Some Songs I'd be Happy to Never Hear Again...and Why

1.  "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground
Way, way overplayed.  Done and over this one.

2.  "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard
Nasty strip club song; makes me think of nekkid women dancing on poles. 

3.  "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder
This one has a personal dislike attached to it...when my (now) ex-husband was cheating on me, we heard this song on the radio and he made a comment about how he really liked it.  A month or so later, he was at our house and his phone started ringing and that was the ring tone that he had for Cupcake.  Hmm...wonder why he liked that song so much.  I literally had to turn that song off every time it came on the radio because it was painful for me to hear.  Difficult in the fall/winter of 2006 when it was popular.  I still don't really like to hear it because of all the negative things associated with it.

4.  "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot
See reason #1.

5.  "I Am Mine" by Pearl Jam
"I'm so cool, I work out to this song.  It pumps me up."  No further comment.

6.  "Lose Yourself" by Eminem
See reason #6.

7.  "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls
This song was popular in the summer of 1998 when my 12 year old cousin got killed by an errant firework shell at a fireworks show.  This song just reminds me of that time because it was on the radio CONSTANTLY that summer.

Those are the only ones that were in my head for now, but I am sure there are more.  I can always go back and add to the list.

Stop With the Stick Figure Family Decals-They're Dangerous

Maybe I notice those little stick figure "family" decals more on the back of van/SUV windows now since I am a mother.  I always thought that they were stupid before, but the more I thought about it, I think that they are just dangerous.  Any random person who is behind you knows exactly how many immediate family members you have, how many children, whether those children are girls or boys, what types and how many pets you have, and in some cases, those stupid stick figure decals even have little tutus or cheerleader skirts, also telling any random creepers what your child's interest(s) is/are.  I was behind one vehicle yesterday that had two little girl stick figure decals, one with a tutu and one with a cheerleader skirt and pompoms, and underneath the two figures it said "Jenna" and "Jaclyne".  Not only did this trusting mother openly advertise that she has two daughters and their interests, she actually put their NAMES underneath them!  Maybe I am paranoid, but I strongly believe that some random creeper/pedophile/stalker freak could easily follow this person to his/her house and they would already have some very basic (but very important) information about her children-the fact that they are girls, that they are interested in ballet and cheerleading, and their NAMES, for God's sake! 
Let's use some basic common sense here, people, and not advertise to all the creepers out there about our families.  Don't make it easy for your child to possibly become a victim of some horrible crime just because you wanted to "brag" about your family/kids through posting those stupid stick figure decals on your back window.  I know that I will never spend my hard-earned money on them.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours

"Tree"son Part Deux (AKA I'm Tired of These Damn Trees)

I originally posted about my wonderful overgrown maple trees at the end of February.  At that time, we had one company (the Cadillac of tree companies) that had come out to our house, taken a look, and quoted us a $3200 fee to remove said trees.  Since then, we have had two (three?) other estimates, a second of $3200 and another of $1700.  I received a call yesterday from another tree removal business that I had initially contacted around the end of February/beginning of March and the woman asked if we had received our estimate and if we were going to have our trees removed by their company or not.  When I got home I asked my husband if he had ever seen an estimate from this particular company (neither of us had ever seen an estimate).  I figure if they left it in our front door or maybe in our mailbox that it blew away.  I did call that particular company back today and the same woman I had spoken with yesterday said that the arborist had come out on March 7 and had left an estimate.  I told this woman that we had never received an estimate, and she told me that she could e-mail it to me before the end of today.  We'll see if it gets here. 
I also called two other places that were recommended to us by one of my husband's co-workers and the other by our babysitter-we'll see what type of estimates these people come up with. 
I am about to make like a tree and "leaf" (ha ha).  Right now keeping our money in our pocket and letting the damn trees stay up sounds wonderful to me. 

Be Careful What You Wish For...

'cause you just might get it.  Whether you remember this saying from a Pussycat Dolls song a few years back or maybe your parents or grandparents used it, it is quite true.  Just like any other school district in our lovely state, we are going through some financial troubles (levy failures).  All of us have known for the past couple of years what was looming ahead if the levy kept failing, and now the official ax has fallen.  Some people are losing their jobs regardless or not if the May levy passes, and there are many more who will lose their jobs if the May levy doesn't pass.
Which brings us to my situation.  I have had a Master's degree in school counseling for almost 4 years now and have tried 3 times to obtain a school counselor position in my own district.  The first time I didn't expect to get the position, but I did get the experience of interviewing.  The other two times I was passed over for two people who were hired from out-of-district but we won't get into that right now.  That would be possibly two other posts.  So...when you are in a situation like our district is (a RIF, or Reduction In Force, for those of you not familiar with the educational terminology), if there are people who have certificates or licenses in disciplines that they are not currently working in or teaching in, you can move to other positions without the threat of other outside competition.  This is the deal in my situation.  I have been teaching French in the same school district since December of 2001, but as mentioned before, have been trying to get that elusive counselor position for almost 4 years.  I found out this morning that I do have a counselor position...but it is not in the same building that I have taught at for all these years, nor is it for the same grade level.  It is in the same district, so I will still be able to readily communicate with my "family" at the school where I currently work. 
I am happy that I finally got a counselor position (although this is not the way I would have wanted to obtain said position-BTW the counselor at this other school is retiring at the end of this school year) but I am also sad to know that I will not be returning to my same building this coming August.  It is also sad that there are some people who are totally out of a job for next school year and equally as sad that so many other jobs are dependent on the passage or failure of our next levy in May.  I am looking forward to the new challenge, working with new students and colleagues, and learning how to do something different outside of the classroom.  I also dread this change in a way because I will have to leave the colleagues that I have been working with for the past 10+ years (some of these people have become like family to me).  I will miss the relationships that I have built with my students, having been pretty much the only/primary French teacher in the building.  I also dread it because this means that I will actually have to clean out my classroom before the end of the school year. :) 
So, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.  Hopefully I will be successful at this career change this coming August.  Wish me luck! :)
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours

Does Being a Secure Mom Make Me a Bad Mom?

My first day back to work was this past January 24 (after a 2 1/2 month maternity leave).  I didn't see McKenna in the morning before I left, as she was still sleeping (Daddy has drop-off duty, I have pick-up duty), and in case you were wondering, no, I didn't cry at all while I was on my way to work, at work, or on the way to pick her up from the sitter.  In case you were further wondering, I didn't call the sitter at lunch either just to check on how she was doing, nor have I done that up to the present day.
A few weekends ago we took a bus trip to Greektown Casino in Detroit.  We left McKenna with Justin's aunt Brenda (McKenna's great aunt).  While we were on said bus trip, we talked with some of the people, as the majority of them were somehow related to Justin or friends of Justin or his sister or friends of other relatives.  We were asked by a couple of different people if we had called aunt Brenda to check on McKenna and "see how she was doing."  No, we hadn't called at all.  Justin and I figured if there had been a problem that aunt Brenda would have called us. 
Does this make us horrible parents that don't care about our child?  No, I don't think so.  Maybe some would view us that way, but I prefer to think of us as parents who trust our child's sitter/relatives to take care of our child.  Our sitter has 3 children of her own and watches other children during the week as well.  Aunt Brenda raised 4 children of her own (3 boys, 2 of whom are twins, and a daughter).  Also, my Mom has watched McKenna overnight already (and GASP!  She was only 11 weeks old)!  Another sin in the eyes of some I'm sure, but come on, my Mom also raised 2 daughters and we've grown up to be pretty respectable people.  :)  Well, maybe the jury is still out on that one. 
So, as a final thought, I leave you with this...in the educational world, we have a term for parents who constantly have to be checking up on their child, and that would be "helicopter parent."  Justin and I just choose to trust that we have left McKenna in good hands when we do leave her with her sitter and/or a relative and we choose not to be those "helicopter parents."  If there are any issues, of course our sitter and/or relative(s) would get in touch with us.  If you are a "helicopter parent" maybe you should get out there, enjoy yourself and your significant other/friends once in awhile, and trust that your child is doing just fine without you.  Most of the time I am certain that this is the case.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours

From the Great Beyond...

If you read this, and you know me in pretty much any way, shape, or form you know that I am definitely not a religious person.  However, I do believe that people who have died may sometimes choose some way to let their loved ones know that they can still see them and be involved in their lives somehow. 
After my Dad died in December of 2007 my Mom and I started seeing hawks all over the place.  This was a bit strange, as I don't recall ever seeing them much before this time.  They would fly over my car when I was driving down the highway, I would see them sitting on power lines above wide open fields, and once I even saw one right on the side of the road, pretty much close enough that if I had stopped my car and reached my hand out the window that I could touch it.  It also seems that I tend to see more hawks when I am going through a stressful period in my life, for example when we were TTC.  I saw a lot of them during those 10 months.  I also saw lots of hawks when I was going through my divorce and the aftermath of that.  I think the best story about a hawk/Dad watching over me was the day we were moving into our house at the end of February 2008.  I wasn't there at the time, I was at my previous residence picking up some more items to bring to the new house, but some of the people who were at the new house moving things in there said that a hawk landed right in the small tree in the front yard of the house and just sat there for awhile.  I thought that was really cool, and it made me feel good, like my Dad was checking in on us and making sure that everything was going OK with the move.  My Mom has also seen many hawks since my Dad has died, so I know it's not just me.  I'm not sure if it's related or not, but my Dad is in a mausoleum and one of the reasons that we chose the particular spot where he currently rests is because there was a stone figure of a hawk facing his spot.  My Dad always liked birds like eagles and hawks; he even had a huge tattoo on his upper left arm of an eagle.  Coincidence?  I don't know.  I just know that it makes me feel good to know that Dad is still looking out for me, even after all this time.
It's not just me either, I know that there are other people who associate other animals with their loved ones who have died.  For Justin it is deer.  For some friends that I knew back in high school, it is butterflies.  It's a very interesting phenomenon to me.  What do you think?  Do you have any specific animals or other "signs" that you associate with a loved one who has died or who has played some other type of significant role in your life? 
I am not religious, but I guess I may be a bit spiritual. : )  Even us hardasses have to have our soft spots.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours

A Major Fuckup

I started reading this book the other day.  Wow.  I would never think that a mix-up like this could ever happen.  Even more frightening is that it happened in OHIO, not too far from where we live.  I can't believe that trained professionals could ever be so incompetent.  You should give it a read sometime...makes for a good, fast read. 
To be fair to the other couple involved, I did see that they also have a book out on the same topic as well.  I do not have this book but I may read it sometime to get the other side of the story.

Just blows my mind that this could happen.