Thinks By Me

Weekend Warriors

2009-11-08T20:44:00.007-05:00

We've had our washer and dryer off our kitchen since we built our house, but we have sorely missed having a proper coat/boot closet, especially in the winter time, since you enter right into our house. We don't have a mud room or entry where we can take off boots and wet clothes. To solve the problem, we moved our laundry to our basement and my sweet hubby installed all sorts of shelving and a coat rack for me. He gets extra brownie points for doing it in the midst of deer season! Little Chic and I painted the walls before he got started.

2009-11-07T22:16:00.003-05:00

Week ending 11/7

Workout schedule for this last week
Monday kickboxed & ran 2.75 mi
Tuesday 1 hour strength training
Wednesday ran 2.75 mi
Thursday 1 hour strength training
Friday kickboxed
Saturday ran 2.75 mi (hit my best pace 9:55/mi)

I'm excited to run my first ever 5k this next Saturday, 11/14. Since is so blasted cold around here, the running season is pretty much over, so I have to drive past Ithaca to do it, but I've been looking for a race, and this is pretty much all there is to choose from. It's the Interlaken Steeple Chase put on by a church in the small town of Interlaken

Menu for next week:
Sunday evening dinner-Chicken parmigiana (my kids' favorite meal)
Monday-Beef & Broccoli soup, Sandra Lee
Tues-Tortilla bake, Kraft Food & Family (PTA meeting night, 6:30pm)
Wed-Chicken linguine with creamy pesto, Sandra Lee (Choir practice night, 6:15pm)
Thurs-Mac & Cheese with salad (Leadership team meeting night, 7pm)
Friday-Stromboli (Wildtree Herbs party, 7pm)

Because of adding running to my workout schedule, my grocery routine is all goofed up and I keep having to go on Saturdays (like today). I have to figure that out because that's a pain.

This week starts Brainy Boy's wrestling practice. I pick him up every day at 5:30 after I drop Little Chic off for musical practice at 5:00. Then it's back to get her at 7pm. Luckily her musical is over on the 19th!

Little Chic gets to take her babysitting course at the American Red Cross this week. Wednesday is Veteran's Day and the kids have off school, so she is going to spend 9:00-4:30 learning all about taking care of kids. She has been bugging me for ages to sign her up, so she is gladly sacrificing the day off to be in a classroom.

Lots going on this week--the District Superintendent is coming Monday night to spend the night to hunt with Muh Main Man on Tuesday, I have PTA and Leadership meetings as well as choir practice and I'm hosting a Wildtree Herbs party Friday night. Then Saturday morning I'll be up bright and early to drive to my 5K. I'm beginning to wonder why I do this to myself!

Long Lost Ambition

2009-11-05T18:33:00.002-05:00

In lieu of not blogging at all, as I've been prone to do for the last year I'm toying with the idea of using my blog to indulge myself for a while in journaling the current happenings of my life--though they won't be of much interest to anybody else, I'm sure.

I will probably keep things like my weekly menus, perhaps my workout schedule and progress log and maybe some other riffraff that only I care about. You're certainly invited to snoop about, although the fodder won't be very compelling.

It will, however, give me something to look back at when I'm old & decrepit (you know, like old picture albums and remember the "good old days" ;)

Team Crystal

2009-09-10T21:24:00.004-05:00

My friends, Angela & Sue and I will be at the ARC of Onondaga County's Half Marathon on Saturday, September 12, 2009. I'm participating in memory of my sweet friend, Crystal, who had wanted to join in the next time I did a half marathon. When we talked about it back in April, I certainly thought we'd be doing one together more than just in spirit. I had found this race and was contemplating entering, but I hadn't even had a chance to ask her to join me before she died. I decided to participate the day I found out about her death, in her memory. Thanks to my sister, of Camie Designs, for providing this cute logo for me to wear on my shirt.

Goodbye, My Friend, Crystal

2009-07-08T11:37:00.003-05:00

Crystal & Jennifer chatting it up at Jackson's Pumpkin Farm, Fall 1999.

Crystal has been one of my best buds since we met and immediately hit it off in February of 1999 when I began attending Owego Nazarene Church. She was eight years younger than me, but we had so much in common: we lived on the same road and had kids almost the exact same age, and her personality complimented mine to a "T". We quickly began hanging out every day, doing fun stuff with the kids by day and scrapbooking or crafting by night.

It put a big dent in our face-time when she and her husband moved several towns away but our friendship endured and we regularly found a way to get together and kept in steady contact as our kids got older and we moved on through our stages of life.

I was heartbroken when I learned this morning that my good friend, Crystal, died in a car accident. She was driving with her youngest boy, Ethan, when another driver hit her head-on. We are praying for Ethan to fully recover from his injuries and for her other two kids, James and Madalyn. Crystal also left behind her husband Thad, who she always described to me as "the love of her life."

I'm sure I will always have a Crystal-shaped hole in my heart.

Seems Like Just Yesterday

2009-06-02T21:11:00.002-05:00

Happy 20th Anniversary, Sweets! Thanks for lettin' me marry you!

Happy Birthday to a Pretty Fantastic Guy

2009-05-18T20:44:00.005-05:00

Muh Main Man turned 45 today, and Little Chic wrote a special poem for him. It was so sweet and we both got quite a kick out of it, especially since she inherited her dad's creative spelling.

FAUTHERS...

Fauthers fix broken hearts
Fauthers fill our brains with smarts.

Fauthers wipe away our tears
Fauthers ears can always hear.

Fauthers know just what to say
Fauthers make all the sadness go away.

Some are sweet and some are kind
Some are cruil and wack your behind!

Daddy, you'r the best
And you beat the rest.

She's a daddy's girl, that one! And fortunately she also inherited her mom's love for the proper use of an apostrophe.

Happy Easter 2009

2009-04-12T15:16:00.002-05:00

Little Chic's New Do

2009-04-08T16:22:00.002-05:00

I have been bugging Little Chic to cut her waist-length hair for a long time. She did take about 4 inches off it about two months ago, and ever since, has been toying with the idea of something drastic and cool. Today was the day! I love it, but it's a little sad too--seeing how it makes her look all mature and teenager-ish.

Jennifer Needs

2009-02-17T22:38:00.002-05:00

This little narcissistic activity can turn out to be kinda hilarious. You Google your first name followed by the word "needs" i.e., "Jennifer needs" and see what results come up. A few of mine were not family-friendly blog-worthy, but here were some of the ones that were:

Jennifer needs a smack daddy (defined in Urban Dictionary as "somebody who's keepin' it real; a friend)

Jennifer needs to give birth in the next week

Jennifer needs to play by the rules

Jennifer needs to accept that she's gained what looks like some major pounds

Jennifer needs a muzzle.

Let's just hope the Jennifers that Google gossips about have last names that start with "Aniston" and "Lopez" rather than "O" !!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T12:25:00.003-05:00

LOL

2008-12-04T16:08:00.003-05:00

During a day of too much heavy stuff, THIS made me laugh out loud.

PS - Stuff Christians Like is a parody site that finds the humor in some of the things that are common among Christians and/or churches. It's meant to be all in fun.

We are Thankful!

2008-11-27T12:41:00.003-05:00

For girls who like to help mom cook! (And for Thirty One Gifts where you can get adorable monogrammed aprons!)

For doctor's who give special treatment to their favorite patients (and figure out that Muh Main Man has pneumonia, just a few short hours before Thanksgiving dinner).

For grace and blessings that have given us the life we are living. Blessings to each of you on this Thanksgiving Day 2008!

She Makes Her Daddy Proud

2008-11-23T20:00:00.002-05:00

Little Chic got her first deer! She dropped it in its tracks and dragged it down the hill all by herself--all 106 pounds of it! I'm not sure who was more excited--her or Muh Main Man!

All the Proof You're Gonna Get

2008-10-14T19:42:00.003-05:00

As I claimed a few weeks ago, that would be me risking my life to face my incredible fear of height. Well, and maybe to impress you a little. It's me on Jacob's Ladder on the Alpine Tower, Baby.

I Wanna Win. You Wanna Win?

2008-10-14T06:12:00.003-05:00

It's about time for me to get a new purse. After all, I get one new one every season, carry it with everything, get sick of it just in time for the weather to change and get a new one. I never keep them and I don't carry them again. Neither do I spend much on them. TJ Maxx is usually my go-to place for cheap, chic handbags.

But now there's something better - FREE! Handbag Planet.com is giving away these really cute purses. This is the one I covet. Is it really coveting if you only want it from a web site and not another person? Perhaps it is. I'll have to look into that. Until I do, I covet this one.

Go enter for your own at Handbag Planet or even take pity and win for me. So I don't have to covet from you. Yeah, I like that idea.

My Favorite Three

2008-09-30T17:43:00.007-05:00

Thanks to my good friend, Polly for recommending them to me, these are my all-time three favorite books. They are the only books I ever remember reading more than once. I just re-read them and finished the third one last night, under Brainy Boy's jealous gaze. I actually had to rush through the last few pages because he was trying to snatch it out of my hand. Of the three, the Giver is my #1 favorite because it makes me think about what it would have been like if God hadn't given us a free will.

If you try one out, the only rule is that the Messenger needs to go last. Between the other two, it doesn't matter which you read first.

Mother Daughter Weekend at El Rancho

2008-09-29T08:16:00.007-05:00

This weekend, Little Chic and I went to a local Christian ranch and did all sorts of camp-y stuff. Besides the trail ride on the horses, the 55-foot Alpine Tower was definitely the experience of the weekend. I will brag a bit and say that I was the only non-kid who made it to the top of the tower via the most difficult moving path, Jacob's Ladder. Here's Little Chic showing me how it's done. My own proof is on Girlfriend's camera. Perhaps I'll post my own feat when she sends me the picture. We also rode the 45-foot Alpine swing, which took much less effort and a lot more courage for those of us who are terrified of heights.

For those who didn't get the thrill of the tower, we also did the typical camp stuff like making stuff in the craft cottage, taking a moonlit hayride and eating S'mores around the camp fire. Oh, and not being able to sleep in the cabin with 9 other people snoring, getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and whispering long after lights were out ;) That would explain the 3-hour nap I took when I got home yesterday morning!

Us Four

2008-09-21T19:21:00.004-05:00

It's nice to have talented friends with cameras! These pics were taken during our LittleChurch Group today (small group from church) by my overachiever girlfriend who hosted the group, fixed some of the food and then took family pics of everybody that was there. Somehow she found time to convert one into black & white. And she even has to work tomorrow.

From the Front Lines of Middle School

2008-09-19T09:05:00.004-05:00

Brainy Boy started at the middle school for 7th grade this year. Let me tell ya, it's a whole different world over there! Among the myriad of changes including a variety of teachers' expectations, locker combinations and starting school at 7:30 a.m., a new awareness of physical appearance has also come into existence.

The most recent problem occurred this morning while getting ready for school. From the bathroom I hear....

"Ma, can you do something about my eyebrows? They're fusing together."

If that's the hardest problem I get, I'm in great shape.

Little Chic is 11

2008-09-18T09:14:00.000-05:00

My sweet girl is turning 11 today. It's hard to grasp that she is in 6th grade. I remember being that age and I think of myself being SO much older at that stage than she is! She has been commenting all week to everyone that we see that "nothing special is happening on Thursday." It behooves us all to ask why that is, just to see the satisfaction on her face when she gets to "remind" us all that it's her birthday. As if we could forget. We'll be going to dinner tonight where we will coyly inform the waitress that it's "somebody's" birthday and Little Chic can act like she doesn't really want anybody to know. And she'll be thrilled when they bring her a special dessert and sing the restaurant theme song to her in front of everybody. But only on the inside. She'll act like she can't imagine HOW in the world these strangers know it's her birthday and that it's just so embarrassing. I love that about her.

This girl is definitely the one who keeps the music in our family. She wakes up chipper with a song in her head and sets the mood of happiness and a carefree spirit for the rest of the day. She is the most thoughtful of children that I've ever met and her little life is lived with compassion and joy.

I have become a better person for having the privilege of being her mom.

Wishing Harry Well

2008-09-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

This guy, Harry Brown, is my uncle, although at only 10 years older than me, he was more of an older brother when I was growing up. He is having surgery today for a large cancerous tumor and we're asking for mercy from God for a good outcome and prognosis.

At Number 9 out of 10 children, he is dearly loved by his kids and his wife, Ela, lots of siblings, nieces, nephews and extended family. Some of his family members are with him today as well as a few close friends who are waiting anxiously to hear the results of his surgery. I wish I could be there.

I'm asking you to remember him too, and think of us all today as we are praying for a miracle.

Will Blog for Prizes

2008-09-17T15:52:00.003-05:00

Janet, who blogs over at Across the Page gave me an award today! Believe me. It's been AGES since I've won anything. And I haven't even been attentive to Ya'll. I don't fancy myself creative, but I do like creations of all sorts. So "Awwww, Thanks, Janet!"

Nature Lovin' It

2008-08-31T16:29:00.006-05:00

We trekked out for an annual camping trip with friends last week. We usually make several trips a summer to the Adirondack forest, but time was seemingly short this summer--so we settled for one lone trip.We spent the first night in Muh Main Man's hunting cabin near Long Lake and then proceeded to our camp site on the water at Cranberry Lake where our buddies were waiting for us.

DogSpot even had a friend as our camping partners brought along their dog as well.

We spent six days chillin' in the boat, cooking over the camp stove, making S'mores around the campfire at night...all the usual thrills of being in the outdoors without technology and the responsibilities of home life. It was suprising that more than a few of the trees have already begun to change colors. I'm sure that's due to the fact that nights are reguarly in the 40s and we had two nights in the 30-degree range. Fortunately our camper is a bit more insulated than tents would be, so we fared fairly well.

It was a little sad to come home being that it was our only one for the season. I'm especially glum because of the pile of laundry that is nigh the height of Bear Mountain that we hiked one afternoon. I dare say the laundry will take longer to complete than our hike did.

We are back just in time to finish a few last minute school preparations and then the Juniors will be back in school on Wednesday--Little Chic in 6th grade and Brainy Boy over at the middle school in 7th. Sometimes the end of summer comes and I'm glad to get back into the swing of a routine, but I'm don't feel quite ready for this summer to end. This time it seems like there should be a little more to enjoy.

Pretty Bedrooms

2008-08-21T14:10:00.008-05:00

Here are a couple more pics that I took as I progressed through the finishing touches of the kids bedrooms.
It's scary that I actually painted these canvases for Brainy Boy's walls! Who knew I was so geometrically gifted ?!
For Little Chic's room, we started with a light tan wall and added chocolate brown and fuschia accents, like this wavy frame I painted around the wall calendar. She drew the shape and I painted it on the wall.
This was the door frame and some color blocks in progress. If I say so myself, I did a fantabulous job not getting paint on any woodwork, ceilings or carpet--without taping. You'd think I'd done this a few times.

We scattered color blocks of various sizes in brown and fuschia by order of Little Chic's design.

Luckily, we are all pretty happy with the results.