Jenni's Life Perceptions

Flipswap

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:46:00 +0000

If you're anything like me, you have a zillion old cell phones lying around your house. We actually had 5 of them, and I would guess there are still a few hiding somewhere. It's bad for the environment to just throw the phones in the trash, so it's best to recycle them. I just heard about a really cool website called Flipswap that allows you to put in all of the information about your old phones, and it will give you a trade-in price. You can either have them cut you a check for that amount, or you can donate it to charity.

Our 5 ancient phones are fetching us $5.00, $4.20, $4.75, and for the oldest two, they're recycling them and planting two trees. And they will be GONE from my house, which eliminates a lot of junk and extra wires, of which we have plenty already. Once you put in all of the details on their website, you just print out a pre-paid shipping label, stick them in a box and send them off to Flipswap.

If you're cleaning up for the new year and trying to be a bit more eco-friendly in the process, I recommend giving it a looksee.

So Thankful

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:20:00 +0000

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought I would name a few of the things I am most thankful for, in no particular order...

- My amazing husband Glenn. We've been together over 13 years now (still not sure how that's possible!) and married for 4, and he's still my best friend. I'm so lucky to have a husband who supports me when I'm at my highest and lowest, always lets me know I'm loved and can always make me smile. I am a lucky, lucky girl.
- My wonderful parents. They raised me well, loved me and helped me soar. I can always count on my parents to cheer my successes and give me advice when I need it. I am so lucky to have parents who are also friends.
- My four crazy kitties, Bailey, Zoey, Kenny and Sophie. They keep me company while I work from home, and give me lots and lots and lots of love.
- My incredible friends. In girl scouts we learned to make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. I'm so lucky to have some of those "golden" friends...both those that have been there all along, and those who I've just recently rediscovered. And so many new "silver" friends who have been such an indispensable support system as I've started my business.
- My business, Perceptivity Studio. I quit my job on November 1st last year and can't believe how quickly this year has gone. Looking back at all of the work I've done this past year, I'm amazed at all I've accomplished, and so proud of the work I've done for my clients. Going out on my own has allowed me to really be "creative" again, so much more so than when I was working for someone else, and it means a lot to me to have a portfolio of work I'm proud of. I'm so lucky do get to do what I love every day.
- My "commute" (or lack therefore of). As I was driving down 275 this morning to take Sophie to get fixed (Yeah, did I mention she's in heat? Delightful!), I was reminded how grateful I am to work from home. I used to spend about 1.5 - 2 hours every day in traffic driving to South Tampa, and now I get up and walk down the hall. You can't beat it.
- Being an American. Even with our country in an economic crisis, we are still so blessed to live here. I have a roof over my head, food in my pantry and so many nice things surrounding me. It's easy to focus on the negative right now, but even when our country is in bad shape, it's still so much better off than so many others around the world, and we are so lucky to be here. And I'm also thankful that Obama will become our president in January, and hopeful for how he will change the direction our country has taken.
- My health, and my family and friends' health. Enough said. May we all continue to be happy and healthy.

I'm sure there are many more, but I think that sums it up. I said it many times throughout this post, but it bears repeating: I am such a lucky girl. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people and things in my life, on Thanksgiving and always.

If you're reading this, thank you for reading, and thank you for being my friend. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Don't Vote, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:44:00 +0000

I just saw the new Don't Vote video, and I think this one is just as great as the first one. Maybe not as hysterical as the first one (which did get a bit crass), but so well done, and it actually brought tears to my eyes when they were listing their reasons.

So GO VOTE on Tuesday!

Don't vote.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:13:00 +0000

I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. Life is good, and I've been super-busy with work, which is a good thing. And since my to-do list is still quite long, here is the reason I'm taking time out of my day to blog. (There is some profanity, FYI.)

Really, really great message. Both funny and poignant. While I'm sure you are all already registered, if not, what are you waiting for? Hurry up! And don't forget to pass this along.

Homicidal oven

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:35:00 +0000

My oven tried to kill me last night...it felt kind of like a scene out of Final Destination.

I was broiling some chicken for dinner, and unloading the dishwasher while it cooked, when all of the sudden there were blue sparks coming at me and a really loud buzzing noise that sounded kind of like the garbage disposal. I screamed bloody murder because it scared me half to death, which of course scared Glenn half to death from upstairs in the office. It stopped very shortly thereafter and the whole oven just died. Thankfully I wasn't touching it when it decided to self-destruct, and it didn't set a fire or anything either. But man, my heart almost jumped out of my chest in the process!

So now I have to figure out how to fix an oven. From Googling "oven blue sparks" I found out it was probably the element blowing out, and hopefully it will be an easy fix. While I'm not the greatest chef in the world by any stretch of the word, it's a pain not to have an oven, stove, timer or clock in the kitchen! :P

Double Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:52:00 +0000

OK, I realize that there are most likely a ton of double standards over on my side of the political arena as well, but this just made me laugh.

100 things to do before you die

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:17:00 +0000

How's this for irony? Dave Freeman, the guy who wrote 100 Things to Do Before You Die just died at age 47 before he completed his list. The good news is that he was about halfway done with his list, which included all kinds of neat things, like attending the Academy Awards, running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, taking a voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti and "land diving" on the Island of Vanuatu. I'm sure while accomplishing the items on his half of the list, he saw and did more than the rest of us normally would in a lifetime.

I've had the opportunity to see some incredible places and do some crazy things in my life so far, but now I'm thinking that I need to make my own list so I make an effort to see all of the amazing places in this world that I haven't seen. Like Europe, for one (or several dozen, I guess).

What's on your list?

Can we elect her?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:51:00 +0000

I watched Michelle Obama's speech online last night (yes, I'm a bit behind), and if I could vote for HER for president, I would gladly do so. What an awesome speaker.

I also watched Hillary's speech live last night and think she did a great job with a very difficult situation. I really did think she would make a great president at the beginning of the election, but by the time she and Obama were neck and neck, and trading nasty words, I really didn't care for either of them.

That being said, I wish I were as passionate as Barack Obama as most of his supporters are, and I'm trying, but for some reason I just can't help but be skeptical...of both his relative inexperience and our nation's (not my) ability to see past his skin color. I really wish there were a democratic candidate I really felt strongly about, and that I could strongly support, instead of just voting against the other guy. Sigh.

Virtual School Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:40:00 +0000

I heard a report on the radio yesterday that virtual schools may soon become the only way our children are educated, and I almost drove off the road. Instead of actually going to school, our kids may soon just sit at their computer and learn from lessons that teachers post online. Here's what I heard.

The scary part is that they were trying to make this sound like a good idea! School budgets have been slashed, and educating students virtually is so much less expensive than the cost to send them through the public school system. Kids can learn at their own pace, and supposedly kids being taught virtually perform higher on test scores. Currently about a million kids in the US are being taught virtually.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a horrible idea??? First of all, kids learn their social skills at school. They learn to make friends and interact with other people. They learn discipline...they have to be somewhere at the same time every day, and if they're late they get in trouble. They get some (probably not enough) physical activity. If you no longer GO to school, these things will all be eliminated. Not to mention how are parents supposed to go out and work if their kids are home all the time!

My generation, Y, is already causing a drastic change in the workforce. We are a completely different animal than previous generations with our style of working, our expectations and our skill sets. But I feel that our generation is still contributing to things in a positive way. The generation below me will be even drastically more different, growing up with computers and cell phones and texting (don't even get me started on how texting is single-handedly ruining the grammar of this country). Now imagine if the following generation grows up sitting in front of their computers all the time, not even going out in the world to go to school. Can you even picture what these kids will be like when they get out into the real world? Sure they might be wizards on the computer, but how will they interact with clients? Coworkers? How will they learn all of the important non-education-related things that the rest of us have learned at school?

The report went on to say that with education budgets getting slashed left and right, soon virtual schools may completely replace brick and mortar schools, while the alternative could be no education system whatsoever. SERIOUSLY?!?!?

Can we please stop bombing Iraq long enough to give our kids and their kids the future they deserve? Yes, I understand that sometimes war is a necessary evil, but I just can't even fathom how they can spend billions of dollars on a war when they can't even properly take care of the people in our own country. Yes, I realize we are so lucky to live in America, but we still have issues. The education system is one of them. A real issue, not a virtual one. Can we please work on fixing it?

Hey Fay, whaddya say? Stay away another day!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:14:00 +0000

As evidenced by the proliferation of rhyming in this blog title and a late-night trip to Walmart last night (which must really signify desperation because I HATE Walmart!), the hurricane threat is getting to me. :P

I didn't even realize there WAS a hurricane until yesterday afternoon, but now I'm getting a bit worried. While recent projections here and here show it heading to Ft. Myers, you know those pesky predictions are rarely accurate. After all, Hurricane Charley was SUPPOSED to hit us, and it hit them instead. Granted that was a big storm and this is just a little one, but still. After Hurricane Frances became an uninvited guest at our wedding in 2004 (has it really been almost 4 years already??), I'm not the biggest fan of hurricanes. :)

And now for a rant. As I mentioned before, Glenn and I went to Wally World last night to pick up some bottled water and an extra cat carrier since we're up one cat since the last hurricane season. What a madhouse! Every time I go to Walmart, I leave saying "that's the last time I ever do that," kind of like I used to do with drinking in college. But just like that one magic time I finally realized that drinking (and the inevitable miserable sickness afterward) just wasn't worth it, I think this trip to Walmart did the same thing. There were boxes and carts everywhere, it was dirty and smelly (YUCK!) and the people were just as "delightful" as ever. (I won't even get into the people in front of us in line who made the ridiculously long lines manage to take even longer.) We both really felt gross after leaving, like we needed to go home and sanitize. After being in our nice, pretty, CLEAN Target the day before, it was quite the contrast. While Walmart has a new logo, I think the quality of the store, at least the one in New Tampa, has gotten exponentially worse. Boo Walmart!

OK, I'm done ranting. Everyone do me a favor and visualize Fay leaving us the heck alone this week!

Yee-haw!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:41:00 +0000

Most of you probably know that I'm not the biggest fan of country music, to put it mildly. So when my friend Devon asked me to go out country line dancing this past weekend, I was a bit wary, but decided to get over myself and just go.

Surprisingly enough, I had a great time! Devon, her friend Tammy and Tammy's sister-in-law Bree and I went to the Roundup on Saturday night. I was the DD, which was partially so I could keep my brain functioning long enough to learn some line dances, and partially to avoid puking my guts out. Jenni + alcohol = puke city, which is never a fun thing when you're out at a bar. :)

Bree was a great teacher, and soon I was out on the dance floor holding my own. I certainly wasn't earning any style points, but I was proud of myself for keeping up. Among others that I don't know the name of, I danced to the Boot Scootin' Boogie, Darlene, Neon Moon and Cotton Eyed Joe. There were a few that I attempted and failed miserably because they were so darn complicated....spins and turns and jumps, and yikes, get me out of here! But hey, I survived and got some exercise in the process. :)

We left the bar at 2am, and after a trip to Steak 'n Shake and driving everyone home, I got home around 4:30am, which is the latest (earliest?) I've been up in ages. So while I don't expect this to be a regular occurrence, I'm not ruling out a repeat performance of my mad line dancing skills. :)

The Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:55:00 +0000

I was very sad when Gilmore Girls went off the air a few years back, but I've recently discovered re-runs of the show on ABC Family, and I've been DVRing them every day. When I watch each episode, I'm reminded why I loved the show so much when it was on. The mother-daughter-friend dynamic between Lorelai and Rory is just so wonderful, and their fast-paced, witty dialog is unlike anything else on TV. It's just so freaking clever and intelligent and FUNNY, and I laugh out loud frequently during my Gilmore marathons on the weekends. (There's something to be said for watching any show back to back without having to wait a whole week for the next episode.) In addition to LOST, which is just a whole 'nother level of obsession, I think Gilmore Girls is officially tied as my favorite TV show of all time. If you haven't watched it, you should. ABC Family every day at 5...set those DVRs.

Weight Gain 4000

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:17:00 +0000

Kitten food is like a drug in the McKay household. I call it Weight Gain 4000 (South Park reference) since it basically just makes them all fat, or big-boned as Cartman would say.

Since Sophie is still a tiny girl, I give her kitten food twice a day: once in the morning and once before bed. Since I despise canned food, I stopped giving it to her a couple of weeks ago (to Zoey and Kenny's chagrin), and have just been giving her dry kitten food. Well the three "big kids" in the house absolutely adore it.

So we've developed a routine, and it's driving me bonkers. I used to be able to shut Sophie in the back bedroom with her kitten food, then go let her out 15 minutes later when she was done eating. But the other cats sit outside the door like vultures, and apparently Sophie now has ADD. The minute I leave the room, she comes and sits by the door and whacks her paws under the door at the other cats. So even if I leave her in there for 15 minutes, she doesn't eat her food! So then I have to go in with her, put her up by her food and sit there while she eats, as if I don't have anything better to do. In the meantime, the other cats start to get antsy, and Zoey literally sings and warbles by the door because she wants in. Once Sophie decides she's done, I let the other cats in and they all (especially Bailey, who really loves Weight Gain 4000) make a beeline for the food dish and scarf up her leftovers.

Pretty soon I'm going to have three very large cats!

Idina Menzel

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:31:00 +0000

It has been a very crazy week to say the least, but instead of focusing on the negative, I'll focus on the positive!

Last night my mom and I went to the Idina Menzel concert at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. While the name may not sound familiar, if you pay any attention to Broadway, you probably know who she is.

She starred in the original Broadway cast and the movie version of RENT as Maureen:

And she was the original Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West) in Wicked.

She also has a new pop-ish album out called I Stand, and her new music was the main focus of the show last night.

When my mom original suggested going to the concert, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I love Idina on Broadway, but wasn't sure how that would translate to a solo artist on stage. I downloaded her album beforehand so I was familiar with the music, then we went to the show last night. We had GREAT tickets...second row center, so we were smack dab in front of her, which is a great way to see any show. (My mom wished we could have had those seats when we actually saw Wicked too!) Everyone seated around us, and most of the audience actually, was a major Idina fan, to the point where I almost felt bad for having such incredible seats when I really didn't know much about her.

After watching the show, I can see why so many people love Idina. In addition to her amazing voice, she's such a likable person. She bantered with the audience, joked around and seemed genuinely grateful for how many people were there to hear her sing. While most of the songs she sang were from her album (and I really like the album much more having heard the songs in person), she also sang a few songs from RENT (Seasons of Love and excerpts Over the Moon) and Wicked, including an a capella version of her part of For Good that brought tears to my eyes, and a sing-along encore performance of Defying Gravity that she performed with her feet hanging over the edge of the stage. Here's a video from someone sitting way behind us (it gets less blurry toward the end).

It was such a wonderful show, and just what I needed to cheer me up after a rough week. While there are still much bigger Idina fans out there, I'm definitely one of them now.

RIP Fishy :(

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:30:00 +0000

If you've read my last few posts, you know that my poor fish CM has been having some issues. I don't know if it was truly constipation that did him in, or if he did have Dropsy, a fatal fishy disease, but he passed away while we were out today. He was a good fishy, and I'm sad to see him go, but he really did seem pretty miserable, so I'm glad that he's out of his misery now. I'm sure he's hanging out with Robyn's fish Luci in fishy heaven now.

SYTYCD

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:07:00 +0000

Have I mentioned I love the show So You Think You Can Dance? After dancing in one way or another for 15 years of my life, I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone who can dance half as well as any of the contestants on the show. While it's hard to pick a favorite, I think Katee took the lead for me this week (though I still have half the show to watch on DVR) with her solo to This Woman's Work, embedded below.

This song has a special place in my heart. My sophomore year of high school, the fabulous Michael James choreographed a warm-up dance for my winter guard team to Kate Bush's original version of the song, and we danced it before every show. Then it became our end-of-the-year dance performance as well. Love that Katee danced it too!

Animal House

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:15:00 +0000

For those of you who have read the fishy post below, he is still kicking. Still constipated, and still not eating his peas (give peas a chance!) but still kicking.

Here are some new pics of the kids for your viewing pleasure. :)

Here's Kenny, looking very handsome, and SO BIG! Where did the tiny kitten go?

This is why we call Zoey a manatee. She really doesn't look that large normally, but then she sprawls out like a beast. But at least she's being sweet to her sister!

Sophie loves to climb our desk chairs like a little monkey.

And then she sits on top of them, triumphant. Sigh!

The first time I've had all four of them in the same place. Doesn't Bailey look like a monster kitty? We call that his "divot" on the sofa, and all of the cats love to sleep there.

My fish is constipated...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:44:00 +0000

Yes, you read that correctly, I have a constipated beta fish.

I've had my fish CM (which stands for Cyan Magenta, but he often gets called Fishy) for a very, very long time. Much longer than I ever thought I would have a fish. He was my office pet at my last job, and the two other people in the creative department had started the trend with their own beta fish too. I think it was late 2005 perhaps?

Fish #1 (I honestly don't even remember his name, it's been so long!) was abandoned when his owner was let go from the company, and while Phil, his new foster parent I guess, tried to take care of him, he went to fishy heaven soon after. Robyn's fish, named Luci (short for Lucifer because he was bright red), stuck around for quite a while as well, but he went to fishy heaven about a year ago.

And then there's CM. When I quit my job last year and took him home with me, he stopped eating for about 2 months. I have no clue how he survived, but somehow he did. I would feed him every day, hoping he would eat again, and one day he just did, and he's been fine ever since. Until a few days ago that is.

Glenn and I noticed the other night that his abdomen is very swollen, to the point that it looks like he swallowed a marble. I searched on the beta fish message boards (yes, these exist!) and it was either a sign of Dropsy, which is a fatal disease (nope, not that, his scales aren't standing up) or....yes, you guessed it...constipation. My fish is constipated!

So I'm fasting him now for a few days, and then I'm supposed to feed him some mashed up peas to help his digestive system. This is easier said than done. Peas aren't a part of the beta's diet, so they're not too keen to eat them, plus instead of floating nicely on top of the water, they immediately sink. I tried to give him some yummy peas yesterday with no success. I kept trying to drop the little pieces down in front of him so he would eat it, but every little piece just sunk to the bottom of the tank.

I imagine this must be similar (in some strange way) to feeding mashed peas to babies who don't want to eat them either. Sigh.

Wish us luck!

Get lost...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I heard today that the Sci-Fi channel will be airing 4 hour blocks of LOST every Monday at 7:00pm starting September 15. The episodes will run in order up to the season 4 finale. So for those of you who have not yet become obsessed with my favorite show, now is your perfect opportunity to give it a shot!

Dentist

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:08:00 +0000

I really hate going to the dentist. A lot. So I was less than thrilled to go there today for a cavity filling. They found two small cavities at my last cleaning, one on each side, and I'd planned to get them taken care of one at a time, but once I was in the chair, I decided it was probably best to kill two birds with one stone, so that I did. They numbed both sides of my mouth, but since the cavities were on top, I'm not a complete drooling fool like I expected to be, which is always good. So now I'm officially cavity free, woo hoo!

Human Mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:46:00 +0000

I will pay more attention next time I step onto a subway. I love the double-take reactions of some of the people! :)

Feedburner

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:20:00 +0000

I just set up Feedburner, so now you can subscribe to this blog via email or a feed reader (Google has a free one, along with all kinds of other fun stuff with a free Google account). I thought I would give it a test here before I add a feed to my Perceptions from the Studio blog.

13 years

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:40:00 +0000

I'm still not quite sure how I'm old enough to have been with someone for 13 years, but that's what Glenn and I celebrated on Friday while the rest of America was celebrating the 4th of July. :)

We went down to Sarasota for the day...drove down the highway to Bradenton, then down the coast from Anna Maria Island to Sarasota, and back over to Siesta Key. We went geocaching (a very nerdy thing to do), which is basically a treasure hunt with a GPS device. You enter in the coordinates of a "cache" and then have to go find it.

The one we found was called Secret Beach, and we really did find a beautiful little beach far away from all of the tourists. It was very peaceful, and we found some very pretty seashells that hadn't been picked over by thousands of other people. We hunted around up in the brush where the GPS coordinates sent us, and found the little treasure box.

We found the cache right before the sunset, then walked back with our feet in the water and the sun sinking fast.

I wrote our initials and the date in the sand, so here is our "self portrait" for the day. :)

Then we went back to the Siesta Key bridge and watched the fireworks display from across the bay at the Sarasota marina. It was a lovely way to celebrate our 14th 4th of July together. :)

Back at home again, I thought you would like to see how Miss Sophie is doing. She's fitting in quite nicely in our crazy cat house.

Where the Hell is Matt?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Thanks to E, one of my favorite bloggers, I was clued in to one of the hugest YouTube sensations, and it's someone who actually deserves his 5 minutes of fame. This goofy guy named Matt has been traveling around the world, and everywhere he goes, he does this silly little dance. The first video was released in 2005. Stride Gum liked it so much that they sponsored his next one, which was released in 2006. And they also sponsored this new one, which is the best of all. People actually started dancing with him, and it's really incredible to see how all over the world, even in places where they have nothing, people can be goofy and dance like no one's watching, even if millions really are. Many people, myself included, got a bit teary over just how special his journey really is. What can I say, I'm a sap.

Matt has a website, called Where the Hell is Matt which he originally put up so his family and friends could keep track of him as he traveled. Now his videos are up there, and his journal is quite amusing to read.

Here is the first one from his 2003-2004 travels:

Here is the next one, from 2006:

Here is the newest version, which just went up this month:

They're great in high-quality, so I highly suggest you take a look here to really see all of the beautiful places he's been.

Mitzi Mozzarella

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:30:00 +0000

Growing up in South Carolina, we didn't have a Chuck E. Cheese, we had a Showbiz Pizza. It was THE place to have birthday parties. I loved it so much that I named my beloved teddy bear (yes, the same one that was at my wedding) Mitzi after the lovely cheerleader mouse in the Rock-afire Explosion band, named Mitzi Mozzarella.

I just read in Buzzwatch that current pop hits are being lovingly programmed into remaining Rock-afire equipment, videotaped and posted on YouTube. So here is the Rock-afire Explosion singing 4 Minutes by Madonna and Justin Timberlake. So funny! I especially like the tick-tock motion with Mitzi's ears. :)