And she said...

In about 30 minutes C is going to find out if his life will be taken over by SBC. Heh.

The union is possibly going to be on strike for up to 8 weeks, as reported by the tards on TV. My hubby unfortunately won't benefit from the extended vacation, as he is in management. (Not that it's a real vacation. The poor people in the union won't get paid a dime for as long as they decide to sit out. )

If they do go out, he will have to work a required 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. For as long as it continues.. The worst part is that no one will be doing his job while he's gone! He estimates a 6 month set back in his own job if they do go out for the estimated 8 weeks. That sucks if you ask me!

There is one serious benefit though... He will get "comp pay" for all of the extra hours. They can't call it overtime pay but IMO that's exactly what it is. I think they deserve it! Someone has to be there to keep the company running. Several of the engineers in his office will have to travel very far away from their families to make up for the lack of manpower in other offices. Tim, his best friend, will have to spend all of this time in Beaumont. (Which is about 8 hours from us!) The money is nice, but not worth it. This will be hell on everyone if it happens. I'm hoping that they come to some type of agreement.

I don't think I could manage for 8 weeks without C here.. I really don't. Krista may have to move in with me. :wink:

I feel human again, thanks to pharmaceutical enhancement. Gotta love Lexapro. :D

Clayton is so sweet. I know that I have bored you to tears with this subject many times before, but here we go again.

I guess it's obvious even to a 3-year old that I'm not myself. He is being so sweet... Earlier he brought me wildflowers out of the yard and I just about cried on the spot. Then he pulls up his pants like Erkel and walks around showing off and being silly. It was just the thing I needed to cheer me up!

On another note - Could I get someone to come be my secretary? lol.. I'm really dreading having to make these business calls.

Hugs,

~ Jenn

All day I've been trying to figure out what to blog about. Do I try and cheer myself up, by posting something fun.... Do I write about how I'm feeling...

I will say that I spent all morning on the couch. Got up and went to Ally's school again for lunch and then went shopping with Clay at WM. Came home, read some blogs and then went back to the couch. I can't remember the last time I've spent this much time on the couch during the middle of the day.

I'm having a hard time digesting all of this new information. I'm so scared of losing my Mother. I'm so scared of my kids losing their nanny. I feel helpless, as I'm sure Mom does. Basically, she has to depend on her body now. She has to hope that her heart will be able to heal itself and the medications will help. I can't imagine how she must be feeling. How much pain she has to endure.

I'm trying to understand why some people must live a life full of pain, while others live a charmed life with a healthy body and they don't know enough to appreciate it. We lost my cousin at the age of 32, two years ago. My other cousin at the age of 29, 4 years before that. How much more can one family endure?

This has brought about one good change though. I've decided to quit smoking. I know that I can do it, but it's going to be HARD. I want to be able to take a deep breathe when I'm 50. I want to be able to take long hikes and ride bikes and swim without running out of breath. My family is full of women who are so emotionally strong that I can't even comprehend the battles they have fought. Unfortunately, we have all been plagued with bodies that have a tendency to give out at a very young age. I'm going to fight it. Every damn step of the way.

I think I'm just stubborn enough to pull it off too. Hide and watch. ;)

Thanks everyone. I can handle almost anything when I know that I have friends and family to support me. Thanks for letting me whine.

*Hugs*

Well, it seems that today is Cinco de Mayo. Atleast that's what Ally told me about 14 times this morning.

Her elementary school is having a special mexican lunch today to celebrate the holiday, and of course I have to go. *Sigh*

Let me just begin by saying that I am the antithesis of a PTA Mom. Suprised? Don't be. For some reason all of those Mothers in one place just makes me nervous. Nervous to the point of complete exhaustion. I've never been a "room mom", I don't volunteer for field trips and I would never *ever* volunteer for the PTA. Does that make me a bad mom? I don't think so. It's not that I don't support the schools, or my children; I just can't get past all of the estrogen. What can I say... I'm not a joiner.

My Mom was the same way and it's funny (in a weird, f*cked up kind of way) to see myself turning into that same type of Mom. I've met some awesome women and I've made some great friends thru the schools, but I still get nervous. Self-conscious for lack of a better word.

I'll go today. I'll probably have a great time and be glad I went. But, until I'm in my truck on the way back home.. I'll worry.

On another subject here is my horoscope for the day.

[i]Let others know what you think. Just remember that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and the shoe could easily be on the other foot. If candid opinions are the currency of the day, commerce is flowing profusely around here. Leverage happens only when you have agreement, and agreement happens only through dialogue. Yes, things might be off to a rocky start, but people can be like that. For better or worse, you're not operating in a vacuum. Humor is one way to break the ice.[/i]

I guess that answers the question of "How many cliches can you fit into ONE horoscope?".. :D

Have a great day,
~Jenn

Bittersweet is the only word I can think of to describe my day. How is it possible that so much can happen in 3 hours! When I got to my aunt's house they we're trying to start the mower. Can you believe that darn thing wouldn't budge? I hate when that happens. :roll: :wink:

While we were hanging out my Mom calls. She had an appointment in Dallas today with the head of Cardiac Surgery. (The big guy.) The news is good AND bad. The good news is that she won't be having surgery. Her chest won't have to be opened AGAIN. The bad news is that it won't be fixed. They feel that any intrusive surgery would only cause more harm to her heart and probably cause her to go on dialysis for the rest of her life. You can imagine how everyone is taking this news.

I managed to catch up with my Mom at a friends house and she looked AWESOME. She has lost a ton of weight and now fits into size 11 jeans with room to spare. When I left she walked me to my car and we really got a chance to talk. I never get to see that side of her. She is brave and strong. She cried on my shoulder, this happening only three other times that I can recall.

The plan right now is to just rest and eat healthy. I'm sure they are going to give her some new medication to help with the hole in her heart, cardiac artery disease and leaky valves.

I can't figure out how to feel.

I made a BIG mistake this morning.

I layed down on the couch and went back to sleep after the kids left for school. When Clay woke up, he joined me on the couch. It's now 10:45 and I've been up for 4 1/2 hours, with NADA to show for it. *sigh*

I never lay back down. Mainly because it makes me feel worse. Tired, groggy and out of sorts all day. I promised my aunt yesterday that I would come help her in her yard today. LOL... She just called and said "Get up, get dressed, get your butt over here." Wanna know what I told her?

"Yes maam" - hehehehe

I guess it will do me good to get outside today... It's beautiful here and the physical labor can only be good for my body, but I'll be damned if I want to move from this spot.

I did make a promise though, so I'm off for a few hours. Wish me luck.

I've made a few more e-cards recently and I thought I would stick them up here. If you like them, let me know.

The "All about girls" card was made with girlfriends in mind. It's always nice to get a sweet note from a friend! (Thanks K!)

"Missing You" was just me messing around with creative picture coloring. The blue was inspired by an episode of "Divine Design" that Krista and I watched the other night. I don't know where I came up with the title other than maybe the droopiness of the flower looks sad.

Enjoy!

As always, check out the awesome brush sites in my "Design Divas" box for downloads. If you have any questions or requests.. Let me know!

Edit: Sorry, tblog was being a BIATCH.

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[image]JennsAbsent_115550 6318.jpg[/image]

Ok, let's try this again. Don't you hate when you type up a supreme blog entry and ya f*ck it up somehow? I had mine already to go and decided to be a complete dumbA** and add a pic. I'm sure you can figure out the rest....


(Happy, happy, joy, joy... breathe. breathe. breathe.)

Ok.

I was surfing the "blog world" today when I came across a reference to low-slung pants legislation at Jewdez' blog.



I found this story at kplctv.com

[image]JennsAbsent_720563 348.jpg[/image]

[i]April 23, 2004
Reported by KPLC Staff

When it comes to teens and pants, how low can they go?

The issue is hot topic in the Louisiana legislature and one state lawmaker wants to outlaw low riding pants.

Made popular by rap musicians and hip hop culture more and more Louisiana teens, like those elsewhere often wear sagging pants.

But State Representative Derrick Sheppard wants lawmakers to ban people from wearing pants below the waist that reveal skin or underwear.

Sheppard insists its an effort to save the fabric of society and foster self-respect not police fashion: "It's time in our community in which we graduate from a level where you do whatever you want to do and it's all right with me to 'we shall be your brothers keeper'. And it's time not only to get our economic and political house in order but also our moral house in order."

The ACLU says the bill goes too far.

If approved, the penalty for low sung pants $500 and up to six months in jail.[/i]


My very first gut reaction was "WHAT THE FUCK!"

But then I started to think about it; I thought about my daughter, the clothes she wears, my parenting rights and the government.

I'm a pretty strict Mom. I don't let Ally wear whatever she wants. I figure it's my job as her PARENT to monitor what pants she wears. I want my daughter to look like an 8 year old, not a sixteen year old diva on TV. I don't want her to feel that she needs to wear Gap to be popular. I want her to be proud of herself, despite the clothes that she has own. It's my JOB as her parent to make sure that she learns right from wrong, how to dress successfully and what clothes are appropriate. NOT the governments. I'm very insulted by state represative Derrick Sheppard's assumptions that I can't parent my own children. Who is he to assume the role of the morality police?

It makes me so seething mad to think of this bill becoming legislation. What will they regulate next?

Her curfew?
Who she dates?
What kind of car I buy her when she turns 18?

These are all high-morality issues, will they try and control those as well?

Do the right thing. Vote for the representatives that will have your best interests at heart.

Rant over.

Leave a comment. Remember, be nice. :wink:

Good Morning Friends!

Happy Monday. :wink:

I have lots too talk about today, but first I thought I would share something I found really funny.

First, do you know all of the benefits of becomeing a "pro" tblogger?

In my opinion, $20 a year isn't much if you blog every day and consider your blog an extension of your personality.

1. You can choose a pro template instead of the plain templates provided by tblog. There are tons of free "linkware" templates out there to choose from. MizGraphics made this one, but this was just one of many I considered. (Make sure that that template you choose is a "Blogger" template. Movingtype, etc. won't work here.)

2. You can upload images from your own files. Meaning.. you don't have to use photobucket. But beware, you only get a certain amount of space.

3. You get the satisfaction of helping pay for a really excellent service. I find it amazing that tblog provides us with free blogs, templates and all that we need to maintain it; all the while keeping our blogs completely banner free.

4. You get 4x the tbucks! Wow. (Ok, so this really isn't a big deal considering you really can't do jack sh*t with the bucks.. But it's fun to hand out bucks to hungry newbies. Thanks Irish :wink:)

5. The single most fun advantage to going pro however is.... (drumroll please)

Viewing your Stats! This morning I was looking at how people "found me" on the net. You wouldn't believe some of the key words that people have used to find me. (If you don't have the calendar on your blog, you may want to consider installing it. That's how you get listed in Google, Yahoo and AOL search engines.)

This is just a few of the results that I found this morning.

(I'll list the words they used to find me.)

1) "Blog Headers" - I was the very first result for this in an AOL search. :shock:

2) "Pictures Skipperkee" - This is atleast the 10th time I've been browsed because of Rinny the f*ckin Skipperkee.

3) "Sasser worm stay online" - Whoever found me this way. I'm so very sorry. :(

4) "Eloping to Maui" - Who knew?

5) "PSP 7 Tutorials" - Sorry dude. Wish I had some of my own tutorials for you. Maybe one of these days.

6) "Sex" - Wanna know what suprises me about this one? It isn't that common that I'm found using this search! (I guess that's a good thing, eh?)

7) "Bed shaking" - LMAO... Remember the bed shaking alarm clark post? Yep. That did it. Too funny!

8) "Scrapbooking fruit loops" - I'm scared to ask.

9) "Summer PSP brushes" - Dude, I hope you found what you were looking for. If not, visit Robin's PSP resources. (Her link is listed on the right!)

10) "Photobucket preteen" - I have the sneaky suspicion that this guy didn't find what he was looking for. :wink:


Just for giggles here are a few more "keywords" to keep Google busy.

Rhinoceros butt
Technicolor Underpants
Fishy Smelling Shoes
French Fry Refugees
Dolphin Sex
Benefits of Stapling your eyelids shut


That should keep 'em busy for awhile. LMAO!

Well, atleast now I know what happened to my computer on Saturday morning. *Sigh*

[LINE]


Millions of computers worldwide hit by Internet worm, experts say

Sun May 2, 4:31 PM ET

Add Technology - AFP to My Yahoo!

PARIS (AFP) - Millions of computers have already been infected by a new Internet computer worm that caused disruptions over the weekend and may spread rapidly when businesses resume work Monday morning, experts warned.


AFP Photo


AFP
Slideshow: Internet Worms and Viruses



The worm, named Sasser, began to spread on Saturday, and unlike a virus does not travel through e-mails or attachments. It can spread by itself to any unprotected computer linked to the Internet.

It attacks through a flaw in recent versions of Microsoft's Windows -- Windows 2000 (news - web sites), Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP (news - web sites) -- and causes the computer to shut down, then rebooting it, repeating the process several times. But it appears to do no lasting damage.

The anti-virus company Panda Software said Sunday slightly more than three percent of the world's computers, around 18 million out of the estimated 600 million operating worldwide, were infected.

"Compared to other viruses which have appeared on weekends when activity is low -- doubly so now that May 1 is a holiday in many countries -- this one has positioned itself as one of the quickest-spreading and most virulent ones," Luis Corrons of PandaLabs, which has offices in Spain and the United States, said Sunday.

"All these signs make for a dark forecast for the beginning of the week when it is expected that the number of incidents will soar at the beginning of the work day."

(Edited for space) The link for the entire story is here.

Another cute quiz thingy that I copied from CP. I'm not real sure what it means, but here are the results nonetheless. (Thanks for the link CP.) Book quiz


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You're Les Miserables!
by Victor Hugo
One of the best known people in your community, you have become something of a phenomenon. People have sung about you, danced in your honor, created all manner of art in your name. And yet your story is one of failure and despair, with a few brief exceptions. A hopeless romantic, you'll never stop hoping that more good will come from your failings than is ever possible. Beware detectives and prison guards bearing vendettas.

Morning friends!

I received this is an email and normally I NEVER post one of these things, but I thought it was just too cute. Considering I've found myself guilty of a few of these from time to time.

I know that I've thought "LOL" when someone was talking to me.. LOL


You know you're addicted when.....

1. Tech Support calls "YOU" for help.

2. Someone at work tells you a joke and you say "LOL" out loud.

3. You find yourself trying to turn your head 90 degrees when you
smile.

4. You bring a bag lunch and a cooler to the computer.

5. When looking at signs, you wonder why they are always "yelling"
at you.

6. When at work, your boss constantly reminds you that the word "i"
should be capitalized.

7. You don't even notice anymore when someone has a typo.

8. You stop speaking in full sentences.

9. You no longer type with proper capitalization, punctuation, or
complete sentences.

10. You stop typing whole words and use things like ppl, dunno and
lemme.

11. You watch TV with the closed captioning turned on.

12. You dream in "text".

13. You have an identity crisis if someone is using a screen name
close to your own.

14. You change your screen names so much that you have to look at
your own profile to see who you are.

15. When someone asks, "What did you say?" you reply, "Scroll up!"

A Boy is...
Trust with dirt on its face
Beauty with a cut on it's finger,
Wisdom with bubble gum in it's hair
and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

I love how this one turned out... Feel free to leave a comment.

[image]JennsAbsent_140801 1776.jpg[/image]

Do you know someone who is a huge practical joker? I have one living right under my roof. :roll: C is always pulling pranks, hiding things, and just generally trying to drive me insane.

Today we went over to my Aunt's house so that he could replace a belt on her mower. The kids and I were in the house talking to my aunt when C rushes in with blood running from his hand. He's holding it and wincing in pain. Immediately everyone jumps up to rush and help him... he opens his hand to reveal an open package of ketchup all the time laughing hysterically.

I thought my poor aunt was going to have a heart attack!

Don't worry he's ok. I didn't kick his ass too bad.

It's been an interesting day around our house.

This morning, while I was sleeping in :oops: , Chris tried to log onto the internet and discovered that we had a pretty bad virus. He would log on, only to have a message pop-up about 2 minutes later that shut the computer dwon. Everytime, same thing. We ran spybot and McAfee and found 7 virus's and 2 trojans. *sigh* The worst one was called the "sasser worm" and it affects your windows32 files. Not good. Not good at all.

I really, really want to cause SOMEONE bodily harm at this point. I'm talking bloodshed. Nothing else would satisfy me at this point.

Chris finally was able to hop onto the microsoft website and print off the instructions to fix it. We activated our firewall and downloaded some symantic thing. Hopefully that took care of everything.

Talk about frustrating. What makes it worse, is my lack of computer knowledge. I want so bad to be able to KNOW what to do and how to fix things.

The good news is that it's now fixed with no real problems remaining. I feel like I'm tiptoeing around the internet, afraid that the big bad wolf is going to pop up around the next corner and steal all of my goodies for Grandma.

Encouraged by CP's new status as a sex GOD I decided to go take the silly test myself...

I must say; I'm not at all suprised by the results.

:wink:

[i]A brilliant bolt of lightning descends! SHAZAAM! The oracle has spoken!

The smoke clears to reveal that inside you is a divine being,

PERSEPHONE, Goddess of the Night,

a woman in touch with her deepest inner desires.

As the most sexual of all the female deities, you are very comfortable in the bedroom. Your skill at pleasing a man is unmatched, and you know exactly what you need for your own pleasure. As a woman of passion, you're very comfortable with expressing your desires to anyone. You are a proud and confident woman who exudes sensuality. You cherish the intimacy of physical attraction and know what it takes to win a man. As a woman deeply in touch with your sexuality, you definitely know how to thoroughly enjoy yourself! Your polished bedroom performance always keeps them coming back for more. When everything is going right, a light shines down from the heavens. Behold, the skies proclaim, here lies a goddess![/i]

Edited to add the link. :wink: Tickle.com

This is a piece for an artwork challenge on the scrapbook site that I frequent. The host submits 3 pieces of art and the players choose which one that speaks to them, then recreate a layout using the painting as an inspiration.

I love the way it turned out. The picture is from last summer on my backporch swing.

Thanks for looking. ;-) Feel free to comment.

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[LINE]
Here is the inspiration piece.
[image]JennsAbsent_166331 92.jpg[/image]

I was surfing the blog rollers list this morning and you will never believe what I discovered. Cynicism. In huge quantities.

Apparently it's cool to be cynical online now. Am I completely oblivious to all thats going on in the world? Of course not. But there are enough people on the net journaling about wars, misery, politics and the such. Someone has to journal happy, yes?

It's no wonder that I surround myself with happy people that love to laugh and be positive. Can we [u]please[/u] explore the idea of bringing back the love? Warmth, friendliness and compassion may be a thing of the past.

If my posts sometimes sound like they are lecturing, they are not. I quite simply get enthusiastic about my topics. If you think I sound too happy and must be hiding the fact that I was abandoned at the age of 3 and raised by wolves... nope, that's not it either.

I'm discovering the joys of life.

This is my journey, but you are welcome to come along for the ride.

Finding the joy,
~Jenn

ps. I reserve the right, as the author of this blog, to continue to rant on occasion. Sometimes it has to be done. It's part of the process. :wink:


[LINE]

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III

Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try.
Peggy Noonan (1950 - ), in Good Housekeepin

Here is an "e-card" that I made with PSP 7 brushes and scrapbooking elements. I thought it turned out pretty!

I'm going to start sharing more information about how I do things and where I get my "stuff" from. If that aspect of my art doesn't interest you in the least... Well, sorry. :wink:

The ribbon and ring charm are downloaded from Scrapbook-Bytes. This is a great digital scrapbooking site. The have a community format with lots of very helpful girls. You can download a ton of different elements. Eyelets, charms, "paper", ribbon and fibers, alphabets (as opposed to fonts), frames, photo corners, flowers, metal embellishments and much MUCH more. They have challenges and tutorials every week as well. Of course, I'm a member there. If you want to see my layouts click here.

I downloaded these brushes from beautiful-sin. A very cool site with a focus on dramatic tv shows. Not that I'm into Angel or Buffy, on the other hand I'm all about the REALLY cool brushes. Check 'em out.

For those of you that could care less about making your own, please feel free to right-click and save. :D [image]JennsAbsent_118466 3701.jpg[/image]

Do ever get bored?

Guilty.

I've been so restless today. Between doing laundry (which is neverending), playing with Clay and filing more paperwork I've been able to keep myself from going crazy.

If there was one household chore that I could just wish away it would be laundry. Between two adults and three children (one of which is a pre-teen diva) we have more laundry than half of Dallas. I'm positive. Believe it or not, I do atleast 2 loads of laundry EVERY day and I still stay behind. Ugh.

I think I'll go on strike. No laundry for a month. :P

Eh. That won't work. It's cheaper to wash the old ones than buy new ones. *sigh*

On another note, I did some more banners today. These are for FireAngel. Hopefully she will like atleast one of them.

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[image]JennsAbsent_131106 8054.jpg[/image]

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I hope everyone is having a great day...

Guess what I did tonight?

Uh huh.... You know.

I had some sweet, juicy, tender watermelon. Our first one this year. I was a tad worried about the quality, everyone knows watermelon is best in late summer.

We've had it in the frig since saturday, but for some reason haven't taken the time to cut it yet. C started slicing thru the pulp and juice literally streamed out the sides of the fruit. Bright pink liquid love. Mmmm...

C is still sitting on the living room floor with his. I inhaled mine in about 10 minutes. I might add that the last few bites aren't good unless you eat them [u]without[/u] a fork.

I wish I could share a slice with all of you.

I even took a picture. Enjoy.

[image]JennsAbsent_569364 554.jpg[/image]

I'm off to have another slice. :wink:

Night,
Jenn

For Cyberpal...

I promised him that I would make him a new banner. (Actually, I begged him to LET me make him another banner.) LOL!

I hope you like atleast one of these hun. The fonts and colors can be changed with no problem. If none of these float your boat, I'll keep making them until one does. Hehe. (Like I have anything better to do.) :oops:

Brushes courtesy of my favorite PSP brush sites. (See- Designer Divas)

::EDIT:: Oops. Gotta resize em.

[image]JennsAbsent_301023 306.jpg[/image]

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Thanks to Rocky, my new template is finally up and running with only a few minor bugs. See those boxes all jumbled together over there. ------------------

They aren't supposed to do that. LOL! I'll be damned if I can figure out how I did that though.... Oh well, I'll beg Rocky for help again tomorrow...

I love my new look! It reminds me of sherbert and summer sandals. Friendships and secrets. I feel less cluttered and confined.

Almost as if I've just bought myself a shimmery new summer dress... Oh what a feeling...

This site is temporarily experiencing technical difficulties due to lack of knowledge of a certain blog owner who shall remain nameless.

We will continue to work night and day to return you to your regularly scheduled smart-ass commentaries.

Thank you for your patience.

It's amazing how much crap one person can accumulate.

Let me back up a bit. I'm NOT a packrat. I keep things that are important or special to me. Despite my ability to throw just about anything in the circular file, I still find myself weeding out CRAP all the time.

My paperwork/bills have been in such a mess for ages. I'm talking years worth of bills, insurance papers, receipts, titles, healthcare forms, government papers and financial odds and ends. Up until last night these papers were stuffed into various spots around my house with absolutely no organization or order.

On the other hand, Krista is one of the most organized people I know. A virtual organization GURU, I tell ya. That girl has her shit together. She could probably tell you at any given moment where any paper in her house is. Of course, I begged and pleaded with her to come and help me re-organize my paperwork. Actually, "re-organizing" would imply they were once organized. That, my friends would be a false misrepresentation of my previous bookkeeping skills. My shit has never been organized. I can never figure out the best way to sort and package it.

We started at 9pm last night and worked until 2am. Every single piece of paperwork is now snug it's own little folder home. I'm so excited I can barely see straight.

Thank you so much Krista! I owe you. Big time.