Category Archives: Jana

January 25, 2010 · 11:14 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – All grown up… almost

Friday morning at nine o’clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made…

– John Lennon & Paul McCartney

If you have been reading along you know that my daughter left for semester abroad last week. I cannot put into words how wonderful it was to have her home this last month. The teenager that went off to college is long gone and a lovely, grounded, charming young woman came home in her place. She is all grown up.

Well, almost.

The day she was leaving I came upstairs to check on her last minute packing. There I found her carry-on in the hallway. And tucked away in between the hair mousse and the laptop, strapped in tight, was Chetley. Her main man since birth. Yes we realize ‘he’ is dressed in pink, many shades and patterns of it as a matter of fact as I have reconstructed his body on more than one occasion in the past 20 years.

If you know Jana personally, you surely know the Chetmeister. He has been through it all with her, the good and the bad. He sat perched on her bed at camp, from the first day as a nine-year-old to the last day as Senior Group Leader. When she was  a frightened five-year-old going into the hospital for neurosurgery to ‘get her neck fixed’, good old Chet went with her and sported a bandage on the back of his neck till her stitches came out. He proudly went off to college with her… this bear is a Badger through and through. And if I am not mistaken, Jew that he is, I think he even followed along on Birthright to Israel last summer. All that considered I don’t know why I imagined he would stay behind while she embarked on the adventure of her lifetime.

I truly had this whole going abroad thing under control all along. Gary and I are both so happy that she is able to have this experience. Many parents asked me if I was sad or nervous about her going. I am surely neither. I love her wings and the fact that she loves to use them.

But standing there at the top of the stairs, hours before we left for the airport, the sight of that teddy bear with his arm around the laptop just about did me in. Jana then and now just flashed before my eyes. Right in front of the door she slammed so often as a preteen that the latch is loose, sat the evidence that she was all grown up; and not completely – all at one moment.

They call them comfort items. The stuffed animals or blankets that children form an attachment to and use to self-soothe when they are young. Why has no one invented a comfort item for the moms when they find themselves in a moment like this.

Oh, that’s right, they call that VODKA!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 21, 2010 · 10:29 pm

¿dónde está el cuarto de baño?

At pivotal times in the lives of our offspring we feel compelled to impart some wisdom. We can’t help ourselves. As parents we are convinced that no matter how competent our children have become, they still need that last bit of advice from us as they jet off to exciting new destinations.

Tonight Jana left for semester abroad in Sevilla Spain. We were driving back from lunch when I told her that I wanted to give her some words of wisdom. All I could think of was:

¿dónde está el baño? , which I thought meant ‘where is the bathroom’ but in fact it means ‘where is the bath’. Great! So now not only am I being a total pain in the ass, I am giving her the wrong information. I also told her to ask ¿tienes mantequilla? , which may or may not mean ‘do you have butter’ in case they gave her dry toast. This was only because mantequilla rhymes with Sevilla and I thought that was entertaining.

As you can imagine there was quite a bit of eye rolling in the car.

So that’s it for now on the semester abroad updates (since some dentist that will go nameless seems to think I am acting like too much of a mom blogger and would like more MFTA stuff).

Unless of course till Time to Cry Tuesday…

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 19, 2010 · 8:14 pm

Chip off the old blog

The day my daughter was born I held her in my arms, looked into her eyes and thought, ‘Damn I hope she grows up to be a blogger someday’.

Ok, perhaps 20 years ago there was no such thing as a blogger. Come to think of it there was no mainstream internet to speak of. But I was a visionary.

Today, I am proud to announce my daughter has started her first blog. It will chronicle her semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. Yes I am thrilled that she embraced the idea of blogging and yes, I am jealous as hell.

She is funny (not just because I am her mom, she really is), and she already gave me a shout out in her first post. Since she has sufficiently sucked up – and because I am her mom – I thought that it was my duty to give her some link love. You can find her at Jaña en España (cute, right?).

Hop on over and show her some love.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 17, 2010 · 10:07 pm

Did you call me a Hotard?!

Situation: The family riding on the downtown streetcar in New Orleans. Me, chattering away about how much I love the architecture and similar thoughts on how interesting the city is.

Jana: Hotard!

Me: What?!! Did you just call me a hotard?

Jana: What? What the heck is a hotard? I was just reading the name on the back of that bus in front of us.

Me: Oh, sorry, I thought that was another one of those words you guys make up. Like the camp language.

Jana: Oh, jeez!

So then we got to talk about what a hotard would be and how it was wrong on so many levels. Think about it. Break that baby down. ‘ho. ‘tard. Both, SO not ok.

Hey, you can’t blame me for thinking this was another one of those slang words my kids seem to know the meaning of and are always trying to explain to me. Like just the other day they spent all sorts of time explaining to me what a meep was.

Now if only I wasn’t such a hotard I might remember what they said.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 13, 2010 · 9:33 pm

Driver’s License Update

Ok, so I admit it. I went and tried a second time to secure an acceptable driver’s license photo. And no it did not work out well…

AGAIN!

For those who have not read the beginning of this saga you can read about it here.

I know, give it up bee-otch. Maybe you really are that ugly. Maybe you do have the neck the size of a linebacker. But seriously, I really don’t look that bad in person.

Jana came home from school and decided that she, too, was not happy with her photo. (starting to see a pattern here?). The Monday between Christmas and New Year’s we lost our minds and were unconscious enough to not realize the entire universe was off that week and at least three-quarters of that said universe thought DMV biz was a good idea. So off we went to have the pictures taken and then sit on the bench watching the numbers roll by on the monitors for somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour and forty-five minutes. I know, what a lovely bonding afternoon for the reunited college girl and her mom. Hey, it was a great place to people watch.

Finally we get called up. She pays her 17 some odd dollars and then I go to my window.

Clerk: Can I have your old license please?

Me: Look at that picture! Isn’t it awful?

Clerk: Really, do you think anyone looks at these?

Me: C’mon, admit it is awful

Clerk: Does it REALLY matter?

Me: Ok, I am vain. There I admitted it.

Clerk: Thanks, that’s all I wanted from you.

I swear, that was the conversation. Then she proceeds to tell me that I do not have to pay because you have 6 months to keep retaking your photo for free.

Me: For real?!!

Clerk: Now, ma’am, please do not become a serial DMV photo taker.

Regarding the photo at the top of this post:

I was playing around with the Mac’s photobooth features and decided that posterized would be the preferable filter for me to use on all official documents. What do you think? Kind of babe-ish in this shot, right? In a maybe a you swallowed a lava lamp sort of way, but I kind of like it.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 5, 2010 · 9:10 pm

Verizon Rocks

Seriously, you don’t hear that often, right? Always complaining about not getting what you need from giant Telecom? Well I would like to personally thank Veronica at Verizon customer service (no joke, I wonder if all the CS peops are alliterations), who felt my mom pain and allowed us an early upgrade on my daughter’s blackberry to an international Tour so she can BBM us from her semester abroad.

When does this happen? Um, hardly ever. For me anyway. It’s usually all sorts of fighting and carrying on to not get what you need. Thankfully Verizon recognized my family’s superior status as a quality customer and showed us some mercy. Either that or poor Veronica simply felt bad for me. Big Telecom with a personal touch, how lovely.

For those unfamiliar, BBM is Blackberry Messenger. This is like texting but it is internet-based and you do not pay per message. To translate that into dollars and cents, international texts, are 99 cents each, national are 54 cents. Let’s be conservative and assume she would only text the boyfriend three times a day (unlikely), her other assorted friends that she is traveling with 5 times a day, and us, well probably once a week or when there was a problem. That would be around $818 for the five months she is away. Yeh, crazy right? And those were conservative estimates.

These few little comments could have helped me get what we needed:

  1. Veronica, are you a mom? Ok, well imagine your daughter being in a foriegn country and not being able to stay in touch.
  2. You know Veronica, I am a rabid Apple user. I want an iphone more than anything but I won’t ever leave Verizon.
  3. What? You need to ask your supervisor? Oh, is she a mom? Tell her as a mom I would really appreciate her consideration on an early upgrade to help my family out.
  4. And my favorite of all times which really made her happy: Veronica, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!

The moral of this story? If you are persistent, personable and play on the mommy heartstrings you can usually move mountains. But you all new that already!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 3, 2010 · 9:10 pm

A Striking Family Resemblance

Ever since my daughter has been home from school we have noticed that the dog is beginning to look quite a bit like her. What do you think?

Oh, Jana is the one with the glasses.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under college, humor, Jana, mel, pets, photography

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December 27, 2009 · 11:04 pm

Career Choices

The scene:

Driving to a family gathering. Jana is cranky.

Me: What’s the problem, why so cranky?

Jana: Because everyone will ask about college, my major, my trip abroad and what I want to do with my life.

Gary: Just tell them you want to be a stripper.

Got to hand it to him, that is pretty damn good advice. Kind of nips that conversation in the bud.

Sure enough, someone asked her that question right off the bat. And to tell you the truth, it worked! Although he did ask why you needed to go to college for 4 years to do that.

Some people have no sense of humor.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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December 22, 2009 · 9:21 pm

Let’s Play Holiday Air Travel – A Reality Show

Flying. It just plain sucks these days. Weather, no weather, it’s all the same. Delays, cancellations, cranky passengers, bag fees, no meals… no fun.

Today, Jana played the third installment of fly home at Christmastime from a school in the Midwest.

After a huge snowstorm that crippled the east coast airports.

With very heavy luggage.

Now that the stage is set here is how the reality show went. These were the parameters: Connecting flights through Milwaukee. Two different airlines (thanks studentuniverse.com). Ok, flight one is delayed 1 hour. Flight 2 is delayed only 1/2 hour. Here is the catch, airline one will neither check the bag through to final destination, nor will they assign a seat on flight two (airline two). She is now required to do the following:

1. take delayed flight #1.

2. retrieve bags at baggage claim.

3. go to airline #2 ticketing desk to check bag (pay fee and heavy surchage AGAIN – bags flew for more money than she did)

4. get seat assignment.

5. go back through security.

6. arrive at gate and board plane.

All this had to be achieved in under 45 minutes. Now THAT is what I call incredible customer service! Jeez, can they be any more alienating?

I placed a little over/under on Facebook but I am happy to report she is now seated on flight 2 (behind a crying baby, of course) and on her way home.

Hey, at least her next flight will be to Europe for semester abroad. I am sure connecting flights in Madrid will go much smoother. Imagine, the Telemundo version in Spanish!

2/23 UPDATE:

To the idiot behind the counter at Airtran in Milwaukee… thanks for your undying lack of compassion, completely inexcusable lack of customer service and your totally inane comment of, “There is no way either you OR your bag will make this flight.” Seriously, do they give you a handbook on how to be a total creep when you do your training? Oh and of course, thanks also for being the slowest moving damn ticket agent in the midwest, just to add insult to injury. No thanks to you, she AND her bag made it. Perhaps that was due to the good nature of each and every person on the security line that let her cut through, and a great pair of 20-year-old legs that sprinted to (of course) the furthest gate in the airport.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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December 21, 2009 · 11:04 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – 55 precious minutes from the past

These days we take for granted the ease in which we document and share our memories. With digital cameras, smartphones and flip video we can share a moment in real-time with our entire network of friends and family without giving it much thought. Our children do not know a time when photos and videos were not shared before the sun rose on another day.

But back in 1974, just one lone Yale film student was cool enough to have a Super 8 camera at the summer camp I have written about so lovingly before. And that super(8), cool guy just happened to be my husband’s co-counselor and dear friend. As luck would have it, this Time to Cry Tuesday happens to be his birthday. So, Steve, this one is for you.

After thirty-five years, most probably buried in a box at his parent’s house, Steve uncovered an artifact like no other. The very Super 8 film that he shot in the summer of 1974. He burned a bunch of DVDs of that most incredible piece of history and shipped it back east to those of us that he knew would love it the most. Thanks to Dr. Jimmy as courier, we are now in possession of a copy of these 55 precious minutes from the past.

For those who have not read my gushing posts about this very special sleepaway camp, it is a place where 3 generations of my family have attended (yes, my mom went there). So did my husband, his siblings, my cousin as well as both our kids. The friends we made there are counted amongst some of our closest friends today, and their children are friends with ours. Ok, so my daughter’s boyfriend is the son of one of them, too. There it is all out in the open. One big happy family.

We watched this amazing footage with our son the other night. His love for the place is as strong as ours. And there, in silence as there was no soundtrack on Super 8, were the younger versions of ourselves and people we have known for all these years. To see the place in action, as it was back then, was such a gift. Not just to ourselves, but to our son as well. He hears the stories and knows the way we feel about the place, but for him to see that history come to life was such a joy. There we were, his age! Seeing not what has changed so much as what has remained exactly the same – the essence of the place. The traditions. The love. The complete and utter freedom to just BE. And do it with passion.

This young man of a generation that documents every move it makes stopped and sat in awe of a generation that was so very lucky to have that one lone Yale film student who took the time to painstakingly piece together that carefree summer for all eternity. In his own words:

I can’t believe it’s been hidden as if in the Grateful Dead vault for 35 years. But as that was my last summer of camp, it’s frozen in time for me there. I remember the fall of ’74… I spent three months cutting the thin little slivers of Regular 8 film on a tiny film viewer and splicing them together with tape.

Thank you, dear birthday boy, for giving us all back that magical summer, and letting us share it with our children.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visitLeaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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