Smell my finger

So it has been awhile. The school year is in full swing and I am busy.
Too busy it seems to remember that when a male (no matter what age) asks you to smell his finger. DO NOT DO IT!
Here's the senario.
I am sitting on the floor in the classroom tying one of my girls shoes when Evan walks over and sticks his index finger under my nose and says "Miss Jennifer, my finger smells like poopy." (in this please help me get it off kind of voice) Of course I could smell it before he even finished the sentence. I look over at my assistant, who is about to fall out of her chair with laughter, and she tells me he had his hand down his pants, scratching his butt the entire way to me. I grab Evan's hand and low and behold one very brown finger. GAG! AH the fun of teaching preschool!

Tag! I'm it

So here goes, Sarah you dirty scoundrel you tagged me!

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Newman's Own Northern Italian
What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
Potbelly
What is your favorite sit down restaurant?
The Olive Garden
What size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
20% as a rule
What could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Ice cream sandwiches
Name three foods you detest above all others.
Cooked spinach, peas or carrots - but I love them all raw
What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant?
Beef Lo Mein
What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Mushroom, onion and green pepper
What do you like to put on your toast?
butter most of the time
What is your favorite type of gum?
Extra Watermelon
Number of contacts in your cell phone?
50 or so
Number of contacts in your e-mail address book?
about 30
What is your wallpaper on your computer?
hee hee hee - a picture I took of some cows when we were camping in Luray
What is your screensaver on your computer?
nothing
Are there naked pictures saved on your computer?
Jessica as a teeny baby
How many land line phones do you have in your house?
1
How many televisions are in your house?
4, living room, Mom and Dad's room, the bedroom and a travel TV in the closet
What kitchen appliance do you use the most?
The microwave - how bad is that?!
What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most?
country (ouch - the south is really getting to me)
What do you consider to be your best physical attribute?
my eyes
Are you right handed or left handed
left!
Do you like your smile?
yes (mom and dad paid a lot of money for it!)
Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Does Jessica count? OK just a mole then and some blood occasionally
Would you like to?
nope there is a reason God made me this way. Now I would have preferred smaller feet but hey I'm not going to complain. too much.
Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom?
yup
Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
taste. I have iffy smell from the sinus issues, I wear glasses and I am partially deaf in my left ear. Dang I am falling apart!
When was the last time you had a cavity?
mmm...4 years ago?
What is the heaviest item you lift regularly?
Jessica - 36lbs!
Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Yup
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No way Jose!
If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
mmm... no clue
How do you express your artistic side?
I have an artistic side? Probably cake decorating and designing bulletin boards for my classroom
What color do you think you look best in?
pale pink
How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison?
that question will give me nightmares! I will never find out - I am such a goody 2 shoes
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
not by mistake. I ate 3 tiny glass christmas ornaments when I was 2. mmm cruchy...
If we weren't bound by society's conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at?
have you met my relatives? - Heck no!
How often do you go to church?
daily! I work there!
Have you ever saved someone's life?
not that I recall
Has anyone ever saved yours?
Yes
Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?
I could get paid for doing it?!
If the public street was deserted?
Ask my friend Chris why he will forever call me Chicken S*#@. That would be no Alex.
Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
again I could get paid for that? hee hee I crack me up - most likely
Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
EW! NO!
Would you never blog again for $50,000?
Easily done. Hey! Are you implying my blogs are bad?!
Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
Don't anyone would pay to see this naked!
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Nah - I have a bad acid reflux problem as it is - the surgery to repair my stomach way out costs the $1000!
Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000?
no, again are you implying I am hairy?
Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?
ooh, tempting. yah, no who am I kidding.

Cape Cod 2006

"Jessie! Look out for that wave!"
The Spray got a bit strong on the back of the boat on the way
out to see the whales!

An adult whale feeding about 20 yards from the boat.

It was so incredible to see these HUGE whales so close!

My little fish. I swear she spent the entire week in the water.

This picture we fondly call MermaJenn.
What you can't see is that the girls had covered me in seaweed.
It is in my hair, on my glasses, wrapped around my wrist,
I am trying so hard not to shake and squirm! EW!

On one of the final days we all donned bandanas and had ourselves a good
ole pirate battle in the water with the kids. AJ snapped this picture minutes
before the battle ensued.

The whole reason we were there was for Mike's viking funeral.
This is the boat Walt built. I decorated the dragon heads
and that is his name in Viking runes on the side of the boat.
We put a small amount on his ashes on board and lit the boat
on the lake.

Sunset on the lake.

June in a nutshell

This is Jessica's first ride on a train. In early June the Manassas Railway Historical group does a train expo. So we got our tickets and rode from Manassas to Clifton (the next stop up) and back. Jessica loved it. On the way to CLifton she and Dan were riding backwards. And if I didn't hear "Why are we going backwards?" 100 times I am a Monkeys uncle. Then it was "Mommy why are you going backwards?" on the way back. But she was so happy I could have cared less. Turns out it was Dan's first time on a train also. He was considerably less impressed than Jessica but did have fun.

June has been good. School ended May 26th, I had a week off - well technically I spent it cleaning and prepping my classroom for the 2 weeks of summer camp I worked. Camp ended Friday and WooHoo! I am free until Aug 24th!

Mom and Dad are still living with us. Things are not going well for them on the house finding front. Lots of compromise issues all around. In short, their marriage is on again off again based on the way the wind blows. I for one am tired of it. Poop or get off the pot, stop jerking everyone else's emotions along. Even Jessica told them the other day to get over it. And they have never argued in her presence. She can read people that well. God, I love her! Well off for now!

Surviving

So much going on it has been hard to simply check email.
Let's see in the last month I/we...

took a spur of the moment trip to Chincoteague Island where the wild ponies roam

learned that trying to fit Dan, Jessica and myself in a hotel queen bed makes for one well rested child and 2 stiff and sore adults.

Decided it was time to stop wishing I was thinner and saw a wonderful doctor (who is an amazing christian) who put me on a 1000 calorie a day diet.
trusted God that with his help and a apatite surpressant I could do this.
Day 23 and I have lost 21 pounds!!!

Learned that I am severly allergic to Welbutrin. itch itch scratch itch. Not a fun 24 hours nosiree!

Learned that as much as I can't stand the gossip at work, I am going to really be at a loss on Friday when school ends.

And last but not least, you will always make a great new friend just before one of you moves halfway across the country! Arg!

Life in general

So long no post....
Lots going on.
Got a manicure
tinted my eyelashes
had eye lashes retinted because first time washed right off
gave up after second try washed off
go a free pedicure because eye lashes won't tint
turned 34
realized I love my job but hate all the BS that goes with it
realized teachers gossip more than teenagers
decided I will follow my gut no matter where it takes me because it is right 90% of the time
followed my gut to the pediatrician and learned Jessica has strep throat - go gut!
going with my gut on the decision to not buy a car from a dealership
trusting God that when the time comes the transportation issue will be handled
praying that the repairs on the focus will stay at or below estimate of $1600.00
taking deep breaths
listening to Elmo sing, Cat pur and daughter snore
smiling

Jessie's new saying

So I am lying in bed last night trying to get some sleep and Dan and Jessie are arguing about her getting her butt to bed. Jessie not wanting to go to bed gets mad at Dan and informs him."Daddy, I'm gonna row your boat!" Dan asks, "What did you say?" truly not hearing her. Jessie replies "I'm gonna row your boat right into the ocean Dad! Hmph!" and stalks off into her room. God I love her! It took me few minutes of giggles before I could tell Dan what she said. I'm still laughing!

Ahhh...

Jessica and Dan at the St. Patrick's Day Parade

So I came thru surgery with flying colors. Literally the drugs were good. But they have long worn off and the pain is real and so are the nerves that I might not heal well. But that is where I give it to God.

It has been a long, hard, emotional month. It has been 1 month since Mike died today. Watching Jessa go through this has been one of the hardest things I hope I ever have to do. There is nothing I can say or do to heal that constant aching hole in her heart. I can cry with her, laugh with her and hold her when I run out of words. But nothing is worse than seeing your closest friend adjust to being a widow. That hollowness in her eyes that you want to wipe away but are helpless to do anything about. But I can laugh with her when everything seems too absurd for words.

For those who don't know, Mike always said he wanted a Viking funeral. Well he was cremated and we will be having the Viking funeral (minus Dog at his feet) he wanted on the Cape this summer. The humor enters in the fact that we are not only building a small boat to do this with but we are doing it in Chatham where his family has a cottage and also in Mashpee where we spent a week every summer with Jessa's family. So Jessa and I are sitting in her car last night just chatting when all of a sudden she simply states that we will be setting Mike on fire twice. Be it late night, our sick senses of humor, but suddenly nothing was ever funnier. We must have laughed for 10 minutes no stop. Then it became, we probably won't be able to get the boat to light, or do we consider one a test run for the other, or God forbid the boat drifts and we start a brush fire and burn down half of the Cape. You had to be there. But that moment gave me such hope for her. She needed to laugh like that. And for a brief moment the light was back in her eyes. I think I needed it as much as she did.

So life continues, I go back to work on Monday. I also have my first surgery follow up Monday afternoon. Not looking forward to an appointment they tell me to medicate for. OUCH. Jessica is getting there with the potty training. Lots of accidents and God forbid poopy ever go in a potty but in her own way she's getting the hang of it.

Wish me luck...

Having some pretty major sinus surgery tomorrow. They are restructuring all my sinuses and enlarging the drainage tube from the pockets over my eyes to the nostrils. To do this they have to chip out pieces of bone from my eye socket. EW. So I am looking forward to nice black eyes and at least 5 days of Percoset. See ya when the drugs wear off!

We Will Never Forget You

(Mike and Dan at Cape Cod - 2004)

Our good friend Michael Dowd died yesterday morning of a massive coronary. He would have been 31 on May 28th. He leaves behind his wife Jessamyn and 2 daughters (Catherine 9 and Amy 7). We are stunned and numb as we were all together watching movies and hanging out less than 10 hours before it happened. There was no warning, no pains, no discomfort prior to it happening. He was simply walking across the room, fell over and was gone. For those who are reading this please hug your loved ones close and pray for the family.

Mike, we will miss you man.
Jenn

For all who read this please pray for his family.

Stubborn

So this is how you know your child is not going to fall asleep anytime soon.

This picture was taken at 12:45AM on a school night - or should I say school morning. I am actually not asleep. I closed my eyes in frustration. I am actually to one taking the picture with my camera phone so that her father could she what she was up to. There are times I am very jealous that he gets to spend his nights alone on the road.



At one point in my 3 years of parenthood I was actually quite proud that my daughter inherited my stubborn streak. Those days are long gone. It now seems that we go head to head in stubbornness daily. In some ways it is great - I know she will never be a pushover. But I am beginning to think I may have to pay some poor sap to take her off my hands someday. Tell her something she doesn't like and she will inform you that "you are on a big time out!" usually at the top of her lungs in a public place. Like the preschool you are a new teacher at, where she screamed so loudly that teachers came running thinking there had been a serious injury. At least it was after school and there were no parents there.

Mind you as I am typing she walks by me with no shirt, her blue pants (not the ones she was wearing 5 minutes ago) and her new sneakers with no socks. I swear I left her in the living room, less than 10 feet away, wearing pink pants and a matching pink t shirt and socks but no shoes.

No wonder my eyebrow hairs are turning grey.
My mother tells me these will be the times I miss.
I tell her these will be the times I remember when they send me to the looney bin.
It's a good thing I really love her.

New Year in a Nutshell

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Well life has been just a little bit crazy for the last 3 weeks so I am just going to list things off and run.

Dec. 18th - Mom and Dad arrived - yea!

Dec. 23rd - Mom and Dad sold their condo - yea! again - they settle 2/5/06!!!!

Dec. 24th - cut my hair off - went shorter than planned because another inch meant being able to donate it to Locks of Love (something I always wanted to do!)

We had a wonderfully small Christmas. Church Christmas Eve altogether candle light service. Jessie survived and I managed to light my plastic candle cup on fire! (believe it or not they even let me come back!)

Dan gave me a great Christmas present - a membership to Womenfit! I love this place. I kinda helps that they have a 'resident' dog named Cardio who I have become fast friends with. (he's htere when the owner is).

Had a great New Year hanging out. Jessie stayed up til 2 (I still haven't caught up on sleep!)

And low and behold the unbelievable has happened. I have been offer a contract for a teaching position with Manassas Baptist Preschool where I have been subbing all year. I am now Jessica's teacher (and the teacher to all the other 2 year olds too) And they have already asked if I would like to return next year on contract. Which means doing the same thing I have been doing but with full pay!!! I am so proud I could burst! And so busy with little details for the classroom but it is a fun, can't stop smiling busy.

So far I am loving 2006. Mom and Dad leave for Florida this Sat and will be returning in about 3 weeks to live with us for awhile. Dad will be having surgery to remove a disk in his neck when they return. This surgery will hopefully relieve the chronic hand pain he is in. So please pray for him.

Well off and running! Need to get my art project prepped for tomorrow! :)

God Bless!

All together for Christmas

So my sister ruined my child.
We were all out shopping when Kelly wanted a coffee from Starbucks. We go in an order and learned they do kids drinks for a dollar. So we ordered Jessica a hot cocoa with a splash of cold milk to make it cool for her. She loved it!!! Now not only does she want a cocoa everytime she sees a Starbucks but she refuses to drink any other kind of cocoa. My 3 year old drink snob!
I took this picture with my cell phone so it isn't the greatest but it's hysterical. But nothing beats the looks Kelly and I got from strangers thinking we were giving her coffee since they served the cocoa in a coffee cup!

Well it is true. Be careful what you wish for. hehehe. Mom and Dad are coming up from florida for Christmas and I have 3 days to clear a roompacked with boxes and make it comfy for their 3 week stay! But I am so excited. Jessica is in full "I need this for Christmas" mode. She doesn't quite get the whole idea of Santa yet. When I tried to explain to her the whole make a list for Santa idea she simply asked "Why can't you or Daddy tell him?"Not to mention she told her preschool teacher that "Santa has lots of money so he can buy me all the toys". Yah. Gotta love my kid. So I hope she isn't bummed when she doesn't get every toy there is. But since she is getting the Fisher price star station kareoke set that hooks to the TV I think she'll be ok that everything else is little stuff. And if not she'll get over it. She probably will be so excited about Grammy and Pop pop being here she won't play with any of it anyways :)

Well time for more meds. Got another (or possibly the same) sinus infection and I can barely breathe. 1000 mg of Augmentin twice a day for 20 days this time around since the last round of 10 days didn't kick it. So pray for me because God doesn't seem to want to listen to me on the subject. :)

updates

Saw Harry Potter and fell in love again. I love the world they create. Have to admit to screaming like the little girl I wish I was during the maze scene. But again loved the movie, agreed with the PG13 rating as it was a bit mature in bits, and was left wanting another in the end.

Went Black Friday shopping and have to report on these 4 women I saw in Target. They cracked me up and made Jessica shriek with laughter. 4 adult women were dressed as elves (striped stockings, pointy shoes, hats and more) were walking around shopping in the middle of the chaos singing carols at the top of their lungs. Upon closer inspection (as demanded by aforementioned child) I learned they were not sing so very loudly as thought, one woman had a tape player in her "toy bag" that was playing the music. They were hysterical. They all blewJessie kisses and wished her Merry Christmas. Needless to say it made her day.

Finances seem to be getting worse instead of better as I have had to return all but one gift bought in exchange food groceries. But for now we have a roof over our heads and each other so I am counting my blessings.

And I am learning to forgive. I have recently realized that someone I thought cared deeply for me as a friend seems to care less if she leaves me in a lurch. And I have learned to step back and not be there to offer her help for it will not be appreciated. And that no matter how much you trust a friend never get money involved. Hard lesson learned. I will no longer feel guilty for putting myself and my family first.

So Merry Little Christmas since it will be little this year.

Blog, Blog, Blog...

Having one of those days again. No money for the holidays and lots of frustrations to go with it. On a fun note Friday night Jessica and I went to play Bingo at the Elementary school right behind our town house. We went with Kelly & AJ and her girls. Jessica had a blast, she wanted to put stamp dots on every square. All the prizes were kid's toys. We didn't win anything but both AJ's girls won. So it was lots of excitement. Kelly ofcourse stayed until 12:30 AM til I had to put on my PJs and push her out the door.
I think I have the holiday blues. It just sucks knowing M&D are broke and won't leave the condo until it is sold. They told us if we bought them tickets to get here they wouldn't use them. So we won't see them until the condo sells. Mom is in tears missing us and down because she won't be here for Christmas. I am bummed because it means Christmas with Kelly and we all know how that usually goes. (Thanksgiving with Kelly is making my skin crawl with anticipation of a fight). And as we have yet to have a holiday involving my family that didn't end with arguing I am not holding my breath. I just hope there is no blood shed.

sigh.

One Sick Family

So for the first time ever my entire little family are all sick at once. The irony we all have something different. Dan is nauseous and thinks his Vertigo may be back, Jessica has the cha cha's and is just generally cranking and I have the sinus headache from hell. What is up with this? I just really hope we don't all share! Ugh. D is never one to say he is sick and he is willing admitting it so beware - hell may freeze over any moment.
phone's ringing - see ya!

A Murphy's Day

Ever have one of those Murphy's Law days? Yah, today was definitely one of those days. I woke up late, rush to get Jessica and myself dressed, ran to the school thanking God I was only helping to clean the store room instead of teaching today because I had taken the liberty of wearing an old T shirt, we make it just in time. All is going well until Jessica sees me in the hallway. Normally this event is met by "Hey Mom" and we go our own ways. Today she breaks into tears and sobs she wants to go home. I pick her up and she is burning up. Lovely. Everyone around feels her head and says yes she must have a fever. Murphy takes effect and needless to say both the thermometers the preschool has are out of batteries. And it figures that I had just came up the steps are tearing everything and I mean everything out of the storeroom. So Jessie and I go down and pile it all back in and go home. She takes a nap and wakes up like none of this ever happens.
But on a good note I got to see the new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Which was creepy but good, it followed the book a little closer (except the end) but it was really creepy.
Ahh well.....

The Unbeatable Headache

So I woke up at 3 AM this morning with a killer headache behind my eyes. I believe it hurt so bad it woke me up. I took some tylenol and went back to bed. I woke up again at 7:30, got Jessica and myself ready for school and off we went, headache in tow. All day long I babied this headache - fed it caffiene, removed my glasses, rubbed my face. We came home, I treated my headache and my self to a nice Ceasar salad, took a nap and still the pain persisted. I crawled out of bed, walked to the Elementary school, picked up my god daughters Catherine and Amy, and the headache came with. I ran errands with friends and children and tried not to claw my eyes out. Took some Excedrin and moaned on.
We came home and discovered I married a superhero. Dan had not only woken up early and cooked dinner but he included some sort of magic drug in the dinner he called protein. It seems protein has the ability to disolved killer headaches.
And to think I thought he was just smelly, scruffy husband. In truth he is Super Danny killer of all thing painful.
I knew I loved him for a reason other than his big hairy feet!

Happy Halloween

Well, my first blog! Some of my friends would say about time. But hey, it takes me a while to get on the bandwagon sometimes.
So it was Jessica's first real trick or treat adventure. She made out like a bandit. Where has the time gone? Last year she rode on her daddy's shoulders and went to 2 houses and declared she was done. This year she didn't want to stop but she couldn't carry anymore. And as far as I was concerned if she couldn't carry it it was way too much! No 3 year old should have her own body weight in candy. Well I am off, Aunt Kelly has to leave and there is a minor meltdown to put out!
Happy Halloween!