A big ol' heaping tablespoon of "wtf?"

Um......yeah......no words for this.....really.....


more the engrish!


(slowly backs away.....)

Cake Wrecks

I think I have a new favorite site... Who doesn't love cake? The comedian Jim Gaffigan does a great monologue on cake. But this web site that was brought to my attention "takes the cake" (UHG...SUCH a bad pun)...

(and yeah...don't ask me to explain the above pictured cake....I have NO idea!!!)

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night...oh wait, I don't have to do it anymore!

Hey, I just realized something. I was looking at my profile and it says "I am a divorced mom of a teenaged son who plays hockey. (fear me!) So I spend about 6 months out of the year hauling a teenaged boy & his sweaty hockey equipment back & forth to the ice rink a couple of times a week."

Um....Collin just turned 16 and he has his own car now. Wooooo hooooo! Those late nights coming home from the far side of Boise in the snow/rain/dark after hockey practices are over! Of course, I'll still be going out there once a week to see his hockey GAMES. But he can get his own butt to practice now. And since he has at least one good friend out here in Nampa who is on the team, they can carpool. (So that's a plus for him.)

And actually, eventually he may get a break from that far drive too. There is an outdoor ice rink being built in Nampa and the team is going to try to work out something so they can get ice time for practice. It would be SO great for them to be able to get more practice in. I'll keep you posted on that development...

Weddings, Visiting Family & Levitating Goats (oh my!)

THAT, ladies & gentlemen, is Amanda & Nevil's new restaurant in West Virginia. Amanda is my 24 year old niece who just got married over 4th of July weekend. Heck, when I was 24 I never would have been able to own/run a restaurant! I'm so proud of Amanda & Nevil for grabbing hold of their dream and making it come true. Not to mention the wedding was great!

My dad (Amanda's grandfather) walked her "down the aisle". Or in the case of this beautiful setting, down the front porch.

Amanda's sister Charlotte (far right) and Amanda's friends were in her wedding party. Also CJ & Jessica's daughter Raegan was the flower girl. I love the look on Charlotte's face in this picture--it reminds me of the way she used to smile when she was a little girl.

Nevil & Amanda with her mom (my sister Nancy) & dad

Randy, Trevor, Collin & I at the wedding (I love how we inadvertently ended up all color coordinated. The boys all in blue and me in a blue striped dress.)

The visit to West Virginia for the wedding was stretched out a little so we could enjoy some relaxing time visiting the family. Our first night there, there was a rehearsal dinner at Amanda & Nevil's restaurant and we had a nice time catching up with family and getting to meet all of the new "significant others" of all of the nieces & nephews.

Charlotte at the rehearsal dinner with my mom & dad.

The kids slept out on the big covered porch and also out in the meadow in tents, having fun scaring each other every night. They spent some time riding the four-wheeler and the dirt bike, swimming at the swimming hole, and playing basketball.

"But what about the levitating goat?" you ask....Ah yes... One of the things we did in the evenings was to go feed the sheep & goats. Might not sound like fun to you--but walking around in the dusk, watching the lightning bugs lighting up around us, hearing the sheep bleating at our approach....kind of relaxing actually. I snapped a few pictures while we were out there and after uploading the pictures to the computer we realized in one of the shots, at first glance, one of the goats looks like it's levitating behind the fence. Kind of made us laugh so now it's a favorite picture. (Secretly I think the goat really was levitating and was planning an escape...)

We've definitely decided we have to visit again soon.....

Happy Birthday to ME!

Jane at 16

Well folks, it's that time again....I can't believe I'm turning 40 years old today. I don't know if I should be freaked out or happy. Naw, I know I'm happy. I was doing some retrospective thinking last night (probably TOTALLY not the right word for what I was doing, but I can't think of the right one right now) and I can honestly say that I'm happy at this point in my life. There are a lot of people in my life who care about me (you all know who you are!) and that's what is most important. Although my morning started off rough (teenagers are so trying at times!!) this day is looking better and better all the time. It's only 11:00 in the morning and I've already gotten so many texts, emails, Myspace messages, etc. wishing me a happy birthday. Tonight is a "date night" with my son--dinner at whatever restaurant I choose, then we're off to see a movie. I'm sure I'll end my birthday talking on the phone to the person who loves me the most.

Then two weeks from now, I get to see all of my family. Well not ALL of my family, but my mom, dad, my sister & all of her family. It's been years (seriously, like 20?) since my mom & dad were in the same place together for some kind of event. I really think the last time was my brother's wedding. So this will be a real gift to visit with both of them at the same time. I think going to West Virginia to get some "down time" in will do me a lot of good. It's been a rough 7 months or so and this will get me centered again.

I feel like I should be ending this post with something really philosophical....but I got nothin'....