What are you jabbering about?

Yeah....I know

2009-08-01T17:12:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted on here much. There have been lots of happy things that I could have told you about (Bella's birthday, evening out at Grand Rapids Art Festival, a week of relaxing vacation)....but I just never got around to it. Then there has been some bad stuff. We nearly lost Diego a couple weeks ago. He was hospitalized for 6 days and was finally diagnosed with a bacterial infection. Unfortunately there has been some severe damage to his leg from the swelling and bacteria. We now have a wound that covers his entire lower leg that needs to heal. This means that we have spent enough money on his hospitalization and bandage changes to put 2.5 kids through braces. Lucky for us we don't have 2.5 kids. Soooo, besides saving up pop cans ($.10 deposit return in Michigan!) we have entered this contest to see if we can raise some money. Please consider voting and tell everyone you know about it. This contest goes through October but has weekly winners. Please vote using the button below.

Vote For Diego....he has vet bills to pay for!

2009-08-01T17:11:00.000-04:00

Happy (belated) birthday Diego!!

2009-05-02T22:27:00.004-04:00

So my big boy turned three last week (April 23rd)!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. He and Bella have changed our lives so drastically that I can't imagine not having them!

I baked pupcakes and we had a little celebration...Happy birthday puppy!!

So I wrote....

2009-05-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

For the first time since December 16, 2007 I opened my dissertation file. I was at a writing retreat for three days with a group of faculty working on articles, books, or even for a couple their own dissertations. I feel good about opening the file and making necessary revisions and making some headway into the last couple sections. However after three days of writing I remembered why I hated it so much and quit the first time. I will be taking Wednesdays out of the office for the rest of the summer to continue my writing, but no more three day stints like this!!!

well....until August when I'm signed up for another retreat...FIVE days of writing!! Hopefully by that time I will be finishing up the proposal and moving on to the next phase. (Keep your fingers crossed!!)

My new ride!

2009-03-21T22:57:00.006-04:00

While I'm out here...I'll go ahead and post an update. I FINALLY got my new car! I've been looking at new vehicles since last August as my lease was going to expire this summer. I started exploring the ones I was interested in and shopping around. I decided in October that I wanted to get a Ford Flex but the deals were really not happening. I was finally able to work out a deal at the end of February and ta da....a new car! LOVE IT!!!

I'm back..sort of....and I've been tagged

2009-03-21T22:38:00.005-04:00

So, I got back from Florida and jumped right into the busiest time of my academic year. Our university registers for the entire academic year in three weeks. Good news it's finite and will be over soon. Bad news 1800 students think they can only see you in this three weeks of the year. Ok, that's not true but a whole lot of students do wait until the last minute which makes this time so hectic. Probably won't see much of me until April.

However, I've been tagged so I felt obligated to post. Maria tagged me to play the Fourth Picture Game where you go to the fourth file in your picture folder. Then choose the fourth picture and post it on your blog.

Here ya go....ends up being a folder of pictures that I keep on my ipod of our "family". I keep most of my pics off the laptop and on a portable drive so this was funny it ended up being this picture.
The "kids" and I on the dock on Drummond Island (Upper Peninsula, MI) Summer 2007 during our summer vacation.

I'll tag Leslie and Selena

Can you get pneumonia from this...?

2009-02-20T19:15:00.004-05:00

Friday morning Brad and I decided to get up early and hit the beach before anyone else to see what we could find in the way of shells. We agreed that I would get up at 6am and call him. I woke up at 5:45am and stepped on the balcony. It was so COLD that I jumped back under the covers and decided we were nuts to be doing this. The news said it was 48 degrees out! Next thing I know Brad calls and says I'm up, dressed, and in the lobby...get down here! So I did and we went out. We were the ONLY ones on the beach besides the beach rake guy. It was SOOOOO COOOLD that I can't even describe it. I couldn't feel my feet or legs and the wind made it hard to breathe. It was also VERY dark at that time of the morning so I'm sure we walked over some good stuff. We walked down to my shell ledge that I found on Thursday to find it covered in sand. By this time the sky had lightened and we started heading back. We found quite a few large cockels which were nice. I picked up a couple sand dollars and a "pink plaid" one. I don't remember what they are called but they are one of my favorites. We made it back to the hotel at 7:15am and the hotel staff looked at us like we were crazies. We kept asking ourselves...do you think you can get pneumonia from doing this?

Sessions let out at noon and I grabbed my book and headed to the pool. It was just too windy to sit on the beach. I found a nice secluded sunny spot and wrapped up in my pool towel like a blanket. I read for a while and then fell asleep and took a much needed nap.

When I awoke it was low tide again so I decided to brave the wind one more time. This time everything I picked up were the "pink plaid" ones and a few sand dollars. I couldn't believe how many plaids there were. It must be due to the wind but there were also 10 pretty big moon jellies washed up on the shore just in the stretch that I walked. That seems like a really high number! Here's a picture of my entire day's haul:

I grabbed dinner at an italian restaurant down the street and then on the walk back found a store called "The Serious Cookie". That sounded intriguing so I went inside to find these monster baked goods. I selected the chocolate chip. See the highlighter for size comparison, it's HUGE!

Then back to the hotel to watch the sunset from my balcony. Now I'm in my jammies and in bed and it's not even 7:30. I think I'll do that work I needed to do last night and a little bit more reading.

Tomorrow is the big beach day...I can't wait!!!

Thursday in Clearwater

2009-02-20T07:08:00.000-05:00

Today was very windy and cold...relative to Florida. It was in the 50's in the morning and 60s during the day. About 12:30 it poured down rain which wasn't cool because that is my lunch break chance to make a run to the beach. By the time we got out of sessions the rain had stopped and the sun returned...along with horrendous wind from the northwest. It was low tide so I went to see what I could find on the beach. I found an excellent little shell ledge where there were quite a few things washing up. I'm pretty particular about what I pick up as I used to live in Florida and worked on the beach so I have plenty of shells for shell sake...now I just pick up the stuff I really like. I stood there in the water waiting for things to wash in for a good hour. Then I realized I couldn't feel my legs they were so cold so I headed back to the hotel. I decided I would order chinese and stay in this evening to work on what I'm learning at the conference as there is never time once I return to the office. I had just finished eating when a colleague (Brad) rang up and told me that I HAD to get to the little bar across the street and have a drink with him and his friend from the other side of the state. That turned into 3 hours of chatting and laughing and no work got done! Maybe tomorrow....

Another day in paradise

2009-02-19T06:20:00.000-05:00

I ordered room service Wednesday morning and sat on my balcony to enjoy the view...and the constant whirring of 28 air conditioning condensers below me.

Spent the morning in sessions inside the hotel. I'm a bit frustrated by the pace of the sessions, but I'll see what tomorrow brings. At lunch I snuck away for an hour on the beach. The sky threatened rain but it never came.

I sat at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on the patio to watch the sunset. A colleague from the conference joined me for dinner and beverages. We then traveled down the street to another place that seemed a bit more "local" to listen to some music. Apparently this guy is a vet during the day and plays at this place once week.

Then back to the hotel to get my homework done for tomorrow's sessions.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T07:47:00.000-05:00

This is why I still cut the plastic rings that come into our house even though I live 1200 miles from Florida. I saw this too many times in my work at the marine lab. My family thinks I'm nuts...here's some proof!

ahhhh....the sun!

2009-02-17T22:24:00.003-05:00

Left Grand Rapids this morning with an expectation of nasty snow storms tomorrow and Thursday. Won't miss that at all!

Arrived in Detroit airport with 15 minutes between connections. This was my first time inside DET but I didn't have time to check it out. However right beside my departure gate was this little place to eat...thought it was kinda funny to find that my dog has a restaurant and he doesn't even cook me dinner!

landed in Tampa to 74 degrees and full sun! The drive out to Clearwater Beach was interesting...these are tough economic times...lots of businesses closed.

Within an hour of getting to the hotel I was barefoot in the sand with a book in one hand and a daquiri in the other. Ahh the life! Took a walk down the beach until I couldn't see my hotel anymore. Found a couple shells but not much. Need to get a tide table to check for best shelling times. However I did come across a jellyfish washed up.

Then I walked back and went out to the end of the pier. It cost $.50 to get past the gate about half way out. Seemed kind of silly! It was pretty windy and chilly as the sun went down.

When I walked back, there was a street performer who blew up a balloon half way and then snorted it up his nose and pulled it out his mouth. Talk about wrong on so many levels!

I watched the sunset near the pier with my toes buried in the sand. Goodness I miss that feeling!

I ordered in some Thai food (I like to try it in every town I visit) and retired early since I have a lot of work starting tomorrow through Friday!

Florida in T minus One Day

2009-02-15T21:37:00.005-05:00

Yep, I'm ready to head out of the Michigan winter. We had 50 degree spring last week and then 6 inches of snow this week. I can never decide if I hate the arctic part of winter or the teasing part of spring more. So, I'm heading out to Clearwater Beach Florida for a conference. So I will have to do work as it's not a typical skip some sessions kind of conference but more of a working institute. I'll have homework and meetings, etc. However I have built in an extra day and half for some beach time (don't tell my husband) and I'll have some evenings. It will be weird to be back there. I used to live an hour or so south of there. The weather will be in the upper 60s and lower 70s and sunny at this point. Keep your fingers crossed that it holds!

Happy (Belated) Gotcha Day

2009-02-15T21:32:00.002-05:00

It was two years ago that I announced the arrival of our boy....Diego! He has changed our life in so many ways! I love ya buddy!!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-04T21:49:00.002-05:00

This about sums up my life lately....exhausted during the day and up thinking about all the stuff I have to do all night! Two more weeks until Florida!

It was 137 today!!!

2009-01-30T17:43:00.004-05:00

What is the significance of this number? you ask. Lottery numbers? my weight? nope...none of the above. This is the number that came back today on my cat Sebastian's blood glucose. We have been battling his diabetes diagnosis and finding the right kind and amount of insulin for over 4 months now. After nearly weekly visits to the vet for blood tests and trying two different kinds of insulin, it seems we have finally found the right mix. Over the past few months his numbers have been as high as nearly 500 and as low as 170 (normal is 70-159)...but today, he was 137!!! He has been much more active over the past month including playing with his toy, being more vocal, and engaging the dogs in a little fist fight when he gets a chance. I can't even express how happy I am that he seems to be on the upswing. Please keep my "baby" in your thoughts.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

Drum Major Instinct

2009-01-22T12:51:00.004-05:00

This week has flown by in an instant...but what a historic time to be experiencing! Monday was a celebration of what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King's 80th birthday this year. To have Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States just a day after this celebration is beyond my belief. I don't want to get all preachy but it's just really been a wonderful time to be in education and around students the past three days. Students that do not grasp the enormity of what they are witnessing.

My favorite of Dr. King's speeches and sermons is one that's called the "Drum Major Instinct". It's not as well known as "I have a dream" or "Letters from Birmingham Jail"...but it has a message that is just as important today as it did 40-plus years ago. It's about the idea that we all want to be out front and lead the parade, like a drum major. We want praise and attention. We want the nice car and the big house, regardless of whether we can afford it. We get so caught up in these desires that we end up pushing others down. Instead of giving into this instinct and letting it wreak havoc we must instead recognize that those who are greatest among us are our "servants". In that is a lesson that we can all be great, if we all would serve.

This fits in with President Obama's inaugral address where he says "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

Here's a wordle that I created using the text from the sermon. I show this in my class as we read this as an essay to discuss our role in society and the role of education. It's a fun creative way to capture the ideas. I think it's fitting to post it today.

You can read the "Drum Major Instinct" here and listen to audio excerpts. There's also a neat flash intro on the King Center website

We must be a part of the solution...otherwise we're a part of the problem.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T07:03:00.000-05:00

Brrrrrrrrr........Arctic Freeze in Michigan

2009-01-15T07:52:00.000-05:00

Allendale, MI
Tue 7°F
Wed 14° | 0°
Thu 9° | 2°
Fri 11° | 9°
Sat 20° | 13°

oooooweeee look a heatwave is coming on Saturday!! Yep pretty cold here. The wind chill factors are putting our "feels like" temperatures at waaaaaay below zero.

I've decided there are two kind of Michigan residents or as we say "ganders" (as in "Michiganders"). There are those that LOVE Michigan 12 months a year and everything there is to do such as swimming and warm weather activities during those months and then hunting, skiing, snow mobiling,etc in the winter months.

Then there are people like me....we spend 8 months of the year forgetting that winter happens (enjoying the temperate weather and different seasons) and then 4 months complaining about winter when it gets here.

only a few more months....

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-14T07:01:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-07T06:59:00.000-05:00

Go Bucks...Beat Texas!!

2009-01-05T07:06:00.000-05:00

So since Bella is "my girl" she has her own Ohio State Jersey because she's such a big fan. I took this photo

and then through the magic of photoshop she travelled to the horseshoe...or mecca for buckeye fans!

O--H--I--O....Go Bucks! Watch the Fiesta Bowl tonight to see it happen!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-01-01T07:18:00.007-05:00

Do you feel like this today??

Yeah...me too...too MANY New Years I guess (notice I didn't say too MUCH!). Today will be spent snoozing and watching football in my last day before I return to the work world tomorrow after a very peaceful holiday break!

Best wishes for the new year!!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-31T06:54:00.002-05:00

A Very Merry Christmas!

2008-12-30T18:42:00.005-05:00

Santa was here!!

Apparently we bored the dogs while we opened our gifts

THIS is more like it!! Stuff for us!
a new gator

and a new tug

a new fish and a kitty

and treats for both!

These came from bubba rose biscuit company. The dogs liked them and they are packaged beautifully! Great gift idea for those pets in your life!

Can't forget the kitties!
Sebastian

Chloe

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday!

Santa Paws Came to town...

2008-12-30T18:12:00.002-05:00

The Dane forum that I belong too had a secret santa gift exchange and here are the gifts that Diego and Bella received from their santa paws. Thanks to Lucy & Sweetgrass!

Is this package for me??

What did I get...What did I get??

Both the fish toy and rope knot have lasted for almost two weeks and are still being enjoyed!!

New Year...New Look

2008-12-29T22:21:00.003-05:00

Ok, my friend Maria (busyness girl) dressed her blog up for the new year and made me feel guilty about letting this go. So here's a new look for the new year. Hope you like the updates.

Things have been hectic over the past few months...here's a month by month recap

October - I was asked to teach a 2nd course for the winter semester (in addition to my Liberal Education course). It's a Leadership Dynamics course. I'm stoked about this since this was my original intention for my PhD was to be a professor in a leadership studies program. I scurried to find a book that I wanted to use just before the book ordering deadline. Now I have to prep a new course...I guess that's what holiday break is for!

November - I was selected as one of 2 finalists for a position at College of Charleston. I had a wonderful 2 day interview on campus and really enjoyed the experience. This led to lots of discussions between hubby and I, our realtor, employers, friends, families, etc. However just before Thanksgiving I was notified that I was not selected.

December - Sebastian (diabetic cat) had a blood test come back in the normal range. The insulin is finally working!! Also, crazy weather caused us not to travel for the holidays. This means for the first time in 34 years I was not with my mother at Christmas. This was a touch and go time for me from the time we made the decision on 12/23 until mid day on Christmas. Then we got busy cooking and had hubby's sister and nieces over for dinner and was able to enjoy the day. I'll post a seperate thread of pictures.

Lot's more happened...but I can't remember the details. Here's to a new year and a new resolve to post more often!

Seven year itch?

2008-10-15T21:02:00.003-04:00

well October 7th was our 7th wedding anniversary. I'm not sure where the time has gone but it seems both like forever and a blink of an eye. I think that's good....isn't it?? We had a wonderful day. We took the dogs to the beach (brr 50 degrees, pictures to be added soon) and just spent some time together enjoying the day. We had an early dinner at CityVu Bistro which is a rooftop restaurant atop of the City Flats hotel in downtown Holland, MI. It has a really cool view of Holland and good food and atmosphere. We were there early so we had the entire place to ourselves....you know like a private party just for our anniversary! I highly recommend it if you are in the area.

Dirty Dancing

2008-10-15T20:51:00.002-04:00

So while in Chicago and colleague and I were able to take in a show. We decided that we wanted to see Dirty Dancing (what you would have chosen Wicked or Jersey Boys??) I spent a good portion of my eighth grade and freshman years trying to look like the character "Baby". I permed my hair and rolled my jean shorts. I've seen the movie literally HUNDREDS of times and am not embarassed to say it. Even now if I'm flipping channels and the movie is on then I'll stop and watch it. So, back to the show....we had 3rd row seats for a Thursday night show. The audience was mostly female and of a 30-something persuasion (go figure!) The show was great, I really enjoyed the way it moved through the story. The only issue I had was the actor playing Johnny was australian and was trying to hide his accent which left him with a weird over-acted voice thing going on. I got used to it after a while but man at first it was a little weird. The audience really got into it and hooted and hollered during parts. A little piece of me wanted more audience participation as there were certain parts that really warranted it. It's heading to broadway next...perhaps NY audiences will crank it up a bit and it will be the next Rocky Horror with a lot of audience participation! Overall, two thumbs up!!

Chicago, Chicago, My Kind of Town

2008-10-15T20:27:00.003-04:00

I returned to Chicago for a week long conference September 30-October 4. It was an ok conference as far as sessions, but a great conference for connecting and re-connecting with colleagues from across the country. I also spent the evenings wandering the city wondering if I could live there. I've decided that I couldn't....though if I were younger and single I would sure give it a try. The people watching was fantastic, the weather was wonderful, the shopping was decent, and the amtrak train sucked! I will sure question riding Amtrak again as we were an hour late on the trip in to the city and over 2 hours late on the ride home. The price of ticket sure is cheap, but what a waste of time!! Next time I may try to drive to Michigan City and take the commuter train in from there. I do love the city views and the hustle and bustle of always having things to do but there are just too many people. I've decided that I want to live on 10 acres in the middle of a city so I can have the best of both worlds...do you think that Central Park is available??

Sebastian....nobody puts baby in a corner!

2008-10-15T20:17:00.003-04:00

So my 14 year old cat Sebastian, whom I've always affectionately called "Baby" was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 weeks ago. We began insulin treatment right away and have been going weekly for blood sugar tests to see if it's working. The first week there was a decrease in his levels and he gained a 1/2 pound since the week prior which was great news. We upped his dosage as the levels weren't exactly where we wanted them. Today however wasn't such good news. His levels actually went back up and he'd lost a pound since last week. The vet is concerned that the treatment isn't working and is preparing me for the worst. We have upped his dosage of insulin again for another week and will go again for more blood tests then. I have to believe that this will work. I've always said I didn't know what I would do without my "Baby" as he's been with me for so long through so much. He's lived in 3 states with me through college and my early professional life and now through the past few years with our growing "family". He has been my "shoulder" to cry on when things weren't going well and the one I would share my thoughts with when no one else was around. He's still acting like his same old pissy self so I'm hoping that he is strong enough to get through this. I know he won't back down and will fight his way out of this corner. Please keep him in your thoughts through this week!

And the world turns....

2008-10-15T20:15:00.003-04:00

yep...it's been awhile since I posted. Some might think it's because I just haven't done anything to write about...when in fact it's been a whirlwind again. My grandma used to call me a "whirling dervish" and that's exactly what I feel like now (except not dizzy) ;)

Things have been hectic and I have a lot to catch up on. I'll share some posts about the activities and will do better with keeping up to date as the huge rush should be over.

What I did on Jenny Day!

2008-09-26T09:26:00.003-04:00

So I was working in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday for admissions recruiting events in the suburbs. Since it was my birthday a friend from work and I decided to play hooky on the daytime events and go into the city and spend the day. We had a BLAST and quite a whirlwind of a day.

We started the morning at the top of the Sears tower. I'd never been to the top of that one...I've been to John Hancock but not Sears so 103 floors above the ground the view was hazy but pretty cool!

We then headed toward the Magnificent Mile for a little shopping but first a stop at Millenium Park to take a picture in front of the "kidney bean" otherwise knows as the cloud gate (that's me dead center)

After a great day of shopping, lunch, and lots of chatting we headed back to "the office" otherwise known as the Mariott Midway where our evening event was to be held. When we arrived our other colleagues wer all a twitter because apparently the LA Galaxy was staying in the hotel. While I have no interest in soccer....I did know that David Beckham played for this team. So, we waited patiently in the lobby in between our duties and were able to talk to him and get this picture. He also wished me a happy birthday! (I'm on the left with another colleague on the right who happened to be a huge soccer fan)

We finished our event and drove back home. When I arrived home at 1:45am it was no longer my birthday but I had a great day with wonderful experiences!

Happy "Jenny" Day!!!

2008-09-25T00:01:00.006-04:00

Today is international Jenny day...what you didn't see it on your calendar? Must be a misprint!! Today is my birthday!! I LOVE my birthday (it's my favorite day of the year!) I had planned to spend the day in my jammies watching mindless television and then eating cake like I do every year...however my work schedule did not allow for it this year and I'm spending the day working in Chicago (more about that in a later post)

Funny enough though, no matter how much I actually love my birthday, I HATE getting older! Although this is not a "major" birthday I'm still a year older, so I'll share George Carlin's Views on Aging with you today.

Here's me when I was a "bit" younger :)

*********************************************
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life .. . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, art, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next state; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them , at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!
Enjoy "my" day :)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-24T07:27:00.000-04:00

Where has the time gone?

2008-09-23T22:09:00.002-04:00

So, I've had a chance to keep up with everyone's blog but my own over the past 2 weeks. We are starting our busy time in the office (one of several) and I can't believe how busy we are already! I will be travelling to Chicago for the next 2 days for recruiting events. Then home for 3 days and then back to Chicago for a week long conference. Whew...what a whirlwind!

I took a trip to Ohio two weekends ago. I missed the family birthday party the weekend earlier due to my work schedule. There are 6 members of my immediate family with birtdays between 8/25 and 9/25 so we normally do a joint party. Since I missed it, I went down the next weekend. It seemed like a good idea at the time (and actually I did have fun). I was able to watch my sister play volleyball and score several points including the game winner in one match. However the trip home happened to be the exact same day that the remnants of Hurricane Ike were making their way into the midwest, specifically the Indiana, Michigan, Ohio area. So I was able to leave Ohio in sunshine and drive directly into the storm. The clouds were awesome (though ominous) but when the rain hit it was terrible! We received over 4" of rain at our house, but were lucky as an hour south they received 9"!! Here's some pics I took while driving (that's safe isn't it??), they really don't do the clouds justice but it was the best I could do with a cell phone while driving

a

After the storm rolled through and the sun came back out on Monday the cloud bank was so low that it looked like a mountain range out west and you were driving into it. It was really cool! The picture is too small to tell but the clouds are ABOVE AND BELOW the sun!!

Ten Things - September

2008-09-10T07:17:00.001-04:00

I pulled into the parking lot at work the other day and noticed a licence plate on the car in front of me (#10) and then as I walked through the parking lot I noticed another (#9). For some reason that made me start to notice more and more vanity plates around me. It's been interesting for me to try and figure out what they meant or why people do it. Perhaps I should figure out what I would have as a vanity plate (NOT)!

Here's 10 of them that I've noticed over the last few weeks:
10. cj prof - CJ professor at GVSU
9. clas - dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at GVSU
8. y rless - "wireless"...how cool would it be to have wireless in your car??
7. vw 4 u2nv - guess what kind of car they were driving....and trust me I didn't envy it!
6. gds bldr - I think this one is gods builder....but of what?? hmmm....
5. usn dad - guy had us navy stickers all over so a shout out to our troops!
4. 5hezoo - now the 5 looked like an s and I couldn't figure out what it meant so I googled it. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shezoo
3. nyce ryde - mercedes convertible...yeah it was THAT guy!
2. ovr tme - if I'm working overtime I want a better car than this was on
1. sexy nel - I'm all for strong women but if you need to proclaim to the world that you are sexy through your license plate something tells me you are not. I'm hoping it was a gift.

Hands....touching hands...

2008-09-09T08:27:00.003-04:00

So today I went for my first manicure. I've been talking about doing it for months and finally followed through. It was a strange experience but enjoyable. Now, I've never been a girly girl and in fact have only painted my finger nails probably four times in my life. It was a little overwhelming to stand in front of a wall of nail polish in every shade you can imagine (and some that you probably shouldn't) and "pick a color". I was so stunned I just said "plain french" not really knowing what that meant but I was pretty sure it was what I wanted. I'm so happy about how they look!

I'll have to see how long it lasts to decide if I'll keep up with it but so far "I Likey"

Bella Boo Boo

2008-09-09T07:45:00.007-04:00

So enough time has passed that I can look at this picture again and talk about what I did. On August 15th I took the dogs through the car wash. Now I've never taken them through the car wash before but I thought I would give it a try. So I inserted my money in the machine and made my selection. As I was rolling up my drivers window and starting to roll forward into the bay Bella starts crying and shaking behind me. I'm thinking oh my goodness I'm not even in the bay yet and she's freaking out. I can't drive through the bay because the door is down until you are done and I can't back out because there is a car behind me. So I keep driving forward trying to console her and calm her. That's when I looked up and realized that her ear was closed in my window. I fumbled for the buttons and she pulled it out before I could get it down. Now she was fine right away and they actually seemed to enjoy the car wash. Well when I got home I took a closer look at her ear and it made me sick to my stomach that I had done this to her.

now it's a few weeks later and it's healing very nicely. Bella seems to have forgiven me and now gets her head out of the window as soon as I say "head in". Guess she realizes that I mean it.

Adios Little Mexico!

2008-09-06T07:18:00.003-04:00

http://video.woodtv.com/wvx.php?video_id=13977&ad_id=148

A historic restaurant and our favorite place for Mexican food has been destroyed by a fire. The Little Mexico Cafe was full, but everyone got out safe. The video is amazing considering it started at 10pm and the video above is from 1am and still lots of flames. This morning's news indicated the building was a complete loss, though it's deceiving because the stucco camoflages the damage to the structure. This place has been around since the 1960's and was built by a family from a place with 12 tables to a much larger place over the years. Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan had all eaten there along with other celebrities through the years. This was a place that I always took out of town friends for dinner if Mexican was what they were looking for. This is the closest to "real" mexican food I'd ever had in the U.S. and will sorely miss it! The original family no longer owns it, so I wonder if the new owners will try to rebuild or open somewhere else??

Gustav Comes to Michigan

2008-09-05T19:04:00.000-04:00

So it POURED down rain on Thursday. I guess it's good since we really haven't been all that good about turning our sprinklers on since the grass all died back in July and we were just watering the weeds to make it look greener. I can't wait until we move to the country and can let our grass die in peace if we want to. Living in a subdivision means that we are "that" neighbor amongst all of the grass course quality lawns in the neighborhood. I like a green lawn but I'm not going to spend my entire weekend monkeying with it!

Rain makes dealing with the dogs interesting since our entire backyard is Michigan sand. That means giant paw prints on the floors when they come back in. Diego will let you wipe his paws with a towel....if you catch him first. You have to be quick and hook him by the back leg as he walks in the door. Bella is a good girl and will go right to her bed and wait for me to get to her.

However, she's NOT a good girl when it comes to going potty in the rain! I stood out with her in the pouring rain for 20 minutes before bed and she just looked at me like I was beating her. I even held the umbrella over her and still nothing. Well it being bed time and all and I being soaking wet now and not wanting to do it all over again at 2am when she decided she couldn't hold it anymore decided to wait her out. I thought maybe it was the sand/mud that she didn't like so we went to the front yard. She started doing her happy grass dance (they don't get to go out front often) running around in circles and jumping around. She also ate grass from every sector of the front yard. However, no potty! So after another 15 minutes in the front yard I said "enough, we're going to bed". She went right in and we all went to bed. She was fine all night...which means the little stinker probably went when I wasn't looking (she's quick!) and we stood in the rain for nothing!

Well the news this morning said we had received over 4 inches of rain and it was the remnants of Gustav! I left Florida to get away from hurricanes and now they hit Michigan???
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2008/09/05/tornado-3/

Here comes the sun....errr fake sun....

2008-09-04T21:13:00.003-04:00

Gone are the long days of summer and fall in Michigan is creeping in. This means that it's terribly dark in the morning when the alarm goes off. I've noticed that the past week or two has been HORRIBLE waking up. I just feel groggy and terrible even though I've had the same amount of sleep I always get and normally feel fine. I realized that it must be because of how dark it is out. Just a month ago I could wake up at our alarm time, or earlier, and be wide awake and ready to go. Now it takes all of my energy just to drag my arm over to the alarm to hit the off button. Then I go take a 15 minute couch nap before feeding the dogs. That's not good since it's only the beginning of September and it's not summer in Michigan until late May. This makes for a long "winter".

I started reading about these alarm clocks that wake you gradually using light to allow your body to end it's deep sleep cycle and wake up more alert.
www.naturestapestry.com/digitalsun.html

I think this is EXACTLY what I need...however it's pricey and the husband isn't quite on board. He said he was willing to shine a flashlight in my face first thing if it would help. Yeah, not exactly the same thing. Maybe I'll have my doctor say it's necessary...he can't argue with that! :)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-03T07:08:00.005-04:00

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T21:46:00.003-04:00

So I think you are supposed to rest on Labor day to make up for all of the "laboring" you do throughout the year. However I decided to tackle house projects that I've been ignoring for the past 6 months. It's been 3 days of cleaning and organizing frenzy! Today hubby helped too! It's nice to check stuff off of the list.

1. Organized closet and vaccumed the floor (haven't even seen the floor in a month)
2. Cleaned bathrooms...even scrubbed all of the grout lines
3. Cleaned the bedroom...even under the bed (yuck!)
4. Cleaned the kitchen and reorganized stuff on the counter...how do you end up with so many gadgets that need charged?
5. halfway done with reorganizing the laundry room. Hubby helped me by building some storage units. Just ran out of time to finish this project tonight.
6. Took all of the stuff out of the upstairs "office" and cleaned carpets and walls.
7. Took all that stuff in #6 and reallocated and put away in other rooms.
8. Hubby (and my brother) brought the treadmill up from the downstairs work out room and put it in the upstairs old "office". Which will now be the new workout room. Harder to ignore it if you have to look into it every time you walk out of your bedroom.
9. General cleaning of all other spaces (vaccuming, dusting, dishes, etc)
whew!!! The house looks great though and it feels really good to get this stuff done. It's just that I'm sooooo sore and know that I'll feel worse tomorrow! There are 15 bags of trash to go out and my car is packed for goodwill. I'd say that's a good weekend of decluttering and organizing!

Jennifer for president?? Move over Barack!

2008-08-28T07:53:00.001-04:00

So I received this link from a colleague at University of Maryland as a tool to use to get students interested in the election. I may use it on my class live journal...I'll have to see. But it was fun so I thought I'd share it with you all first. My mom will be so proud!

www.inews3.com/play.php?first=Jennifer&last=McCaul

On a side note, another colleague shared with me a quote he heard on NPR today..."If McCain is the answer...then the question is ridiculous" (ha hahahahahaha hahaha haha) Ok, maybe just I found that funny but whatever, it's my blog!

Whatever your views...be sure to vote this year!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-27T10:03:00.003-04:00

Oh what a week!

2008-08-26T21:49:00.008-04:00

Sorry for not posting this week, but the week before school starts is always very hectic....lots o' meetings every day! Now the students are back and things are back to normal. It's fun to see the courtyard full of students and the hallways busy again. Monday was my 10 year anniversary at GVSU...I NEVER thought I would stay in one place so long but this is an awesome place to work and I love my job. We had cake to celebrate!

Who would have thought that I would go from clerical to Director of a unit in a decade! Here's looking forward to the next 10 years and celebrating the fact that I have truly found my calling!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-13T07:36:00.001-04:00

Ten Things - August

2008-08-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here is the Ten Things List for August

You know how usually the book is waaaay better than the movie? Well there have been a few times where I've finished watching the movie and went...WOW that was awesome! Way better than the book! Now some of these books were dry reads or ones that I was forced to read for some sort of academic purpose...or in the case of lord of the rings that I could never force myself to finish reading. So here is my Top Ten "The Movie Was Better than the Book it was Based On" list. Feel free to comment and add your choices.

10. Oliver! (1968) & Oliver & Company (Animated 1988)

9. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

8. Romeo and Juliet (1968)

7. Lord of the Rings Return of the King (2003)

6. Lord of the Rings The Two Towers (2002)

5. Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Rings (2001)

4. The Color Purple (1985)

3. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) & Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (2005)

2. The Green Mile (1999)

1. Great Expectations (1998)

Next time...Two Please!

2008-08-08T07:46:00.004-04:00

Since we're on our own for dinner on Wednesdays the "kids" and I load up in the car and drive over to DQ to get chili dogs and a blizzard. The girls at DQ now call me the "dog lady". I guess that's better than the "cat lady" who sits on her porch and yells at the kids that come by....but barely.

Well since we are in every week, they ask if they can give the dogs a "pup cone". There's no way we're doing it in the car so I always say no. However today I gave in and they put a bunch of ice cream in a cup so I could make it home before giving it to them. I think they were in heaven! The hardest part was making them share! Next time we'll have to ask for TWO!

I'll take some more please!

Is there anything better than dirt?

2008-08-07T07:39:00.000-04:00

Not if you're Diego.
This weekend the yard had to be dug up to fix the sprinklers. That was an invitation for Diego to sit, lay down, and woller around in the pile of dirt. Why does he love that so?

I had to get the hose out and wash out his mouth...YUCK!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-06T07:52:00.003-04:00

A good time was had by all!

2008-08-02T18:28:00.003-04:00

Ok, this will be my last post about Neil Diamond but the concert was last night and I'm still excited! When I went to my seats turns out that Row D was 2nd row because there was no A or B!! I could have reached and touched the stage! I would like to thank the 8 other 30 somethings in the first 2 rows who stood and danced the whole time! To the other folks who were SLIGHTLY over 30 something...sorry you couldn't see, but I paid for that ticket to have a good time. If I wanted to sit and watch it, I would have bought the video and watched it on my HD-TV in my own living room.

As an avid concert goer I would like to say that I've never seen so many wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and other ambulatory devices at a show before. Also, thank goodness the arena is no-smoking due to the amount of oxygen being used :) But Neil gave everyone what we came for....an AWESOME show!

Are you a Super Fan?

2008-07-31T22:12:00.001-04:00

So on Monday afternoon I had a message from the Marketing Director at Van Andel Arena asking if I was a Neil Diamond super fan and to call her back. Of course I think I'm going to get upgraded or backstage or something so of course I call. Turns out the GR Press just wanted to interview some people for an article in the paper about the concert. So, here's the link....
http://blog.mlive.com/newblack/2008/07/_neil_diamond_hes_coming_to_gr.html
Even though they spelled my name wrong (why do I bother spelling it for people?) it's me. Perhaps Neil will see this and call me up from the fourth row!! See you tomorrow Neil!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-30T07:15:00.003-04:00

A week early is better than a week late I guess!

2008-07-25T21:48:00.003-04:00

So I've been super excited all day that I was going to the Neil Diamond concert tonight! I've had an absolutely terrible week at work and I'm completely exhausted but I was really looking forward to this show. I'm a closet (ok, so maybe saying this on the WWW doesn't qualify as closet anymore) fan of Neil and have already seen him in concert a few years back. So I changed my clothes after work, grabbed my ticket, and headed downtown. As I drove by the arena I couldn't figure out why the doors weren't open and there wasn't a crowd. It was 20 minutes before show time....what's going on??? It was at that very moment that I remembered the tv commercials they've been running to sell tickets for this concert and the visual in my head said Friday August 1st...then in an instant I realized that today was in fact July 25th!! I quickly grabbed my ticket out of purse while stopped at the traffic light to turn into the parking structure. Yep! August 1st. I went around the block and headed for home.....I'll be back next week Neil!! Save me a seat in the 4th row!

RIP Randy Pausch

2008-07-25T18:26:00.003-04:00

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the OTHER people!" — from The Last Lecture

I don't know how this got by me over the past year but I've missed this guy on Oprah and other shows. However I read a CNN article today that he had passed away. I took the time to watch his "Last Lecture" today and found him to be humorous, engaging, insightful, and inspiring. Everyone should watch this lecture! The world has truly lost a gifted professor and human being. If you haven't already, please take the time watch this video, I know it's an hour long....but it's REALLY worthwhile. Stay through the end and you won't regret it!

You know you're old when....

2008-07-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

you have to take another 1/2 day vacation to recover from the "late" night of a concert! The concert was great....I'd never seen the Foo Fighters before. We left during the final song of the encore to beat traffic and arrived home at midnight. By the time we took care of the dogs and got to bed it was 12:30. Of course the dogs were right back on schedule at 6:30am (ugh!). So we did the morning routine and then just laid on the couch watching tv until I had to get ready for work.

Here's some terrible cell phone pics from the show.
Main Stage

Crappy cell phone camera makes art

Acoustic stage was right in front of us

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-23T07:00:00.002-04:00

You know you're owned by your dogs when....

2008-07-22T15:44:00.002-04:00

you take a day of vacation to entertain the dogs so you can have a date with your husband! That's right....we've been keeping the dogs busy so they don't sleep all day so they will sleep tonight when we go to a concert. Doing stuff in the evening is very difficult because that's when the dogs are most active after sleeping all day while we are at work. They are so used to a set routine that us doing stuff at night just throws them all off....and then we pay the price. So today we went to the beach early this morning to try and have it all to ourselves and then this afternoon a little drive around town running errands. This meant no naps for the dogs!! They will be happy to see us leave tonight so they can finally get some sleep!!

Who do they think they are fooling?

2008-07-18T08:25:00.007-04:00

Perhaps you noticed at the grocery store that your products are coming in slightly smaller packages without any notice. This is manufacturer's answer to maintain prices as it's been shown that consumers don't notice smaller sizes but do notice price shifts. Did you notice?

Here’s an article about it

Now I had noticed this in the grocery store but it didn't bother me too much. As I don't think our grocery bill is terrible. However when it happened in my dog food....now I'm upset. We've been watching the price of our dog food climb from anywhere around $35-39 for 40# over the past year. When it hit $40.38 it was a little crazy. With 2 great danes we go through 80# a month! When I walked into the store the other day I noticed the package was different....I studied it for a few minutes to make sure it was the same food even. The packaging colors had changed and it seemed different when I heaved it up on my shoulder to pay for it. When I dropped it on the counter that's when I noticed....it had been resized! The bag is now 35# for the same price!!!

Next time you look at what you thought was a 12oz bag of doritos and realize it's 2oz smaller than last time...think about me paying the same for 5 POUNDS less of dog food...that's EIGHT bags of doritos!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-16T08:54:00.001-04:00

Dissertation Wordle

2008-07-14T09:10:00.003-04:00

So I opened my dissertation file for the first time in a while today. I didn't feel the dread that I thought I would feel. Perhaps this is a sign that I'm ready to start again? I decided to paste all of my text that I've written so far into wordle (see link in my internet places below) and this is what resulted. I think that this is beautiful and am happy that students are obviously the focus of this piece and really like how it turned it out. So my dissertation is now "art"....now what? The best dissertation is a done dissertation as everyone likes to point out. I'll see what I can do :)

A Worthwhile Cause

2008-07-13T07:17:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to spread the word for this very worthwhile cause that I learned about recently. As I watched the Today show while sitting on my couch on July 4th I found myself crying during a piece they did about WWII veterans. These veterans waited over 60 years for their memorial to be completed in Washington DC. Approximately 1200 WWII veterans die EVERY DAY which means than in just over 10 years it's possible that all of our WWII veterans will be gone. There are many veterans who wish to travel to the memorial but do not have the means to do so. An organization called Honor Flights Inc has been created to assist WWII and terminally ill veterans with FREE travel to Washington DC to view the memorial.

Here's the clip that I watched from the Today show if you would like to watch it yourself.http://youtube.com/watch?v=ktyEFehdskk

I decided to get off of the couch (metaphorically) and do something to help. Now I'm asking for your help too. Here's what I'm doing. I'm contacting all of my colleagues, friends, and family and notifying them that this cause even exists. All of us have a father, grandfather or other family members who fought or were impacted by this war. This is a generation of heroes who deserve an opportunity to travel to see the monument that is dedicated to them. Over 6000 veterans are currently on the waiting list and 120 have died waiting for their turn. Most of every dollar will help get a veteran to the monument. The organization uses 88% of the donations received to directly fund the veterans travel and lodging.

Yahoo has started a "network for good" which allows a person to set up a charity project and collect donations for their charity of choice. This is completely legit and approved by the Better Business Bureau. What this does is allow for me to keep track of my progress as word spreads through emails and messages being passed on. I'd like to know how much this one email generates to show how much one person can do if they just do something. This project does not track individual names or donation amounts.If you are interested in donating ANY AMOUNT to this cause then please click on the "donate" button to the left or the link below which will take you to my charity project page where you can securely donate online.

http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=112152

Please feel free to forward, copy, or cross post this entire message as far and wide as you would like in order to spread the word about this wonderful charity and my project to raise funds to assist veterans with travel to Washington DC.
Jennifer
Jennifersblogspot@gmail.com

Ten Things - July

2008-07-10T21:16:00.007-04:00

This is something I'll do on the 10th day of each month...a Ten Things List of some sort for your viewing pleasure. So, here's July's installment:

One thing about summer is that the television offerings are limited. All my favorites are in reruns so I'm left trying to find other things to fill that space right before bed where I just want to veg out. So....I've turned to reality tv.....here's what I'm watching.

Top 10 Reality TV Shows on my TiVo (Summer 2008)
10. Baby Borrowers
9. Celebrity Circus
8. Animal Precinct
7. Miami Animal Police
6. Flip This House
5. I Love Money: Meet the All Stars
4. Intervention
3. Animal Cops Houston
2. Kathie Griffin My Life on the D List
1. Gene Simmons Family Jewels

My First Post

2008-07-10T20:14:00.005-04:00

Well...I've made the leap. I've started my own blog and this is my first post! Thank you for reading it!

Years ago I wondered why anyone would want to put their life on the internet in the form of a blog....then I began to wonder, who reads about others people's lives in the form of a blog?

Then in the last year, I started reading them through people I know and then followed links to other places and people. I became a bit of a voyeur and found it to be quite entertaining...some of them are better than reality tv shows! Others I've found to be informative, funny, or just plain fun to check up with folks you don't see often.

So, I don't know how informative, entertaining, or fun my blog will be, but I hope to be able to share some things that others may be interested in. Please feel free to send a comment!

Talk to you soon!