« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
March 31, 2008
On hold now...
Hubby is in Vegas for only a few hours and I already have an email from the credit card company warning of fraudulent activity. What is going on in Vegas? What goes on in Vegas will not stay in Vegas because there is going to be a paper trail.
----Update----
It is reassuring to know that when hubby hops a plane to Vegas, rents and RV and buys a bunch of booze that it is not our usual shopping pattern and that we'll get a call.
Posted by jana at 4:37 PM
March 30, 2008
I prefer to watch from the window
I guess it isn't just the windsurfers who are crazy. Maybe the sailors forgot it snowed the day before?
Posted by jana at 10:07 PM | Comments (2)
March 28, 2008
Project 365 continues with lame camera
Got today's photo for Project 365 by 9am. Perhaps a personal record. I couldn't get her to smile and stand still though.
This week was the week I have been planning to buy my new camera. Good thing I didn't hit the "proceed to checkout" button just yet. I found out I'll be financing this for next week. Sigh.
The good news is that financing for my revolution seems to be more and more in sight. I'm still hopeful for better glass and more nights at the taqueria.
Posted by jana at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2008
Design as a business consultant
Snip from an interview regarding working with the Design Godfather, Paul Rand.
"...Paul told me, 'you tell me your problem, I give you a solution. And you pay me. If you want options you hire someone else.'"
His client? Steve Jobs of Next Computer.
[video clip via Swiss Miss]
Posted by jana at 9:01 AM | Comments (2)
March 25, 2008
Taking care of mommy
My cold quickly turned into a fever and so here I blog from my bed. Yuck. I am fortunate the family is very interested in taking care of me.
The kids brought me books and Andy brought me dinner in bed! Karsten then went off to play on his Leapster the easter bunny brought him. Britta fussed over me non-stop. "Take care, Mommy." And "you need something to cuddle with." She brought me a few stuffed animals and then she decided I needed jewelry to cure me. I got three new necklaces from her jewelry box.
I thought it seemed typical that the girl in the family was the one taking the best care of me. But right before bed Karsten brought me his Leapster and queued up the painting game for me. "Mommy, here is an art project for you to do." How thoughtful!
However today there was an incident at preschool regarding Mommy Being Sick. Here's the email I got from the teacher:
Dear Jana~ I am sorry to hear you are feeling so very sick! I don't know if Andy told you or not but at "sharing time" this morning Britta told us you were really sick because you "drank too much"! and then after a bit of hesitation she added "water". I was reminded of several years back a little guy told us that his mom always "drinks and drives" and then followed up with saying and I don't like that smell of coffee in the car!!!!!! KIDS!!!!
Posted by jana at 2:51 PM | Comments (1)
March 24, 2008
My pre-emptive apology
Sorry if the rap parody was offensive to anyone! I was aiming for entertainment only. Some of my dearest friends and family are conservatives and I don't want to upset those people.
Posted by jana at 1:48 PM | Comments (2)
This blog now has Amazon Associates Widgets
All in the name of research I have added Amazon Associates Widgets to this blog. Buy stuff or don't. If you have thoughts about the content or how it looks let me know. I hardly have any control over how the display works but I can still take feedback.
Posted by jana at 11:41 AM
March 23, 2008
I'll send your kid on the very next surge
In honor of the US death toll in Iraq reaching 4,000 troops. (Plus I'm a Cyprus Hill fan.)
[via Jeff Uppy]
Also on my left leaning mind is to cheer the latest Obama speech. MDM has a great excerpt on his blog. Sorry Hillary, this trumps the Girl Power I've been half-ass backing.
Posted by jana at 8:45 PM
March 22, 2008
The Tiara Battle
I thought Britta was having a great time with Abbie. I went over to take their photo and this was the face I saw. No smile. No way. Abbie was quite happy though. Britta wanted to be the bride or princes or whatever but Abbie had the tiara. Fortunately for us I was able to loan out my own tiara from my personal collection.
Everyone got to be a princess, or a bride, or whatever and everyone was happy.
Posted by jana at 10:43 PM
March 16, 2008
Hubby are you reading this? Mother's day idea
My neighbor Tiana has a new line of personalized jewelry. I've been eyeing them for myself so I got the scoop from her:
~ Personalized necklaces and bracelets (either linked bracelets or cuffs).
~ All made with sterling silver chain and findings
~ Can be personalized with a name and/or date (letters are 3/32" tall) or initials (letters are 1/4" tall)
~ Prices range from $30 to $50
~ Delivery time is usually 7-10 days
Like how I'm giving the hubby lots of notice? That is so kind of me.
For the people who can't just walk down the street to put in their order here is her Etsy store link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5192529
Posted by jana at 10:12 AM | Comments (1)
March 14, 2008
Freedom
Woo! I was excused from jury duty before I even got to make it into the court room. So many people showed up that they excused much of us cattle before we even got in the court room.
I did get to spend my time in line next to the most interesting character in the room. Joe was wearing a utili-kilt (with only freedom underneath he told me), a coon-tail derby hat, and a uni-bomber beard. I shouldn't forget to mention he was a toothless writer. I guess you don't need teeth if your main form of communication is through writing. I considered myself lucky getting to pass my time in the public holding pen next to such a character.
Posted by jana at 10:01 AM
March 13, 2008
Jury duty planning
I have jury duty tomorrow and I'd love to not do my civic duty at this point in my overly busy life.
How to not get selected?
According to MDM appear overly educated. Unfortunately I am only averagely educated so that ain't gonna work.
Another thought, wear any political garb I may own. Paint a hammer and sickle shirt (naw)? What about Andy's "Bush don't jibe" shirt?
I thought they didn't want overly opinionated people but that wouldn't make sense because Andrej got selected.
I need some tactics and quick.
Posted by jana at 10:25 PM | Comments (3)
March 12, 2008
Easter basket alternative
Karsten doesn't need another frilly easter basket. When I was at Value Village the other day I found this cork trunk and some comic books. I cut out a bunch of comic books and glued them on the front. Now I just need to decoupage it before the easter bunny shows up. I also found a huge stack of great children's books to fill it with (and more comic books!)
Posted by jana at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)
Volunteer Remorse
Andy came home from the Shoreline Management Council meeting tonight.
A: Guess who is the chairman of the committee?
Me: You?
A: Yep.
Me: What? You are way too busy. What are you thinking?
Later I returned home from the PTA meeting at K's school....
Me: Guess who is the new PTA secretary?
------------
What is wrong with us?
Wait, don't answer that.
Posted by jana at 9:46 PM | Comments (4)
March 9, 2008
Future Filmmaker of America
Karsten (appearing as Spiderman) stole my digital camera and made his own music video. Britta and her friend Tess are the back up singers. The video would have gone on longer if I hadn't freaked when I saw him walking around with my digital camera.
Posted by jana at 9:53 PM
Adventures of Scatterboy
I'm tracking my co-worker Jay through his month of adventures as a designer in Scotland. Deja vu. He's funnier and child-free so his blog posts of his "working holiday" should be much more exciting than mine.
Turns out Jay has a cool project called Future Me which is a book now too.
I'm trying to be Adult Jana and not cry that I didn't get to go back to Scotland. Darn re-org.
Posted by jana at 6:13 PM
March 8, 2008
What are you doing?
I am twittering. Actually I have been twittering for a while into the abyss. Now I've added the Twitter badge to the right of my bloggy so you can know even more minutiae about me. Sometimes I even mention what I'm thinking about eating for lunch. In fact food does seem to be what I Twitter about most.
And speaking of Twitter, when I came back from Chicago I met up with a group of moms. They asked me how my trip was. I said "great, I even got to ride in a car next to Evan Williams!"
Blank stares.
"He is the founder of Blogger and Twitter."
Blank stares.
Ah ha, geek celebrity! And that must make me a geek.
Posted by jana at 7:43 AM | Comments (3)
March 6, 2008
Last chance to test your inner mutant (cheaply)
My spit kit test just showed up. Cool.
Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day to participate in the huge discount for QTrait's genetic testing site. From my friend Tera Eerkes, the CEO of QTrait:
Hi everyone,We've been filling up our orders, and are going to turn off the 90% discount at midnight on Friday, March 7th, as planned. If you haven't yet signed up, please get your orders in soon by going to
www.QTrait.comRemember, it's easy to get the discount. Just pick out genetic tests that interest you, go to the checkout, then follow the survey link at the bottom of the order "Review" page.
When you've completed the survey, you'll be linked back to the "Review" page, and the 90% discount will be automatically applied.
Later next week, we'll close down the site to the public while we make improvements.
Posted by jana at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)
Another bullet point for the obit: investigative reporter (ha ha)
My neighbor asked me to be a contributing editor for the local B-Town Blog. I told him "sure" but then I never thought of anything to write. That is, until I saw the Burien Redwood Plaza sign.
If you're curious about Burien's relationship to the Redwood Forest you'll have to read the post on the B-Town Blog.
Also on the B-Town Blog don't miss Dan the Sausageman's highly viral Meat Your Mate.
My next piece of investigative reporting will be on the neighborhood totem poles so if you have any knowledge of these let's chat.
Posted by jana at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)
March 5, 2008
Now this is my kind of Star Wars
If Saul Bass had created Star Wars.
[via an email from Andrej. I just visited over at his blog and note that he has a cool new banner.]
Posted by jana at 7:59 PM | Comments (1)
March 4, 2008
Update on "interesting"
Britta just said, "everyone is boring."
I need to be careful of what I wish for.
Ok, I am updating my desire from wanting to raise opinionated kids to wanting to raise verbally articulate and humble kids. And knowing when to keep your opinion to yourself.
That's more like it.
Posted by jana at 9:08 AM | Comments (2)
DIY: Nostaglic t-shirt to pillow
Last week I created a pillow from one of Karsten's old tshirts that I couldn't bear to store in the attic or give away. Michelle has posted about the pillow on Kid Haus. Thanks Michelle! And yes, bribery does work with me.
Here is my Flickr photo set for how I created the pillow.
Posted by jana at 8:23 AM
March 3, 2008
Interesting
Having a 3 year old girl is like having a mirror to hold up to myself. The other day I asked Britta her opinion on something. Her reply, "I think it was interesting."
That's when I realized I say that. All the time. That's when I realized that I should reconsider how often I say that phrase. Saying something is interesting is saying nothing at all. It is a way to give a positive answer without committing to an opinion.
I don't want to raise an opinion-less girl. Often times I find myself deferring to other people's opinion when often times my opinion is just as valid, if at times even more so. I either lack confidence to state my opinion or don't want to create waves.
A few weeks ago at the Democratic Caucus my feisty 85-year old neighbor lady asked me who I was voting for. I said, "Hillary." She was so excited and said, "that's our girl!" During the 1 minute speeches she stepped right up. She said, "my husband had to leave because he hates when I give my opinion." Then she proceeded to give an impassioned speech about why everyone should select her candidate. I sat mute in the corner with Britta. After the caucus she came over and asked me why I didn't stand up and say anything.
I gave her the cop out answer that I had Britta with me and had to do damage control. But really I didn't feel like trying to convince anyone that I had the right answer when I think Obama is a great choice. Just not the choice I was making that day.
Anyway, to end this rambling, I am going to try to say "interesting" less and say something real more. I'll try and stand up to a podium and give 1 minute speeches when I have the chance.
And I'll hope I won't offend anyone or sound stupid. It is all going to be for Britta's sake!
Posted by jana at 5:32 PM | Comments (5)
March 2, 2008
Office dreams
Twice a day I walk through the unused play room in our basement. The playroom that hardly gets used. Space is a huge premium at our house so I am thinking of hijacking that space for my own play room. I am sure once I'm down there that is when the kids will have to have their play room back. Isn't that the way of the universe?
I found this cool chair on craigslist tonight. It could be just the right piece of furniture to get me going. I have emailed the owner to see if it is still available.
Posted by jana at 8:52 PM