner.

Anyway, back to my crisis. A month or two ago, some of my long-haired friends lopped off their hair and gave it to Locks of Love, and have been pressuring me ever since to do the same. I've resisted, and hadn't really entertained the idea until this week...yes, the first day of Camp. Those of you that don't know, it's hot as the surface of the SUN out there on the asphalt. My band practice uniform consists of the following:
  • tank top (to minimize the band tan on my chest and arms)
  • shorts
  • low-cut socks
  • running shoes
  • my Florida Trail hat
  • my hair pulled through the back of the hat and wrapped into a bun
I decided at some point in the nastiness of standing out there that I was tired of the bun, and tired of taking the bun down to find handfulls of hair broken and falling out. My hair obviously wants to be short-that's why it's breaking, right? So, I decided that the hair had to go. I talked it over with the guys (one of which is a girl...and my sister, but there's no better way to word that...sorry Val!) at work and we decided unanimously that it was a good plan, and even found a style to try out. Hair is a democratic process here. :)

So THEN I decided that if I'm going to get my hair cut short, I ought to put some color in it-not all-over color, but some streaks or chunks or whatever it's called. I really wanted purple...not like THIS purple, but something more like THIS purple. I don't want people 3 blocks away to go, "Wow, her hair is purple!" I'm going for something more subtle...sort of a "Wait, did that woman have purple in her hair?"

Then there's the matter of my birthday piercing. All the piercings I've gotten recently were done on or around my birthday. This year, I decided I want to get another one in the cartilage of my left ear, only a smaller gauge (bigger jewelry). Nothing freakish or alarming. I had a very, VERY weird dream about getting my nose pierced a few weeks ago (I think I told some of you about that) and have actually been entertaining the thought...my only concern is that I'll never get a "real" teaching job with a pierced nose. Eh, really, it doesn't matter to me. I'm probably just going to go with the ear. I dunno.

Anyway, so there's the hair cut, the color, and the piercing...multiply all that by the fact that I've lost over 50 pounds and have almost a completely new wardrobe...I told TX Jen that all I need now is a trophy husband and a convertible sportscar and I'll be living the classic American mid-life crisis. Tally Jen and I were talking about how we don't necessarily want to go back to being 17...however, if we could pick and choose we'd take the body from high school, the brain and experience from NOW...then mix in a perfect credit rating, perfect GPA, the requisite trophy husband with a big wallet, soft heart, and to quote her: "rock hard abs". :) Great Jens think alike!

Anyway, that's the story of my birthday gifts to myself this year. As for my other gifts, I got a DVD/VCR for the bedroom, an ENORMOUS bird feeder, and a new lightweight sleeping bag to take camping, and a gift card to REI to get MORE camping stuff. Woo hoo! Barb got me an Eeyore bag stuffed with $1 bills. There's still the family party on Sunday, so there's still more to come. Heh. ANYWAY...

All in all it's been a very interesting year. This year promises to be no different...onward and upward, and see y'all on the other side of the hill. :)
posted by Jen @ 8:23 PM   1 comments
Monday, July 24, 2006
I'm SUCH a nerd...
One of my favorite TV shows on now is Ghost Hunters on SciFi. In all honesty, it's one of the ONLY shows I watch on SciFi. Jen and I will hunker down (when a new show is on, or a repeat of a particularly spooky one) and watch the show and then sleep with the light on that night. Heh...good times. ANYWAY. As 3/4 of the known world probably knows, MySpace was down last night. I logged in today and had a new comment. I nearly choked on my Diet Coke when I saw who it was from...Paula fromGhost Hunters! Like, ohmygod! Heh...no, I didn't geek out that much, but it was a close call. I showed Jen, of course, and then wracked my brains trying to think of ANYONE else that watches the show so I could tell them, and could only think of my sister. I called Val at work...she is still anti-myspace (she's a stronger woman than I) so she was impressed...sort of. ...sigh...
posted by Jen @ 7:44 PM   2 comments
Sunday, July 23, 2006
What do you think?
I dunno...this layout is ok, but I had another one in mind. I could just design my own...but that's a lot of time, trouble, and heartache I can avoid by just using someone else's work. :) What do y'all think?
posted by Jen @ 8:18 PM   4 comments
More thoughts on bad coffee
There is nothing in this world like bad coffee. I can think of no other food and only one other beverage (booze!) that people will continue to consume even when they know it tastes foul. I mean, this is the only coffee we have in the house. There is NO...OTHER...COFFEE. Those of you saying, "Well, Jennifer, why didn't you go buy better coffee during the day after your bad experience yesterday?" just need to be quiet....I forgot. ...sigh... Anyway, back to bad coffee. You have a pot of bad coffee, and you will drink at least one cup. At least that's how it is in my house and at work. You know it tatstes bad, but you have to drink it anyway. You MUST. You wince in anticipation, and then GAH! There it is! Bad coffee! You swallow it anyway. Then you pick up the cup again. The only thing worse than bad coffee is COLD bad coffee. (shudder) I've already finished my one cup of bad coffee today. I think I'm going to go get a Diet Coke.
posted by Jen @ 10:44 AM   2 comments
Saturday, July 22, 2006
It's times like these...
...that make me wish I knew my neighbors better. I realized (after I started a pot of coffee) that we're out of creamer...AND milk. This wouldn't normally be an issue, except that we've gone through every bean and ground of the GOOD coffee and are down to the cheap stuff. Ick! It needs help, people! LOTS of help. Right now all it has is Splenda, and while I give many, MANY props to Splenda, it's definitely not enough.

As for the neighbors, I know them pretty well, but not well enough to show up on their doorstep in my PJs asking for coffee creamer. We took care of each other after Ivan, sharing extra ice, gas line tips, food, and water...I just find creamer (or maybe it's the PJs?) to be some invisible line that is not to be crossed without consequence. ...sigh... This coffee sucks.
posted by Jen @ 9:23 AM   2 comments
Friday, July 21, 2006
Catch-up
I don't count that goofy quiz as a real post, so here's one to catch everyone up. We finished house-sitting with no further mishap. Barb and Vic came home to a bird and cat still living, a pool not green, empty, or destroyed, and all the mail and newspapers stacked neatly on the dining room table. The only casualty was the waterfall and pond...which was not entirely my fault. Honest! There's a leak in the line leading from the pump to the top of the waterfall...I could tell you exactly where the leak was, thanks to the lush, green grass growing there. (I said something to Cam about how lush the grass was, and he pointed it out later to Billy as "luscious grass"...hee!) I just had no idea how to GET there, much less patch it up. I just left the pump off the last two days, and made sure to let Barb know about it.

Barb brought Cam a stuffed moose and some "river rocks" that are actually candy-coated chocolate. They look for the world like real river rocks. Very cute. They picked up a box of chopsticks from Chinatown for everyone else, and I got a pair of gold dangly earrings. They're little gold totem poles with silver wings sticking out the sides, and there's a little round green (looks like jade, but I suck at stones about as much as I suck at plants, so take that with a grain of salt) stone at the top. They're very cute, and look deceptively like a little decorative cross upon first glance. Heh. That just makes them all the more endearing to me.

Band is trucking along. We taught music camp this past week, and we got a LOT done. The kids can play the first two numbers relatively well, and can make it through the last number. Well, mostly. BUT, that's all three numbers under their belt-that's well ahead of last year. We even...(GASP!)...played some STANDS music during music camp! It was amazing! They're being pushed hard, but they're doing a great job of rising to the challenge. It's hot as hell's bells out there, too. Starting Monday we'll be out on the driver's ed range (really, it should be the band range-I'm pretty sure that if the math were done the results would show that we have more students using it for more time than the Driver's Ed kids) learning the show. Twenty bucks says that we spend the first few hours reminding everyone how to march...but that's ok. The first day of all these camps have been rough...no reason this one will be different.

The woman at the counter at Cam's day care asked me today about the band...she's an ex-band geek herself. She may see about switching one of the school-age field trips from the park to the school to watch the band. I'm going to run that past Pete and see what he says...I dunno what we'd do to entertain them for more than a few minutes, really. Run through the show, play some stands tunes...uuuhhh...maybe they can march a little with my kids? I dunno. At the end of the show we do for the parents the last night of camp Pete has the parents line up behind their kids and march the show with them...that is prime, PRIME comedy, folks. Quite possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen live and in person. I dunno...some of those spots are really hard to maneuver. We'll have to see.

I'm thrilled beyond measure that it's Friday, though. My low brass section leader has called 4 times since I left the school, and the director has called 3 times. I'm about ready to turn off the phone. It's been quiet the past 45 minutes or so, so things should be ok from now on. I don't really have plans for the weekend (though once I compare notes with the rest of the household I may have to revise that...) so I'm thinking maybe I'll sleep in as late as humanly possible, and then maybe some swimming out at Barb's. Beyond that, we'll just see what happens. Sometimes it's good not to have a plan. :)
posted by Jen @ 6:06 PM   1 comments
Thursday, July 20, 2006
5 things

Maevyn, you ho! ...sigh... Here goes another one...and let me just say right off the bat, NO TAG BACKS!!

5 things always in my purse:
1. Wallet
2. Inhaler (there's actually a funny story there I'll try to share sometime)
3. PDA (unless it's in my hands!)
4. Case for my glasses
5. Purple pen

5 things always in my wallet:
1. License
2. Various other ID detritus
3. Pics of my kiddo.
4. Checkbook
5. Receipts for debit card charges waiting to be entered on my puter.

5 things always in my refrigerator:
1. Ketchup. (heh...)
2. Fat-free (taste-free) turkey dogs
3. Coffee creamer (again, fat-free)
4. Bell peppers (heh, fat-free?)
5. Pickles (yeah, I won't go there again)

5 things always in my closet (we have an armoire...of sorts):
1. My clothes
2. TJ's clothes (we share)
3. A Playboy collection (to keep Cam out of them until he's at least 13)
4. TJ's old Star Wars toys (on top of the armoire)
5. Empty hangers (a big pet peeve, but they're ALWAYS in there)

5 things always in my car:
1. Me
2. CDs
3. Garbage bag
4. My hiking stick
5. Various band-related debris

5 things always on my desk:
(I don't have a desk at home-my laptop lives on the kitchen table or on my nightstand...I'll do this about my desk at school.)
1. At least 20 pounds of other people's papers.
2. My "Binder of Everything"
3. A page of stuff the kids want me to bring from the store the following day.
4. My calendar/calculator/name thingy I got at the Banquet 2 years ago.
5. 3 staplers. For real...3.

5 people to tag:
1. Kas
2. Dawn 2
3. Cassi
4. Jen Geer
5. TX Jen

posted by Jen @ 5:53 PM   1 comments
Monday, July 17, 2006
Aw, thanks Maevyn!
I just got my first birthday card in the mail, and it's from an old, dear friend of mine. Well, SHE'S not old, but the two of us (heh, 3 if you count TJ...LOL!) go way back. :) I recall us meeting in 6th grade English class, but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that. That was back in the day of the LSD scare on the body stickers/temporary tattoos, Garbage Pail Kids, and going across the street to the skating rink for P.E. at the end of every semester. Sigh...those were the days, eh? We both had deliciously dirty minds, and it would appear that, some 15 years later, neither of us have outgrown that particular little trait. You pervert! I did find the card to be particularly appropriate-I don't drink much now that I'm dieting, but the next time I do drink, I'll raise a margarita for you. I made a pitcher (or three?) of my cousin's margaritas for her when she was in town a few years ago...knocked us all on our asses, but by GOD we had a great time! :) Thanks, m'dear! You're next!!
posted by Jen @ 7:02 PM   7 comments
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Halloween party update...
OK, so now we're thinking about having the Halloween party on Oct. 14th...how does THAT date float your boats? Let me know!
posted by Jen @ 8:41 AM   0 comments
Saturday, July 15, 2006
One problem solved...
...but how many more have I created?

Barb and I have said for YEARS now that we have just got to get Cam into swim lessons. He's always had a very healthy respect for water-probably from the day he forgot to put on his vest and hopped in the pool. Thank GOD I was standing right by the ladder-I didn't even have time to freak out-I just reached down and pulled him up, spluttering and looking very surprised. Anyway, he's been...concerned about putting his head under water for the longest time. Baths have been a joy-he HATED to get his head wet. Until recently.

I think it started with the day trip to Calloway with D2's boys. The 3 of them played for hours in the water, and they started a game to see who could lean over with their faces in the water and hold his breath the longest. I was shocked to see Cam do it...peer pressure is a powerful, powerful thing. Then we went camping, and he spent the better part of 3 1/2 days in the river. Then there was his birthday party and the 4th of July party where he spent most of his time in the pool. He played with a slew of kids the other day at Cassi's, and there was more pool action...this one was waist-deep, so it wasn't threatening, apparently. He dunked himself completely.

Today we got in the pool (he wears a life-jacket in Barb's pool) and he realized that he can touch the bottom with his tippy-toes while he looks up, keeping his lips and nose out of the water. I asked if he wanted to try to swim without the life-jacket...that was the beginning of the end. He dropped that life-jacket like it was plague-ridden. The next hour was spent about like this: me standing in various positions about 6 feet away from the ladder, catching him as he doggy-paddles madly toward me, then being used as a launch pad for him to doggy paddle back. I had to DRAG him out of the pool. He has GOT to be exhausted-I know I'm worn out and I was just catching!

I impressed upon him that he is NOT to get in the pool without his life-jacket unless there is someone in the pool devoting 100% of their attention to him. He likes to run out and get in the pool before anyone else...I told him that the first time he gets in without the life-jacket will be the last time he gets in for a very, very long time. There were a couple times he headed out toward me that I wasn't paying attention-there was a HUGE water bug swimming around and I was headed for the scoop to get it out-he goes, "Lemme see!" and heads out into the middle of the pool! Hello?! He quickly realized that was a very bad idea, but I had caught up to him before anything traumatic could happen.

So now I realize that while he's not AFRAID of the water anymore, I have at least two new problems. One, he's not afraid of the water anymore. Yeah...I enjoy irony as much as the next gal, but this is a little much. My superpower, for those of you that don't already know, is to be able to visualize the worst-case-scenario for pretty much any situation... so I've come up with at least a dozen different ways he could reach his watery demise. In fact, last night I dreamed I was parasailing (wtf?!) and he FELL OFF THE BOAT... I found that prophetic dream more than a little disturbing BEFORE he became Capt. Nemo...imagine how it feels now? The second problem, is that as a result of my parental paranoia, I have to watch him C O N S T A N T L Y. The little water bug incident set a light bulb off, and feeding off my watery grave fear, I've dismissed any further thoughts of floating around the pool lazily, checking to make sure he's not sneaking up on me to push me off my float.

He asked me if he could sleep in his swim trunks tonight. He's afraid we'll FORGET to swim tomorrow. Fat chance of that, buddy. I expect him to ask to go out before he finishes his breakfast in the morning. Which I figure will occur early, as he fell asleep watching Chicken Little. While I'm predicting the future, let me also say that I'll have another patch of gray hair by this time next week. This parenting thing just does not get any easier.
posted by Jen @ 10:03 PM   2 comments
Thursday, July 13, 2006
SQUEE!!
Those of you on the Mommy list, please ignore the following post. Just a little more patting myself on the back. :)
******************************************************************
As of my last Weight Watcher's meeting on Monday, I've lost 57 pounds since the end of December. Woot! That's exciting, I have to admit. I've been wearing the same shorts since it was warm enough to wear shorts...there are a few reasons behind this. One, I'm afraid (completely irrational fear, much along the lines of my CLOWN issues, thanks Dawn) that buying shorts that fit NOW will slow any FUTURE weight loss; two, I'm lazy; and three, I'm broke. Anyway, same shorts. They've been getting bigger and bigger on me, though, so I've noticed a difference. Yesterday I wore the baggiest pair (they were the only clean ones I had)...they're Old Navy shorts, size 20. VERY baggy-they're jean shorts, and I can take them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. In fact, I clipped my cell phone to them yesterday morning and they very nearly removed themselves without any further assistance from ME.

Anyway, I got home and was trying on some shirts that Val gave me (that were too small before, thanks very much) and now they fit. I got up the balls to try on some shorts, and THEY fit, too. The tag is missing, so I don't know what size they are. I was feeling pretty good about myself...I passed up a dress that was a size 12 (my exact thoughts were, "Uh huh....pfft!") and eyeballed a skirt...it's Old Navy, but is a size 14. Hmm...what the hell. I tried it on...and the damn thing FIT!

I ran out in the living room wearing this blue/khaki plaid skirt and a purple tank top, squealing the whole way. TJ laughed at me, and Cam goes, "Mom, that does NOT match." Thanks, son. They both completely missed the point, however, and I was still giddy for the rest of the day. It was a thoroughly shit-tastic day, too, so it came at a GREAT time. I still have to share though. :) Yay me!
posted by Jen @ 8:12 PM   2 comments
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Day 2
Well, I haven't burned anything down or set off the alarm again, so things are looking up. I vacuumed the pool today with very little fanfare or distress, and then floated around the newly-clean pool soaking up some sun. Cam's wearing out on me, though. He's ready to go home already. I'm going to talk to TJ and see if he can keep up with him at the house and get him off to day care in the mornings...if so, I'm going to just let him stay at the house. He'll get bored there, too, and will want to come back out within a few days. Especially since TJ's next step in the latest home-improvement cycle has spread to painting the house. He'll be busy. We're starting another camp next week at school, so I'll be tied up for a couple hours each day. I've gotten lazy the last few weeks only having to go to one job. :) Gonna go...gotta get up early in the morning.
posted by Jen @ 9:10 PM   0 comments
Saturday, July 08, 2006
House-sitting, day 1
Barb is on her cruise ship now, happily tucked away and about to embark upon another Alaskan cruise. Cam and I are inhabiting her house now, feeding the cat and the bird, and trying not to burn anything down. We spent the night last night and then had a relatively calm day...it rained in the wee hours this morning, so the pool was nice and cool. We swam just before lunch, and then again a few hours later. We just sort of putzed around the rest of the day, waiting for his birthday dinner...which was yummy! Chinese!

The point of this post? We get back from dinner, I unlock the door, the alarm starts the warning beeps. As usual. I go to the panel in the bedroom, as usual, and start plugging in the code. Again, as usual. Suddenly all hell breaks loose-the alarm goes off, Cam freaks out and runs out the door. The alarm is BLARING out there, it's blaring in the house, and NOTHING is working to shut it off! Oh crap! I finally got the damn thing to shut up, and grab the cordless phone to wait for the alarm company to call. I radio'd TJ to let him know that something is screwy, and as I'm telling him that I didn't do anything unusual, Cam goes, "Yeah, and I put the code in too-it didn't work!" ...the hell?! THAT is why it didn't work-there were two people at two panels trying to disarm it-no WONDER it blew up in my face!!

It's been about 15 minutes...the alarm company hasn't called, and the cops haven't shown up so I'm thinking we're clear. I did hear sirens earlier and wigged out...ugh. I'm not cut out for this stuff...I could never do breaking and entering. I can't even get in a house legitimately without setting off an alarm. ...sigh...this is only the first day!
posted by Jen @ 7:09 PM   1 comments
Happy Birthday, Cam!
My son has officially made it to age 7! Happy Birthday, hon, we love you!
posted by Jen @ 7:08 PM   1 comments
One party down...
...one more to go!

The 4th of July part was great-we had lots of fun and saw folks that we haven't seen for ages...then there were the folks we'd camped with the weekend before. LOL! Anyway, we had a great time...I don't have my camera right now so I can't post any pics (heh, I hear a collective "Thank GOD" from some of you) right now.

Kas and I were tossing around themes for the Halloween party this year...we haven't done the be-all, end-all decision yet, so I'm not telling what's in the works. I ought to try to make it a surprise...but we all know how good I am at keeping secrets. Heh. I wouldn't make it a month. As for dates, we're considering the first weekend in November-the month of October fills up really, REALLY fast. Any comments?
posted by Jen @ 3:41 PM   2 comments
Monday, July 03, 2006
That was great fun!!
We had an awesome time out in the woods this weekend! We got out Thursday a lot later than I'd originally planned, but I was able to tie up both mine and Cam's hammocks by myself, thank you very much. He promptly fell asleep and missed dinner. Go figure. The next day Kas and I were up at the butt crack of dawn, as is usual for both of us on the first whole day camping. We had nearly 4 hours of shade on our beach, and a nice breeze as we had breakfast. Here's a view of our beach from the campsite:















Dawn and the boys arrived sometime between breakfast and lunch (time is weird in the woods and not easy to pin down) and the boys proceeded to play a game about "meat-eating beavers" that left us adults in stitches the entire weekend. "What was that sound? Ah, must have been the meat-eating beavers." Ahh...simple things for simple minds.

Here's a shot of my hippy kid in the river:


Dawn and Kenny arrived that afternoon and the child head count grew to 5. The noise? It grew exponentially. :) But that's ok-they all had a blast. Dawn and Dawn set up on one side of the river, while Kas and I were on the other side...so quite literally there was a Dawn camp and a Jen camp. We laughed to think where Cassi would have camped, had she been able to attend. She's an honorary Jen AND and honorary Dawn, so that would put her in the river somewhere. Hee!

Jenz, John and the girls came out for the day Saturday, and then Splash and her crew rolled up....we had quite a group out there in the boonies. At the busiest time, there were at least 9 or 10 kids in the river, and probably 15 adults. Don't quote me on that, though. It was hot and nobody stayed in one place for long.

Dawn and I were worried about it being too hot...it turns out that yes, it did get friggin HOT out there, but when you're sitting IN the river in the shade? Turns out it doesn't matter! The nights were very comfortable, and the only thing we missed out on was a fire. I'd rather not have a fire than get a big, expensive ticket and/or burn down the woods, though, so I'm ok with that. Here's a shot of the kids from Saturday night...just before Brigit fell asleep, and Seth, Jared, and Mikey started asking to go back to their tents to go to bed. LOL!


All in all, a very good time was had by all. I'm sore as all get out, and am willing to bet neither of the Dawns are up for another camping trip any time soon. :) But that's ok-we had a blast. Meat-eating beavers, fireless evenings, boiled hot dogs, and all.
posted by Jen @ 9:23 PM   2 comments
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