Just Jenny

MOVING!

2008-11-08T07:48:00.002-07:00

Don't get excited. We aren't moving right away but we have decided that we have officially outgrown the teacup and we are starting the hunt for something new. I wish we could hold out until we are ready to buy but with the whole housing crisis and Bryan getting ready to completely change careers (more about this later), we have decided it would be best for us to continue renting for the next year or so.

We are going to head out today to scout out some places. I'm excited because this is a college town and CUTE houses are everywhere.

Here is a list of my house demands:

I wanted to put it down in writing so when I get woo'd by the cute colonial with no garage or storage building, you can remind me that I have a list.

Dishwasher
Storage Building or Garage
Laundry room or 'area'
3 bedrooms
An actual dinning area that has enough room for our table
Reasonable pet deposit
And a dishwasher

Weekend

2008-11-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Did this week seem really long to anyone else? With the election and just the general hum of life I feel like it has been FOREVER since last weekend. I'm really looking forward to laying around the house.

Nightmares

2008-11-06T15:55:00.002-07:00

I think I might be growing weary of all the politics. Or at least my subconscious is. Last night I had a nightmare over and over again about running for some sort of public office. Apparently, I had been involved in some sort of government snafu involving big squares and I lost A LOT of taxpayer money and I was desperately trying to not let my constituents find out about it. Now that I write that down, maybe I was running for re-election? And, yes, squares.

That's all I can really remember. It was terrifying and it kept pace like the action sequences in a smart political or lawyer movie like The Firm.

Civic duty

2008-11-04T09:53:00.003-07:00

I voted this morning and now I am stalking news websites to see if any early results are posted. We have been waiting FOREVER to vote and now we have to wait all day for any news of how it is going! Argh.

There are only 2 people at my work (including me) who are pro-Obama and it has been a good-natured 'us against them' battle for the last month or so. Mainly we just send each other witty emails and try to stear clear of a 'real' political discussion. It is funny because not one person had mentioned politics at all until people started talking about my bumper sticker. I am a radical! This afternoon we are all planning to go to Starbucks, Chic-Fil-a, and Krispy Kreme to get our free goodies (sadly, we are not close to a Ben and Jerry's). I'm loving my job because while we obviously have different views, there are no grudges or hurt feelings. That is refreshing in today's political climate.

Introducing...

2008-11-05T14:08:00.003-07:00

President-elect Barack Opunkin!

Squirrel Update

2008-11-03T12:43:00.003-07:00

I know that Squirrel-gate 2008 has taken over your life as much as it has mine so I thought I would post an update. Sawyer was distracted by McDonald's and a nap until Bryan got home and then it was all squirrel, all the time. Fun!

The weird thing is, the squirrel didn't appear on our sidewalk by itself. Apparently, when Bryan left that morning at 6 am, he noticed a flattened squirrel in the street in front of our Obama yard sign. The lot that our house sits on is as long as a city block so our yard signs and the squirrel were quite far from the house. He didn't think anything about it until coming home.

So the question is: Did someone throw the squirrel into our yard to get it out of the street and it just happened to land on the sidewalk? Or did someone purposefully take the squirrel and put it on our sidewalk? Either way, thanks roadkill conscious pedestrian!

I can't help but wonder if it was in fact placed on purpose. This really annoys me because if I think it was placed on purpose - my next thought is - it was placed in our yard because of the yard sign. Why else? We don't really know any of our neighbors so I doubt it was one of them. It could have been some pesky neighborhood kids but what kids are out on a Sunday morning between 6 am and 10 am? It makes me wonder.

We live in a 'blue town' in a 'red state' and we proudly support Obama. No big whoop, right? Wrong. The day that we put our Obama bumper sticker on the car, Bryan was screamed at in the Homeland parking lot. He actually contemplated calling the police because of some of the things that were said but then decided that it was an isolated incident. Hopefully, it was.

Parenting situations you don't think about

2008-11-02T12:26:00.002-07:00

So this morning Sawyer and I left the house to walk to church (Bryan is at work). We go to the end of the sidewalk and Sawyer stopped in his tracks and grabbed my leg because there was the most gruesome squirrel carcass laying at the end of the path.

I didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to do. So I quickly marched him through the flower bed and out to the street. He held my hand really tightly and after a minute started asking questions. Lots of questions. Questions I could not answer. Ok, some I could: 'Yes, the squirrel was dead.' Yes, I like squirrels.' And my favorite - 'Yes, I prefer living squirrels to dead ones.'

When we came home he really wanted to investigate the squirrel and I felt that the investigation could quickly lead from wanting to look at it to wanting to poke it with a stick so I said no and bribed him with McDonald's.

McDonald's is the only thing I could think of that would capture a child's attention more than a dead squirrel. McDonald's or maybe a power ranger.

Candy? I gots it.

2008-11-01T17:42:00.002-07:00

It only took 2 blocks to fill the pumpkin with candy. I love this town.

Halloween!

2008-10-31T14:16:00.002-07:00

I love this holiday. LOVE IT. I love it so much that I had an actual structured debate with my youth pastor about whether or not Halloween was evil when I was 12. Someday, ask me the story of the 'baby bunnies'. It is a doosey.

Tonight we are taking the wee one Trick or Treating with a family from church. I am a strong supporter of group treating because the kids tend to get more candy and the grown-ups can talk.

I'll post some pics tomorrow :)

It is time to get this overwith

2008-10-16T07:51:00.002-07:00

Howdy, ya'll. Long time no see. I've been meaning to get back the blogging grind but I kept putting it off for one reason or another. My busy, busy, busy, work tour has concluded and I am starting to feel like a genuine member of society again.

I've wrestled with posts about what I do for a living and who I work for and I have decided to drop it. Don't get excited. I don't have a fancy job working for a secrect society whose soul purpose is to create the best chocolate and carmel combination. But the company I do work for is VERY weird when it comes to media. Any kind of media. Even media that reports on my tiny department. I believe that if I were to write openly about what I do and they found out, I would be in great big trouble. Possibly fired. This is a little dissapointing because I would have some great posts. One would even involve cockroaches! Sigh.

So, basically now that my job has settled down, I am enjoying the finer things in life: box wine, visits to pumpkin patches, church, visits with family and friends, gardening, cleaning, laundry... I could go on and on. But I won't because I have to get back to it.

One thing that has struck me hard is that now that I have all this free time again (well, as much free time as a working parent of a 4 year old has), I am relishing it. I never ever want to take it for granted again.

Sawyer crossed the street

2008-08-21T11:13:00.005-07:00

I'm taking a break from the busy because this here post is about big news. My little guy started pre-school yesterday and he gets to cross the street.

Our daycare center is located in the back corner of a shopping center. It was kinda weird at first but it has a good reputation and because of its location, it is wicked convenient. The main area, the area where Sawyer's classes have been his ENTIRE life, is on one side: infants, toddlers, 2's, 3's, etc. Now that he is 4, he gets to start pre-school. Which means that I drop him off in the morning on one side and then when it is time for pre-school, his teacher rounds up the group and crosses the street. I've watched this many times and it is a lot like herding cats (thank god it is a rarely used street).

More important to me however, is that I have always thought how cute and grown up those 'school age' kids were. I was shocked when I realized that my son is now amoung the big kids. He's thrilled with his new teacher, school supplies (yes, we had to buy actual supplies - also surprising), and the fact that his class has computers to play on.

I never thought I would be one of those moms that runs after the school bus in her bathrobe and slippers, weeping when her baby goes off to school. BUT. A little part of me died when I watched him walk across the street yesterday.

Kindergarten is going to be hell.

Update

2008-08-11T16:06:00.003-07:00

OK. I have been really busy and there have been a frillion things that I have wanted to blog about but I haven't had time to do it. And I didn't blog that I was too busy to blog because I thought that it was kinda a lame excuse and I am fairly sure that I have already used it twice and I have only been blogging for about 5 minutes in the grand scheme of things.

Today something happened that showed me how busy I really am. I surfed over to the Fug Girls website for a break and discovered that I hadn't read an ENTIRE page of posts. Then I went to the next page and it took me 3 posts to catch up to where I had left off. I had no idea I had missed so much.

I am seriously neglecting you, Internet. But this is just the calm before the storm. I think I will resurface sometime in late September/early October. Until then, I will be wondering how many more times Katie Holmes will peg her pants legs.

Car Wars Episode 5: The Dealer Strikes Back

2008-07-14T18:51:00.004-07:00

The morning after the Scion incident of '08 was Saturday. Bryan had to work but I decided to venture forth on my own to see if I could find some cars to look at together when he got home. The first place on my list was a dealership that had a car salesman that was actually recomended to me by a lady I work with. She and her husband had both bought their cars from him and would go back to him in a heartbeat. Very high praise for a car salesman.

When I got there I still had a chip on my shoulder from the night before and I think he picked up on that so I got handled with tender kid gloves the whole time. No pressure. I didn't even have to test drive anything (which was AWESOME b/c I hate driving new cars - I leave that to Bryan)(this fact alone makes me an unfit car shopper). He showed me 3 cars he thought would work: a camry, a PT Cruiser, and a Rav4. I was instantly crazy about the Rav. I might have even cracked a smile. But I was leary of the MPG. Our criteria was a good reliable car that gets excellent gas mileage. I didn't think the little SUV would cut it.

When I got home after visiting another dealer, I did some research on the Rav. It turns out is the highest rated SUV in it's class in fuel efficiency and it will go forever. AND the asking price was WAY under the Kelly Blue Book value. SCORE.

When Bryan got home we headed over and he loved it too. We found out that we could afford to get it and a pretty dang good 2 year warranty so we thanked them and decided to think it over until Monday morning. And get this - they were OK with that. They even held the car for us. WITHOUT A DEPOSIT.

This is the point in the story where we should have quit while we were ahead. We should have gone straight home, bought a bottle of wine, and pass out in front of Buff the Vampire Slayer re-runs. But no. We didn't do that. We drove by another dealership that was advertising this cute little 08 Dodge Caliber for a really good price. We stopped. We went in.

Of course the advertised car had no A/C which is a dealbreaker because we live in Oklahoma and the 08's with A/C were way out of our price range. So they showed us an 07 model that was supposed to be in our price range. When we got back from the test drive, we were told that the car was close to our price range if you think that $5000 OVER our price range is in our price range.

The owner of the dealership came over at this point and listened to our car sob story and our price and promised to be our best friend and find us just the right car. He had an 05 Cobalt brought out and we drove it. It was a fine little car (please note that no matter what I say from this point on - I have nothing against the Chevy Cobalt) but it wasn't really what we had in mind. But it wasn't bad and it boasted 32 MPG.

We went back inside after the drive to find out about the cost so we could compare. The asking price was totally doable. Then they started pushing a warranty. A huge mother fucking warranty. For 10 years/100,000 miles. Wow! We thought. That sounds like a great warranty and it was only thousands of dollars! What a steal!

After hearing all this business about the warranty, Bryan fell in love. I was still very hesitant. I knew nothing about the Chevy Cobalt and I wanted to at least think it over until Monday and call my brother (the family's resident car guru). When I mentioned calling my brother about it, the dealer commented on how he never advised people to call family members because they are always jealous of the person(s) getting the new car. Um. Our family is thrilled that we are getting a new car and if they are anything they are annoyed that it has taken us this long to find one.

I called anyway and my brother immediately pointed out the warranty was 20% of the cost of the car and we didn't need a warranty that size because the car still had 15,000 on the factory warranty. I agreed and tried to tell Bryan and the dealer that and he promptly came down $500 dollars on the price. Now Bryan really wanted to do it and I really wanted to flee.

They both could see that I was getting upset so Bryan and I went outside to talk about it. We were outside for about 2 minutes having our private conversation about whether or not we wanted to spend A LOT OF FREAKING MONEY on a car we were MEH about when the dealer came out and told us it was now even lower with cash back and the deal was off the table on Monday.

I burst into tears because I was totally freaked out and afraid that Bryan was going to hate me forever if I insisted on thinking it over until Monday. I screamed at him about how nice the other place was and we have a great vehicle already picked out, and blah, blah, blah. Then I grabbed my purse and got in the car. And sobbed. Bry went back inside to tell them we were leaving and came out and told me the deal was now EVEN LOWER. I didn't care. All I wanted was to go home and look up a consumer report on the Cobalt. So we left (I think B was starting to sense that I was uncomfortable).

We came home and thought about it (after I stopped crying) and realized that they were trying to sell us a warranty that was for 10 years/100,000 miles that we would only be able to use during the next 3 years because the car already had one for the next 15,000 miles and it already had OVER 50,000 miles. Good deal? Not so much.

We are getting the Rav.

It's name shall be 'Speedy #3'.

Car Wars Episode 4: A Dashed Hope

2008-07-13T19:11:00.006-07:00

A day after we went to the dealer who would only show us one car, I found a certified Scion at another place in our price range. We were thrilled because it was a sporty little car that got excellent gas mileage and because it was certified, it came with a hefty warranty and boasted to be practically perfect in every way. SCORE.

When we arrived at the dealer we were really excited to see the car. On the outside it was everything we hoped and dreamed it would be. On the inside, it was a different story. The upholstery was dirty, it smelled like smoke, there were wires from glued on LCD lights hanging out of the dash, and there were, get ready for it, COBWEBS in the engine!! Frak?! I was pretty irritated considering that they knew we were coming for two days specifically to look at this car and I really, really, really wanted it to be THE CAR.

In the end we decided that if all these things were taken care of we would still be getting a good car so we made them a low offer. The used car salesman came back and told us that he didn't want to deal with us because we knew about all the changes that needed to be made and that put us in a 'negotiable' mood. Now that he knew about all the problems, he would fix them 'and not have to apologize for the car.' I was livid, and not exactly reserved in my expression of it. As we walked off (B was walking, I was storming) I said I felt like it was a complete waste of a lot of our time. Bryan said "No, no, no, I feel like I learned something really important." "Oh, yeah?," said I, "What did you learn?"

"I learned that I get kind of excited watching you tear into dimwits..."

Car shopping

2008-07-10T10:30:00.003-07:00

It won't come as a surprise to anyone who reads this blog or has talked to me in the last 4 months to know that we have been having 'issues' with our cars. We are now shopping for a new one and technically - this is our first jaunt into the world of car buying from someone that we don't know. Hello, Mr. Dealer...

I was dreading it because buying a car means you have to, you know, spend money. And then you have a car payment. We haven't had one of those in awhile and I am not looking forward to it. I eventually got over these feelings of dread because I don't exactly have a choice. We have to get a new car because our other ones are slowly killing us. Did I mention the gas pump, water pump, and my newest reason to whine: air compressor belt?

We started the hunt online earlier this week and went and looked at a car yesterday. It was a brand new Kia Rio that gets 35 MPG. I was leary because it was 10 grand (actually a very good deal) but the second we drive it off the lot, it looses SOOOOO much in value. So I wanted to look at a few other cars to compare -like some 07's and 06's. The guy we were working with basically said 'why would you want to look at other cars when you have this car to look at'. Is it just me or is that crazy talk? I explained that this is the very first car we have looked at and we need to see what else is out there. He didn't want to show us other cars. Am I expecting too much? Isn't that his job?!?!

To top the evening off, when we tried to walk around the lot and look at other cars, his tooth literally broke and fell out of his mouth. He then proceeded to question us over and over about whether or not he needed to go to the dentist. Uh, you think?

The boy is going to the in-laws for the weekend so we are going to be car shopping most of the time he is gone. Is it always this bad?

Magic money from the sky

2008-07-02T19:17:00.003-07:00

We got our 'you will be getting you stimulus check in the mail soon' letter on Monday and ever since then I have been anxiously checking the mail to see if it has arrived. We should have gotten ours months ago but we didn't because there was some glitch in the IRS' direct deposit system for folks that filed their taxes through a company that took their fees directly out of the tax return.

I feel really guilty that I have been looking forward to this check because I don't really agree with why it is being given out. OK, maybe agree isn't the right word. I don't think it is going to help anything in long term. I wish I could be like that one guy who said that he is going to use his money to buy a cup of coffee every day for a year. Or I wish I could give a large bit of it to charity.

We are planning to pay off some of our debt (this includes paying off one credit card completely) and spending the rest on much needed household items like a new litter box for the cats. And I am thrilled. I can't wait to spend it on a BILL. Watch out Capital One!

In the back of my mind, I am really worried that one of the cars is going to die again. I forgot to mention that after the fuel pump went out, three days later the water pump went out. I seriously hate cars.

Have you gotten your stimulus check yet? What did you spend it on or what are you planning to spend it on?

He's getting way too smart

2008-06-27T19:39:00.004-07:00

Sawyer got sick today and it was really bad timing. My mother is getting re-married tomorrow (that's a post for another day) and everyone in town for the wedding was planning to go to a jazz club tonight. We even had a real babysitter lined up and everything. Sigh.

So, to make a long story short, he was sick for about 2 hours but once he threw up all over the car he was fine. NICE.

When we put him to bed, we gave him his special water bottle that he had been drinking from all night. It is really just an old Aquafina bottle that we re-fill and Bryan takes to work with him. To avoid confusion at work, Bryan wrote his name on the side with a sharpie. All of a sudden, Sawyer notices this as we are putting him down and Bryan tells Sawyer that it is his name (meaning Sawyer's name - not Bryan's).

He seemed completely satisfied with that explanation for about 10 minutes. I heard him start whining and get out of bed and open his bedroom door. When I went to see what the excuse was this time he was on the verge of tears and asked me to come into his room to look at something. I immediately went into 'Mommy-mode' because I thought he got sick again and threw up.

He took me by the hand and led me to his desk and showed me the water bottle. Then he said, very tearfully that he couldn't find the 'S' for Sawyer.

Then my heart broke into a thousand pieces and I went to mommy jail for lying to my sick child about what was actually written on the side of his water bottle.

The End.

Ok, I didn't really go to mommy jail but my heart did break a little bit. I saved the day by finding a sharpie and writing his name for him - taking care to make the 'S' really big.

meh.

2008-06-20T10:12:00.002-07:00

This whole week has been a plateau of suck. Things didn't get worse - but they never really got better. I'm desperately ready for the weekend.

Today sucked

2008-06-16T20:03:00.004-07:00

On my way home from work, the car died. I thought I was out of gas because the gas gauge is a little squirelly. Some nice people stopped to help me move my car and get gas. Turns out it wasn't gas, it was the fuel gauge. It is dead. Cars apparently really need them or something.

I have decided that I am going to get rid of the cars and get a pony. I've always wanted a pony and I work at the fairgrounds so there are actual barns that I could leave him in while I am at work. I haven't quite figured out how to get groceries while riding a horse but I am working on a letter to Target about hitching posts.

We were supposed to get our roof fixed today too. We have a MAJOR leak in the kitchen that I would post pictures of but I'm way embarrassed by how bad it is. Guess what? The roofers never showed up. To compound that, we are getting major storms tonight and part of the ceiling in the kitchen has fallen.

Our luck has been really rotten lately (not counting the lawn mower we won). I'm really starting to wonder if we are doing something wrong. Just when we get to a point where I think things are starting to calm down and we have recovered financially, something strikes. It is getting really, really old. Is this just life? Is it this much of an ebb and flow? Or is this what they mean by "recession"? Ha ha.

One armed boy

2008-06-14T10:04:00.002-07:00

The orthopedic doctor took several more x-rays and eventually decided not to try and re-re-set Sawyer's arm. Even though it is still a bit crooked, he thinks it will probably heal fine and he could possibly do more damage trying to set it again.

Without hesitation, Sawyer picked out purple to be his cast color of choice. It is the color of royalty after all! And then it was 'over'. Well, the Dr. part anyway. We go back in two weeks to see how long he will need to wear it. It will be at least 4 weeks but probably 6. Right in the middle of summer too. Joy!

Yesterday his hand started swelling because of the casts weight. They gave us a sling to help support it but his little arm slips out of it every two minutes. I ended up ripping a T-shirt in half and tying it around his arm and it is working out a lot better. If anyone out there knows any other sling tips, please let me know.

It is going to be a long summer but I'm thankful that he's OK. It could have be a lot worse.

It was only a matter of time

2008-06-11T20:03:00.002-07:00

Well, everybody else was doing it! Going the wrong way up the slide, that is. And it was going so well until that tricky bit right at the top. The wavy shape of his arm was the first clue that something had gone a little wrong...

We go to a pediatrician tomorrow who specializes in orthopedics tomorrow to see if it needs to be re-re-set (they have already tried once today).

Meet Hooky Dangerous

2008-06-04T19:21:00.002-07:00

As a responsible parent, one must learn the facts about your child's friends. It's important to the child, it should be important to you.

The following are the known facts about The Boy's new best friend:

His name is Hooky Dangerous.
He has a really long neck and yellow hair because he is part giraffe.
He and Sawyer Be Crazy together. This is Sawyer's name for his favorite activity, which is a simple variation on the timeless toddler sport of running in circles and laughing maniacally.
He and Sawyer like to sing the Mermaid Song together - you know, the one where the mermaid with red hair sings "Ah-ah-ah" in rising scales (pun totally intended) while the black octopus lady puts her voice in that thing.
Hooky Dangerous is smart because he knows how to make fire, hot dogs, cookies, and a porch.

You can't make this stuff up, people. Unless, of course, you are an almost-four-year-old with a brand new imaginary friend.

Give me a 'b'

2008-06-03T19:05:00.002-07:00

I just got choked up as Brian Williams annouced that Obama is probably going to get the nomination. I'm not going to delve into politics because I feel that it is a personal decision. I'm just moved by this news.

This entire democratic race has been monumental. It gives me hope that we, Americans, can still have dreams and still do great things.

I guess my faith has been a little bit restored. That's all.

Carry on!

I think it is too long to fit on a bumper sticker

2008-06-02T19:27:00.002-07:00

I just read something brilliant on the internet that sums up my entire psyche when I get angry and upset and frustrated and exhausted:

"His instinct is to fix it, and that's not at all what I want. I don't want him to open the jar of pickles. I want him to understand HOW FRUSTRATED I AM THAT I CANNOT DO IT MYSELF, and then he needs to let me enumerate on every other issue that THAT GODDAMN JAR OF PICKLES is bringing to the surface."

Of course it was written by Dooce (mommy blogger/writer) (and if you aren't reading her blog because she is a mommy blogger you really need to suck it up and get over yourself because she's brilliant). I want to have her children or at least dog-sit for her once.

ANYWAY - when I read that I almost did one of those cartoon head slaps. I have a tendency (that I am working on) to get upset at whatever problem and then get really upset at whatever problem. I reach a point where I can't see the forest for the trees and every wronged that has ever wronged me is brought the surface and I have to expel all of it by re-hashing. It sucks and it is emotionally exhausting.

I think a lot of women deal with issues like this. When I get mad or upset I usually end up crying because I get so frustrated at the situation and I hate it. But I know sooooo many other women who react this way too. But I also know a lot of other women who don't. Of course, there are several in that group who don't really talk about emotion or tell the truth about their feelings.

What is the right way to deal? I dunno. I've been trying to find a happy medium and it is really hard. Thoughts? How do you deal with really big issues?

Bedtime excuses

2008-06-01T19:48:00.002-07:00

By the time Sawyer was about 3 months old, he was on a pretty regular sleeping schedule. He woke up 2 times per night at 12 am and at 2 am. Each time he woke up, we changed his diaper, fed him a bottle, and he was right back out. Then he started sleeping through the night at about 6 months old.

He takes after me - he is a champion sleeper. I am the type of person who can take a 3 hour nap in the late afternoon and still sleep through the night. I can also marathon sleep through an entire day if given the opportunity.

Now, for the first time since infancy, Sawyer is resisting sleep. Of course, he sometimes puts up a fuss when it is time for B-E-D, but as long as he gets to read a book or hear a song, he gets over it quickly and snoozes off. For about the past 2 weeks Sawyer has gone to bed like normal and then 10-15-30 minutes later he is up and making excuses or requesting something (glass of water) to avoid going to bed.

He's a pretty funny guy, as kids go, and his requests are starting to surpass needing to pee and being thirsty. I think he's trying to come up with new material to see what he has to do in order to secure the elusive 'get-out-of-bed-free-card'.

Here is a short list of some of my favorite demands/excuses:

He wants daddy to clip his nails
There is a bug in his room
He needs a 'chance'
The TV hurts his ears
His bottom itches
He wants Jack (the dog) to sleep with him
He doesn't want Jack (the dog) to be in his room
His bed is wet - because he poured is cup of water on it (We gave him an 'A' for effort on that one)

He'll be 4 next month and we are wondering if this is something that goes with getting older. Do kids just get more manipulative and crafty as they age?