At the Foot of the Stairs

If you scroll down, you will see pictures of the new, beloved puppy. As you will see, because none of you stepped up, I had to talk myself out of two dogs all by myself. They were cute and they were wonderful, but the idea of training two dogs slightly terrified me. I had visions of being overwhelmed and outnumbered not only by little boys, and not only by felines, but also of being overwhelmed by two energetic and cute little dogs. There were two families lined up at the shelter just begging for one of those dogs, so we told a very grateful couple that they could have the lighter of the two dogs. Our dog is a little redder, and we also noticed that of the pair, ours was the one who didn't bark, and in the six and a half hours of dog ownership I have heard her bark only once. A short little bark at that. She is in the living room with Dereck, but as you might have surmised from these pictures, she came with us to the baseball game (she is great in the car) and the kids loved he...

Jenorama Look, Ma! No hands!

Happy to Have His First Dog! Look, Ma! No hands!

Put Down the Gameboy and Look at the Dog! Look, Ma! No hands!

Cute Doggie! Look, Ma! No hands!

Cute Child! Look, Ma! No hands!

The Dog! Look, Ma! No hands!

Dereck and The Dog Look, Ma! No hands!

I have been going out to our local shelter every day. After the first night, we talked about the dogs we had seen. I liked a rottweiler/collie mix, but everyone says don't do that. So, after listening to that from various sources (the most compelling argument award goes to: Liza!), I decided against that. And the hounds, still there, still cute, still would hunt the cats, and bay all day. So, yesterday I bribed Dereck with lunch and dragged him out again. Yesterday there was a retriever puppy, cream, good disposition, but on hold for five days while they wait for the owner to come and find him. That seems incredibly likely, so we thought, we'll come back Monday and see if he's still there, but we weren't holding our breath. Today, I finished a report, and didn't leave for lunch til most everyone else had gone and returned. I got out there, and there were two copper-colored pups. I told them, "Well, let's go see what you are." They are pure-bre...

I am not sure how I could have forgotten this. Is it a Freudian slip of the mind? I have become determined to get a dog. I have wanted one ever since we moved into this house, which also coincided with my reading (for the first time) Where the Red Fern Grows with the seventh grade English class I was teaching. Dereck is the wiser one in this relationship. It is Dereck who understands that we don't need one more cat because we have FIVE. And we don't need a dog because we have three kids, four fish, FIVE cats, and a partridge in a pair tree. Our house is not that huge. Our yard? Not that huge. Dogs run. They bark. They have loud nails, scratchy nails. They jump. I want one. I dragged Dereck to the humane society today. We found a nice dog with a triangle-shaped head. Rottweiler/collie mix. Will eat the children. Next. Two very friendly hound/boxer puppies. Will eat the cats. Next. Brown dog, don't know what breed. Tortoise shell quiet dog who will match th...

As the title might suggest, I might be a tad put out to be back. Now, don't get me wrong. If I could transplant my lovely friends and house to the Northwest, I would. Location, location, location. But as I was driving this morning, I was thinking, "This is not a beautiful area of the country." And as a result, I have been a mite pissy this evening, so I am hydrating, as surely being dehydrated does not help. And no, I'm not hydrating with alcohol, I am actually hydrating, with water and gatorade. I got to the airport on Saturday only to discover that when I changed my planet ticket for the trip that wasn't and then changed it back, that the time of my departing flight had changed. And I was using my old itinerary. Lucky me, the blonde bitch at the airport with the perfect white teeth made me a later ticket with nothing more than a smirk. See, I had been in back of a looooong line, panicking with a woman who later gave me drink coupons for the plane, becaus...

This morning, you have to picture me with a sassy new haircut, which doesn't look all that different from my hair when I first came out, but it just feels and looks better. In the middle of cutting my hair, Carol Ann exclaimed, "Oh, Jen, you're CUTE!" And indeed I was. Yesterday we went to the salon shop and I stocked up on supplies: stuff for coloring, a hot flat iron for my hair, shampoo and conditioner, mousse, spray, mascara, etc. Then, we went to the bead store and spent two hours picking out beads for my necklace. It goes with my amber, and I made it last night while Carol Ann worked on her price list for her salon (Imy haircut would have cost me $42 minus tip). I stayed up (we ran out to get me a decaf chai latte, but they didn't hear the "chai" part, so I'm making up for it by drinking a caffeinated chai latte with cayenne pepper right now before we take six children to the Sheraton Hotel for swimming) so I could type it up for her before...

We just got back from a lovely day and two nights at Lake Crescent on the peninsula in very Northwestern Washington. We had a lovely Ferry ride and then drive and arrived there very late at night. I am looking for pictures (have to wait til I get home so I can download my digital pictures, kids, sorry) of where we stayed, but this is where we did not stay, because this is where the beatiful people stay. But we did stop by this morning for coffee and postcards and admired the scenery. Aha, I found it-- we stayed at Log Cabin Resort . The link will take you to the photo gallery, which does not begin to do it justice. We got settled in and Carol Ann chose the bed upstairs and I chose downstairs (which I later regretted after seeing the godzilla size ants we had, but I only got bitten once, and I might have imagined it). We went down and found a big log by the water (which was a mere eight feet away from our door) and sat down and had a smoke (the first of many, I am afraid, from the ...

Well, I made it! Let me begin with last night, actually (was it really only last night?). We went to the rodeo at the NEMO (pronounced like the movie with the cute fish) Fairgrounds! Yeehaw! The kids went out into the extremely muddy field for the calf round up. Tommy, interestingly enough, was actually wearing his farm boots (they are easier to put on than shoes, so he wears them a lot-- might be time to think about flip flops...), so he ran around and actually touched a calf! Chris was not so lucky. He trotted around valiantly until his shoes were just engulfed in the mud. Then one hand got stuck, his fanny up in the air, and it became clear pretty quickly that he wasn't going anywhere. Jen's Rodeo Outfit: I was wearing the dress I wore to work and my nice (now muddy) sandals, and I was up in the stands. The announcer is talking about Christian being stuck, when suddenly, I see my Knight In Shining Armor (t-shirt, jeans, cowboy boots) hopping over the fence and into t...

Thanksgiving-Christmas I Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden. --Proverbs Today I saw a wood duck in Tinker Creek. In the fall flood, look what the creek floats down: once I glimpsed round the edge of a bank a troupe of actors rained in from Kansas, dressed for comedy. The flood left a candelabrum on the lawn. With a ten-foot hook we fished from the creek a bunch of bananas, a zither, a casket of antique coins. This poem goes on for pages, and last night when Liza tossed me the book casually at the park, I had no idea. There are times when I remember very distinctly that poetry is why I am alive.

Time for Another Quiz!

Phew, CA called tonight and is excited about my pending visit to Seattle. I am staying with her, though I do have a hotel reservation for the nights before my seminar. We will go and use the hotel gym. I got an email confirmation from the hotel today-- pretty sweet! I will just knock on wood and say that this has been a very productive week and I'm proud. We were tired after dinner, and there were kids in our bed watching a video, so we thought, we'll go crawl into Christian's. Well, we found out that he wet his bed last night. So, we crawled onto Tommy's single mattress on the floor and within moments, I was asleep. We woke up in time for practice, dropped them off to practice batting in Ray Miller Elementary gym, and then went to Wal-mart. I got some stuff to try fixing my bathing suit, and three hats (two floppy, one Gilligan, which is orange and flowery, and I am wearing it as I type). I was so tired and groggy after my nap. We bought some chocolate milk at t...

If you people don't start posting on your blogs soon, I'm actually going to write that damn book one of these days... In the meantime, looky what I found at Penguin Drawing ... I have a feeling I'm going to look bad after this. Those bolded are the ones I've read (or could fake my way through if I had to teach Freshmen). Beowulf Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart Agee, James - A Death in the Family Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March Brontë, Charlotte - Jane Eyre Brontë, Emily - Wuthering Heights Camus, Albert - The Stranger Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop (no, but I've taught My Antonia -- does that count for something?) Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard Chopin, Kate - The Awakening Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans Crane, Stephen - Th...

Last night we watched on DVD an episode of the BBC comedy hit The Office . In it there was a scenario in which a secretary asks a co-worker why he never comes around to talk to her anymore (b/c she has a boyfriend). He pretends that nothing is wrong. Then she asks him to go "wind up" an obnoxious co-worker as they often do, and he acts like he doesn't know what she is talking about and tells her that he is busy working and she should be too. This is a very direct change from last season in which they were very chummy (the change has occurred because she is engaged now). He walks away, leaving to wonder whether something has happened, whether she can trust her instincts about their previous chumminess and the sudden change, and something has happened, why?

I just got an invitation to a family reunion. I don't know-- I'll have to think about this. Oh, who am I kidding. It's in Utah. It's in August. I won't have my kids to show off because they'll be with their dad in Cleveland. I'm not going. This year, we both have a plane ticket, different airlines. And so we were trying to figure out where to go, what to do. Well. We started too late. The beaches of North Carolina and Mexico beckon and glisten, but we waited too late. It's too expensive. We wouldn't be able to use our tickets to go to Mexico. There are things money must be spent on: a new minivan to replace the one whose door persists in coming unstuck while I am driving around with three kids. It doesn't open, but it buzzes at us like an angry hornet, which is very distracting. That can't be good. I need to have the TrashMobile detailed. That is expensive. Then all of savings will have to go to a down-payment on a new one. ...

The older two kids want to go see Harry Potter again. Tonight. I am badly sunburnt. We spent all day in the sun the past two days. Okay.

It is early Monday morning. I have one kid with a sore throat, another in the tub, and one more with no signs of stirring soon. So, I'm going to work from home this morning (it is not yet time to go to work) until we figure out whether we are dealing with allergies or something else. This weekend was pretty great, three baseball games not withstanding. Friday was my furlough day, so we stayed home and I got the challah made. D took the kids to Garfield, so Liza and I went and worked out for an hour (yay for us!). Then she and the kids came over for a lovely dinner of salmon with asparagus sauce, salad, wild rice, and of course, challah. The children, all six of them ages 4-10, were absolutely silent while they ate. It was that good. They all enjoyed the Shabbat service and I had candles for everyone, even the papa overseas (not in Iraq, studying!). Then we sat around and talked and the children watched The Wizard of Oz until ten or so. D and I had made noises about staying u...

Spank Bush

When you sent this that I'd put it on the blog, didn't you? Whoops! Try it now.

How did my Fridays get so busy? Well, I guess water seeks its own level... So today: Make challah, clean the house, go to the grocery store, exercise, feed children lunch... The kids want to go see Garfield this afternoon (Sam wants to go see Harry Potter again, so I said, "Well, twist my arm...") but I don't think it's going to happen today because the %*^&($ baseball coach called and wants to have batting practice at 3:30 before the 5:15 game. Hello, sun, could you be shining any more brightly today? I personally think that maybe we will show up for said practice at 4:00. After all, they can't all bat at once at 3:30, now can they? I also think this guy is a little enthusiastic about the 6-7 year old league... Then, lovely Shabbat dinner planned, must call two folks and see if they are coming...I am getting better at planning ahead for Shabbat, but sleeping in this morning really kind of threw me off kilter. It just means I will have to be more efficien...

This is for you. Thank you, Beth ! (And also for validating my feelings about the Alias finale). Last night we saw In America , which was really tremendous. The little girl actresses were dumbfounding. Is there anything that older girl can't do? But the little one, oh my goodness. Speaking of which, I impulsively invited our little neighbor girl to go to Harry Potter with us the other night (man, if I were 13, I'd have a serious crush on Daniel Radcliffe-- he is such jailbait, but oh my!). I love our little neighbor girl. Her mom goes out of town for grad school during the week (I love the mom too) and so LG (little girl) comes over often to play. She is Tommy's age, 6. And she had already seen the movie, but she came with us anyway. She was a great barometer for when it was time to tell the kids to close their eyes because I'd hear her little voice say, "Oh, I don't LIKE this part..." And eventually I invited her to sit with me so she could...

Mind Hump for Hump Day My excuse is if I wasn't doing this, I'd have to actually fold the laundry. And no one wants that. 01. You are a source of light. What are you and why? I'm a Shabbat candle, and I'm melting pretty fast because the ceiling fan is on. 02. There's a huge neon sign above your head everywhere you go ... what is it flashing? Loud and Coarse 03. If you could be anyone's blog, whose would you be and why? (Provide a link to that blog) Pie's because then I would have an original thought. 04. If you could have a vanity phone number, what would it be and what would it spell? WHO-KNEW? 05. Look around you .... name two odd things in your vicinity and explain why they are there. I'm in my kitchen. It's odd to hear children's voices wafting in through the window because they are my children, and they are actually outside playing with other children rather than plugged into electronica. What else? There is a moss-covered toy tiger in t...

I answered 27 questions and I was ruthlessly honest. What on earth does this mean???? What Famous Leader Are You? personality tests by similarminds.com

Wow, I actually had the audacity just now to try to out-woe Don Bindner via email. I don't know if that means that I am really crabby or that he is doing pretty well. Or maybe we are both just in a stupid funk. I bet Linda would trade problems with me in a minute-- I can't say the same. So, maybe that is an indication. Just keep my problems, and deal with them. Philip sent me the most awesome email the other day-- damn, I should have asked him if I could post it here. Maybe I should just start being more like Scarlett O'Hara and thinking about it tomorrow. As Tommy would say, "Is tomorrow after this day?" I always say the same thing. "Yes, Tommy, that is the very definition of tomorrow."

The Cutest Thing In the World Look, Ma! No hands!

Through the looking glass Look, Ma! No hands!

Answer the following questions in the comment box: 1. Who are you? 2. Have we ever met? 3. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it. 4. Describe me in one word. 5. What reminds you of me? 6. If you could give me anything, what would it be? 7. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't? 8. Are you going to put this on your weblog and see what I say about you? 9. What do you love like a fat kid loves cake? 10. What makes you come back here?

On the way to summer school, the first day : Christian: "I'm so excited, I could just cry." Me (naive): "Oh, good!" Christian: "I'm not excited. I'm housebroken!" Christian: "What does housebroken mean?" Me (covering mouth): "It means you know to go outside to go to the bathroom if you are a dog. You are not housebroken, honey, you are heart broken." In The School : Christian: "I'm so embarrassed." Christian: "What does embarrassed mean?" Me: "It means you feel funny." Christian: "I'm so embarrassed." At Baseball : Christian: "We always win! I hate winning! Why do we always have to win!" Christian (at homeplate): "Do you want me to get a homerun, Mommy?" Me: "Sure." Christian: "Well, I'm not going to!" Christian (at homeplate again): "Do you want me to get a homerun, Mommy?" Me: "I just want you to have f...

I hate everything. Not a good day.

What Classic Movie Are You? personality tests by similarminds.com

Hi Rabbi F, I told my ex-husband M on Saturday that I am thinking of converting to Judaism. He looked at me and said, "I'm not anti-semitic, Jen." He was actually really supportive of it, said it is good that the kids are exposed to lots of different ideas, and we agreed that they need to make decisions when they are adults. He was a little concerned about "the repudiation of Christ," but I assured him that it just doesn't come up. He mentioned that Sam at age 13 would be old enough for First Communion, and I said, "Also Bar Mitzvah," so he laughed and said, "How about a birthday party?" I think it would be possible for Sam to do something that could acknowledge what he is being taught at that time. There is time to plan, time to think about it. I read The Chosen yesterday. It was very good, and Dereck is bringing home The Promise for me. I am starting to understand more and more of the history of the Jewish people. Wow, you can'...

I met Barbara for a two hour lunch today to discuss Torah study and lots of other things (including Jewish views on abortion!). At one point, we were finding in the Torah where to start studying from, and a man approached us and asked if that was a Torah and we started chatting. He asked us what we were doing. We said we were studying the Torah together. He asked us what prompted this and Barbara said, "We're Jewish." It turns out he is Jewish as well (I figured) and here for graduation (ding ding) and the VP of his temple in Illinois. We had a lovely chat. That was very fun. My menorahs came from Israel today! I don't know where I will find candles teeny enough for them (Dereck said, "Birthday candles.") I have been cleaning all afternoon for Shabbat (Believe me the house needed it!). I have some vacuuming to do, and the challah to finish, and then baseball to head to. Where did the day go? I am staying home tomorrow morning and taking some time for...

Shalom, Rabbi! It doesn't look like we're going to be able to come down for services this week after all. Some of my Milton Steinberg books have come, so I'll keep reading more (his nonfiction). At some point, should we talk about a course of study for conversion, or just keep doing what we're doing? Jen Jen, I understand your zeal in choosing a Jewish identity for yourself. Enjoy your search and exploration. In time we'll talk about whether this journey of yours is what you really want for you and to impart via personal example to your kids. Better not to rush things too fast. But we'll talk. Shat Shalom, " You shall rise before the aged." (Leviticus 19:32) Rabbi That was my impression as well, actually, but I thought I would ask just to find out your thoughts! Earlier this week I mentioned to a couple of friends that I thought I should sit with this for a year or so and observe and read. I am happy to do that. L'Shalom, Jen J...

Well, the reasons for NOT going to Columbia are just piling up. Sam has a baseball game. The peeps are gathering for one last supper before they scatter for summer. Liza's honey is going out of town (tho, she will be busy, she tells me, go, go!). So, I am leaning toward not going this week. After all, I could still get up and go down early on Saturday. I want to go down tomorrow with Dereck though. And isn't it going to be like this every week, every time I want to go? Is this a time where I should make a stand and say, "No, this is important"? But the thing is, I went to services last week. I can still have Shabbat here-- heck, I can make bread, bring candlesticks and challah and wine and have it at Eithne's. And I can have Torah study here myself on Saturday. What to do what to do? Should I stay or should I go now? I guess I will let you know.

Heart Attacks You know, when you call the hotel where you have a contract for a retreat, a block of rooms, and everything else in the city has been booked for at least three months, and they tell you that they can't find your contract, and then five minutes later they say, "Oh yes, here it is," that can't be good for your heart.

Rabbi F, Shalom! I got your email address from Barbara Ma; she couldn't be sure what the exact spelling was, so I am trying two in hopes that this will reach you. I met you briefly at your daughter's bat mitzvah a couple of weeks ago, which I attended with Dan and Barbara Ma. I live in Kirksville also. For many years now, I have been busy pushing my spiritual journey, one I considered inevitable, into the distant corners of my life. Every six months or so, I would have an existential crisis, during which time I would ask myself whether or not the presence I have felt in my life since I could form words in my head was actually G-d, how could I know? And what does He want me to do? What will happen to me when I die? What am I supposed to be doing here and now? How can I make my life meaningful? I would wrestle with these questions, without any real solutions, and then push them away and go about my life again, quietly suppressing them on a daily basis. I have three childre...