Instead of sleep.

Dear Liz,

To my "nanny", who has been like a second mother to me my entire life. I've known you since I was five years old, when I used to sit between you and my parents at the Hong Kong restaurant in Anaheim while everyone talked about things they thought I couldn't follow. I remember you picking me up from the hospital where my mom worked and taking me to Carl's Jr. on Romneya to have breakfast with my dad before you dropped me off at Fairmont. I remember making spray-painted t-shirts with you and my mom in the backyard. I remember, while making those shirts, you were the one who taught me how to iron! I remember spending days at the pool with you in Woodbridge. I remember helping you in your classroom. I remember the bellydancing in the garage. I remember your "most beautiful" picture in the magazine. I remember you staying with me when my parents were away. I remember you picking me up from Knott's Scary Farm, afraid that the teenage chaperone wouldn't be able to drive in the rain. The lagoon. Fresno. "Flavors of the Month." My going- away party. My college graduation. Even scheming with me at one point to help me move back to California. At every significant moment in my life, I remember you being there. Always with encouragement, always with love. I promise you I will return that favor. I found out tonight that you are very sick. My first instinct was to come home immediately, but my mom reminded me that there's nothing I can do right now. I wish I could talk to you, but I'm still in shock and not as strong as you need me to be right now. If I cried when I called, you would worry about me and above all, I don't want that. You are family, if not closer, and I am scared beyond anything of losing you. My mother says you're having surgery tomorrow and that we'll find out more then. Until that time, I'm going to work on being able to think positively, so that I may be a support to you like you have been for me since I was a little girl. You are in my thoughts and prayers every single moment.

I love you.

Jenn

Short-Track Sequel

Martinsville oughta be interesting!

There are perks.

More free tix tonight... should be fun!

Every Rainy Day Needs a Bright Spot.

Loving Rinzen.

I hate Matt Kenseth.

Posted by a fan on NASCAR.com:

Sunday we once again saw the hypocrisy of NASCAR. Jeff Gordon gets steamrolled by Matt Kenseth on the final lap of the race but NASCAR doesn't throw the caution flag. We hear continually how the most important thing is the safety of the drivers. However, when push came to shove -- both literally and figuratively -- NASCAR turned a blind eye to Gordon's spinning car and all the speeding traffic directly behind him. I guess a green-flag finish is more important than Gordon's safety. I guarantee if that spin had happened 10 laps previous, we would have seen the caution flag.-- Steve Lynch

I couldn't agree more. JDM

Update 3/28/06: Gordon fined $10K for incident with Kenseth

Veteran says he's through worrying about what people think of him. -- GOOD! JDM

Linsay Blondeau

Linsay Blondeau's contemporary watercolours hark back to an old-fashioned age of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Blondeau's characters have one eye, the childhood point of view, larger than the other, more mature one and appear to straddle the divide between youthful innocence and adult peculiarities. Her works bring to mind the illustrations of children's books hidden away in an attic, but these would have to accompany stories with non-traditional plot twists.

Don't go down to the woods alone (or the evil, raging teapots might get you).

Well, he is pretty hot...

Cozy

I wanna be doing this today...

Good grief.

Last night, some "investor" said that my house had been on the market for "too long".

When he said that, my house had been on the market for exactly

one business day.

What an idiot. Sorry you didn't find us five minutes after it was listed.

Hey moron...

JDM

Monday Musings.

The house was shown for the first time on Saturday, and we might already have a buyer. Even if we don't, I'm taking it as a good sign that we almost sold to the first person who saw it. We have 90 days, so I'm definitely not worried!

The Atlanta race was rained out on Sunday, so they ran it this morning. Kasey Kahne won! Jeff & Jimmie are my favorites, of course, but Kasey's definitely top 5, so I'm happy. Jeff took 4th and Jimmie took 6th. Not bad!


So, I thought I was stressed out at the idea of moving. I had no idea that it could get worse.

Work is about to explode. My manager is leaving, our graphic artist is leaving, and, worst of all, now Merrie-Hope (my counterpart who knows everything about our job) is leaving. I have less than two weeks for her to impart all the knowledge she's amassed over the last two years. Plus, I'll be taking over all of her events in addition to mine. And she does A LOT.

Help me.

JDM

A meeting of the mindless.

The brighter side...

I love the new house. I decided to post some pictures to remind me that, while I might be stressed out, it will all be worth it in the end.

BUSY.

This is how I feel right now...

Work. Relationships. Gym. Mom. Dad. Selling the house. Cleaning. Packing. Furniture. Money.

Oh my god I'm moving.

JDM

Looky what I found.

Some new images by Beatriz Milhazes...

What a weekend...

I should really be going to bed, but I have a pile of clothes next to me, waiting to be hung in my closet. There's a realtor coming to look at my house at 8:45 a.m. and I'd like to be able to open my closet door when that happens.

So, it's official. I'm moving to a new house! My mom came in Friday night and she and I went to the gym right from the airport. Saturday morning Hampton Park was the first place I showed her. She liked the model just as much as I did. But obviously, we had a lot of looking to do. So, in the rain and off-and-on snow (yes, I said snow), we went all over Green Valley looking at new developments. Some we liked -- a Pulte home in Anthem whose only drawback was the distance from the freeway-- and some we hated -- a Concordia model with an ugly floor plan and even uglier decor that looked like it was designed circa 1991-1992.

Even after seeing everything on our list, we kept talking about the Hampton Park model. So, this morning, we bought it! Neither the fact that I'm a homeowner nor the fact that I'm moving has quite set in yet. The house is beautiful. The backyard is completely landscaped, the walls are painted, shutters are installed, tile, carpet, you name it, it's got it. And we're selling the townhouse.

That's a little too much for me to take in right now and still sleep tonight, so moving on...

Jimmie won the Vegas race!!!

He passed Matt Kenseth on the final turn and then drag raced him down the final stretch to win by half a car-length! Sealing my fate as a true NASCAR fan, I was jumping up and down in my living room.

JDM

Las Vegas 400

NASCAR's in Vegas this weekend. Qualifying is going on as I write this, but I'm at work. The Busch race is tomorrow, but I'm going house-hunting. Sunday is the cup race, but I'll be watching it from home. I'm sad about it all, except for one thing: leaving the racetrack along with 100,000 other people, all getting on the 15. No thank you!

My childhood, defined.

This just puts a smile on my face. Old school Nickelodeon fans will remember these from around '91-'92. They brought back so many memories for me!

"Those" girls.

I'm sorry, but if you are completely comfortable wearing a cropped shirt and showing off your abs, you should have to go to a special gym for "maintenance only". You should not be working out next to those of us who are slaving away on treadmills and weight machines, desperate to be that okay with our bodies. I don't think I'm alone here! Seriously, I look at some of the girls at my gym and think, "Why are you here? Certainly not for inspiration -- I want to force-feed you a hamburger!"

In Heavy Rotation

Am loving this album. My download from iTunes included a video of a Today show performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", the song that influenced me to buy the album. She performs solo, but using some recording technology that I couldn't begin to wax intellectual on, makes it sound as if she has an entire band, including backup singers. The process is impressive to watch. Reminds me a little of a cross between Michelle Branch and Norah Jones...

JDM

Blind Faith and Tunnel Vision by Jules de Balincourt

Love this image. I've had it saved for a while, but was waiting for the appropriate moment to post it.

I've been reading "The Wideacre Trilogy", a series of novels by Phillipa Gregory. The recurring theme in each of the books is the power claims that squires of land in Georgian England exert over the villages of people that reside on their land. The squires pay low wages, yet impose ridiculous taxes, and enclose common land, forcing the villages to remain poor and dependent on the squire. They have such faith in this system to maintain their fortunes that they never see (or simply choose not to see) how destitute the villages become.

Aptly named "Blind Faith and Tunnel Vision", to me it also illustrates the absolute trust you can have in someone and the blinders you can unknowingly find yourself wearing in doing so.

JDM

Done.

So tired...

Of being angry. Of worrying. Of walking on eggshells. Of testing the waters. Of guarding my comments. Of not seeing my friends. Of being controlled. Of being manipulated. Of fighting. Of crying. Of being the one to say sorry. Of not standing up for myself. Of backing down. Of being given attitude. Of putting on a brave face. Of not taking care of myself. Of doubting myself. Of questioning my goals. Of giving everything I had to make it work...

...And then it didn't.

TGIF

Why is this day dragging? It's not even 5:30 --and I've been ready to go home since 2! I'm going "model-home-ing", as my mother would call it, tomorrow. My parents are interested in purchasing another home here. So I'm off to check out some new homes and see what I can find... Really, how hard can it be to find a 1800 sq. ft. one-story in Las Vegas? If my internet research is correct, the answer is: it's next to impossible! Check out the the three-story elevations I kept finding (above). These LV builders have been brainwashed by the condo craze -- they all want to build straight up!

Thoughts for the day. It's that kind of day.

More Cherry Hill

My latest flyer... background art courtesy of Beatriz Milhazes. JDM

Mystere

I love my job. Yay for free tickets for tonight!

Cherry Hill at House Of Blues!

Cherry Hill "Unplugged"
at House of Blues Las Vegas!

Thursday, March 2nd, 9 p.m.

Should be an awesome show!

JDM

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. In Western Christianity, Lent is the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. Today, some people give up something they enjoy, and often give the time or money spent doing that thing to charitable purposes or organizations.

I'm Catholic... sorta. I was baptized Catholic, but as far as traditionally practicing, that was as far as I made it. I've never attended mass regularly, but when I did attend, it was the only church I've ever know and identified with. It was where I went when Mr. Mitchell passed and where I hope to be married someday.

What should I give up for Lent? My co-worker, Merrie-Hope, passed along some advice from her pastor. He said instead of giving something up, people could add something, like giving to a charity or giving one person a compliment each day.

I've added the gym to my daily life, but that's something that benefits me. I could give up buying new clothes until Easter, but how would that help a cause larger than my own?

So instead, I've decided to increase the donation I make to charity in each of my paychecks through the Lent season. The increased amount will go to the Injured Police Officers Fund, a cause that is near and dear to my heart, but will also serve a greater good.

Serious blogs are not in my nature, even though this one was for a good reason. To lighten the mood, please enjoy an oddly appropriate "Pearls Before Swine":

JDM