One of the few perks of having a name that begins with the letter "A" is that I always come first in programmed lists on others cell phones. Whether they like it or not, my name is like a trump card. I'm trying to figure out a way to beat out all the Alex-es, Allie-es, and Ada-es of the world. Maybe I will drop all the letters in my name except for the "A." That's right. Oprah is O...I am A. I noticed that my relatives...The Fabulous Fondrens...have added me to their links of blogs, and as you may have guessed, I top the list. Jay got a new cell phone one time that organized the address book by something other than first name. I made him change my settings so that I showed up as number one. Sadly competitive. I've begged Jay to make my epitaph read, "At least she tried." When I was 13, I decided that I wanted to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Please, keep the "poor kid" comments to yourself. Wes told me that if I ever won it, he would learn to play the harpsichord for my mother's funeral. In an effort to help attain world peace (I know, "poor kid"), I have placed bets on various charities. By bets, I mean concerted efforts to further the cause of the organization. The housing ministry was my first bet. I have been thrilled with the response and results of being involved in Habitat for Humanity and three different international housing ministries. Then, there was my quest to get the "Anytown" meter maid fired. Wait, that wasn't a charity, but it would've helped countless citizens who work around downtown "anytown." You see, downtown "anytown" is comprised entirely of two-hour spaces, so if you work in downtown, you have to go out every two hours and move your car or risk a five dollar ticket. I prepared a lovely study for the city detailing the fact that no matter how many tickets the meter maid writes, the revenue from said tickets does not cover her salary and the repairs to the golf cart looking thing she drives. I got the info for her salary from the CAFR for our local government. A CAFR is a comprehensive annual financial report. Most municipalities and publicly owned properties are required to produce these reports. It's public info. You wouldn't invest in the stock of a company without checking on the performance of the company. I don't invest my tax dollars in a city without checking on it's performance. Aside over. So, I sent my extremely long report to the city. I even included another option. Sell parking decals to the employers in downtown for $50 a year. The decals would have to be turned over to the employer when an employee quits. I have never received $50 worth of tickets, and I have lived here right at 30 years. However, I would gladly pay $50 a year if it meant I would never have to get up and move my car during tax season. The city's response....They raised the price of tickets to $10 and sent me a thank you for bringing this to their attention. At least I tried. My most recent quest is bone marrow transplants. I recently signed up for the volunteer donor list. I am very excited by the possibility of saving someone's life. I know in my heart that if one of my children needed a transplant that I would pray day in and day out for someone to take a few days of their life to save my child's life. Well, my children are healthy, but that doesn't mean that all children are healthy. Almost anyone is eligible to be a marrow donor. Signing up is easy. You can go to almost all locations that accept blood donations to sign up. The test is painless and quick. You swab the inside of your mouth with four q-tip like things. You answer a few questions about your lifestyle and health history. That's it. Then, you could potentially give someone's child the opportunity to have their first kiss, to go to prom, to go to college, to get married, to have their own children, the opportunity to live. How great is that? You don't have spend months or weeks in the hospital to do it either. Most of the time it's a one day thing. ONE DAY!! That's a really quick life altering event. Having children takes months...Sometimes years to complete your family. Saving children or people who want to have children takes one day. It's at least a start....
P.S. I didn't even proofread this. How bad is that?
Christmas is the best time of the year for me. I love the smell of Christmas. I love the sound of Christmas. I love the food...the evenings and mornings spent with family...the lights on the tree...the excitment on the faces of children. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!! I have shared a few photos from Christmas past. One is of the Christmas right before Jay and I got married. One is from our first Christmas with two girls. The other is from the first Christmas after we got married; it was a good Christmas. We had just discovered that we were expecting a baby. Believe me, I am getting hammered already for skipping Thanksgiving, but I LOVE Christmas. Mrs. Jay promises to post some Thanksgiving stuff too this year. The Adventures of Mrs. Jay continue!!!
River water seems to get into your blood. Hadley definitely has it. Jay has it. Both my dad and Jay's dad have it. Okay, I guess some of you might need a little bit of history. Jay and I know each other because of the River. Our grandparents had river camps next door to each other. My father was several years older than Jay's father, but our aunts are almost exactly the same age. Only a couple of weeks separate them. Our fathers and aunts and grandparents spent many summers playing together on the Elk River. Long after my grandparents sold their river camp, my father longed to get back to the water. He dreamed of building a log cabin overlooking the Elk River. Jim also wanted to be on the River. He and Kaye have been lucky that they were able to be on the river. My father died before he could build his cabin.
