How Do YOU Balance Your Every Day With Your Passions?

Ever miss something (like blogging?), but never have the time to write posts anymore? Yeah. That's me. Fortunately, I'm keeping up on Facebook with some fun things and maybe...perhaps 50 years from now, I'll be able to sit down and write it all down.

I guess my goal is to get it caught up before Brylee's wedding so that I can maybe put together a book or two a year to show her and her new family her life growing up. Because, you know, she keeps life interesting. And she needs to know what she's in for with her own kids...

Letters To The Phelps and Elijah Wood

Letter to the Phelps Twins:

Thank you for bringing two amazing characters to life. During a trying time for me, the Weasley twins became my favorite characters in storybook history because of their loyalty, creativity, and the ability to cause just enough mischief to make an impression, but never (well, rarely) stepped their toes over the line. I wanted children like the Weasley twins, and I got that...2 wrapped up inside of one. As 'regular' people, you seem genuinely kind and that makes you so much more likable. I know that great things are ahead for you, James and Oliver, but know this: as actors, you have impacted the lives of I'm sure several, but I know of one for sure.

Letter to Elijah Wood:

What I wanted to say:

I have followed your work for several years long before you made Lord Of The Rings; Radio Flyer, Adventures of Huck Finn, The Good Son...the list goes on and on. Most of your work has made impressions on me somehow, and I place you 'up there' in the legendary status along with Tom Hanks. Diverse characters, flawless execution. I am a great admirer.

What I actually said:

I am a really big fan. You have no idea...

Which I bet he does have an idea considering I was shaking, babbling, and near tears.

This is what brought me to the conclusion that it really is not a good idea for me to 'meet' and greet the actors. The photo op allowed me the chance to see them, but not actually speak words. A good, good idea, really.

Geeking Out

Or should I call it, 'The Day I Tricked Dad Into Going To ComicCon With Me'?

Originally, Adam West and Burt Ward of the original Batman series was supposed to make an appearance at the Dallas FanDays ComicCon, and I knew that dad would love to go and 'meet' these two actors since he's a huge fan. But as I looked through the list of guest celebrities, my mouth dropped. 

Ke Huy Quan (I know and loved him as Data in The Goonies)

Karen Allen (Indiana Jones)

A couple of people from Doctor Who

James and Oliver Phelps (the twins that played Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies)

Elijah Wood...

Ok. I can stop there. The last 3, James, Oliver and Elijah sold me. I HAD to go to this comic con. Elijah is one of my top 3 favorite actors EVER, and James and Oliver played possibly my favorite characters ever.

This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

So after over-talking about it with my dad and our friend, Jeff, we ordered tickets, including photo ops with Adam West, Burt Ward, and the Phelps twins.

Oh...and later, it was announced that Sean Astin would be joining the guest list. Unfortunately, it was only for Saturday, so I missed that golden opportunity (he's another top 3 fave).

I was on cloud nine. 

Now, don't ask me why I chose James and Oliver over Elijah Wood. I really, truly have no idea why. Was I too intimidated to come face to face with an actor I have admired for most of my life? The fact that, at least in my eyes, this actor is legendary, up there with Tom Hanks, and plays flawless roles is quite intimidating. But still. Why would I choose others over him???

Well, on the Saturday before going, I read an email that Adam West and Burt Ward cancelled. My heart fell. I convinced my dad to go because of them. I knew he'd go with me no matter what, but I felt bad still because I felt like it became my thing and not ours. But he was a good sport, and after receiving some sad news, it was up in the air on if Jeff could join us or not.

So the day arrives, and while I still feel guilty for the star cancellations, I'm beyond excited to be 'meeting' the Phelps twins, and hoping that maybe I can catch a glimpse of Elijah. I am very well aware that the photo op is just a quick way to get people in and out, but still give fans a chance to say they saw their favorites. It didn't matter to me, though. I was going to see these guys!

So dad and I arrive at 10 when the doors opened. I tried so hard to stay calm and just act natural as we walked up and down the aisles of booths where they sold interesting, and geeky things. Hey. I admit it. I loved being surrounded by the quirkiness of it all. We finally went upstairs to the photo op place to discuss what happens with the cancelled opportunity, seeking out refund. Well with that question came incredible opportunity:  dad signed us both us to get a photo op with Elijah Wood!!!!!

We go and stand in line, which happens to be behind these two ladies:

Yeah. They were tall. And twins. And I wanted to see the Phelps twins' reaction when they stood next to what was probably the most perfect recreation of them...in female form.

And just like I expected, this was a quick usher-through. No time to make small talk. Just smile, pic, and move along. I asked a volunteer if anyone ever cried leaving the booth. He told me that a lady just got so excited because 'they smell so good!'

So. That was it. I picked up my picture:

And I was on cloud nine. All over again. I mean...how awesome is this!!!!! (Oliver is the one next to me. He played George. And yes, despite the 'no physical contact rule, he put his arm around me. And I happily did the same. Hey...I didn't do any harm!)

So to kill time until Elijah Wood, we walked around the booths some more, trying to find a Power Ranger shirt for B, which I was successful to find. Let's just hope that she likes Power Rangers several years from now when she is really able to fit into it...) Dad receives a call from Jeff, who decides he can come meet us. Yay!

We meet up with him. Walk around, then go to the 4th floor, where there is apparently the autograph session. We look inside to see the booths set up and Jeff notices that Elijah Wood is at the end of the room. So, he being the outgoing person he is, walks closer where we learn that you can get autographs, for a price. Well, $60 is a bit steep for our pockets by now, but the lovely volunteer tells us we can go up and talk to him. WHAT?!?!?!

Jeff's not shy. He's met Elijah before, back when he was much younger. So that's how he starts the conversation. Elijah holds a little conversation with him, and then shakes his hand. He then turns to me to shake my hand and I become a babbling fool. IT'S REALLY ELIJAH WOOD!!!! (Breathe deep...)

Really. It's probably not a good idea to let me meet celebrities. I could spend all day trying to think of stuff to say to them, but in the end, I'm just plain...something. Not cool. Weird. Something.

A few minutes later, dad decides to go say hello to Karen Allen, so I decide to tag along. It's easier talking to her considering she's not in my top 3 list of actors. She was very nice and she hinted that there may be another Indiana Jones, so I can't wait to check that out.

All the while, I am vaguely aware that the Phelps are in the room next door doing a Q&A. I can't resist breaking free of dad and Jeff and sneaking into the room to listen for a few minutes. Admittance: I also wanted to make sure I knew which twin was which so that I could sound like I knew them. Like we were tight...

In that Q&A, I heard great questions.

"How did they decide which twin you would play?"

"What other things have you been in?"

And my favorite: "What cologne do you use?" (remember earlier when someone mentioned that they smelled good?!)

And I also learned that this story is true:

And this one wasn't:

(unless they were too embarrassed to admit it...). But really, they said that people tried to romanticize the moment, and it sounds so much better than 'James fell asleep while we did our parts'...

And then finally I broke away to head downstairs for our photo op with Elijah Wood, where we stood behind these ladies:

Someday I'm going to dress up, too.

And more shuffling through, 5 minutes after we got into the room, this is what we left with:

THAT'S REALLY ELIJAH WOOD!!!!!  I need to go watch his films again.

After the photo, we were all exhausted, so we parted ways with Jeff and headed home. As tired as I was, I was, and still am, completely on cloud nine. This was in absolutely no way a disappointment for me. You know how sometimes, after 'meeting' someone you truly admire in some way or form, you feel a little let down? This was not one of those times. James, Oliver, and Elijah all were incredibly nice for the brief encounters I had with them, and despite my lack of ability to make any decent form of communication, it was an incredible moment for me.

The highlight of my day, oddly enough, was still the picture with James and Oliver, as well as listening to just a few minutes of their Q&A.

Such an incredible time.

1 1/3 years later....

So much has changed since the last time I have written, including our setting. In May, after a visit to Dallas, Cary sat down with me and we made the (hard) decision to move back home. I had just started getting to that comfortable place, but for the benefit of our family, we packed back up and came home on August 12, 2013.

Since then, I've gotten a job at State Farm Insurance again (doing the job I used to dream of of having while answering phones before), Cary has gotten the opportunity to relax a little longer and worked temporarily at American Airlines. As much as I enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, it felt good to take the earning position in hopes that it made up for the 3 years of him working hard.

I also still love to write. My mind is still on the fiction that I've been working on for nearly 4 years, Proven. I have finally put it aside at 97,000 words and I am 66,000 into its second. On occasion, I work on a third, a completely different story. My mind is constantly going with ideas, and the days I don't get the chance to write, I feel it in ways I can't explain.

Brylee has grown unbelievably. She now attends a Christian daycare/pre-k 5 days a week, takes a taekwondo class 3 days a week (she got her orange belt on August 1, 2014 and can't wait to get her yellow), and is smarter and feistier than ever. She received an award at school that said that she has the Most Personality, which is another way to say she's the class clown. She's a laugh a minute when she's in a good mood. But if she's not, or she's not up for obeying, watch out. Right now, when she grows up she wants to be a pilot.

So, here's to my attempt to balance yet another thing and update my blog more often, more for the hope that Brylee will someday be able to look back on this and see how crazy/busy/loving her life was and what her family was like.

 

Big Night 2013

Last night was our 3rd year to go on Big Night in Small Town, ME.  

 The weather conditions apparently fit:  in the 40's and enough rain to make the streets wet. The email was sent out at 12:40, but I didn't see it until after 5.  That's when I scrambled around to contact our friends (one family that I met at my first Big Night went to our church, and she invited me...needless to say, she is one of my favorite people!) to give them the heads-up.  Unfortunately, we never really know when Big Night is, because the conditions have to be 'just right'...

So after wrangling our family together, we dashed out the door to grab a quick bite at McDonalds and meet our friend there.  After a 'fast eat' we drove to the LEA...only to see no-one there.  UGH!  Through a quick email, I learned that I misread the email (sorry again Serena!) and plenty time to wait...

After a while, people started showing up and filling up the small LEA room.  We received our instructions and then...we were off!

I was skeptical because I didn't think that it had rained enough, but apparently, the LEA staff knows what they are doing!

So many Spring Peepers were found, a handful (pun intended?) of Salamanders, a slug (that B nearly stepped on in front of the LEA leader...), and a 4-toed salamander (told that they were rare but several have a ton in their home area).  A very fruitful night!

I helped cross 3 peepers (2 found by Cary and B--who ADORED the frogs!).  2 peepers apparently thought I was too sweet to let go, though, and one almost unwillingly came home with me because he jumped onto me and I couldn't find him...thankfully he jumped on my galoshes and not inside!

I also found a salamander on his way onto the road, so with the help of Nancy, I got him across.  Cary and B were too far ahead because I was hoping to get B to carry him over, but that's okay.  We'll have the chance to do it again!

On the way home, there were several peepers on the road, hopefully Cary avoided.  However, he slammed his foot on the brakes (not literally!) when he found this guy:

I got out of the car and told him that he was lucky that I knew what I was doing (ha!) and picked him up and carried him across the road to safety.  Though he had a great chance of making it across himself, it was not worth trying...he's so purdy!

The hardest part of last night was that my dad was not here to participate...however, he'll be here soon, and the weather looks perfect AGAIN, so we might be going out to save more peepers, frogs, and salamanders!!!

Brylee And The Case Of The Missing Monkey

For Christmas, Brylee got a recycled monkey from our Playgroup Christmas Exchange.  The thing is her favorite thing in the entire world!

So, one night we couldn't find George the Monkey (I should have named him Micky, Mike, Peter, or Davy...) and surprisingly, B slept through the night with another toy instead.  But of course, the next morning, he was the first thing she looked for.  So, the hunt began again...

He wasn't in the toy box, under the couches or beds.  He wasn't at Oma's and Opa's, or in the cars.  Then it dawned on me:  Brylee loves her racing turtle.  And to stuff random stuff in there, too.  So we checked there...

And YAY!!!  We found Curious George!

Thank goodness, because I don't know if we would  have been able to find another one of him!

Brylee Update

Yes!  She has grown!

Her favorite color:

Oh my how she loves this color!  Which makes it even more interesting because it's the same favorite color of her daddy, so now when they play games, they 'fight' over who has the yellow game piece.

Her favorite character?

(image found here)

On a daily basis, she loves to wear her Rapunzel dress.  And when it's on, she insists on being called "Rapunzel".

Her favorite movies currently?

She also loves Tangled, Alice In Wonderland, Shrek, and...of all things...

Her favorite food is pizza, macaroni and cheese, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, and tonight, she ate a great helping of spaghetti.  While she is a very picky eater, she is starting to get better and eating a lot more.  It's only taken 3 years to get her to start gaining some weight!

She loves to read, and right now she enjoys Dr. Seuss books, and her T and Poppy got her the HighLights magazine for the second year now.

We try to go to playgroup regularly with a great group of parents and kids.  We have been invited to a playdate at someone's house on a weekly basis, but unfortunately, they like to spend it outdoors, and we aren't snow/winter prepared, but now with the mud season coming up, we'll have some fun there as well.  We started going back to the library for story time there, and on Thursdays, we go to the local dance center where they let the little ones run around and dance and play with the gymnastics equipment.

She loves to play with balloons, most specifically, sitting on them.  Most Mylar balloons don't last more than a week for her because she abuses it to no end.  But still she loves them.

She is definitely still an ambidextrous little girl, which I'm sure makes my mom a very happy T.  Just what we need...another one of 'them'.  ;o)

There is so much stuff that I'm missing, but as I remember them, I will add posts.  It's amazing how fast she is growing, and how behind I have gotten.  I blame it on a number of things, but I will try to be better.

Breathe Deep...

(cover art concept by the talented Whitney Weber.  If anyone knows the model, please let me know so I can contact her for proper permission.)

Let's see...

The last time I wrote on this blog, it was June 15, 2012.  That was quite literally 7 months ago.  What has happened since then?

Well, I wrote before that I was doing a lot of writing, and about that time, I scrapped a large bit of what I had finished and re-vamped the characters, added settings, and just all around focused my spare time on it.  I created a goal:  to try to get published.

Today, I finished it in time to submit it to the Amazon.com publishing contest.  

Just a few minutes ago, I finished the submission form.

How do I feel?  Nervous, my heart racing, relieved...and a little hungry.  What?  I haven't eaten lunch yet!

So, now that I have some free time, what will I do?  Here's my list:

start working on Book #2

start other writing works

update the blog (7 months should prove to be interesting to catch up on...)

And of course, be a mom, wife, go to church for our weekly services and weekly AWANA meetings, visit friends, and TRY to keep in touch with the real world better.  Well...I guess that part fits into the blog...

But here is the first of many (I hope) posts coming up, catching everyone up on our little family, especially B. It's amazing how much she has grown in just 7 months...

Until then...I have to breathe in some fresh, cool Maine air.  :o)

Just...here...

So, no posts for a while, huh?

I can explain.

So many want me to update, and I have tons to write about (my trip to Dallas in May, my mom visiting in June, 4th of July, my new job, VBS, my dad visiting in August, my sprained ankle...what else am I missing?)  But the truth is...I'm not motivated.  I have been writing my story, and that takes so much of my mental creativity.  But I don't think that is all.

I've started working part time at the vet, 3 or so days a week, and it is nice to get out and be around people outside of just moms...and nice to get away from just...me.  But I don't really fit into this place.  I like to try to be social, at least make the day nicer to talk to people and get to know them a little better, but it keeps being met with a wall.  I'm the newbie...outcast...and I think it is hitting my self esteem, already low as it is.



So how do I explain the blog?  I can't even bring myself to upload the pictures taken from my awesome camera I got for Christmas...or even my phone.  I wonder how far back I will go when I finally do...

I'm just not...motivated...

Maine Randoms

I know...I know...

It's been a while, Jenn.  Where have you been???

Well, let's see:

I started going to a new bible study at church on Wednesday morning, led by one of my friends, Tracey.  She is doing an excellent job and I have been getting a lot out of it.  The study is Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

We've been to Dallas, which mean I have another post to put up with lots of pics.  This trip was great and included yummy food, great weather, and good visits with family and friends!

B is now talking in full sentences, asking questions, correcting us, and just all around being a big girl.

We are also working on potty training as well as taking away her 'bow' at naps and night...we are more successful at night, mostly because it is both Cary and me, and he is more stubborn.   Potty training, well, it's taking some time.  When we convince her to sit on the big girl potty, she sits for long periods of time without any luck, but within 5 minutes of being up, she piddles...fun!

I got a part time job at the vet!!!  I start tomorrow, and find out the hours.  I am a nervous mommy because I have to find a day care for B, but fortunately it is part time, and it is at a REALLY nice vet (people and place), so I am looking forward to getting messy again and having something to talk about at the end of the day.

Writing is taking up a lot of time, and I still love it A LOT! My 'story' is now in 2 different versions with a third one to be worked on...all to get my 3 favorite readers to check them out and see which one carries more weight.

B also eats the weirdest things:  oranges dipped in ketchup...strawberries dipped in ranch...cinnamon toast dipped in ketchup...do you see the pattern???

Now, for some odd things we have seen along the way here in Small Town, Maine:

We were in Dallas for 10 days, and in that time frame, suddenly EVERYTHING became green.  The trees are all in full bloom, making you feel like you are...surrounded by a lot of green things...

A lot more critters are out, and we've seen skunks, raccoons, deer, chipmunks, porcupines, groundhogs, squirrels, snapping turtles...

The owner of the Drive-In Movie Theater has always reminded me of John Locke from "LOST" and whenever I see him running on the side of the road, we wave to "Mr. Locke".  Well, he has grown out his hair (he used to shave it) and the last time we were out to see a movie, Cary asked one of the employees if he has ever been compared to him.  Apparently, he has by a lot of people and it is a big 'no-no'...he doesn't like the comparison!!!  So now, I call him Mr. Non-Locke.

Driving past my church one day last week, I saw a person walking up the drive and someone chasing them.  I was a bit freaked out because I couldn't tell if the person chasing was trying to sneak up or not.  As I drove by, I looked in my rear view mirror and watched the sneak-ee punch the sneak-er!!!  I turned around to make sure it wasn't a big fight breaking out, and notice it was a girl who punched the guy...they were at that moment sitting on the ground talking/yelling...I didn't know what to do, but now looking back, I should have called the church and told anyone that was there to watch them and make sure it didn't get bad again.  It was an eventful moment in a small place!

And as we were driving down our small, non-paved road just about a block away from home, we saw a hitchhiker.  In a residential area???  3 miles from a main road???  Needless to say, we didn't offer him a ride...

And Don't Let Me Forget To Add....

Over a month ago (March 20th to be exact), Brylee decided to get into a fight with the bench that is part of our (rental) dinner table.  She slid underneath it to try to get to Chester...and somehow managed to pull the bench over on her little hand.

Unfortunately, more damage was done to her little hand than the bench, but I think the most hurt was my heart.  The poor little thing...you can see from the pictures below how her middle finger was the most affected, turning a nasty black and blue.

Thanks to Jon, a friend who happens to be a paramedic, he gave me advice on what point to take her to the ER (no urgent care except for evenings) and things to do to help her hand feel better.  Within days, B was looking at her fingers, saying 'boo boo', but refusing to leave the band-aids on.

She lost her fingernail a couple of weeks ago, but doesn't seemed bothered at all with this.  What a brave little girl!