2012 June

A New Toy Oh Boy!

June 27, 2012 by Jen Leave a Comment

Paco is obsessed with feathers so I bought him a new feather wand toy last week. He started cooing and chirping at the toy as soon as he saw it in my hands. He was too excited to let me take it out of the packaging so he just rolled on it for a while to mark it as “his”.

I finally took it away from him and removed the packaging so we could have more fun playing. He didn’t want to let go of his toy.

I’d occasionally flick it under the bed so he couldn’t see it, and he gave me the cutest look of defeat and sadness when his toy disappeared.

Filed Under: Pets

Bullying

June 21, 2012 by Jen Leave a Comment

I wasn’t allowed to be mean as a kid. One day I told my sister “I hope you die!”. Aunt Marylou immediately lectured me and had me in tears with guilt and shame. Other times I would tell my sister “I hate you!” and mom would tell me that I am not allowed to hate anybody, but I can dislike immensely. I’m pretty sure I was the only 6 year old yelling “I dislike you immensely!”. Sorry, Amanda. I was probably jealous of your stylish fashion sense.

Have ya’ll read about Karen, the sweet bus monitor? If not, check out this link. You might not even be able stomach the 10 minutes of bullying she endured from four 13 year-old boys. Here is where I wish I had authority to dish out punishment in the form of public humiliation. Let’s get those boys on a 4th of July float in a parade, wearing signs that say “I bully elderly people” and have them deal with the wrath of the hecklers in their home town.

I know name-calling shouldn’t be retaliated against with MORE name-calling, but in this case, these boys need to see how words can hurt.

At first I was ashamed to say I’m from Rochester because kids just shouldn’t be raised that way. Now I’m incredibly proud of the outpouring of support Karen has received. A donation fund was set-up for her and it has received over $300,000 as I type this post.Well-deserved, Karen. Well-deserved!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Estes Park

June 21, 2012 by Jen Leave a Comment

Bob and I drove up to Estes Park last weekend for a few hours.

We got really close to an elk. And some little girl’s parents let her get stupidly close to it. Another parent gave her kid some bread to try to feed the elk. People that don’t respect wildlife make me angry. Angry I say! The poor elk looked so scared as more and more people approached her.

Next stop: The Stanley Hotel! Where Stephen King stayed for a while and it inspired The Shining.

See those front steps in the background? Picture Jim Carrey & Jeff Daniels in their orange and baby blue tuxedos, pulling up in a red car in Dumb & Dumber. That scene was filmed here.

A few scenes from Dumb & Dumber were also filmed inside the hotel, like this grand staircase.

And the bar, when Lloyd (Carrey) was waiting for his date with Mary, but Jeff Daneils (Harry) was actually skiing with Mary.

It really was a beautiful hotel and I’m glad we got to skirt around the gated parking lots and sneak in the back where the wedding caterers and maintenance crews were swarming around.

Filed Under: Adventure, Outdoors

3.5 Whole Months

June 12, 2012 by Jen Leave a Comment

The Battle of the Bulge wasn’t just a German battle in 1944. I’ve been fighting this battle for a few years now, myself. I started kickboxing 3.5 months ago and I had my friend Darla snap “before” photos of me so I could cry at how fat I let myself get. I debated on sharing them here because:

A. It is embarrassing for me

B. It is embarrassing for Bob to have married such a chunk bucket. Ok, he’ll never admit this part, but I’m embarrassed for him.

I’m sharing the horrible photos anyways because I’ve worked super hard. I’m still not where I want to be, but I’m about halfway there. Also, you might notice my “before” photos were taken of me standing in front of a Tardis. Don’t you have a friend with a full-size Tardis in their living room? Here goes. Side fat before:

Side fat now:

Muffin top with a dozen bakery rolls before:

Muffin top now:

Yikes that was scary sharing those photos. Anyways, I think the reason Darla and I are doing so well in our classes is because we ordered these awesome shirts to work out in:

Here are the stats so far:

*-15/16ish pound-eroos

*-15.5 inches

*4-6 nights a week

*A pillion buckets of sweat

*Thousands of bizarre abdominal exercises

-Countless bruises on my shins (just stellar for sundress season)

Oh and the best part? I still eat ice cream at least 4 days a week. I’m sure I would have reached my goal 100% if I cut out the ice cream, but I just can’t abandon my favorite food that way.

Filed Under: Sports

Feed Me NOW

June 8, 2012 by Jen Leave a Comment

Paco is very demanding. It all starts around 5am when he nuzzles against my face, meowing and purring to wake me up. Some may think this is sweet, but I think he’s secretly trying to smother me because I end up choking on his fur. When I get up to feed him (which is all he really wants anyways) he has usually knocked over the clock on the table that we keep his food under. See it dangling? He’s so destructive and angry when he’s hungry.

See all of the food he pushed out of his bowl? He does that daily. I’ll never know why those pieces were deemed unacceptable, but he refuses to eat those and I end up vacuuming up the pieces. Alright, confession. Sometimes I let Wellesley into that room for a snack and I turn the other cheek.