What your house turns into when you have a cheerleader living in it....

(note the wardrobe change mid-session... to look better for the myspace photos.... ugh)

Of COURSE Sean had to get in on the action....

and Sampson had to come in to see what all the commotion was about....

"OK... OK,.. No more photos PLEASE!"

I actually dug out my external flash that I NEVER USE for these and bounced it from the ceiling... I should really use my flash more!

Guess who's a cheerleader!?

Jessi agreed to try out for cheering with her firend Caroline "just for support" because Caroline didn't want to try out alone. Jessi swore she knew she wouldn't make it and that she didn't care if she did or not, but all her BFFs were trying out, so she may as well too. Of course I knew she secretly wanted it... and she wanted it BAD. So I tried my best to keep it light and remind her that she is only trying out for fun and to support her friends, and it turned into a big joke around the house that there was to be NO crying when she didn't make it because I am still traumatized from that whole softball thing!

So as she went off to school this morning, I reminded her that if there is any crying upon my picking her up from try outs tonight, she would be sleeping in the school parking lot or walking home..... ROFL. She laughed and agreed and promised to only cry quietly alone in her room at bedtime.

Turns out the only tears were tears of joy! She made it and she is on CLOUD NINE tonight! My favorite part of it all was when the first thing she told me after she told me she made it was.... "Oh... and I have a list of stuff we have to buy...."

Damn you Ben... and Jerry!

Today I succumbed to my deepest darkest desire... B&J's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. I have been doing SO well with the low carb thing too! We even went to Olive Garden yesterday and I didn't cheat!! BUT ever since Nicole and I brainstormed up the whole "dip party" idea.... I have been completely consumed with thoughts of sweet treats!! If ONLY I could have WAITED til then to cheat!!!

Oh well... it's all in the past now. I'll just have to be extra super good for the rest of the week til D-Day (that's DIP DAY in case you couldn't figure that one out, Rick...lol)

Colleen the electrician! Yup... that's me!!

Most everyone who reads this knows that my funky kitchen fixture has been on it's last legs for awhile now. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and buy a new fixture and install it myself!! I ain't afraid of no stinkin' electricity.

(ok... that's not entirely true... it took me about 20 minutes to get the nerve up to touch the wires because I was afraid I somehow didn't shut the power off to them and it was just a coincidence that the light went off when I hit the breaker....lol. I would do a little teeny really fast poke at the wire and then try to assess if I felt like I felt a shock or not. I did this about 10 times....lol! And then when I stripped the wires, I still used my silicone pot holders... ROFL... like they would have made a difference!!)

I didn't get shades for it because I was HOPING my funky shades would fit, but of course they won't... so I'll be making another visit to Lowe's today! It's all good... they had some funky ones that will easily fill the old funky shades shoes ;)

Now the kitchen is lit up so brightly, you could remove an appendix, which is a really good thing because going by the "professional" photos that Sophie had done at cheerleading, she needs an appendectomy STAT!!!!

"BL....UD!!" "NOT FUNNY!!!!" (ROFL... I love messin' with kids, I'm just evil that way)

In the spirit of political blogging......

(Rick... you will LOVE the ending)

Welcome home "Jordan Family Computer"

Well.... for the bargain price of 69.99, Staples got the desktop computer back in action. THANK GOD!!! We were all about to kill each other sharing 1/2 a computer (I say 1/2 because using the laptop with it's cord issue is about as relaxing, enjoyable and fun as getting a root canal... and I KNOW that for a FACT!!!) We did lose all our "stuff" on it... but I didn't care at this point, there was nothing irreplacable... especially since all my "good" photos are online on my picasa album anyway. Plus now is all fresh and new and FAST again!

According to the extreme technical jargon of the Staples dude... "Vista Service Pack 1 and some disk errors totally ate the boot sector of my hard drive." OK then. I guess SP1 was hungry.

OK... off to download the ESSENTIALS like AIM and Rhapsody!!!!

P.S. Has that kitty on the side always breathed like that?? I never noticed it before and it's freakin' creepy.

You didn't REALLY vote for Nader.......

Yup. I did. I could not in good conscience vote for either of the "big boys," I wasn't going to vote for that green party lady cuz I think the green party is a little nutty, and I am not even sure what a "libertarian" even is (I should totally research that some day). Rick said, "So basically you threw away your vote. And I say "yup." But MOM said, "NO... you didn't throw away your vote, you made a STATEMENT!" and I say "HELL YEAH I DID!!!"

I really was eager to go out and vote on the other issues that were on the ballot. Yes I am fed up with taxes... especially when the increases are done in the dark of night without a public hearing. And I am also fed up with all the casino crap. Since Hollywood Slots went into downtown Bangor, it has gone to ghetto hell in a handbasket. (Yes I am obsessed with handbaskets, I understand this about myself and I accept it.) Last time I shopped at Shaw's in the evening was the first time I have ever felt uneasy about my safety.... I have never even felt that way walking through the Boston Common at night! So I am pretty solid on the "Casino's are a bad idea" thing.

That's my election update. An update I probably wouldn't have bothered with until I read Kristie's Blog and she was all "people who don't say who they voted for are stupid morons who eat poop" or something like that.

Off to continue watching the election coverage on Comedy Central.... cuz THAT is how we roll ;)

Halloween Party pics!!!!!!

The name is Bond. Sean Bond.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hating Dell

SO.... my laptop is having the power cord/motherboard issue AGAIN. (Unless we stat perfectly still, or hold the cord into the back and keep pressure on it, the screen dims and undims because it goes from power to battery) This time they refuse to fix it unless I pay $300. How retarded would that be when a new laptop WITHOUT a cord issue isn't much more?? It REALLLLLLY pisses me off because they KNOW it's an issue since they have changed the way they make their cords and have them come out the side instead of the back like mine does. And I also KNOW it's not just mine because there are people talking about it all over the 'net!!

There has GOT to be a way to rig it up cheap that will keep the cord in there. I don't understand why the WHOLE MOTHERBOARD needs to be replaced to keep the CORD in????

ARGH!!! SO DONE WITH DELL!! I REALLY need to just close my freakin' Dell Account since I have no balance on it so that I am not tempted all the time to get another Dell cuz it's so easy to just click "buy with Dell preferred account" and have a new computer on the way in seconds.

Look out!! She's dieting!!

Yup. I am. I started low-carbing last week, it's the only weight loss plan (sorry "way of eating") I've ever really had success with. Last time I did it was before we all went to Disney a few years ago. I was going strong for a few months and losing lots of weight, then we went to Disney and that was the end of that! I kept it off until we started building the house and then it all went to hell in a handbasket. A handbasket of cake. And cookies. And Reduced Fat Cheez Its.

It has been pretty easy so far, I really felt out of control with sugar and carbs and really felt like I needed to get away from them and until today even looking at any of that stuff has turned my stomach. Today was my first rough day though. Someone brought in chocolate swirl poundcake to work (it is SO GOOD slathered with butter).... Jessi wanted me to make cupcakes for school.... there is a can of frosting in the fridge.... Jessi and I watched a Food Network "Halloween Cake and Candy Challenge," those freakin' apples on Nicole's blog look DELICIOUS.... etc etc etc. Add in some office drama and a pulled muscle in my neck/shoulder and you have the perfect storm for cheatin' BUT I DIDN'T CHEAT!! I've already lost 7lbs and I would have to be a freakin idiot go back into the handbasket!! ....no matter WHAT is in the basket!!!

I have a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD!!!!!!

The PLAN was to go to Glow Bowl at Bangor-Brewer Bowling lanes.... or as I affectionately call it "The Ghetto Bowling Place." Fortunately we called first because they weren't having it because of a tournament. So instead we had to bowl with the big balls at the Sport's Arena... and I got to take a 2nd mortgage out on my house to pay for it...lol!! We had a BLAST though, so it was WELL worth it!! Len and Dyan even come over to bowl with us and to subject Len's poor son to being the only 13 year old boy among 5 thirteen-ish year old girls (Jessi is the only one who has had her birthday so far, so the rest are still 12)... he didn't seem to mind too much though ;)

Doggie Shennanigans :-)

Are you ready for some SPOOKY!!!???

Nicole and I are taking Jessi and her friend's again this year. We are going Saturday night and anyone out there in blog land that would like to tag along is more than welcome!! The more the merrier SCARIER!!

We had a blast last year and can't wait to do it again this year!!

The kids are super excited about Halloween... they are both being secret agents (much to Jessi's dismay), but Jessi is a "super spy" (think "Kim Possible-- but don't tell HER that), and Sean is going to be a "super COOL spy" (think Will Smith in MIB... and you CAN tell him that!)

Why I am voting republican!

Yeah I know... stay away from discussion about politics and religion (and at my office, cats also fall into that category...lol)....



I agonized about this one a lot this year. There are things on both teams that I think suck and honestly... neither presidential candidate makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. For me a lot of it came down to the fact that McCain is a crazy, rage-a-holic who has had a very hard life and chances are good he won't live through a presidency and while I think Sarah Palin is a great speaker, a passionate person, and a strong woman... I also think she is a very dangerous woman. If she had her shot at running this country there would be book-banning, coat-hanger and gun toting bonanza, and I am all set on that.

You won't BELIEVE what _I_ did last night!!!!

It was pretty much a case of “shit or get off the pot.” I ordered all the photos I needed to put in albums or scrapbook form 2007 several months ago. They have been sitting in a box since that ONE time this year when I scrapped a little one day. I have been going back and forth in my head for probably a year now “to scrap or not to scrap.” This whole “working” thing really puts a kink in hobby-type things. I finally decided that I have to do SOMETHING with my photos since ALL of my photos from 2008 where nothing more than a little piece of data inside my hard drive. SO… last week I ordered all my 2008 photos AND vowed to finish up the 2007 album.

I did have to change the way I think about the whole thing in order to make it work for me. That layout in the photo is the only real layout that I did of Christmas. The rest I just mounted on black cardstock and journaled a little. That way I still get to be creative and play with all my fun stuff… but I don’t have to feel overwhelmed by the huge amount of photos that I take… and my photos are in an album to look at… not hidden as a file inside a hard drive!

I almost forgot the best line of last night.....

Sophie asks Nicole is she can sleep over since Mikayla and Liv are staying over too and they made such a great fort to sleep in. Nicole agrees and Sean looks at Sophie and says....

"So...um... Sophie... You wanna sleep with me?"


(and just for the record... the fort was "girls only" once the lights went out...lol)

Wiffleball n stuff

The sign reads....ADULTS KEEP OUT! KIDS ONLY!!

Gee we've never seen photos from THIS place before....

Today was a gorgeous fall day!! I thought we'd go to the stream so that Lucy could play in the water a little... but the water was really high and fast, so we didn't encourage any of that nonsense. I'm all set on jumping into freezing cold water in October to rescue a puppy from being swept away to sea. Or to trash mountain. Or wherever that stream goes. Jessi was feeling very photogenic today. Sean... not-so-much. (Just in case you looked at those photos and where thinking to yourself... "WOW... she took WAY more photos of Jessi, clearly she loves her more and that poor little boy lives a sad, unloved life of misery.")

Looking VERY forward to this 3 day weekend!!!!

A little visit with my laptop

Jessi at a Field Hockey game......

Sean at a field hockey game....

::::sigh:::: oh how I miss my little laptop.

Our desktop is patiently awaiting it's turn with Jerry the master of all things technolocologicalalal since "Vista Service Pack 1" effed it all up. But since Jerry has a whole short bus full of tech tards that got on the bus before us... we will happily wait our turn ;) But... until then, my laptop is parked at the "family computer desk" and is enduring hours of teenage girl chat "OMG LOL IDK IK,R? BFF" and even more hours of Vikings football live feeds and huntchat.com. Actually...I bet my laptop misses me just as much I miss him! Yes... him... and his name is Johnny ;) ;) :-D

Pumpkins and Puppies