Big Sisters

I hope that my children will continue to grow and love eachother the way they do today or last night for that matter.

From the time I got home from work until my children went to bed, the girl and boy, princess and prince, played together, happily. They shared toys with eachother and big sister lead little brother around on an imaginary journey.

At one point, while daughter was taking a bathroom break, the little prince came to me and asked to sit on my lap. He was so adorable and sweet and was telling me what he and his sister were up to. I whispered to him how lucky he is to have a big sister like princess and he said "yes, I know that mommy!" Princess yelled for her brother because she had something new to show him and he ran off to join his heroine.

My boy does almost nothing without his sister. She is a huge part of his life and he is the same for her. My girl is sweet to him even when his four year old terror and temper come out. While everything else in the world may have seemed gloomy yesterday, my children truly made me smile and be glad. They made eachother happy and I hope that they can continue to do so throughout their lifetime. I have seen so many siblings grow distant and angry with eachother and that truly makes me sad. Speaking as an only child it touches my heart to see my children love eachother. One of my many hopes as a parent is to foster that love so they will always have family.

Look what I did!!

http://www.realityracingtv.com

I submitted my application today! Insane, maybe, any chance they will actually contact me, doubtful. But I just had to put in an application. HA could you imagine....hey a girl has to have a dream right??

David's Theme Song

Don't wanna wait 'til you know me better
Let's just be glad for the time together
Life's such a treat and it's time you taste it
There ain't a reason on earth to waste it
It ain't a crime to be good to yourself

Chorus: Lick it up, lick it up, it's only right now
Lick it up, lick it up, ooh yeah Lick it up,
lick it up, come on, come on Lick it up, lick it up

Don't need to wait for an invitation
You gotta live like you're on vacation
There's something sweet you can't buy with money
- lick it up, lick it up
It's all you need, so believe me honey
It ain't a crime to be good to yourself

chorus Come on - it's only right now (it's only right now)
Ooh yeah (ooh yeah) ooh yeah (ooh yeah),
yeah yeah chorus repeats outsong

"Lick It Up" from album "THE VERY BEST OF KISS"

Not only did I get lips I got tongue as well. Lots of tongue jabbing at my mouth demanding entrance. Needless to say I was horrified, but I complied. It felt as though a very wet snake had snuck up on me while I was sleeping.

When David finally decided he needed air I was ready to run. One look from Sonia though kept me still. Everyone in that tire was waiting for my reaction and David seemed expectant. All I could think of was "can you kiss me a little slower this time, and with not so much tongue?" David actually smiled and said sure. This time when he kissed me it was sweet little pecks and a bit more relaxed exploring of eachother's mouths. What started out to be incredibly gross ended up being my starting ground for practicing the fine art of kissing boys and telling them how I like things done.

David and I were boyfriend and girlfriend into the summer that year. However, he moved away, out of Ohio, and we only wrote once or twice the next school year. I also found out that Sonia and I were the only two girls in our class to actually have frenched kissed boys. I learned a great deal that summer and my exploration of french kissing boys on the playground would not stop there. It seems I had received a bit of a reputation for knowing how to kiss properly. I am sure David made many of his future girl friends very happy and I like to think it all started with me asking for that sweet, tongueless, kiss.

20 year High School class reunion

No old jokes!!! I graduated in 19...19...1985!

The party starts tonight with a pre-party gathering at BW3s. I will be meeting my bestest girlfriends, sans husbands, to ridicule all our old classmates. Nah thats not true, Koko was friends with just about everyone and can't wait to possibly see some buds that I have not seen since graduation. Or at least since my last party when I left for college!

No kids either this weekend so I will be able to have wild rock star stories for you on Monday! HA lets get real here....I am old!

Things you learn on the Bus

Thanks to Master for the reminder of how much sex education can be learned on a school bus.

Thursday night while out to dinner with hubby and our two children, my little princess says to me "guess what a 5th grader did on the bus today?" I knew it was bound to happen and quickly looked at my husband who had my father's "oh boy" look on his face.

I smiled, really wanted to laugh, and asked her what she saw. "Eric kissed Ashley in the very back seat!" Well this news sent my little princess and the little prince (who is all of four) into giggles. My husband is "what, what are they doing on that bus!" I thought the whole thing was priceless and went into a discussion about where did Eric kiss Ashley and was informed on her cheek. I kept the whole conversation very light hearted, but my husband, he will be having heart failure when our daughter hits 13!

To all our Canadian friends...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Celebrity crush!!!

Vince Vaughn is in town today, he is doing a comedy troupe touring show! I never heard of this until a radio interview this a.m.

Should I *stalk* him....good lord that man is funny!

KISS, The Rock Group

David H. loved KISS, was a huge fan, carried drum sticks around with him everywhere. David and his best friend, Craig, would wear their faces painted once a month fashioned after Gene Simmons and Peter Criss. The girls loved those two boys and they were always a topic during the "cool" circle group time.

That same Spring that Sonia had decided on her mission she told me that David H. liked me. My hair was finally growing out of the Dorothy Hamil and I was catching up as to what music was hip. KISS was high on the list of most favorite bands thanks to "Beth I hear you calling". Craig and David wanted us to meet them after school one day so David could ask me to "go with him." Once again innocent Jen was in shock. "But Sonia I ride the Bus home and my mom calls at 3:30 to make sure I made it." "So what" was Sonia's response, "everyone thinks David is cute and he likes YOU!" Peer pressure is a mighty force mixed with the excitement of a cute boy saying he likes you. I was totally intoxicated and let my friend talk me into meeting with David. Sonia and I developed a plan whereby we would convince our mothers that I would go home with Sonia after school on Friday, go skating and spend the night at her house. That would leave us free to meet the boys after school, on the play ground, inside the big tractor tires.

I was incredibly nervous, enough to puke up lunch if I had eaten lunch that day. I don't think I said two words to anyone, but it seemed that our entire class knew we were meeting the boys after school and they were trying to get me to talk about it.

David likend himself after Peter Criss, however, he was more like Gene Simmons and I was about to find out how so in that tire. Being one of the original lachkey kids, I had my house key around my neck. So when stepping into the tire it swung down as we all had to hunch over. This was the closest I had ever been to a boy other than my Dad and I was about to pass out. David told me how cute I was and asked me "will you go with me?" All I could do was smile and said shyly YES. I knew it was coming but no one could have prepared me for what happened next.

The Bases

Kissing, why are they talking about kissing? What the heck is being frenched, oh god don't ask me, DON'T ASK ME! Mr. Codria saved me and told the girls it was time to break into our math groups. After this encounter I was in shock, confused and totally bewildered at the meanings behind the terms frenching and being felt up.

At the age of ten my parents were still the center of my universe. I did the only thing I could, being the curious type and one who cannot keep her mouth shut. It was at the dinner table when I blurted out "I need to know the bases!" My parents glanced at eachother with a strained perplexed look that clearly read our daughter is losing her mind. My Mom proceeds to ask why on earth I am asking about softball and basics I already know. My ten year old mind is trying to come up with an excuse. I made the decision to tell my parents about the discussion the girls had earlier that day. "Oh Boy" says my dad and he leaves the table. That is the night I had my first real sexual talk with my Mom. I learned what french kissing was all about and that boys actually like to feel your boobs. I distinctly remember being appalled and then saying "you mean dad touches your boobs??!!" At that point my Mom bursts out laughing and I can hear my Dad downstairs again saying "Oh Boy!" Mom gets me giggling and admits she had no clue what the bases actually were but began a discussion with me regarding what she knew. Going to bed that night I felt more knowledgeable and ready to face the girls. But was I really ready to face future questioning about if I had ever been kissed?

As the school year moved forward and the seasons were changing so was I. I was starting to leave my dolls behind and really noticing what boys were all about. I was going to the roller rink, the movies and having a great time with my new best friend. The cool circle group still discussed boys on a regular basis and how far everyone had gotten. I had escaped scrutiny until one Spring morning. My friend Sonia asked me straight out if I had ever kissed a boy. I think my ears were the color of blood but I answered honestly. Afterall, this was the only real friend I had made so far and felt safe. It was a wise choice, Sonia was a good friend and did not laugh or make fun of me. She only decided to make it her mission to see that I got my first kiss and protect me from the perceived cool crowd.

Thought excersise

I stole this from somewhere...been meaning to post it for awhile.

You can travel backward in time and relive any three days (3 opportunities @ 1 day per -- not necessarily a single three day stretch, although that's OK if you want) in earth's history.

You will be impervious to harm and invisible to the participants. You can't change history. Also, you can never disclose or otherwise use anything you learn for financial gain (e.g. your motives should not be financial or personal gain -- rather curiosity, aestheticism, seeing your wife's sister in the shower when she was 17, etc., etc.)

So what three days do you pick? You have only 60 seconds to decide. Begin.

Tagged by GK

7 things I plan to do before I die:

-See my children into adulthood (that being careers, signficant others, grandchildren, good/happy lives)
-Travel to Hungary and make contact with any realtives still alive
-Travel to Hawaii for a 2nd honeymoon
-Learn to play an instrument
- play golf
-drive a race car
-beat my husband at Stratego

7 things I can do:

-speed read
-talk like an acutioneer
-cook like my grandmothers
-make my children feel love
-catch a 90 mile per hour pitched baseball
-multi task
-day dream


7 things I cannot do:

-run
-sing
-stand on my head
-play piano
-eat tomatos
-watch horros movies
-spit

7 things that attract me to another person:

-beautiful eyes
-good sense of humor
-kissable lips
-ability to listen
-ability to have empathy and understanding
-love of children
-adventursome

7 things I say most often:

-good gravy
-shit
-I am going to count to 5!
-oh please
-woo hoo
-how are you and mean it
-shit (I know but 7 is a hard number)

7 celebrity crushes:

-Billy Joe Armstrong
-Johnny Resnick
-Will Smith
-Jon Bon Jovi
-David Cassidy
-Vince Vaughn
-Scott Baio

I would do the tag thing but it appears almost everyone else has performed this little task, however, EmRugBurn does not get off the hook so easy...update girl!

First Kiss

I was just a child when I had my first kiss and so innocent. Many of us were they same way, a chaste kiss to the cheek or quick peck on the lips is usually the way a first kiss occurs. In the life of Jen, not so.

In the fourth grade I lived in the main City School District here. I was blissfully innocent in regard to boys. Oh sure they chased us and we played Charlie's Angels, but we never went beyond "oh Billy Joe is soooo cute!" By the fourth grade most of us were starting to wear training bras and a few girls had the all out snap in the back bra. We knew our bodies were changing but did not go beyond giggling about little girl things. I was still into the Muppets and Kermit the Frog at that point in my life.

Then we moved. My father switched from the EPA to Rockwell International and my parents felt it was time we moved to the suburbs and into a bigger home. The transition was difficult for me and it did not help that my mom decided this was the time to cut my hair ala Dorothy Hamill. Starting fifth grade and the first two weeks of school were hard. Hard is such an understatement for a pubescent ten year old girl. I was behind academically and, it became obvious to me, socially as well. These kids seemed to be light years beyond my knowledge about everything, music, boys, homework. I was finally befriended by Sonia and other girls came around to me once they learned I played softball.

One afternoon, during free time, five of us girls were sitting on the carpeted bean bag "cool" area. I was tragically unhip and was only beginning to understand what "cool" was. I was still new to all that was around me and to these girl's social circle. I remember Lisa distinctly stating "lets talk about the bases!" I was excited and thought "finally, something I know about, softball and baseball."

I sent my baby off!

Today was my boy's first day of Pre-School. He will be attending this P-S on Tuesdays and Thursdays a full day. We picked out his outfit, packed his backpack, hugged and kissed his sister as she was catching the bus and off we went.

I was all smiles and excitement for my baby. He is a shy boy and does not like large crowds with lots of noise. Little prince surprised me upon entering the school. The lady at the front desk said his name and greeted prince with a warm hello. Prince responded back with a big HI and a wave. The lady smiled and said how wonderful he is not shy. Mommy was delighted and a bit relieved!

Prince's neighbor boy friend "Sammie" will also be attending Pre-School on the same days as him. Thank the stars that Sammie was already in the gym and had started P-S last week! We greeted Prince's teachers and they showed us the classrooms the preschoolers would be using. Sammie went along and was the tour guide extraordinre. Several other little boys had come to say hello to little Prince and he was well on his way to making new friends.

Once we returned to the gym I announced to Prince that it was time Mommy went to work. I asked him for our ritual goodbye "kissy and huggies". I bent down and he whispered "just huggies Mommy."

And the hits keep happening

I am usually one that can buck up and keep going. But as the title of this post indicates my family gets hit again. My mom takes care of my 93 year old granny. Granny fell this weekend and broke her pelvis and cut her head open (30 stitches). It happened at 6:30 a.m. while she was getting out of bed. My mom had a hell of time getting her up off the floor and the bleeding stopped.

My mom has a sister that leaves in the same city as me. She has not been down to check on my mom and granny. My frustration is through the roof but my mother has asked me to hold back and just help in getting the arrangements in place for my granny to return to the nursing home here. Granny spent last winter (Sept through April) at this wonderful nursing home but wanted to return home for the summer.

I am having a difficult time dealing with my emotions. That helplessness is creeping back in today, I feel selfish and just want to break down and scream. Or just eat a pint of ice cream. I hate being an adult!

Katrina Timeline

From Wheezus!
http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

On the lighter side of things

1.What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done to your hair?
I had to cut it in high school really short. I hated my Senior pics and you can tell by the look on my face. I always had long hair except when my mom made me get the Dorothy Hamill cut and then the high school fiasco. That is why I don't stray too far from what I like.

2.Who gave you your name, and how did they choose it? My parents could not decide so they put three sets of names in a hat and pulled one. Hence I became a Jen.

3.What gives you the creeps? Spiders...ewww....*shudder*

4.What relative do you most resemble in personality? This is a tough one. I would say my mom and my godmother/auntie. I am becoming too much like my mom in my parenting skills and I need to work on that a bit. There is quite a bit a disagree with when it comes to how she disciplined me in childhood and what sometimes I catch myself doing with my kids. My auntie and I shared a lot of the same beliefs and she was my 2nd mom. I got my temper from her and it seems she and my mom shared the same sense of humor. I got that from both.

5.How did you come up with the name of your blog? Does it mean anything, or is it nonsense? *giggles* This started as a place for me to come and moan about how I felt ignored and that no one listened to me. I literally talk to myself frequently and thought this would be a place just for me to get out some emotions. It quickly became something more and I am glad for that. I have met some great people and I am able to continue online friendships through this blog. Plus I can be a huge DAW sometimes so that is a bonus. I think I should rename this thing "Laughing at Myself" which I tend to do a lot.

Life and Katrina

I have been a blog ho this week. I have visited many blogs and read many different opinions about the Hurricane relief effort. I am saddened and angry about the whole situation and hate the feeling of helplessness that has engulfed my life in the last two weeks. I watched the destruction while sitting next to my mother's hospital bed for four days. I listened to Doctors, Nurses and all other manner of hospital employees despair over the situation in our Gulf region. Collections were being taken up immediately and from my Mom's hospital bed she wrote a check. "We do what we can Jenny and keep moving forward".

Ah she called me "Jenny". That does not happen often, mostly when she is scared, worried or upset. That is my little girl name and it bothered me that my mom was truly scared. So I have bottled up my helplessness, put on the stern face of an adult, and am moving forward. We can't change what happened last week only make things better today and for the future.

Give what support you can and speak out to make things better. We need to be a strong nation, united in how we approach the future. I am impressed and amazed at the outpouring of concern shown in so many blogs. It gives me hope and assured me that I am not helpless, either in my personal life or in my community.

Heart Attack

My mom had a heart attack on Monday. She is doing well and is now resting comfortably at home. She is one of the luckiest woman I know. She had one blocked artery and had a heart cath and stint put in. There is no damage to her heart muscle or other arteries. Needless to say this has been a stressful week and I need some rest myself.

I am back at work and will be glad to read some of my favorite blogs. My friends here are extremely entertaining and continue to lift my spirits when I feel down. If I don't say it enough thank you all for sharing so much of yourself.

P.S. My mom and I have a quirky sense of humor when it comes to stressful situations. So Monday night while I was on the phone with my mom and the squad was just arriving she said "Don't kill yourself to get down here Mario!" Only my mom would remind me about that, and it was such a huge coincidence that I had written out the Mario story here that I had the chance to laugh at a moment when I was very frightened.

The Chase

I had three girls screaming at me all at once. I yelled at my friends to shut up, buckle up and let me think. I was in fast forward mode and was squealing tires out of the parking lot. My goal was not to get trapped by the four cars that were pursuing us.

"T" was rational enough to make a few suggestions. "Just drive to your house, your mom will take care of it!" Oh yeah, like I am going to let these yahoos know where I live so that I may be tormented forever! "Ok, go to the police station, they won't follow us there!" Alright another brilliant idea! And what will we tell the police??!! Excuse us but we were just in a fight at another high school and now those bad kids are following us. I was not in the mood to get caught, suspended, volleyball career over, and the possible grounding that would come from my parents.

During this sarcasm laded conversation, I am flying through the backroads of small town Ohio just to get to the freeway unscathed. If I could just get someplace I knew, the idiots chasing us would not have a chance. So where does a novice teenage girl like myself decide is her turf? The mall. I know every inch of every street surrounding our local mall. If I was going to lose those turdwhackers I was going to have to drive to someplace I could get to quickly. By this point my speeding is raising the alarm in my two friends in the back seat and they are begging me to just stop or go home. No way, those two idiot girls started us on this path and I was not going to turn back. "T's" response "Alright Mario, but could you please slow down a little!"

During the small town Ohio chase I was able to lose two of the cars following us. I still had two cars hot on my tail and knew I was pushing the limits of how fast I had ever driven, let alone the speed at which I knew the Mustang could go. The mall exist was coming up fast and I had to make an on the spot decision. One of the cars was right behind me and I was in the far left lane, cruising at about 80. Checking my mirrors I decided I could beat the Semitruck in the right lane just in time to hit the exit. I gunned it and made a sweeping move across the lanes and made the off ramp just in time. The car behind me had no choice but to keep on going. That left one car, a Firebird, that was still giving chase. That boy could see what was happening and reacted by hitting the off ramp right behind me.

I was starting to panic thinking I am never going to lose this guy. I decided to turn into the mall parking lot knowing that the mall was closed. If I could get through the lot and hit the other side leading to some neighborhood we could park undetected. No such luck as the Firebird dude was hot on my ass.

I learned from my two cousins that when in a fight or flight situation sometimes turning around and going to the fight might work to your advantage. I had seen them do this while playing chicken on four wheelers. It only took about 5 seconds for me to decide to turn that steering wheel leading me into a 180 towards our pursuer. The Firebird dude never knew what hit him as he attempted to follow suit and crashed into a lamp post.

And that started my career as Mario aka Koko the international race car driver.

Pain

Geez you would think I have not gone through giving birth or had a bunch of surgeries in the past three years. I have been so whiney with this back stuff this week I almost can't stand myself!

I went to the Chiro yesterday afternoon and he did an adjust and gave me a treatment for the sciatic nerve problem. That helped a bit and I am going back again tomorrow. I am able to walk a little better but still feel and look crooked.

Tonight my friend and I are taking our daughters to the Hilary Duff concert. Oh boy....as if having this hurt back was making me feel old, now I am going to this concert with my 8 year old and goodness knows how many other young screaming fan girls. I think I should have gotten prescription drugs instead of an adjust. This coming from the woman who loved Green Day. You would think I could handle a little pain and Hilary Duff.

My princess is so excited though so being the best mommy I can I smiled this morning, helped her get her outfit together and took her to the sitter's where she immediately began talking about what to do with her hair. Um, is she still 8? Really, she is so cute about the whole thing and I had to explain at least three times that she would not really get to meet Hilary or maybe not even see her that well. We will be taking the binoculars so hopefully she will not be too disappointed.

Oh and GK, icey hot next to the bed!! LOL It ws all the walking and rollar coasters people...I am old!