Jen on the Edge

A couple of photos illustrating a typical evening in Jenworld. I’m the blue blur on the left (blogging, natch). Graceful is reading. And Elegant is getting our money’s worth on her mini trampoline.

No wonder she sleeps so well at night.

I just posted an update at Fight the Fluffy.  Go check it out.

This is my real checklist of things to do this week before I’m allowed to get on the plane and get the hell out of here:

1. Go to The Tarzhay and pick up last minute supplies.
2. Go to the pharmacy and ask them to beg the insurance company to allow me to order my birth control a week early so that I don’t come back from England with more than I planned on.
3. Take a mountain of boxes to the recycling center so that it’s no longer on my screened porch. Not vital, but I hate coming home to a messy house and right now those boxes state to the world, “White trash lives here.”
4. Reschedule my appointment with Richard the Hair God. Right now, I’m supposed to see him the morning after we get back. People, I’m here to tell you that the morning after we arrive, I won’t be able to hold my head up, much less keep it steady so that the Hair God can cut my hair more or less evenly.
5. Color my hair. I WILL NOT go to England with obvious gray hairs.
6. Photocopy our passports. My in-laws once went to Barcelona and, 30 minutes after they dropped their luggage off at their hotel, Pete’s stepmother was mugged. Guess what was in her purse? Their passports and their plane tickets. Guess what they did not have copies of?
7. Go to the post office and mail my stepmother’s birthday present.
8. But first I need to wrap the gift.
9. Mail a check to my sister-in-law, who kindly replenished Elegant’s Lilly Pullitzer dress collection.
10. Charge the camera battery and all of the iPods.
11. Put new music on the girls’ iPods and mine. For them, less Hannah Montana and more classic rock. Pete thinks we also need to put “Rule Britannia” on them too.
12. On Thursday, I need to clean all three bathrooms, mop the kitchen, and dust and vacuum the entire house. See #3. I hate coming home to a dirty, messy house. The empty fridge and mountain of laundry are bad enough.

Then there’s my work checklist. I worked 40+ hours last week, plus about 15 or 16 this weekend, and have another 30 or more to work between now and Thursday night. I’m supposed to work 20 hours/week.

Yeah, it’s going to be a busy week.  But that’s okay, because in four days and ten hours, I’ll be sitting on a plane and hopefully it will be taking off on time.

Another Saturday, another soccer game. Alas, this one was all the way out at the edge of the county. Like, five minutes from where those rednecks were shooting at cars the other day. Luckily, Bobby Wayne and Junior Junior have been apprehended, so we could go freeze our asses off at the soccer field and be safe about it.

[Side note:  When the highway shootings were first reported, some news outlets were speculating  that it was gang violence.  In Virginia horse country?  Are those reporters on crack?  Pete and I were speculating it was either one really crazy guy or a couple of really stupid rednecks.  Our second theory was the correct one.]

Spring seems to have fled Virginia for other places, like Florida and Arizona. This is apparently why retirees so often choose Winter Park and Phoenix over the Old Dominion State. March can be wonderful here, but it can also be horrid.

It was 38 degrees when we got to the soccer field at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday to “warm up.” There were little girls running laps with blankets wrapped around their bodies. Graceful was wise and wore long athletic pants and, under her soccer jersey, a long sleeve shirt AND a fleece pullover. In hot pink. It was as if Elegant had been coaching her sister on how to dress.

The Blue Dolphins lost again, making our season record 0-3 thus far. Not that the girls cared. They had a great time just playing the game. Plus, there were great snacks afterward, including cookies.

Here’s Graceful in the thick of things:

It has been brought my attention by the Jenworld Blog Critic — you know, the guy who lurks and never ever comments — that this blog has been a bit flat the past few days.  No real content, no real humor.

So sorry, dear.  To quote Gilda Radner in her character as Emily Litella, “I will try to do better.”

As it happens, I do have several drafts in the works for the coming week, so the Jenworld Blog Critic will have to be patient.

Or start his own damn blog.

Earth Hour ‘08 — Did you participate?  Check out out a brief Jenworld recap over at Eco Women.

Wow, it’s like Birthday Week out there in the blogosphere, people.  If you get a chance, go over to the Bingham Diaries and wish the MomBabe a happy 26th today!

Happy birthday to Lori — fellow blogger, talented jewelry designer, and my friend since elementary school. Because our maiden names are so similar, our lockers were next to each other every year from 7th-12th grades. We also had most of our classes together every year (smart girls unite!) and were in the marching band’s color guard together. We even double-dated to prom twice.

Lori, I could have scanned some old photos and posted them here, but I decided that no friend would cause another one to relive the glory of 1980s hair on her birthday. You’re welcome.

Have a great day Lori!

Y’all really need to go to Eco Women and find out what they’re up to today!

Happy birthday to ClemsonGirl, who is kvetching that she’s 33.

Young little whippersnapper, isn’t she? But we love her anyway.

Have a great day!