How do you scare a man? Sneak up behind him and start throwing rice...

I recently found my “almost wedding” bridal gown. Eleven years ago when my fiancé called our wedding off just days before the big event, I was going to have a dress burning party. I was sooooo looking forward to it! But my best friend talked me out of it. She said, "That’s such a gorgeous dress. Some lucky girl would be glad to have it. You should sell it on EBay. At least get something back for it.” Well, here it is… 11 years later and I still haven’t sold the dress.

Why do I still have it? Well, it’s not that I love the dress. Personally I think it looks like a $1200.00 shower curtain. How could I have ever though that it looked good? Nope, I still have it because #1: I’m too lazy to list it on Ebay…and… #2: I kind of feel like the dress has bad luck associated with it. So, I’ve just continued to cart it around from my dorm room to an apartment to eventually my house.

Although my husband has never said anything about it, I’m sure that he would love to see it out of our closet. Seeing the wedding dress your wife was going to wear with another man is probably a romance killer :)

Last summer I asked Hannah if she wanted it for sentimental reasons (after all, the jerk I was going to marry was her birthfather). At 15 years of age, she didn’t really have much interest in it. And really, I can’t say I blame her.

So, this week when my neighbor’s little girl decided she wanted to be a bride for Halloween I had the perfect reason to get rid of the dress once and for all. Karsyn didn’t care if the dress had a bad history attached to it. She didn’t care that the dress was very 90’s. All Karsyn cared about was the fact that she looked like a princess bride! And all I cared about was how good it felt when I had to cut the dress up so that I would fit Karsyn. It felt sooooooooo goooooood to cut the he$$ out of that dress. I guess I harbored more bad feelings than I thought... and I definitely took them out on the poor dress.

Karsyn posing with her new wedding dress. Doesn't she look pleased with herself?

This is the diva look. I think she learned it from Suzi!

Okay, now I want you to note how LARGE the bow in Karsyn's hair is. When I purchased this dress I actually thought that large bow looked great on my butt (it was originally on the back of the dress). I should also note that Karsyn hated that we made her put this bow in her hair. She liked the traditional veil much better!

So... I should also tell you that we got SEVERAL wedding dresses made out of my one dress. The dress and train were so long that when we cut it down we were able to make 5 dresses! Here's Krystel in a sarong style wedding dress (note she is now wearing the large bow in her hair. She thought it was super cool).

The third dress was made for our small fry neighbor... Shyenne. With her crazy personality we decided a Animal House Frat House style toga wedding dress was perfect.

Look at Miss Krystel posing. Watch out world....

How cute are these two girls? They are so sweet. They loved looking like brides.

And here is the only pictures I have of the 5 girls with their dresses.

L to R: Karsyn, Summer, Krystel, Shyenne and Cheyenna

Lastly, here is a picture of Krystel trying to talk Bryant into getting married. He's not having any of it. He told me, "Mom, I'll kiss her but not going to marry her until I'm 6!" Well, enough said. I guess I have another year to save my money for the wedding... LOL.

Damn it feels good to be rid of that dress! It was a win-win situation. The girls are thrilled with their dresses and I'm thrilled too. I would suggest anyone who has a wedding dress they don't want to cut it up and give it to a bunch of little girls... it's quite liberating.

Secret Blog Pal Gift... arrived... Just when I needed It!

Yesterday I was having a VERY stressful day at work. I have a client dying and a family who is in total chaos. So, after being away from my office for 7 hours (without lunch or a bathroom break) I was finally sitting at my desk trying to de-stress.

As I was sitting there, my receptionist brought me a large package. She said it had just arrived in the mail. I looked at the box and wondered what the heck it was. There was no return address. I thought "Oh no... here we go again." Usually unmarked envelopes and/or packages are bad news. The last one I received contained horrible letters detailing all sorts of lewd things happening between an adult child, a caregiver and a senior citizen. It was very disturbing.

Anyway, I opened the package and found a lovely gift for Bryant. I forgot that I signed up to be part of a Secret Blog Pal network. There is a wonderful person out there who is my secret blog pal. She reads my blog and sends me little things to let me know I have a secret friend. Wow... if I needed a reminder of how cool "normal" people are... it was yesterday. My secret blog pal timed her gift just right.

My SBP must know that I love to scrapbook because she sent me these cool stickers that are all sports related. They'll be perfect for Bryant's scrapbook pages.... and also Zac's since football has just started.

She also sent me this SUPER COOL outfit for Bryant. Of course anyone who know me... or knows my family... knows that anything football related is going to be a hit. The outfit was the perfect size and Bryant loved the fact that the shorts are reversible.

Bryant loved the shirt and shorts so much that he chose to wear them to his LAST day at pre-school. When I brought this home last night he had to wear it. He wore it to bed and then to school the next morning. He said, "Mom I have to look cool on my last day of pre-school. This is so cool."
Here is Bryant's old teacher Peggy and Bryant in his new clothes.

So, in case you're wondering... I have my own Secret Blog Pal that I've been sending things to also. She just adopted a baby from Guatemala. Just last weekend I made her a cool scrapbook to put pictures in. I wish I could post pictures of it here... but then I would give away who her Secret friend is!

A Personal Message to my SBP: Thank you for the gifts. You are awesome! I'm looking forward to finding out who you are one of these days. Thanks again from the bottom of my heart. -Jenny

Only 169 days of school left... oh wait... it hasn't even started yet!

SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW for Zac and his students! So, we've been spending the last week getting his classroom ready. Whew what a job! Zac teaches his students everything from science & math to personal hygiene to cooking & sewing. That's a lot to organize and get ready.

Zac teaches Extended Resources (Special Education for those of us non-politically correct people). The job and the kids are a perfect fit for him. He has so much patience and he loves the fact that "his kids" want to learn.

I think Zac possess the skills it takes to be a good teacher to exceptional students. He is patient, tolerant, committed and flexible. Although each of his students face different challenges, Zac can help all of them grow and develop, while making it clear that he accept them just as they are. As a teacher, Zac wants his students to experience meaningful, interesting learning that applies to their lives. He believes this can be accomplished through the use of hands-on activities, cooperative learning, an integrated curriculum, and, when possible, technology and the internet.

This year we set up his classroom with a variety of different "stations". What makes it hard is although his students are 6th,7th and 8th grade... they are developmentally at a kindergarten thru second grade level. It's hard to balance not making the classroom look like a kindergarten class but keeping it simple enough they are comfortable. No 14 year old boy wants to look at Old McDonald Had A Farm Posters!

All in all I think we did a good job getting the classroom ready. Best of luck on a great school year to my wonderful husband, Zac. I love you and wish you the very best sweetie!

Here he is... Mr. Zac (that's what his students call him)

This is the entrance to the class room. You'll see the "Meet Our Class" board where each student will fill out a variety of questions about himself/herself. Zac is taking pictures of each student tomorrow and it will go under their names and above their questionnaire. I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend when it's all filled in and completed.

Below is the tree that took us forever to get put up! Each month his kids will do an art project for the tree that incorporates a theme. For example, this month they are making apples for the branches of the tree. The apples symbolize back to school (of course). In October they'll add pumpkins around the base of the tree to symbolize fall harvest. In November they'll remove the apples and put up fall colored leaves that are falling towards the base of the tree. You get the idea... it will help his kids visualize the changes of the seasons and months.

Here's another section of the classroom. To the left you'll see the kitchen where he'll teach Life Skills... such as cooking, nutrition, personal hygiene, etc. To the right you can see the Math and Science area.

This is the language arts area. Zac will be incorporating journals into their daily class routine. Everyday he'll ask students a question... it could be "What is your favorite food" or "What makes you mad." His students will journal either in writing or pictures (some don't write) their answers. You can see the journal holders along the back wall.

Zac is also having the students keep scrapbooks of different field trips, etc. they go on. My mom will be coming over from Portland every couple of weeks to help lead Zac's students in a scrapbook activity.

This is the library/quiet area. We still need a few more bean bags for the kids... but I think the area is shaping up nicely.

This is the laundry area. Zac helps them learn self help skills.... including how to do laundry. They wash all the rags and janitorial stuff for the entire school. You can see that school hasn't even started but the laundry has already piled up. Wow... just like at home :)

Lastly, you can see the computer/geography section here. The cool map of the United States was made by my neighbor's mom. My neighbor generously donated the map to Zac's classroom. It's made of felt and has a wonderful tactile feeling for his students that need to touch things.

Nothing New Around Here

There's not a lot going on around here. Whew... it feels great to have some down time!

So, since I don't really have anything new to share today, I thought I would post pictures of the cute book I made my mother-in-law. I took a blank black 4x4 book with 12 pages and put various pictures of Bryant from the last year or so... and also some pictures of Zac (her baby). It came out pretty cute. She loves it. She carries it in a zip lock bag in her purse to show everyone she sees.

A Day at the Enchanted Forest

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Enchanted Forest in Salem, Oregon. I've been going to the forest since I was 1 year old. That means I've been going 33 years! I still love it.. even as an adult. Taking Bryant and showing it to him is one of my greatest joys. He seems to love it as much as I do.The Enchanted Forest is a world of fantasy found in the lush beautiful forest in the land of enchantment. The park has a handcrafted feel.
Here we are posing by the Humpty Dumpty Wall.
This is our favorite. The witches mouth. You go in through her mouth and slide out the side of her head. Bryant was a little scared of her at first... but learned to love her by the end of the day.
This is our other favorite. The Old Lady and the Shoe slide. We love to have races down the slide. And don't kid yourself... the slide is FAST.
This is a new addition to the park this year. This GORGEOUS train was shipped piece by piece from Italy and assembled in Oregon. It is super cool.
You can go way up in the trees when you go for a ride on the Frog Hopper.
They have an awesome play each summer. This summer was The Emperors New Clothes. Here we are with the cast.
A nice way to cool off is to take the plunge on the Log Ride.
Grandma and Bryant go for a drive.
One happy kid at the end of the day. Look at that smile.
There are a lot of attractions that I didn't mention or have pictures of because we were having too much fun playing. Take a look at this map. You've just got to go... what a wonderful family activity. I've never taken someone who hasn't loved it!

Big Brother 8 - Crybaby

I love to indulge in the guilty pleasure that is Big Brother. Why do I love Big Brother 8 on CBS? Is it because it's a bunch of crazy people locked in a house? Is it because I hope they'll fight? Is it because I hope they'll hook up? Is it the betrayal and drama? I don't know why I like it... but I do.

My biggest pet peeve right now is Amber. OK... I'll admit, I'm going to have to get drunk before watching BB8 on Sunday, if Amber doesn't KNOCK OFF that damned crying! I always root for the underdog and am a very compassionate girl. But COME ON! There is something quite wrong with her. It is not the "stress of the game" or "she's just an emotional person." There is a mental issue in there somewhere, and some medication missing! Get the girl some Prozac... PRONTO! I have practically GRINDED my teeth down to being TOOTHLESS, she has begun to annoy me so much. And everyone is coddling her! Tonight I almost had to LAUGH it got so silly. She cried ALL THROUGH the show! The houseguests had better evict HER, before they all DROWN in her tears! And yet... I still watch faithfully... day after day... and I LOVE IT.

And, am I the only person who sees the cartoon character Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants every time they show Amber??? It's totally the big forehead, eyes too close together and long long nose, and consistent frown...


Give me your comments on Big Brother 8 and all the drama. I want to chat!

To My Brother, Travis

This post is for my brother, Travis. A guy who is tough, honest and true. Someone who is amazing and exceptional. A brother who is special and rare. Someone who is irreplaceable in my life.

Sometimes I think about when we were just kids, how we goofed off together, how we fought over the dumbest things. We often didn't see things eye to eye... but as we've gotten older we've been able to accept the differences in each other.

Travis is not only a wonderful brother, he's a great uncle too. He loves to play with and entertain Bryant. Recently we were at the Oregon Coast and they spent all day together digging a hole, filling it with water and jumping in it. Bryant really looks up to his Uncle Travis.

Starting to Dig the Hole

It's Deep Enough they Can Get Their Feet in Now

Wow... After an Hour and Half of Digging they Can Now Stand in It

Let the Jumping Begin!

Travis, I hope you always know how much you mean to me. I know we don't see each other as much as we may like, but it's a good feeling to know that no matter how much time passes, we'll still be there for each other. You are special to me and I am proud of you.

As you're contemplating changes in your life... remember that a new beginning is waiting to shine on you... brighter than you can imagine and as wonderful as you deserve. I love you. -Jenny