Grams.

Miss you. Everyday.

Halfway there...

I am halfway to my $2200.00 goal. All in FOUR days. I have some very generous family and friends! I have currently raised $1075.00. In FOUR days. Wow. Did I mention this was just in four days?

Thank you to my sweet Mom and Dad, the very generous Bobby and Ellen (they are responsible for half of the money I have raised so far!), Pat, Pam and Gwen! I will be thinking of all of you during my training walks. My peeps rock.

This week I completed 3 days of my training - 4 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Wednesday (supposed to be cross training but I decided to walk anyway) and 4 miles tonight. I have tomorrow off. Yeah!

Michael's 3rd grade class is hosting a Mother's Day Tea tomorrow. Michael, not a good one to keep secrets, keeps saying things like "there might or might not be a skit tomorrow. and my line may or may not be this...". And "we might be singing a song about moms ... but I'm not telling." He is terrible with secrets - but can't wait for me to be there. I'll probably cry. I'm kind of sappy that way. Any new thing Michael does - I cry.

Talking about crying...Stu passed his Six Sigma Black Belt test! Woot! Woot! Not a small accomplishment and this is a big thing for him! Yeah Stu! So proud of him! (this is not the crying part). He had kept it a secret that he had taken the test and he got the results today. He asked Michael and I to meet him for dinner at Atlanta Bread Company. So we went - he told us the news. We were so excited! As Stu is telling me the story of how he thought he wasn't going to pass...how he kept it a secret ... I notice Michael tearing out the coupon for the free cookie from the Atlanta Bread Company kids activity book. I thought he was just ready for his cookie as he was finished with his grilled cheese. Stu pauses in his story and Michael presented Stu with the free cookie coupon. As a reward for passing this big exam. And Michael cried a little because he was so proud of Stu. And I cried because I was so proud of Michael. And Stu cried because he got a cookie (just kidding about Stu crying!). Michael is such a sweet kid. Where did he get that from? Certainly not his mom!

Tomorrow is also a community meeting for Stu's work. Well ... it is a community meeting for him all day and then families are to come at 5:00 for a scavenger hunt and dinner. It will be my first time meeting Stu's new co-workers. A little nervous. Not certain what to wear. And I have a huge pimple on my cheek - what am I, a pre-teen again? Maybe I will bring my clogging shoes. Everyone loves a clogger. Right? Right.

Wowee - Wow!

Holy Cow friends!

I sent out my announcement about the 3 Day Walk yesterday. Today I have $425.00 in donations. i am 19% of the way towards my goal - all in a day. Amazing. Wow. I have to say - everytime I get a notification that someone has donated in my behalf - I cry. My first donation (Martha, my cousin) made me weep. I called my mom. It is so exciting and for such a fantastic cause.

Thank you Martha, Yeline, Aunt Merilee, Aunt Joani, Cynthia, Kim and Georgianna! Fabulous! Your words of encouragement and cheerleading have meant so much.

I finished my first official training walk tonight. Four miles. I was ready to quit at mile 3. But I kept going - because I have people keeping track of my progress. Accountability. I appreciate that. Sometimes I need a kick in the pants. Thanks, internet, for kicking me tonight! I needed it.

Michael and I went to the library today. We checked out the Star Wars Cookbook, Part 2. Who knew there was a Part 1? We are going to have a family movie night complete with Darth Maul double light saber hot dog thing on Friday. I'll take pictures. I'm sweet that way.

Training Schedule

I have decided to take a big step (well really, lots of steps!) and have signed up for the 3Day Walk for Breast Cancer in Atlanta in October. That is 60 miles in 3 days. I will also be fundraising during the time and have committed to raising $2200 to go to Breast Cancer research.

(This is where I should insert my donation page - where you can donate online. Or print out the donation form to send in. Here it is: Jenn's Donation Page)

I will be blogging about my walking adventures here as well as updating my training schedule weekly. That way you can all come along on my journey with me ... and keep me accountable for the training. I have 6 months.

Here is this weeks schedule:
Monday - Off (love that - this is going to be easy!)
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - Cross Train (I will probably do some sort of weight training on this day)
Thursday - 4 miles
Friday - Off
Saturday - 6 miles
Sunday - 6 miles

Not all of my upcoming blogs will be about my walking schedule. I'll still regale you with tales of my life. I know you are interested, dear reader. I don't want to disappoint.

Under Pressure ...

I have come to this blog and started a new post 127 different times. Such pressure to be witty and readable. I'm going to stop pressuring myself and just write. I don't have any readers anyway as my posts are less than consistant, right? Nothing ventured ... nothing gained.

End of the college semester right now. I am always mixed about my feelings ... on one hand I am so glad for the down time that comes with summer. On the other, I have some wonderful students that I am truly going to miss. These students are amazing. It is fun to be a part of their experiences - however small my part is. I enjoy them.

Today was Bring Your Child to Work Day. Michael was an excellent assistant - shredded documents, took messages to co-workers, and we even had lunch with my great friend/co-worker and my big boss. Not my direct boss, but the boss' boss. The Director of the School. Fancy company. Michael wowed them with his tales of Star Wars and even told them how cool ... or uncool they were. Honesty is a virtue, right? Right.

I am going to try to keep up with this blog once a week. Especially now that summer is here - it should be no problem. We are also going on some fun trips, so we will have many adventures to share.

if I can make it there ...

I'm headed to the Big Apple tomorrow. I am packed and ready to go. The family is taking me to the airport tomorrow - we are leaving at 4:45 am. Early. I probably won't sleep tonight. I have packed my camera to take tons of pictures. I have also packed my new iPod Nano complete with two downloaded movies to watch during my layovers - Waitress and Purple Violets.

Have I mentioned that I am excited?

I hope that I remember to use my camera - then you can see my pictures. I have planned my own personal tour for tomorrow and then I am in seminars all day Wednesday and Thursday and will head to shows on those nights. I fly out on Friday.

So excited!

Happy January 2!

I am not yet ready to publish my deadlines. I feel the need to weed some out and explain others. I have written a list of 35. I have a lot to work on apparently. Not all of them are hard core - some are "Go to the Georgia Aquarium" or "Run a 5K". Still others include only eating out once a week, trying a new recipe once a week, or reading Harry Potter with Michael. And of course - blog more. I'll publich the list when I am ready. Not today.

Michael and I are headed out to run some errands and then to see a movie. This is really our first foray into the world - we have stayed home and played with his Christmas gifts most of last week (with a brief trip for provisions from the grocery store). We have really enjoyed our time together.

Time to head out the door. Happy New Year!

It's December. Where did the time go?

It's December 31 at 8:28 pm. Almost January. 2008.
I think that I slept through fall.

It is New Year's Eve and we are settled in for the night. Our family tradition is to just be together. We order in (from Harry's this year), get into our jammies and veg until the ball drops. Stu falls asleep on the couch. Michael and I shout Hooray very quietly. It's not a big fancy time ... but I love it just the same.

As per the norm, resolutions are to be made. I'm not so great with the resolutions - I make a list, lose the list, end up finding the list months later, and promptly throw that list away. Not such a useful system. I should post my resolutions here. Let's lose the resolutions word and call it a Deadlines list. I'm good with the Deadlines. Anyway, perhaps putting my deadlines in public (well sorta public ... I'm not certain anyone is still with me!) .. putting my deadlines in sorta-public will have a better effect than a lost list. Like you are all watching me and giving me the evil eye when don't meet the deadlines.

I'll post the list tomorrow. It is a long list. I'll need lots of evil eyes.

In other news ... I am headed to the Big Apple ... the City that Never Sleeps ... NEW YORK CITY! In one week. I am so excited! I love the city - would totally live there if Stu would be willing. I'll see shows ... see some friends ... and attend a work seminar in Audience Development. That's right ... free vacation. With a little seminar thrown in. It's like going to one of those time share condo seminars, but getting to stay at a resort for free.

I bought myself a new coat. It's emerald green. And a hat. It's black. I'm going to throw my hat in the air a la Mary Tyler Moore. Perma-grin the whole week. Any must sees? Must dos? I have a whole day to enjoy! Let me know.

Alright ... deadlines list tomorrow. To be sure blogging will be on the list.
Smooches to all and to all a Happy New Year!

Tag. You're it.

I have been tagged by my friend, Liz. She tagged me a long time ago. I am slow to the posting. Here goes....

Four jobs that I have had:
Soda Jerk at Rockin' Robins
Waffle House waitress in Panama City Beach, FL
Publicity and Education Director (Broadway in Atlanta)
Marketing Manager (School of Theatre)

Four films I could watch over and over:
13 Going on 30
Never Been Kissed
The Princess Bride
Elf

Four places that I have lived:
Grayson, GA
Hazelhurst, WI
Cincinnati, OH
Tallahassee, FL

Four favorite TV shows:
Big Brother
The Hills
Grey's Anatomy
The Class ... but it was cancelled. Now I'll never know how it ends. Cry.

Four favorite foods:
String Cheese
Mom's Shrimp Creole
Mom's spaghetti
McDonald's french fries

Websites I visit everyday:
Two Peas in a Bucket
Joker's Updates (for the latest in Big Brother gossip)
Tons O' Blogs
CNN

Four Places I'd love to be:
New York City
My parent's house
In the car pick-up line with my diet coke and latest read waiting for the bell to ring.
The Beach. Any Beach.

Here is the part where I am supposed to tag other folks. I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore. So...if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. That should cover it.

Did you miss me?

Took some unscheduled time off from blogging. Seems like everytime I came here to blog ... I either am called to do something else or I lose my train of thought. But here I am ... ready to catch up again!

Let's see ... in the time since we last spoke ... I have turned 31; went on a week long vacation to the beach with Michael and the folks (it was fabulous ... I'll post pictures soon); scrapbooked with crabby old women ... and Cindy (I'm not including here in the crabby old women part!); painted two and a half rooms in the house; got in touch with my emotions in a team bonding retreat at work; designed t-shirts, banners, posters and wrote a Marketing Manual.

I need another vacation.

I am also starting another blog with my friend Caleb. He just moved to NYC to start his career. We were talking about how we would both like to be better photographers - him for professional reasons and I for scrapbooking reasons. So we decided to do a photography blog. We assign a topic weekly and will each take pictures as to how that topic speaks to us in picture form. Then on Sunday we compile our pictures into a photostrip and upload to the blog. The idea came from this blog - 3191, only they post every day and without a topic. We just started this week. Our topic was HOME. (Because I wanted to see images of Caleb's apartment!) Here is our takes this week (Caleb's on top, mine is on bottom):

I think it is so interesting to see our different perspectives on the same theme. Next week, the topic is windows: real, figurative, imagined, doesn't have to be actual windows. I post here with those film strips as well.

*You can see the new Scrap room color (4th photo) and guest bathroom color (5th photo) in my photo strip.

Beachin' It.

We are headed to the beach this weekend with my parents. So excited! This has become a yearly vacation and I look forward to it all year. We lounge, we sun, we swim ... and not a whole lot else. It is FABULOUS!

I am not a very good tourist at the beach locales. Just give me sun, some form of water, a book and a chair. I don't go see the Forts or the alligator farms or the Ripley's museums. I leave the sightseeing to Stu and Michael. I become a vegetable. It is fabulous.

And I get to eat my momma's cooking. Does it get better? It does. I also get to hang with my friend Cindy. And scrapbook at a fabulous scrapbook store. It's the life, really.

I don't think that I will be able to blog while gone ... we'll see.
Catch y'all on the flip side.

Breaking News...

I just saw a guy get taken down by about 9 police officers with their guns drawn and a very large police dog. Right outside my window. It was awesome.

And one of the police officers waved to me as he was putting away his gun. And the suspect was on the ground being handcuffed.

So friendly around here.

Is it weird for me to wish I had my camera with me?

Home improvement is hard.

Home improvement is hard. And not without peril. And exhausting.
But so fun!

I don't have lovely photos to share just yet. As not a single room is completed.

I painted the cabinet in the bathroom. Then Stu and I were looking at our existing towel bar, and I decided I didn't like it. Too plain. Luckily, in Stu's eBay closet was the perfect towel bar. I knew his eBay closet would come in handy! So Stu set out to take it down. He did. And a large chunk of wall with it. The fixture was drywalled in. Yikes. So Sunday was spent cutting down wall board, joint compounding, sanding ... heavy duty stuff.

So, while waiting for joint compound to dry ... literally, I decided to paint the dining room. Which is soon to be my craft room. I spackled. I primed. I painted. And finished up the painting last night. I love, love the color. It is very bright. It's Martha Stewart. Wading Pool. Think Robin's egg blue. Bright. Tonight I will move in all the furniture. I just need to find a new lighting fixture for the room. I have an idea ... now to just find it.

I'm hoping for photos tomorrow. Hopefully!

When it's time to change You've Got to Rearrange...

Did any of you watch every single episode of The Brady Bunch growing up like me? Even the reunion movies ... like "A Very Brady Christmas" or "Brady Girls Get Married" or the movie spoofs? I was (and I guess one might say still am) a huge fan.

I have the soundtrack. I'm not kidding.

So anyway ... the point of this post is that I have the song lyrics "when it's time to change you've go to rearrange ..." running through my head on repeat. (This was the episode where Peter's voice was going through THE CHANGE and the Brady kids were entering a song competition and reworked the song to include his adorable cracking voice. I think they won. I'm not entirely sure of the ending, but I can tell you it was very feel good).

Again with the digressing ... I am once again rearranging furniture. I do this often. But this time new paint is involved. Yeah for new bright colors! I'll post before and after pictures. I'm hoping to paint the bathroom this Saturday as well as pick out new paint for the living room, dining room and Michael's room. We'll see how it goes. My husband thinks I'm nuts. He might just be right.

Family Photo

We bought Michael one of those disposable cameras while we were at Epcot so that he could record he favorite parts of the day as well (you know there is a scrapbook waiting to hold these photos!). He took what is now my favorite family shot. It's not in focus ... it is a self portrait, but I think it conveys our family in a 4x6 format. Makes me smile to look at it. Certainly not fancy ... but neither is my family. We are just us ... this photo is just us. Love that.

Summer Look.

Thought I would spruce up the blog with a new little summer banner. I needed a new look

Here's the 411 on the specifics of the banner:
Wood Grain - Kit by Jennifer Pebbles, twopeasinabucket.com
Orange Flower - Kit by Jen Lessinger, twopeasinabucket.com
Font - Steak, downloaded from dafont.com

Best Birthday Ever.

We're back!

And we had such a great time. The day was almost perfect ... we could have done without the three hour monsoon, but even that came at a good time and we made the most of it. Fun was had by all and we would have liked to have stayed for another few days. We have already started saving our pennies in hopes of going back to Disney at Christmas time.

Sadly, I am now back to real life and work. Ugh. But I will leave you with a couple of memorable quotes from the days:

Michael: "You guys planned this day. Just for me. And then kept it a secret? I have the best parents" (Melt my heart. You can have anything you want.)

Me (trying to convince Michael that he will love Test Track - the ride at Epcot): "...And the car goes 65 mph around the track!"
Michael: "That is totally fast!"
Me: "It is about as fast as Mommy drives on the highway"
Michael: "Oh ... then you mean really slow?" (Everyone loves a wise guy.)

I'll be back to give a longer synopsis of our weekend shortly. I'll say again ... we had such a great time!

I just can't hide it.

I am so excited about our trip this weekend. I just can't stand it. I couldn't sleep last night. I obviously need to get out more.

Surprises.

I hate surprises. but I love to surprise others though it is so hard for me not to spill the beans. I love to tease and give little hints. Especially to my son, partly because he hates surprises too.

This weekend, Michael is turning the big 8. 8! How is that possible? For his birthday, we are heading down to Orlando to go to Epcot. This trip has evolved from Sea World to the Pirate Adventure Dinner Theatre to Animal Kingdom to now Epcot. And I think we are sticking with it this time.

Michael has no idea where we are going. We started giving hints on Sunday with "we are going somewhere away from Tallahassee". His three guesses were 1. Pa and Nana's house, 2. China and 3. Japan (I think the last two were influenced by where we were at the time - Lucy Ho's).

Last night's clues were "we are staying in a hotel and we are fast tracking our way down there". (Fast Track is a ride at Epcot). He is dying for more clues. Stu thinks I am going to break down and tell him any day now. I'm trying hard not to do that.

I am so excited myself. I'm googling for tidbits of information. I haven't been to the Disney parks since I was 10, so I am assuming a lot has changed. Give me hints for us to have a great time at Epcot. We are only going to be at Epcot for one day ... Sunday and want to make the most of it. Any thoughts on a sit down dinner place in one of the countries? Bring on the 4-1-1!

Guinness Book. Accident Prone.

I have always been fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records. I wanted to be one of those record holders. Wouldn't it be cool to say that you are so unique that you have your own world record? Like this woman I saw on Ellen yesterday. Longest toe nails in the world. Have no idea how she walks with them, but she has been growing those suckers since 1981. That is dedication.

I think I have found my world record. I am gaining on whomever has had the most windshields replaced in cars. Or for the most freak accidents.

I had my 5th windshield replaced this morning. A rock kicked up and hit my windshield on our drive home from Atlanta yesterday. Call Guinness ... I'm up and coming!

Most of my accidents are not really my fault. Once - I didn't even have to be in the car for the windshield to crack. I'm that good. Here's my list:

1. My first accident happened only 2 months after getting my license. I was in the Upton's parking lot, and backed into someone waiting for a parking space. Obviously, I didn't see her. I cried the whole way home and when I got home, my parents, upon seeing my hysterics, thought something was terribly wrong. Not a scratch on my car. Her car had a little $700 dent. But a few months later, I see her face on TV. Her son had been killed in an accident having to do with the Ford Saddlebag gas tanks and had just won a large settlement from Ford. I hit her probably during her litigation. How terrible!

2. My second accident was on my way to my first (and last!) Judo class. It was the summer of 1996 and I had just been to the Olympics to see Judo. (The Olympics are another thing I have always dreamed of being a part of ... love them! Apparently, I thought Judo might be the answer ... not so much). A woman made a left turn right into my car. I went to Judo anyway. Had my first windshield replaced with that accident.

3. The third accident happened while I was driving home from work in Atlanta. The plan was to meet my parents halfway so that they could take Michael for the night (I was running in a 5K the following day). I was on 75 North and the 18 wheeler in front of me ran over a sheet of metal in the road, kicking it up straight into my car. The auto body shop said that they had never seen a hood look like mine. It also destroyed my windshield ... lots of little glass shards came into the car. Did I stop when I ran into the sheet of metal? Nope. I was afraid that if I stopped, my car wouldn't keep going.

4. The fourth. The summer of 2005. We had a hurricane day, when we probably shouldn't have had one. It wasn't that bad ... just some gusts of wind. Those gusts of wind broke our neighbors tree in half and you guessed it ... the top fell on my car. And my windshield. Another replacement.

5. I have had other minor accidents ... running into things behind me. My dad ran into my car backing out of his driveway and took off the passenger side mirror. I ran into my friend's mailbox in high school and completely knocked it over. I'm not so good with the whole backing up thing.

And that's the reason I never drive. Rocks, metal, crazy left hand turners ... all attracted to me and my car. It is just not safe.

So .. call Guinness. I'm gearing up for my entry in the book of records!