Jo's Blog Dump 12/12/07

Our weather has been craptastic this week. There have been a lot of accidents and injuries on the roads. I'm not sure of the details but Jon and I came across a startling, but amusing, sight yesterday. The traffic was a little heavy on the highway but we didn't see any accidents or anything. A minute later we saw what was causing the slow-down: lots of little stuffed monkeys scattered all over the road. Some still had some shape, but most were pretty flat and some were even leaking stuffing. I wonder where they came from.

Funny story. Saturday night at work a guy asked if we had a biography section. I explained that we don't, all biographies are shelved according to the person's place in history or culture. So he said, "Where would I find the biographies on Jesus?" No joke.

I'm thinking of getting a perm. Or as Jon says, a temp. I'm hoping for the look on the right.























I am super excited for this:



What is a blog dump? A list. I love lists. Apparently, so does everyone else.

Jo's Blog Dump 12/5/2007

Check out my hula halau's new website at:

http://huihulaopunahele.blogspot.com/

The Onion, for Christians. Hilarious.

http://www.larknews.com/

Jon did a very nice post for the Mizzou game the other night - it was a running diary during the game against OU and I made a special halftime appearance. This is the first year I have ever cared about college football. Slightly disappointing end to the season, but still fun.

http://scan2000.blogspot.com/2007/12/almost.html

Robbie and Jenni adopted a dog. She's wonderful. I love her. Pictures are at the link below. I'll be adding better ones soon (maybe tonight?). We get to dog-sit soon when they go on a trip with the youth from church.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9347435@N06/sets/72157603378964545/

Update

I really don't have anything big to update, but feel guilty for not posting for awhile. By the way, where is everybody?

I can't believe it's October in Chicago, and we are consistently having 80 degree days. I just want autumn! We went to an orchard over Labor Day (it was near where we honeymooned in Michigan - now how many people can say, or are willing to admit, that their honeymoon destination was Michigan??) and bought 50 pounds of apples and 4 quarts of raspberries. If I had more room in the fridge I'd go back and get more!

In another case of being extreme, we went grocery shopping last weekend. Now when we go shopping, we tend to buy a lot since shopping in Hyde Park is practically non-existent and we try to buy enough non-perishables to last us for 2-3 months. So we went to the suburbs to an area that has Sam's Club, Walmart and Aldi. We took this trip enough times last year to know what items are generally cheapest at each place. We came home with the back of the minivan filled up to the bottom of the middle seats headrests. It probably took at least an hour to unpack the van, and then the rest of the afternoon putting everything away. And that is why we take this trip only every 2-3 months! I think I could open up a small store in our apartment.

The boys are in Lil' Kickers, which is a soccer class. Last week the kiddos were all sitting in a circle, and Coach Alex asked what game they'd like to play next. Elijah spoke up with his idea: Padada. Alex was confused - Pa-da-da? Yes, Padada. Then Anders echoed and said, "Elijah wants to play Padada." And then another boy said, "He wants to play Padada." Alex was still confused - how do you play Padada? Elijah explained the "rules" for Padada (it was suspiciously similar to other games they play), and then Alex nicely told him that maybe they could play another game instead. It was cute how the other kids acted like they knew the made-up game and were surprised Alex hadn't.

We visited the Shedd Aquarium yesterday, and the otters were not in their designated spot. Anders decided that they must've escaped and was certain that they were now in Lake Michigan.

I'm now working on creating photobooks for baby pictures. I'm still researching, so if any of you have bought these online and have had good or bad luck with a particular website (I'm looking mostly at Picaboo, My Publisher, PhotoWorks, and Shutterfly) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Jo's Blog Dump 9/29/2007

We had dinner with Jon's brother and sister-in-law tonight and then Jeff brought over a friend's Wii . Oh my gosh, it is totally going on my Christmas list. How fun. I'm not so sure about one of the games, though. Super Mario Paper is totally trippy. The name doesn't make sense. And Mario collects things like shrooms and pipes. I think this might give us a clue as to what the people who made the game were doing while they were creating it. I did like the part when Mario gets a star and turns into super giant Mario and basically just busts through everything.

Does your landlord say no to pets? Play with this virtual Fido. Certainly worth 3 minutes of your time.

Saddest commercial ever. Sarah, perhaps you shouldn't watch this until sometime after the baby arrives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZ1SyKPk9U

Jo's Blog Dump 9/24/2007

I'm watching the premiere of The Bachelor and it's just painful. I didn't know that women could use such bad pick-up lines...for instance, "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I get out of the limo again?" Seriously. I'm hooked, at least for tonight.

I was very excited to find out this weekend that there's going to be a sequel to my favorite independent reader book of the past year. The second story about The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart, will be out in May 2008.

Also, Mary Engelbreit is lending her adorable art to a series of classic stories for girls, all particular favorites of mine. Watch for A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett, next month, and Anne of Green Gables in February.

Also, Borders has a new website. It's still in beta, but give it a shot - it has some nice features

Need a little pick-me-up? Bookmark ComplimentBot 4000. You'll get a new uplifting message every time you refresh. Also good when you need a special sentiment for a greeting card.

Another fun Harry Potter video, this time he's in the hood. It's a good one.

There's a new fashion magazine called Eliza, "created for women who want to be stylish, sexy, and engaged in the world while retaining high standards in dress, entertainment, and lifestyle." I haven't seen an issue in person, but the pictures look pretty interesting.

At church on Sunday, it was announced that the Pastor Search Committee has chosen someone to fill our pulpit. I did my thing and googled him but couldn't find out much. He's a young guy with a family and we'll get to meet him in person in 2 weeks.

My new backpack. I'm loving it.