homework

for some it's summer vacation and for others it's summer semester... for me, it’s school

my first assignment this semester is to introduce myself by using an interface i use a lot... so let's get into it:

i'm jenniffer...

that's right. no mispelling or finger-stutter... there are 2ns and 2fs there. i think it was the only way to make me a little different from the other gazillion jennifer's born in 1972.

i'm wife to dave and momma to jackson and ryan. if you want to know more about that, read down the blog...

i'm the head of adult services for the idaho falls public library--i don't know how i did it, but this is where i am. i love working with people and books... and bringing the two together!

i'm in my 8th semester and my 8th class at sjsu--getting my mlis... i'm contemplating taking two classes in the upcoming fall and spring semesters so i can be done by december 2011... but it sounds a bit daunting!

i'm not a techie, i don't know the names to all of the pieces and parts of the machine. i know how to play with the computer and usually get the results i want... and it pisses me off when it doesn't do what i think it should.

obviously, i blog and facebook, and i'd rather chat, im and text than actually picking up a phone and {gasp} speaking to another person!! i do love people and communicating. however, because i'm on the phone all day (or so it feels) i hate being on the phone when i'm not at work!

i've probably said too much... it's going to be an interesting semester!

ribs will heal...

...but it is very difficult to suck wine up from the concrete! luckily, no wine was split on the treacherous, ice-laden steps...

...just later down the front of my shirt as i was laughing (snorting) at Pappy's and Pappy's dad's jokes. classy...

so glad the boys weren't around!

tj 4 cf

whenever a new restaurant opens in the big city,

people flock like lemmings over a cliff.

two years ago when the olive garden opened, you'd think something really great was happening! you couldn't get near the place for months! i mean, months and months! it opened in december, and still in march for jackson's birthday we had to wait for an hour (and them some!) because that's where he wanted to go...

for a pizza?!

however, when it's something i like, i.e., taco john's right by my house, i was just another blur of fur over the cliff for my potato oles... and here comes the beauty:

when we were paying and the cashier asked us if we wanted to donate a dollar for cystic fibrosis research... so, of course, i start crying because that's what i do when my crusty, grumpy heart is pierced.

so if you're in the mood for something fast and "west-mex", give taco john's a visit, and donate to the CF foundation... thanks!

accidental genuis... mayhaps

i so can't take credit for this, but my good blog friend, scribbling in san antonio,brought this gem to my attention... it's worth the 4 minutes! check it out!

and by the way, the scrib is wonderful... visit her blog too!

do you know CJ Box?

one of the best things for me when i have* to go to conferences is meeting the authors!



how many times have you read a book and wondered about who wrote this book... i often think about that when i read stephen king, because what would fuel someone to write like this? i also wonder when i stumble across a especially juicy book-- is this woman so deprived that she writes her deepest fantasies for the world. or conversely, is she writing autobiographical?



so anyway, here i am in spokane trying to be TALL next to this very nice guy, c. j. box. i'm so embarrassed that i haven't read his books--even though they have been recommended! he is from wyoming, and writes about the issues of the rocky mountain west. i think i have been leary to read him, because i seem to have this apathetic view of environment writings--please don't preach at me! i do care about the enviroment, but i'm not overboard like the the people who are saving water by peeing on their plants...



so anyway, i have been assured that i'm wrong about the author and what he writes. i got one of his books, free fire. this is the seventh (maybe) book in the joe picket series, but it's about yellowstone and this weird strip of land (the sliver that is idaho) where mass murders take place... you should check out the website.

and here is the view from my room here. that's the spokane river. dave is flying in today because he wants to do something special for our anniversary. what do you think about that?

yes, he is charming, but i really know he's here for the fly-fishing. it will be just like our honeymoon--he fishes and i read. i guess that's just the ABCs of us.

*have to go to conferences? not so much of a "have to" thing -- i love getting out of idaho falls and hanging out with other librarians... especially at the corks and cans events. highly recommend coeur d'alene's bar 6.

renaissance...

a rebirth? a revival?

{see me climbing up on my soapbox}

how many of you are getting your money's worth out of your library? it appears free... but you do pay for library services thru taxes. so are you using the library privileges you pay for?

why not?

libraries are here to help...

and that's what the renaissance is about. change is coming in the world and in libraries thru the internet and google, but libraries are still here to help with the motivation for life-long-learning.

get over to your library and ask your librarians some questions. if your librarian is snarkily stuck at the desk, please remind her that YOU are the reason she has a job...

{stepping down}

denver is great... and i'm looking forward to spokane tomorrow!

they're, their, there...

really... i do know the difference...

they're so cute...

their nana took this picture while on the boat going across the river to pirate island..

we loved disneyland, and we can't wait to go back there!!

(and the readers are saying, how many more pictures can there be of their disney vacation? enough already!)

i'm suffering from frazzled brain , mayhaps : )

big daddy...

of course, this is late... would you expect anything less from me?

as i think about how truly blessed we are, it occured to me that i probably don't tell you these things as often as i ought...

i love you because you are so patient with me when i have a complete melt-down about snow in june...

i love you because every saturday we're only a block from jimmy's, and you have enough self-control not to go in every week...

i love you for the joy you find in parenting, coaching and just hanging out with jackson and ryan...

i love you because of the kindess you show toward people on a daily basis...

i love you because you are an amazing example of goodness for the boys in a world that isn't so good...

i love you for the gentleness in your parenting--it's a nice contrast to my less-than-gentle approach...

i love the sense of peace you bring to our family...

i love you for your faith, you are truly man of God...

i love you because you love me!

little mama...

be who you are...

... say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr Suess

they are my family... i grew up with them, loved them, irritated them and moved far away from them. but none the less, they are my family. when i saw them over the long weekend, i felt found and loved.

of course, dave loves me and i love him right back... of course, jackson and ryan love me, and my heart bursts for them... of course, my mom and dad love me, they have too : )

but to be moved to tears when held by your family--my grandma and my aunties and uncles, to whom i was a major pain in the ass--is like the world smiled on me again. i felt valued, and that's kind of overlooked when you're in the middle of nowhere without family to fall back on. so to them i say:

uncle jon-- i love memories of you and listening to KBPI in the blazer!

annie and kaitlyn-- slow down, and remember who was your first visitor in the hospital!

aunt 'chelle-- thanks for recognizing jackson and coming in the front yard to hug me hello!

granny-- i miss you... and that's all i can say about that right now...

mallory-- dave loved you sitting on his lap, telling me he was your boyfriend! i "love" that i got to see you for about 30 seconds all WEEKEND!

daniel-- we love ali, and the boys have taught all of their friends how to play jungle-ball and that a real water fights require ice water!

aunt suzie and uncle dan-- we love that we were your first house guests! you were better than any bed and breakfast in the world! plus, what B&B, takes you shopping too? it was a sweet set-up, and can't wait to come back!

i love you all!

ps: i'm going to post the other pictures... soon...

brothers...

being an Only child, i often have a hard time understanding sibling relationships. i'll be the first one to admit that i'm bad, bad, bad with interpersonal realtionships because i've never had a fight with someone that i'm forced to share a room with. when someone hurts my feelings, i can totally write them off... this is not what i see people do when they have siblings. they have that 'forgive and forget' gene that i'm trying to cultivate.

on the other hand, we've been hit with a trifecta of our friends losing parents. so i'm my fear of losing my parents and being completely alone, i'm forever telling jacks and ryan to be thankful for each other, and that they are the best friend each of them will ever have. but being an Only, i'm realize that i'm probably being naive that all siblings are friends, let alone best friends.

then they surprise me...
...when jacks congratulating ryan for a soccer goal!

... and here they are being so much fun in Yellowstone last weekend...

after rereading and thinking about all of this, i guess that i do have my fair share of fights with someone i share a room. and upon that thought, dave is the best friend i have ever had...

... so not only is he my friend and husband and he's a great dad, too. so whatever the boys learn about siblings and relationships, it will be from him. i know that jacks and ryan will be great brothers and wonderful men!

and PS can anyone explain WHY this isn't laying out like i think it
should? i've been struggling with getting words to wrap around pictures...
but it's NOT WORKING!!!

why, why, why?!

some people think i'm full negativity, latent hostility and have a bit of a superiority complex, and perhaps they are right... or as jake gyllenhaal said in the good girl, they just don't get me!

altho i get my feelings hurt way too eaily and lash out, i generally forgive easily--usually in 30 seconds, and once i love you, i'll love you forever and do whatever i can do to make you happy. of course, there are those who have pissed me off again and again; and i forgive them, but i'm not inviting them to my bar-b-que...

where am i going with this... oh, yeah, all morning i've been fuming over the snow. i know we're not the only ones dealing with the snow today, because bret sanders just mentioned that he's seeing the snow outside his window over mike's camera. but i guess, i hoped that may would be the start of spring. since we're in the throes of soccer and baseball and it's spring for God's sake!

oh yeah... soccer... last night as we stood in the snow--yep, that's what kind of great mom i am--watching these 8-9-10 year olds play soccer, the fun vanished from the game and all of the sudden we were in the midst of a racially fueled pissing match! let me say, that we obviously aren't any better than anyone else, because we have three excellent players on our team who we've nicknamed the "brazilian national team" because... well... because they are hispanic and are just truly amazing to watch play the game.

so here we are in the last quarter of the game, and there's a question over a goal attempt. two or three plays later, this kid on the other team is holding his face and sobbing like a little girl instead of playing defense. his parents run out there, and rescue their kid. it's bizarre... all of the soccer-moms start the murmuring, what's going on-what happened-is he okay-is dave going to call the game yet... oh, wait, that was just my thought.

so this is how it went down... a kid on the other team disagreed with the ref's call, our team backed up the call, the kid then said to one of the three, "you don't know anything, you stupid mexican," our kid retaliated, and the name caller started to cry. this is what i find to be the most interesting and distrubing:

• where would a kid pick up such a statement--parents maybe?


• the kid's easy ability to throw such racial slurs--and not expect retaliation


• the fact that our boy did that shoulder-to-shoulder shove during normal play of the game--no punching in the face was involved


• not only did the kid hurt our player's feelings, but then he lied to make himself look good


• our player offered no apology, just looked up at his dad with tears glistening in his eyes and said, in english, "but, papi, he called me a stupid mexican." and his dad hugged him, smiled and continued to pass put snacks.
  

who's to blame? i just don't know, but i can tell you i gave jackson and ryan the what-for over this. we talked about the ignorance of people who call names, and who might not tell whole truths. and after my tirade, ryan says to me as he pensively stares out the window, "why does this have to happen at every game? last week some kid said the same thing... so, can i have 2 or 3 scoops of ice cream at baskin robbins?"

it scares me that we let our boys walk around with these ideas floating around freely. and i'm not naive--i know this isn't a new thing or that i can protect them from it, but it still has got me in a funk. i hurt for that boy and for the other two who also feel the sting of the name-calling. i have my opinions about immigration, but i have no idea what it's like to be in crystal "clean" idaho as a different nationality. i do know what it's like to hold your child when they have been crushed by someone's need to make your child feel small. your heart aches for that little bit of childhood that has been ripped from them, and celebrate that (hopefully) they'll remember how much they hurt and will think twice before hurting someone else.

i hope that dave and i are raising jackson and ryan to be open-minded enough to appreciate everyone as God's creation. and then again speaking of God's creation...

... is spring ever going to come?

he's so good!

look! i have more backyard patio!

with only the payment of beers and guacamole, dave and curtis worked so hard this weekend to extend our patio.


now no one will ever again fall over and/or out of their chair into the grass when making 'smores because their chair was unstably sat in the lawn...


come have dogs and 'smores with us!!

the 9:30 princess

yep, those are my shoes on my bed...

and they are coming off for the day!

tonight the librarians schedule included a trip to the (almost) world famous Sip-N-Dip... and here i sit. how perfectly lovely to not have to go anywhere, take care of anyone, or do anything.

tomorrow, i go home.

tomorrow, i'll look forward to seeing all of my sweet boys.

tomorrow, i will smooch my great husband who loves me enough to let me escape every now and then, just to relax.

tomorrow, i will be knocked over by little boys--who are just slightly bigger than when i left them on tuesday morning--when they give me my muched missed squeezes.

and tomorrow i'll be awash with all of the blessings i often take for granted...

but tonight, i'm relishing.

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren

it's so much fun to be a librarian!

annual visit

idaho falls reads... Fahrenheit 451

last year, we started this program like "one book, one community" and "the big read," and ours is funded by IFPL and called idaho falls reads... it's a month-long community book club--we even have banners on 17th street (that is a reference to idaho falls, and that i've been here too long!)--it's kind of a big deal for me and the library.

so, anyway, my point is this: for most of my events, i get to be interviewed on the local station during the lunch-time newscast... when the retired people watch the news. that probably explains why mostly retired people come to the library events! yesterday was my day, if you're interested in watching my nervous, italian hands flutter and me look for a camera to look at during the 120 second interview... check this out:

http://depository.shadowtv.net/media/267/2008/057/14/17127_267_20080226_142503_131.wmv

also, just a little footnote... the book was actually finished in 1953, and written almost entirely on dime-per-hour typewriters at ucla! i really enjoyed the afterword and coda, and i totally appreciate the short-story and sci-fi greatness of mr. bradbury...