Category Archives: I feel Amused

June 12, 2013 · 3:45 pm

Music Class.

William’s music teacher claims that children as young as 6 months, maybe younger, have what is called “audio replay.” The premise being, if you’ve heard a song before, and you sing a different part of the song out loud, or continue to do the actions for the song with no words, that you still hear the song in your head. It makes sense, because I know for a fact that adults get songs stuck in their head ALL THE TIME. Why wouldn’t it be so for children as well?

The first part of the video demonstrates this. The lyrics that we were not singing are, “Smells so green and skies so blue, spring has sprung and now, me too! Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing! Take off your mittens and put away those coats. It’s time for gardens and sailing in boats. Smells so green and skies so blue, Spring has sprung now how ‘ bout you! Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing!” — K. Guilmartin

William is gettin’ down to the “boing” part of the song. Also, the bottom boogy that he’s doing is alllll him. No one in the class except him was or has ever danced like that. The last part of the video, well… you’ll see.

Video Link (in the event the playback box doesn’t work)

These moments are why I continue to enroll him in these classes. Last week we were dancing with the teacher, round and round we went. William laughed and laughed… and after every song was done, he signed “more.” And desperately signed “more” when the class ended.

Honestly? I wanted more, too.

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Filed under I feel Amused, I feel Glad, Our Kid is Cute

March 17, 2013 · 3:20 pm

Sunny Sunshine Shining Green.

Yesterday Tony took William with him to his parent’s house, so I had three hours to myself. At first I felt bereft. I miss that kid so much during the week, I like to spend every spare moment that I have with him. But then I realized, I’ve been meaning to get my hair cut. Last time I got my hair cut, I had William with me and I wore him in a carrier on my chest. I stand anyway during the process because my hair is so long it makes it easier for my stylist to work with it. But it was a little challenging, because he was Mister Nosey and wanted to know what she was doing with his mommy’s hair.

So, yep, you guessed it. The second they left I hustled down to see her and got that taken care of. Then I had two hours left… and GUESS WHAT!!?? Even though it’s not April, my community’s pool is heated. Early. Mid March. Even better, the weather here is sunny and warm. So I went had myself a swim in the pool. Outside. In the clean water that is not over-chlorinated. It was glorious.

Could the day get any better? Yes. Yes, it could.

Despite all odds, William took a 2 hour 35 minute nap. Which is good because he got a measly 30 minute nap on Friday, and he’s molarizing and had a beastly cold this past week. Poor little guy. He needs his rest. Even better, I got an hour or so of a nap myself.

Then, THEN!! Last night was Green Dinner (aka St. Patrick’s Dinner) at Tony’s church. Such a good time we had. Even though we didn’t get to see the Irish Dancers (they came on after 9pm), the food was delicious, the bagpipes were entertaining and, you know, family was there. Oh, and did I mention the food was delicious? I think I might have.

When we were leaving, one of the men of the church asked me about my hair. Now this is truly novel as no one ever notices when I get my hair cut. I told him I’d spent all morning in the salon getting my hair done just for last night.

He looked at me, in all seriousness and said, “I sure hope you saved your receipt.”

A little miffed, I replied, “Yes, I did. I know, they got it a little short, huh?”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Filed under I did something Special, I feel Amused, I have Family, Our Kid is Cute

Aside

Changes in the House.

I mentioned a few months ago that I gave my remaining beloved cichlids to Fish Whisperer. I have moments these days when I miss them, but then I remember all the maintenance and random acts of violence they had and that niggling feeling rapidly disappears. Also, the removal of their tank opened up a corner in our living room that is now a devoted play area for William and the removal of the two cycle tanks opened up space on our kitchen counter for William’s bottles.

We do still have the original 12 gallon tank where my cichlids originally lived. We use that tank to cycle the water for the remaining tank of guppies that we have. It seemed a waste to just have it sitting empty, gurgling water around, so I put some fish in it. Fake fish, that is. Please meet the five plastic fish that now live in our cycle tank.

Occasionally, I will walk by and say to Tony, “You know, I’m worried about these poor fish. They’re hiding in corners and aren’t eating… it’s just not good.” He’ll nod sympathetically and tell me he knows and understands.

So, you see, their behavior is pretty much the same as the real fish, except these fish don’t poop, don’t get sick, don’t kill each other and I don’t have to change their water or medicate them.

I think I’m really over being a fish momma.

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July 25, 2012 · 9:58 am

July 13, 2012 · 9:23 pm

Beautiful Random Summer.

There’s something about the 4th of July that captures my imagination year round. Christmas does, too, I guess but in a different way. Maybe because I kind of look at the 4th of July as sort of a kick off for summer? Or maybe it’s just a wonderful holiday that kind of sneaks up on you… there’s no month-long (or longer) prep for it. It just stands there, all by itself, proclaiming how wonderful freedom is.

So, here we are mid-summer already. I noticed this morning, through the warm rain that we were blessed with — which, by the way, confused everyone around here, FB updates were plentiful about “humidity” and “rain in July, WTH?” — that my plumeria tree was blooming.

And then tonight Tony brought home some more yellow crookneck squash. He planted seeds that were in a pumpkin seed package and yellow crookneck squash grew from them. Methinks someone at the seed distributor got confused. Clearly these are not pumpkins, but … how can I complain when I love squash?

Since those two pictures are yellow, how about some greenery? I went to Ikea last month for something and saw a big leaf decoration that matched the decor in William’s room perfectly. They had several on display, and they didn’t look all THAT big, so I bought one. What I failed to factor in is, Ikea is kind of like Costco in that it’s an enormous store. Things that look “normal” there are, in fact, huge. Like, Jack in the Beanstalk proportions. So, now, William’s room is all about The Leaf. The Very Big Leaf. For size comparison, please note that William is in his crib in this picture, staring raptly at The Very Big Leaf.

And lately, because I no longer know which room I’ll feel more comfortable sleeping in, I got tired of shlepping my sleep mask from room to room and then getting to the room where I’ll be sleeping and realizing it’s in the other room. So I bought a second sleep mask. Now, tell me this isn’t the sexiest sleep mask you’ve ever seen.

Tony thinks so, and don’t you let him tell you any different.

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July 17, 2011 · 1:45 pm

Wordless Weekend.

Snug went to the vet yesterday for his wellness exam.
Tug went along to reduce post-event Alpha Control Syndrome.
We’re not sure if the strategy worked or not.

Driving to the Vets Office from Jammie J. on Vimeo.

Parking lot at Vet’s office from Jammie J. on Vimeo.

It was a fun drive. In fact, I’m still laughing about the vision I must have been. A yowling red convertible on a Saturday drive. Nothing like a clown car!

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Filed under I feel Amused, Kid Substitutes, Tidbits

July 25, 2010 · 1:30 pm

The Amazing Zucchini.

Last week, one of my co-workers brought in a bag of zucchinis. I saw them on people’s desks around the office and finally asked where they were coming from. It was as if the office were being invaded by enormous squash — and I wanted in on it!

I chose this thing out of a bag where there were larger ones, but I wanted one that I knew I could at least do some justice without wasting too much of it. Then the guy told me that he had another bag of larger ones in the trunk of his car. Can you imagine?

This is me, working out with it. We’ll call this Dumbbell Zucchini. At nearly 10 pounds (I wish I’d weighed it!), it was certainly something to brag about!

Lift it up:

Put it down:

Let’s give Tug (the cat) a zucchini smiley-face:

How about a telephone?

No! Don’t look into the Eye of the zucchini!

Here, Ripper and Slasher communicate through either end of it.

A zucchini rainbow?

Or an automatic zucchini feeder…

Or, I can just cut it up and eat it because you’re not supposed to play with your food. But, as any kid will tell you, playing with your food makes it so much better!

Who knew that one of the perks of my job would include 10 pound zucchinis?

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Filed under I feel Amused, Kid Substitutes, Weird is Fun

February 8, 2010 · 9:45 pm

Silly Critters.

When I began my most recent job back in 2006, there was an umbrella tree that was in my office. They tried to move it with the person who moved out, but it wilted, so they moved it back… it really thrived in that particular office.

One day a pink, rubbery, plastic ant showed up in the tree. I don’t know who put it there, but she was kind of cute and I let her be. A couple months later, my boss brought in a purple one she had received in the mail from one of the vendors and smiled, feeling a little bit silly, as she put in the tree next to the pink one. The IT Crew had a blue one in their office and, a few months later, without pomp or circumstance, he joined the pink and purple one.

They kind of became my office’s mascots. People would come in to ask questions or talk, and they would mindlessly move them around in the tree or play with them. It was kind of a neat thing.

The IT Crew started kidnapping them. Back in April of 2009, I found the blue one taped to the power strip behind one of their computers. I had missed him within a day, so I investigated and eventually rescued the poor thing. A couple months later, the pink one went missing and another investigation ensued. The mystery was eventually solved by the gal in the IT department. She text messaged me and said not to worry, I’d find the pink one when I left for the day, because she had been taped to the window of my car!

It became a game, something fun, a connection. When I was terminated, the critters came home with me. After about a week, I realized the critters could be an easy way to maintain a connection with my friends. Everyone had played with them, everyone remembered them.

So, I started a blog for the little critters and emailed the IT Crew the link. It’s something for me, and it’s something for them. Maybe it brings a smile to their faces for a moment.

A smile or an adventure is always a good thing, because there will never be another moment exactly like the one you are living now.

Just thought I’d share: Link

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Filed under I Blog about Blogging, I feel Amused

November 12, 2009 · 2:56 pm

Dress Code.

I present my new favorite t-shirt.

I told Tony I’m gonna wear this t-shirt every day, 24 hours a day, from now until I get a job. Except when I’m interviewing.

He said he’s looking forward to that… me getting a job, that is. Not seeing this t-shirt on me every day.

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Filed under Best Husband, Entertainment can be Cheap, I feel Amused

October 31, 2009 · 4:26 pm

Happy Halloween!

… and since you’re here, you can go ahead and wish me an early Happy Birthday, too. My birthday is tomorrow (the 1st), All Saint’s Day, because I’m a saint. Yes, I am!

I am, too.

Don’t argue.

Since it’s my Birthday Weekend and what I love to do is swim, I swam an extra long time this morning and plan to swim an extra long time tomorrow, which is the last day my community’s pool will be heated this year. Which means it’s the last day I’ll get to swim outside this year.

Last night we watched Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin, and carved our pumpkins. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to carve, so I carved two sides of my pumpkin.

A scary skeleton hand (that was hard to do)…

And a tombstone…

Tony carved Yoda on his pumpkin. That was pretty challenging, too.

No Halloween would be complete without showing you the pet’s costumes*, now would it?

Here we have Bug, our female cat. She was taking a nice mid-morning nap before I hauled her out of her nap cave for the photo shoot. She wasn’t too thrilled, and when we were done and I put her back, a paw came swiping out at me to let me know her true feelings about the whole thing.

Next up, we have Ripper. He, too, was sleeping but was more frightened about the whole thing than he was ticked. I would be, too, I mean HELP, THERE’S A SPIDER ON HIS HEAD!!

And then Slasher, who was lounging on the couch taking a nap. He was kind of tough to get a picture of with his costume. Count Catula (like a feline version of Dracula?).

Ohhh, and then we have Tug. My little Pumpkin. Yes, that’s an adorable pose, but I think the move was more designed to rid himself of that annoying head piece than it was to be cute.

Snug is a pillow this year. HA HA! Look, twins!

Last, but certainly not least, I managed to capture our birdy, Yoda, in the act of saving the world! Never mind that her cape is made of toilet paper. She doesn’t know that!

She’s getting ready to take off and save the world! Go Super Birdy!

Happy Halloween everyone!**

*No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post, only interrupted naps… what were they doing last night, anyway?

**Happy Birthday to me (tomorrow)!!

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Filed under I did something Special, I feel Amused, Kid Substitutes

October 20, 2009 · 11:03 am

It Rings!

I told my mom yesterday that I’m pretty sure my phone’s ringer doesn’t work. No one is calling me. I get text messages just fine, but no calls.

Today, just 5 minutes ago, my phone rang and a number displayed I didn’t recognize. A company! Calling off my resume!!

I cleared my throat and in my best professional voice (trying to sound as if I’m not sitting here in my feetie snowman jammies), answered, “This is Jammie J.” A nice male voice said, “Oh, sorry, I think I have the wrong number.”

Two seconds later, it rings again, same number displayed, so I answered, “Hi, I think you still have the wrong number…” This time he argued with me, “No, I’m looking for Donna. Donna Legand? Perhaps she’s a co-worker or something?”

I looked at the cat on my lap named Tug, over at the cat snoozing contentedly in his cat bed named Snug. I responded to the man, “This is my cell phone and I have no co-worker named Donna. I’m pretty sure you have the wrong number…” I almost finished with, “But if you’re looking for a kick-ass executive assistant, I can be your girl for the right price!” But I didn’t. Hard sells to wrong number callers? Really not my thing. Although in this economy, maybe it should be.

At least I know my phone rings…

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