I broke my toe again!
Jen

Sammy the fish @ pizza king!
Jen

Me & sammy, the fish, a friend of OJ
Jen

Friends, Bosses, Kids and Spring!

The past week has been a blur of activity. I've spent most of my spare time getting quotes from payroll services, putting together a orientation packet for the new program director and taking care of my family.

I spent last Thursday evening with my college friend Amy. She flew in from CA to Indy, so she could run in the mini-marathon. Started out with a lovely dinner at her brother's house with her parents and her two little girls. They are absolutely the cutest little girls next to OJ, of course! Sometimes after not seeing someone for a few years, conversations can be hard to start. It didn't seem to happen to us. We talked about our families mostly, but we also talked about our college days, old boyfriends, old acquaintances and just how different we are now from then. I think I could have talked to her all night if it wasn't for the fact that my kids were getting tired and they both had school the next day. It was a very nice evening. Someday, I'm going to have to go to CA and visit for a longer period of time.

I know I said that I would not talk about "my job" on my blog. But I find it hard not to talk about it. It is a part of me. I'm doing something that I like even if it stresses me a little. I have been so busy with working on stuff for the board that I feel I'm being dishonest if I don't talk about it a little bit. So, maybe if I can talk about it but not mention the name of the group, maybe that will keep the "not so nice" people from being rude to me. So, what do you think?

Last Friday, JC's class had a field trip to the zoo. OJ played hooky from preschool and we met up with him and his class. We had fun! It rained a little but not too much. We got to pet the sharks! It was cool! They have new bears at the zoo. The polar bear and the two Kodiak bears are young. They were fun to watch! The two Kodiak bears were wrestling around and I got it on video, I'll post it soon.

On the way to preschool today, it really felt like spring! Last summer when we had the flood a lot of houses were damaged that ran south of the courthouse. I believe that the City of Franklin bought those houses. I heard they were thinking of turning the area into a park, I don't know if its true, it is just something I heard through the grapevine. Any hoo, there were "City of Franklin" trucks sitting around this brick home (South & Main) that I love, taking the wooden patio off of the back of the home. If they are tearing it down, I will be sad, It is a lovely old home and it has interesting architecture on the roof, I guess I should get a picture of it, huh!

But everywhere I looked there were people digging up dirt, planting flowers, walking the dog, riding a bike, ahhhh, spring is here and the winter blues is lifting! Isn't life grand?

State police investigate bank fraud

http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/news_wthi_claycity_police_investigate_bank_fraud_200904221145
You know the world is going downhill when someone can commit fraud in my small hometown of Clay City, IN. The guy has guts to show his face.

Indiana State Museum over Spring Break

Me kissing a gargoyle. They're supposed to be good luck.

My own little gargoyles!

His Ben 10 Pinewood Derby Car.

I have no idea what she was doing. Just being goofy, I guess!

The Children's Museum over Spring Break

Above, OJ and JC posing with one of the Star Wars Figures at the Children's Museum.

Lego Castle @ Children's Museum

The Knight above and the dragon below - all made from Legos. Cool, huh?

Spring Break is over!

The last week has been a busy week. Eric took 2 days off from work and we spent them going to museums and to see a movie. The Children's Museum was packed. Every man and his brother was there and it was just a parent's nightmare. I haven't liked going there since Mom & I lost JC in the train exhibit. The next day we went to see Aliens vs. Monsters, it was good for the most part, there was a section that I didn't appreciate but otherwise good. Then Saturday, we went to the Indiana State Museum, so JC could run his pinewood derby car down the 2-story track that they have set up in the main floor. In both races, his car came in in 2nd, not bad! I don't think the pictures have been downloaded from the camera as soon as they are I will put them up.

Busy week for me; I have a board meeting tonight, tomorrow I get the test results from a biospy that I had done three weeks ago and then just catching up on laundry and housework, oh yeah, and soccer practice. Both kids have soccer games this Saturday. Well, toodle-loo, see ya around.

People's opinion 2...

The reason the title of this post is People's opinion 2 is because this is the second draft of a post that I wrote last Tuesday. That post was full of anger, hate, and shock. I've always known that what I write about is not for everyone. It is mostly about me, my kids, my husband, and that dang dog of ours. The people that read this blog are either related to me, friends with me or just happen to stumble or googled upon me.

I write this blog for my own piece of mind. There are people out there that are going through similar things and they throw me a piece of advice or encouragement to help me get through it.

Well, a woman emailed the non-profit group I work with that my blog reflected badly upon them. That the blog was full of me wondering through my neuroses, depression, PMS, and I was very foul-mouthed. Because of that, she felt that my blog reflected badly on them, especially since I'm representing a Christian-based group. She then went on to list several posts that she felt were inappropriate.

Well, I looked over those posts and so did the staff from National and they felt that the woman was nit-picking and being petty. Still, it is a concern for them and well as for me, I love this organization and I don't ever want to put them in a bad light. So, I removed the posts that had the name of my non-profit organization in them. From now on, nothing that has to do with the group will be posted here. Personal and Work shall not mix again.

Some might think that I'm letting this petty person win. Maybe. I like to think that I'm blowing a big raspberry at her now. Lady, Mrs. V, you can not bring me down. I am a good leader. I am growing into my leadership shoes and they are fitting just fine. I may fall, but I always get back up. One day, I will be a great leader and there is not a thing you can do about it.

I forgive you for your pettiness, cattiness, and most importantly for you judging me when you don't even know me!

Sincerely,
Jen Tullis
Board Chair

A beautiful day...

Last Friday was such a beautiful day, that OJ and I spent some time that afternoon goofin' around. Here are some pictures:

The lilac bush with buds on it.

The irises and myrtle that is on the south side of the house are already coming up.

I choose...

My friend, AmyM, sent this to me. I liked it, so I thought I would post it. It reminded me of a book I've been reading about parenting. The book is called Parenting with Love & Logic, it is on the right on my shelfari.com list. The book is all about getting your kids to think about the choices they make. Some of the ways to do that is to give the kids the choice and let them learn from their choice. For instance, "Tommy, do you want to wear your coat or do you want to leave it?" Well, if Tommy is being a brat that doesn't want to put on his coat, he may choose to leave his coat at home. By the time, you get in the car and are on your way to whereever, little Tommy has realized that he is cold and he should have put on his coat. The next time you leave the house, he'll be the first one in his coat. Every decision has a consequence and the sooner they learn that the better off they will be. Of coarse, it is taking a lot of practice and patience for me to let my kid make the decision, but I have seen improvement on the amount of talking back I get on a daily basis.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!
You can't be a positive person all of the time How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.' 'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked. He continued, '...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity!"

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

No Yahoo!, No Facebook! What!??????????

I'm very close to throwing this machine out the door. I know Eric, not until we do a backup. I'm not sure if it is Embarq, which I doubt considering I can get into the public library, shelfari, and blogger pages, or if the computer has a virus, or if there is something wrong with Yahoo or Facebook. I doubt that as well, because Eric forwarded me my most recent emails from my Yahoo account and others have stated that they are getting into Facebook.

So for now, I shall continue to beat my head against the desk while I dream of throwing this PC out and buying a Mac. Lord help anyone who gets in my way!