Just call me Susan...

Today is a sad, sad day for me.

But I scraped myself up off the floor to share my sadness.

I have worked at Liberty High School for six lovely, action packed, busy, enlightening years.
I have given my heart and soul (not to mention TONS of $$ on fundraisers, financing my childrens campaigns, dances, yearbooks, cute clothes to wear while working...okay, those were totally for me, but STILL....) to this school.

I have worked LOOOOONG hours, I have worn many hats, I have been the "Mikey" of Liberty...got a project? "Give it to Jeni...Jeni will do it!!!"

Testing? Give it to Jeni!
Honor Roll? Give it to Jeni!
SIP Chair? Give it to Jeni!!
Every 15 Minutes? Give it to Jeni!!
Class Advisor? Jeni will do it!!
Chaperone at dances? Jeni will do it!!
Sit on a rooter bus for 26 hours with 46 teenagers? Jeni will do it!!
Decorate? Jeni will do it!
Achievement Night and Breakfast of Champions? Give it to Jeni!!
WASC Committee? Give it to Jeni!!

I could go on and on and on..... (I know, I already did...I tell you, it's a sad day...)

So for my service and dedication, I have nominated for Employee of the Year.
Every year, for the past six years.
Including this year....

And EVERY year, including this year,

I lose.

Me...at the end of a long day, no makeup, sad and with a cold sore. Lovely. I obviously have no pride.

Six years in a row. I lose.

It's a popularity contest, and I will never win one of those.
I am not a good suck-up or a phony.
I'm me, for the good and/or the bad...
I'm me.
So I lost AGAIN.
I don't really care about the honor, I have been in a parade before and I wouldn't get a raise. But DANG-IT!!! , I really wanted that parking place for the next year. It's all about the parking place.

Susan Lucci lost 18 times, so I have a ways to go.
In 12 years I probably will retire, that's when I'll win.
When I won't need the parking place anymore.

Console me.

Well...well...would you look at this!

A gratuitous picture of Carter with Uncle Jeffy!

April is shaping up to be a great month for Jeff.

Jeff is playing Varsity Volleyball, his second love after baseball. He is having a blast and even though they haven’t won even one game, he is happy, happy, happy.

He found out he passed totally aced his CA High School Exit Exam. Perfect score on the English and only missed two on the Math! Way to go Jefe!

He’s going to finish his Driver’s Ed this month; then it’s off to get a permit.

He’s put his hat in the ring to run for Junior Class President….wish him luck!!

And then there’s the Soph Hop. The Soph Hop is a 75 year tradition at Liberty HS. All the grades are invited, but it is sponsored by the sophomores. At the dance the Soph Court is announced and a Prince and Princess are crowned.

The night of the big dance we went to pick up Hayley, Jeff’s best friend. She is darling and I love her. Sadly, her mother went and fell in love and married some guy from Washington…now Hayley is moving. I’m heartbroken.

So, on the way to pick up Hayley, Jeff told me to just honk on the horn. Um….NO! You will go up and knock on the door like a gentleman. “UGH…” was the sigh from my manners-deficient son.

Hayley and her bff, Becca came out of the house.

Then, and this just tickles me…Hayley’s dad came running out with a camera... “WAIT!! I want pictures!”

Jeff wanted to die on the spot, he was horrified.

I, however, was thrilled. I don’t what thrilled me more, how cute they were or that another parent started the embarrassment this time, not me.

So, I of course, whipped out MY camera, rubbing salt in his wounds, and snapped a couple of pictures.

“Mother, “ he hissed, “this is no big deal…why are you embarrassing me?”

Because I can. That’s why. It’s my right.

So off to the dance we go!!! I was chaperoning.

(A side note to all mothers, unless you have a stomach of steel and/or are completely blind, DON’T chaperone a dance. It is THE most hideous experience EVER. Why? Because of the way kids dance now. What happened to the hustle or the jerk or good old square dancing? And the dresses….oh my. All night girls were tugging at the top or the hem or both. And FYI…under those teenie-tiny dresses? They’re wearing thongs and not the kind you put on your feet! Poke your sons’ eyes out with hot pokers before they go…you don’t have to thank me for the advice, my pleasure.)

We’re at the dance! Everyone looks beautiful, a little “under dressed” (if you know what I mean…) but very sparkly and pretty.

For some reason, and I still can’t figure why; I am given the responsibility of announcing the Prince and Princess!

"Liberty High School …your Sophomore Court for 2010 is….. for the girls:"

Cute girl #1

Cute girl #2

Cute twin girls #’s 3 & 4

Really nice cute girl #5

And for the boys:

Jeff Groseclose! Jeff Groseclose!! Jeff Groseclose!!!

Blah-blah #2

Blah-Blah #3

Blah- Blah #4

Blah-Blah #5

Jeff and Ana Silvia

It was so fun to see how happy he was. He’s not the typical “Joe-Popular Jock Stud”. He’s a very nice, very fun, very happy,very moral, very friendly boy who's a good student and involved in school.

And his classmates realized that he is a really nice guy and gave him quite an honor.

Some wisdom...too bad I didn't think of it....

This is me.

As you can tell, I am not thin. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

I could say I'm not fat, I am just under-tall.
Well, that could be a couple of inches (feet) of the problem, if I was 7'3" I'd probably look just fine.
5'2" isn't cutting it.

I could say that it is all a metabolism problem.
It's not, it's a chocolate and second helpings problem.




I could blame it all on my children.
I could and would probably get away with it, if my youngest was one.
He's not, he's 13.

Maybe it's all the stress in my life.
I really could get away with that, I'm sure.
Why can't I be one of those who don't eat when stressed?
I feel ripped off on that one.

I have read two ultra fabulous blogs on this very subject in the past two days.
I share them with you, wish I was this grown-up and mature.
I will try to adopt the vision of these two, very wise women.
Read their wisdom HERE and HERE.

I need to rethink how I look at myself.
I need to appreciate myself and be able to poke fun if need be,
in an unapologetic way.
I need to be comfortable in the skin that I have created for myself.
I need to be proud of all I have accomplished
and it has NOTHING to do with my size, or lack of size.

I need to celebrate that I have a wonderful bunch of kids,
I do good things every day for people.
I am compassionate, I love to give service.
I am a good and loyal friend.
I am pretty wonderful.... darn it.
And it has nothing to do with my size.

Now, this isn't to say I shouldn't try a little harder,
eat healthier, just say no to calories
Get my ample end out walking every day...
I'd probably feel better.
But I don't want my life to be defined by my size.
I want to be defined by how I live my life each day.
Happy and content, no matter what the scale says.

At least I have good hair and a cute grandson.

Sweet Sixteen!

Today my Jeff is 16...how in the world did that happen?

Really, its seems like last week this energetic, happy go lucky, everyone loves him child entered our lives. He came into the world a whopping 5 lbs 4 oz and now is our tallest and biggest child. In every way. His personality is big, his voice is big, his love for life is HUGE!

I've posted this before, but it's so cute, I had to re-post it...

For Jeff's birthday we took him to Mecca.....

Most people call it AT & T park, home of the San Francisco Giants," THE best team in all sports" (guess he forgets their record for the past few years...) Jeff told me that other than the Oakland Temple, this is the most sacred place in the whole bay area. Here, in the Dugout store Jeff added to his already rather large Giants T-shirt collection. His goal? To have a shirt for every day of the month. We already have 2+ weeks covered. Makes shopping for him easy!! Opening day is only 18 days away. Lucky us. They play 162 games a year and EVERY one of them will be broadcast in our home. You wish you were me don't you?

We had a surprise party for Jeff this year. Lauren went and picked him up from Volleyball practice and brought him to the bowling alley. He came in and saw a bunch of his friends there and got sad because they were all having fun and didn't invite him. :( I told him to just ignore them and have fun. Go get your shoes and go to lane #7...he walked up and they yelled surprise! He was thrilled, didn't have a clue. (score one for mom!)

Look who came to the party!!!!

The kids bowled, (Jeff got 5 strikes in a row!! wowza) came back to the house and got "glow" stick necklaces and bracelets and went to our local park and played night games. The kids that came are all amazing kids, love them all. They are so nice, polite, funny, can't say enough good about them! It's 12:30 am and now they are hysterically watching "Mean Girls". I'm tired, they need to go home. :)

Oh, at Youth Conference this weekend he was in a dating workshop with 149 other kids, at the end of the activity the speaker told them to reach under their seats, one had a flag. Jeff got the flag and the prize!! 2 movie tickets to take someone on a date...

He's 16.

That means dating, school dances, driving (a mixed bag of emotions there...), wonder who he is going to use those two tickets on?

Oh Lord help me...here we go again.

Happy Birthday Jeff! We love you and can't wait to see what the next few years have in store for you!

Oh, and go Giants!

Gathering Feathers

Very often in my life, too often in fact, I am reminded of this story that our mother used to tell us:

FEATHERS IN THE WIND

There is a 19th century folktale about a man who went about town slandering the town's wise man. One day, he went to the wise man's home and asked for forgiveness. The wise man, realizing that this man had not internalized the gravity of his transgressions, told him that he would forgive him on one condition: that he go home, take a feather pillow from his house, cut it up, and scatter the feathers to the wind. After he had done so, he should then return to the wise man's house.

Though puzzled by this strange request, the man was happy to be let off with so easy a penance. He quickly cut up the pillow, scattered the feathers, and returned to the house.

"Am I now forgiven?" he asked.

"Just one more thing," the wise man said. "Go now and gather up all the feathers."

"But that's impossible. The wind has already scattered them."

"Precisely," he answered. "And though you may truly wish to correct the evil you have done, it is as impossible to repair the damage done by your words as it is to recover the feathers. Your words are out there in the marketplace, spreading hate, even as we speak."

How interesting it is that we, as human beings, are so quick to believe the bad that others say about someone; and so ready to assume the worst regarding another's actions. Why is it that oft times we don't look to our own words and actions but are so ready to point at another?. We've all been told that "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never harm me." We also know that is totally untrue. While a body will typically recover from a physical injury, the harm caused by direct insults can sometimes last a lifetime, and tear the self-esteem right out of a person.

On the other hand, kind, encouraging words can build a person's self-esteem, help him or her to grow and give them the impetus they need to do great, significant things with their lives. The choice regarding how we speak about or to someone is ours.

I am not the perfect mother by any stretch, but if I can point out one thing I have done right, it's to teach my children to be kind. All of them stick up for the underdog, all of them befriend the one that is lonely, all of them are completely non-judgemental. I wish I could say the same of their mother. I have taught by my words, but not always by my example. I am proud of them for this quality they have all nurtured so well.

I'm not much of a "New Year's Resolution" type of gal, but this principle of kindness and watching what I say is at the top of my list this year. Even ahead of losing weight. Hopefully I'll be more successful at both.

Just some thoughts I had.

My favorite face... or...the post Rachel will love

Warning....totally lame post.
Unless you like babies, then you'll love it.

I am totally in love with a little tiny guy with a fuzzy red head!!!
So for posterity's sake and just because it's my blog and I can....
pictures of Carter.

I'll try to get back to regular blogging, I just can't get enough of this little face.



This is me sans any make-up, not a good look for me. But isn't that baby sweet?



Yum.




Meeting Auntie Rachel. She gave him kisses and was so gentle with him.



Uncle Mitch was smitten also! He wanted to hold Carter constantly. This warmed my heart.

Carter's fairy Godmother, Rachel.

Lousy picture, sweet friend holding the babe.


I am NOT happy being under the tree!!!

This little boy is truly one of the best gifts our family has ever received. Thank you Skyler and Lauren!




My mother is home from Africa and came to see the baby. Four generations.

Nothing in the world sweeter than a sleeping baby.



He looks shocked that he is sitting up all on his own!!

Is that the Star Trek hand symbol?

Skyler and his Mini-Me



Gotta love a happy baby!

Oh Baby Love!!

He's here...the man of our dreams!

This is Carter, born on November 30th at 8:29 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs 2 oz, 19 1/2" long.
He is absolutely perfect and we are totally in love! He has dark eyes (right now) and strawberry blonde hair,

Lauren went in to be induced early that morning, her Dr. broke her water at 8:30 and she was hooked up to the Pitocin about 9:00. Everything went well, she hung in there like a trooper until about 2:00, then she wanted the epidural. She was at a '4' so she was good to go. It seemed like she was taking forever to get anywhere and we thought there was going to be a December baby. Around 6:00 the nurse checked her and she was at a '6'. The nurse told her it would be an hour or two per centimeter from that point so we settled in for a long night.



At 7:15 she was feeling a lot of pressure, so the nurse checked her and wowza!! she was dilated to 9 1/2!! Everyone got really busy then...the Dr. was called, the warmer was brought in and a baby nurse was called for! Amy, Skyler's mom and I were lost in the shuffle! I was texting Rachel and Jeffrey the whole time with details, they both wished they were there.



This is about the time I started to cry. All Lauren has ever wanted is to be a Mom and in a short time her dream was to come true. It's overwhelming to watch your baby become a mother. I just prayed and prayed that all would go well and that everyone would be healthy and safe. My prayers were answered. After pushing for less than a hour, he just popped out. It was so fast! What a miracle, one second in the womb, the next breathing and crying. I don't have the words to describe the emotions and experience. Awe inspiring.



Since every birth has a little story to remember it by....so do we. Lauren did awesome, Skyler on the other hand was a mess. He had a terribly infected tooth and was in a ton of pain. He was so drugged on Vicodin that he was a little loopy. His left side of his face was all swollen and he could barely smile. When it came time to push they told him to count, he couldn't. 1..2...3..5...8...6, it was so funny.



Another funny thing was that Amy was totally taking birthing shots on her camera without Lauren knowing, later she was showing her and Lauren was just a little grossed out. Then Skyler told the Dr. he had brought a mason jar for the placenta. The
Dr. looked shocked and we all were hysterical laughing. (He didn't really....)



Later the nurses forgot to give Lauren pain medicine but they sure remembered to give Skyler contraband pain meds!!! It was funny, they were bringing him pillows and blankets and chicken noodle soup.





We are so happy to have him here, he is so precious and wonderful. I could look at him all day and never get bored. I think it is more fun than having your own, and you get more sleep!!!

The Evans Family

For more cute pictures go to Lauren's blog: http://blogginlolo.blogspot.com