2005: A Year In Jentrospect

That title reminds me of 2001 Space Odyssey. maybe i should have used that, even though it has nothing to do with anything. Sounds cooler though. Then you could be thinking of the theme song while reading this post. Maybe you will now anyway, since I brought it up. :-D (let me help: Daaaah....Daaaah...Daaaahh... DAH DAH! (BOM BOM, BOM BOM)..

So I am totally borrowing this idea from other people. I'm going to give it back though! But I think it makes sense for me to do this anyway since I include journal excerpts already. Ohh alright. i stole someone else's idea. Get over it. They didn't copyright the idea, for crying out loud. (I like being creative on my own accord, if you couldn't tell.) To close this fine year, I am going to include excerpts from my journal throughout the year. This will take me some time because I write often in my journal and usually blab a lot (what, you? you're thinking. hush.) so i'll have to find good parts that effectively describe what happened this year, or that effectively portray what a weirdo I am. Shouldn't be hard. Let us begin.


January 1, 2005

Happy New Year. So we went to Times Square last night for New Year's Eve with Sean's brother Jared, his girlfriend Julia, & Sean's sister Lindsey and her husband Ryan. It was pretty fun but MAN were we there for a long time. What time did we get there, you ask? Noon. Yes, that's right. Noon. We were there for TWELVE HOURS. Buhhhhh. We didn't know when to get there and people said to get there crazy early so we did. And we spent most of the day trying to find a spot to camp out on only to be booted by police and others. So we spent so much time just sitting on the dirty sidewalk/street, playing with the trash. Ha ha. Seriously. I'm like, "I feel that i've really bonded with the asphalt..." We'd be like, "Ooh, there's a good looking piece of newspaper to sit on" and we'd grab it and use it as our "seat." Because we'd be standing for so long and just about die if we didn't sit. At one point i had my head on my bag and was totally laying down, sprawled on the ground. Gross.

I actually had a 3rd interview with ********. It went well because I got the job! (geez.. finally) I will be a tax anaylist--a liason between clients and the tax preparers. Hmm. It’s an interesting place over there. The company’s new so it’s still kind of unorganized and some people don’t know what it means to be professional but I’ll get to that in a second.


February 7, 2005

So I quit my job. Why? In a word: It sucks. Our services were crap and knowing that, i couldn't lie to the clients. So when people would be talking to me with totally legit complaints, all i could do was say "Yeah... that's frustrating.... yeah.. sorry about that." So, that is that. That's basically a summary. They were unhappy with my leaving since, oh hey, i actually worked hard and cared about getting the clients' returns done fast and emphathized with them. (all novel ideas) But, they understood and i left on friendly terms. When I told my clients i was leaving, they were like, "What? You're the only person who's actually done what they said they'd do in the 2 years we've been at the *******. Now we'll never get our return done!" Ahhh.. poor people. Stupid ******. I don't doubt it. The place just sucks, period.
So there it all is. What an interesting experience. I really am glad to have been able to show that I will stick by my standards, even if it means quitting a job I was so grateful to get. But I have to defend myself and what I’ve always said I believe. If I don’t, what’s the point? I’d just be a big hypocrite. So, I feel good about it.

I have signed on with a temp agency. We'll see how long I can do that before going utterly insane.


March 5, 2005

(Sean's birthday was Feb. 24th)Sean’s party went very well. The surprise was perfect! He was totally shocked. He opened the door, everyone yelled “SURPRISE!” and sprayed silly string at him. I think some went into his mouth. Ha ha. Happy 27th!


March 13, 2005

So i got a new calling in church. Secretary in the primary. I’ve never worked in the primary other than playing the piano so I think this will be a great experience. Plus, I love the kids. They are so funny. ********** who is the music lady asked the kids, “Does anyone know what holiday is coming up?” One kid yelled, “Christmas!” Another said, “Sunday!” I love it.

So we went to an art exhibit called the Armory Show. It was on 2 piers on the upper west side and they separated everything by artists or galleries. So it was a taste of a million artists/galleries from all over the world. There were a ton NY galleries but some LA's, some Londons, Tel Aviv.. crazy stuff. And it was awesome! It was jam-packed with all different kinds of art. I think i've seen enough of human genitalia to last me for a while. I'm totally desensitized now. Sean and I were looking at a large piece showing 2 naked pretty ladies laying on a big pink cloud of cotton candy and it was so well-painted we were like, "That doesn't offend me at all. I think it's tasteful."


April 26, 2005

Sean and I got to volunteer to do a church/community service project clearing out this plot for the WTC Memorial Gardens. It’s actually across the river on the Brooklyn side though. But it was so fun! We put on our grungy clothes and bought gardening gloves and worked with other members from church. It was so great. We loved it. It has been so long since I’ve done yardwork and it felt really good. Our bodies were aching and we were scratched up by the end but it was still a really good time. We spent the whole time getting rid of these long annoying and harsh weeds. We battled with them a lot, but I felt at-one with nature.


May 8, 2005

Well, my birthday was great. Sean woke me up with a fabulous breakfast and a couple of gifts. He is so great. First thing was that he got me my own website!! Jenslog.com Isn’t that great? I apparently can't think of a better word than great!! oh well. It’s my own blog and I can go and post pictures and stories/adventures/my thoughts, etc. for people to read. I love it and am excited about it still. It’s so much fun. He’s such a dear. What a great gift! Now everyone can read about all the crazy NY adventures.

Tomorrow I’m going to the International Center for an orientation/interview to be an ESL tutor. How fun would that be? I saw it online and filled out a little application and then they sent me an email inviting me to the orientation. I think it would be so fun!

May 25, 2005

It rains outside and befits my mood. Or creates it. No, I try not to be determined by the weather. I like it, though, the rain. It applauds my ranting and resounds of “encore.” And I indulge. There are certain plagues that sit like an ever-present cancer on my mind. Some days I forget it’s there, but until I get the appropriate “therapy,” the cancer remains. Some days the chemo is valiant and we are strong to fight it. Other days it feeds off the rain and I lazily allow it. That’s another cliché that I’m too lazy to shun--bad moods and rainy days. Were it Monday today, I’d burst into song singing the Carpenters’ classic at this very moment.
I declare, let us pay tribute to the rainy weather and stormy mood. Let it have its day. I will triumph all the rest of them but today, I bask in the pool of sullenness. I breathe the cloud of damp stagnation. Be in costume. Be me for a day. But tomorrow, I’m off. It will have lost its allure and you must find someone else to serve as your apparel. But, for now, I adorn.


June 24, 2005

Well, spring, or “sprummer” as I like to call it, has started off with a bang. At the first of June we got NASTY hot and humid weather. Oh my. It was bad. We were dying! And it was only the first of June. Fortunately the heat broke and we got normal temperatures. The past couple weeks have been glorious--70’s and low humidity. Perfect! But i am scared for the impending humidity.

Sean is almost done with school, for good. Can you believe it? So he's been sending out a million resumes but we haven't heard anything so far. We're getting a little nervous because it's kind of getting down to the wire. It's hard being in this in-between stage, not knowing what's going to happen or when. Aagh. But we'll try to be patient.


July 11, 2005

So here’s some exciting news! Sean got a job! It's so crazy. Tuesday he got a call from this place he applied to and had an interview Wednesday. It's ************ a major framing company for high profile auction houses (like Sotheby's, Christie's..) and they do projects for the Met museum all the time. They just finished a big project for the White House. How cool is that? It's pretty crazy. He had this interview and they liked him and hired him right on! So he just stayed and worked all day. He said he saw a Matisse painting and has yet to touch his first major painting. Coolness, man. I sound dumb but I don't care. I'm excited for him. :)

July 26, 2005

The other night we got a free dinner from Sean's work so we ate at a fancy french restaurant. First, the food was excellent. THEN we got our desserts. We had what I would probably consider the best dessert of my life. Let me to describe it to you. On a rectangular white plate, to one side, sat a dark chocolate cube. Sprinkled on top was powdered gold. Yes, real gold. I didn’t know you could eat real gold. Break the outer layer of chocolate and you find this creamy chocolate moussey/souflet goodness. Further inside was this silky raspberry gooey sauce. Mmmmm!! Man oh man! We were dying. The cube sat on a chocolate cookie/crumby base. Then, to the other side of the plate was another crumby cookie thing with caramel ice cream. Sooo tasty. So thick and tasty. Leaning against the scoop of ice cream was a long chocolate tube for nibbling. It was flakey. Interesting! It all looked and tasted amazing. AND, one of the best things about it, was that everything was salted. Wha? You ask. I know. And it was SO GOOD. The combination of the salt and sweet was the best flavor ever!! I was astounded. Sean and I were mming and oohing the whole time. It was really quite spectacular.


August 29, 2005

So we've been on the lookout for a new apartment and we found one! It's on the ground level which is fine with me. It's a railroad style (you have to go through the rooms to get to each one) but there's an outer door to each room. Ha ha. 4 doors! It's awesome. But the rooms are big (it's a 2 br) and there is the cutest garden! We could totally grow vegetables and have parties there and stuff. Plus the door to the yard is right outside the kitchen door. One funny thing: Across the hall outside the kitchen door is the door to the bathroom. Ha ha. It totally looks like it's a community bathroom, and if someone came down the stairs to, say, go out to the back, they'd go right past the bathroom. Funny. You must understand, though, how amazing it is to find a decent apartment here that obtains many things you'd want in an apartment, in so short of time. You can't ever have everything but this is close enough and i still can't believe it's the first apartment we looked at.


September 7, 2005

I’m feeling ponderous right now but I don’t even really know what to say. The computer is really hot on my lap and I’m typing while a documentary on Willa Cather is being shown on PBS. It just reminds me of My Antonia which I really didn’t like, but maybe just because I had to read it. Darn the required reading in school. It ruins everything. But it’s nice background sound.


October 3, 2005

Ahh... i knew it had been a while since i last wrote but not a month! Slacker. Well, Sean had his final show at Pratt and it was pretty fun! Friends came and liked the art. His cardboard stuff was a hit, as well as the stuff made from detergent bottles. Sean's such an interesting person, artistically. I would never think to look inside a detergent bottles to discover the crazy bright colors there.

[side note: i just realized i don't have a link to Sean's website and i suck as a wife and human being. It should be up by the time you read this though.]


November 2, 2005

So we had our ward chili cookoff/pie contest. Sean is so great. He has put in so many hours into helping me with activities and various callings. (I'm on the activities committee.) All of my callings have been just as much his callings as mine. What a great man I’ve married. Good job, Jen. :)

In other news, I leave in a few minutes to go meet Sean at the museum for the lecture on frames. I will prepare myself to be riveted--not that I’ll be able to help it. It definitely should be the most exciting thing ever. I’ll be sure to report back to you. Meanwhile, I will go try and make myself not look like a sloth. Later.


November 23, 2005

...Ok, wait a minute. Baptistery is spelled with an e?? I had no idea! I typed it without at first and then it automatically changed it for me. What the. Up until now, had I gotten that word in a spelling bee, I totally would have gotten it wrong and would have been eliminated. On that note, here are my thoughts on spelling bees. I think they should be on words people actually use. I think all people should be excellent spellers but I feel just fine not knowing how to spell some strange species of insect. I don’t feel dumb if I have to look that up. So they shouldn’t have totally bizarre-o words in spelling bees. Let’s keep it real, people.


November 29, 2005

So on the days surrounding Thanksgiving, Sean and I would sporadically ask each other what we were grateful for regarding specific things, like something having to do with your calling in church or something related to clothes or the subway. It helped us think of things we normally wouldn't. So I asked him, "what are you grateful for that happened recently? like in the past year." Sean was like, "Uh.. well, i graduated from Pratt. I got a really good job that i'm grateful for. I'm grateful for our new apartment that we really like..." it was kind of funny because all of those things were really stupidly obvious but i didn't think of them when i asked the question. I was like, "here's one that'll make you think..." Drr.


December 8, 2005

WE PAINTED OUR LIVING ROOM! That is definitely big news and necessitates caps.



December 16, 2005

Once again, upon typing the date I realized it is the anniversary of the birth of this journal!!! How exciting! Seriously, I didn’t think of it until I was typing the date and a surge of feeling something significant i couldn't immediately identify passed through my body. Ok, let’s see. 12 years. Wow. That’s really freaking amazing, you know? Good job! High fives all around.

Happy anniversary, journal. You’ve been my faithful friend for 12 good years. Here’s to 12 more. (Suddenly this turned into a toast speech) How old will I be in 12 years? 37. Wow. Hopefully I’m still as cool. Ha ha. Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I will be. Cheers!