Lea Anna's Plans

Lea Anna had dictated a "to do" list to Daniel this morning:

Moss Wright Park
Buy a dollar toy
Play Outside
TV
Start Rock Collection
Yard Sale

I thought it was cute, so I'll go along with it - except for the yard sale.

The Great Volcano Experiment

Daniel made a volcano in the backyard out of dirt and rocks about a week ago and it finally stopped raining long enough for the muddy ground to dry out when I was off work during daylight hours. I found a recipe on the internet a while back to make his volcano "erupt", so with great anticipation the kids and I trudged down stairs with the ingredients and my loaded camera. I mixed the ingredients (baking soda, dish soap and food coloring) according to directions an empty film canister and stuck it in the volcano cone then had Daniel pour the vinegar in with my camera ready. We waited. "Mom - it's not doing anything." "Just wait Daniel, it takes a minute." Again we waited. "is that it?" Then it started frothing like a rabid dog, and then - THAT WAS IT! A weeks worth of anticipation for a teaspoon of orangy froth. Not the ooze of magnificent proportions that we had all envisioned. {Sigh} Back to the drawing board.

Just when you thought I died and went...uh...Somewhere

Sooooo….

What’s been up with Jazz?

I want to say, “nothing much,” but that wouldn’t be true. It seems like “nothing much” to me just because what I do, I do every day, so….yeah.

Well, I became a Corteo Follower and still work at Cirque du Soleil. I’ve been carpooling with my friends and co-workers CJ, Monserrat, Dijanna (I think that’s how her name is spelled), and Fatirah.

I don’t really know what else to say about that, other than I LOVE my job and I’m happy I didn’t have to quit after Los Angeles.
One of the coolest things about being a Follower is that I’ve gotten more chances to talk to the performers. A few of them are really cool. I even bought this guy named Hideto (he’s a performer in Corteo) a bottle of Sailor Jerrys Rum to share with Sergai (a juggler). (I got really buzzed at a BBQ Corteo had and kept bragging about how awesome it was, so I got him one.)

Corteo’s next stop is in San Diego and I really want to follow the tour there. I’m going to help Fatirah, Amber, and Monserrat find a place to rent in San Diego, so that I can go there on weekends and work. It will only be for a little more than a month…2 at the most. Once Corteo is out of San Diego, I will no longer be a Follower and will be forced to find a real job. *sigh* However…

Cirque du Soleil’s KooZa will be in LA in 2009. Since I loved working at Coreto so much, I’m going to save my money, so that when KooZa comes to LA, I’ll be able to follow the tour for a few cities.

N-E-wayz… Enough about my job! My classes at LACC are going good. I’m struggling in French Language, but that’s it. The worst I could do in that class is get a D. I would rather NOT have a D, but hey, some things just don’t come easy the first time. I’m going to re-take it in the spring. If I can manage a B in French next year, then I’ll feel better about taking German Language (since I’m sure it’s a lot more difficult).

My art classes are great. One of them can be boring at times, but only because she makes us do retarded exercises before we do our main projects. I can’t wait ‘til I’m finished… I’ll be sure to post a bunch of them for my loverly friends to see! (Besides, they’re way better than the Parrot and Gay Potato that I posted awhile back.)

PS: November hasn’t been a great month for shows… All the good ones that DID happen, I had to miss because of work…and I got sick at some point, which was very lame.

Knee Bender

Well as some of you heard I survived knee surgery. They gave me a choice between spinal block or anethesia, I chose anethesia remembering one of Caitlin's spinal taps that went wrong. Anethesia and I didn't agree, I puked my guts out (I hadn't had anything since midnight besides a couple crackers they gave me after the surgery) but I still mangaged to get stuff up. We then had to wait at Walgreens for my medicine (I left them a little package in there trash out side). Getting me up the stairs to our house would be hilarious to anyone watching. When I do leave next they may have to drive up to the back deck to get me out. They brought me this knee bender machine, it makes you bend your knee whether you want to or not. It actually wasn't to bad, tollerable and it will make me heal better I'm all for it. I am doing much better today but I've had to use some muscles I don't normally so they are a little sore. A little ice and some codine and I will be just fine.

How Steve got banned from the kitchen

In case you were wondering about the previous post, let me break it down for you:
Short version: Steve started a small kitchen fire on our stove, melting our *brand new* microwave.
Long version: Steve saw one of my Yankee candles on the counter, and noticed that even though the wick was almost gone, there was still some wax in it. Then he got a brilliant idea. He put the candle in the oven and melted the wax. Then, once the wax was good and liquified, he poured it in a tin cake pan on the stove top and turned the burner on low- voila, automatic aroma therapy! Then, he left the room for a while. Something in the wax was evidently flammable, because when he walked back into the kitchen, our favoritist microwave ever was in flames along with the surrounding cabinets, which we were also quite fond of. To hear him relive his 911 phone call is also quite hilarious, but I am hungry and want to get dinner, so maybe it will be a conversation for New Years.
Now you understand why Steve isn't allowed in my kitchen anymore...

Don't Try This at Home

Wow-Just Like Atlanta

I wish I'd had my camera ready...

Spotted this a.m. going through the intersection of Thornton Road and
Riverside Parkway: two port-a-johns on the back of a flatbed truck, one with
about 20 feet of toilet paper streaming along behind.

Wonder if, when the driver got to his destination, people made fun of him
for going out in public with toilet paper stuck to his can.

I Like Mike, BUT...

I like Mike Huckabee for President for many reasons, but being endorsed by former North High School alumnus Chuck Norris is not one of them.

Thanksgiving

I miss you all and hope to see at least some of you (all if I have my way) on New Years. So while I'm boohooing over Y'all what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving? We are going over to Gary's Niece's house again for a traditional dinner. I'm bringing cranberry waldorf salad (I found the recipe that Aunt Janet sent to me - probably repeatedly), and sweet potatoes. Basically I get to cook the fun stuff. Not that I mind roasting a turkey. It's just that it never seems to be quite thawed out when it's time to prep it and you have to practically pry the neck out with a crow bar.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, does anyone besides me loath marshmallows on them? I'm a purist. Just roast em' and hand me the butter and I'm good to go.

Happy Birthday Adrian

Today is special for two reasons - it is Veterans Day, the day we honor all our veterans for the service to our country (unlike tomorrow when it's celebrated by giving government and bank employees the day off work and more parades for cities who wouldn't have them Sunday due to a Titans home game!), and nineteen years ago today a "little" 8.15 oz boy was born. Five months later it was predicted by his Nana Dina "Lisa He's gonna be shorter than you Father!" In spite of being a holy terror to teachers and students alike he grew into a fine young man, and at 6' 5" easily proved his Nana wrong. I hope you enjoyed your cake Aunt Jonna made you and that she remembered to take the giblets out before she put it in the oven. Just kidding Jonna!

This day 24 years ago...

Stephen Michael Dudley was born!

@ Douglas County Courthouse

Ibuprofen Is My Friend

Little Miss Lea Anna has been watching home decorating shows with me and has expressed quite a bit of interest in repainting her room - the one with all the blue sparkly wall paper in it. And an ugly border under it. The paper that I had planned on leaving up till I could either borrow Sis' steamer or until it biodegraded on it's own. Twice she peeled strips of it off the wall "because it was loose Mommy". Coincidence? I think not. Gary, Daniel and I spent all afternoon stripping it off. And while it came off much easier than I had thought, this is after I had did all that walking last night and had spent time this morning digging holes in the yard. Since we were so busy Lea Anna also got away with sitting spacing out half the day on Cartoon Network eating lord only knows how much candy. She's awfully calm for a sugared up child though. Regardless of the pain I am in, it feels great to finally finish a project that I have started and on top of that we found some really good paint - blush pink, for five bucks a gallon.