I Moved!

I've realized its been an incredibly long time since I've posted a blog and felt the need to do so.  Shameless plug first. Bella and Duncan's blog has also been updated so feel free to check out www.seebellarun.blogspot.com!


I guess the biggest news is I moved! I bought a condo and I'm now a homeowner. The process was a little scary, a little tedious, but well worth it! I now have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a glorious fireplace, and no sofa. That's right, I don't have a sofa. Due to financial restraints I've had to postpone the sofa purchase. If anyone knows of a good, used sofa let me know. Despite not having a sofa, I love my condo. My neighbors all seem pretty nice, some friendlier than others. One of these days I will have everyone over to tour my new home...after I get a sofa. Bribery? I think so. I'm super excited to decorate for Christmas this year! I love the holiday season. Hopefully next year I'll be able to have people over for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners - and a few summer BBQ's to boot.


I've also decided to return to school. I'm working on a Graphic Design degree. I think I've finally figured out what I want to do in life (I hope). After avoiding a career in computers like the plague, I read the course descriptions for Graphic Design and really liked what I read. Yes there are computers involved, but I also get to take courses on photography, web design, typography, 2D drawing and more.  I get to be creative! I'd like to work in advertising (like in Mad Men!). I think it's the best of both worlds, I get to be creative and have some job security. Lets face it, advertising isn't going to disappear from American culture anytime soon. 


Expect to see more of my photography posted soon!
Love, J

Fearless Heroine Vs. the Sanctuary

We now find our fearless Heroine in a grand sanctuary in a beautiful house. It was 8am on a Sunday, early for mere mortals, but not our Heroine. She climbed the mountain to take her place next to the overwhelming instrument. She was expecting to be blown away by the bellows, but to her surprise that was not the case. Though any other day the Heroine's voice could have filled the grand sanctuary, she was battling wheezes and sneezes which drew her voice inward. Not to fear, a microphone saved the day!

As the service commenced the time to sing drew near; our heroine felt her nerves begin to rise. With weak knees, she climbed the mountain once again. She was taken aback by the amount of people in the sanctuary, much more than she had seen at the bottom of the mountain. The large instrument began to make beautiful noise and she knew she couldn't back out. Our Heroine let her voice ring. When the music ended a calm, excitement came over her. Yes, she knows that would be an oxymoron.

Despite the "wheezes, sneezes, and a sinus that was really a pip!" Our fearless Heroine made it through sparkling and climbed back down the mountain to her seat among her people.

Update

This post won't be a story for the ages like previous posts, but I felt a need to update :)

I started working at as the Afternoon Lead Daycare Staff at a Boys & Girls Club. I had one day of training and was thrown to the wolves. Okay so it wasn't that bad, but those of you who've grown up in Edmonds or the like know that kids in these areas are well trained, lol. The kids at my daycare have a lot of learning todo. They constantly argue with each other and/or the staff and are...needy. Though I don't know the background of all the children, my guess is most of them have grown up in less than stellar conditions and need more guidence. That being said, they are still young and still good. It seems as of late I've been letting the kids get on my nerves and I need to stop this. Going home frustrated 3-4 days a week is not how it should be. The daycare has gone through quite a few staff over the last few years and now I know why.

No this doesn't mean I'm going to leave, I'm stronger than that. It means I need to step up my game and stop letting the kids get away with so much (this is my fault entirely). I gave the kids more freedom because I thought they could handle it, but I was wrong. I need to talk with my staff and really start laying down the law! :)

For example: Power Hour (homework time) should not have kids speaking with outdoor voices; I should be able to hear myself read to the kids.

Transitions between snack time clean up and gym time should not take 15-20mins!

And for Pete's sake I should not have someone coming up to me every 10 minutes because someone else "said something mean to them"

I'm sure this sounds like I'm venting, though part of me is I'm really just getting ideas out that I've bottled up for a while. Thanks for listening (reading).

All in all, I enjoy my job and I just want to do what's best for the kids so we can all be happy.

The Cup Bearer and the Rock

After the wonderful fantasy of defeating the Ogress, we find the Cup Bearer back in her familiar meager position. She assumed her position at the gate of the Burger Kingdom. Looming near was a disaster; the Magical Liquid that quenches the thirst of the Knights and Ladies of the Court had suddenly disappeared.

Oh no!

The Queen told the Cup Bearer to find more of the Magical Liquid. The Cup Bearer searched the Kingdom far and wide for the precious liquid. After hours of searching the Cup Bearer tripped over a large rock. Disgruntled, the Cup Bearer was ready to turn around and get back to the court. Then she took another look at the rock, it brown and square like, how odd the Cup Bearer thought. She took a chunk out of the rock and it was true, the Magical Liquid could be found in that very rock. After much physical effort the Cup Bearer had finally moved the large rock back to the Burger Kingdom.

The Cup Bearer thought the hard part of her job was over, she though wrong.

For many hours the Cup Bearer fought with the rock, using every tool she could find, alas nothing would crack the rock. Leaning against a court wall the Cup Bearer happen to glance toward a sword a Knight had given her for defeating the Ogress. With all her might she lifted the sword and heaved it in to the rock. The rock split down the middle and there sat the Magical liquid. It was surprisingly gelled together and it took all of the Cup Bearer's strength to lift the Magical Liquid on to the pedestal where it would sit. It took a few tries; eventually the Cup Bearer put the Magical Liquid in its place.

It was time to destroy the rock from which the Magical Liquid came. Many cuts and bruises later, the rock shattered in to a million little pieces at the Cup Bearer's feet. It was a victory for the Cup Bearer, even if it was a solitary victory.

J. Pair V. The Ogress

We find J. Pair, the Cup Bearer, at the magical burger kingdom. The Cup Bearer is fiercely mastering the dragon which provides currency to the knights and ladies of the court. After taking the commands of the knights and ladies, the Cup Bearer requested an audience with the King and Queen. Their majesties then approved the commands and J. Pair brought back feasts for the court to nourish upon. All was well in the kingdom.

Suddenly a black cloud appeared. In walked the Ogress, a feared creature in the kingdom. She demanded a feast be placed before her immediately. The Cup Bearer ran to their majesties and repeated the words the Ogress had spoken. Against his will the King obliged. the Cup Bearer returned and told the dragon the Ogress’ commands.

The dragon would not hear of such atrocities and forbade the demands to take place.

What was the Cup Bearer to do?

She pleaded with the dragon in vain. The Ogress began to stomp and shout. Beads of sweat started to pearl on the Cup Bearer's brow as she continued to plead with the dragon. The Ogress thrashed around the kingdom barely missing the people of the court.

The Ogress stared teh Cup Bearer in the eyes, the Cup Bearer didn’t flinch. Finally the Ogress gnashed and fled the kingdom in disgust; setting out once more in a search of a feast.

Alternate Ending (The way J. Pair would like it to end)

The Cup Bearer stared down the Ogress without a flinch. The Ogress gnashed, baring her enormous teeth. The fearless cup bearer ran to a knight and in one swift movement took the large sword from his belt and jumped to the belly of the Ogress, holding the sword to her throat. She told the Ogress to cease her torment and never return to the Burger Kingdom or there would be irreversible consequences.

The Ogress quivered, fell to the ground sobbing and crawled out of the kingdom in fright. The knights lifted teh Cup Bearer on their shoulders in appreciation. The King absolved the Cup Bearer of her status and made her a Lady of the Court. The Ogress was never seen again.

Early Riser

I have become an early riser, usually waking between 6 and 6:30am. Why you ask. It was not a choice made by me, rather dictated by Mr. Duncan. You see when Mr. Sir (Duncan) goes to bed at night and when he tells me he needs to potty…midnight, 4am, and so on, he whines. When he goes back in to his crate after the potty break he cries a little and I tell him "quiet" and within a couple minutes he is indeed quiet.

This is in contrast to 6am or after when Mr. Sir starts whining once again. Repeatedly I tell him "quiet" in vain. Alas my night has come to an end. I would absolutely love it if Duncan could sleep until 8am or even 7:30am. Yes, that would be divine. In the meantime I'm considering switching my schedule around a bit incase Mr. Sir can't sleep later.

I'm considering getting a gym membership (suggestions accepted!) and though I like working out in the evening, at the rate I'm going, I'll be a vegetable by the time I would like to be working out. This means exercising in the morning, not my favorite idea, but it could work. This also means taking Bella on her walk in the morning – note, the sun setting later will also help in an evening walk. With having permanent hours at the B & G Club in the afternoon I now need to get my chores done, you guessed it, in the morning, ugh. Though I've always been able to easily get up at any morning hour this doesn't mean I can function. I will need to get used to this new schedule. Once again this could all be resolved if I could just get up at 8am instead of 6:30am.

Update: I wrote this blog entry a couple days ago and didn't get a chance to post. Since this original entry, I have successfully woken up at 7:30am! In fact, this morning, Mr. Sir needed to potty at 5:45am and seemed content to stay awake. I however, was not. I kindly, yet firmly told Duncan "quiet" and though it took a few extra verbal reminders on my part, he settled in and drifted off to sleep and let me sleep as well.

Meet…

I know this blog is for Bella, but I'm momentarily hijacking it to write about the newest member of our family.

Meet Duncan Rex…

He's two months old and just came home Saturday. Believe it or not, I think he's smaller than Bella was when we brought her home. He is a little bundle of joy!

The first day was fun, Bella was very curious about the little boy and it didn't take long for her to start playing with him. I was worried he would howl Saturday night once I put him in his crate to sleep as Bella howled her first night which is why she now has a permanent place sleeping in my bed. My main concern was the barking would upset my neighbors, so I figured if he started howling and wouldn't stop I would let him sleep with me just like Bell.

To my utter shock within about five minutes of whining he quieted down and went to sleep! Of course he woke me three times during the night to tell me he needed to go potty. Even after the potty times he only whined for five minutes and curled back up in his crate.

Since Saturday night Duncan has gotten progressively better at sleeping, last night he only needed to potty once. As of now we are going to bed about 10pm and waking up at 6am.

The past couple of days I had to work and had many errands to run and noticed Duncan has found his voice and howls when I leave, in turn Bella starts voicing her thoughts as well. This is not good, especially for condo living. Having free time today I decided to experiment. Duncan likes very much to cuddle and sleep in my arms; I like that too, but at some point I need to start getting back to normal. After play time this morning he started looking very sleepy, I gently removed him from my arms and put him in his crate. He starting whining so then I covered his crate with a blanket. I told him a mere 3 times "Quiet" in a calm yet firm tone and he went to sleep. I am in awe.

I love Bella, but Duncan is much less stubborn (knock on wood) and is much calmer. I hope is training goes as smoothly as his sleeping!

J. Pair Vs Ash Wednesday

What a blessed day I had yesterday. The day started off like any other. I was called in to work last minute because someone else was sick. Though unexpected I was happy to work as I'd been asking the Universe for more hours which in turn equals more moolah. After work I went to apply for a position at a local bookstore that had "Now Hiring" signs in their windows. I returned home after filling out an application and sat down to a wonderful PB&J sandwich with a glass of milk on the side. It was delicious, just what I needed. I no more finished my sandwich and noticed an email from one of my mom's co-workers saying her other place of employment was hiring by referral only and her boss was expecting me to drop in. I immediately took my dishes to the kitchen, put Bella in her happy place, and raced out the door. I found myself at Herfy's Burgers talking to a girl at the counter and told her the manager was expecting me. The manager asked me if I had any experience in the field. I did a mental grown, here we go, this is where my journey ends – barely any experience = no job. I told the manager I help my mom with her company and dealt with customers and I had volunteered at Husky Stadium, so what if it was in 2003 and it was only one day, I survived so that had to count for something right? The manager looked impressed and asked about my availability and proceeded to tell me to come in the following Friday for training. I could have hugged him, which would have been very awkward, so I didn't. I thanked him profusely and told him I'd be there Friday. It's not the job I expected to get, but that's okay. My mom hasn't heard her co-worker say anything bad about the restaurant which can't be said about all businesses. I'm excited and a little nervous. Once I get through training I'm sure I'll be fine, but the first days of new job are always a little intimidating.

If that wasn't enough excitement for a girl in one day I got a solo in choir too! Choir was scheduled to sing at Ash Wednesday and there was one little solo in the congregational music and my music director asked me to sing it. It wasn't my best performance ever because I only sang through it twice and the organ played the wrong cue notes, but who cares. It ended well and that's all that really matters. Oh yes, it was a very blessed day for me.

J.Pair Vs. Jell-o…Jell-o 1 Point

Once again I have failed at the simple task of making Jell-o.

I should disclaimer this by saying I'm not a bad cook. I can make excellent eggs – in various serving suggestions. I am a whiz at sandwiches, mainly because they are my favorite thing to make; so many different food groups in one tidy package. I'm getting better at making dinners. I've mastered spaghetti (or any pasta for that matter). Boil the water, at the pasta, and then add the sauce. When I am out on my own I won't starve.

It disturbs me though that I can't make something as simple as Jell-o. I should clarify; I can't make "Quick Set" Jell-o. I have now tried three times to make the "Quick Set" Jell-o and I can't do it. I've followed the directions to a T and it doesn't work. I can safely say it's not human error. As much as I would like to make "Quick Set" Jell-o I think I will hang up my apron on this and stick with the 4 hour Jell-o which does get jiggly. If anyone has any suggestions for making "Quick Set" Jell-o let me know, though it's a moo – point now.

J.Pair and the Career Change

Major changes have been happening in the Pair household, not including the Christmas decorations.

After much deliberation, okay not that much, I've decided not to pursue a career in opera. You see, I'd been thinking about my career off and on for a while and then I graduated. I had that feeling of "What do I do now?" and the feeling didn't go away. Of course I knew what to do, practice, audition, find a grad school, but the more I thought about it the less those things appealed to me. Fortunately I had a voice teacher who didn't mess around and flat out asked me if this is really what I wanted to be doing. Jackpot since I'm a chicken and wouldn't have admitted wanting to change careers. Seriously I'd been singing a good 15 years; I wasn't just going to back out.

It only took a few days after the conversation with my voice teacher for me to make the decision. Suddenly I was free, I had all these options open to me. I love to write so I could get a degree in English and a Masters in Creative Writing, I love to design interior spaces so I could go to interior design school, I could become a PE teacher and make all the little kids run the way we had to run…revenge could be mine! Nope, don't like that idea.

After a few days I started to wonder if I had made the right decision, but truth is I was never big on practicing (I did it because I had to) and don't tell anyone, but I'm not such a fan of classical music – this might be a problem as an opera singer.

So where does this leave J.Pair? Well I'm leaning toward interior design because I constantly wonder how I would change a room. Case in point, I was waiting in the doctor's office yesterday and the coffee table wasn't centered and a leg was turned. I promptly center the table and fixed the leg. However; I do love to write, so it's a tossup. I've already spoken to some family and mentioned the interior design idea as my new path, but I may have been premature about that. Now I just need to look in to interior design and writing programs and see which one speaks to me more.

As for the current job front, I'm working for my former employer – filling in when she needs it. I had an interview for a receptionist position and am eagerly waiting to hear back from them, I pray I get that job.

Blogging in Word???

Success, I wrote my blog in Word and it post on blogger!

J. Pair and the Puppy School

We are now going in to week five of puppy school. Unfortunately Bella had to miss school last weekend because J.Pair was sick. The first couple of weeks of school were great, we learned simple things like sitting. Now I'm starting to wonder if it's really working though. You see, everytime Bella does what she's suppose to do, but whenever treats aren't present, she doesn't do anything. Hmm. I'm kind of at a loss, maybe I just need to work with her a lot more, but that's A LOT of treats. I'm thinking I'll start working harder with her without the treats because I don't want her thinking she gets a treat for everything down the road when she should just do what I say.

Driving

Well this post probably won't be as entertaining as previous posts, but I feel a wee need to vent.

Part I

I believe I'm finding out who I really want in my life. You see earlier this year I planned a trip to California to hangout with friends and see a much anticipated film. After a few months of deciding on a weekend to meet, the large group lost some people; understandable, its hard to get a lot of people together.

I was told only the day before my plan was to take place that a new plan had been created. I find out everyone has seen the much anticipated film we all had planned to see together and no one wants to see it again (I still haven't seen said film) -my original plan was completely scraped without my knowledge.

I went with the new plan and met them in California. Once in California I was told all of us were driving (seperately) back to Oregon. I was a little miffed because it takes a long time to get to California and a lot of gas, why couldn't the collective group of friends just have met in Oregon to begin with? I'm a logical person and driving to Oregon by way of California isn't logical...at all. Despite the major waste of gas I forgave my friends, why? Because I love them.

Part II - A Few Months Later

Well, I still hadn't seen all of my friends and it just so happened I had an important meeting in California and I thought "great, I can have the meeting and see all of my friends" - wishful thinking. I found out a few of my friends didn't get off work until 6pm which is precisely the same time my other friends were leaving for Arizona to partake in less than moral fun. I tell them I won't be joining them in Arizona and what do I hear? -"We figured you'd say that."

I hung out with my friends after they got off work and we had a fantastic time watching movies and having good clean fun.

Point is I feel like with certain people my plan isn't good enough. I understand other people have their own plans, but I feel like I went out of my way to see my friends and some of them couldn't care less. They couldn't wait an hour to go to Arizona and spend some time with me? I've made various attempts to plan a trip to California, but they have yet to ask when would be a good time to visit WA.

I'll be completely honest, if I had a full time job I probably wouldn't care so much, but I make barely anything in a month, they have full time jobs (or close to it) and can afford to drive all over God's Green Earth, I can't. The writing's on the wall, I know who my true friends are.

J.Pair and the Seattle Opera

The Adventures of J.Pair continues with J.Pair and the Seattle Opera

Tonight we join our singer as she tries to find the Seattle Opera Rehearsal Studios (SORS).

I was invited to recieve a coaching with a fellow who works with the Seattle Opera. I once again arranged to babysit the twins (see Episode I) while my voice teacher received a coaching then I would recieve a coaching.

It took longer than expected to find the SORS, but it was accomplished. The twins and I went for a walk in downtown Seattle and found a nice, quiet park to eat lunch and read in. A little while later it was time to head back to the studio and hand off the babies.

I climbed the stairs and entered a cavernous room filled with props, sets, and workers, I was in awe...sorry no opera stars this time. I was lead to the Chorus rehearsal and the coach and I got to work.

You may ask why have a vocal coach when you already have a voice teacher. Well to put it simply a vocal coach puts the final touches on a voice and performance. I'm not getting ready for a performance, yet, however I am getting ready for the impending doom which is grad school auditions, yikes!

It was a short visit with the coach, but it was worth it.

Tune in for the next episode of The Adventures of J.Pair - J.Pair and the Puppy School

Episode 2 - J.Pair and the Choir

The Adventures of J.Pair - J.Pair and the Choir

With my love of church ever blooming I decided, why not cultivate my love of church and join the choir?

It was a beautiful match, the choir needed Soprano support and I needed more human interaction. Choir commenced with with a potluck - I took cupcakes. I also discussed with a dear friend the liklihood the potluck would have a pasta dish, salad, and Jell-o. Well, the pasta was present in two different lasagnas and the salad was present, but sadly no Jell-o, next time I'll take the Jell-o.

After wonderful conversation with new and old faces it was time to get robed. I was given a plain gray robe and a folder for my music and it was singing time. We rehearsed for two hours sight-reading through our music. Most of it was fairly easy though there's one piece I'm slightly concerned about. Overall I had an excellent time.

After singing in COW church choir seems like a walk in the park :)

Tune in next time for another episode of The Adventures of J.Pair

The Adventures of J.Pair

Vol. I- Ferry Boats

I have a Ferry Godmother in the form of my voice teacher :)

With a lack of employment right now I was seriously beginning to wonder how I would get back to voice lessons because my voice needs a lot of work (I'm still young). The problem was remedied when my voice teacher asked if I've ever babysat...have I ever babysat? lol. Anywho, she suggested bartering, I babysit for her she gives me voice lessons, hooray!

I just needed to get my voice over to Vashon Island, say what????

For my first lesson we planned to have me walk on the ferry and then she or her husband would pick me up on Vashon. I felt so adult purchasing my ticket and walking on to a ferry all by myself. Of course ferries are no stranger to me (think Guemes Is.) but the Vashon ferry is much bigger than the Anacortes ferry.

As I strolled of the ferry I felt accomplished and a little sea sick, but never you mind. Little did I know the ferry ride would be the easy part of my day...

...Upon arriving at my teacher's home I met the two most gorgeous twins, yep I said twins. For a few hours every Sunday afternoon I now chase, crawl, read to, and tickle year and a half old twins. It's brilliant. A few weeks in I'm still waiting for the ultimate meltdown with one or both of the toddlers and am praying they don't meltdown at the same time, but they are twins.

Tune in next time for The Adventures of J.Pair - J.Pair and the Choir

Summer Update

Hello All,

I realized I hadn't updated in a while so I thought I would take the time to do so. The summer has been pretty good so far - busy teaching Bella to be a good dog. That's taking up most of my time thankfully since I haven't found employment yet Bella has been good for warding off bordem.

Today is suppose to be another hot one so I'm considering taking Bella outside letting her lounge in the sun and washing the old car. Ploo (my car) recently had a wonderful trip to eastern Washington, Pullman specifically, and is now covered in bugs - yuk!

Blessed news on the homefront, Madre has been hired in one part-time position and one temporary position at EdCC and had a interview this morning at our church for a communications coordinator position. I really hope she gets it since one of her current positions is temporary.

For those of you who don't believe Seattle could ever hit 100 degrees I'm including proof below :)

I Gall Darn Gone an' Done It

In a rather hasty decisions I decided to get my hair cut. To be completely honest I felt like I was in a bit of a rut and needed a change. I called to make an appointment yesterday morning (Tuesday) thinking I wouldn't get in until the Wednesday or Thursday, but surprise, surprise, they had an appointment available for 2:30pm.

Once I checked in I began to get a little anxious as there was a mother and daughter complaining about how the daughter's hair looked nothing like what she had asked for - oh no! Had I made a rash decision?

I gave a vague description of how I pictured my hair and left the rest to my stylist; I think she did a fantastic job! This is what the doctor ordered. Anyway, for those of you I don't get to see very often and/or are in different states I would like to share with you my new do.

Here it is!

Updates

Not too much to update here in the Northwest, but I do have a few items of business.

1. The Seattle area did not break the record for most dry days, but we did tie it at 29 days. Komo said we were shy of breaking the record by a mere 11 minutes, 11 minutes! At least the dry weather wasn't all in vain, it was lovely having 29 days of sun. If you're wondering, it is currently wet outside.

2. Only 13 days until Bella comes home and mom and I are busy preparing for her homecoming. We only have a few more things to get and we will be set.

3. Finally, to make my blog even more complicated to my faithful readers, Bella now has her own blog - yes she even writes the entries. It recently had a ton of information added to it and hopes to be continually updated!For any Bella updates please visit www.seebellarun.blogspot.com.

Thanks everyone!

More Bella!

Once again I have pictures of my Bella Piccola Stella to share with you all. I just recieved these latest pictures from the breeder who is gracious enough to send me picture updates only week after I last visited my little girl. She is growning by leaps and bounds now and I can't believe her progress. Oh they grow up so fast these days. Anyway, here's the latest.

"I'm being a wee biy coy."

"Look at my tail and spots!"

"Hi Mom!"

"I'm being a little emo in my food bowl right now."