Observation of The Day: I Am Not Very Observant

I am not always the most observant person…case in point. (p.s. I have had my blog since 2006)

I just, yes JUST, realized that you can check a little box when you leave a comment and it will email you follow-up comments. OH, what a handy little feature that is located directly on the comment page plain as day. This is better then me going back to a post a half a dozen times to read others comments.

I also, JUST realized this week that when you sign up to “follow” another blogger that it leaves their current posts on your dashboard. You know the dashboard, where I go every time I sign in to my blog. Yep, didn’t know that one either. I was wondering what exactly it meant to “follow” and I guess now I know.

So is there anything else I may be missing? Blogging tricks or tips that I am obviously not paying attention to? Maybe I should just go ask a 14 year old, I am sure they could hook me up on how to use this technology crap.

I really need to learn how to pay better attention to things.

What Are You Doing November 15? It Is Probably Not As Cool As What I Am Doing.

I know, my title is a bit snooty - sorry, but next month T, the family and myself will be heading to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 13th annual American Music Masters® series tribute concert. We have gone in the past and seen a variety of performers. Muddy Waters, Lead Belly, and Sam Cooke.

This year they are honoring Les Paul!! AWESOME!

The event brings in stars to play music from the honoree and to talk about their life. It is actually pretty darn cool! (One year Morgan Freeman was there and said a few words…..he seriously walked right past us!)

Who, so far, is scheduled to play at this one….. James Burton, Billy Gibbons and the Ventures along with Jennifer Batten, Dennis Coffey, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Alannah Myles, Richie Sambora and Slash. (For the people in the back, the last one was mother fuck'n Slash!) YAY!!!! They all sound great! I think this could be the most exciting one yet we have been too! I mean it is Les freak’n Paul.

"Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915) is an American jazz guitarist and inventor. He is a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible."[1] His many recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects such as "sound on sound" and tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording." (more info here at Wikipedia)

Yep, I am pretty darn excited.

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Want to go: Saturday, November 15, at 8 p.m. at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theater. Tickets are $30, $40 and $50 and can be purchased at playhousesquare.org and at the PlayhouseSquare box office (216) 241-6000 or by visiting http://www.rockhall.com.

Vanity Card of the Week

So I don't know if any of you watch the Big Bang Theory (LOVE IT) but if you do you may notice at the end of every show they put up a little "Vanity Card"consisting of a message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. (He also does this for Two and a Half Men and did it for Dharma and Greg) These make me laugh. So I thought I would post them on Tuesdays, if I remember, just for fun. Visit his website as well for past Vanity cards!

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CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, Vanity Card #221

We have once again arrived at a moment in history where the truth can be defined as "that which you can make other people believe." The methodology for creating that belief is repetition. Say something enough times and it becomes, for millions of people, the truth. I am endowed like a stallion. This is why control of the media equals control of the populace. I am endowed like a stallion. And also why a state run television news channel is so very dangerous. I am endowed like a stallion. Now there are those who would argue this has already happened and that a certain cable news channel is actually a covert extension of our government. I am endowed like a stallion. The fact that the channel is run by a high-ranking party official, an anchor person from the channel became a White House spokesman, and another top-ranking party official became an on-air news commentator is often used to make this argument. I am endowed like a stallion. Of course, this fact would be entirely inconsequential if the oft-repeated falsehoods they attempt to imbed into the Zeitgeist were simply amusing, or at worst, inane. I am endowed like a stallion. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. I am endowed like a stallion. The heavy repetition of lies and smears for political gain are by no means inconsequential. I am endowed like a stallion. Which is why each and every one of us must use whatever resources we have at our disposal to disseminate the actual truth. I am endowed like a pony.

The Ying to My Yang #124

In this edition of “The Ying to my Yang” I would like to talk about how Terry and I are different when it comes to taking a day off for our birthday.

Terry’s Day Off:
- Wake up late
- Do laundry
- Vacuum the downstairs
- Straighten up the living room
- Clean the kitchen
- Clean out the refrigerator
- Take out the trash
- Put up our Halloween decorations
- Buy steak and grill it

Jenn’s Day Off:
- Wake up late
- Go to the Spa and get a facial
- Lay on the couch and watch a movie
- Go OUT to dinner

Hmmmmm, it seems to me someone doesn’t have their priorities straight when it comes to taking a day off…..and it is not me. Oh well – I came home to a clean house and a great meal! T. should take more days off to “celebrate” his birthday!

Happpy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to My Husband!!!

Today my husband is celebrating his 35th birthday. Upon T's request we spent the day in Ann Arbor. T. went to a record show for a couple hours then we went to an Irish restaurant, Conor O'Neills um YUM, and took a little walk downtown to another record shop. It was a really fun day!

To an amazing & wonderful man, I wish you MANY more happy birthdays!

Love always!

Jenn

How About A Political Joke on This Fine Friday Afternoon.

Don't worry, this is candidate neutral....just a funny political joke, that probably shouldn't be funny because of the truth behind it. Sorry, it is long.

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While walking down the street one day a politician is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. ''Welcome to heaven,'' says St. Peter. ''Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.''

''No problem, just let me in,'' says the man.

''Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.''

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the politician.

''I'm sorry, but we have our rules.''

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. ''Now it's time to visit heaven.''

So, 24 hours pass with the politician joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

''Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.''

The politician reflects for a minute, then he answers: ''Well , I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.''

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above the devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ''I don't understand,'' stammers the politician. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says,

“Yesterday we were campaigning.………Today you voted.”

A Letter to Sudafed.....

Dear Sudafed:

You are truly amazing. One of your little pills has given me the ability to breathe again while also decreasing the amount of nasal fluid I drip all over my keyboard and myself. Another tissue need not go to waste whilst you are inside me. You are truly a gift from God, sent to this earth in the form of a tiny little tablet containing the magical-ness that is pseudoephedrine. I now see why we have to use our license when purchasing these wonderful pills in restricted amounts each month from behind that plexiglass enclosed pharmaceutical area. And why also so many drug dealers chemical entrepreneurs are interested in purchasing these tiny tablets.

As this magnificent stimulant runs through my body producing a rather involuntary haze of productivity, I sit back for a moment and say a quiet thank you to the makers of Sudafed and their products. For it is with this product that I do not have to waste my remaining 1 ½ days of personal time to stay at home in bed with a sickness but rather can wait to use my vacation to stay at home in bed when I feel perfectly fine. Sure I may pass along this sickness to my fellow co-workers, but I will also pass along this knowledge of using Sudafed to not only cure their cold but also increase the amount of work they produce. I think in the end we will all be better for this and when the time comes around to say thank you, they will not look at me but instead they will look at your enticing blue box of 12-hour maximum strength Sudafed and give a friendly nod of approval and thanks.

So dear friend, I look forward to us meeting again tomorrow at 7 am after I awake from my Nyquil induced comma to once again share our 12-hour journey together.

Forever yours,

Jenn

Ooh....that rackin' frackin' bloggin'

So I am trying to get my creative blogging juices flowing again.

Do you ever get in those moods where it seems like you have nothing of interest to talk about? Or you are so busy that when you sit down in front of the computer to blog, you just got nothing?

I have felt this way the past couple months. Among just having other things on my mind, I have spent most of my free time getting ready for mom's birthday weekend, her party in a couple weeks, working on her scrapbook and now helping with my friends shower. I LOVE doing all this stuff, but it seems to just soak up all my creativeness and then there is nothing left for my blog. Now that much of this is over, i am hoping to get my head back into blogging. I mean, really, if for no other reason then I need something to keep me entertained at work now.

I Would Still Find Some Way To Go Over The Edge.

This email was sent to me today. It contains pictures of people swimming near the edge of The Victoria Falls located on the Zambezi River and border the African nations of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Apparently during the months of September and December the levels of the water are low enough to create a naturally formed pool, known as The Devil’s Swimming Pool. This is possible due to a natural rock wall just below the water and at the very edge of the falls that stops their progress despite the current. People can venture to the very edge of the 128 meter tall waterfall (let me repeat that for the people in the back – WATERFALL) and swim around.

Um….thanks but no thanks.

Below are real pictures and even a video.

A Rather Lengthy Post about a Pretty Fun Weekend

So as you have seen by my previous post, this weekend was my mom’s birthday. Well what you may not know is what a special birthday this was and all the secrets and trickery that came along with this birthday!!

So my mom celebrated her 50th birthday! My mom is ALWAYS doing so much for others but she never does much for herself. It is so hard for us to get her to splurge a little on things for her and she is never a “I Want” kind of person.

So for this birthday my family knew we had to do something very special, but to do so has required months of secrets and lies. Which on a side note is extremely hard to do. My family is VERY close and my mom and I are best friends and I tell her so much. So for me to not just blurt out in a conversation HEY GUESS WHAT….I had to practice a lot of self-control, which basically meant when I talked to my mom over the past couple months I had to keep my mouth shut! Not easy to do. And though I am a person who loves planning surprises for people, it is hard when it is your mother.

So here is what we told her was GOING to happen this weekend:
My dad is a member of Rotary and does a lot of work with it. So we tell mom that it just so happens there is a Rotary meeting in Columbus Saturday morning that my dad has to go to. So the plan was for Mom & Dad to go to Columbus Friday night after work, eat at Wholly Joes Chicago Eatery and then Saturday after Dad’s meeting they would drive up to BG and celebrate Birthdays (Terry's is next weekend) by going to dinner Saturday night. We told her we have reservations made at the hotel and the restaurant of choice.

What REALLY happened:
All of us used the above story as a cover. Everything resolved around keeping the story straight and cohesive and somehow we managed. Friday night mom and dad went to Columbus and went to Wholly Joes Chicago Eatery (mom loves Chicago deep dish). But oh, who might be at Wholly Joes as well – Terry, Kristen and myself – SURPRISE!!! Yep, we went to Columbus to spend the weekend there!! YAY :) She was SO surprised. I love it when I plan falls into place and works out.

So what did we have planned that weekend? Well we stayed at the Hyatt on Capital Square for the weekend (beautiful hotel). Then Saturday morning we went to a Spa where my mom got a facial and K. got a massage. (Unfortunately my facialist had an emergency and cancelled but I got a 20 minute free foot soak in one of the jet baths. No Pedicures though please.) Then all three of us got a spa manicure! It was SO relaxing and so nice to just spend time together the three of us. And this place (Nicci Debro Spa) was so beautiful and relaxing and the people there were so nice. They even gave us some little gifts when we left.


DON’T STOP READING YET – there is WAY more.


After a quick nap at the hotel by T, K and I and a trip to the bar by my parents (yeah, the roles slightly reversed, huh) we went to The Columbus Fish Market to eat dinner. UM YUM. Dinner was amazing! I had lobster bisque (fantastic) and then Mahi Mahi blackened with jambalaya and green beans - delicious. I think everyone’s dinner was very very tasty. And at the end of the dinner the manager came over and wished my mom happy birthday and gave her a rose! Yes, we will be back.

K & I then gave mom her gift. Which was a HUGE, I mean busting at the seems huge scrapbook! K. and I have spent the past few weekends working so long on this thing and it is pretty darn great if I do say so myself.

Now this is where it gets interesting….

At the end of the scrapbook mom came across a couple more things. First being an invitation to a special birthday party we are having in a couple weeks back home with her family and close friends! Cake and punch and the chance for people to wish mom a happy birthday!

The second, and the biggest of surprises, is a special trip for mom and dad to New Orleans – their favorite place!!! YAY!!! Yep, the two of them will be heading down to spend some quality time together, relaxing, and eating great food.

So there it is, months of planning, secrets and trickery…..ahhhhh. Keeping secrets is hard work and stressful! I think my mom was overwhelmed by everything but she was excited. And like I said before, if anyone deserves this, my mom does. She is simply amazing.

Other Noteworthy things from the trip:
- The LA Galaxy stayed at our hotel this weekend. Though we didn’t see David Beckman, rumor was he was there.
- Sunday we went to Whole Foods Market. I had never been there before. This place was pretty darn great! We ate lunch there Sunday before we parted ways.
- I got sick Friday night and have been sick since. Boo.
- We went to the Farmers Market for lunch. T & I enjoyed some Indian food, and I tried lamb for the first time. It was lamb curry and it was actually pretty tasty.
- Parking meters = expensive
- I would never want to live in a city. They are fun to visit but between all the commotion of the people and traffic and the confusion of driving down one-way streets and just driving in general….city life is not for me. Too stressful.
- We had a Starbucks in our hotel – bonus
- My nails look fabulous
- I realize how limited I am on traveling and seeing things…even things in my own home state. I have only been to Columbus a couple times and just for quick weekends. I had never seen the OSU Stadium before. I need to get out more.
- There is nothing like coming back and sleeping in your own bed after a trip somewhere.
- On the way home we passed these dorky tools driving the same cars, just in different colors. They were in one of those car clubs. Their license plates: Twizted4, Codeblu, & Forced4. ugh
- I love to visit new places - ALOT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We would like to wish our mother a VERY SPECIAL and Happy Birthday! Our mom is one of the most beautiful, loving, caring and funny people we know. She is our best friend and we love her with all our heart. She is the type of person who is always thinking of others before herself and radiates the type of kindness that is truly unique and special. She is such an amazing role model and we only hope that one day we will be the type of mother she was to us.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend, full of some pretty cool surprises…. because honestly if anyone deserves it, you do.

With all our love,
Jenn & Kristen

Snapple "Real Fact"

Snapple "Real Fact" #92

Fish Can Drown

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Um...really?!?! Which ones, the really stupid fish? Or maybe they cover each others gills.

I really did not know this.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

For those of you who need a good laugh this afternoon, these are real signs at places of business. Bad marketing or someone with a dirty mind? hmmm?!?!

Kids Exchange
This is for a Pharmacy
NOT RIGHT!

My Favorite :)
Should be MEGAFLICKS

NAPA Tip Of The Day

Is your car running a little sluggish? Maybe not getting the best miles per gallon that it could? Not accelerating as fast as you know it can? Then why don’t you stop by your local NAPA and pick up some fuel injector cleaner! Add it to your gas tank before you fill up your tank every time you get an oil change to restore lost power and acceleration, smooth rough idle, eliminate tough starts, and save gas by cleaning the fuel injectors.

What is Fuel Injector Cleaner you ask??? Well….It “contains concentrated detergents that help dissolve and remove harmful carbon, gum and varnish deposits on fuel injectors. Without cleaning, deposits can lead to hard starts, lost acceleration and rough idling. This product is safe for all gasoline engines.”

So stop by today and help your car out!

This NAPA tip was brought to you by your friendly Napa Associate – Terry H.!


And yes, I have nothing better or more interesting to blog about at the moment :(

Please Help Me Understand This "Bailout" Stuff

Ok, so I am going to admit, I am confused about this bailout stuff. Click here for Bush's speech....it is easier for me to read it then listen to him read it.

I mean I get the general idea. The government wants to buy from certain firms their assets at the currently low prices and hold on to them until things are "back to normal" and in doing so spending up to $700 billion. Obviously they are proposing that this will help reduce a "long and painful recession" that we are facing. (Of course heaven forbid we used that "R" word even a few months ago.)

So I really don't fully understand the idea of this Bailout. Mind you I am asking questions and answering them with parts of the transcript from his speech last night. I am not stupid, I get the idea...I just still have questions, that were not addressed in the speech about how this is going to go down if it happens.

- So where are they getting this crazy amount of money - taxpayers of course. "It is difficult to pass a bill that commits so much of the taxpayers' hard-earned money." If they allocate up to $700 billion of our tax dollars for this what then happens to our other government expenses? The other places our tax dollars are SUPPOSE to go? Do those things get placed on a back burner? Do we have the money to also cover those pre-existing expenses? And will our money be going to pay the ridiculous salary of some CEO at one of these companies? What will happen to those of us who pay their loans and pay their mortgage and pay their taxes, but are still struggling to get by? (Am I selfish - no, Concerned - yes)

Is this considered a short-term solution? "In the short term, this will free up banks to resume the flow of credit to American families and businesses, and this will help our economy grow." Wouldn't that put us back where we are? I mean sure I want my credit back where it was, but does this also mean handing out more loans? That is what they are saying got us here in the first place.

Is this also a long-term solution? "The government is the one institution with the patience and resources to buy these assets at their current low prices and hold them until markets return to normal. And when that happens, money will flow back to the Treasury as these assets are sold, and we expect that much, if not all, of the tax dollars we invest will be paid back." How long before this happens. Months, a year, longer?? What is the plan in the meantime?

Will this be something that helps us at the moment but then in a few years we are going to be back in the same boat we are now? How are we going to prevent this from happening....a band-aid doesn't heal the wound. And are we helping just the companies or also the individuals who have fallen to foreclosures or other debt because of this?

I mean I unfortunately have credit card debt, and to me it sounds like we are covering up one debt by creating a new debt? Maybe I am way wrong, like I said I don't fully understand and stupid news shows are not helping at all.


So if you have a better idea of how this is suppose to work, I would appreciate it. I also don't want to come across as reluctant to pay or back this proposal, but I have questions and concerns about this. I also have concerns with the timing of this all. I mean, we can't go in the past but we have been talking about this possibility for some time now - I guess some just didn't want to hear it them.

I Love.....

So I haven’t done this for a while so I am going to do two things I currently love. (not related at all)

1) Barilla Plus Pasta. Now I have always bought and loved Barilla pasta, however this new “Plus” pasta is what I have been serving in our house recently. This pasta tastes fantastic and look at the chart to see how good it is for you! I am a fan of wheat pasta but my husband isn’t a huge fan. In an attempt to eat better food I gave this a try and frankily, you can not tell a difference from this and regular pasta at all. T. even really likes it! ¼ of the box (I think) of uncooked pasta contains 17 g of protein, 3 g of fat, 360 mg of Omega-3, and 7 g of fiber. I think that sounds pretty darn impressive for pasta. And a box is only around $1.70....which I think is very reasonable. Check out Barilla’s website for recipes and more info on their pastas.

2) Travel size items. Oh my goodness, I just ADORE anything that is travel size. Shampoos, lotions, soaps, Kleenex, wrinkle reducer, pills, toothpaste, anything! I love the travel section of Target….I just want to buy one of everything. I actually have a box with travel soaps and shampoos for people who may want to spend the night at our house or if we are going somewhere and may need them. Travel size things are just perfect! I actually carry a travel size bottle of mouthwash, Kleenex, Band-Aids and of course lotion in my purse. Yep, I am a huge sucker for anything in small, easy to carry packaging.

Talk To Me....

What shows are you looking forward to watching this Fall? Click here for what is on and when it premiers.

T & I have a fairly busy Fall line-up….because we have nothing better to do.

Monday: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, & Heroes (though not overly excited about Heroes, but interested)

Tuesday: Fringe, Eureka (already started a few weeks ago)

Wednesday: Pushing Daisies!!! (LOVE this show…so glad it is back)

Thursday: It is a busy night – Grey’s Anatomy (kind of not feeling it – we’ll see), Smallville, Supernatural, My Name is Earl, The Office, & Terminator: The Sara Connor Chronicles (Terry)

Friday & Saturday: Nothing yet??

Sunday: Dexter, Desperate Housewives (again, not excited but will watch), & True Blood – it just started a few weeks ago though I am not sure about this show yet. We will see.

I think that is it....for now :)

Another Pair Gone to My Extreme Strength

So I have again broken yet another pair of sunglasses. Ugh I wrote on my blog awhile back about the fact that I go through about 3 pairs of sunglasses a year. I am so hard on my sunglasses, obviously. I hate this, because I find glasses I just LOVE and then they break. I really really try to be careful with them, but after a month or so I am back to my same old habits, such as wearing them on my head, throwing them in my purse, throwing them in general, and just wearing them so frequently that they break.

So I guess it is back to Target to try to find yet another pair of sunglasses. Maybe in an attempt to stop throwing my sunglasses around I should buy one of those sunglass cord things that hook to your sunglasses so you can just let them hang around your neck when you are not wearing them! Hehehe – maybe in hot pink or purple?!?!

Photo Parade - Child-At-Heart

Ok, so maybe I am being overly sentimental this week because we celebrated our anniversary, but to me my husband is the biggest child-at-heart I know.

I will admit that I can be a bit uptight at times. (gasp) I worry about things too much, am not a spontaneous person (planning is important) and sometimes just need to relax and not take things so seriously. Over the past 8 years I have really learned to relax and takes things more lightly, or at least as lightly as I feel I can. His youthful attitude is something I truly admire.

It Pretty Much Goes Without Saying.....But I Will Say It Anyways.

I have the best sister in the world! Sure some of you may disagree, especially if you think YOUR sister is better but you just may not have met mine, so we will leave the discussion for another time ;)

So anywho - I got these flowers pictured below for my anniversary....from my sister! Yes, she drove up to my work and hand delivered these BEAUTIFUL flowers to me! Um, thoughtful. They were absolutely gorgeous and I was SO surprised! It made my day :)

So thank you K, you are so thoughtful.....you must get it from your attractive, considerate and completely modest older sister.

Yep, I think she is a keeper.





Just so you don't think T is a slacker in this surprise flower department - we had a deal - NO GIFTS (flowers included)! :D