Don in the hospital

Well, since Jeni's birthday things have been a little wild. Jeni's dad had to have quadruple bypass surgery on Jeni's birthday, so we rushed up to Toledo, Ohio the next day to be there. He was in the ICU for six days, and finally moved into a step-down room today. He had some blood pressure, blood clot and kidney issues that needed to be resolved before he could be moved from the ICU. Chris flew up Wednesday night, so he was with us from Thursday to Saturday night, but he had to fly back home Sunday morning. I drove home Sunday -- 11 hours, most of it on I-77. I looked at a map and saw that I drove all but 17 miles of I-77 in Ohio and 21 miles of I-77 in South Carolina.

Jeni is staying up in Ohio to help with Don. Plans are just day-by-day right now. Please keep Don in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers, and Jeni and Chris too.

Happy Birthday Jeni!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENI!

We had a blast last weekend with Jeni's roller derby birthday. Nikki and Todd came in from Atlanta, and Lisa and Brian came over, and Tiff, Bill, Barbara, Tish and Susan all joined in going to watch the QuadSquad. Jeni got some great kitchen stuff she'd been wanting ... some square pans from Nikki that she needed, and an ice cream maker from Tiff and Lisa that she'd been wanting for a long time. Now we have homemade ice cream -- YUM!

Tonight Jeni and I are going out for a nice dinner for her birthday.

Thanks to everyone who joined in to make Jeni's birthday a fun one! I need to upload some birthday pictures to Flickr and I'll post those soon.

Week in Review

We've been real busy with so many things going on lately. The blog should be a chronicle of what's happening in our lives, but somehow our lives got so busy that the blog got left behind. This last week has been full and exciting.

Last Friday was opening night for Caroline or Change at Workshop Theatre. Jeni is the co-producer of the play, as well as doing props and stepping in to help stage manage when necessary.


Here's a shot from after opening night of Jeni with Caroline (the musical director) and Jocelyn (the director) Jocelyn (the lead, Caroline), LaToya (the radio), Jeni, and Anna (grandma). We have more pictures from the show, and afterward, on Flickr. The show has been a fun experience for Jeni, but very exhausting and time-consuming, too. Jeni may have to step in and help stage manage this weekend, which may interrupt our plans to visit with Lisa for her birthday.

On Tuesday, I donated some blood -- seven vials, to be exact -- for genetic testing. Back in 1998 Jeni and I registered with the National Bone Marrow Program as possible donors. There was someone in Davenport who was in need. We weren't a match -- didn't really expect to be, honestly. But then last week, 11 years later, we got a phone call. Apparently, I might be a match for a five-year-old boy. So they're doing some more specific testing of certain genetic markers (there's a pdf here, if you are really curious). So I guess it's wait and see time, now. It's pretty humbling to get a call like that.

Last night, Jeni, Tiff and I went to see Coraline while it is still in 3D. I really wanted to see it in the theatre to experience the "Real3D" effect. It was pretty cool. I was really impressed with the movie. I'm glad the Jonas Brothers Movie tanked so we got a second chance to see Coraline (since there are only so many 3D screens to go around ... Monsters vs Aliens takes over tomorrow). If you go see Coraline tonight (and you should) sit through to the very end of the credits for the best 3D effect of the whole movie. I think at that point they were just showing off.


Here I am with buttons for eyes ... I always felt this picture of me was a little creepy before the buttons, but the buttons sure make a difference. You can trade your eyes for buttons, too, here.

So I guess this was a Caroline/Coraline themed week.

I'm going to try to keep the updates more regular. I still owe a post about Gracie and Clara Ann's birthday party, too.

Caroline or Change

Jeni has spent the last few months working as the co-producer for Caroline or Change at Workshop Theatre. Opening night was last Friday, and it went very well. It was so nice to be able to sit and see all the hard work from everyone involved come together into a wonderful show. Jeni posted some pictures on Flickr today. I'll leave it to Jeni to write about the experience of producing a play. I know it was hard work, and rewarding work. I'm very proud of her -- she helped create something memorable.

Roller derby and bowling

This is a post that should have been made before now because the night was so great, but wasn't written because this has been a busy week. (Jeni is co-producing a play at Workshop Theatre which is keeping her running around with her hair on fire right now, so while she's in a meeting I'll try to get this up.)

Last Saturday Jeni and I, along with Lisa, Brian, their friend Breck, Tiff and her friend Kirby, all went to the roller derby and then bowling. Back in early January I found out we had a roller derby team and instantly we knew we had to go. This is by far the best $10 we have spent in a long long time. The whole night was just way too much fun. Honestly, I think we did as much people watching as derby watching, but by the end of the night we had scoring and strategy mostly figured out.


Here we are before the night began in our semi-matching t-shirts. We were expecting more of a rock crowd and less of a punk crowd.


As an added bonus to the roller derby, there was a wedding before the bout.


All the team members had personas with fun names, like Mel Anoma, seen here coming out of the penalty box. There was a lot of penalty box time.


This was one of my favorite pictures, featuring Shiv Tyler and her "Get Some" pants, again coming out of the penalty box.


Afterward, Breck went around and got autographs and pictures with the QuadSquad rollergirls. Crystal Cutt was his favorite, and with much right because she kicked butt.


Here we are after the bout, looking even happier than before. This picture was taken by a girl who, unfortunately, did not wash her hands before leaving the bathroom. Jeni was really asking the girl beside her, who did wash her hands, to take the picture, but the other one offered faster. (We wiped the camera off real good.)


After the roller derby bout we went bowling. Don't ask me why sitting on the floor at the bowling alley seemed like a good idea. This is the group picture including Nikki, who was out with Morgan and a limo full of 13-year-olds and couldn't be here in person.


As the night went on they black lights came on at the bowling alley.


Jeni wore Tiff's QuadSquad bandana as a doo rag until someone asked her what gang she was in and Jeni decided it was best to take it off. (We were leaving at that point anyway.)

We have a whole set on Flickr of the best of our roller derby pictures, so check them out. We'll be doing it again in March, except that it'll be on a Sunday so probably less of a big night. But it was just too much fun. We really can't stop talking about it.

Our trip to Kelly's tuba recital in Cincinnati

Jeni and I went up to Cincinnati, then over the the University of Miami (Ohio), last weekend to see Kelly's senior music recital. It was a very nice weekend and Kelly did an excellent job. It was a treat to see her in her element, and around her peers.


This is Kelly with her friend Rob.


And her friend Emily, who played piano with Kelly during two pieces of the recital.


Doug and Cathy also flew up for the recital so we were able to get a rare picture of most of us (minus Doug and Cathy's kids) actually dressed up and looking presentable.


It snowed on us Saturday morning. This is Sassy out in the snow in the back yard. The news called for a "light dusting" of snow, but for us Southerners, one to two inches qualifies as more than a dusting. Jeni and I managed to slide through two intersections Saturday morning while running errands (not my fault ... I was driving very carefully, but there was black ice). We were very fortunate because a few minutes later we saw a wreck at one intersection that we slid through.


This is Jeni's favorite picture from the weekend. We were hanging some clothes in the closet and we found my old cowboy hat from when I was about seven living in New Orleans (OK, don't ask why I needed a cowboy hat ... it was 1979.) So of course I had to try it on. Fits good, huh?


(Well, it used to fit!)


Jeni's second-most favorite picture from the weekend.


Sassy has always liked Jeni, but she liked Jeni even more when Jeni was in the kitchen chopping the turkey for the reception. Sassy is 14 now and she's a little slower but still as spunky as ever.


Runway lights leaving Charlotte.


It wasn't really supposed to be dark when we flew from Charlotte to Columbia, but after a few delays and our layover turning from 90 minutes to five hours, we were able to get these cool pictures. I'm glad Jeni took these. They turned out really cool. She took a bunch of extended exposure shots, but these are two of my favorites.

Banana bread contest

Jeni was invited to enter her Grandma Staker's Banana Bread recipe into a banana bread contest. If you've known Jeni long enough, you've had her banana bread, and you know how good it is, so please go over and give her a vote.

Here's the recipe on her kitchen blog.

Back from Ocean Isle

Jeni and I had a great week at Ocean Isle with my parents and Doug's family. We can't thank my parents enough for all they did to make this week at the beach happen. They created this chance for Jeni and I to take Amy and Evan into the ocean (their very first time in the salt water -- Amy: "There's an awful lot of salt in this water" after taking in a mouthful), and we got to spend an entire week with our nieces and nephews, which was such a rare opportunity for us, and one we will always treasure.


You can see in the picture that everyone was out having fun on the beach, soaking in the sun, Jeni of course with the best tan.


We celebrated Jeni's birthday while we were there, too. What better way to spend her birthday than sitting on the beach, then coming in for cake and presents? She got a really cool crab picture from my parents and some great craft items from Doug and Cathy and the kids. Kelly also sent some good souvenirs from her trip to Greece for us.


I got her a string of pearls for her birthday. Now I just need to take her out so she can wear them.

I have a funny story about the "Flying Umbrella of Death" but when I typed it out it wasn't quite as funny as it was when I was thinking about what I would type while sitting on the beach. So maybe I'll retell it tomorrow...

[More pictures are up on Flickr]

Jeni, the cheerleader judge

Jeni is heading over to Camden to help judge the middle school cheerleader tryouts. I can't wait to hear how that goes. She gets to break some girls' hearts and make some girls' dreams come true. There are at least 27 girls trying out, in groups of four. She's looking at at least 2-1/2 hours of tryouts. I think she'll have her fill of hip hop music and pumpin' up the jam. Tiffany warned her to watch out for the crazy cheerleader moms -- good advice, for sure!

Long-overdue post

I've been a little lax lately about making some posts. Maybe I focus more on the cat's blog because, well, honestly, it's more fun, we get more visitors and more comments -- plus, come on, they're cats and demand the attention. But I feel I owe my life a post or two, too.

Jeni is still up in Bluefield with Lisa and Brian, helping out with the girls while Lisa deals with her family and the loss of her uncle CD to cancer. We actually saw snow on Sunday in Bluefield, which is crazy to have snow on April 13. Jeni said it continue after I left, and that Monday there was visible accumulation on the top of the mountain. It was nice to go back to Bluefield and have a hot dog from Dairy Queen done right, with the sides of the buns cut and toasted. It just tastes better. And we also went to Trey King, the local Chinese restaurant. Some of the comforts of home. Still, it's odd to drive past Jeni's old house and see the old pine trees cut down. But Bluefield, despite the growth and changes, is always going to remain Bluefield, and that is equally sad and comforting.

I think I would starve, or sustain on cereal, if I was single. It's not that I can't cook, but that I lose my appetite when I'm home alone. I guess I'm spoiled by having Jeni, who loves to cook, and does it so well.

You know, people on the internet can be so nice, and caring. Today is Jasper's birthday. He's six today. I uploaded a bunch of old kitten pictures of Jasper to Flickr that Jeni had scanned in, and I got a very concerned email from one of our contacts who noticed that I posted all these kitten pictures of Jasper. She was concerned that maybe he was in ill health. And that is so cool, and touching, and makes me appreciate the effort we put into posting pictures and cultivating some of these online relationships, because there are good people out there.

I wandered over to the Fabulist, which is one of my favorite websites to kill time on, because they always manage to direct me somewhere else interesting. And now, I am going to send you somewhere interesting too... (right after I change songs...)

I claim no originality in finding these links, they all came from the Fabulist, but they are cool, so check them out. First, at The Plug, Jay left a disposable camera tied to a bench, with a note asking for people to take pictures with it, and that he would return that night. And he posted the pictures. (Pictures are from Virginia Highlands in Atlanta) Also at The Plug is the certificate of "The Best I've Seen All Day" which is just nice, really, to see people pleased for being acknowledged, and a very funny story about how he tried to use a message in a bottle to decide if he should continue with The Plug, or to give it up.

And then there was the link to the inflatable mattress that looks like a slice of toast, just because.

Or the Black Cab Sessions, concerts performed in the back of London taxis. I guess this is the evolution of Cash Cab.

OK, maybe that will make up for the lack of posts by me. Maybe I'll surprise you and post again tomorrow. (This rambling is what you get when Jeni goes out of town and I have a whole lunch hour to listen to TMBG and type.)

"I have been very nice this year, but my brother...he's another story"

"I have been very nice this year, but my brother...he's another story"
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Since I've been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, I decided to look through some old pictures. When I looked back at all these pictures I started seeing all the pictures of my brother Chris and I. Seeing our little Christmas outfits, sitting on Santa's lap, and pictures of my mom and my grandparents really made me start thinking of Christmases past.

One specific Christmas I remember was the year that we got our pinball machine. Not a toy pinball machine, but a full arcade size pinball machine. I know the name on it said Chris, but I'm pretty sure Santa made a mistake and forgot to put my name on it. (I got a dollhouse that year.) I loved that pinball machine. I love the smell of the wood when you would open the door to get your nickles out. And watching all the lights blink on and off as the steel ball would roll on. Or how the lights all went out when you tilted it. And how Fluffy loved to chase the ball all around. I can still hear the sound of the spring being pulled back, the smack of the ball, and the flippers clicking in my head. That was a very good Christmas.

I won't get all nostalgic on here, but it was sort of mixed bag of emotions -- I guess anything that holds such special meaning to you always is.

Dean and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. May the new year bring you joy, love, peace, and happiness.

If I were in the Simpsons...

Jeni ... Simpsonized ...

Kitchen Sherpa

Jeni's kitchen blog -- Kitchen Sherpa -- is up with it's first recipe! Check it out, and then check back for more great recipes and kitchen tips.

Dirty Girl

So this is what I looked like after working about two hours with the pressure washer. Sadly Dean had to spray me down twice in the backyard during the process. It was probably one of the dirtiest jobs I've ever done.

In Mike Rowe fashion, say it ... I'm a dirty girl.