I hate this new version of blogger

Snow Day!

Wisdom Teeth

I am getting my Wisdom Teeth pulled tomorrow! I am nervous about it so please keep your finger crossed for me.

Life is all about ass

Life is all about ass;
your either covering it,
laughing it off,
kicking it
kissing it,
busting it,
trying to get a piece if it,
behaving like one or
you live with one!

Blah

I think I have that disease where you get down in the dumps due to lack of sunlight. That’s it, I need sunlight! I have to take the next week, maybe two, off of work and go some place warm and sunny. I would not want my condition to worsen.

Bowling

As many of you may know I am not an avid bowler. When I was in junior high I played in a league. Our team was made up of all cousins except me. I was friends with one of the girls. Anyways, in between games one of the cousins, Kelly, liked to sit on the step at the back of the lanes. Her mom was always telling her not to sit there because she would get hurt. (Do you see the direction this story is headed?) Well just before our third game Kelly was sitting on the step and I had to bowl first. I asked her to move out of the way so I could start. She moved directly behind me. I looked to make she was no longer sitting to my right and I did not see her. I swung the bowling ball back and heard a crack. I thought I hit the ball return. The sound of the splitting was not that of the plastic ball return but rather Kelly’s skull. When I turned around she was pasted out on the floor. My friend was so mad, I though she might just hit me with her bowling ball. Luckily Kelly’s mom saw the whole thing including me telling Kelly to move because I needed to bowl. Her mom said, “Well she always has to learn lessons the hard way.”

Even though this was a total accident I have shied away from bowling ever since. Consequently I am not a very good bowler when I do go bowling. This past weekend Nathan and I went bowling with some of his work friends and I bowled a 116! To many that score may not seem like much but that’s record breaking for me. I was so excited. Nathan also bowled a great game; he got a 175. By the way I told my tragic bowling story to my band last year before we went bowling and every time I went to bowl at least three kids yelled, “She Hit Me!” Apparently that never gets old when you are in junior high.

DDR

So I played DDR for the first time the other night. DDR stands for Dance Dance Revolution. DDR is that machine you see in arcades that has the different foot petals that you follow along to a screen with dance moves. I first heard about this a few years ago from my students. It is still just as popular as ever and many of my kids have a home version. Over winter break, my husband said he had better rhythm than I did and challenged me to a dance off. Unfortunately the DDR machine was broken at the movie theater we were at so the challenge had to be postponed.

This past Saturday we were early to a theater we were meeting some friends at and Nathan threw down the gauntlet again. Although I had never played this game before, I was confident I could beat Nathan. I know I have a better sense of rhythm than he does! To make a long story short, we played three rounds on the beginner level and I won ever time! The game is pretty fun. I recommend giving it a try if you never have before.

puppies and books

I want a puppy! Unfortunately, the man I live with does not want one. I am pretty sure I want a Beagle…I am a sucker for floppy ears. Look at this face, how could you resist this face???

Well, Nathan can, that's who. I even have his name picked out, Philip Sparke. That is actually the name of a band composer I am a big fan of. His name is pronounced Spark, but I would just call the puppy Sparke. I understand Nathan’s point that we should have a backyard. It will be a way bigger pain in the butt to have to take the dog out every morning rather than just opening the door to a backyard. But, they are so cute. I have done a little bit of reading about them. They are supposed to be smart and very good with kids, but they can be strong willed and hard to train. They can be an inside or outside dog but they do like to howl. Before I actually got one I would want to spend some time with the dog to make sure their temperament was what I was looking for. It would probably also be a good idea to talk with a vet. But here I am going on about a dog I will not be getting any time soon L.

In other news I finished a book called Maybe A Miracle by Brian Strause. It was pretty good, I would give it seven out of ten stars. If you are looking for a nice light read definitely give this book a go. Also if you are Catholic or a baseball fan you will probably enjoy this book. The central character is a teenage boy who is fairly jaded and witty, but only in his own head. That is a concept I think we can all relate to on some level. I know I always have the best comeback several minutes after the situation has ended. Although I do think I am getting better at that sort of thing as I get older.

Happy New Year

What to do on New Year’s Eve? That question always seems like such a big deal to people my age. In the last few years a familiar new year’s gang has formed and we always have a lot of fun. My buddy Racheal and I have spent more New Year’s Eve’s together than not since high school. As we got married our hubbies were brought into the fold. The group then progressed into four couples adding in our friends Julie and Matt along with their spouses. Not that we have spent every new years together or that we always do the same thing. One year we all went to a Japanese restaurant where the chef does all the knife tricks. Another time some of us went to Navy Pier.

This year we decided to do a pot luck dinner at my place. We enjoyed good food, laughs, and board games. It always seem like when ever we get together with a group and play games it turns into boys verses girls. It is funny that no matter how old we get that seems to be everyone’s favorite way to divide into teams. Why is that? Anyways for those of you interested the boys won at Scene It and the girls won Taboo. I knew the boys would win at Scene It because Nathan has a freakish ability at that game. Take my advice if you are every playing that game and Nathan is an option as a team member, pick him. Or better yet have it be everyone verses Nathan and see how you do.

Christmas in review

We just got back from St. Louis. We spent Christmas with Nathan’s family this year. Before we went to St. Louis, I went to a band conference in downtown Chicago. I usually dread going to those things. It always seems like the people I spent four years trying to avoid at U of I are the ones I run into and the conference only has one or two lectures I really like. That was not the case this year. Every lecture I went to was great and I learned a lot. Also I got to spend some quality time with two of my favorite professors from U of I. I am so glad I went.

On Friday after the conference Nathan and I met some friends for dinner which was great fun. After dinner Nathan and I exchanged gifts. I got Nathan some dress shoes, a shirt, and Family Guy on DVD. (He is watching them as I type.) Nathan got me a pair of white gold hoop earrings and a digital picture frame. Then we headed south early Saturday morning.

St. Louis was good. We got a chance to see both sides of his extended family as well as his good buddy Andy. It was fun to run around after his little niece Anna. I had a great heart to heart with Matt, Nathan’s brother. I like Matt a lot but I have never had a serious talk with him, so I am glad we got a chance to do that. Other than that it was just your standard family fun. I will attach a couple of pictures, enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year.

Shopping for the Holidays

So yesterday I was determined to finish off all my Christmas shopping. I did a fair amount early online. I was feeling confident that I was well on the way to getting everyone something they wanted on my list. Then that ship kinda sailed.

I pulled Nathan’s cousin Mike for the family gift exchange. Mike is a great guy, however, he is very hard to shop for. I know that could be said about most guys, but I think it is extra true for Mike. I asked his sister for hints and after that did not work out I found myself in Borders. I was standing in the bookstore like a deer in headlights. After I accepted I was probably not going to pick the perfect book, I decided to go for the laugh. At first I grabbed a coffee table book about Tu-Pac, but that was a fair amount over the budget. Next I grabbed an orange fuzzy book about gay Muppets, but then I chickened about. Finally, I settled on a book called “Superstud.” It was written by the creator of the TV show “Freaks and Geeks.” I was smiling reading the back cover, so I hope Mike likes the book or at least gets the joke. I continued my Borders experience by finding they did not have the Civil War book I was going to get my Dad. I just asked a person browsing in that section to recommend one for me. I hope that the lady knew what she was talking about. I ended my shopping trip by buying myself two sweaters. They were not on my gift list, but aren’t those the best gifts, the ones you stumble on for yourself? Anyways, I am now done with shopping for Christmas… I think…I hope…

so cute

Take a minute and visit this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk
I laughed til my cheeks hurt, it is so cute!

Fighting

I am fighting off a cold. A pretty nasty flu bug is going around my school. I can not get sick before my concert on Tuesday (all are invited by the way.) So I am taking Zicam, vitamin C and Zinc to try and stay healthy. If you could keep your toes crossed for me that could not hurt.

nephew part 2

So I gave my nephew the stupid cards he said he wanted just last weekend at Thanksgiving. Let me paint the picture at Thanksgiving. I am sitting across from him at the dinner table. Jen: "Michael, what do you want for you birthday?" Michael: "I like Yu Giou Cards and Pokemon Cards." Jen: "Which one do you like better?" Michael: "Yu Giou." Jen: "Any specific type of Yu Giou Cards?" Michael: "No, I like them all." Flash forward to this evening. Micheal opens this present and his smile immediately goes away. Jen: "Michael isn't this what you asked for?" Michael: "Sort of." Jen: "What?!?! You said Yo Giou cards any kind." Michael: "Oh."

Cindy I know you said you hate when people give cash and to be honest I do too. It takes no thought and that is why I dislike it. However, I might have to resort to giving this kid cash, otherwise I might strangle him. Nathan almost had to hold me back this evening. I was so close to blowing my top. I bought the kid exactly what he wanted. Maybe he just gets some kind of sick pleasure out of not liking gifts from me.

nephew

My nephew’s birthday was yesterday and we are going to go see him this weekend. I always dread giving him presents. Not because I am a miser or anything. He just never seems to like what I get him. I got him a really neat present last year for Christmas (well I thought it was neat). He was going through a dinosaur phase and he had recently told me he wanted to be an archaeologist. So I bought him this dinosaur replica encased in stone that you had to chisel out and then assemble the pieces. Did this not meet the two criteria of his life ambition and his favorite toy? Well he looked at me like I just gave him coal. Then he tossed the thing over his shoulder and I never saw the thing again. This year for his birthday I got him Yo Guio cards. I have no idea what these things are or even how to spell the damn thing, but he said he wanted them. I gave up trying to figure out what he would want. My nieces are so much easier. I always hit a home run and I never have to ask them what they are into. Maybe it is the whole girl buying for a girl thing. All I know is I just spent a lot of money on little things that look like baseball cards and he better not just toss them over his shoulder.

Complaints and Confessions

Nathan and I bought a living room set when we bought our house. When we made our purchase we bought the deluxe stain guard protection. The fabric was supposed to be completely covered for five years. Since then the furniture store went out of business. I used a generic Febreeze type spray to freshen the fabric but it stained our couch! Actually I think it bleached it instead of staining it. I am so mad I could spit. Of course the company that bought out the furniture store we got our stuff from said too bad so sad. So beware of fabric fresheners they can really mess up your couch.

So now for the confession... Nathan and I have been "borrowing" internet access from our neighbors for a while now. Recently the signal has been very weak. So after a couple of weeks of almost no internet access we are getting our own. It will be such a luxury to get on line when ever I want. I guess I will have to blog more.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. I was hosted my family this year. We did not make a whole turkey for three reasons: 1) there were only eight of us; 2) nobody really loves turkey in my family; and 3) I was afraid of cooking a whole bird. I do not like to cook anything for the first time for people. On the other hand when would I cook a whole turkey for just Nathan and me? So we marinated and barbequed several turkey breasts. I thought they turned out terrific, no dry flavorless turkey this year. One quick question though. Someone spilled red wine on my table cloth. Does anyone know a trick to get that out?

Today I went to a spin class to try and burn off a little bit of yesterday’s meal. I really like spin classes. I am exhausted afterwards but in a good way. Later in the day I did not want to join the huddled masses in the stores, but I got bored. I decided to wander over to Target. To my surprise Target was over staffed and very organized. I was able to cross my aunt and nephew off my Christmas list. I think I might try and do some online shopping this year as well in an effort to minimize my exposure to impulse shopping.

One last note, I did write a Christmas letter this year.

Should I do a Christmas letter?

Should I do a Christmas letter? I have asked myself this question for the last few years. In a way it would be like a blog about my year. I like the idea of keeping those I care enough about to send a Christmas card to informed about my life. I always read the Christmas letters I receive.

On the other hand I hate how some letters come across so braggadocios. I mean life is not all gum drops and pay raises. If I compose one, I want it to be real. Do people want “real” around the Holiday? How long is too long? Right now I am thinking one page double spaced. Just enough to give the big highlights and a few antidotes, right? Having never composed one of these little beauties, I have no idea.

Other than that I had a hard week. Nathan was gone on business, Except for today, I felt very ineffective this week as a teacher. My kids will not play with good tempo and I spent all week pulling teeth on this issue. Today I held an American Idol-like contest concerning tempo. The winning section receives a fabulous edible prize on Monday once the votes are tabulated. I had all the sections play and everyone voted on who kept the best time. The two rules were you could not vote for your own section and if I called on a student for talking during the contest, their section was disqualified. The kids really worked hard on playing with good time and keeping quiet. Although this was a nice break from the normal rehearsal, I need to get them to stay quiet and focused on tempo without playing games.

Can't sleep

So it is 12:30 on a Friday night and I can not sleep. I ate a greasy dinner and it is not agreeing with me… that will teach me to not eat healthy. I should be sleeping I need to be up early. I have an IMEA jazz festival to go to tomorrow (today). After that my fall from hell will be over! Next weekend I am free as a bird. My plan at the moment is to sit on the couch and do nothing all weekend long. I might have to modify those plans slightly since I am hosting Turkey Day this year. However I am certainly looking forward to my free weekend.

I just finished parent teacher conferences and everything went smoothly. I had rehearsals with my bands for four hours the first day of p/t conferences and we got a lot of wood shedding done on our music. As the band director I only had two parents request my presence at their student’s conference. However I go to all of them….well most I usually just catch in the hallway and give a quick up date too. My students rarely have significant issues maybe they forgot to turn in a practice chart or two and that is about it.

Nathan and I saw a great movie this evening, Stranger than Fiction. I really like Will Farrell. He did a nice job although it was a bit of a departure from the goofy guys he usually plays. He just has a real likability to him, the kind of guy you would want as a neighbor. Anyways I would recommend the movie. Now I am going to go lie down and pretend to be sleepy.