{crazyjen}

Back at it: Scrapbooking Art Journal

I did a couple scrapbook pages yesterday. Yes, it's been a very long time. I, to tell you the truth, have not been in the mood and when I'm not in the mood there is no point in forcing the issue because then I'd be wasting my time.

So I did a couple pages I thought you might want to see. Here is my album of other images I did for this Art Journal

Operation 20: Myself in 3 words: Tenacious, Creative and Passionate. Those are the very first words that came in my head. The very first. I couldn't even think of anything else.

Tenacious and creative are basically self-explanatory but passionate I think I want to explain. I mean passionate as in I feel passionate about things; my family, love, life, photography...stuff like that.

Um...I'm loving this picture of my eyes too. I've been looking for a reason to use it. The first word I think of when I see it is provacative, second; intense, 3rd; "I want you to want me...." (bonus points if you know the song and band who sings it)

Operation 24: Water - Nothing exciting here. I just love this picture of the Gulf from Siesta Key in Sarasota, FL. the Journaling is simple it just says, "Paradise. I love the ocean...the smell, the feel the sounds...water*seashore." Nothing soul-searching or intense.

Operation 25: Play - The journalling says, "Things that make me laugh, enjoy life, play, have fun and smile."

"my niece and nephew, a new friend, my fam., a good movie, a witty joke, vacations, feeling good, pinochle, a bike ride (motorcycle), my ipod, taking a good picture, mini  golf and the Twins." those were the first things in my head.

Jack pulled at my heartstrings.

So last night I had to stop at my sister's place to get the Gatorade I left there for my softball game. I was just going to sneak in and out but I wanted to talk to her and see the kidlets for a couple minutes.

I ended up playing with Jack for about 15 minutes, which always makes me happy and he likes it too. :) Anyways, I was going to leave and Jack got mad of course.

I asked him for a hug and he came over and gave me one and as he's moping over he says, "Don't go Jen." - ahhh....that pulled at my heartstrings. He's never said that before. Mad me sad that I had to leave. Of course as I'm walking up the stairs he cried pretty hard, just temper tears but it still tugged at me. God I'm a sap but I can't help loving my nephew.

That got me to thinking...maybe that's why I love kids so much. They aren't screwed up yet. They say what's on their mind. They're honest. They don't hold back. You don't have to worry about interpreting what someone says. They'll say things like, "Don't Go." I need that sometimes. That uninhibited gesture like, "Don't go Jen, stay with me, I need you." It's nice to feel needed sometimes. :)

Okay, just thought I'd throw that out there.

Busy Weekend

Okay, my weekend was super busy and I mean busy busy busy. In a good way though. I did a ton of fun stuff and had an awesome time. That being said, I was a bit worn out last night and didn't really feel like doing anything on the computer. Shocking! Scandal! Holy F*cking Sh*t! Hell hath frozen over! :) (note the massive amounts of sarcasm there.)

So I'll be posting tonight. all of my stories and pictures (a ton) and all that jazz. k?

Just to give you an idea of what happened here are some key words/phrases (not necessarily said by me, just so you know.)

"That's sick!"

"We used the mushrooms as boobs."

"Those must be for a Harbal."

"rrrrrrrRon!"

Darth Vader

"Jed, what's gotten into you? You're catching the ball?"

"Is that a p*rn? Can we watch it?"

Ice Cream Sundaes and Vegetable Brides

Okay, that's enough for now.

Megan Bailey Wedding

One of my second cousins once removed or whatever got married this weekend. :) She's my mother's father's brother's daughter's daughter. So whatever that makes me to her and vice versus.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the wedding. I'll go in chronological order of how I took pictures. Which means you won't see the bride first. Ooops.

Waiting in our "Harbal" pew for the wedding to start. That's Michelle on the left, the fuzzy one, then Auntie Shelly's head, the car seat for Gracie, nnnnnNick, Kimmie reading her program, Auntie Sheila hoping she won't cry and then my mother, observing it all, scolding us for talking. (we are naughty children)

That's Megan and her Dad. Doesn't she look beautiful? I was loving that dress. Simple, elegant with just enough bling to make it sparkly and fun. I loved the neckline too, the v-neck. See I can't always pull that off 'cause it dips too low into my cleavage which means I end up look trashy instead of the effect Megan has off elegant. Ah well.

I was also lovin' the flowers. Red roses, my all time fav. They smell sooooo nice and are beautiful and so velvety to the touch. Gotta love that.

Here's a close up.

Here's a shot from the back. Kimmie was in love with her veils. Absolutely loved them and I'm like, "Kimmie, yours are nice too." Ther's Mike on the right. He looked so happy, just a grin on his face. It was cute. Alright, he's a bit too old for cute so maybe I should say it was endearing.

Here's a view from our pew. This isn't the most exciting picture on the planet but I love to get the guests in the picture I think it gives it some depth and soemthing other than walls to look at.

Here's Mom taking everyone's pictures. She's worse than me. So I had to get one of her. She was teasing Jamie, taking her picture, because Jamie hates that.

Here's one of my lovely sisters and her child, Gracie (well, Grace but I have to give her a nickname, so Gracie it is). Gracie wasn't happy for most of the service. She was a little touchy. Which is extremely strange because she sat through and hour Catholic wedding not two weeks earlier with no problems. What a brat.

They had a lady from Mantorville bring her team of two draft horses to pull them around after the wedding. So here's Megan and Mike in their carriage. Too cool. Sorry about the lighting, I should have gotten closer and used the flash but I didn't want to disrupt the actual photographer. So this is what you get.

Here's one of my first cousins who actually likes having her picture taken by me. :) Hey 'Raci. (That's short for Traci. See, when Tara was little she couldn't say Traci, so she said 'Raci and that just stuck for me. So that's her nickname)

Farewell newly married couple! I hope your marriage is the best it could be! So at the reception we had to fill out a little card with marital advice and this is what I wrote,

"Be partners, be lovers, be friends." Now that I think about it I should have added at the end, "and not always in that order." :)

Wait. stop. I forgot. So I've got a story. Well, it's really not a story but a comment, actually two so...

anywho, Michelle, Kim, Chris, Nick and the two babies sat at the same table. Each table had a cake in the middle. Ours was this chocolate kind of black forest cherry-cake looking thing with fake frosting (ick). So we started looking around at the other round tables to see if they had the same cakes and they didn't. There was a completely chocolate cake, an oreo cake and a red velvet cake. It just so happened that the red velvet cake was at the table next to us and nobody and I mean nobody was sitting there. So we were going to go over and steal it but the table next to us wanted it to. So we kept going back forth with them about the cake. It was hilarious. It was playful banter. We said, "We saw it first." They said, "Well, your table doesn't have a number on it so we have priority." So Nick grabbed the number from the vacant table and put it on ours and changed the number from 9 to 1. It was funny. Our final play was going to be to go over and take a lick of it and then we'd claim it but we didn't. We did run over and cut our pieces of cake though. It had real cream cheese frosting. Ahhh...something I could eat. Although it was so rich I ate maybe 1/3 of it.

So the other comment...Michelle, Kim and I are relentless, pesky, diligent, annoying, tenacious and crazy at weddings. Oh yeah, we kept banging on our glasses all night. It was hilarious. The funny thing is that we were the only ones usually. People just didn't fall in line. We were disappointed but it sure was fun being a pest. :)

Update!

I had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out yesterday. They knocked me out so I didn't have to hear or see anything. That was nice. It was a fairly quick procedure. Thomas (Kimmie's Thomas) was there to drive me home and he said I was in an out in about 20-30 minutes. I spent more time in recovery waking up then actually having the procedure done. Quick work I guess.

So...I have three drugs I'm supposed to take:

1. some kind of codine for pain which I took one of and didn't need anymore (which is sweet because they made my brain fuzzy). My pain tolerance must be pretty friggin' high I guess. I thought I was getting vicadin but I guess not.

2. a steroid to help with swelling. Dude, I'm on roids, that's funny. I told the Doc that and he laughed and said, "They aren't the kind that'll help you in softball though." I just chuckled (as best I could with a mouth full of gauze and a swollen face which Thomas said I looked like a chipmunk).

3. Penicillan to help with infection or whatever. I don't think I have any infection yet or my mouth would hurt.

Here's a story for you. So Thomas and I leave the doctor's and go to Cash Wise to get my drugs. I'm still a little wobbly from the sleeping crack they gave me so I'm hobbling along like an old lady squeezing poor Thomas's arm. Hopefully nobody thinks I was hitting on my little sister's man. That wouldn't be good (I'm serious).

We get up to the pharmacy counter and I give my stuff to the dude who can't be much older than me if at all. He goes away and fills my order. Then, of course, there is a problem. Always is. I'm sitting in the waiting area, freezing my ass off because all of the a/c vents are right there. Nice. I get up, slowly hobble over trying to make sure I don't tip over 'cause I'm dizzy from the drugs and this other much older guy tells me that my health cards aren't running through. Needless to say, but I was supremely pissed off. I said, "That's just great. It worked the last time I was here. Whatever." So then I get back to the punk kid I had before and he starts to ring me up and he knew Thomas (had to add that part) and said, "She's pretty scary that's why I had the older guy tell her." I kind of chuckled at that because it was funny. I must have looked pretty bad, well I was mad too because I had to cough the stuff up out of my own pocket and now deal with getting reimbursed. F*cking A...that's irritating. At some point I might have said, "Look at me, can I just get my drugs and go home?"

Okay, I should probably say after that story that I really felt good, I did, besides being dizzy, woozy, being hungry and thirsty, having a mouth full of blood and gauze, a swollen jaw and feeling guilty for making Thomas come with me on his day off. I just got annoyed because I wanted my drugs and not to have to mess around with insurance crap at the time. Yes, I know but it shouldn't be that difficult. :) Thomas and the kid laughed at me though so I must have had a streak of funny to go along with the mean-looking thing I had going on. :)

Okay, that's enough for now. I'm going to go now, swish this blood out of my mouth and eat some pudding. Maybe I'll try and finish my Star Wars movie I wanted to watch.

Buh bye.

Moving...the last of it.

So I moved out the rest of my stuff from the apt. in Wisconsin. I only took what I really needed last May so there was some stuff left. Dad and Kim went with me to help. We had Guy and Michelle's little trailer. We packed it full and the back of Mom's little S10 truck (yes I realize that I'm being redundant by saying S10 truck because S10's are trucks but that's just in case someone doesn't know what an S10 is).

I didn't realize how much sh*t I had until I got there and started staring at it. Here are the thoughts that ran through my head.

• Holy f*cking hell! That was my first thought.
• This is going to take forever. F*ck! I wanted this to be quick.
• My next thought, okay, no way am I going to be able to take all of it. There isn't enough room.
• Sh*t, what to take and what to leave.
• I need a plan. Okay, start with the clothes. I haven't needed them for a year so what makes me think I'll need them now. Okay, go through plastic bins, pick out stuff you really absolutely truly want (which wasn't much) and put the rest in garbage bags, donate to goodwill or something. Kimmie can pick out some stuff too.
• Okay, "Dad, hold open this bag while I throw stuff in it. Keep the other bag for stuff I want to keep."
• Plan A done. Next, "okay, Dad and Kimmie, haul out this stuff downstairs that I know I want (pictures, accounting books, Grandma's stuff I am keeping) The rest we'll leave.
• Next, pull out all crockery, kitchen ware, dishes that I want.
• "Kimmie, if I ever want to buy anything that isn't useful again, stop me. I'm serious. Who needs all this stuff. Sh*t. What a f*cking pack-rat. I'm burning half this sh*t when we get home." Okay, I really don't have that much stuff it just annoyed me. I had clothes, DVDs, CD's, pictures, board games, kitchen stuff and scrapbooking stuff. Doesn't really sound like much until it starts to add up.
• stop: yes, I'm swearing a lot but it was appropriate.
• Next, "Kimmie, box up all this kitchen stuff."
• Next, use empty clothes tubs for scrapbooking albums and some misc. embellishments and papers I really wanted and I mean really wanted. The rest I'm leaving and Ryan can donate it or give it to a school. It'll get more use than sitting around with me. Kimmie picked out some stuff too.
• Box up my DVD's and VHS (yes, I still have those, why toss 'em when my player still works?). I left him the ones I said I would. He was definitely not keeping my Star Wars Triologies (or all six, whatever that is. octology? or is that eight? math people?), my LOTR or Indiana Jones. Oh no. He's had them long enough. I've been jonesing for some Star Wars lately. (sometimes I'm such a guy :)
• Okay, is that it? Yep, let's move it out. Wait, can't forget my bowl chair (Paupasson sp?). The only thing besides the dvd's that I really have been wanting since I moved home.
• So then the inevitable strapping everything down, making sure the plastic around it was snug (there was a possibility of rain), clamping down any loose ends and making sure the trailer could hold the weight.

All done. "On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again." Phewww...

So a couple comments that were made on the road that made me crack up.

J to D (Jen to Dad): "If I'm the Road Warrior then Kim must be the Road Napper." Every trip she's on she is constantly napping. Basically she slept the whole way there and on the way back about half the time.

Dad: "Jeez, if I would have known that old heifer was gonna turn I would have went." God that made me laugh, just the way he said it. It was hilarious. He was waiting to pull out from the gas station and waited for this old lady in a buick b/c he thought she was going straight.

Awesome Thursday!

I had a really super good Thursday. Oh yeah, awesome, wicked, the whole she-bang. A couple of reasons really.

1. I found out my medical insurance is going to cover all of my wisdom teeth extraction. Who-hoo. I thought I was going to have to pony up about $1,200. That was a load off my mind.
2. Gas went down about $0.06.
3. My Dad called unexpectantly and took my sister and I out for lunch in the Cities. I love surprises like that. The best part, um...besides his company, was the fact that he paid. Gotta love that.
4. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Somewhere in the lower 70's, breezy, dark blue white cloudy sky. Perfect.
5. We took Jack to the playground and had a blast!
6. My pants seem to be a lot looser. Yippee!
7. I finished all of my work, my entire "to do" list at work and had time to spare. Oh yeah, I was on a freight train roll yesterday. It felt good.
8. I went on a mini Motorcycle trip yesterday. I rode behind Ryan (Chris's and my friend) and Chris had no passengers (he isn't allowed yet). It was great to be on the open road. I never thought I'd like riding a motorcycle as much as I do. I beg, yes you heard me, beg for rides all the time. I'm like a broken record. "Um...Ryan, do you want to go for a bike ride?" "Um, hey Ryan, want to give me a ride on your bike?" "Hey Ryan, it's a beautiful day, how about a bike ride?" It was the perfect day, it was warm enough that I wasn't cold. I wore my fatbaby's (newer cowgirl boots), jeans and a heavy sweatshirt and was perfectly fine. My face is a little windburnt but other than that. I'm good.
9. The Taste of Summer was at my local grocery store, Cash-Wise which basically meant free food all over the place so my dinner was free tonight.

So basically I was in a stellar mood. Absolutely stellar. So hopefully this Friday the 13th doesn't rain on my parade. :)

Words that ring true.

Just some words that I read on a blog today that rang true for me.

"On its worst days, the world is full of much more good than evil, more kindness than contempt,  and more hope than resignation. Otherwise, we could not long continue the struggle called Life." words from Rolfe Neill, publisher and writer of The Charlotte Observer October 1975-January 1998 ]

This got me to thinking...Life is a constant struggle. Everyone can admit to this. There is often more struggle than good things, which is a shame. Or, maybe we just concentrate on all the struggle instead of thinking about what is good. Shouldn't the good outweigh the bad on the proverbial scale? Even if the quantity of good isn't as much as the bad, shouldn't the quality of good outweigh the bad? Or is it not a matter of quality and quantity? Is it a matter of getting past the struggle and not letting it take you on a wild rollercoaster ride on the tally sheet of good and bad? Isn't that really how you get past it? Deal with the struggle and get to the good stuff. Kind of like eating dinner. Eat all your veggies so you can eventually get to the dessert? :)

These are just some thoughts that have been weighing down my mind. Sometimes it helps to talk it out (which I've done) or write it down. I chose both I guess. Sometimes I am more articulate when writing than talking. Sometimes I can't form a sentence together with two hands some letters and super glue. :)

Here is a post I just found too that has some stuff that was pretty potent.  I'm putting just the snippets that I found particularly thought-provoking.

"and now, i am almost xxyrs old. how have i become? what were some of the moments, small + significant that held meaning, life-changing direction?...i know it's a combination, layers and layers of experiences, heartache, love, friendship, the dynamics of loneliness, family. it leaves me in awe right now. about how we become."

"i just wonder. how magic happens. how, inside (and despite) our life experiences, we find our groove, our flow. how one day we have it, and the next day we might not. inside the curl of all this wondering, i return to the memory of how i made it here to this wondrous place where i live and work inside a creative life. it's the most recent significant event in my life and has surely changed my course in ways beyond measure. it was this: i did something i didn't think i could do. it had nothing to do with living a creative life and everything to do with finding my strength, testing my boundaries, and uncovering the layers of muck on my heart. under the muck was me. artsy. inspired. wide awake. and wide open."

My favorite line from this was "uncovering the layers of muck on my heart." I had two thoughts almost simultaneously.

1. I must have about a foot of crap around my heart. Didn't Bruce Springsteen say something about having a heavy heart? That's me. Sheesh, that sounds dramatic.

2. I am a fairly practical person. Black and white, by the book, fair and unfair. I'm an Accountant for pete's sake, that should say it all. I think logically, strategically, plus and minus's. But despite my very realistic qualities I have some complete opposite personality traits like creativity, imagination, a romantic mind. Sometimes I think more with my heart and what I feel than my logical head. Many times I wear my heart on my sleeve. I cry. I am nostalgic. Anyway, the point is I was thinking I need to peel off some of those layers of dirt so I can get back to me. Take some of the crap I've unloaded on my heart and do a little spring cleaning...um so to speak.

Jesus, I just re-read this post and I'm a bit dramatic today. I've had a lot on my mind I guess.

daily something pics

some of my latest daily something pics.

5.11.08 "Sunday Softball" - my cousin Tara hitting the ball at the Diamonds during her game. Sorry about the bad timing. Wish I could have gotten a shot of her making contact.

5.12.08 "Bedroom Eyes #2" -Just one of me laying in my bed. Maybe I should title it "look into my eyes!" I read in a book once that when a woman gives a guy the "googly eyes" you know, trys to turn on the charm using a look like this one, it's called "turning on those blue headlights" or something like that. Feels appropriate here, doesn't it?

I like to take pictures of me when I'm actually wearing my contacts which isn't often. Taking pics of people who wear glasses, my self included, isn't easy. I'm hoping you're distracted by the eyes to not notice the no make-up un-even skin-tone issue. I seriously considered going b&w for this one.

Well, okay, here it is.

Not too bad either. Anyways, I took this picture because I didn't take a picture of me in my black dress skirt, black tights and black high heel pointy-toed shoes. I forgot to take that picture. See I don't wear skirts very often. They are a nuisance. I have to remember to keep my legs closed or crossed, movement isn't as easy and the inevitable wearing of tickets that make my legs itch. Anyways, I think I've spent entirely too much time on narcissim for the evening. Can I just say one last thing...my legs looked pretty hot in that skirt though. :)

5.13.08 - "Succulent Florida Oranges" - don't they look juicy, scrumptuous, mouth-watering, sweet? Oh yeah. They were. Fresh oranges I had sent up from Venice, Florida (on the gulf coast south of Tampa). Oh so sweet...just like me. :) LOL

5.14.08 "Thomas on Concentration" aka Thomas playing expert on Guitar Hero on Wii. He's pretty serious about his playing. He's wicked fast too or as I say "crazy."

more random blathering and my cute little nephew

So last night I get to my sister's house because I promised her I'd babysit so her and her husband could go out to eat without da babies. Kind of like a mini vacation and I walk in the door and I say, "Jackster!" and he comes running over. But um...that was bad because he was supposed to be in time-out for sitting on his sister's head. So there was some screaming 'cause he wanted to come over and see me but he was in trouble and couldn't.

After that debacle I pick him up, kiss his cheekies (cause they are fat and cute and that's my show of affection other than hugging and telling him I missed him and love him. yeah, I get it all forms of love in there.) and he starts telling me about his day. Then I ask him, "Jack, who loves you the most?" He points at me and says, enthusiastically, "Jen!" then I laugh, diabolically, and he says "Jen, Jen, Jen." Awww...I love my nephew. I know I am #2 on his favorite list behind Gramps but that's okay. I'm #1 when Gramps isn't around and that's a lot. :) I take what I can get.

So later on after we took him to the playground (me and Gramps) and Michelle and I are driving back home I say, "Jack, who loves you the most?" and points to Michelle and says, "Mumma!" We laugh and then I say, "Jack, who do you love the most?" and he again, points and says, "Mumma!" So we laugh and chuckle yet again. So my last question is "Jack, how'd you get so cute?" and he points at Michelle and says, "Mumma!" I couldn't stop laughing. It was so cute and I think Mitchelley was touched because little kids really don't appreciate their parents and this was his way of doing that. :)

So this next bit is completely off topic but I was thinking about all the sayings and special wordings we have in my family. Like...

• we call Shrimp, shrimpies (Dad started it)
• crappies as in the fish I call crap-ies as in poo.
• picking vegetables is code for doing the nasty, the chitty chitty bang bang, you get the idea (sorry, did I forget to mention that this blog is occassionally not PG?)
• nutbag - that's a crazy person or you do something nuts
• "are you on crack" that means "are you crazy" or "what's wrong with you?"

That's all I can think of right now but it's pretty funny.