Predictions for 2010; a Review of Last Year's Predictions As Well

Jen’s Amazing Predictions for 2010 (Twenty-ten)

Chaz Bono will become a father. Somehow.

Jamie Lynn Spears will get pregnant by a different baby daddy this year.

The penny will begin to phase out of existence. In a weird twist of fate, penny loafers will become stylish again, but with something else in the loafer.

Lindsey Lohan will get married.

Khloe and Lamar will separate, to no one’s surprise.

An actor will be “outed” and everyone will be shocked. Scandalous pictures may be involved here.

Another actor or actress will out himself/herself and no one will be shocked in the least.

Osama Bin Laden will be captured. He will not be amused.

I'm sensing double tornadoes will take out an area near Memphis.

Saturn (the planet) will cause trouble.

Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton will collaborate on something.

A famous comedian with curly hair will bite the dust. It will be sad.

A book concerning a butterfly, a vacuum, and a dog will become famous.

Mudslides will abound.

A red head will entertain us, then anger us.

Jay Leno will finally retire cuz nobody watches him anymore and he knows it.

Steve-O will die.

Eminem will die. (Chris)*He says this every year.
Rhianna will die. (Chris)
Dave Matthews will die. (Chris)


Last year's prediction. Let's review...

PREDICTIONS FOR 2009* Chris made a few himself, the rest are mine:

1. Pamela Lee and Tommy Lee will get back together. (Chris.)
WRONG


2. Something amazing will be located on Mars.
RIGHT!

3. Chris will become the biggest and baddest slumlord in the universe. (Chris)
Um...?
4. Betty White, Queen Elizabeth, and a famous young TV actress with brown hair will pass away.
Wrong on BW, QE, but right with Brittany Murphy
5. Gary Busey will be committed. (Chris)
Wrong
6. There will be a Facebook stalking/murder plot discovered or pulled off.
Right.
7. Brad will leave Angelina and will get back with Jennifer Aniston.
Wrong.
8. A trusted father-figure in the entertainment industry will betray us all!
Tiger Woods. Duh. He entertained us with golf.
9. OJ will confess to previous murders, but it won't matter because of double jeopardy.
wrong.
10. A very religious Republican senator or house member will be caught in a major sex scandal! He will be unattractive and old.
True. Sanford.
11. Miley Cyrus will begin dating a much much older man, much to Billy Ray's chagrin.
Right.
12. Oprah will offend most of her loyal viewers with statements she will make in March.
Well, she said she was leaving TV, so that offended many.
13. Joran Vandersloot will go missing.
No, unfortunately.
14. My oldest son will once again expose himself in some fashion at a school event.
No!
15. No travel on a plane for us next year.
Right!
16. I see a few concerts in our future.
Wrong!
17. Max will win some kind of marathon but will endure an injury.
1/2 right.  No marathon but endured a knee injury.
18. Jake will eat more bread. (Jake's prediction)
No.
19. Jen will develop an interest in an odd hobby, akin to bird watching, but not quite that old ladyish.
couponing...
20. An important letter will arrive in your mailbox on Monday.
Nope.

Made me think of Chris and how he enjoys cooking

"'If you are careful,' Garp wrote, 'if you use good ingredients, and you don't take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good. Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day; what you make to eat. With writing, I find, you can have all the right ingredients, give plenty of time and care, and still get nothing. Also true of love. Cooking, therefore, can keep a person who tries hard sane.'"
John Irving from The World According to Garp

"George Michael Died."

I'm upstairs with Mike, my father-in-law. We're shooting the breeze in the kitchen.
Chris yells up, "Hey Jen, George Michael died."
"What??? Oh no! What's up with all these celebrities dying?"
"Who died?" Mike asked, soaping up a dish in the sink.
"George Michael. The singer."
"Don't guess I know him."
"The 'I Want Your...' um, the 'Father Figure' Wham guy."
"Hm."
So I come downstairs and open up the laptop.  "Where did you see this news?"
"On TV." Chris answers.
I type in TMZ and it's not on there. Chris is looking over my shoulder. "That's strange. Normally TMZ is all over this stuff.  Google him."
I'm starting to get suspicious.
I google him and find this.
"Asshole."
I'm so relieved that he's not dead.  And this surprises me. In honor of his life not extinguished...

Jentrospective 2009

The only real New Year's resolutions I have is to read more REAL books (I hate you, Kindle---can't wait til it's proven that you suck) and update this thing more.  Okay, I also need to lose weight and get the house in order, but I'm sure that will happen without me working on that, right? Hmm...yeah.

Right now, my husband is putting Lego Star Wars ships together on the couch, in the middle of a Christmas toy explosion.  Luke is driving him crazy staring at him and his progress.

I am sick; some kind of sinus thing? I don't know, but my voice is going out too.  I'm glad Christmas is over. I'm glad 2009 is over. 2009 sucked bigtime.  Since I didn't blog as much in 2009, I have a limited amount of crap I can link back to, but I'll try.

January 09:
Tanner had a great time with us on New Year's Eve.
Hope passed away.
Frank went up against the Swivel Sweeper.
Found out Emily Dickinson was an atheist!

February 09:
Dr. B told me I have asthma, but I think he's wrong.
Spotted a hot air balloon over my school.
We spent Valentine's Day in a cemetery in New Orleans.
In related news, I enjoyed teaching eulogies to my speech students.
Visited with Oedipus (with pics!) and Mom's bday.
Luke got his yellow belt in karate.

March 09:
It snowed!
I visited Samford U for the first time because of debate stuff.
We went to the McWane Center with Keith, Lindy, and Mercy.
The treehouse/playhouse project gets started...:)
Sylvia Plath's son killed himself. :(
I got real down.
I got pulled over by the Po Po.

April 09:
We got a first look at Luke's kindergarten.
Twitterature discovered.
Spent Easter in Decatur.

May 09:
I stood before a judge.
I was very impressed at my new high school's graduation ceremony.
I went a week without internet and it was painful.

June 09:
Luke graduated from preschool.
Luke freaked out at VBS and Frank almost killed the kid I'm tutoring.
Had a berry mystery on my hands...
We adopted Beagle Bailey.
We loved the ice cream man.
We slipped into a shark's mouth.
We fell in love with Star Wars Legos Playstation 2 game...and started chasing after our new dog.
There was a mystery on Manchester Avenue.

July 09:
I pulled wallpaper and thought about stuff.
I painted stuff and started recycling.
We went to the beach.
We went to a MaxDad concert!

August 09:
Some stuff happened...that can't be named.
Chris didn't listen to his wise wife about the Cash for Clunkers deal...;)

September 09:
I got an ambulance ride cuz I thought I was having a heart attack.

October 09:
Luke lost his first tooth.
It was a Star Wars Halloween.

November 09:
I went through a Billy Joel sad song phase.
A cat got in our house and it wasn't ours.

December 09:
The kitchen and bathroom got redone.
Oedipus the cat died.
And we are just keepin' on keepin' on....

Predictions for 2010 coming soon.

Just wanted to post a pic of Frank. He about killed the painters who came over the other night. Proved to me that we are in good hands if someone ever came in this house uninvited.

Goodbye Oed

July 08 032
Originally uploaded by lukesmom

I'll miss you.

Options

We had the kitchen and the bathroom painted last night/tonight...we also had our new fridge switched out...we pointed out the buttons on the fridge to Luke.
Chris: And that's the water button. W-A-T-E-R...you press that for water. You can get your own water now! That's the ICE button...
Luke: Which one is the chocolate milk button?

Wouldn't it be awesome if there was one?

No Clever Title

So my sister-in-law Meggan blogged again so I guess I should too. :) Although my post will probably not be as inspiring as hers...heh.

********

I want to know which one of you is DVRing weird things to my DVR? I am looking through here and for some reason it recorded: Jackie Chan stuff, Sunrise Over Tiananmen, something called Radio Arvilla, Book TV, Telenovela, Tiempo Deportivo, and 4 episodes of USDA News: Avian Influenza Training. DELETE.... Have any of you ever had this problem? Weird things showing up on your DVR?

*******

Jake is pounding on his wall upstairs. He's in time out for kicking Bailey and then for stomping on my foot when I swatted his butt for it. "WE DON'T HIT!" :)

*******

My haul this year (presents from students): 2 Christmas mugs, 1 small loaf of homemade bread, 1 book (Chicken Soup for the Working Mom's Soul), 1 bag of cider mix, 2 bags of homemade candy...



More later. I need to think more on this...by the way, check this out---I have to brag, my predictions for 2009 were very very close....

Gettin' Merry Like Christmas.

Today was productive. I've been cleaning out and organizing closets and realizing that I don't have to "display" every single thing I have and like to look at. You know, at some point, you don't even really SEE your favorite things anymore, it just becomes part of the clutter. So in a box they go, up into the attic to be rediscovered again some other day.

I also realized how much storage space we have up in the ole attic and I figured out a trick to make opening the attic door easier...long boring story, but maybe it will mean a cleaner, more organized house when you come visit.

You will come visit, right?

We are watching A Dog Named Christmas and we are joking way too much. Luke keeps kissing me and bouncing around the room saying, "This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!!!!"

Jake has a haircut. He looks like Richard Heene, Science Detective.

Happy birthday to my sister. She's fifty. Just kidding--she's 39!

Hope

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Monday Hope would have been 37. I think of her every day.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Papaw's Watch

I was hanging clothes in my closet when I overheard Chris showing Luke his grandfather's watch, telling him about how he worked on the railroad and how he used to be married to Nanny...how he was Mimi's daddy.... Luke asked where Papaw was and Chris told him in heaven, that he died.
Luke asked, "Why do people die? Will you die?"
Chris said that we would all die, that we will all meet again in heaven.
"So we'll live again?" My baby asked.
"Yes."
My little man, asking the big questions. I love my boys.

Awaiting The Turkey--Mishmash o' Thoughts

Ever get the feeling no matter what you do, you're screwed?
That's how it's been lately. I won't go into details, but life ain't been "no crystal stair" lately, to quoth Langston Hughes. HOWEVER, I do want to say that I know how very blessed I am. I have my husband and my boys and my parents and many other wonderful things and things will be fine in the long run....
**********
Luke went on his first school fieldtrip this past week. It was to the same farm we went to to get our pumpkins in October. I was happy for him--he was so excited to ride a bus.
Some chick, age about 5, called his name and hugged him a long time when I picked him up the other day. He swung his sweater over his shoulder and was like, "Okay, see ya." (All cool and stuff.) Is this happening already? Seriously?
*********
Jake has found a new love for Barney because his daycare shows it, apparently. He is still all about cars and balls. What man isn't, really? :)
********
Luke is still obsessed with Star Wars and Legos. Spiderman is ancient history, which is soooo strange to us...
********
Chris is still super skinny and I am not.
********
Still loving my job more and more each day, really bonding with some coworkers.
Love debate so much more this year. That's a post in itself some day soon.
What else....
I'm stagnant---will come up with more later.

There's a Cat in the House!

When the neighbor's cat (named Fruitloop---the one that beats Reggie's butt every so often) somehow got into our home...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sleepy Head

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm in a Billy Joel Phase

Good night my angel time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you've been asking me
I think you know what I've been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Where ever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away
Good night my angel now it's time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark and deep
Inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me (Musical Bridge)Do do do do...
Goodnight my angel now it's time to dream
And dream how wondeful your life will be
Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die that's how you and I will be

Life, Death, and Michael Jackson

Tonight, after giving Luke a bath, I was towelling him off when we had this weird conversation.

"Mom, you know you could choke, right?"
"Yep. You have to chew your food slowly."
"If you choke, you could die. Like Michael Jackson."
"That's right, but he didn't choke."
"He sang his voice out, huh. Where does Michael Jackson live?"
"Well, honey, he doesn't live anywhere anymore except in Heaven."
"Wow! With Jesus?"
"Yes."
"Where is his house with the pretty bushes and the fair in his backyard?"
"That's in California."
"I'm sad."
"Huh?"
"I'm sad Michael Jackson died because now I can't see him except on the 'puter. And I want to see his backyard fair."
"Well, one day you might can..."
"I know! We can use that little 'puter in Dad's car to get us there....it's a long way, so I'll bring lots of toys to play with..."

Tooth & Books

So many things! So little time!
Let's see...Last night, while brushing his teeth (with his Wall-E toothbrush and Spiderman toothpaste) Luke said, "Mom, my tooth hurts."
He pointed to a tooth on the bottom front. I touched it and it...wiggled.
Freaked me completely out!
For one, who hasn't had dreams (really, nightmares) about your teeth falling out of your head? Second, it's weird that this tooth that I've been having him brush every day is now saying toodles.
Third, it's a sign that he's growing up.
Sigh.
Luke was so excited when I confirmed that he was obviously going to have a visit from the tooth fairy soon. He's been a little jealous of his cousin Mercy's teeth coming out, so...
I remember losing teeth around five and how weird it was---how food came out of your mouth in crazy ways and the feeling of putting your tongue in the sockets. I remember how I lost one tooth in an apple and another one in a hot dog while I was watching Welcome Back Kotter.
*******
Jake is putting lots of words together and is proving to be quite a character. Tonight he's wearing a black shirt, cords, and some Doc Marten looking shoes. Very emo. He likes sitting in my lap looking at books with me. His favorite is a book called Baby's First Words and his favorite spread is one with a car and a boat.
He's very frightened of big trucks like the trash man's truck or the truck that brings bark to the preschool's playground. He just hides behind people's legs. He's not scared of much else. He pushes Luke around, literally. Sometimes he'll just walk up to him and beat him around the face and neck. :) Bless Luke's heart. He's been good about not throwin' a whippin' on Jake himself; he makes sure I know every detail of the abuse. Jakers loves football. When we pass by THS in the late afternoon and the football players are out there, he hollers, "Fooball!!!!"
He even likes watching the AU games with us in the manroom. Luke could care less. He's up in his room trying to get to the next level on his Star Wars Lego thingy on the Playstation 2.
Speaking of Luker Buker, he read his first word. Zoo. I was reading Put Me in the Zoo (the one about the bear with all the crazy dots) to him the other night and he said, "Mom, is that 'ZOO'?" I was so proud. He's been "eh" about books for a while now, but since he started kindergarten, his interest has gone way up. You can imagine how thrilled I am.

"Know why I'm giving you so many kisses? I want you to feel my heart."---Luke

I'm like his secretary as he dictates it to me...

Luke's Santa letter as of today:
Dear Santa Claus, Hi Santa. I want two speeders from Star Wars. And I want those Star Wars tractors that the Storm Troopers ride in and I want a big pack of Storm Troopers. I want a big pack of them so they can ride in tractors. And I want, maybe I want Pawn Solo in that Stormtrooper suit and Luke Skywalker in that Stormtrooper suit. That’s all I want. Oh yeah, I want a big pack of Legos so I can build them. Maybe I want…maybe…maybe I can get some Football Lego guys for Daddy. I want Indiana Jones Lego guys too. And I want some Spiderman Lego guys and Hulk Lego guys…and I want the big circle thing that the bad guys live in, that spaceship, that Darth lives in. And I want more balls, bouncy balls, balls to roll for my Star Wars game. More balls in a pack. And I want R2D2 and C3PO. I want those big robots in the snow level on my game. And I want six Lego guys for Jake. And I want Jake to have Spongebob Legos. Bring a pretty shirt for Mama and I want Mama to have a pretty necklace too. I want Daddy to have those football packs where those football team guys throw the football in that world of people. I want new squeaky toys for the dogs. Love, Luke

Potty Talk

So Mercy and Luke were playing in Luke's room last night. I was hanging out talking to them.
Luke picked up the DVD for Shrek.
Luke: Mercy, you want to watch Shrek?
Mercy: No, I don't like Shrek.
Luke: Cuz he's the color of poop?
Me: Luke...poop is not green.
Luke: Mine is...sometimes.
Me: Luke, we don't talk about our poop in front of our guests.
Luke: (After a pause...) I wasn't in front of Mercy. I was beside her.

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.
Jean Cocteau

Ghost Bikes

I had never heard of this until today. I've never seen any around here. That's probably because most Alabamians don't exercise. :) HAHAHAH

I Ask You

What scene would I want to be enveloped in
more than this one,
an ordinary night at the kitchen table,
floral wallpaper pressing in,
white cabinets full of glass,
the telephone silent,
a pen tilted back in my hand?

It gives me time to think
about all that is going on outside--
leaves gathering in corners,
lichen greening the high grey rocks,
while over the dunes the world sails on,
huge, ocean-going, history bubbling in its wake.

But beyond this table
there is nothing that I need,
not even a job that would allow me to row to work,
or a coffee-colored Aston Martin DB4
with cracked green leather seats.

No, it's all here,
the clear ovals of a glass of water,
a small crate of oranges, a book on Stalin,
not to mention the odd snarling fish
in a frame on the wall,
and the way these three candles--
each a different height--
are singing in perfect harmony.

So forgive me
if I lower my head now and listen
to the short bass candle as he takes a solo
while my heart
thrums under my shirt--
frog at the edge of a pond--
and my thoughts fly off to a province
made of one enormous sky
and about a million empty branches.

Billy Collins

Heartburn

I'm noticing a trend....I post every Saturday. That's the only time I have time!
Monday I had the worst heartburn I ever had before. It started when I was driving Luke to school. I thought, "Well, I'll get a cold drink when I get to school...and this feeling will go away."
It didn't. I was sitting there in the early morning faculty meeting and it kept getting worse. Squeezing my chest. I thought, "Oh my God, I'm having a heartattack. I'm 36. I am a former smoker. I have a lot on my figurative plate (and sometimes literal plate)." I started freaking out. I quickly left the meeting and found the nurse. She was concerned, said my blood pressure was sky high. She called the paramedics. They freaked me out more. They called an ambulance.
I got wheeled out of school after the tardy bell and I was a little embarrassed and a lot scared.
At the hospital I had lots of tests run and I was okay. Seems this is a common issue.

Shoparoo Shopareeno

You won't believe this. I actually got to go out and go shopping today. Well, shopping is a bit misleading...window shopping...and touching/fondling of the merchandise. Mom and Dad came up and while Dad worked on the playhouse project some more (windows were added today and the third wall!) Mom and I headed to Belks, Booksamillion, and a recently opened antique/consignment place that was huge.

Seriously---how awesome is a bookstore? Especially bookstores with a coffee smell? I feel right at home there. I brew coffee behind my desk at school and the kids always say it smells like a bookstore when they come in my room. I like that.

I had fun looking at the jewelry (chunky necklaces, earrings, and bracelets) and the purses at Belks. Thought about the scarf thing---it's so cute but I'm probably too old to pull that off huh? You know, the "casual toss around the neck" thing? That's a young gal thing, isn't it?
Mom suprised me with a new wallet---it's that new kind that looks like an old time pocketbook! I lurve it. Vicki, if you want that cherry wallet, it's yours! :)

I discovered a perfume I like. I was disappointed who it was by. I like Paris Hilton's "Can Can" perfume. Seriously delicious. I'm sure she worked long and hard at perfecting the concoction.

Jake's got a bit of a cough and runny nose. Uh oh.

Luke's obsession with Star Wars and Lego Star Wars on Playstation 2 is getting insane. I'm tired of hearing about "moving up a level." Instead of saying "Use the force, mom!" when we are playing, he says simply, "Force it, Mom. Force it."

Off to grade a zillion more essays. I'm tired of reading about irony in Poe's story. Pout.

Your mom,
Who is Forcing It,
Jen

Poo Poo Platter o' Thoughts

This is awkward. Hi. Been gone a bit.

Guys, I'm a busy lady. Add that to the fact that I've gotten too aware of my "readers" and it kind of freaks me out. ;)

War Eagle.

Mishmash of thoughts....um, debate class is no more---now just an after school, twice a week thing. Good kids...all really into it. No more lesson plans or grading for debate is a Godsend.
Speaking of Godsend...my old school laptop died and with it, all my stuff on it---PowerPoint quizzes, etc. Been sad about having to redo a lot of stuff, but then...the dude who is the county computer guy is also (oddly enough) one of the counselors at the after school thing that Luke attends. So this guy, I'll call him Mike, tells me he has all my stuff---he had saved it once when he worked on my laptop. I was so thankful.

Yay.

Luke is having fun in kindergarten land. He has a "seatsack" where he keeps his library books and such. I think that's cool. I love watching him walk in the building every morning...although it makes me a bit weepy at times too.
Speaking of morning walk in...I'm afraid I embarrassed him the other day: I call this "Bye buddy!"

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We Have Your Dog.

So it's 4:30 pm and I'm leaving school, turn on my phone and notice I have a message.
I check it.
Little boy voice: "Hi, I'm ))))))(((( and I live on))))))) Lane. We have your dog. Call us back."
I call the number. "Hi, you have my dog?"
Little boy: "Oh....no. Not anymore. He left."
I want to say, "He's a she..." but thought it was a moot point.

I continue to drive to pick up the boys and I call Chris.
Me: "Hey babe, you home?"
C: "Yeah, just got home."
Me: "Bailey's not there."
C: "Huh?"
Me: "Bailey's out. Some little boy called me and said he had Bailey and that he, I mean she, got out again."
C: "Well that's weird, cuz I'm petting Bailey right now."
Me: "Huh? Okay..."
C: "Maybe she time travelled!"

I checked the call. It came at 6:30 last night, when Chris was grilling out on the porch. We figured out that she got out and came back without our even noticing. :)

Awesome

Laser Portraits!

Summer Mix '09

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Little Late is Better Than Never!

Jake's Birthday (just the four cutest moments).

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Luke in Kindergarten

Finally, I have a chance to sit down and write about Luke's first two days in kindergarten. He seems okay with it. Like, "oh, so this what we do now." I have become clued in to the whole cluster********** of the carpool drop off/pick up thing. What. A. Mess. I hate it. I'm glad he will start the afterschool program next week and I don't have to be part of THAT in the afternoon.
Like I said earlier, he has a male teacher who is relatively young and seems to have a lot of energy. There are 19 kids in Luke's classroom and one of them is a little boy from Luke's preschool, so Luke was happy about that.

When I dropped Luke off the first day, we weren't allowed to walk in with him, so I watched him get out of the car and "walk the yellow line" and enter the front door, teachers flanking the area and pointing him in the right direction. I teared up, I couldn't help it. I suddenly thought of the day he was born and how tiny he was. Bless him. Protect him, I thought.

I had to get to school myself, so once the car pool lane finally MOVED, I got to get to my school.

The main things he said about his first two days of school:
"I didn't get to play with toys."
"I'm tired."
"I think I'm sick." (Followed by a fake cough cough.)

Here in My Car

When the boys and I drove past a former car dealership on our way to Jake's preschool, Luke noticed that the lot was empty. During the spring we always talked about the cars out there and Luke had decided that the blue truck was our car. "Cuz this one is dirty," he explained.
"Well," I had told him, "We can just clean this car instead of getting another one."
"No, I think we need to get a new one."
Anyway, this car lot is now a ghost town. "Oh no! Someone took all the cars!"
It made me think about the economy...then it made me think of the whole Clunkers for Cash program and what I had told Chris the previous evening.
"Look! My Montero qualifies! We can get $4500 for it!"
Unimpressed, Chris says, "So then we have 4500 dollars and no car. What then?"
"No...you put it towards a NEW car!" I excitedly told him.
"So then we have a car payment..."
"Oh. Yeah. Never mind."

I just didn't want to miss out on something big and the car deal thingy seemed big. :) Oh well!

No, You're Welket.

Jake's favorite word is "No."
This morning as I changed his diaper. "Jake, you ready for your first day back at preschool?"
Sour face: "No."
"Want to see your friends?"
"No."
When I dropped him off, it was weird, because normally I dropped both the boys off there. There was only one kid's number to enter, only one room to go to. Strange! Jake moved up to a "bigger kid" room and he stared at everyone, kind of stunned. The ladies all thought he had grown a lot of hair over the summer. I was glad he had some familiar teachers. He didn't cry when I left him and when I came back to get him he was dancing with some "friends" to a song about a fire truck. Good times.
******
Instead of saying "You're welcome" Jake says, "You're welket."
******
First day back at work and lots of meetings. Good vibes. Good people. Love it. Kids come back to school on Thursday. My 9th graders are the class of 2013. Coincidentally, this is my 13th year teaching. OOOHHHH.
Speaking of school, I found out who Luke's kindergarten teacher is and he's a man, baby! I'm okay with that, and I'm glad it's not a prissy lady. :) He's also an Auburn fan! Yeah!

Back to Jake...
Just put him to bed. Asked him, "You have a good day today, baby?"
"No."

Tapping my head with my hand, jumbled stuff falling out of my ear

I really do have a lot to say, but I don't know if any of it will make much sense. I was walking up the killer hill yesterday, sweating bullets,listening to the sounds of the neighborhood, the jingle of Bailey's chain, and smelling the fresh cut lawns around me and I feel as if I'm changing. Like something is happening. Good or bad, I don't know. But something is on the horizon--hopefully good, positive stuff.

I'm tired of negative people. I'm tired of users.

My tooth hurts like hell. I guess it's more of a fake tooth--the temporary crown that Dr. Singer (cuz he sings love songs/rock song lyrics as he works)is rubbing against my tongue and it has inflamed it. Makes me think constantly of Hope and feel awful for even comparing a tongue abrasion for the hell she went through. I can't bring myself to delete her name from my cell phone.

I finally got myself a visit to the dentist. I picked him for three reasons: I liked his name (not Singer, duh) cuz it was weird, his office was very close to my house, and they could take me right away. I went because of a pain I was feeling on that side of my mouth--right where I had the root canal and crown last year. This time it was its friend next to it. Luckily no root canal is needed. They just temp crowned it and I'm waiting for the call to get the "deal sealed." I'm curious to see if the dental tech and the dentist will sing the hits for me again. Very odd experience. He even wiped a tear from my face.(!)

I gotta get better at updating this site and to refrain from telling every single thing on Facebook. And I do believe you know what I mean--some people thought we were totally wrong for laughing at it(the INCIDENT THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED)and maybe they are right. But we are allowed a misstep every now and then, right? I believe so. We are good people but we aren't perfect.

I guess I'm ready for school. I feel so much more ahead of the game this year--I know what kind of kids to expect. Last year was a culture shock to me.

I feel like my writing is very generic. I feel like I'm scared to put stuff out there now.
I feel boring.

At the restaurant in Hayden, AL, where Chris, his parents, the kids, and I ate at today, there was a handwritten sign on the door. It said: "Please do not block the ambulance in with your car."

This left me with many thoughts. Many questions.

Having writer's block. Forgive?

Goodbye Summer

Goodbye Summer. It was awesome. Let's talk about my favorite summer moments.
1. The Shark Slide
2. Orange Beach
3. 16 and Pregnant
4. More to Love
5. Dating in the Dark
6. The Treehouse/Playhouse Project
7. Tearing down the wallpaper in the bathroom.
8. The new drapes in the living room.
9. Beagle Bailey
10. The Race Car Birthday and the Pirate Birthday
11. Actually reading 3 books this summer and starting on a fourth.
12. Not having to move and create 3 new lessonplans for 3 new subjects to teach
13. The Ice Cream Truck!

Sincerely?

This is a timely article on how to close emails these days. I thought it was interesting because I have a hard time closing out emails to the parents of the kids I teach. I always think "sincerely" sounds cold and "nose in the air".

I'm heading out like a baby's head.

Revolutionary Road

Since we were already down, we decided to go ahead and watch Revolutionary Road, a Netflix pick that has been hanging around for a couple of weeks. A few thoughts (and I will try not to spoil anything--we can discuss in the comments if you want): 1) The kids barely made appearances! 2) I loved their coffee cups and kitchen table way too much---so much that I went upstairs during a break and brewed some coffee and used one of my weddin' cups that was wide like Kate's, err, April Wheeler's. 3)Why didn't Frank and April just take a vacation to Paris? I mean, it appears she needed a break...4)I thought the ending was perfect with the old man turning his ear piece down. He and his crazy son were the sanest ones. If you saw it, let's talk. It's stuck in my mind and Chris's mind big time. Hard to shake. Here's an article about the book and the movie.

I need some comments, people. I be depressed....:(

Luke Calls This His Cantroid.

I've been saving this and that as the summer progressed and wanted to build a "robot" or something with the kids, being inspired by Filth Wizardry. Now it doesn't come close to anything she and her kids can do, but we had fun messing with it. I hope to do more of this stuff. Can you pick out what items we used for what?

Frank. No, Not that Frank.

I never realized Frank Lloyd Wright had such a tragic life---goodness---read this, especially the Mamah part. I stumbled upon this while I looked at Amazon book lists and found this.

Facebook-centric

Funniest Fake Facebook Pages

Facebook Effect on High School Reunions



Farmville--watch out.

Watch out, or you will lose your morals.

The Facebook Effect

Jake at Target

RIP Alexis

Y'all hear that this girl died? She got hit by a car. Geez!!

Friday Night Date!

Chris and I had the luck to be able to go see Max's dad (on the left) perform in his band at a local coffee joint. Mom and Dad were in town for Jake's birthday so it worked out perfectly. Can't say enough how much I enjoyed this. Felt like the old me. Told Chris it felt like we were teens out on a date, as we drove through the leafy two lane roads to our destination, blaring The Cure. (My music choice, not his!) Ha.

Jake is TWO!

Today, Friday, June 24th, my baby boy turns two! Let's celebrate Jakers, shall we? Some memorable posts about him:
He says "hi, I'm in here!"
Jake makes me sicker than Sick Sickerson.
Jake the size of a bean.
Chris has a vision.
We find out the sex.
We see him in 4D.
I got depressed.
Contemplated my last week of Luke being the only child.
Chris posts a "he's here!" post.
Jake's birth story


And with that, I must get Jake--he just woke up from a nap. :) Happy Day, sweetheart!

Luke's Latest Words of Wisdom & One From Chris

I handed him an Entertainment Weekly to look through on the trip down to the beach.
He looked at the front which featured Michael Jackson.
"Mom, you can have this back. It has Michael Jackson on it. I'm okay that he died."
(Well, alrrrrighty.)
However, at odd times he'll go, "Mom, I wish Michael Jackson didn't get dead." (Usually while he's stroking my hair or my arm, like he's buttering me up...as if I'm all broken up about MJ's death.)
****************
To random women from the condo balcony:
"HEY WOMAN! I see you!!!!!"
***************
"Dad, can you plllllllllllllllleeeeeeease put some clothes on Jake? I'm tired of looking at his penis."
(Jake was airing out his rashy butt.)
**************
"Jen," Chris said, after seeing that the phone was no longer connected to the wall. "I want you to make sure that, very soon, you get us some phones in this house from this decade. Okay?" :)

Beachy Keen

Overheard on beach:

Man: Where are the kids?
Woman: With the babysitter.
Man: Oh, with Jugs?

Happy Anniversary to Us!

On Sunday, July 19, we'll celebrate six years of wedded bliss! :) (Seven years bein' together!) I love you Chris! You keep things reallllll interestin'!

Productivity----now with pics!

Okay, so far this summer I've been pretty productive. I painted Luke's headboard and foot board (?) like I've wanted to do for years. Lack of time/energy kept me from doing it earlier. I think it looks a million times better.


I also painted the bookcase that has housed the kids' books. Since they only climb on it and are close to breaking it, I repainted it and I'm hauling it to my classroom, where I REALLY need it. I don't like the teeny bookcase I have there. My books are overflowing...the black paint is chalkboard paint.

























The kids' table got a makeover as well. I also painted it with chalkboard paint for added fun. :)



I've taken down the wallpaper in the bathroom. Now...what color to paint it?

******
I have read one book and I'm almost done with 2 others. I'm hoping to get those other two finished at the beach this weekend, but we'll see how relaxing that turns out to be...:)
******
I finally got to the DMV to take care of some...issues...
*****
Was a responsible adult and got myself to the lady doc...
*****
Started separating my garbage today so I can recycle (Hope would be proud) even if I'm not sure it really makes a difference...

Blah, I'm not motivated enough to finish this post.
In fact, I'm not motivated enough to even put the before and after pics of my painting either...more later. Sorry I have totally neglected this site. I'm sure you are all in mourning. Bah.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Listen

Can you believe I've never heard this song before today? So beautiful. I love the Counting Crows.

Happy belated birthday to two of my favorite people----Max and Tanner.

Y'all are loved. No matter what ridiculous picture of you I post online.

Wallpaper Pulling

Funny what you think about when you are doing something mundane like painting a bookcase, a headboard, and tearing wallpaper off a bathroom wall. It was good to let my mind wander and just think about life and people. People I miss, people I don't trust, people I want to talk to, people I never want to talk to again, people who have let me down, people who always rise to the occasion, people I want to see, blah blah...

Thought about Hope. Thought a lot about Hope.

Thought about the book I'm currently reading---Mitch Albom's For One More Day. Here's a description from Amazon.com:
This is the story of Charley, a child of divorce who is always forced to choose between his mother and his father. He grows into a man and starts a family of his own. But one fateful weekend, he leaves his mother to secretly be with his father - and she dies while he is gone. This haunts him for years. It unravels his own young family. It leads him to depression and drunkenness. One night, he decides to take his life. But somewhere between this world and the next, he encounters his mother again, in their hometown, and gets to spend one last day with her - the day he missed and always wished he'd had. He asks the questions many of us yearn to ask, the questions we never ask while our parents are alive. By the end of this magical day, Charley discovers how little he really knew about his mother, the secret of how her love saved their family, and how deeply he wants the second chance to save his own.

If cats could talk, they wouldn't. ~Nan Porter