Dear Jennifer B.,

I'm taking a few days off. My life needs me. (What? You didn't know I had one?)

In the meantime, do you have a question for me? What would you like to know? Post your question in my comments section and I will do my best to answer.
See you soon.

Love,
Jennifer B.

Thinking Thursday

Hmmm.

I think . . . I'm tired.



I'll try again later.

How are YOU today?

Discovery

Know what I discovered?
If a flying shoe lands on just the right spot, it can make the glass on an oven door shatter. Into pieces. Lots of them.

Uh-Oh!

On our walk home from school the other day, my son was distraught. He did not get to kiss his kindergarten sister goodbye and apparently his world was ending. His weepy wailing echoed throughout the neighborhood. I tried to distract him, "How about if we paint when we get home? What if we go on a walk? Let's make play dough. . ."

Nothing could cheer him. Finally I asked, "What would make you feel better?"
He sobbed, "Let's go to the store and buyyyy stuff (sniff). That will make me feel better."

I think I'm in trouble.

Obsession

My new blogging friend, "So grateful to be Mormon" tagged me with an obsession meme. Obsess is such a strong word, but listing the 5 things I occasionally feel strong about doesn't sound very interesting, does it? So with that . . .

Jennifer B.'s 5 Obsessions

1. Book Club
2. Purging my house of clutter
3. My goal to be completely debt-free
4. Reading the comments on my favorite blogs
5. Being on time to take my friend to work in 20 minutes -- Wait! Make that 12 minutes!

Yikes! Gotta run. . .

The Boy Loves Chicken(s)

My four-year-old loves animals. The other day he asked, "Why do people eat animals?" None of our responses were satisfactory. He declared, "I'm not going to eat animals anymore!"

Tonight the topic came up again. He expressed his love for chickens and asked my twelve-year-old daughter,"Why do people have to eat chickens?" My daughter replied, “They don’t have to. But what if there was no food and they only had chickens?” To which my son answered, “Then they would eat the T.V.”

That explains the bite marks on our set.

Tag! You're It!

Toni tagged me for this “Three Things” Meme. Thanks Toni! It was fun.

Three Things That Scare Me:
1. the thought of paying full price
2. horror flicks (so I don’t watch them)
3. life without sugar

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
in real life:
1. my sister
2. my brother
3. my other brother

in my alternate cyber-existence:
1. cjane
2. carrotjello
3. elasticwaistbandlady

Three Things I Love:
1. cinnamon
2. having my hair brushed
3. hot chocolate with whipped cream

Three Things I Hate:
1. sleep deprivation
2. diets
3. noise

Three Things I Don’t Understand:
1. Ulysses
2. derivatives (think math)
3. life without sugar

Three Things On My Desk:
1. “The Power of Three” by Dianna Wynne Jones
2. flap my 2-year-old tore out of a “lift the flap” book
3. my Mac

Three Things I’m Doing Right Now:
1. Writing
2. being assaulted by the soundtrack from My Little Pony “The Princess Promenade” DVD
3. plotting the mysterious disappearance of My Little Pony “The Princess Promenade” DVD

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. write and illustrate a children’s book
2. meet a few of my bloggy buddies
3. have all of my house clean at the same time

Three Things I Can Do:
1. change a diaper in less than 6 seconds--one handed
2. make delicious snicker doodles
3. speak halting Spanish

Three Things I Can’t Do:
1. get my last kid out of diapers
2. limit myself to three snicker doodles
3. speak fluent Spanish

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. Corinne Bailey Rae’s music
2. Brian Regan
3. the speakers in General Conference

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. the “world”
2. your harsh inner-dialogue
3. the soundtrack from “The Princess Promenade”

Three Things I’d Like To Learn:
1. American Sign Language
2. to go to bed on time and wake up early
3. how to write a really good poem

Three Favorite Foods:
1. butternut squash soup with roasted red pepper puree
2. potato casserole (a.k.a. funeral or company potatoes)
3. snicker doodles

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1. The Brady Bunch
2. The Love Boat
3. Electrawoman and Dynagirl (I SO wanted to be Dynagirl!)

Three Things I Regret:
1. laziness
2. being a procrastinator
3. letting my insecurity prevent me from making friends

Three people I tag:
1. Shari
2. so grateful to be Mormon
3. You! (should you feel inclined)

Just a Few Laps

I still cannot fully wrap my mind around what happened to my son yesterday. We live in a townhome and our front yard is a shared courtyard. On a typical day there are several parents chatting and children playing--it's a very friendly block. My family alone constitutes seven of the children who play together so it usually feels busy and pretty safe. The houses face in toward the courtyard, we have helpful conscientious neighbors, and full-time security.

Yesterday was different.

There was a quiet lull in the afternoon. Young children who had been playing vigorously went in for naps and quiet time. Older children were away with friends. I went in to tidy-up and my 9 year old son asked if he could skate a few laps around the courtyard. "Sure, just a few." I can't see my son at the far end of the courtyard, but I can watch as he nears the house and rounds the corner to skate another lap. Not long after he went out, he came back in with this odd report.

A bearded grey-haired man whom my son had never seen before called out for assistance. He was at the street corner away from the highly-visible main courtyard. He stood alongside the end home where there is no window and he is surrounded by mostly empty carports.

"My dog had a couple of shots today and is being uncooperative. Will you call my dog? Just say, 'Come Koba!'"

My son kept his distance, but called the chiuaua-sized dog and the pup went to him. Then my son turned to get away.

"Wait! Come this way so my dog will follow you over here."

"I have to go home," my son replied as he continued to skate home. He told me immediately what had happened. I looked around outside and saw no one. I hoped it was an innocent neighbor with bad judgment (we have taught our children that adults should only ask adults for help, NEVER children). Just to be safe, I called the police to give a report and an officer came out to our home to take it down.

After all of this, one more very interesting detail came out. During the entire encounter, the tiny dog was on a LEASH! What??? Yes, a leash that the man was holding. I had assumed it was a free-roaming dog, but NO! This was a tiny dog on a leash that the owner had in his hand. Why on earth would a grown man ask a little boy to lead a tiny dog when the pet was already on a leash? I don't want to think about it, and yet I can't stop thinking about it. It is too suspicious.

I know that bad things happen to good people, but I am so grateful that yesterday we were spared. I am glad that we prayed as a family for protection that day and that my son obeyed a prompting to get home and tell his mother what had happened. You can never tell your children too many times what to do and to have them practice it. Even then, children are taught to respect adults and to be helpful and kind--they are so naturally trusting--they need their parents' protection. And although I was close by, I wasn't close enough to have prevented that encounter. No one in my courtyard will skate alone again--even for a few laps.

Pardon Me, Please

I was planning on responding to Toni's tag today-but it's been a rather odd day. One of my children was approached by a strange man asking for help with his dog. I can't write about it just now. I am a bit shaken, but I will return soon.

I'm at Segullah

What do Israelites, a serpent, and a swollen eye have in common? Come find out at Segullah.

Starstruck

A few months ago my husband and I were watching late night TV when we heard Miss Corinne Bailey Rae sing.

Oh

My

This woman can sing! Her voice is incredible. We caught her again on PBS and downloaded a couple of her songs from i tunes. Just for fun we checked out her concert schedule, but all her shows were in Europe.

Then.

Just by chance my husband found out that she was going to tour here in America but we hadn't seen it advertised. She was actually going to open for John Legend (who was advertised, but whom I had never even heard of before, 'cuz I'm not really hip to current music). Not only that, but the first night of the tour was going to be very near our home!

So.

By the time we found out about it, the concert was already SOLD OUT. (aww)

But we found tickets on e-bay (yea!)

and they were outrageously expensive (awww).

But then he actually won an auction for a reasonable bid (yea!)

and he also kept checking back at Ticket Master just to see if anything else opened up.

AND THEN . . . .

on the day of the concert, he found FRONT ROW SEATS for the same price and was able to sell our other tickets to someone else less than two hours before the show!!! (WAHOOOOO!)

So tonight I sat mere feet away from two amazing performers and had a great time celebrating my anniversary.

And THEN,

later, off to the left, in the open seats next to the stage, I noticed Miss Corinne watching Mr. Legend perform and I waved my hands excitedly--not really thinking she would notice me, but

she smiled right at me and WAVED BACK!

I am starstruck.