I don't even know where to begin this entry. It has been almost a week, if not more, since my last entry and I feel like so much has happened.
1. We went to Minot this weekend to see the Ouhl Sisters (of whom neither are any longer Ouhls). Kristi and I decided that we hadn't seen each other since her sister's wedding in November of 2001. Lisa and I decided that we hadn't seen each other since 2004, when Lisa and her husband stayed at my place over her 10 year reunion weekend. It was fun to see them. They really are fun cousins and I think we had a very fun time.On Friday we had a BBQ at Lisa's place on Base, and then Saturday I got to experience the ND State Fair for the first time. I actually got a little color, and no it wasn't a burn because I was slathering on the 50 proof baby sunscreen every 30 minutes or so...Lukin and I are so not getting skin cancer. Then on the flight home, we ended up sitting 1st class. It was fluke, but it had been a while and I had almost forgotten what it was like.
2. My cousin that lives in Bismarck, had her baby on Thursday. I'm not really sure if he was born early or not, but there were some complications. It is believed that he has Downs Syndrome, but they won't know for sure for 7 to 10 days (until the tests come back). My cousin sent out an email saying that she was scared, among the other emotions that run through a mother after she has a child. I will keep her in my prayers, and I will offer this thought, which my mother reminded me of: "God doesn't give us anything that we can't handle."
3. I did a little job shadowing/interviewing today. It was on the U of M campus. I'm not really sure which I was most apprehensive about: the job shadowing, the interview, or parking my car with UND plates on the U of M campus. No need to worry, my car was whole and nothing was missing when I returned after the 3 hours inside.
It was a really fascinating shadowing experience. Partly because that isn't typical procedure for someone applying for a position, and partly because I got to see a BMT client, (that stands for Bone Marrow Transplant), a patient that had esophageal atresia (not spelled correctly, I'm sure), and one patient that was a little over a year old and weighed a little over 7 pounds. The beauty was that I wasn't overwhelmed by any of it. It was just so interesting to not be bored.
4. My family: Lord knows I love them. However, they get so adament about seeing Lukin that they forget that about the details involved. Allow me to explain. When I called to tell my Dad that my cousin had her baby, he asked me when I was bringing Lukin up. He said, "My grandson misses me." I said that maybe I would bring him up this coming weekend, with it being Amanda's 30th and all. Well, Maybe equals definitely for them in terms of seeing Lukin. So now we are trying to work out a way for this to work for this weekend. My mother, however, has tomorrow (Wednesday) off and thinks that we should get there to be there for that. We can't make this happen. And I feel sort of bad, but I thought we had agreed the last time I was there that it was their turn to come see their grandson.
There's a few details that she doesn't think about when she wants us to come up. For example, how are we going to get from GF to Cavalier? She says that if we take Lukin up tomorrow, she will come and get him. I ask her what she will do with him on Thursday, and she says she will take him to work. And I know from the last time I was home that I certainly don't wanna go sit up there on Thursday while my mom works. She works until 9 pm and by the time she gets home it's 9:30. At least when I am at my house, Sonny comes home between 1:30 and 2:00. That's 8 less hours of waiting for someone to hang out with.
Granted, my sister will probably read this and say that she would be home. But last time I was home, it felt like she either didn't like Lukin and/or me enough to spend time with us, or was too crabby to spend time with us, or didn't know how to spend time with her sister and nephew without her boyfriend around. It felt like there was no quality sister time. It made me kinda sad and kinda defensive towards going up there again to spend the time between when she gets home and mom gets home alone versus with my sister. I jokingly said to Lukin on one of the nights when she was getting all gussied up for Mike to come over, "Remember when Stacie didn't have a Mike and we could hang out." She replied with, "Remember when your mom didn't have a Sonny and we could hang out." (Of course he doesn't. Without 'Mom' and 'Sonny', there would have been no Lukin.)
Anyway, so now I am stuck. I feel guilty that my parents haven't gotten to see Lukin in almost a month. I feel sad that if I go up there, my sister doesn't have time for us anymore. And yet, at the same time, I realize that if there weren't a Lukin, no one would call and whine that they hadn't seen me in a month (with the exception of Amanda, that is).
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Epidemic...
Last weekend, my best friend told me that my ex-fiance turned 30 on Friday. A week from this Friday, she turns 30. In another couple of weeks after that, another one of my friends (and her twin brother) turn 30. A few weeks later and another friend turns 30 and then about 2 weeks after that, I turn 30.
Dramatic Music: I think it's an epidemic.
I was having this conversation with my friend Kurt, who for the record is 26, and he didn't seem to understand what the big deal was. I don't know if that's because he is 26 or because he is male. Allow me to go through the list of why turning 30 is not good:
1. Advertisements for things like make up, hair products and such are no longer aimed at you. They are aimed at young women in their late teens and 20s. Those products that have advertisements aimed at you are for turning back the clock.
2. MTV no longer makes any sense to you. In your early 20s, the idea of being on Real World was cool. Now the idea of living with a bunch of people who don't get along, don't really work, but do spend their time whining, waxing poetic, and drinking the nights away before landing in bed of one of their roommates is so ridiculous.
3. When you were in your teens, the 20s seemed like they were going to be so exciting: getting a job and making gazillions of dollars, getting your own place, maybe getting married, maybe other things. It all seemed so grown up and glamorous. Now, as you embark on your 30s, you realize that you are going to have a job, but it's not the glamorous one you envisioned. You won't makes millions a year, in fact you will probably never think you make enough to live comfortably. You may be married with a family and you may miss the days of sleeping in and thinking for one instead of for a whole family. Yay, being 30.
4. One word that you didn't worry about in your 20s: Gravity.
5. In your 20s, your diet could consist of pizza at every other meal, a 6 pak of soda a day and doritos, with queso, every night before heading out to the bar for a few adult beverages. I've been told that in your 30s, you really can't do that anymore, you metabolism slows dramatically and you have to really work to keep it thinking you are in your 20s.
6. When you were younger, the popular actors/actresses were your age, in your 30s they are all younger than you.
I know that the list could go on and on. Feel free to tell me some of the ones I am missing, if you are living through this epidemic yourself.
Dramatic Music: I think it's an epidemic.
I was having this conversation with my friend Kurt, who for the record is 26, and he didn't seem to understand what the big deal was. I don't know if that's because he is 26 or because he is male. Allow me to go through the list of why turning 30 is not good:
1. Advertisements for things like make up, hair products and such are no longer aimed at you. They are aimed at young women in their late teens and 20s. Those products that have advertisements aimed at you are for turning back the clock.
2. MTV no longer makes any sense to you. In your early 20s, the idea of being on Real World was cool. Now the idea of living with a bunch of people who don't get along, don't really work, but do spend their time whining, waxing poetic, and drinking the nights away before landing in bed of one of their roommates is so ridiculous.
3. When you were in your teens, the 20s seemed like they were going to be so exciting: getting a job and making gazillions of dollars, getting your own place, maybe getting married, maybe other things. It all seemed so grown up and glamorous. Now, as you embark on your 30s, you realize that you are going to have a job, but it's not the glamorous one you envisioned. You won't makes millions a year, in fact you will probably never think you make enough to live comfortably. You may be married with a family and you may miss the days of sleeping in and thinking for one instead of for a whole family. Yay, being 30.
4. One word that you didn't worry about in your 20s: Gravity.
5. In your 20s, your diet could consist of pizza at every other meal, a 6 pak of soda a day and doritos, with queso, every night before heading out to the bar for a few adult beverages. I've been told that in your 30s, you really can't do that anymore, you metabolism slows dramatically and you have to really work to keep it thinking you are in your 20s.
6. When you were younger, the popular actors/actresses were your age, in your 30s they are all younger than you.
I know that the list could go on and on. Feel free to tell me some of the ones I am missing, if you are living through this epidemic yourself.
I needed a pick me up.
Okay so tonight after Lukin went to bed, I was online and tired of looking for jobs so I decided to go to youtube to check out my favorite periodic table song. It was pretty funny (as per usual). Then I checked out some Lewis Black clips which make me laugh because I think he is funny. Then I decided to check out my Damien Rice song. That was pretty interesting since I had never seen the video. And I have to confess that I never anticipated that the female voice was going to be a head balloon. That was an interesting twist.
Then I decided to check out some of my favorite songs. I was listening to Nelly Furtado's 'Say It Right' when I stumbled across the fact that I could watch (or listen to) a few of my favorite songs as Sims videos instead of as real people. I watched the Nelly Furtado song, Madonna's 'Hung Up', Pink's 'Family Portrait' (which I had forgotten I liked since I don't think I have heard it since I lived in Jamestown, and O-Zone's 'Dragostea Din Tei'. It made me feel better.
I have a not real interview tomorrow (or I guess later today noting the time). That ought to be fun. I will keep you all posted. My career options may be shifting if something doesn't happen soon.
Oh and one more thing: Amanda, you need to check out the 'What if the Beatles were British?' clip on youtube. It was slightly amusing. You would probably catch more of the songs than I did. Speaking of which, they also have Free as a Bird which I haven't seen since 1994 when it came out. I think I was sitting 10 inches from the tv. What?!? I was cool dambit!!
Then I decided to check out some of my favorite songs. I was listening to Nelly Furtado's 'Say It Right' when I stumbled across the fact that I could watch (or listen to) a few of my favorite songs as Sims videos instead of as real people. I watched the Nelly Furtado song, Madonna's 'Hung Up', Pink's 'Family Portrait' (which I had forgotten I liked since I don't think I have heard it since I lived in Jamestown, and O-Zone's 'Dragostea Din Tei'. It made me feel better.
I have a not real interview tomorrow (or I guess later today noting the time). That ought to be fun. I will keep you all posted. My career options may be shifting if something doesn't happen soon.
Oh and one more thing: Amanda, you need to check out the 'What if the Beatles were British?' clip on youtube. It was slightly amusing. You would probably catch more of the songs than I did. Speaking of which, they also have Free as a Bird which I haven't seen since 1994 when it came out. I think I was sitting 10 inches from the tv. What?!? I was cool dambit!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Apathetic
I really don't have a whole lot to say today. I started writing something that I got bored with writing. I guess being apathetic can be detrimental at times. I just stopped writing because I really didn't care about the topic that much.
I should go to bed because tonight/tomorrow is the one night that Sonny works and so I will have to get up with L-train in the morning and there are lots of things I want to do while he is at work (mostly organizational things...go figure).
Well, that's all I care to write about tonight.
I should go to bed because tonight/tomorrow is the one night that Sonny works and so I will have to get up with L-train in the morning and there are lots of things I want to do while he is at work (mostly organizational things...go figure).
Well, that's all I care to write about tonight.
Completely Normal
What do I know today? Well, today was the longest amount of time that I have spent in my home since before the 15th of the month. So that way kind of nice. I just wanted to relax and not do too much today. I think I succeeded.
I have hung up my recent letter that I got from the doctor. It says:
Dear Jennifer,
Your test results are completely normal.
It was a pleasure seeing you at your recent visit. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Doctor's name here.
That is exactly what it says. I plan to use it for many purposes, like whenever anyone tells me that I am not normal, or that I am a little weird. Um, hello. Not so much. The doctor SAID that I was normal. The letter from the doctor replaced the Pink Slip letter from my last school district. People have told me that I have a strange sense of humor...um, hello...my sense of humor is...wait for it...completely normal.
I have hung up my recent letter that I got from the doctor. It says:
Dear Jennifer,
Your test results are completely normal.
It was a pleasure seeing you at your recent visit. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Doctor's name here.
That is exactly what it says. I plan to use it for many purposes, like whenever anyone tells me that I am not normal, or that I am a little weird. Um, hello. Not so much. The doctor SAID that I was normal. The letter from the doctor replaced the Pink Slip letter from my last school district. People have told me that I have a strange sense of humor...um, hello...my sense of humor is...wait for it...completely normal.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Can't I just sleep in?
So the last week, we have been busting our ass and running all over the world. Okay, maybe not so much all over the world, but at least around the continent. We spent last weekend in Omaha. We were there for Sonny's mom's side of the family reunion. It was at the Omaha zoo. It was pretty hot. We stayed with some friends of Sonny's that have three kids: twin girls and a younger son. It was fun. They adore Lukin.
After the reunion, we headed back on Sunday and repacked and got ready for the trip up to Calgary on Monday. As tends to be par for the course, it was in the 90s while we were there. And it should be mentioned that my grandmother does not have any form of air conditioning. Of course not, right?
Although we had fun, even though it was hot. We took one day and just went to a mall just to be in the AC. The next day we went to Lake Louise and Banff. We went out for supper on Wednesday to Red Lobster. That is a whole story in itself, but since I don't know who all reads my blog, I guess it's one I will have to share in person. Oh my goodness. It was quite the ordeal. I don't think Grandma and Nils are planning to eat there again any time soon.
Now I am in Fargo for Girl's weekend. I am pretty tired because we were at Nicole's house last night until almost 2 am. Fun times, fun times. We started the day by getting pedicures and then went to lunch at Olive Garden. Pat Sweeney showed up...ooooohhh, local celebrity. Then we went back to Brenda's place to drop off some cars and take a potty break and then we ventured out to Old Navy and Pet Smart. Amanda wanted to see the kitties, or the kit-tas as she was calling them. Then we had some Cold Stone and dropped Nicole off so she could pick up her place before we ame over. We watched a movie and played some games, and ordered pizza. It was really fun, and no, Sonny we didn't go trolling for airmen. We're a little too old for that whole bar all night scene.
Better go get ready since I am flying out of Grand Forks since their flights today look better than the ones out of Fargo.
After the reunion, we headed back on Sunday and repacked and got ready for the trip up to Calgary on Monday. As tends to be par for the course, it was in the 90s while we were there. And it should be mentioned that my grandmother does not have any form of air conditioning. Of course not, right?
Although we had fun, even though it was hot. We took one day and just went to a mall just to be in the AC. The next day we went to Lake Louise and Banff. We went out for supper on Wednesday to Red Lobster. That is a whole story in itself, but since I don't know who all reads my blog, I guess it's one I will have to share in person. Oh my goodness. It was quite the ordeal. I don't think Grandma and Nils are planning to eat there again any time soon.
Now I am in Fargo for Girl's weekend. I am pretty tired because we were at Nicole's house last night until almost 2 am. Fun times, fun times. We started the day by getting pedicures and then went to lunch at Olive Garden. Pat Sweeney showed up...ooooohhh, local celebrity. Then we went back to Brenda's place to drop off some cars and take a potty break and then we ventured out to Old Navy and Pet Smart. Amanda wanted to see the kitties, or the kit-tas as she was calling them. Then we had some Cold Stone and dropped Nicole off so she could pick up her place before we ame over. We watched a movie and played some games, and ordered pizza. It was really fun, and no, Sonny we didn't go trolling for airmen. We're a little too old for that whole bar all night scene.
Better go get ready since I am flying out of Grand Forks since their flights today look better than the ones out of Fargo.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Live Earth, Bad Computer, and the like...
So it's been a few days since I wrote in here last and I don't even know where to begin. I could talk about how we went to Cavalier again for the fourth of July, but nothing really significant sticks out except that Stacie and I gave Lukin a haircut outside and he was crying so hard that I thought someone was going to call the cops. Other than that, it was another week of hanging out at the parents' place and keeping a low profile.
The drive to Grand Forks is where the true ranting can begin. The rental car we had had satellite radio and there was some commercial for something that I thought said, 'Live Birth'. I looked at Sonny and said, "I don't think I would want to listen to a channel that talks about live births." He said, "no, it's this concert called Live Earth." I'm like, "What's Live Earth?" He says, "It's a concert to raise awareness about conservation." I think for a moment and then ask, "Why do we need a concert to raise awareness about conservation? Why can't we just conserve?" To which he replied, "Exactly." I don't understand why there are all these stupid causes out there. Not that conservation is a stupid cause, but most people know about it and it seems to waste more energy and natural resources preparing for, and having a concert to raise awareness than it would to just get talking about it.
Besides, everyone is pretty aware of my views on topics like this. I hate how celebrities use their celebrity status to raise awareness. It's like, some celebrity decides to go to Arizona in the summer and notices, when not coked out, that it is really hot there. So they return to their well air-conditioned home in LA and decide that something has to be done. Someone must be the crusader to raise awareness about how hot it is in the Arizona desert in the summer!!
How about instead of raising awareness about stupid stuff, why not look at something real? It bothers me that no matter what state I work in, no matter what school employs me, there are always students that you send home at the end of each day not knowing if they will eat again before lunch tomorrow. Why doesn't someone, besides me, care about that? Why are we sending all this money to other countries and on causes that are not the most important priority right now? I don't understand at all.
Next topic, since we know I could go on for days about that last one. Sunday night I was trying to complete an application for a job down here in the cities, online. It was going alright until it needed me to go to a separate site to complete a survey which basically asked me a bunch of redundant questions, and then return to upload all my letters and resume and stuff like that. Well, it decided that it was going to pretend that it was going to upload stuff but not actually upload anything. And me, being as patient as I am, was screaming at the computer because I thought it was stupid to waste all this time on a school that wasn't even organized enough to call me back after an interview two years ago.
Well, time passes and it has now been 4 hours working on this same app. and I am still super calm as I tend to be and Sonny comes upstairs. I scream, "That is just great! You have got to be kidding me!" I didn't mean to stay up until he got up for work, but that is how that went. I was so mad that I had to tell Sonny all about it, and not in a quiet manner, like a person should talk at 1 am. Sonny spent the next hour or so on damage control.
I was so frustrated/upset. I hate that I am not tenured and that I am constantly looking for jobs every year. I hate that I have to fill out apps that look exactly the same for several different districts over and over again. Lastly, I hate that it takes anywhere over an hour to complete any of these things...let alone 4 hours.
Well, needless to say, I didn't return to the computer for a couple days. I am still tired of filling out apps, but hopefully the next ten or so days away from the computer will help.
Last subject before attempting to put all the pots and pan back in the drawer since Lukin felt we needed a percussion solo or two this morning. Sonny was supposed to start his 13 days of vacation today. We went over to his parents house for supper and marbles last night and then when we came home he had missed three calls from work. He listened to his voice mail to find out there was overtime available. He sat on the couch and I think he was waiting for me to say yes or no to him. I told him he could work it if he wanted to. He said he didn't want me to be mad. I said that I understood why he wanted to work it: overtime money equals more vacation spending cash. That and the fact that your wife has no job lined up, doesn't help either. He just kept repeating that he didn't want me mad. And I have to say that I am not mad, exactly. I am just sad.
I can't remember the last time that he had a day off when we were here. I can't remember the last time that he got to get up and have breakfast with his son. I can't remember the last time he brought Lukin down after breakfast to wake mommy up so we could play. And it makes me sad that he always seems to be working. I know that I joke about being a single parent because I do a lot of stuff with Lukin without him. But it makes me somewhat sad sometimes that he can't be there with us too.
Well, enough about that. Off to chase the little drummer boy.
The drive to Grand Forks is where the true ranting can begin. The rental car we had had satellite radio and there was some commercial for something that I thought said, 'Live Birth'. I looked at Sonny and said, "I don't think I would want to listen to a channel that talks about live births." He said, "no, it's this concert called Live Earth." I'm like, "What's Live Earth?" He says, "It's a concert to raise awareness about conservation." I think for a moment and then ask, "Why do we need a concert to raise awareness about conservation? Why can't we just conserve?" To which he replied, "Exactly." I don't understand why there are all these stupid causes out there. Not that conservation is a stupid cause, but most people know about it and it seems to waste more energy and natural resources preparing for, and having a concert to raise awareness than it would to just get talking about it.
Besides, everyone is pretty aware of my views on topics like this. I hate how celebrities use their celebrity status to raise awareness. It's like, some celebrity decides to go to Arizona in the summer and notices, when not coked out, that it is really hot there. So they return to their well air-conditioned home in LA and decide that something has to be done. Someone must be the crusader to raise awareness about how hot it is in the Arizona desert in the summer!!
How about instead of raising awareness about stupid stuff, why not look at something real? It bothers me that no matter what state I work in, no matter what school employs me, there are always students that you send home at the end of each day not knowing if they will eat again before lunch tomorrow. Why doesn't someone, besides me, care about that? Why are we sending all this money to other countries and on causes that are not the most important priority right now? I don't understand at all.
Next topic, since we know I could go on for days about that last one. Sunday night I was trying to complete an application for a job down here in the cities, online. It was going alright until it needed me to go to a separate site to complete a survey which basically asked me a bunch of redundant questions, and then return to upload all my letters and resume and stuff like that. Well, it decided that it was going to pretend that it was going to upload stuff but not actually upload anything. And me, being as patient as I am, was screaming at the computer because I thought it was stupid to waste all this time on a school that wasn't even organized enough to call me back after an interview two years ago.
Well, time passes and it has now been 4 hours working on this same app. and I am still super calm as I tend to be and Sonny comes upstairs. I scream, "That is just great! You have got to be kidding me!" I didn't mean to stay up until he got up for work, but that is how that went. I was so mad that I had to tell Sonny all about it, and not in a quiet manner, like a person should talk at 1 am. Sonny spent the next hour or so on damage control.
I was so frustrated/upset. I hate that I am not tenured and that I am constantly looking for jobs every year. I hate that I have to fill out apps that look exactly the same for several different districts over and over again. Lastly, I hate that it takes anywhere over an hour to complete any of these things...let alone 4 hours.
Well, needless to say, I didn't return to the computer for a couple days. I am still tired of filling out apps, but hopefully the next ten or so days away from the computer will help.
Last subject before attempting to put all the pots and pan back in the drawer since Lukin felt we needed a percussion solo or two this morning. Sonny was supposed to start his 13 days of vacation today. We went over to his parents house for supper and marbles last night and then when we came home he had missed three calls from work. He listened to his voice mail to find out there was overtime available. He sat on the couch and I think he was waiting for me to say yes or no to him. I told him he could work it if he wanted to. He said he didn't want me to be mad. I said that I understood why he wanted to work it: overtime money equals more vacation spending cash. That and the fact that your wife has no job lined up, doesn't help either. He just kept repeating that he didn't want me mad. And I have to say that I am not mad, exactly. I am just sad.
I can't remember the last time that he had a day off when we were here. I can't remember the last time that he got to get up and have breakfast with his son. I can't remember the last time he brought Lukin down after breakfast to wake mommy up so we could play. And it makes me sad that he always seems to be working. I know that I joke about being a single parent because I do a lot of stuff with Lukin without him. But it makes me somewhat sad sometimes that he can't be there with us too.
Well, enough about that. Off to chase the little drummer boy.
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