28, 29 What is the difference?

This morning my mom called to wish me a happy birthday and to ask how it feels to be 29. I said that didn't know because I turned 28. When my mom was around this age she believed that she was a year older for most of the year. What a fun surprise that would be. Much better than thinking your are a year younger only to find out later that you have aged two years in one. My mom didn't understand the concept that I have been fighting most of my life. You can't subtract 1978 from the current year because I was born at the end of 1978 so it doesn't really count. I sat there on the phone as she counted from 1978 to 2006 twice before she believed me. My brother is 31 (how weird is that?) and am mostly 3 years younger. That sounds like a riddle. I am 3 years younger than my brother who was born in 1975. If I was born in 1978, how am I only 28? (a: I was born at the end of the year!)

Isn't it funny how we count out how old babies are by months? I guess it makes sense for the first year but then after that I am not sure. I think we want to keep them as young as possible. Sydney is 10 1/2 months. I am 336 months. Or is it 324 months? Do you multiply 12 by 28 or 27? Why did I need a calculator to subtract 12 from the first number? I am getting old. Maybe I am 29.

I think that all the things of motherhood add up to make you basically crazy. Remembering things like how many weeks old they are, testing sippy cups, tasting bland food, packing diaper bags, arranging babysitters, finding hair bows, keeping up with socks much smaller than your own socks that get lost too, baby proofing, managing to actually sit in the car seat to strap it in as tight as possible, watching Adam back the drivers seat up making the car seat loose again, maintaining enough D batteries to keep the toys in working order, tuning out the noise that the D batteries power, getting tomato stains off the highchair tray, etc.

Sydney's 1st birthday is approaching and I think that one thing I will be very glad to do is turn the car seat around (hopefully she will weigh 20 lbs by then). I can't get the thing tight enough for my taste and not being able to see her makes it hard to see what she wants. The other day while driving I turned to look at Sydney. Remembering that I couldn't see her due to the mondo car seat facing the back, I just turned half way and while glancing out the window I said the most recognizable lip reading words. I told the guy in the car next to me that "I love you, Baby". He seemed flattered.

Another sign that I may be getting old is that I keep going places with my zipper down and I requested and received a rolling shopping bag to tote things from the car to my house, to a friend's house, ect. It is so convenient and there is no need for me to be embarrassed. They aren't looking at the bag they are looking at my zipper.

Adventures in Northpark

Last night Adam and I went to the mall to do some shopping and on our way to the foodcourt we encountered the mace that was the talk on the news last night. We saw a stream of people coughing and trotting away from the court, but we thought they were just being silly. Adam said jokingly, "maybe we shouldn't go down here". As I walked ahead in warp Jessica speed I encountered an invisible fog of mace. I must have been tyring to breathe in the sugar and flour that the food court offered, since I knew I wouldn't be eating it with my diet, because I was immediately coughing and inwardly screaming "my eyes, my eyes!". The look on the non-coughers faces as they looked at the coughers was funny because they had this "what is going on?" look and then slowly the look of panic came over them as they too started coughing. Adam said, "it's mace!".

Adam only mildly inflicted with a burning throat bought me a drink so I could end the agony that is mace, which I drank nearly in full within 30 seconds. As we walked through the mall the coughing echoed upstairs and down as everyone moved away from the court. As we approached the complete other end of the mall I was surprised to find people coughing yet again. I knew we were one of the first to encounter the mace and to Adam's credit he was right in guessing that the ventilation system carried it to the other side. It was then my eyes burned again and the inside of my nose. It reminded me of last Christmas when Chandler and Adam opened a jar of habanero peppers we previously had for 3 years. I was not stupid enough to try them but someone was stupid enough to not be cafelful with the juice from the jar and it ended up on my steering wheel. It gave a whole new meaning to a burning stare, which I did give to those resposible. That stuff was so strong that even days after I couldn't put my fingers near my mouth or it would burn. Adam tested this by biting my nail so he can attest to its truth.

We ate in Ruby Tuesday's and watched as firemen and policmen entered (or infiltrated I should say) the mall. They stopped some teenagers (which I can only assume are the ones that were later arrested) from leaving, but we didn't see any real altercations. I felt so bad for people who worked in the food court or were eating there with children and there were all these cute dogs having their pictures made with Santa. The news said it wasn't normal mace, but something equivilent to police issue. That makes sense because even my lips were burning well after the incident. So there. That was our exciting adventure.

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am an Oprah fan.

There I admitted it. I tivo her show and watch is most days. While I don't agree with everything on the show and I have been known to change the channel to watch a rerun of Gilmore Girls, I would say I am an enthusiast fan. I am not a member of her book club and I have never read her magazine. I don't think I would cry upon her entrance if I were in the audience, but I do "impart" the knowledge I gain from watching the show to my friends and family. Last week, she had Drs. Oz and Roisen on the show talking about their new book "You on a Diet". A friend and I anxiously awaited the episode just knowing that it would be the answer to all our problems. It suggested that if you follow the plan (which is basically this: eat healthy and stop being such a pig) you will trim 2 inches off your waist and drop one size in 10 days. We immediately called Barnes and Noble to find out if they had the book. We waited too long to go get it and now no one is Jackson has it. Of course, I made my friend ask most of the people in the stores we visited because I was embarrassed. Why did my turn have to come in Lemuria Bookstore? They were nice (though I did hear some snickers from other customers) but I would have to say that I think I was the first person ever to request this book and mention that I saw it on Oprah. I sort of wispered it like I was in a pharmacy getting some sort of medicine filled for a fungus (which, by the way, I have NEVER had to do) They had one copy somewhere and the guy really tried to find it as we waited trying to look cool and pretend we were waiting on a book about modern art, but our cover was blown as the he yelled from the ladder that he was looking for a book on Oprah about a diet. We never found the book, but we dutifully shopped for no sugar added items and things without enriched flour. It is hard to find things like this in a box or can.

It has been three and a half days, and as promised, I am feeling more energetic. I still don't have the book and I am thinking I may not need it. How weird since last Thursday I just had to have it to go on living. I guess that is what thinking through your purchases does to you. I am happy to report that I have lost 6.5 pounds since Monday. I must have been consuming a very large amount of sugar before, because this seems like a larger amount that I would expect. No complaints though. I might not have said that on Monday when I was watching Oprah in the dark passed out on the couch from lack of sugar. It takes a few days to feel pretty good and I can only assume it gets better. I am still convinced that it does take some calorie watching even on this. To quote my friend, "We are on a diet but we are buying pizza, pasta, and chips?" (Harvest Wheat Digornio, Multi-grain Tostitos, and whole wheat pasta)

I will let you know how it goes. I did find a really cool site about healthy foods.

Jessica

First Tub Bath

We waited a while because our tub/shower doors are pretty inconvenient. This was taken at my mom's house.

A New Leaf

Adam and I are trying something new. We are attempting to cook more. It is so easy to go to Wendy's. Why cook? We are doing this to be healthier so I am telling myself to not worry so much about how much cooking costs. I am going to be reasonable though. I don't like to cook complicated things so most of the recipes are pretty easy and have few ingredients. I am not in to buy a new $5 spice every day.

On Saturday, my mom kept Sydney for the morning and Adam and I cleaned all morning. We really had the house looking nice and we vowed to keep it that way. It was going well the first few days. Yesterday, however, was a bad day. The electricity was out for most of the evening so as we were fumbling around in the dark trying to keep Sydney occupied we let things get out of control. I went to the grocery in hopes that they power would be restored, but I was greeted by tons of rain and a dark house. With one dinky flashlight we tried to put away the cold stuff and then packed the baby to go to my mom's house. Why she had power and we did not I don't understand. She lives on the same street. (This also perplexed me during Katrina when our power was out for two weeks and hers was fine after 5 or 6 days) Our power was on after an hour, but I didn't want to move the baby again so Adam and I planned to spend the night. While he played raquetball at the gym I went home to clean the house and get it functioning again. After 10 minutes the lights went out again! I gathered my things and left. Thankfully, Sydney slept all night but woke early. My mom must have heard her earlier than I did because as I walked down stairs to get the bottle (at 5:30 AM) she had one ready. Nice. I like room service. My mom started reading excerpt from the book "Weigh Down". At 5:30 in the morning. The last thing I need is guilt over eating the Snappy Turtle from Bops that Adam brought home after the gym. What happened to eating healthy?

I vow to go to the gym to do weights, walk at some point today, cook one of the meal I planned out tonight, and clean the house until it is back to where it was on Saturday. I will update you with my progress.

The Wedding

Adam's brother, Brian, was married the other weekend. It was a fun wedding and we are glad to add another girl to the family (Danielle). Speaking of girls, Adam was more than willing to assist Sydney in dancing during an all girl dance.

Bathing Suit

lounging0
Originally uploaded by adammichaelwhite.

Don't you love the hair?

Bath Time Photos

 

New Baby!

My brother, Stewart, and his wife, Amanda, had their first baby on Monday. It is is girl - Mara Brantley Quarles. I am so excited to have another baby in the family. I love seeing my brother fuss over her. I wouldn't have expected anything different with the way he is about Sydney, but this is definately more entertaining. She is so small. You forget how little a newborn is.

I just realized today that we are approaching the age where Sydney will start getting into things and throwing little fits (she has had a few already). I don't look forward to handling that. She isn't crawling yet, but she is doing her yoga poses to strengthen her back to get ready.

7 months

This was her first try at a high chair. It was taken at her MiMi and Pop's house. She is giving her "assistance please" look. And I think she was wondering why we were all staring at her instead of shoving the spoon in her mouth.
The Bumbo seat is an excellent invention. This is what we feed her a lot. It helps her sit up and keeps her stationary. She can sit up on her own now but I find that this is useful for reading to her and letting her be in the action. That is a duck puppet that quacks to the tune "Rubber Ducky".
We took this picture to show her ultra mommy tracking capabilities. She won't take her eyes off of me.
 

 

July Picture

I love that picture. Isn't that the funniest dress. My mom says it looks like a moo moo, but she is the one who bought it. It is so retro. 

I know this is an old picture but I was looking for a recent picture and I saw it. This is 5 months. 

What's Up

I have been cleaning out the house and trying to find a place for everything. Sydney is getting bigger by the minute. I think she may be getting a tooth but she will not let me look for anything. Every time pull her bottom lip down she sticks her tongue out and hides her lower gums. I can feel something sharp but I really want to look at it. I did catch a glimpse the other night a McAllister's. Later Cherri (my Aunt) and I tried to use a Clinque mirror key chain to view inside her mouth. Ok, I used the key chain and Cherri watched.

Today, Adam and I put Sydney in her bathing suit. Unfortunately, she outgrew her one piece before she ever wore it. I would suspect that little girl bathing suits are just as hard to find the right fit as ours. I think that is why two pieces are a popular choice for the babies. Their little bellies can just hang out and why not take advantage of the only time in your life when rolls and big bellies are a desirable quality?

My brother and his wife, Amanda, are going to have a baby soon. It is a girl so Sydney will have someone to play with now. It is amazing to me how much a few months make a difference when they are little babies. They change so fast. Ok, now I am sounding like a boring mother. I promise I will only write when I have something interesting to say. Otherwise, I will just give you what you really want. Pictures.

Sydney

Well, Sydney is 6 months old today. I can't believe it. We went to the doctor for her check up and shots last week (very sad). She weighs 15 pound 14 ounces and is 27.5 inches long. That is long! I don't think that this means she will be tall for sure but I hope it means that she will get a few extra inches above average. They can really help with weight later in life and you aren't required to wear 4 inch heels with every pair of pants you buy. She is gleefully rolling over, trying to sit up and making all kinds of noises. We have decided that she may be a loud child. She hollers and hollers out of excitement during the day and delirium near bedtime. She is sleeping through the night and waking happy in the morning, smiling as she observes her Don King hair in the mirror. She likes to play with toys in her bed when she wakes, but is still very loud so I have to get up anyway. We are a little concerned that she will think that her name is actually, sooo pretty, baby love, punkin pie, cutie, sugar buns...I could go on.

Blogger, old friend!

Well it has been a busy few weeks. I still don't have a computer at home during the day. Syd is keep us pretty busy anyway. I have been somewhat stressed lately by the contents of my home. I am too busy to dust many of the items and our house is crowded with furniture we only use to hold things we never use. I am moving two things out of my dining room. This still leaves two buffets, two china cabinets, a table, 12 chairs, and a silver chest. I decided it was time to use the book that bought on organization in the Charlotte airport (if you will remember I said that it changed my life, but change is still a slow process - especially where possessions are concerned). I am using the following method. Consolidating all possessions by type and deciding what to keep and where to put what I do keep. For example, you spend an hour organizing all of your wrapping paper/supplies only to find that another room also contains wrapping paper/supplies and the former space will not accommodate the additional supplies. According to the book, you get white document boxes (this is so everything looks neat while this is in progress) label them (i.e. tools in one box, pictures in a box, etc) and take them from room to room. Once you have completed this with all the rooms then you assess what you have, get rid of a few of the unnecessary duplicates (such as three hammers of the same size), and find places that fit what is in the box. Just avoid to many Misc. boxes.

Ok, who am I talk to? I guess myself. The main point of this post is that I am consolidating my junk so I can live my life with out it all getting in the way! The other week Adam and I had something to do every single night! We don't have time to dust all the stuff we have sitting out and if we did have the extra time we wouldn't want to spend it on cleaning.

Last week, I participated in a casserole swap. It was a test run actually. Being me, I forgot to find the last person to participate and I ended up having to be two people. This meant that I ended up with double the casseroles which is a plus but my house still has not recovered from that event on top of all the white boxes littering our home. Don't forget to picture things that don't fit hanging out of the boxes, such as stems of artificial flowers that I bought for a "project". It is true that you have to make a mess to clean up a mess or was it that your house gets worse before it gets better? No that's not it. Anyway, it is bad, very bad. I am still thinking that I want to do more casserole swaps to make my life easier during the week. I am even thinking about doing the meals for a month thing. Let me know if anyone has any ideas on this...

Jess

Hey!

Sorry it has been a while. I don't have a working computer at home right now so I have to find time when Adam is there. Sometimes it is early in the morning, like right now... I updated the Mystery Link. I saw the preview in a theater and the name of this movie just made me laugh. Have you ever heard of a "working title" (I think that is what they are called)? I think that someone forgot to come up with something better and they just went with what they had.

So what have we been up to lately? We are taking ballroom dancing with a group of friends. Right now we are on the foxtrot for a couple of weeks. It is much like a waltz. Last summer we took hustle lessons (think Saturday Night Fever) last year for my brother's 30th birthday party, which was a 70's themed party. My brother and his wife, Stewart and Amanda, are having a baby soon (due Sept 5th). I am not sure if I have told that already, but we are all really excited. Sydney is really rolling over and liking the food these days. We have two new contraptions in our house. The Bumbo seat and a baby sling. I use the Bumbo seat for feeding her and letting her sit right in the action. You must see this thing. It really is funny. The sling is great too. You can use them up to 2 years old. It hold her on my hip and when she is older I can swing her around to my back. I wish I had had this when she was born. You can cradle them on the front of you when they are smaller. In fact, I have two slings now. I think I like the one I bought on ebay the best. It is reversible and I picked the fabric.

Jess

Fencing

This has a few quotes from my brother.

NYC Pictures

Check out Adam's pictures at the link to the right. I tried to put some explanations on the ones I knew. I will get him to label them later. Here is a sneak peek.

Five Months

Stuff

Adam is out of town this week (NYC) so I have been staying by myself. It hasn't been so bad though I may rethink watching Crossing Jordan reruns at 10PM while I am trying to fall asleep. A really freaky thing happened on Monday night. I fell asleep about halfway through the episode and at 2:30 I waked to find the same episode on again and half way through. This proved very confusing for me as I thought I had dozed for just a few seconds. So, I am very excited about seeing some movies this weekend. There is a matinee on Friday morning at 10:30 AM. 10:30 AM? What a strange time. I must see a movie at 10:30 AM just because of the rare time. I am sure it will be the same as seeing it any other time. But, much like seeing something you don't need or really care to own at an outlet mall, you have to buy it because you may not have the chance later.

By the way, I updated the Weekly Mystery Link.

Things I have learned and things I want to know...

Things I Have Learned
1- don't let your car get less than 1/4 (or 1/2 really) a tank of gas. This makes your fuel pump work harder. This was the final diagnosis of my car, which is now fixed.

2-women in their twenties need a vaccination against Whooping Cough (Pertussis). According to a pediatrician, women in their twenties can get it, pass it on, etc.

Things I Want to Know
1-is making your own bread cheaper and/or healthier. I have noticed the homemakery type sites really talking about bread starters and such. I just don't think that bread is that expensive to buy and we can get all kinds.

2-does sewing your own clothes really save money? I don't think so.

Boring post...don't read it.

Can't you listen to directions? Don't you trust me? I said it was boring, yet you are still reading. Last night I went to the spinning class offered at my gym. I have been several times but I do not claim to be the expert. My friend, Becky, had never tried it so we decided to go in place of our run. The class was half full with mostly men. Becky and I assumed this class to be more attractive to men, over some of the other classes offered, because "biking" is a manly sport. I would imagine that some of the men get on the bikes in the room and imagine themselves something of a local Lance Armstrong. Maybe you think I am being hard on these poor guys. They really brought it on themselves. You see I have never been in a class where I felt like people were really looking and judging my effort or capability. I may have thought they were before, but after last night I realize that, in the past, I was wrong. Last night they were looking. The teacher was a tall buff woman that played good music loud enough that we could barely understand the instructions. I did make out some Whooo! 's and some ooooowwww!'s (think something akin to a howling wolfman) throughout. Really she was a good teacher that kept her eye on our form and speed. But the men, three in particular, kept turning around and looking back like they were checking to see if we were laying on the floor (which I could have been had my feet not been strapped to the pedals). However, their looks were not justified because I had my this-is-no-problem-for-me face on the whole time. They kept looking back as if to see if we were keeping up. I felt like saying "we have been two feet behind you the whole time, the bikes don't actually move, and by the way I think you need to go down a size in the exercise shorts". Still it was a good workout and we may go back on Monday. I just think it is so interesting to watch all these men check themselves out in the mirror at the gym. This is something you do at home where no one can see. My favorite is the strategically ripped t-shirt. Then again any see through mesh garment is worse.

Ok, so enough about the gym. I am sorry that Adam hasn't put the promised pictures on flickr. I hid all his socks this morning so maybe he will learn to do what I ask... Last night all three of us went to Chick-fil-a. I went to Walmart after and actually had a list but I still ended up cruising the aisles just looking and dropping random stuff into my basket. I don't understand how anyone has any money with Walmart around. There is always something that you "need". You just don't know it until you get there and see it. Next time I am only going to buy the things that I think of before I go. If I am standing in the bathroom and think that I need some bath mats then I will put that on the list and buy them. It never crossed my mind until I saw them in Walmart.

Oh, by the way, my car broke down again yesterday. I am so annoyed. Adam had to come get me and then we picked up Syd. She smiles so much now. It is so cute. I saw all the babies leaving the H2O Babies class at the gym last night. They were so cute. I think I am going to sign her up for a class in August. This would require me to be in a swimsuit so this might be good for me. Sydney is also making so much noise. Adam thinks that she actually said a sentence the other day. We have it on video. I really need to get to editing all that. J

Check this out

You really need to check this out.

www.blurb.com

When the blog feature is ready, we will use it to do our blog book with our "old" blog, not this boring one... You can do all sorts of things besides blog books and I think the prices are reasonable.

Adam discovered this (or maybe it was his brother, Brian) through their computer software conferences or something like that. J

We have progress

This morning when I left the house Sydney was playing in her bed with some toys and wasn't crying to get out. This is very good. Yesterday she slept for a couple of hours in a row instead of every other hour napping. I am hoping this means we might be getting to two naps a day instead of three+

By the way, I want to know your best scores on the mystery link. Adam has done it for 27 seconds... Me? 0.345 seconds

J

Weekly Link

Please check out the Mystery Link of the Week. It is really annoying and addictive at the same time. Cherri, this is up your alley.

Also, Adam is putting some pictures on Flickr as I type so check out that link too and see what is new. I will put a few on the blog also!

J

Bad Day(s)

I don't know what is going on. It seems like the past week has been a whirlwind of bad days with a few good days mixed in. Last week I broke down in the hood while on the way home from work. I take the back way home so it was bound to happen eventually. My car slowed to a stop from 45 mph and I am sure the cars passing could hear me saying Noooooooo! at the top of my lungs. I waited in the hot sun for 45 minutes for help in the parking lot of a tire place on Bullard Street. There was one other car there and it had the word "Sexy Slim" decaled on the front windshield. I barely cracked the window for air so I was practically melting in the car. I occupied myself by watching the inner workings of the establishment where I was parked. It seem auto-ish enough but surprisingly (and to my relief) not one person asked if there was a problem though I was parked in their tiny. Yet, I did what any average southern woman would do. I put on my lipstick and waited for the tow truck driver.

With my car in the shop, I have had transportation issues. The day of the breakdown (the car's, not mine) I waited for my mom to pick me up at the gym, later that day. She couldn't find her cell phone so she was going to be a while and I was ready to get home. You would think I could find someone to pick me up but there was not one immediately available. So I decided to kick up the workout and walk home. I took the back way through downtown Clinton and it only took about 25 minutes. I was not so happy with my choice to run 3 miles at the gym after lifting weights about halfway through the walk home. I was also kicking myself for forgetting my sunglasses. The walk through the neighborhood was interesting because every other house was getting a new roof and I am afraid that that particular day was not the best day to wear the unintentionally suggestive t-shirt to the gym. I ended the day with sushi so that made me happy in the end.

Adam just went to get my car tonight. I don't know why it took so long. We tried to pick it up twice but barely made it out of the parking space before it stopped working. I don't care about that anymore. I am just glad I have a car again. My bike has a basket on the front but you can't get many groceries at one time with it... So tomorrow is grocery day. Yea.

Cell Phone

May I rant? What is the deal with cell phones? Will the world ever be the same? What if I were asking all these questions loudly while on my phone in line at the grocery? Or perhaps as we are driving down the road together and I answer my phone mid-conversation? I am really surprised at the lack of courtesy in cell phone use. Sometimes it can be annoying to be reached at any point. Here are list of offenses and my thoughts on them. Keep in mind I do these too.

1. Calling people's cell phone first, when they just might be at home. Some people prefer this because they have it on them at all times. This is usually found in the younger.
2. Leaving an unnecessary message when you know that they will call you back based on the missed call notice on their phone. I hate checking that thing because it makes you listen to the whole message before you can delete it.
3. Answering your phone while you are in a face-to-face conversation with someone, perhaps in a car or at dinner in a restaurant. I understand this because the person might really need to talk to you, but you can say "excuse me" before answering it and keep the call to a minimum?
4. Asking "where are you?" Sometimes this is appropriate such as to gage when someone will be arriving or to ascertain if the person is in a good place to talk (but even on this one can't we just say "can you talk?") What if the person doesn't want to say "where they are"?
5. Not believing that it is ok to let the call go and call the person later. If they called your home you wouldn't have someone waiting there to say "I will call you back later". This should be understood by the fact that they are leaving one of those unnecessary messages or they are cool enough to just let the missed call number speak for itself.
6. Deciding not to answer the phone in a public place and just letting it ring until it reaches voicemail. There is a reject call /send it to voice mail feature and it is usually just one button.
7. Forgetting to silence it in church or a movie. My mom maintains that her phone has a life of its own and the does silence it, but it finds its way back to ringing. This was the case a few weeks ago in church. The best part is that her purse was under my seat and she was on the row in front of me. I had to run out with the purse and it looked like it was me.

I am sure there are more.

Word of the Day

kludge \KLOOJ\ noun
: a system and especially a computer system made up of poorly matched components

I had to post this because it is such an awesome word. I like words that are prounounced differently than the spelling shows. It makes you look so much smarter. I try to use the word of the day each day because it is fun and educational. This one might be hard to use, but then I have never been one to shy away from the occasional random comment. J

Look at me, look at me

Sydney now demands that all our attention be on her at every moment. She will play some on the floor, but she will let you know when you have been away too long. Her crying has also reached a new level. Deliberately loud. I have decided that I need new system for getting her ready to go places. I like to be able to leave at a moment's notice, but this usually results in me frantically packing a diaper bag and I will most certainly forget something. I am going to try to replinish the bag after each use for the rest of the week. I will keep you updated on this very interesting topic, I promise.

Now for an update on my hair twirling. I have not stopped. I am more aware of it now. Typically, I wouldn't notice that I was doing it, but now I catch myself and I think that is a big step for me. Some of the time I just stop and other times I find myself wondering why I would want to stop. One reason I know I need to quit is that the way I act about it reminds me of more serious addictions. Just one more time. Or I will quit tomorrow so I will twirl as much as I want just one last time. Or I can control it so it won't be a big deal if I keep on, I can stop if I want to stop. I will tell you what I need, I need a twirlers annonymous group. I am not getting the support I need from my friends and family though. The other night Adam and I went to a party and then stopped by Barnes and Noble with some friends. Our friends were in a separate car behind us and as soon as Adam's cell phone rang I new why they were calling. To tell me to stop twirling my hair. Now that is friendship. Sadly, this is the only time that someone has told me to stop since I announced this change.

Wow, I have really gone on and on about really boring stuff. J

I am changing the Mystery Link today....

Mystery Link

I think that each week I am going to change the link (to the right) labeled "mystery link" to a different website. This should be fun, no?

News Flash!

I am officially out of the bad mood. Sydney just turned from her back to her stomach. I heard the constant throat clearing noise that she is amusing herself with currently and I went in her room to discover her on her stomach (she doesn't sleep that way). She was distressed by this and my excitement didn't help. Well, since I am blogging once again today, I need to ask a question and maybe someone can help me out. She was doing so well with only needing one feeding a night and only 3 ounces at that feeding. She got sick a few weeks ago and then was sick again last week and we can't get back to where we were. Her naps are sporatic and so is her feeding. She just isn't interested in eating. We are still going in there to reinsert the pacifier (Adam is actually in there at this moment). My friend, Laura, warned me about doing this weeks ago. I can't stop!! Why is she doing this? I don't think she is currently in a growth spurt, but I don't know what else to do. I let her cry this morning at five and she just didn't stop. It is always like that. J

@#$%^&*!

I am soooo annoyed! I am on a diet so you don't mess with me right now. I had my frozen banana all frozen and ready to make some dumb smoothie with milk and splenda and I can only find part of the blender. It isn't even the part that blends the junk! To top that off, Adam returned MY Charlie's Angels DVD to blockbuster instead of the second C.A. Movie that I rented. You never get those things back. It is like they go into a black hole. Oh, and as soon as you go in there asking about it they want to know where their movie is. This isn't the only chick flick/girl power movie that has made its way to blockbuster. I am starting to think it is a conspiracy because we always end up keeping the more masculine movie in place of it. This is how Lost in Translation found its permanent home in the What A Girl Wants case. I am cranky because I ran today and I had a bad morning because I didn't plan ahead. It's hard enough finding something for me to wear and then I have Sydney to consider and Adam is digging through a pile of socks trying to find a match. I need some carbs. Oh don't worry, I am not doing the low carb thing again. The last time I tried that I ended up shopping with someone else's grocery cart in the store. Then I accused this poor guy, just trying to get his cart back from me, of stealing my purse. Ok, I am really a posting maniac today. I am just spitting them out without thinking. I will regret this tomorrow. J

P.S. You know what is really annoying? People who misspell the word "lose" and type "loose" instead.

One Question

How do you lose a blender????? J

Come to my window...

It is a strange thing letting people into your little world. I guess that is what blogs are supposed to do. Being honest is a way to connect to people. They see that we are a lot alike. If it showed the perfect life then you might be bored with this blog and move on. To be honest, I am not sure how many people actually look at this thing anymore. At first I thought, what on earth would I write about? I have nothing to say. I guess I really don't, especially now. I started it to give updates on the baby. I still will do that but there is only so much that is interesting to other people. But I have always been a story teller. Even if they aren't particularly good, I will tell them. I am even entertained by the reactions that the bad stories get. I guess you could say I am humored by the human (and non-human, like my dog) response, even if it is at my expense. Don't get me wrong, I am not a button pusher or a shock value enthusiast. I might be considered a line crosser at times and maybe I push something just to the limit, but aren't most people that way? Isn't that the tactic most people use to get what they want? I just think life is funny, in a Seinfeld/The Office sort of way. I used to laugh at everything – all the time. Even if it wasn't appropriate ( i.e. funerals, class, church). In high school my friend, Tuesday, and I were notorious for our giggles. So much, in fact, that we earn some sort of award or public recognition for it in one of those cheesy senior class "remember when" things. I think it went something like this …Remember when Jessica and Tuesday weren't laughing? We don't!... Hardy, har, har. You probably weren't laughing because you didn't get it.

From an early age, I always had a "great" idea and my friends actually started saying "oh, no!" when I said the dreaded words, "I have an idea". Hey, they did not have to participate. They were free to make that decision after they heard the components of the idea/plan. But I think they knew all to well that one of my ideas could end up with us locked in a one stall bathroom, in the principal's office explaining a very incriminating note, being left downtown at night at the closing of Jubilee Jam, being chased by a bull in a neighbors field, or quite possibly dressed like a construction worker reciting Shakespeare to a large group. Like I said, no one made them participate. But they always did. I guess that is a little of my brother coming out in me. I am convinced that He could convince you to do or believe anything - at least that is what he told me. I guess you could say that I am creative. I like a challenge and I can usually come up with a way to spice things up a bit. I am responsible for several A+ grades for my fellow students when I came up with the idea to do our assigned section of Hamlet as the Village People with a surprise ending featuring a routine to YMCA. Now that is entertainment, people! If you don't believe me just ask my aunt, Cherri, I think I remember her being at one of the practices. I guess blogging in a way allows me to continue the creativity. It does make you sensor yourself more than you would in a diary and, since diaries are meant to be stolen by your brother and/or found when you are gone, this is a good thing. It teaches you to write what is important to the story and you get to see when you failed to convey something the way you had, originally, hoped. Putting your thoughts down helps you sort how you are feeling and I think it makes your conversation style more concise. I see now why writing is important. I didn't get that in high school and I ignored the "rules" of paragraph construction (I know you must have noticed this). I hesitate every time I hit the comma button because I know it probably doesn't belong there and I also know that perspicacious people in the punctuation world are reading this and it bugs them to no end that they can't edit. But I would read and recite anything put in front of me. While I was writing this post a friend asked me, by email, what I thought about blogs, listing several typical downfalls (overly intellectual, overly homemakerly, and overly boring). I am sitting here thinking that I know I am not two of those... It actually helped me sort out what I think about them and why they are so interesting/cool. This is an excerpt of my response.

...Blogging brings people together!! ...My friends might check out some of his (Adam) music links or his friends might read my friends' blogs. Family looking for pictures of Sydney will see what kind of books we read and movies we like. Maybe I am romanticising it a bit...;-) I just think it is neat to read about other people's life and see what it is really like. With some blogs, you get to read what is in their heads. It is like peeking into the windows of someone else's house. You are just curious to see if they have the same decorating style as you do...

So there, I have attempted to be overly intellectual, overly boring, and overly...wait I wasn't overly homemakerly. Well I got to go churn some butter before Adam gets home.
J

Gym Shorts

I went to the gym this evening and I started thinking about something while I was breaking a sweat. Why do I wear pants to the gym in the summer? I see all sorts of people wearing shorts, yet, I feel weird wearing them. I am not sure if I am waiting to get in shape to wear them or if it is the fact that they ride up in the back when you walk or run on the treadmill. I lifted weights and then I did the step class. Ok, I did 30 minutes of the 45 minute class. It is hard to leave mid class. You have to walk out with purpose so you don't look like you can't take the heat. You have to look at your watch, gather your things and put the step away, and then walk quickly out like you have stayed there as long as possible and now must get on with your very important life. The trick is to make it look like you worked in this 30 minutes even though you really had no time for it. You must not hobble out or look winded at any point. As you get to the door you give the instructor a little wave to say thank you for meeting my daily exercise needs. You are really thinking thank you for making me feel inferior to the guy sporting the spandex shorts and weird fanny pack water dispenser. Of course he can stay. He is wearing a light weight fabric that moves with him. I am wearing the pants. J

Product Recommendation

Every now and then I try to come up with a new invention. I wish I had thought of the collapsible tupperware. I went to Walmart today to get it, not caring what it costs. My cabinets are overrun with bottoms and tops that don't match. Sometimes I put food in the fridge with no intention of actually eating the rest of it. This has put us in the disposable container category because, let's face it, who wants to empty them when you have no idea how long they have been in there? Adam and I bought a new fridge this past year. We proudly shoved it into the space, which I saw as dangerously small. Adam saw it as a perfect fit. Honestly, pure will fit that thing in. This fridge has all the bells and whistles that you can get on a middle of the road stainless front side by side. I still remember the look on the salesman's face when we bought it. He showed us the upright pizza storage cabinet (I love secret compartments) in the freezer and Adam said "you just sold this refrigerator". Ok, I have gotten off course. The pizza cabinet story is to explain that we eat frozen pizza often and that we have had problems storing it. Maybe keeping the leftovers is in a way my own little trophy to commemorate me actually cooking a meal.

J

Twirly Girly

I know that most people are coming here for the pictures so I will get them on here as soon as Adam gets off his conference call tonight.

This is hard starting from scratch. I know each post is a story of its own but you build a blog and that means that every post doesn't have to be fabulous. They can lean on past posts. I need to do another middle of the night post.

Ok, I thought of something. I have decided to stop twirling my hair. Cold turkey. I think it makes me look stupid and/or nervous when I am doing it. And I know it bugs people. It bugs ME. Now I am going to need your help. You can't let me do it anymore. If you see me doing it then you have my permission to slap my hand. Let me explain the twirl. This is something that I have done since childhood. I don't know why I do it. It isn't something I do when I am nervous or anxious. I just do it all the time. When I think, drive, navagate the New York City subway system, when I am excited about something, or bored, I twirl my hair. New York City was actually where the double twirl was born. Those subway maps are confusing! There are several myths about my twirling that I must clear up before I give it up. I don't want to give it a bad rap. Myth #1 - the twirling was what caused me to have hand surgery. I was the big mouth that proposed this possibility. Unfortunately, my family thought it was hilarious and kept it going. The fact is that no one knows what causes trigger finger but some cases have been linked to repetitive motion. So basically it remains a mystery (I am sooo mysterious) Myth #2 - it is the reason my hair is curly. Now that is just plain silly. Obviously, my hair is curly by design and twirling it actually makes it less curly over the course of the day. So there you have it.

Jessica

Out with the old, in with the new

I have decided to move away from the old blog and start afresh with this blog. Can't you just picture it? A blog with no subject boundaries. Sounds good to me.