Flashback Friday

In my early days of keeping Brannen and Will, the brothers spent their days at 2 different daycares. Brannen kept things interesting at Miss Charlotte's, and the Will-man charmed all the baby girls at Miss Elisa's.

Once Will turned one and started walking, he joined Brannen at Miss Charlotte's, but before then it was exclusively Baby School (as Brannen called it) for the little boy with the golden curls.

Whenever I kept the boys in the evenings, I would always make the trip to pick up Will first. Baby School was a little further out, and since babies tend to travel with a lot of cargo, it was easier to gather all Will's paraphernalia without trying to keep Brannen from pummeling the other infants - or diving head first off of the exercausers that were scattered about the room.

A couple weeks ago, as I was scrolling through old pictures trying to get my little Beach Retrospective post together, I came across a video from those early days of dual pick-up that made my heart flutter with intense joy.

As soon as I started watching it, a smile crawled across my face and I remembered the day.

It had been raining heavily all afternoon, so I set out a lot earlier than usual to go get Will. My goal was to allow myself enough time to gather both the children on time without drowning.

I'm very goal-oriented when it comes to figuring out the best ways to stay dry.

It would turn out that I actually misjudged the amount of time needed and with Will in tow behind me, had about 30 minutes before I actually had to get Brannen.

I decided to just go ahead and grab the big boy early, but as soon as this was put in stone, the rain poured down harder than I have ever seen - washing away all of my pro-babysitter dreams.

The road to unsuccessful child pick-up is paved with good intentions.

I made an executive decision at that time to pull off into a gas station to try and wait out the monsoon.

Unfortunately, the Will-man - usually chipper and easy-going....


...was tired from a long day of playing and eating and sleeping - and not at was not amused with this idea.

Let's just say there was some fussin' commencin'.

Always up to provide entertainment when needed, I crawled back into the back seat and did my best to help the fellow get happy until it was time to brave the storm.

And because I am very innovative, I came up with this really great idea called tickling him repeatedly.

And THIS heavenly little video is what I got.

(DISCLAIMER FOR ASHLEY: Be aware that you will DIE when you see this. Don't worry, I will take the kids and raise them as my own.)

BLESS IT!

Always, Sometimes, Nevah evah

I saw this fun little idea over at sweet Annalee's blog last week and thought it was too fun to pass up.

I always...

-sit with my left leg propped up on the door when driving

-stop by The Country Store in the mornings for a 50 cent Diet Coke on the way to work

-use my cell phone as an alarm (actually a set of 3 alarms)

-tell my family members and many friends "I love you" when getting off the phone

-wish I lived in a world where my laptop would not get to temps of 1,000 degrees and scald my leg area on a daily basis

-drink water throughout the day (with Diet Coke chasers)

-laugh at my parents

-tease my mother about loving my brother more than me even though I know she doesn't. Or does she?? Just kidding, Deb. Or am I??? (Gets her every time)

-make to-do lists that never see the light of day

-carry a mini pink and white polka dot umbrella in my purse (unless it actually rains - then I somehow leave it at home)

-miss my college and grad school friends and long for the days of being back at our beloved Merrywood house or hanging out on Clarke Drive with the Seabolts

-say "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" to grown-ups (Southern blood running through the veins)


I sometimes...

-put off cleaning to last possible minute of my sanity (then I go crazy and clean everything in sight)

-have less than desirable behavior towards the ones I love the most (don't we always take the stress out on them?!?)

-make my bed

-wish I could put "make my bed" under the Always category

-desire to have dark brown hair (my hair guy told me to forget it and move on with my life)

-choreograph interpretive dances and perform for my friends or any other unfortunate people who happen to be standing nearby

-make up rap songs and leave them on people's voicemails

-smuggle in drinks and snacks to the movies

-take my shoes off in my car immediately after work and put on flip flops (this sometimes creates a shoe closet in my car)

-bite my nails

-put off figuring out what I am going to wear the next day until around midnight the night before (this is actually more often than not, and it drives my tired self insane)

-call Mama and Daddy by their real names and call Matthew "Brother"


I never...

-wonder if I'm loved

-remember to charge my cell phone/camera until they die slow, low-battery deaths

-ask any woman at anytime if she's pregnant (it only takes that happening to you once to adhere to that rule)

-fall asleep watching a movie or tv (I fall asleep exclusively in the place I am sleeping for the night)

-think "Ew, chocolate."

-leave the house without going back upstairs at least once to retrieve something I have forgotten (usually a couple times)

-turn down a hug from Brannen or Will (or tire to listening to all their funny antics, songs, stories, and saying)

-miss an inspirational true story that's playing at the movie theater or on Lifetime

-tire of making my parents laugh

-leave the TV on the news for too long (I see enough depressing things at the ol' jobplace)

-feel satisfied with my cursive handwriting (pretty cursive is on my list of hand-writing goals)

-forget to count my blessings!


Happy Thursday!

Grab your popcorn for this one

A couple weeks ago my dad informed me that Hollywood had called and he had been cast in another movie.

Except it wasn't as much Hollywood as it was some student at the Arts college in Savannah.

And it wasn't really a movie as much as it was a 12 minute student film. (Old actors have to start somewhere.)

This is what happened last time he was in one of these things. We're all still trying to recover.


But really, Cardboard Al is just like another member of the family now.


During the conversation about his new endeavor, he excitedly told me about the film - he would be the main character playing a guy who had recently lost his wife of 30 years.

The movie begins by showing the man who is described in the script as "A man in his mid-fifties, face worn and tattered. A faint memory of the handsome man he once was." (I laughed out loud for 5 minutes when I read that.)

He's a very depressed fellow - alone in his house, waking up alone, eating alone, and going about his day alone. According to the script the camera will pan around the house - catching glimpses of pictures that show a previously happy life with his beautiful (now deceased) spouse, their children through the years, and the life he once had.

Obviously it's the next Feel Good Movie of the Year.

Well, the one beacon of light in the film is a repeated dreamy kind of shot of a gorgeous woman in a red dress with her hand extended. The audience is led to believe it's this man's wife - waiting for him in Heaven.

Later in the movie, the man goes to a jazz bar, meets a nice young woman whom he has a lovely time with. They talk and talk and he finds himself feeling happy for the first time in over a year. He later goes home and goes to sleep - only to awaken in a frenzy because he dreams about the lady in the red dress again and now it's the NEW woman and not his wife.

He freaks completely out, overdoses on pills and dies.

I know, I did not see that coming either.

But you know how these people in the movie business work. They make the audience think things are on the up and up - then BAM. They take out the main character.

Thankfully the fellow goes to Heaven, and the last scene is him reunited with his beloved wife, taking hold of her extended hand. and dancing.

And, THAT'S A WRAP.

So the next morning I overhear Al and Deb talking about the movie and hear Daddy semi-jokingly say that my mom should play the wife in the movie, since he thought the director was having a hard time casting that role.

She kind of laughed it off, but I was not laughing. I was thinking that she TOTALLY should.

"Mama," I said later that night. "You should totally play the wife in Daddy's movie."

"What? Jenna, No. I would be too embarrassed. You know me, I can't even smile right for pictures."

"Um that is true and you are welcome for how I have helped you overcome that, but this is not a still shot. This is a teeny tiny little part where you sit there, look pretty, and say approximately 5 words at the end. YOU CAN DO THIS."

I also added this whole spill about the director would probably love it because we could give her a bunch of our family pictures to put around the house and make it look so much more realistic.

"I don't know." She wavered.

"C'mon Deb, do it for your grandkids!"

"I don't have any."

"And you never will if you don't do what I say." (Just kidding I didn't say that)

I actually said, "I mean for mine and Matthew's future offspring, Grandma! Just think of how cool that will be one day for them to have that - to be able to say Look at what my grandparents did, look how young they were!"

Well the conversation continued, Deb got on board, Al called the director-girl, and I sent her a picture of the Debster for her to look at and decide if Deb was the one she had been waiting for.


And what do you know - she thought Deb was PERFECT.

I got a text from Mama that day that read, "A star is born."

And guess what else? She wanted lots of our family pictures. (It's like I am psychic.)


Mama and Daddy are going tonight for the first cast meeting. The movie is to be filmed this weekend.

A few days after Mama got her big break, we were sitting in the kitchen and I asked her if she was so excited about everything.

She smiled and replied, "Yes, I really am. I think it will be fun."

Then her face grew very serious and she added, "And just so you know, I'm doing this for the grandkids."

Friends, houses, food, hair. In that order.

You know you're growing up when, upon leaving your full-time grown-up job, you receive a text from an on-the-brink-of-marriage friend that reads, "We just closed on the house!! Come by!"

My friend Meredith is marrying Russell (a hometown boy from around these parts) and is moving to my little corner of the world come September. I adore Meredith, and I am so excited she is moving here so we can go visit over Subway sandwiches and Diet coke, watch inspirational Dateline specials, and have good God convos like we always tend to do.

And I became even more excited after running by to see their new house this afternoon after I got off of work. It is darling inside and out. Just like Mer!

Here is the cute couple. And we love Russell, too. He's a stand-up guy. We once bonded over a Dixie Chicks CD as we, along with Bri and Earle, drove through the night to ski in West Virginia.


And here is their cute new house to match their cute little selves.


A couple other random things going on in my world this week so far:

-Last week I had not one but TWO mishaps with some cereal and my purse. I usually take some cereal to snack on in the afternoons at work. I put it in a ziplock bag and throw it in my purse along with various other items such as old mail, my camera cord, and hairspray.

Unfortunately, I forgot to zip the ziplock bag a couple days in a row.


I got as much as I could out of the bottom of the purse, but remnants kept appearing as the week went by letting me know I didn't do as great a job de-cerealing my purse as I once hoped.

On Monday morning, as I scurried around in a mad rush, I could not find my cell phone to save my life. I ran upstairs to search and finally decided to dump my purse out on my bed in efforts to locate it.

Also important to note - I had not made my bed that morning.

When I went to sleep that night I found that there is just nothing better than crawling into bed full of cereal after a long, hard day.

-My mama and I were looking at some old pictures of our family tonight and I was commenting on the many unfortunate hairstyles of Debra D.

On picture in particular had me troubled.

As I laughed about what was going on atop The Debster's head, I panned over to myself and promptly thanked Deb for cutting my bangs straight across and allowing my scraggly hair to hang down lifelessly against my black velvet dress.


I can't wait to show my children those pictures one day and have them comment on how they didn't know their Mama was white trash.

Her response to my asking why in the world she would subject her child to such hairtastrophe - "Well, I wasn't going down alone."

Motherly love at it's finest.

Well, it's off to pick the last few honey combs out of my bed, get my pajamas on, and flip over to ABC to give Jillian a chance to convince me she made the right decision picking Ed when Kiptyn and his 10-pack were right there waiting.

Sunday to Sunday: A look back

It all began last Sunday. The 19th day of July, in the two thousand and ninth year of our Lord.

********

Sunday: The real fun of that day began by playing the newly-obsessed-about card game that rose to fame last week. (It's called Pashaw, I found out - and it is FUN). We played it right there at the lunch table of the restaurant after church.

(Shout out to the waitress who found us cards to play with. She got a big tip.)

I think I won this hand because even though I got off to a rocky start in my Pashaw career, I now dominate on a regular basis. (And by regular, I mean I've won once.)

Some friendly competitors.


TFran shuffling.


Zach (who I later had to work my 6 years of counseling education on to figure out why he FREAKS out when he loses) and me.


We are also working on keeping our eyes open in pictures more.

Monday: I did a little worky work until 5, ate dinner, and then met up with Marsha who treated her Blog Administrator to a little pedicure. My toes have never looked better in my opinion, but what I really need to make note of is the massage chair. My back was actually sore for days following. It hurt so good.

Tuesday: Hmmm. I actually have no recollection of anything that happened that day. I know I went to work.

Wednesday: After work on Wednesday, I met up with some ladies to eat a yummy restaurant in town to bid farewell to a dear girl by the name of Amy. Amy-girl has been Deb's assistant at work for the past couple years and just moved back to Colorado this past Saturday. Deb is in deep mourning. But we didn't shed tears that night - we just ate and gabbed and laughed and ate some more.

Amy and Anna


Amy and her BFF Deb.


And with The Conster, of course.


(This is where the pictures cease unfortunately. My camera and I were not friends the rest of the week.)

Thursday: Thursday, Thursday - you are but a blur or craziness. Let's just say work was a little thing we like to call out of control. We had visitors, a community event after hours, and a phone that decided to BLOW COMPLETELY UP all day long. Lost of people wanting to get sober on Thursday. We were thankful of course, but my brain was very tired.

Friday: Repeat of Thursday only with the knowledge that once I walked out of that door (even if it was over an hour later than normal), I had nowhere to be. Friday night I hung out with Marlee and Tara over at the Hagan's. We all laid on the couch and watched some Friends - then we followed it with a viewing of the movie, "Life as a House" - which I had never seen and very much enjoyed (minus some awkward scenes inappropriate for young eyes). Unfortunately we had some amoung us - it went down something like this...

Scene which shows why the movie is rated R. Yucky teenage boys who were watching it with us start laughing and talking about said scene. Jenna yells, "Everyone hush and close your eyes! There will be no discussion of such at this time!"

My apologies to all the parents.

Saturday: There were GRAND plans to clean and organize, but the first part of the day was spent sleeping, the middle part on the phone with my girl Lindsay discussing life, and the latter part back at the Hagans playing Pashaw - and then going on a Sonic run with my main man, Jake. We then went upstairs to their awesome movie room and watched "Music and Lyrics". SUCH a cute movie. POP goes my heeeaaaarrrrrtttt. (Sing it with me, Jake!)

Sunday: Church was awesome. The youth had their summer camp last week (it's called PHAT camp, which thrills me to no end - PHAT stands for People Him And Truth) and I just loved seeing them all up at the front raising their hands during worship. Then my friend Josh (the youth pastor) preached and it was just wonderful. After church it was lunch and then some hang out time at the hizzy. Gram came over for dinner, I gathered pictures for Al's new movie (more on this later), watched a little Army Wives, found work clothes for tomorrow, talked on the phone, and chatted on Facebook with my friend Meg. Now it's to bed!

Tomorrow's another Monday - time to do it all again!

My wardrobe and a serious concern

A while back I decided to shop around a little bit for some work clothes. I didn't want to spend a lot, and I wanted some neutral pieces that could be "cuted up" in a bunch of different ways.

I found a few items at the love of my life (or at least Statesboro) TJMaxx. One of the articles I bought was an really cute jacket. It was light, and it had 3/4 sleeves, really thin vertical stripes in white and coral, and was adorned with some really darling buttons down the front.

Brown pants, gray pants, navy pants - it could go with them all and would really bring a casual look together in a nice, professional woman kind of way.

I honestly could see outfit possibilities for days.

Well, as it sometimes goes in the world of High Fashion (or Low Fashion as the case happens to be), weeks passed on and I never wore the jacket. It was not for a lack of trying - many mornings, I would try it on - but it never looked quite right to me.

It fit weird, I started loving the color less and less, and my my - was it just me, or were those buttons growing more gaudy with each passing day!?

I had purchased this jacket with such excitement. And now I couldn't wear it.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I decided that even though the jacket was $10, I'd take it back to store and get my money back. $10 is $10 and it just so happened at that time, I was interested in purchasing a bathing suit.

So in my mind, it was all working out perfectly because now that money could go towards the suit making it (theoretically) $10 less, and that would make me feel so much better about myself and my purchasing.

And, I reasoned, maybe me feeling better would make me a nicer person, thereby helping others to be nicer, and so on and so on - with the result obviously being complete World Peace.

So really, I had no choice. The world was depending on me.

One day after work, I took the jacket back and headed over to CATO to look at bathing suits.

Imagine my disappointment when I realized CATO doesn't even sell bathing suits. I was starting to wonder if the Wardrobe Fairies were waging a war against me - and then. THEN, I saw it.

It was on the sale rack - hanging, waiting, calling to me.

A flowy black dress, pulling in at the waist just right, with tiny little khaki polka dots covering it from top to bottom. Size? Check. Price? $10. It was a merchandise miracle!

I tried it on, loved it, and decided that the Wardrobe Fairies not only were on my team, they had definitely orchestrated this transaction. They knew how much I'd love the dress and the many, many times I would be able to wear the thing to work and beyond.

So.

That point of that whole story is to share that I am wearing that dress today. It has been a long week, and I decided that in order to get through Friday, I would need to try to produce as much excitement as I could into my daily life.

And what better way to bring joy than the feeling of maximum cuteness?

And for me that involves my cute black dress with some cute black tights (I know it's hot - it's more of a safety measure. I want to keep the eyes of my co-workers from the leg brightness).

But here is the issue at hand.

I have a severe fear connected to dress-wearing at this particular time in my life. Especially with tights.

I can't tell you how often through the day I check the back of my dress to ensure that it is not, how can I put this delicately, "jacked up."

I have am intensely scared that a time will come when I, let's say, leave the bathroom and do not realize that my dress in caught up in the back of the tights. Thus revealing all that is sacred underneath my dress.

Can you just imagine walking through the hospital exposed? Has this ever happened to you?!?

What if my boss or one of our doctors ended up walking behind me?

I'd seriously have to quit.

At least I'd look cute (save the jacked up dress) on my way out. :-)

A Beach Retrospective

I started babysitting for Ashley when Will was at the end of his second month of life and when Brannen was about a week away from 3. Ashley and I bonded quickly in the months following my entrance into their lives.

Looking back, I am not surprised - I think such bonds are to be expected when you let God choreograph your relationships. He definitely knew what he was doing when he paired up that newly single mama of 2 small babes and that college senior with a very open schedule and an automatic adoration for the aforementioned children.

I can't imagine why I liked them so much.


It wasn't like they were cute or anything.


I started keeping the boys in November of 2006 and when summer rolled around, Ashley recruited me to accompany them on their upcoming beach trips. Thus began a new phase in our relationship called, Once You Vacay, You're Here to Stay Stay.

We have laughed harder and had more adventures on these beach trips that I could ever express. More tears were she and more fun was had over the past 3 years' trips than I could have really imagined. They've been crazy, they've been whirlwinds, they've been awesome, and they've been the source of some of the MOST fun we have had.

Well, it is with GREAT REGRET that I was not able to keep tradition alive and go with the fam on either of their beach trips this year (one of which they are at RIGHT NOW - deep sadness).

I am so thankful to have a job and know I am where I supposed to be for the summer of 2009. But I am still sad I'm not with them. To help drown my sorrows, I took a look back through some old pics to try and transport myself back there as much as I could.

2006

Will: 9 months
Brannen: 3.5 years

The year of....

...Waking up to a chunky 9 month grinning at us from the pack and play.


...Getting the 3 year old (who we thought looked SO big at the time) to cheese for the camera (we really honed in on our bribery skills that trip.)


...B learning about decision-making. To jump in or not to jump in? Is the spanking worth it?


It was also the year of...

...Will having a double ear infection with a side of teething.



Most memorably, 2006 was the year of...

...The great night-time southern explosion of 06, compliments of Will. (My pajamas, as well as mine and Ashley's relationship were never the same after that. When you are laying in "the aftermath" of someone else's child, it really catapults your relationship to the next level. I don't think we've ever laughed so hard. Prunes on vacay = Bad Happening)


In the end it was lovingly known as The Year We SURVIVED It.

2007

Will: 1.5 years
Brannen: 4.5 years

The year of....

...Major Brannen cuteness and funniness.


...The Curls making an appearance at the beach for the first time! Not to mention the year of Will being able to walk, talk, have opinions, etc. (Whole. New. Ballgame)


It was the year of...

...B and W offering Ice Cream Eating Tutorials for their family and friends.


...Having a policewoman explain to the boys what happens when you do not follow directions.


...Saving children from imminent death as they tried to catapult themselves off the pier.



It was also the year of....

...Jenn Jenn taking family pics on the beach. (Making 2007 the year of the Ultimate Christmas Card)



I think looking back, we'd all agree 2007 was The Year of Pure Exhaustion on All Levels by All People.


2008

Will: 2.5
Brannen: 5.5

This was the year of...

...2 little fishes swimming around like big boys in the BIG POOL. (Huge milestone)

...Lots of fun pool time with Mama!


This was the year of...

...Miss Lindsay joining the craziness (she actually was there for our inaugural beach trip in 2006 - God love her). We don't know what she was thinking either time, but we were glad each time she joined us because we LOVE "Miss Wincie."


2007 definitely turned out to be the year of....

....Brotherly love.


...Some of the most extreme meltdowns we had ever witnessed in all our days of living.


Later that year, during their family vacation, it was the year of...

...Not so great weather, but lots of fun alternate plans like visiting the mall and riding the carousel (A thrill of epic proportion).


It was also the year of...

...Watching more Spiderman than we believed was humanly possible.


...Getting Brannen to, you know, come out of his shell. Such a shy child.


It was the year of...

...Long days on the beach playing, digging, boogey boarding, and hugging up on our best friends.


It was the year of pure, unadulterated beach joy.


And it ended up being The Year We Realized it Gets Better (easier, more interesting, more fun) Every Year.

******

I am so sad I'm not there this time, but I am totally planning on 2010 being The Year Jenn Jenn Returns!