June 23, 2008
My "go-to" mom gets a blog
Brenda is the mom I go to for my Mom Information. Everything from what preschool to sign up for, to what to eat for breakfast, Brenda's got it down. She's also really organized and therefore I am in awe of her.
She's one of my only mom friends who can still talk me into doing a tequila shot.
Posted by jana at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2008
Birthday Cocktail
8 drops of cipro into the eyes
4 puffs of Nasonex into the nose
1 antibiotic pill
8 teaspoons Robitussin DM
Sucrets and Riccola to taste
(over the course of the day)
Mix with friends and family calling/emailing/facebooking/dropping off goodies....
= not such a bad birthday!
Thanks everyone! By the weekend I should not be contagious even!
Posted by jana at 1:06 PM | Comments (1)
May 2, 2008
Too late to polish the blog for Marcus
Me: Who is this person you sent my url to? (Andy cc'd me on an email he sent to someone but there wasn't a name attached.)
Andy: Marcus [last name]!
Me: Do not send my url to Marcus [last name]! He was the coolest guy in our high school and I don't need him to read my pity posts or any other dumb stuff I write about.
Andy: Well stop writing pity posts and dumb stuff.
Hi Marcus! Welcome to my dumb blog, if you're reading this. Hope to see you at the reunion next year. I'll try and be cooler in real life.
Posted by jana at 1:03 PM | Comments (2)
May 1, 2008
Welcome May
I am ready to stomp out April 2008 once and for all. This past month beat me down and spit me out a whole 8lbs lighter. The kids have also been sick and I hate to think that they might be any lighter too. A round of milkshakes for all the Kleitschs! My life is too carefully crafted for so much fever and vomitting in one month.
I tried thinking about if any other month in my past has been so crappy. I recalled my senior year in college when my car rolled off a cliff but landed on a giant tree branch and was saved from destruction. Yeah, that month was worse, but not by much.
A quick poll of a few friends suggested I didn't need tranquilizers, but perhaps a few life changes. Hopefully those changes will happen soon.
May is already better. I commuted to book club via the beach, sat outside around a fire with my wonderful bookish neighbors. Karsten is finally back to his rowdy self and on his way to school again tomorrow, or at least by Monday. Things are looking up.
Posted by jana at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)
April 22, 2008
Sick Video Tonic
Me: I am thinking a nice vodka drink tonight is just what I need.
Andy: Our house is dry. We could stop by the liquor store.
Me: That's okay. I'll just watch episodes of The Hills on my computer. It will have the same mind-numbing effect.
That's right folks. I started watching this show when I was sick the last few days. After reading the Dooce blog talk about it for the last three seasons I had to check it out. All I could think is "don't these people have hobbies?" That of course didn't stop me from watching 10 episodes in the course of two days.
While Britta was sick she must have logged 8 viewings of the Little Mermaid.
Karsten's sick day video was The Muppet Show Season 1, episode 1 with Don Knotts. We never got to see the other episodes on the disc, but that's okay. Don Knotts still holds up after 30 years.
Anyone else have a sick video tonic?
Posted by jana at 7:27 PM | Comments (3)
April 16, 2008
Now I can shut up about it
I lost two weeks worth of Project 365 yesterday when my iphoto crashed but deleted most of the photos off the camera but didn't save them to my hard drive first.
What should an American do during these depressed times?
The depression sparked a bout of retail therapy for me and a sense of civic duty.
I did it! I hit "proceed to checkout" and bought my new camera finally. There is money in my bank account. Someone is going to spend it. It might as well be me. I will be helping stimulate the economy too. I can feel good about myself.
Hurray! It should be here in a few days. The bad thing is that now I'll be expected to take decent photos.
Posted by jana at 12:41 PM | Comments (2)
February 20, 2008
The Comeback Cold
Deja vu. The same cold I had a few weeks ago makes a reappearance. To use a phrase out of my kids' play book, "that's not fair!"
I have no time to be sick. Again.
Posted by jana at 10:13 PM
February 6, 2008
Ahhh, the miracle of cold medication
Andy bugs me for not taking enough medication and I bug him for taking too much medication. Somewhere in between I believe is a happy medium.
Thanks to the wonders of sudafed I am almost productive today.
Posted by jana at 1:32 PM
January 23, 2008
On the agenda tonight: Nothing
I blew off the PTSA meeting (bad mom!), the kids are in bed and I'm thinking of doing nothing. Yeah, nothing. Sounds quite nice. One of these days I'll get those Christmas thank you cards in the mail too. Tomorrow.... after I do nothing.
Posted by jana at 8:46 PM
December 19, 2007
The birth of another new blogger
My friend Jolynn has joined the world of blogging. Being that both she and her husband are English professors I am sure their blog will be witty and free of grammatical errors -- unlike my own tense switching; definitive splitting (just learned about this grammatical no-no when Greg was on a drunken rant); and other bad things I do to the English language. I shudder to think she might be a reader of this blog.
With that said, I'm excited to track her 6 month stay in London with a toddler in tow.
Posted by jana at 10:25 AM
December 18, 2007
Dear Gym
We've been together for 13 years but it is finally time for us to take a break. I froze my membership today. I think you should know that I plan to see other gyms during this time.
We've been through a lot together. Remember the time 12 years ago when I was almost buff because of you? That is not an easy task when your adolescent nicknames were along the lines of "Bones" and "Skeletor." You have seen me through two postpartums and ample times my butt has started to expand.
I admit, I am sill attracted to you, Gym. I love the sparkling mosaic tiles in the pool and your beautiful paint colors. I plan to buy a punch card so I can still visit you for meaningless booty workout calls. But I plan to get most of my physical needs met elsewhere. I admit, I've been fantasizing about other gyms.
Sure, I could have been more diligent in visiting you more often. But you let me down one too many times by not hiring decent aerobics teachers, especially on Saturdays, my one day I always and forever visit you. And then when you fired my cousin from teaching the cycling class for a silly non-compete...really, how could you?
So for now, we're officially on a break. I know the timing could be better. It is right before the holidays and both my gut and my butt are tag teaming against me, but it has to be done.
I hope we can work it out, but just a warning, the new Gym in the neighborhood sounds like it has a lot to offer me.
I am sorry it has to end this way.
Your formerly devoted member,
Jana
Posted by jana at 10:06 PM
November 24, 2007
Gut-o-licous
Bad idea: donning a bikini after scarfing 10,000 calories in a 48 hour period. And really, what am I doing wearing a bikini at 36 anyway? Unless you're Demi Moore and can afford the proper "maintenance" I read that bikinis all need to be retired at age 30.
Said bikini was bought after spending 3 months sweating on daily basis while living in Amsterdam. Slowly my pants that needed a belt to keep them up now look as if belt is purely to create decorative flap out of my belly to hang over the belt.
I liked telling myself that really I was just getting in better shape by going to aerobics and doing lots of squats. My butt was getting bigger because I was just getting healthier. Sounded good but I didn't really know for sure. It was highly possible my butt was getting bigger because I spend so much time sitting on it.
Don't worry, I'm not getting all Nicole Ritchie on you. Really I just want to know: am I healthier or unhealthier? Until recently besides my shrinking clothes I had no body metrics to know for sure. I decided to get some metrics. I went to the doctor and allowed the nurse to take a few vials of my blood for testing my true health.
Here are the results:
Glucose: 81 (normal is 60-99)
Cholesterol: 155 (normal is 130-199)
HDL (the good cholesterol): 55 (40-59 and anything above 60 is "butter" -- ha ha)
LDL (the bad one) 92 (around 100 is normal)
Triglycerides: 42 (50-149 is normal)
Thyroid: no problem
BMI: 18 (18.5 to 24 is normal)
In addition to me finally getting some metrics so I have a baseline of my health I also want think these numbers could be used for a bit of "healthy" competition. Where do other 36 year old women score on this chart? I have not been able to find this info anywhere. I see a social network of cholesterol levels in the future. I'm game.
Posted by jana at 12:35 PM
November 14, 2007
My sentence
Today I went to see a chinese doctor/herbalist in the international district. First he took my pulse on both wrists and looked at my tongue. Then he picked up the phone and called a translator to have her ask me some questions. After passing the phone back and forth a few times the translator gave me my diagnosis and prescription.
"Your pulse is low. You are low energy and run down. You have not healed up from child birth yet. Your body needs to heal and get strong. Cook these herbs in 4 cups of water for 1 hour. Drink 1 cup of the tea for 7 days. Come back again 10 days before your cycle. And you are not to eat chocolate."
So now I'm cooking up the prescribed nastiest smelling tea that is stinking up my house. Really stinking. The fan is on but I don't know if our house will recover.
Pausing my post so I can go strain the tea into my cup and see if I can down it. Ok, I'm back but I'm waiting for it to cool down so I can chug it.
I'm okay with drinking the nasty tea. But what I'm worried about is "no chocolate". No chocolate? Really? Why not just remove one of my fingernails? It would be less painful.
You know though, I think this doctor might be right about me not healing back from childbirth. The truth is I didn't think you could ever heal. Wouldn't that require rest? Relaxation? Vacation time? Not worrying every second about my family?
Okay nasty tea, cure me. I need it.
Olp. OLP. sputter. glech. Tea is worse than imagined. But not worse than childbirth.
Posted by jana at 9:00 PM | Comments (3)
October 3, 2007
2 new products!
1. Freeze-dried eco burials
Something I never considered: "human remains inside those coffins can pose a hazard since they may contain toxic metals and other substances that can seep into ground water."
2. Heat-sensitive wallpaper
Surprisingly cooler than I would have imagined. I wonder how eco-friendly it is? I read that Napoleon may have died due to arsenic poisoning from wallpaper during his exile.
Posted by jana at 9:31 PM
August 28, 2007
I get the hint
From my cousin:
Congrats on buying a new camera. I'm expecting a new blog topic soon!
love, janet
Don't worry, this blog will be rightfully returned to Mom/Family/Kid topics just as soon as I get enough sleep to type coherently!
Posted by jana at 9:20 PM
August 2, 2007
the downlow on the BU
that would be "the down low on the Becca Update."
I spoke with her this afternoon and all is still well inside her incubation pod. Monday is still the day for baby's schedule World Entry.
I will patiently wait.
Posted by jana at 10:48 PM | Comments (1)
August 1, 2007
Papa Likes Coffee
I forgot to add this to the friend's news post. A friend of mine started roasting her own coffee beans. I've been buying Starbucks beans for years now but that was until I got a hold of the beans Kathy has been roasting. Beautiful!
Here's a link to buy her Papa Likes Coffee.
The site is pretty sparse but you can take my word for it: YUM.
Posted by jana at 11:05 AM
July 31, 2007
Friend news
I visited Becca in the hospital tonight. She's on bedrest, waiting for Baby August's arrival any day now. She has toximia and is almost 36 weeks pregnant...not good...not bad. Going up to Swedish brought back lots of memories for my stay at Hotel Swedish as well. I am still thankful for all the friends who came to visit me while I was there. Poor Becca is blogless and internet-less, hence this post on her behalf.
In more friend news: my awesome new neighbor is selling her jewelry online. Buy stuff from Tiana so I can drink wine with her and celebrate her inevitable success.
Posted by jana at 10:45 PM | Comments (2)
July 16, 2007
My friends
First I discover I have a friend who won't eat anything cooked on a stick*. Now a friend refuses to use evite. From his email:
"..all us hard core social-misfit geeks are uncomfortable about having our name, the invite list and who's coming or not out in the open. We've spent our childhood not being invited to parties and thusly are unaccustomed to invites, rsvps and other social niceties. Now make it evite it and make it public, throw some peer pressure on top of it and let everyone see how well we can handle? Whoa, no way. We're going to clam up and refuse to participate in anything that might make us look awkward.It is the geek way."
I like my friends for the eccentricities. Yeah sure, these idiosyncrasies may make them just a bit more high maintainece but idiosyncratic friends are much more interesting than normal friends.
Recently Shawna said to me, "I need to hang out with you and Andy more often. You guys don't think we're crazy." Shawna, I have news for you, I DO think you're crazy. But that is why I like you.
Crazy, strange, idiosyncratic friends: step right up. Love you guys.
----
*Friend has clarified that she will eat on a metal skewer, just not a stick that has been whiddled from a branch. I did find out she frowns upon peeing out-of-doors though.
Posted by jana at 5:30 PM | Comments (1)
July 11, 2007
Note: no food on a stick
In planning our family camping trip I left a message for Tina, "...I don't have any camping pots and pans so maybe we can find things to cook in the fire or on a stick."
My foodie friend called me back, "Jana, just to be clear, I don't eat things that have been cooked on a stick."
Noted. We're still in the planning stage for the food portion of the trip. Any suggestions?
Posted by jana at 4:41 PM | Comments (2)
June 18, 2007
I like birthdays
It seems funny to be turning 36 and to be like a giddy 6 year-old about my birthday. Well, maybe not giddy, but happy about it being my birthday. So, happy birthday to me.
It is more a day for me to cherish the fact that I have friends who remember and a family who wants another reason to eat cupcakes and celebrate. Britta keeps asking me, "what kind of party are you going to have? A Cinderella party? A pony party?" No party needed, it is now the little things that count.
Posted by jana at 3:05 PM | Comments (3)
June 11, 2007
My dad had the best baby photos
This is the photo of my dad that was on my grandpa's business card. He had a tiny tot photography studio at the Pike Place Market in the 40s.
Here are a few other random photos I found around my house today. The one of the right is my aunt, not my dad.
I also found my prom photo with Andy. I am sure that will make it to the blog in time.
Posted by jana at 7:07 PM
May 21, 2007
Eek! raccoon nose!
A little pointy black nose just peeked through the dog door and it wasn't my dog! I happened to be standing in the kitchen so I yelled at it and scared it off. I'm worried though because this the second night in a row he's tried to come in. Last night was a success by his account as he snacked on some of our bread.
This is the second night in a row Andy wasn't here to defend me against scary critter. The dog didn't even move from his bed. I'm alone in my battle against the varmit. I may just nail up the dog door for good.
Posted by jana at 10:07 PM
Vacation over
One of my neighbors said, "if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it." So true! Friday was my last official day of "vacation" where I had planned to get tons and tons done. I only got a fraction done. My house doesn't look like it should be in a magazine, the garden has plants still needing to be planted, my office area hasn't been touched, I don't look like a super model (didn't even go to the gym once, plus I'm too short anyway!) and we're out of groceries, and I haven't designed all the websites I said I'd design or finished any of the craft projects I've started.
If a raccoon hadn't of come in through the dog door last night and ate a bunch of our bread until I threw a magazine at him, we could maybe go one more day without me going to the grocery store. (True story!)
Anyway, the best thing about my "vacation" is that I don't feel so frazzled any more. Blood pressure is probably normal now, so therefore I shall declare my "vacation" a success.
Posted by jana at 11:18 AM
April 15, 2007
Dear kind thief
Dear kind thief,
Thank you for dropping my lost wallet in a mailbox with only $5 of the $70 I had in my wallet. Thank you for leaving the Starbucks gift card I was hoarding for that day I really needed a mocha. Thank you for not trying to steal my identity and screw up my credit for years to come. Thank you for relieving me of only half of my change. My wallet was getting quite heavy. Thank you for saving me so much money in the last week. After my experience of taking my passport and getting out a large amount of cash I carefully spent every dollar because I didn't want to go back to the bank.
Hurray, I have my Costco card back! My grocery cards are back! My hideous id too.
I'm glad to know the world is full of semi-honest people. I can sleep a little better tonight. And shop a little better tomorrow with all of my shiny new credit cards.
Thank you semi-honest person.
Posted by jana at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)
April 8, 2007
I needed a new driver's license photo anyway
As if the week wasn't crappy enough:
Karsten got sick
I got sick
Another kid poked Karsten in the ear with the stem of a fake flower and made his ear drum bleed. His school called me. I almost had to leave work to go get him but my mom had taken the week off and went to pick him up to take him to the doctor. He'll be fine.
I lost my wallet. I have no cash, no access to cash or credit since I had to cancel everything. We're out of the major food staples, including milk.
As Andy pointed out, I needed a new driver's license photo anyway (see post on never renewing your license when you're in your third trimester). I'm glad I married an optimist.
Posted by jana at 1:48 PM
January 24, 2007
Passing away online
Wes' cousin, Charlie died in a car accident on Sunday. Major condolences are going out to Wes and his family. I met Charlie on my first design job back in the 90s.
I checked out Charlie's myspace and his friends are all mouring cyberspace style. Even dying has changed with the social network scene. I think this is great. It gives people a place to come together besides just meeting at a funeral. I noticed this was happening during the Capitol Hill Massacre last spring too. Unfortunately I can't find the Myspace link for that anymore... but it was too sad anyway.
Rest in peace Charlie. Live on in cyberspace.
After thought: Just thinking how strange it is to have an interactive obituary on Myspace. That site drives me crazy. I must be too old or something but the user experience is terrible.
Posted by jana at 8:08 PM | Comments (1)
January 2, 2007
5 things
Finally I'm getting around to typing my 5 things you might not know about me.
1. I like mob movies. Casino is one of my favorite movies. But I don't like the Sopranos show.
2. After attending summer camp for 9 years in a row and then a brief stint as a camp counselor, I know an endless supply of camp songs. This knowledge has come in handy as my job as Mommy. Also, if anyone rode the ski bus with me in the 80s they may already know this.
3. I can walk on stilts. Maybe my parents were worried I wasn't going to be tall enough so they bought me some stilts just to up the freak factor in their daughter.
4. I have a minor in Spanish. I don't ever like to admit this because it would imply I can speak Spanish. I was able to speak Spanish quite well for a six month period after I stayed with a family in Spain for a month. Without practice though I really can't speak it anymore. Andy does like to consider me a walking Spanish dictionary but even that is disappearing. One day I vow to start studying again!
5. The decision to major in Visual Communications all started because of a rainy day and the need to use the loo. I ducked into the Art department building on the campus and knew that I had to major in something where I could spend most of my time in that building. Unfortunately I hadn't taken any art classes in high school (the school counselor didn't think those classes were good enough for college prep) so I didn't think I could get an art degree. My art training had been frozen around 8th grade. After searching the book of courses I found a major a little more technical that would require me to spend my time in the Art buildings. That rainy day was a good thing for me.
Cherly tapped me. Now I'm tapping Ted, Ray, Becca and Aaron.
Posted by jana at 10:12 PM | Comments (1)
December 21, 2006
Santa encounter
A man who could pass for Santa Claus if wearing a red suit approached me at Costco today. "You are right out of a 500 year old painting called La Primavera. Do you know this? The resemblance is really frightening." I smiled at Santa because goodness knows I was a) fighting a migraine and b) getting depressed at what a lousy consumer I am and the thought of being in a historic painting was an entertaining thought. I thanked him and googled Botticelli once I got home. Ha! Thanks to numerous art history classes I knew which painting Santa was referring to. Here it is.... but who am I? The one in the cool outfit? The one with the oddly shapped body in the middle? Or one of the ones wearing gauzy see-through dresses? Or do I have a branch in my mouth and am fighting a bad guy?
Thanks Santa, but next time be more specific.
Oh and this conversation is up there with "people say the craziest things" at Costco.
Posted by jana at 3:44 PM | Comments (3)
December 20, 2006
The happy dance
Our cable modem is back! I don't think we would have noticed the cable was out if it hadn't been for our cable modem was down. What tv?
Back to email and blogging. Yay.
Posted by jana at 3:42 PM | Comments (1)
November 16, 2006
I can't take much more of this
My dog went in for a little nip and tuck today -- and some semi-emergency surgery for a bite on his leg.
$900.
Will the bleeding of my bank account ever stop?
My neighbors will be happy to know the mole on his chin has finally been removed. Maybe with the new Lupe look he can start a modeling career to help fund his plastic surgery.
Posted by jana at 5:14 PM
November 15, 2006
Curse of the Luxury Vehicle
All the joy I felt (not much) that Andy was the last one to have the car keys, not me, has completely disappeared.* The cost to replace the keys is $600. $600. Did you get that? $600.
Sigh.
$600.
Not good.
We're going to tear apart our house a little more to see if they don't turn up. In the meantime it is carpooling for the Kleitschs.
I hate that car. I'm thinking back fondly to my friend Finke's high school truck where you could use a bread knife to start the car. If you were really desperate your fingernail would work, or at least my longer, painted nail would work.
Sigh. I hate that fancy effing car.
Keys, transmission and tires for Christmas presents. Yay!
--------------------
* I found out Andy blames me anyway because he thinks I may have put the keys away somewhere while I was cleaning up the house.
Posted by jana at 2:12 PM | Comments (3)
November 3, 2006
Pop is pop...but inland North? hmmmm.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop." | |
| The Northeast | |
| The Midland | |
| Philadelphia | |
| North Central | |
| Boston | |
| The South | |
| The West | |
| What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes | |
Posted by jana at 8:33 AM | Comments (2)
October 23, 2006
Makes sense
Note to self: aerobics class is much easier when I haven't eaten a short stack and sausages for breakfast.
Posted by jana at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2006
Kleitsch Krisis
I haven't been in a bad mood this week although there's no reason why I shouldn't be buried in depression.
Our car is broken. The fix it man is holding it randsom for $4k. I almost want to tell him to just keep it. As NWA would say, "throw in the gutter and go buy another." Unfortunately our car isn't a '64 El Camino and we can't do that.
Andy's ipod stopped working. I haven't bothered to investigate. The music we're listening to is circa 1996.
My "pay as you go" because I'm a freak and won't sign a contract phone locked me out and after 4 hours with customer service I still wasn't able to get my $73 worth of pre-paid minutes back. If anyone from Cingular reads this please note: I HATE YOUR COMPANY!!
Karsten is sick and missed school yesterday. Andy stayed home while Britta and I went to the gym. When I came home Karsten was up and running around, obviously not sick. I said, "you don't look sick to me." And since he's been going to a religious school his answer was, "God laid his healing hands on me!" Hmmmm. Another night he crept out of bed at night and when I asked him what he was doing he said, "Jesus wants me to be up." I went to the public school and didn't learn any of these God tricks to get me out of trouble.
The good stuff that keeps me from succumbing to the black cloud following me this week:
My grandma had to go to the hospital to regulate her potasium level. After less than 24 hours she was out. She kept calling until I picked her up! It was good to see her so happy to be out. I bought her a sandwich and watched her eat with vigor. It was a happy moment.
Britta said, "Britta" for the first time. She was so happy. Then we tried for "Karsten" again. She tried to say "KarBabu" again but I said, "no, say 'Karsten'" and she did! I must admit I like her calling Karsten Babu because I think it is cute and I secretly will be sad on the day she stops.
Electronics, please be nice to me. Don't anything else break.
Posted by jana at 8:44 PM
October 4, 2006
Indicator
You know things are bad when your house is too dirty for the cleaning lady to show up.
Posted by jana at 8:22 PM
September 30, 2006
Lost and Found
We seem to be missing some items while other things have mysteriously landed at our house.
Missing:
Karsten's size 5T zip up warm up jacket. Dark green. Quicksilver. It was brand new when he lost it.
Our kid life jackets. Andy said he loaned them to someone about a month ago but can't remember to whom.
Andy's blue puma zip up sweatshirt with stripes down the sleeves. Adult male size.
Found:
Pink Dora the Explorer sandals. Probably for a 7 year old girl.
Blue denim hat. Probably for a 3 year old.
Khaki green hoody that says Vail. Probably for a 7 year old kid.
Email me or comment here to claim or let me know if you know where our stuff is!
Posted by jana at 9:00 PM | Comments (1)
September 15, 2006
My blog is back
Two years ago my original blog was hacked by some Brazilians against innocent bloggers but thanks to Buster McLeod, the original Jana's Radical Weblog is back.
Posts when Britta was just a twinkle to the day she was born are back. Now I will always be able to remember the potty training saga and the sometimes...often... disgusting days of being a mom. It is all there again. Thanks Erik/Buster/Ex-Blog Dealer and Ben, my current dealer. It's good to know people in tech places. Drinky-poos for ya all.
Posted by jana at 2:45 PM | Comments (1)
September 5, 2006
Fact checker
My blog needs a fact checker.
Apologies to Bob for typing he'd damaged 2 rental cars. He's on rental car #2 but so far no damage to report. Go Bob!
Also another recent blog post needs updating for a few changes... will do it later though. I'm off to bed. I can't be a sleepy head for the first day of kindergarten!
Posted by jana at 9:53 PM
June 18, 2006
Updated blogroll
Look right if you're not reading this via RSS.
Long over due.
Posted by jana at 8:58 PM | Comments (1)
June 15, 2006
Slipping into 40
One of my top diva friends told me it is always good to lie about your age. Always add a few years so people think "damn, she looks good for 40". This week I turn 40. Well, after Sunday if I round up I'll be 40. Maybe I should even round up to 50! I'll just tell everyone I'm a botox miracle. Anyway...
I hadn't planned on doing anything special this year, even if I am the Big Four Zero. But luckily for awesome girlfriends it hasn't gone by unnoticed. I had taken the kids to the Sunday school party and just as I was changing Britta's diaper and trying to keep Karsten out of the holy water Andy shows up to tell me he has a surprise for me. Brenda and Amber were waiting out in the parking lot to whisk me off to the Salish Lodge for a spa day. Fortunately my swim suit was still in the car from the pool party the night before, I just had to to pick a few crumbs off of it.
We soaked in the hot tub, lounged in the steam room and hung out in the sauna until our masseuses called us in. After a nice hour of pampering we hit the restaurant for some food and drinks. We had the nicest view of the house overlooking the falls.
By the time I got home I seriously could not move, which was a very good thing. Thanks to my girlfriends to the biggest surprise I've ever had! 40 is going to be a good year, I can feel it.
Posted by jana at 9:54 PM | Comments (1)
May 20, 2006
Save the blog!
One of my favorite bloggers is talking smack about radically changing his blog. The power of the blogoshpere must unite to save Ted's blog from corporate corruption. Don't do it Ted, let the blog live on. Let the true you shine on.
With that said, I'd probably just change my name. Yeah, I'm a cop out too.
And I'm posting this here because I'm too lazy to get an account to post this on your blog.
Posted by jana at 11:54 AM | Comments (2)
News Flash: I'm not tall!
Listen up all of you people checking out the depths of my nostrils or the pores on my chin, I'm not tall. Yesterday I surfed to the Gap.com and saw that now they have tall and petite sizes. Yay! Wait a minute, you have to be 5'11 to qualify to fit their tall size. I guess all of my pants will have to stay capri pants.
Also, last week I was reading an article in Redbook about how clothes are sized. To be a runway model you must be 5'10 or taller. Now what am I going to do for a back up career if this design thing goes south?* What good is being 5'9?
So to all of you tagging me tall or calling me "bean pole, too tall, daddy long legs, skeletor, bones" and the like, you are wrong. I am lumped into the average category.
This solidifies my theory that tall is just an optical illusion anyway. When your limbs are lanky you look taller. My daughter isn't even 3 feet tall and people tell me she looks tall. How can you barely reach the general population's kneecaps and be considered tall? Well actually according to the height per centiles the doctors have Britta is in the 75% for height and the 5% for weight when compared to other girls her age. I adusted for prematurity and got new stats: 95% for height and 10% for weight.
Now I had to go look up myself on the charts and see where I fall. According to this I am in the 20% for weight and the 100% for height. Ok. Maybe I am tall. Hmpf.
By the way, if you need to know if you have dandruff, just ask me. I've got a bird's eye view on all of you shrimps even if isn't doing me much good.
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*I'm joking, just in case you couldn't tell
Posted by jana at 10:58 AM
May 4, 2006
Why I like my book club
Edification.
What I learned tonight: buggery.
NW slugs can sprout a penis up to 23 feet long.
A female clitoris can reach up to five inches long when taking male hormones.
I'm not learning this stuff anywhere else. Oh yeah, the book was good.
Posted by jana at 10:33 PM
March 22, 2006
2 Disturbing thoughts
1. I don't own a purse. I'm a girl. A gurrrrrllll should own a purse. And it should be cute. Instead I have a laptop bag and a diaper bag. This was quite the disturbing realization as I was going out tonight. I know. Out. At night. Me. The Mom. It was even a school night. But after roughly 34 invitations to Erik's Office Hours I finally attended one. Without a cute purse.
2. I was going to type up distrubing thought number two but now that I am sitting at my keyboard to type it sounds too lame to put into pixels. Let's just say it involves a My Yahoo avatar. I shall type no more.
Good night blog readers.
Posted by jana at 11:10 PM
February 8, 2006
1 sleep
I'm packing. 5 bathing suits (not all mine). 1 bottle of suntan lotion. 2 pairs of shorts. 1 pair of flip flops... the list continues in such joyous fashion. I'm taking the kids to Palm Desert tomorrow for what I call the 4 Ss: Sun! Sleep! Shopping! Swimming! -- all with exclamation points.
Andy is packing simultaneously. Big coat. Long sleeve shirts. Dress shoes. Voltage converters. Normally I'd be pretty jealous that he's heading to Amsterdam and Barcelona. Not today. I'm ready for some sun. 85 degrees for the high tomorrow.
Posted by jana at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2006
The numbers are in
Since we've been home:
Numbers of days we've been home from vacation: 24
Numbers of days Britta has been sick: 17
Numbers of visits to the doctor: 1
Number of appliances that have broken: 4
Number of repairmen that have visited: 2
Amount spent repairing appliances: $203.16
Number of appliances still need fixing: 2
Number of bags of toys and clothes I've hauled into the garage to get rid of: 9
Days it has rained since we've been home: 22
Days before the kids and I leave for Palm Desert to get out of this rain: 13
Number of business trips Andy has taken: 1
Days before Andy leaves for Europe again: 13
Number of photos Andy has had in the local paper for jumping in the Sound on New Year's Day: 2
Number of photos Andy has had in the local paper where he was correctly identified: 1
Number of days our dog remembers where he really lives: 10
Ratio of meals cooked to grocery store trips 7:1 (hurrah for convenience!)
*post inspired by Jolynn's Christmas card.
Posted by jana at 7:58 PM
September 5, 2005
hurricane help
AIGA is looking for someone to help build a database. If any of you geeks want to help hurricane victims in a concrete way continue reading here...
Terry,
You should look at http://neworleansnetwork.org/ being hosted by
CivicSpace. It includes a people finder and other community features.
I've copied Kieran Lal, from CivicSpace, on this message, so he and
Terry
can connect.
Whitney
At 11:43 PM 9/4/2005, John Zapolski wrote:
>Terry Stone is looking for for someone to help build a simple
>database to match Katrina victims with people who need help. I'm
>forwarding this on her behalf. Please contact her
>
>essense here, so please respond ASAP if you can help.
>
>John Zapolski
>AIGA National Board Member
>http://www.aiga.org
>
>
>====
>My name is Terry Stone, and I am helping coordinate the Hurricane
>Katrina Disaster Effort for AIGA. Since I am the former president of
>AIGA Miami and was president at the time of Hurricane Andrew (1992)
>that caused so much damage there, I volunteered to help out in this
>current crisis. Back then, AIGA Members were very generous to us.
>
>We're in the early stages work on the Relief Task Force. Obviously
>we want to react very quickly, but purposefully to provide
>assistance. However, immediately we need to create a Database to
>track both Victims and Volunteers.
>Do you know anyone who can help us? Someone very savvy in this
>specialty?
>
>We are working to get everyone (Victims & Volunteers) to respond
>through a central source, the AIGA Relief form on the National
>website, in order to make coordination efforts possible. We need to
>connect that collected data into a database management program (at
>least Excel, better in Filemaker or other Data Management Program)
>that lives online (password protected) and can be accessed in order
>to "match make" the Victims and Volunteers. Not too tough job for
>someone good at this.
>
>Please let me know if you can help...
Posted by jana at 9:39 AM
August 24, 2005
I'm getting with the 90s
Or really, the 2004s Beta coolness. I'm a Flickr girl now. I only put a few sample photos from my hard drive on there for now. If you want me as a "friend" send me an invitation.
Posted by jana at 3:29 PM | Comments (3)
August 18, 2005
Neighborhood Hoodie Cheat Sheet
Get your cheat sheet here.
Help Ben stuff the ballot box.
Posted by jana at 2:09 PM | Comments (2)
August 2, 2005
Quote for the day
"Why not go out on a limb?
Isn't that where the fruit is?"
Posted by jana at 3:45 PM | Comments (1)
July 7, 2005
Rich and famous
From the movie Basquiat:
Basquiat: How long do you think it takes to become famous?
Benny: 4 years to become famous, 6 years to become rich from being famous.
---
What do you think?
My family is gone and it is a strange feeling to be the only person in my house. I'm looking for a conversation with myself. So far I agree with Benny but think the 6 years to become rich from being famous is probably the hard part.
Posted by jana at 11:01 PM
March 29, 2005
Time to cut and die my hair
I was horrified to read this.
Posted by jana at 5:37 PM | TrackBack
March 13, 2005
Flip flops and a paper cutter
Things that make me happy: Wearing flip flops. I put on a pair of flip flops today and for a brief afternoon I was smiling as we played on the beach. More happiness was achieved when I hacked away at some stuff the landscaper planted last year. I'm not sure if I was supposed to hack at it or not but hacking at brown vegetation felt productive.
The smiling lasted until I opened Andy's $493 cell phone bill. How can someone rack up so much in cell phone charges in one month? Tip for anyone traveling to Europe: leave your cell phone at home, or at least don't leave it on roam. His cell phone bill is $3 shy of his unemployment check. (He assured me funding for his company is closing this week and the 8 months of living on one part-time salary will be in the past.)
Things got worse as I sat down to work on our taxes. Words that send me close to the edge of insanity: interest, dividends, rollovers, gains, losses, and other tax speak. I would be a suicidal tax accountant. It looks like we'll be filing an extension just so we can prolong this pain.
Just because I don't like to end things on a sour note (cough *taxes*) I will have to blog about my new rotary paper cutter with decorative edges. I spent Saturday night hacking away at paper for a comp for my brother's wedding invitation. As I type this I'm seeing a theme for my happiness: sharp blades.
Posted by jana at 9:36 PM | TrackBack
January 26, 2005
palabras de amores
Impress your loved one with your amazing knowledge of Spanish!(from Piensa en Espanol)
"Love" as a Verb
amar (to love, to love romantically): Te amo. I love you.
encantar (indicating strong like): Me encanto escribir. I love to write.
gustar mucho (indicating strong like): Me gusta mucho este sofá. I love this sofa.
querer (to love romantically, to want): Te quiero. I love you.
"Love" as a Noun
afición (enthusiasm): Tiene afición por las cosas de su tierra. She has a love for the things of her land.
amado (sweetheart)
amante (sweetheart)
amistad (friendship)
amor (pure love, romantic love)
cariño/a (sweetheart)
cero (score in tennis): Cero a cero. Love all.
'Love Phrases"
amarío (love affair)
amor a primera vista (love at first sight)
amor mío (my love)
aventura amorosa (love affair)
canción de amor (love song)
carta armatoria (love letter)
flechazo (love at first sight): Fue flechazo. It was love at first sight.
love story (historia de amor)
Posted by jana at 6:47 PM | TrackBack
December 31, 2004
14 with Wrinkles
Andy and I combed Value Village together. I was looking for just the right "Oz outfit" for tonight's 80s party. Now that I'm all dressed up I just feel like a gross hyperbole of my former 80s self. This was way too easy to get the look just right. What's more scary is that Andy thinks I look "hot". I look like his slutty ex highschool girlfriend.
Happy New Year! Andy wants me to cut his mullet and peg his pants.
Posted by jana at 6:49 PM | TrackBack
December 6, 2004
Happy Heifer Holidays
Karsten and Britta received a very unique Christmas present from their friend Henry today. Karsten watched the animation over and over again and now we may decide to give a heifer gift too. Henry, thank you for your world kindness and inspiration for us to do more!
Posted by jana at 8:37 AM | TrackBack
December 2, 2004
Did I shrink?
Does anyone really care? No, I didn't think so. Do I really care? No, probably not enough. Heck, I'm over 30, married and have two kids. Game over.
Okay, so I'm really not that ambivalent about being fat(ter). I weighed myself and I weigh about three pounds less. All this has happened on this great high fat, high carbs, sit-on-your-ass diet that I've discovered. Exercise routine is catching a cold and coughing 100 times per hour to tighten those ab muscles.
Posted by jana at 10:41 AM | TrackBack
Family night at the casino
I come from a long lineage of gamblers but I'm not one of them. Friday night I headed out with one of my neighbors to the Muckleshoot casino. I ran into three of my cousins. Why do I not like to gamble while others in family are pulling all nighters in the casino? I'd rather buy a pair of earrings than make a $16 donation to the Muckleshoot. Is it because I don't feel lucky? Do I prefer a "sure thing" like buying earrings over the possiblity of winning $250? Is it the smoke that clouds my brain? Andy encouraged me to go gamble but I think he just wants me to have as many vices as he does.
Posted by jana at 10:30 AM | TrackBack
December 1, 2004
Nerd alert
Posted by jana at 12:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 24, 2004
My Little Twinkler
My favorite fellas at the Robot Co-op launched Twinkler where you can create a list of what you want to do with your life. My list is surprisingly short and uninspired. Must think of more to do with my life. In the meantime, I'll keep myself occupied with making more lists.
Posted by jana at 9:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 11, 2004
Myers Briggs Blogging
My boss is an INTJ. That's probably a good boss for an INFP. Everyone at work should take the test and post their profile with a little sticky pad on their computer so you know ahead of time who you're dealing with.
I wonder how many bloggers are INFPs? It would be fun to see which personality type is the most prolific blogger. From my personality type profile: "You'd rather communicate your feelings in writing." Ah-ha, I'm a natural-born blogger. My profile was so accurate it was rather creepy.
Posted by jana at 7:34 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 24, 2004
Not Hip and No Hop
For Becca's birthday she had a choice between free tickets to the Beastie Boys or free tickets to an English Choral performance. From her selection I have concluded that Becca prefers: Black tie to orange jump suits. Wooden pews at St. James Cathedral to stadium seating at the Key Arena. Latin to rap. Organs to turntables. And lastly, the Holy Spirit to Grandma Tilly.
Happy Birthday Becca! I enjoyed my unhip with no hop evening.
Posted by jana at 6:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 22, 2004
Andy's business idea
Andy's business ideas are a lot more radical and disturbing than mine. He thinks I should sell Famous Person's cell phone number on eBay to make money. Really I don't plan to move to the south of France so I think I'll only give the number out if someone buys me enough Absolut Mandarian Vodka Tonics --six months from now, of course.
Posted by jana at 6:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
More business ideas
IDEA 1: Foot Pump for Kitchen Sink
I'd really love for someone to invent this for me. I'd like a foot pump for my kitchen sink so when I'm washing dishes I don't have to keep turning the faucet on and off with my hands. I also think this would save water. Hospitals have this for sanitation reasons but I can't see why it wouldn't work well just to have one hooked up under your sink and every time you wash dishes you pull it out to use.
IDEA 2: Upscale UV Store
You know how you go on vacation and you wonder how you could stay there permanently? Well I saw a segment on some hollywood show that talked about a new store that just opened in Santa Monica. The store specializes in selling UV protective clothing. Expensive UV protective clothing. I'm sure the sun tan lotion and tanning products they sell aren't cheap either. They had a whole line of trendy kid UV clothes, and we're not talking the radiation patrol outfits you usually see. Anyway, I think a store like this would be great in some place where wealthy people go to vacation in the sun. Perhaps the south of France? Parlez vous frances? Rats. I really don't speak french.
Posted by jana at 6:42 PM | TrackBack
Hello, may I speak with....?
Have you ever mis-dialed the phone and it turned out to be the number of a very famous person's cell phone? Well that happened to me today. Fortunately I dialed the number from my cell phone so I could see the exact number that I dialed. I added this person to my address book just so I can say I have (insert very, very wealthy Redmond CEO name here) number in my cell phone.
Posted by jana at 6:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 7, 2004
Another list of sorts
Qualities my female friends have that I admire most and wish would rub off on me:
Best hair: Becca
Fearlessness: Christine
Most grown-up: Brenda (Brenda will hate this but it is true)
Artistic brilliance: Laura
Business savvy & villa-like home & pure glamour: Kristin
Boundless energy: Katie
Always fun (before 10pm): LB
Friend I should really hate but how can I? Ashley
Biggest Heart: Steffanie
Best gardening skills: tie between Michelle and Pam (but someone needs to step up and help me)
"I can do anything amazingly well": my mother-in-law
Lots of girl friends to thank for inspiration and wisdom for this chocolate fueled post.
Posted by jana at 8:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 19, 2004
Andy's SxSW report
Andy's sending me the South by Southwest music report. So far here are the bands he is digging:
John Butler Trio and Goldrush. Poor guy is sick -- and unless you can get a hangover from cold meds he really is sick.
Posted by jana at 3:11 PM | TrackBack
March 1, 2004
Break up blues
I think Becca and I broke up. It was bound to happen since I wasn't putting out so she found someone who would. He even makes cookies I've heard. I told her we need to do some "make up shopping" if she wants to get back together.
I'm interviewing for new girlfriend position. If interested please inquire about the stiff requirements.
And unrelated to the break up, I've hit the fat stage in pregnancy. Feeling like a little butterball as I sit here with my pants half undone. I know once I put on the maternity clothes though there is no turning back from moo moo land.
Posted by jana at 7:45 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 5, 2004
Greg and Me
The highlight of my work's post-holiday party was meeting (or stalking would be more accurate) Greg Brady. Here we are together. Too bad the photo is so blurry.
Posted by jana at 8:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 20, 2004
Norwegians ain't pretendin'
The Norwegian cousin has told us you can search for any other Norwegian online and find out how much money they made last year and how much they paid in taxes. Would this ever happen in the US? I don't think so! I have however been able to look up someone's plat address and find out how much they paid for their house and what their taxes are. Don't worry, I don't do this very often, just when I have a sporadic moment of house lust and wonder how much it would cost to move one block over.
The Norwegian has said if someone contacts her on an online dating site or she meets someone she might be romantically interested in she will look him up online. I guess you can hide money in stocks as stocks are not taxed so heavily.
Note: I'm having a hard time finishing this post because Karsten wants to play Limbo Elmo on the computer. More later. Off to the limbo stick.