stuff jen says: February 2013

Feb. 28: Month in summary

Here’s my review of February 2013.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

Katie turned 13 this month. I can’t believe it. She’s mostly still a sweetie, but every once in a while we see the signs of ATTITUDE creeping up… Yikes. To celebrate her big day, she had a couple friends over; they went to the mall, saw a movie, and had a “sleep”-over, which involved very little “sleep” and grouchy girls in the morning.
Our 16th anniversary was last weekend. We spent the day preparing for the school carnival—always going for the romance! Last night we went out for dinner at our special occasion place, Morton’s Steakhouse. Best. Steak. Ever.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

Katie got a desk for her birthday from Grandpa & Grandma, and my mom and the rest of us contributed to the setup—chair, lamp, contents, décor, etc. It was fun helping her get everything organized. She is sooo like me when it comes to that stuff.
The kids made us some fun ceramics as anniversary gifts. Katie’s were thoughtful, sweet and hearts-y. Jack’s was all-football-all-the-time. Shocking.

Books I read this month:

I read some travel books… because we’re finally, finally going on a vacation.
My concentration was very SQUIRREL!! while preparing for the school carnival, and I read pretty much nothing else.

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

TV is exactly the kind of thing my brain can focus on—for 22 minutes at a time, anyway—so I’ve watched a lot.

So glad Community is back on.
Sherilee and I agree that we’re not feeling the love for Smash so far. They better get Jesse L. Martin on there soon, or I will completely lose interest. I will.
Still enjoying the charming fun that is Go On (looooved the Sixteen Candles references this week!) and The Mindy Project.
That new Kevin Bacon show, The Following? It scares the livin’ crap outta me, but I can’t look away.
Loveliest Lori live-Facebooked the Oscars and I missed the entire thing. Stoopid other things I was doing…

Special or unusual purchases I made:

Music! I got the soundtrack to Bombshell; the new release from my nephew’s band, The Rouge; and Josh Groban’s latest album.
Those aforementioned travel guides, as well as airline tickets, Disney passes, and more fun stuff to use during spring vacation.
We got the kids memory foam mattress toppers and BOY, do they smell weird! Hopefully the odor will dissipate so they can actually put them on their beds someday. Right now they’re spread out in my office, giving me a headache (the mattress toppers, not the kids).

This month’s disappointments:

I’ve been super-sick for the past week. I had a broken filling repaired last week, and a root canal on the same tooth this week. The tooth pain was pretty unbearable for a while, but it’s the antibiotics they have me on that are REALLY kicking my ass now. If they make me get that infection where they have to put someone else’s poop in my intestines, I will NOT be happy.
We didn’t win anything big at the school carnival. Last year we won two of the huge auction items, so it was a bummer to go home empty-handed. Still, I did most of the drawings and it was so much fun seeing the winners’ faces when their names were called!
Downton Abbey’s finale. It was disappointing because it’ll be many months until the next season begins, and also because the season sucked for two big reasons and several small ones.
Nobody bought me a pony.

My accomplishments:

The carnival was a big hit. This wasn’t my accomplishment alone, of course; there are seven other people who deserve credit too.
I slept 11 hours last night and it was awesome.
I’m actually writing this post. I barely got it in before March.

Anything else noteworthy:

The kids both took Red Cross classes this month; Katie is now babysitter certified, and Jack did a “When I’m in Charge” thing wherein he got to role play throwing a tantrum. He was a little out of practice, since his last tantrum was about seven years ago, but he was proud of his performance nonetheless. The class was supposed to teach him how to handle emergencies when a grown-up isn’t around, and I don’t know if he learned anything new but he sure did enjoy the snack.
Isn’t it nice when people surprise you with their generosity and kindness? I’ve run into three or four occasions lately that just warm my tiny little black heart. It’s a lovely thing.
Today a photo popped up in my Yahoo news feed and I thought, “Hm, that building looks familiar.” And then I read the text below it and knew immediately, embarrassingly, that it was about Walla Walla College (University), my alma mater. (Here’s the article it linked to.)

That’s about it, doods.

Feb. 18: Pretend this is fascinating

Apparently I don’t blog anymore, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who’s noticed. It’s such a busy time of year for us, with lots of school stuff happening, disgusting sicknesses, the uninspiring grey weather, and that horrible, horrible Downton Abbey season finale last night. I don’t have much to say but am checking in to prove I’m still alive and capable of constructing sentences. They may not be good sentences, but they are sentences all the same.

And I also have time-wasters to share with you:

40 greatest dog GIFs of all time
If Downton Abbey happened on Facebook (check this soon for last night’s summary, unless you haven’t watched it yet because SPOILERS!)

This has a little potty language, but it’s funny

You love Pinterest, right? Here’s stuff you might have missed. And by that, I mean I HOPE YOU HAVE MISSED IT. Yikes.

Alright, back to the chaos that is February. Smell ya later.

Feb. 7: They make good food, though…

Sometimes, when it’s your job to purchase prizes to stock the prize redemption room at the upcoming school carnival, you think IT WOULD BE COOL TO HAVE STUFF KIDS ACTUALLY WANT.

Sometimes, because the stuff kids want is expensive, you look online for cheaper alternatives, like buying in bulk or FROM CHINA.

Sometimes you spend lots of time searching these Chinese stores, using words like ZOMBIE and MUSTACHE and ONE DIRECTION and ANGRY BIRDS and JUSTIN BIEBER and MINECRAFT and CUPCAKES and HELLO KITTY and SPIDER MAN. Too much time, really.

Sometimes, in these Chinese stores, you find exactly what you know the kids would go nuts over, because CHINESE PEOPLE TOTALLY GET US SIMPLE AND SOMETIMES STUPID AMERICANS. You place lots of orders, and three weeks later find out that each order is being shipped separately and must be signed for, which does not irritate your mail lady even a little or make her want to throw your mail in the trash.

And sometimes, CHINESE PEOPLE SPELL STUFF DIFFERENTLY.

Sometimes they spell it WRONG.

Sometimes YOU GET MAIL THAT, LITERALLY, MAKES YOU LOL. Like this:

Oh, how I love translation funnies.

facts of jen's life

So, who do you think you are? I think I’m Jen. People who don’t know me sometimes call me Jenny. That’s weird.

Tell me about yourself. I was born a small black child, and am now a grown-up, or at least my kids think I am. I’m in my mid-40s and live in the ‘burbs of Portland, Oregon. My husband is Victor, and my kids are Katie and Jack. Read this if you want the real and very long scoop.

Tell me things people might not know about you. I am an ordained minister and can perform marriages. Why no one has asked me to do this for them yet, I do not know. ● At the request of my Disney-hating friend Ed, I got mouse ears embroidered with the name “Satan” and I didn’t even get kicked out of Disneyland. It’s quite possibly the ballsiest thing I’ve ever done. ● I “helped” write this book, published in 2012: You Take it From Here, by Pamela Ribon. My name is in the back, and I’m still geeking out about it. ● I recorded a song in a studio in 1994 and it got local radio play for a few months. At least two times I turned on the radio in the car and my song was playing at that moment—very cool. ● I nearly died from a zit in 1986. I am not making this up. ● Victor and I once appeared on The Tonight Show. Really. If you can find a VCR, I’ll show you the tape.

I read some of your posts and I think you might be an alcoholic. I drink way less than I write about drinking. If I ever STOP talking about booze, then it’ll be time for an intervention.

What do you love? Books. Coffee. Fonts. Broadway musicals. San Francisco. Bacon. Rum. Law & Order. Naps. Butter. Home. Crack cocaine. iDevices. Words. Disney vacations. You.

If you could punch anything or anyone in the face, what/who would it be? Cancer. I was diagnosed with lymphoma in November 2009. I kicked its big fat ugly ass and am in remission now. ● Comic Sans. ● People who won’t take responsibility for their problems—the “I didn’t do anything to deserve this!” attitude. Look in the mirror. That’s who to blame. ● Celebrities who are famous for no reason. Y’know, if we stop looking, they’ll go away... ● Bad grammar and spelling and the dummies who use it.

You seem bitter. Did someone piss in your Cheerios? I’m not bitter. I think unicorns-and-rainbows stuff isn’t very interesting to read, so I tend not to write that way. But also, now you’re being kind of a jackhole.

It seems like no one ever comments on your blog posts. Why is that? Most people comment on the Facebook links. I don’t know why.

What if I want to tell you something? Two ways to reach me: leave a comment on a post, or e-mail me at jenniferTAKETHISPARTOUTmanullang at gmail-dot-com.