November 3rd, 2008 by Jennine

October 25th, 2008 by Jennine

If I could do this and this all day, every day, I would be in heaven.

Both Jake and James’ moms have expressed to me the sadness they feel that their boys are graduating this year. It’s a heart wrenching event no matter how much you prepare yourself ahead of time. We spend 18 years helping our children become adults and then once they cross the milestone, we mourn its passing.

How do we let go after being responsible for every detail of our children’s lives? How do they function in this world when we aren’t there to tell them to take their vitamins and to make sure their homework is done.

Both Jake and James are exceptional kids young men but I feel and share the pain their moms are experiencing.

Having covered high school sports for six months now, I will admit to shedding a few tears when these boys played their last high school football game. The team won’t be the same next year without them. And then next year I’ll grow attached to the new group of seniors and we’ll do it all over again.

This would all be so much easier if things could just stay the same. I know at least two other moms who would agree.

October 9th, 2008 by Jennine

Are you having a crappy day???

Click here and go read what my friend Jeff just posted on his site.

Trust me.You’re gonna laugh.

October 7th, 2008 by Jennine

After a $700 BILLION DOLLAR bail out (which I opposed), I read this from the Washington Post:

AIG has issued a clarification to the report that its executives enjoyed a luxury hotel stay a week after the federal government threw them an $85 billion lifeline.

The gathering was a previously planned reward for life insurance agents, a spokesman for the company said, and fewer than 10 AIG executives were present.

“It’s a common practice among large life insurance companies in the U.S. to reward their top business producers,” the spokesman, Peter Tulupman, said.

Asked about the outrage at a House Oversight committee over the visit, Tulupman said, “I’m not debating where they’re coming from. I just want to be clear about what it is.”

He declined to say who was staying in the $1,600 rooms, but said he would look for a list of the executives who were present.

–Peter Whoriskey

You’re kidding me, right? These executives should be scrubbing toilets for their mismanagement and instead they are being rewarded. It was a $440,000 vacation complete with luxury spa treatments!

My head is going to explode.

I think AIG stands for “America is Gullible”.

September 29th, 2008 by Jennine

This blog could easily turn into a sports blog because all I ever do lately is watch my children play in sporting events or cover sporting events for work.

Last week was incredibly sportsy with junior high football games, varsity football games, varsity volleyball games and cross country.

Thank God my editor threw in an Apple Festival, a school play and a Teacher of the Year ceremony because otherwise all the stats and scores would have consumed my life and given me a sportscussion.

One good thing did come of covering all the events… I finally figured out how to adjust my camera to shoot action! I’ve stuck to the action setting on my Nikon D70 with poor results. Despite borrowing an external flash from a friend (Thank you, Tammy!) I was getting ghosting and extreme graininess from the high ISO I was forced to use:

Instead, I got brave enough and desperate enough to switch to a manual setting. I set my camera to Shutter Priority, 1000 ISO and adjusted the white balance to flash +3. Now my shots are turning out crisp:

This discovery is like receiving a Christmas present from Oprah Winfrey.

When I’m not working on this blog, I’m working over here and here.

And I recently set this up, too.

Our school’s sports teams should feel very loved.

September 18th, 2008 by Jennine

For my friend, Chubbs, because Canadians have the best geese and bacon.

September 16th, 2008 by Jennine

One of the second grade teachers in our school district has decided to replace traditional classroom chairs with “stability” balls.

I understand the physical benefits for the children. It’s a great way to release pent up energy. It helps students with balance and posture, etc…

What I don’t get is how he can stand the constant waves of children in perpetual motion. In the time it took me to take the photos, I felt nauseated and was relieved to leave the room.

The teacher claims to have grown accustomed to it. I think he’s hiding a Dramamine addiction.

Considering the children have only been using the balls for a week, they can recite the rules perfectly. Which is more than I can say for some:

September 9th, 2008 by Jennine

Yesterday Elly sat at the kitchen table and did her homework which isn’t unusual for her as she takes her education quite seriously. But as I walked by, I noticed something wasn’t quite right. She was struggling to write words on her paper.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that she was trying to write with her left hand.

“Is something wrong with your right hand, Elly?” I asked.

“No. I want to learn how to write with my left hand so if I ever break my right arm, it won’t be hard for me to write,” she explained, like it was the most normal thought to have.

“Oh. Okay. You want to be ambidextrous.”

“No. I just want to be able to write with both hands.”

I had a good belly laugh in my head as I carried a laundry basket downstairs. But then it occurred to me that her mind has developed to the point where she can anticipate having to adapt to whatever life throws at her and she’s determined not to be caught off guard with something as serious as forfeiting the ability to write should her arm be rendered useless.

I did the same thing when I was her age. I learned how to moonwalk for the sole purpose of impressing Michael Jackson in the event that I would bump into him at the local malt shop. Because anything less, like just waving “hi” or screaming like a silly girl, was simply unacceptable to me. My covert moonwalking skills gave me the confidence to walk into the malt shop with my head high.

I really do understand her thought process.

It’s the same line of thinking that prevents me from tossing out the size four Gloria Vanderbilt blue jeans that I purchased in 1984 and haven’t been able to wear since 1985. Because if I ever break my jaw and it has to be wired shut and I can’t eat for months and I lose a quarter of my body weight, I want to have suitable trousers.

And because Elly got me thinking, you should know that I typed this entire post with my tongue.

If ever I break both arms, I’ll still be able to blog.

I’m antidextrous.

August 31st, 2008 by Jennine

On Friday, August 29, my girlfriend’s 14 year old son, Brodie, was in an ATV accident in Wisconsin and had to be airlifted to a hospital in St. Paul, MN, because of head injuries he sustained when hitting a tree.

Brodie suffered complex fractures to his left orbital bone as well as a subdermal hematoma in his brain. You can read Brodie’s progress here.

Please pray for this family as they go through the slow process of healing. Brodie is showing remarkable progress since the accident, communicating and even making an occasional joke, but his family could use some encouragement and prayer so please feel free to leave a message in their guestbook.

August 24th, 2008 by Jennine

I spent some time today with my friend, Darla, who always reminds me that there’s nothing more important in this world than family. And she makes me feel like I’m a part of hers.

Even her dog, Dudley, posed for a photo and smiled for the camera!

Darla’s son, Jake, is a senior this year so we took a few photos for his senior picture.

The boy loves his hunting and I love the boy.

Oh, one more thing.

With school beginning very soon, I am going to take some time off from blogging to spend preparing for the new school year and just plain having some outrageous fun with the kids. I will be back on September 2nd all refreshed and stuff.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!