Self-Portrait: Jason

Self portrait of Jason taken with the digital camera. He's been taking pictures of himself to use on his MySpace page and I came across this one last night. It's such a good picture of him; he looks so grown up. Kind of a window into what he'll look like as an adult I think. Click the picture to see a larger image.

Water Balloons

The kids are water balloon fighting as I write this. Jason seems to be losing this battle, although he did duck in time to escape this one! Click the picture to see a larger version and look to the far left and you'll see a purple balloon mid-air.

Soccer musings

The World Cup is the big deal around our house this month. We've watched almost every game and I'm considering taking off Thursday morning to watch USA's game. If USA loses they go home. We are all into soccer except for Jessica; but she tolerates it (and us) with good humor.

Football was the thing when I was growing up. I HATED it and, to make matters worse, it seemed like it was on all the time. I don't want Jessica to become bitter about soccer the way I am about football. So far she's indifferent. She'll just go do something else.

Jason began playing soccer when he was 7 or 8. Before that, I never really payed attention to the game. Soccer is definitely in Jason's blood. He has incredible talent and potential. Jessica has the talent too, but she doesn't have the interest. She played for one season and did very well. And, when playing around the house, she'll take the ball from Jason every time. It's so funny to watch him do all these fancy footwork moves with the ball and then Jessica will just stick her foot out and take the ball from him.

My "Mac Daddy" Bathroom

Our master bath has finally been reformed. It's not complete yet but it's getting there. One of the previous owners thought that green and brown checked wallpaper, along with black wrought iron hardware and gold light fixtures, would look good. I hated it from the minute we moved in.

After living with this decor for a couple years, I decided to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls or do something creative with them. The wallpaper was not installed correctly anyway and portions had begun to peel. And it didn't help that Jessica had ripped off some of the loose portions exposing the white wallboard underneath which made it look even uglier (if that was possible).

Jessica was eager to help and I figured we could remove the wallpaper in a weekend, tops. Boy was I wrong. The paper came off in 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Some areas had no glue and others had tons of glue. We got about half the room done over a month-long period; Jessica doing most of it.

When we began getting the house ready to sell, David suggested we just pay someone to come remove the paper and then install new paper rather than trying to smooth out the walls (remember this is mobile home and the walls are not like in a house). It ended up costing almost $500 but it was worth it! We also replaced the mirrors and light fixtures (which I also hated). I still want to replace the flooring and install new cabinet pulls and towel bars. It's going to be a "mac daddy" bathroom when it's complete!

Here are before/after shots (yes, I know there's a light out in the last picture, we ran out of lightbulbs).

Inconceivable

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

This is too funny! I love this guy, he's been on a lot of shows. Well actually he gets on my nerves, but I do love him.

Home Sweet Home

I've always wanted to live in a "house" rather than a "manufactured" home, but we've never been able to afford the payments that my kind of house would require (I confess I have expensive taste). Recently, I got a raise and figured out that we actually could afford a house now. Plus, the property value in our area is on the rise and we could make enough off the sale of our place to pay off our bills and thus be able to afford a higher mortgage payment. So we began getting our place ready to sell. We cleaned, organized, and downsized items we didn't even remember we had. I donated carloads of items to charity and threw away tons of stuff. The house, as a result, looks fantastic! What a difference decluttering makes!

In the meantime, I began look around our target areas for houses. House hunting is so exciting to me. I could do it all day. But the more I looked, the more I was dismayed. The problem is that the housing market here in Tallahassee is absolutely through the roof. It's ridiculously overpriced. Houses that cost $150,000 four years ago are now selling for over $260,000. NO JOKE. So, basically, to get a house in our price range, in the school districts we want, we would have downsize from our current 1836 square feet to around 1200 for a newer home, or around 1500 for an older home (translation: dump).

I found some possibilities and David and I went to look at them. It was depressing. The houses were either too small, too close to (or on) a busy street, didn't have a yard, needed major repairs, or were just plain dumps. And all of these were in the price range of $199,000-220,000. A $220,000 house sounds like it would be a mansion but not so in Tallahassee. After talking to our banker we found out that our mortgage payment would be around $1800 a month on a $220,000 house. That's more than double what we pay now!!!

As a result, I've realized we actually have it really good where we are. We have a nice home with lots of space and storage, with nice big yard, on a quiet street, in an excellent neighborhood, in an excellent school district. And, best of all, sprucing up the house and yard makes it feel like we're in a new home. Eventually I would like build or buy a house. Hopefully the housing market here will crash -- or the maybe interest rates will go back down. But, until then we are staying put.

I'm back

We've had a crazy, busy time during the last month: end of the school year for the kids, end of soccer season (party planning, etc.), beginning of summer school for me, fixing up the house and yard, and the usual daily grind.

I've had a gentle reminder from my cousin Cathy that I've haven't posted anything in awhile. I didn't think anyone read my blog except my other cousin Sarah. I confess I've been remiss in writing, justifying to myself that I'm either too busy or have nothing interesting to say. So, from now on, I will be more diligent and resolve to post something every day.

Trash talk

You should have seen the car I saw on the way to work this morning. The inside of the car was filled to the top with trash and clothes (mainly socks). You literally could not see into the car through the passenger side windows or the rear window; and the items were smashed against the glass making it obvious the car was stuffed to the brim. The car was moving very slow and the rear end was almost dragging the ground. As I passed the car, I looked in my side view mirror wondering how in the world this person could see to drive. The dashboard wasn't as bad; there was an open area in front of the steering wheel, but the passenger's side was covered with trash.

Amazing.

I once was lost, but now I'm found...

We found Toddy this morning. In our bedroom of all places. Well, in our closet actually, but he ran under a nightstand. David yelled for me to come help him and, of course, I refused to pick him up so he did all of the work really. It was a sight I'm sure... David lying on the floor with his arm under the night stand yelling for me to block his escape. Me doing everything possible not to have to touch him. He ran from the nightstand to under the dresser and the scenario repeated. Finally, he ran into the bathroom and was "rescued". Toddy, was pretty traumatized by the whole thing, but I'm sure he's glad to be back in his little safe world with food!

I had basically given him up for dead. We've seen absolutely no sign of him since he escaped and even Jessica had stopped asking about him. I fully expected to discover his shriveled up body months from now. I had hoped he wouldn't be in our bedroom. Every night as I turned out the light and walked to the bed, I prepared myself for the possibility of stepping on him.

The Great Escape

It was bound to happen. Jason's hampster Toddy has escaped from his cage and is loose somewhere in our house. Jessica accidentally left the cage door open last night and we didn't discover it until this morning. The cage was sitting on top of the dryer in the utility room. He must have had an unpleasant landing, falling all that way. I just hope we can find him before one of our cats does.

Actually, Spot, our lazy cat, would probably just lay there and watch him and Stinky would probably run away from him. Nada and Jet, however, would most likely eat him—but only after torturing him for awhile.

What will they steal next?

This morning I stopped by Publix on my way to work. As I pulled into my parking space, I noticed one of those child's shopping carts parked in the middle of the handicapped space next to mine. You know the kind, it looks like a truck with the shopping basket on the back. Little kids can sit in the truck part and pretend they're driving. The truck cart had obviously been left there overnight because it was covered with dew. Anway, as I was pulling in, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if it had been vandalized?"—the way you might expect a car left overnight in a strange parking lot could be.

Sure enough, as I got out of my car, I noticed that both the front wheels were missing their "hub cap" stickers!

For Sale?

Every day, on my way to and from work, I pass by a row of small, older houses across from Alumni Village. There's nothing especially noticable about these houses other than the occasional "For Sale" or "For Rent" sign and, anyway, I'm usually thinking about other things.

A couple of weeks ago, on my way home, I noticed some items placed near the curb of one of the houses: a mirror sitting on a chair, a pair of crutches, and few other items. In the split second it took me to pass by, I figured they must have been set out for the garbage truck. As I drove on, I began thinking about them. I wasn't sure they were garbage because they weren't in a pile and they weren't right next to the curb the way garbage would be. Rather, they were placed in a line.

The next morning the items were gone. "The garbage truck must have come," I thought as I passed by. That afternoon, the items were back, lined up in the same way. The next morning they were gone. I thought it was strange that the items kept appearing in the afternoon; they obviously weren't trash. I deduced that they must be for sale, but there wasn't a "For Sale" sign and nobody was sitting around as if it was a garage sale.

Days have gone by like this and each time I pass by, I notice something new has been added or taken away. Two days ago, there were clothes hanging from trees. Today, there were clothes hanging from street signs.

I still haven't seen anyone and I still haven't seen a sign. It's weird.

Crispy Sea Horse

This morning my bacon looked like a sea horse.

Hoppy Easter!

We've had a great Easter. Mom came over and brought the kids their Easter goodies. I got them each a big chocolate bunny and she did the rest. I think this is the first time she's been here for Easter festivities since the kids were toddlers.



Yesterday, we colored eggs. I had to do it in shifts because Jessica was going to a sleep over in the afternoon and Jason was refereeing in the morning. Jessica was more into the egg coloring than Jason was. I wonder if this is going to be the last Easter as far as egg coloring/hunting is concerned. The kids are getting older and more interested in other things. Anyway, mom and I hid the eggs for the kids this morning; then the kids hid them for us. There's hardly any eggs left now because they keep eating them!

Follow-up to the Goodwill incident

I was telling mom about what happened at Goodwill yesterday and she said she had read about it the paper (which she happened to have with her). I had already left by the time the reporter came.

The Day Goodwill Exploded

Today was turning out boring. Jessica was off playing at a friend's house and David and Jason were out getting haircuts. So when David and Jason got home I decided to go out by myself. I ended up at the Goodwill on Capital Circle NE.

I found some really cute shirts for Jessica and was looking through more shirts when I heard a loud BOOM, then a softer boom. I thought someone had overturned a shelf or something. I made my way toward the cash register to see what had happened. As I neared, I heard another boom and then saw flames. People began screaming and a man started yelling "Get out now! Everybody out!" Kids were screaming and crying as their parents dragged them toward the front of the store. I started to run also, still carrying the shirts. As I was running I noticed the woman in front of me running with clothing and wondered if she was going to run out the door with them. I was also wondering what to do with the ones I had, so I left them on a shelf as I exited the store. It's amazing how much can go through your mind in a few seconds. I guess there's something to the saying, "I saw my life flash before my eyes."

Anyway, it turned out that a car had crashed through the side of the building into the cash register area, apparently taking out the electrical box in the process. Outside the transformer was exploding and everyone was running. When the transformer calmed down I walked closer to look at the car sticking out of the building. The driver of the car must have really layed on the gas pedal to make it over the concrete parking barrier and through the wall (and uphill to boot).

I walked back to the front of the store and noticed someone helping a frail old lady out of the store. She could barely walk and was clutching her chest. At first I thought she may have been "stampeded" by the escaping customers, but later found out she was the cashier. The car must have pushed her into the counter as it came through the wall. After a couple of minutes two fire trucks and two ambulances arrived and most of the people left. They placed the cashier on a stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance. I don't think she was seriously hurt. I hope not.

I stayed around for a few more minutes hoping I would be able to go back in to buy the shirts. I know they won't be there next time I go.

Tales from St. Augustine

Last Wednesday, Jessica’s class went to St. Augustine and I came along as a chaperone. We had a blast. We went to the Castillo de San Marcos (the fort), the Alligator Farm, and the Lighthouse, among other places. St. Augustine is America's oldest city and they say it's the most haunted.

We had to be at the school by 4:30 a.m. In the picture above, the girls (Jess in the middle) had red eyes from the flash, but my eyes looked like that from getting up so early!

Alligators
The Alligator Farm was a neat place. In addition to alligators, you can see beautiful birds, cranes, tortoises, and monkeys. We saw a "show" where the alligator guy was in a huge pen with at least 50 alligators (big alligators) and was walking around talking about them. The alligators KNEW THEIR NAMES as well as some other commands. When he called out an alligator's name, it would come to him. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

Orbs
Have you noticed the orbs that sometimes show up in photographs? Some say these orbs are spirits or ghosts; others say they are dust particles reflecting off light. I don’t know what I believe. I’m not really a believer in ghosts, but I’m not a disbeliever either. Whatever they are, they can only be seen after the picture is taken (developed). Take a look at this picture I took of the Lighthouse. There is an orb near the top left side of the picture (incidentally, this is the first time I’ve had an orb in any picture I've taken). What is weird to me is that I took two other photos of the Lighthouse and there is an orb in the same location in each one. Is it dust? Well, it wasn’t dusty that I can remember, but it was slightly windy.

Right after I took this picture, we went to see where the Lighthouse keepers used to live (right across from the Lighthouse), which is now a museum. The tour guide was telling us that he was recently interviewed for a show that will be on the SciFi Channel on May 3. The name escapes me now—something with Haunted in it, I’m sure. Anyway, he couldn’t give us any details really, but he told us about his ghost encounter in the Lighthouse. You should have seen Jessica’s face while he was talking about this. She looked like she was either going to cry or to faint! Of course, after I got home and uploaded the pictures, I nearly fainted. Seeing the orbs was a little freaky!

Ever the dreamer

Blogthings.com has pronounced me a Dreaming Soul, and I am indeed. Here's what they said about me:

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life.

This assessment is pretty on target as far as the type of person I am; however, I have to disagree with the statement that following through with my dreams is a bit difficult. In my 43 years on earth, I've achieved many of my goals and am working on more. I'm not afraid to take risks, either, which is not very dreamy.

Glasses, cleats, phones, oh my!

This past Saturday we went to Panama City for a soccer play date. Jason had two games, both of which his team won. After game one, we went to Taco Bell for lunch. As we are sitting there eating David said to me, "Did you get my glasses off the car?" I looked at him with disbelief (keep reading and you'll know why) and said, "Why would I do that?" We looked at each other realizing what probably had happened. David had laid his sunglasses on the hood of the car and driven off with them there. We knew that, even if we were able find them, they would probably be smashed beyond repair. After lunch, we drove back to the same area where we parked. As we approached the parking lot, we saw a small brown object on the gravel road. It looked too small to be his glasses case, but it was. He jumped out of the car and picked it up. It had definitely been run over. As he pried the case open, we looked at each other expecting to see pieces of glass and metal, but the glasses were unharmed. What a miracle!

This wasn't so funny when it happened, but in hind sight it is because David has a history of leaving objects on the car and driving off with them. Last year, he left his office cell phone on top of the Jeep at a play date in Thomasville. We were almost out of town before he realized he didn't have it. We turned around and headed back for the fields positive that the phone was lost forever or, at very best, smashed to pieces. When we got back to the fields we couldn't find the phone anywhere and it wasn't in the lost and found, so we headed back for home looking along the street as we drove. Ironically we found the phone in the middle of the road right were we had turned around. It had been run over several times and was unusable but David took it with him anyway to give to his boss.

At another soccer tournament, he put Jason's cleats on top of the Jeep and I actually drove to and from Walmart (at least 2 miles) before realizing they were up there. Thank God they didn't fall off because we were inbetween games and there wouldn't have been time to get replacement cleats.

The funniest time for me was when we were at a game in Thomasville and David put Jason's socks on the Jeep roof to dry out. I drove to get lunch and, as I was sitting a traffic light, the man behind me got out of his car and came up to my window and said, "Excuse me, miss but did you know you have socks on your roof?" I was embarrassed, but thankful they hadn't blown away.

And there have been other instances that I won't mention. If I could only cure him of this!

What a leaf can teach you about life

Walking to my office this morning, I noticed that the bushes are beginning to sprout new leaves in anticipation of spring. They are really green—almost a yellow green—and shiny. And, they are springing up over the older leaves—which now look dull and dark by comparison.

I got to thinking that this is such a metaphor for life. The new leaves represent how we are at birth—green (innocent) and shiny. As we grow older and gain life experience, we lose our innocence. Our shiny exterior darkens and grows duller. Finally, we reach old age and settle down allowing the next generation to spring forward.

Pollen, Grass, Trees—by Jessica

When Jessica got home from school today, she went out into the front yard with a pad and pencil and wrote the following observations*. She offered to let me use them for my blog entry since I've been "under the weather" and don't feel like writing.

Pollen
Pollen grows on pine trees and falls on the ground. Pollen can even make some people sick.

Grass
Grass's color is green. Grass is a nice thing to have. It is good for little insects that live in it.

Trees
Tree colors are green, red, and orange. Trees are the most important thing on our planet. They provide oxygen to help us stay alive. They also bring shade on warm days.

___________________
*I edited for spelling.

Bring back the humans

Have you ever used one of those self-service checkouts? I absolutely hate them. Every time I try to use one, it messes up and I have to end up getting a human to come fix it for me.

Today Jessica and I were in Home Depot and when we got to the checkout area, I noticed a change. Home Depot has done away with human cashiers and installed four self-service checkouts. Well, there was one human cashier, but the line waiting to get to her was a mile long.

I didn't want to stand in line for an hour, so I reluctantly scanned my first item. The computer voice told us to place the item in the "bagging" area. Jessica placed the item in the bag. The computer voice told us to remove the item from the "bagging" area, so she did—even though we had other items to place in the bag. Then I tried to scan the second item. It wouldn't scan. The computer voice told us to place the first item BACK in the "bagging" area.

This happened a few more times and, just as I was about to lose my temper, the human troubleshooter standing nearby came running over to help. He said, all you have to do is remove the item; so he did. The computer again told us to place the item back in the "bagging" area. He looked as puzzled as I felt. I asked him why they did away with human cashiers and he mumbled something to the effect that they're trying to keep up with Walmart.

I was eventually able to complete the transaction, but instead of saving time, it actually took longer AND ended up involving a human. Is it me? I think I'm pretty techno-savvy, but I just can't deal with this stuff.

Bring back the humans.

JASON year-round

J F M A M J J A S O N D

I recently discovered that if you list the first letter of each month of the year on one line, you'll see JASON! Needless to say my son thought this was awesome.

Same place, only smaller

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm obsessed with New York City. I absolutely love the place. I used to think that New York was the "world" that was not Tallahassee. In New York, you can see and do anything. And living in New York represented what my life could have been if I'd chosen a different path. Don't get me wrong, I love my path and I love Tallahassee, but I've lived here basically my entire life and I'm a restless and curious spirit. I want to see more. I need to see different.

So when I went to New York for the first time, I didn't know what to expect, yet I had so many expectations. I expected different.

During my first trip, I was looking around for souvenirs. I didn't want the "standard" souvenir—you know, the Statue of Liberty cigarette lighter or the "I Love NYC" t-shirt-kinds that were everywhere—I wanted something unique. After all, NYC has everything. Why would I want something mass produced and available on every corner?

One day, while walking around the Upper West Side, I happened upon a Goodwill store and went inside. I immediately noticed a pillow on the shelf. I had never seen such a thing! It was hot pink and had a furry (yarn'y) kind of surface. The pillow was perfect for my daughter's room and it was only $2.99! It was kind of big, however, and I wasn't sure how I would fit it into my already full suitcase, but I bought it anyway. To me, this pillow represented the uniqueness of NYC. I could never find such a thing in Tallahassee.

A few weeks after I returned home, I was in a Target store and saw the same exact pillow! My heart sank into my stomache. The pillow wasn't unique at all. It was a product of a CHAIN STORE.

On my second trip to New York, I was even more determined to find something original and I did!—or at least I thought I did. I visited the week before Christmas and there were many bazaar-type craft shows around the city. At one in Bryant Park, I found this totally cool purse. Now, I'm not the type to have more than one purse. I use one purse until it literally falls apart. But this purse was so neat. It was made of recycled paper, but it didn't feel like paper. The man working the booth said his wife made the purses and gave me their business card. I gladly paid $25.00 for it. This purse was my "unique" souvenir. This purse was my "different."

A month after I returned to Tallahassee, I saw the exact same purse in a bead store of all places and, to make matters worse, it was $5.00 cheaper.

I'll eventually find something unique and different to bring home from New York, because New York is different. But having my bubble burst made me realize that New York is not the "world" that Tallahassee isn't—Tallahassee is the world too, only it's smaller.

Seeing Red

Two years ago, the white paint on our front door began to peel revealing the dark grey metal surface underneath. We removed as much of the paint as we could easily peel and planned to scrape the rest off and repaint it. But nothing else happened and the door has been grey with white flakes ever since. Painting the door became one of those "we will get to it soon, but not this weekend"-type projects.

Another home in our neighborhood, very similar to ours, had the same paint-peeling problem. The owners painted their front door red and it looked really nice. I decided that I wanted a red door. David was less than enthusiastic about my color choice but relunctantly agreed on the condition that it would be repainted if it looked bad. He painted the door last week while he was home with the kids during spring break. Every time I'd call and ask him how the door looked, all he would say is, "It's Red."

I remembered hearing that red doors were good luck but didn't know why, so I looked it up on the internet and found out that it's feng shui. According to feng shui, if your front door faces south you are supposed to paint it red. It's weird because there are four homes in my neighborhood with red doors (including mine) and they all face west. What's up with that? Weirder still is that the feng shui colors for west-facing doors are white and grey!

Regardless, I'm happy seeing red.

Phyllis Doesn't Make Appointments

This morning I went to meet with my art advisor Phyllis because the "Art Tools and Equipment" class I want to take this summer is already full and today is the first day I can register. I needed Phyllis to get me into that class.

Phyllis is an older woman, very cool, who is definitely overworked and probably underpaid. Her office is, at best, the size of a closet. Actually I think it was a closet at some point. Anyway, Phyllis doesn't make appointments. She works from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. most days of the week and you just have to show up and wait your turn.

Knowing this from previous meetings, I decided to arrive early to beat the crowd. The Fine Arts Building parking lot is being demolished and a new parking garage is under construction. In the meantime, there is nowhere to park, so I drove around campus looking for a parking space for 15 minutes before finding one right across the street! How lucky.

I walked into the advising office. I was the only one there. Lucky again! I could hear Phyllis talking to a co-worker, so I sat down and waited. It was about 9:50. Shortly afterward, two girls showed up and sat down on a tiny couch. The waiting room was slightly bigger than her office; just enough room for a small couch and chair. Phyllis was still talking, so I began chatting with the two girls about majors, etc. Then an older man in a suit walked in. He asked if we were waiting for Phyllis and we all said yes. Then he said, "Well I have an appointment for 10:00." We three looked at each other. Then I said, "Phyllis doesn't make appointments." The man stared at me for a few seconds in disbelief. Then he opened his notebook and pointed to something and said, "See, I have an appointment." I didn't say anything. I was thinking about what I was going to do if he tried to get in before me! Luckily he acknowledged that he was there on behalf of his daughter and said he would wait outside the door (there was no more room in the waiting area).

Shortly after that, I went in to see Phyllis. While I was in her office, the phone rang and Phyllis excused herself to answer it. She told the person on the other end of the line that she would be there until 3:00 and to come anytime. After she hung up she mentioned how funny it was that a person would call her from just outside the building. I asked her if it was a man who said he had an 10:00 appointment. She chuckled and said yes, but that she didn't make appointments. I laughed and said that I had just spoken to that man and told him the same thing.

She said, "Good for you," and then got me into the class.