Hey, could we get a little MORE drama up in here?

I'm going to register to vote today (I've always been registered, but I have to officially change my address and get registered at my new location) and, frankly, I'm torn. I've declared myself as an independent, though I generally vote Democrat; however, in this election, I keep going back and forth. For example, the abortion issue is a big one to me (I believe they should remain legal and that every woman should be able to decide for herself what she wants to do; just because *I* wouldn't have one doesn't mean that NO woman should be able to have one) and, if Bush is elected, there's a good chance that Roe v. Wade would be overturned--not by him directly, but by the Supreme Court justices that this next President will most likely appoint in the coming term. (Bush is notoriously pro-life and will appoint justices that share his point ov view.) However, I don't know if I should base my vote solely on that one issue. Is that wrong? Granted, I've read both candidates' platforms at their respective websites and I agree with a lot of what Kerry has to say--but shit, a candidate's plan and platform always SOUND good. Whether or not they actually follow through on them is something else entirely.

So, I was just wondering:

1) Do you consider yourself Republican, Democratic or Independent?
2) What issues are most important to you in this election season?
3) Are you voting based on party alone (for example, you're Republican so you're voting Republican), or are you looking at specific issues?

I don't want to bash anyone for their choice of candidate; I'm just trying to get a more balanced picture of both sides to aid in making my decision. So let's have a lively yet respectful dialogue, shall we?

Seriously, folks

I know everyone's bent over the Target-Salvation Army thing. And by everyone, I don't mean just YOU guys, but lots of people. But I cannot stress my point enough: Target is an excellent corporation who, among many other things, gives back over $2 MILLION EVERY WEEK to the community. The stores have Good Neighbor programs where the team members volunteer for certain projects; ie: highway clean up, Habitat for Humanity... the district John was in before we moved down here had an annual one for Camp O'Malley in GR. It's a camp for high-risk kids, and I'm not sure if they're non-profit or very low-profit or what, but the place gets torn UP every year. And every fall, after the kids have gone back to school, HUNDREDS of people from the stores in that district (and their families, friends, as well as other companies) go in and clean it up. Paint, repair windows, doors, cabins, plumbing, clean clean clean. It's my favorite one to do.

Anyway, there are too many to list, but Target is constantly giving back. Here's a couple links if you're interested in seeing some of the many things Target IS doing for our communities.

http://target.com/target_group/community_giving/index.jhtml

http://target.com/target_group/stores_services/redhotshop.jhtml

Again, there is nothing *I* can do about Target's decision; I am sorry, however, that is has so many people so put-off. I love Target; they have gone above and beyond many times for my family. They treat their employees VERY well and we're fortunate to be a part of it.

Thanks for listening to my side :-)

Target bans Salvation Army

I heard on the news this morning that Target won't allow the Salvation Army Bell Ringers this Christmas season!

The reason given by both the Target Corp's representative on National Public Radio this morning and by the representative at Target when I called was that Target wants to stick closer to their non-solicitation policy. They had always made an exception for the Salvation Army but won't be making any exceptions from now on.
Bell Ringers outside Target stores raised the second largest total amount of money for the Salvation Army last year. (Walmart raised the most.) This is going to hit the Salvation Army and the people they help hard in a year when money for charities and non-profits continues to be cut and more Americans are living in poverty than in many years before. I think this is so sad in a time when people need to help each other more than ever.
Target's always been one of my favorite stores! I didn't believe it until I called the corporate office and asked myself. I'm not sure what to do.

Jen, what do your Salvation Army grandparents have to say about this?
Renee, what do you and your family think about this?

Oh, and by the way...

Ryan Newman (#12) won the race on Sunday, which puts him ahead of Tony Stewart (#20, Jeff's driver) in the points.

YEAH BABY.

That's what I'M talkin' about.

Today JEFF went grocery shopping and *I* stayed home playing video games. (I truly meant to do homework, though. It just kind of worked out that way. Still, a bit ironic, eh?)

F*ckin doorknob.

I got stuck in the bedroom today. As Renee well knows, our bedroom door knob is stripped, so that when the door closes all the way, it's a bitch to get it open again--the knob turns and turns but doesn't "catch." (So obviously, we just never close our bedroom door all the way; although accidentally and without thinking, one of us--usually me--will forget and completely shut it.) Well, that happened again today, and this time, Jeff had a bitch of a time getting it open again. (Usually Home Depot Boy can get it open without too much trouble, but not this time.) I was stuck in there FOREVER. At one point, I started singing "All By Myself" in honor of my isolation (at which point Jeff threatened to leave me in there if I didn't stop singing).

Needless to say, we made a trip to the Depot for a new f*ckin doorknob (as we, mostly I, began to refer to it).

Talk about Sex and the City.

Anna might be the only one who can truly appreciate this story.

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=168920

What has my life become?

I actually referred to Friday's ten-hour work shift as my "easy day."

On a positive note, a little birdie told me that she overhead some of the preschool parents talking. According to my new best friend, one of the parents said that all of the preschool kids "love Miss Krzys" and that I'm "really good with them."

So...I guess busting my ass is worth it.

What?!

I was watching "The Most Awesomely Bad Songs of All Time" on VH-1 today, and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was the #2 Worst Metal Ballad ever. Um, huh?! I LOVED (and still, to this day, love) that song. Am I only one?

And, for the record, I also don't think that "We Built This City on Rock n Roll" was the worst song EVER. That one is kind of catchy, frankly. I actually turn it up if I'm lucky enough to hear it in my car.

Maybe that's just me, though.

Keeping it old school.

Well it's party time.. The Nintendo has arrived.. and honestly, it rocks!! Who would have thought that Mario Bros could be such a cool game after all these years.. And on an even stranger note... Me and Jen were looking thru some of my old stuff at my mom's house a few weeks ago and you will never guess what we found... An old Men At Work record.. now if that doesn't rule I don't know what does..

The Dreaded Earwig.

This link SHOULD go right to the page with the picture... you'll quickly understand why we called them "ugly bugs". I still DO call them that. They're hideous.

http://www.terminix.com/Pest/Library/Identify/index.cfm

Just type "earwig" in the search bar and you'll see him. Along with some interesting facts about him... I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THEM LIVING IN LANDSCAPING MULCH, WHICH I HAVE AROUND THE WHOLE PERIMITER OF MY HOUSE!

She passed!! She passed!!

(Does anyone else have "she bangs! she bangs!" running through their head now?)

But on to the important news: Missy recently retook those sections of the state board--and she kicked ass!!!!!! She has now offically passed her state certification exam!!!

GREAT JOB, TRAMP!!!!

Great topic.

Hey ya'll. Just wanted to share that Kishelle has a really interesting topic on her blog right now... Pet peeves. Come join! http://www.blondofficewench.blogspot.com

Renee

Holy crap.

We just watched the Blair Witch Project. (It was my first time seeing it; Jeff has seen it quite a few times.) And, let me just say, that it was scary as hell. I remember hearing, when it first came out, that it's the kind of movie you either love or hate. I LOVED it.

But I'm sure not going to sleep very well tonight.

And you can forget about me ever going camping again.

Damn preschoolers and their drinking problems.

M., one of my 4-year-olds, came up to me today. "Miss Krzys, my grandma taught me a new song! You wanna hear it?" I told her sure, I'd love to. She started singing the first part but, although I recognized the melody, I couldn't quite place the song...until she got to the end of the first stanza and into the chorus.

Well it's Sunday morning
And the sun is shining in my
Eye that is open
And my head is spinning
Was I the life of the party
I can't stop grinning
I had too much tequllia last night

Jose Quervo
You are a friend of mine
I like to drink you with
A little salt and lime

(Here, she stopped singing to ask, "Miss Krzys, what's so funny?")

It's things like this that make my job AWESOME.

Holy crap, how accurate is THAT?

Check out my results to the "What people really think of you" quiz. ;)

And then share your results here.

More Quizzes, Please

I found a couple more really funny quizzes but I can't, for the life of me, get them to copy and paste correctly to your blog.

My favorite one is "What people really think about you" or something like that. Jen, if you can find that one and post it, it's hilarious.

My new blog addition.

As you've undoubtedly noticed, I've added a "Which superhero are you?" thing-a-ma-jiggy (I believe that's the technical term for it). You guys all see mine....so show (or tell) me yours!

AND NOW--also find out about your inner gangsta!!

I spoke too soon.

Yeah, trig REALLY started to suck today.

Trigonomic functions? Tangents? The only thing I know about tangents is that I go off on one every time I get pissed off or upset about something.

And there's about 6 different trig functions that I have to memorize, like, NOW.

And then she started talking about quadrantal--which sounds like one of Bush's made-up words--and I'm still figuring out what THAT means.

Oy vey.

Degrees and angles and cosines, oh my.

Just to quickly update you: as many of you know, in addition to my education classes, I'm taking a math (trig, to be exact) course this semester. I have been DREADING it because I am not very good at math, to say the least (I attempted a college algebra, which is like advanced algebra, one semester and had to drop it; however, I HAVE to take a math class this semester and I have to get at least a C. And it can't be like "consumer math," the class I had my senior year of college, which taught you how to make change and write a check and stuff. (I ROCKED in that class.)

Anyway, I've had a couple of trig sessions so far and last night we had our first homework assignment. Out of approximately 25 questions, I was able to complete all but 3 relatively confidently. And I'm not really too worried about the ones I couldn't figure out, as I'm pretty sure I'll never had to compute the amount of material needed to construct a tent that's 4 ft. high, 6 ft. long and meets the ground at a 40 degree angle. (However, if any of you can figure out the answer, let me know.)

Granted, this is only section 1-1, but if I can keep it up all semester, I'll do okay. I just can't let myself fall behind (and I HAVE to go to every class). I'm going to be treading water just to stay afloat till December, but I'll do it. I don't have a choice. I MUST CONQUER THIS CLASS.

That is all.

And to think we're still together.

I took Jeff to Holland this weekend so he could meet my dad, sisters and nieces and nephews (the only relatives he had met so far were my mom and Steve). Overall, things went pretty well, I think (though I'd like to hear JEFF'S version of events). ;)

On Friday night, we met Dad for dinner. They seemed to like each other well enough; afterwards, Jeff mentioned that Dad was "a little goofy" and I had to break the news that, actually, that was Dad in his "normal" mode--Jeff hasn't even SEEN goofy yet. On Saturday, he met Katey, Missy, Nikki and 4 of their 5 kids (Paige was spending the day with her "dad"). That evening involved dinner at my favorite South Haven restuarant; later, at the beach, we watched the sun set from the pier. (I think this was MY favorite part of the weekend.) The next day, we were in full Tourist Effect at Dutch Village; he also met Paige before we headed back out of town.

For those who are bitter that I didn't call whilst in town...let's just say that I was so focused on getting all of my family into the weekend (and for only-child Jeff, that was enough of an overload for him, I think) that it didn't even OCCUR to me to try to throw friends into the mix, too. Yes, I suck.

I'm Ba-a-ack!

My wedding went great :) The bachelorette party was fun, the rehearsal and dinner went well, the ceremony was perfect and the reception was a lot of fun! As Renee predicted, everyone reveled in my glowing beauty ;) What? Not enough detail, you say? We'll give you a couple more, then:

The morning of the wedding was busy but good, not too much stress. I got dressed and went up to see my Tim in the beautiful sanctuary. We had some time to ourselves and cried over how excited we were and how great the other looked. We took LOTS of pictures, which I'll post as soon as I get some. The ceremony went perfectly, complete with a little crying over our vows but not so much that I looked anything less than beautiful ;) We took more pictures after the ceremony (too many) and got into the limo for a ride around in the rain. The reception had great food and kept people dancing until the end of the night at midnight. Even though we were exhausted, my new husband and I still managed to make a good night of it ;)

We rushed home to get on the plane to go to the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon; however, Hurricane Ivan had different plans for us. We're back at work and I'm back at the blog, and we'll plan a new honeymoon for later this fall soon.

My name is Jen, and I'm a gamer.

Last night, the Best Boyfriend in the World dug out his old Sega (I THINK it was Sega) game system because he remembered that he had--you might want to sit down for this--MS PACMAN!!! Oh my God, you guys, I am so excited. Renee, you remember how much I loved playing that game, right? (All of our recent "arcade talk" has brought me back, and while I was telling Jeff about it, it occured to him that he might still OWN My Favorite Game Ever). Anyway, I decided to play it for a "few minutes" (which, of course, stretched into an hour or so) last night before I went to bed, and frankly, I can't wait to get home to play it again.

We've got me playing video games in the front room and him playing video games in the back room. Yeah, we're kind of dorky, but we're dorky TOGETHER. (And I even bought him a new game last night, to thank him for indulging me for a full hour as I browsed through the bookstore--or, as he refers to it, Hell.)

Where To Start, Even?

Hope everyone had a swell Labor Day weekend. We had a big family get-together thing at my in-laws' cottage this weekend, for many reasons:
1) They're leaving for Florida for the "winter" on Sept. 15, in spite of all the hurricanes
2) John's mom's birthday was on the 1st
3) John's brother's (we'll call him Todd, since that's his name) birthday was on the 4th
4) His wife's birthday is on the 11th
5) Our (SIXTH) anniversary is on the 12th
And finally,
6) Todd is a career Army man, and his unit was activated just recently. They will be leaving on Nov. 11 for... I can't remember the name of his camp, but it's between Faluja and Baghdad; not such a great place to be :-( Thank GOD he's a computer guy. He's pretty sure that's what he'll be doing over there, but it's not a guarantee. A group of engineers he works with were sent over as M.P.'s :-(

He didn't go to the meeting last week where they get all their information (who needs to go to THAT anyway?) cuz one of his kids had a soccer game. So unfortunately, I'm not laden with details, but it's very sad. He has a wife of 13 years and three boys, ages 8, 10 and 12... Ugh, I'm just sick over it! I cannot FATHOM the heartache. And he (most likely) won't even be home for CHRISTMAS!

However, John's family is not outwardly emotional; I was the only one who cried about it this weekend... at least in front of anyone :-) I just can't stop thinking about our nephews without their dad for that long (one year min., two years max.). It's killing me.

So anyway. It was, for the most part, a happy weekend, despite this being the last time we'll all be together again until he gets back. John, Todd and their dad went golfing in the morning, which was followed by much food (always a good thing) and just talking and stuff. The boys just ADORE Brent and play with him constantly. They bought him a little fishing pole so they could teach him how to fish (while I was in the shower this morning, Brent caught his first fish all by himself; hooked it and reeled it in and everything. Daddy had to take it off the hook, though cuz "it's all wiggly and slippery").

They played with him in the shallow water, and when they wanted to go deeper, they put him in a tube and gave him rides in the water. At one point, they were at the end of the dock, and the youngest one picked Brent up to plop him into the tube and accidentally dropped him in the lake. He was wearing a life jacket, so he only went under for a second, but it scared the holy hell out of him for a few minutes. About a half hour later, I asked him if he wanted something to drink and he said "No thanks, I just already took a big drink of the lake when I fell in, so I'm not thirsty right now". LOLOLOL. It was hilarious.

Alright, I know I've written a book. I mainly just wanted to let everyone know about Todd and ask that you keep him (and family) in your thoughts. Thanks!

Renee

Happy Almost Wedding Day!

This is my shout-out to Anna and Tim, who will soon be enjoying the best and most memorable day of their lives. Here's to Anna and her really long new name. This shot of cough syrup is for you guys!

Meanwhile, Jeff and I are playing old 80s arcade games (like PacMan and Donkey Kong) here. (Hey--we're poor and easily entertained.) Is Tetris REALLY from the 80s, though? Could it--and we--actually be that old?

This is my last day at work for 2 weeks! Yay!

I leave for the wedding in MN today after work and don't come back to my cube prison until Sept.16th. I'm almost FFRRREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm off to get married and sit on the beach :)