Thinks By Me

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.

Room in Progress

2008-08-11T10:46:00.008-05:00

Here are a few pics of the activity last week for Little Chic's room (which she loved when she got home from camp, by the way). It's not totally complete, but every day we work on a few more details. We'll have to see how faithful I am at uploading pictures so that I can post the pretties ;)

The room started out something like this...

...and it's shaping up something like this...I was a little wary about what we were gong to do with dark brown and hot pink, but it's pretty cute after all. I did put my foot down and refused to paint the walls solid pink and brown, but I bought the bedside table and painted it and also painted the top and knobs of the white dresser. The wall color is kind of a tan and today I put some brown and pink paint details on the walls. We don't have anything hung back up on the walls, but it's getting close!

I was a nervous wreck when I was putting chocolate colored paint on this white dresser! I actually had to paint it twice since the first time, I did not sand and prime it like my girlfriend told me to. The next day as I was measuring the top for a piece of plexiglass, the paint scraped right off! I ended up peeling the entire top in one whole big piece of paint. So then I decided to sand and paint it like I should've in the first place!

This is one of my favorite things...I love storage bins of every kind! I'd say I may be addicted to them. Lucky for me, they came in dark brown.

In Little Chic's words, "The other room was just so....well, babyish, and this new one is all sophisticated and stuff."

The Difference Between Boys & Girls

2008-08-05T13:10:00.003-05:00

The time has been long overdue to repaint the rooms of the Short People.

::Fair Warning:: This will be the last time I refer to them as the "Short People" due to the recent advancement in the height of Brainy Boy. He is now 64.25 inches...I am 64 inches even. After the present post, they will be called "the Juniors."

Any-whooo, Brainy Boy had no interest in actually helping pick out his decor or room color, other than insisting that it be something "plain." Our initial pick was gray/white/black striped bedding, but Muh Main Man has some weird psychotic allergy to black. I usually completely ignore his decorating advice, but in a moment of weakness, I let him convince me that the color scheme was too Goth. I bribed Brainy Boy to come along and pick an alternative by offering a prized lunch at Panera Bread Co. We settled for an extremely plain blue/brown plaid with a stripe of red running through it. Light blue paint completed the room. He has been thrilled ever since.

Little Chic, on the other hand, has been planning and scheming her room for months. She had planned to choose blue/brown for her room UNTIL the fateful day we used that for Brainy Boy's. At that point, it was vetoed. She declared that she did not want her room the same as his in any way.

She opted instead for a snazzy chocolate brown and fuscia ensemble and laid out her plan for the paint. She would be splatter painting her walls in hues of "chocolate brown" and "hot pink." In my style of no-fuss, no-muss decorating, that was a No Go.

As a second choice she decided she could live with two walls painted chocolate brown and two walls painted hot pink. I think not.

Finally, after much threatening to leave the room the way it was, she huffed and puffed that if I forced her to, she would live with a light tan as long as she could paint color blocks of her beloved chocolate brown and hot pink. That I can live with.

So this week while Little Chic is at summer camp, I am commissioned to put the light tan on the walls. I promised that I would wait till she gets home so we can collaborate on the exact placement of the 12 X 12 pink and brown bold color squares that we will add.

All I can say is....she better like it till she goes to college!

Do I Still Qualify as a Blogger?

2008-07-31T21:34:00.002-05:00

I first began slowing down my blog entries when I took a regular part-time job with a local school this spring. I found that the new schedule and limited time just cut into my blogging. But I missed it. The pipeline continued to dribble throughout the remainder of the school year, while I looked forward to summertime and a chance to re-indulge my passion for posting. But summer has come and I'm finding myself not taking the chance to blog. I'm not totally sure why. I think it's partly from being busy with projects that have been put off for too long and partly from reveling in the freedom that has come from not having a job for the first summer ever. And running every event through my brain as a possible blog entry just became a drag. And I haven't really missed it. I've missed YOU guys and I actually feel a little guilty sometimes for not checking in, but I haven't felt the motivation to get going. Hopefully it's not permanent (well, I'm hoping anyway...I'm not sure if you are). I'm thinking I'm in a slump. It would make me feel kind of blue if I had to admit I'm not a blogger anymore.

But, Hey! Perhaps this post is the start of my renewal. After all, I blogged it ;)

Wanna See Something Weird?!

2008-07-12T19:35:00.008-05:00

14 months ago, we adopted our sweet DogSpot from a humane society in Pennsylvania. She is beautiful, though admittedly unique-looking.

While we were in Florida, our neighbors adopted a 4-1/2 month old puppy from a litter at a New York humane society. We could not believe our eyes when we saw a virtual twin of our own dog.

Neither they, nor we could believe the similarity in our dogs! We were told, at adoption, that our dog was Jack Russell/Boxer mix (or possibly Jack Russell/Pit bull). They were told that their puppy is Boxer/Pit bull/Labrador.

We brought our dog over to meet her look-alike today, and they really hit it off--it was so strange to see the two of them looking so much the same!
The main difference between the two is that Molly, the neighbor's puppy, has droopy ears and DogSpot has very pointy, upright ears.

Who knows, we may have to take them on the road together!