Mr. Speedo

I saw him again today. Biking in his speedo. This time it was green, and he had one additional piece of "clothing". A helmet. You know...safety first.

I'm kind of curious to see how many different colored speedos he owns.

On a side note, I googled images of "old man speedo" and the results were not pretty. I decided against adding a picture to this entry.

Different Kind of Nature

After all of my weird animal encounters on Monday, I was looking forward to a nice relaxing run today. Free of animal attacks and other oddities. No such luck on the "other oddities" part.

I have encountered many interesting people on the nature trail behind our house (Mr. Pees on Trail Markers, Ms. You Stole My Sunglasses etc.) but the man I saw today takes the cake. Now to his credit, he looked like a cute little old man out for a bike ride on a beautiful day, but upon further inspection I noticed he was missing something...his clothes. This 70+ year old man was out for a bike ride in a RED SPEEDO, and nothing else.

Maybe he was trying to get some color (he did look rather pasty) or maybe he had just come from a pool (not sure where the closest one is) or maybe he is just that proud of his old man body. Whatever it is, I salute you Mr. Red Speedo. You obviously have a lot of confidence to pull that off.

Your Thoughts on Savannah??

My mom and sister are coming into town on Wednesday for an impromptu girls' weekend. We decided that since they got a good taste of Charlotte when they were here at Christmas, we would head out on a mini-road trip (mini compared to my cross country drive a few weeks ago). Destination: Savannah, GA!

So, my question is...has anyone ever been to Savannah that can recommend things to see or do? I mean obviously I have devoted some time to research on Trip Advisor (duh) but since it was such a last minute trip, I probably won't have the same amount of time to figure it out. I will happily accept any and all advice on the area.

Your suggestions are much appreciated! Email or comment here pretty please!

Nature

Today, like most days, I took Barney for a walk through our neighborhood. But this wasn't like most days. Something funky was going on in the animal kingdom.

Barney loves trying to chase the squirrels but never gets close enough because he's always on a leash. Most of the time, the squirrels either stop in their tracks when they see him or turn around and run the other way up a tree or fence. One of the squirrels we encountered today was a little more ballsy. Instead of running away when Barney lunged at him, he ran towards us. He sprinted towards us. As if his life depended on it.

Upon seeing this I panicked. Heart started racing, mind started spinning. All I could think about was the thought of this squirrel attacking me. No, not logical at all. But when a crazed rodent runs right at you, what else are you supposed to think?

So here I am. Dog on a leash. Squirrel running at me. I jump as high as I have ever jumped before to get out of the path of psycho squirrel and as soon as I safely land on the ground I have to jump again because now I have psycho golden retriever running between my legs to try to get his rodent nemesis. I don't know how, but I did not end up on my face or with a broken ankle. I was able to regain control of the dog and get the heck out of there before our furry friend reappeared.

Ten minutes later, my heart rate back to normal, I turn the corner to start heading home. In the middle of the street is the largest bird/hawk/velociraptor I have ever seen outside of a zoo. It seriously looked at least a hundred pounds. Definitely bigger than Barney. Of course my dog tries to lunge towards it, which only makes the beast angry. It spreads its wings and puffs out its chest and I am frozen in place. It is still about 20 feet away, but that is too close for comfort for someone who panics when pigeons even look like they might be heading her way.

So here I am frozen mid-stride, holding on to the dog and waiting to see what this beast is going to do next. After about a 30 second stand off, a car drives around the corner and startles the bird. It takes flight. I dive for cover. Barney tries to go after it.

When I looked up again it has perched on the roof of the house across the street from where I am standing and it remains there with its wings outstretched, trying to intimidate us. Well, it worked. I couldn't get out of there fast enough and happily returned to the safety of our house.

I can't decide if I am willing to risk the chance of more animal encounters of the freakish kind for tomorrow. Sorry Barney, mommy can only handle so much.

Saturday Night

Saturday afternoon we got a call from Charley telling us there would be a black SUV waiting outside of our house at 8:00. That would have been a creepy voice mail had it not been his birthday.

At 8 we hopped in the SUV and headed towards uptown to pick up Charley, Courtney and Jordan for a night on the town. We started the evening at Nikko, a sushi restaurant in South End. This restaurant is super trendy and really more of a club atmosphere with music bumping and Dj spinning.

We walked in and quickly realized we had entered a cougar den. Now to be fair, not all the women were old enough to be cougars, but they were definitely on the prowl. Courtney and I warned Jordan to stay close for fear that the cougars would try to isolate him from the herd and pounce. We were able to safely navigate through the treacherous bar area to our table without losing him. Little did we know the biggest threat would arrive in the form of our waitress...the Queen cougar.

It started out harmless. A pat on the back to get his attention for his drink order. A playful squeeze on the arm after a joke about her boyfriend being out of town. But then it went downhill. After she gathered up our plates from the first round of sushi, we asked her for another pen to order more. Seeing her hands were full, she gestured to the pen in her waitress pouch around her waist. So I reached over to grab the pen. As I'm reaching she basically makes a 180 degree turn towards Jordan so he can be the one to make a grab for it. Taking one for the team, I basically had to jump out of the booth to get to the pen. No, that wasn't awkward at all. No more than 5 minutes later while Jordan was mid-bite he defied all odds and ended up poking our waitress in the boob with his chopsticks. She just happened to walk around the corner to check on our table at the exact moment his chopsticks were poised in the perfect position for getting to second base...Japanese style. No worries, we all had a good (awkward) laugh until she was out out of earshot and then really had fun with it.

After the antics at dinner we were all in a goofy mood and headed to uptown to go bowling at Strike City. Unfortunately there was a two hour wait to get a lane so we settled for having drinks in the bar area. No more then two minutes after ordering the first round, we all watch in slow motion as a waitress trips and spills a drink all over the back of our birthday boy. It was dark so none of us were sure what exactly had just happened, but as soon as he stands up we realized his shirt was now a nice Merlot color. Nothing like a ruined shirt to liven the mood at your birthday celebration! We did end up getting half off our drinks for the rest of the night and they offered to pay for a replacement shirt, so the evening wasn't ruined.

All in all a fun night on the town. I just wish Courtney didn't have to go back to Texas the next day. The boys are so much more fun to be around when she is there too!

Goals

Everyone needs goals, right? Right. I definitely do especially now that I have time on my hands to accomplish all of those far off "someday when I have time" plans. I figured I better start a list so I can keep track...no wait, a spreadsheet. I need a spreadsheet of things i want to accomplish. That way I can organize each goal by the time frame in which I wish to accomplish it, the category it relates to, and things I might need to do prior to being able to accomplish the goal. A spreadsheet full of boxes to fill and then check off. A spreadsheet to keep all my thoughts and plans neatly organized in a compact, easy-to-read grid.

Nothing makes me more excited then a new spreadsheet. I used them all through college to map out my weekly schedule. I had one for the wedding to keep track of what still needed to be done. I have one for most vacations so I can keep track of the activity reservations I have made and a list of the ideas for "spur of the moment" activities that would fit nicely into a block of time that I have intentionally left free so that JJ does not kill me for scheduling out every last second of our trip. Oh yea, and I had spreadsheets for every aspect of every job I've ever had...because they were all in accounting where spreadsheets rule over all.

OOPS. Maybe stream of consciousness writing is not the best idea when writing after midnight. Back to my goals.

I figured if I post them for all the world to see (who am I kidding, for my mom and the other 3 people that might happen to read this) I have to be held accountable. Of course, only I will see the master spreadsheet, but at least others will have an idea of what I'm working on. So, in the next 6 months, I hope to:

1. Run 2 more races - at least 10K

2. Read 2 books per month

3. Take tennis lessons

4. Visit 2 cities I have never been to (I'm hoping for Savannah and Charleston. Hint hint JJ, we're going on some trips!)

5. Volunteer for 40 hours

6. Visit a new place in Charlotte every week (parks, restaurants, museums, etc)

7. Blog twice a week

I'm starting small, but at least it's something. Hopefully I can start checking things off the spreadsheet soon!

Rearranging

My husband has spoiled me. Due to his ridiculously high TV standards, I too have come to expect a certain level of technology for our viewing pleasure. So after 6-ish months of dealing with the 7+ year old itty bitty TVs for ants that came with our rental house, we have had enough. Enough of the teasing from our friends, the lack of HD, the squinting to see the screen...although, that might actually just be from my need to get glasses. Whatever. Enough is enough.

We upgraded. To a 42 inch, 1080pi, 120hz yada yada r2d2 xyz Vizio. Who Hoo. I was honestly just happy to get out of Costco without a headache from all the letter and number combinations the sales associate was throwing our way. JJ, on the other hand, was loving it. Totally in his element. He might have stayed in there for hours going back and forth on the merits of each and every TV in stock (and even those not in stock) had I not dragged him away from the little man with all the TVs.

But with this new TV comes its own set of complications. Where the heck are we going to put it??? We had, for the most part, mapped it all out before going shopping so we new how big we could go. But there was still lots of furniture to be moved. We put couches in different rooms, chairs at different angles, tables in different places and finally...success! We have achieved the perfect combination of TV viewing quality and couch sitting comfortability. (Yes that is a word now).

So if you needed any more reasons to come visit, come see JJ's new toy.

Adventures in Plumbing

Our downstairs bathroom has always been a bit temperamental. Pretty much any time you put more than 2 squares of toilet paper in, it clogs up. So we have have both had our fair share of plunging it until it starts working again. No big deal.

Well, today was different. I was standing in the bathroom getting ready to fix the problem when my loving, well-intentioned husband swoops in to "help me". Normally, I am happy to let him handle any bathroom related repairs. But since this was an easy fix, I explained that I had it under control. He wasn't having it. He insisted on jumping in to take care of it, so I took a step back and watched while he proceeded to explain how to fix it (as if I didn't know). He stuck the plunger in, flushed the toilet, and whoosh! Water overflowing everywhere.

After about 30 seconds of yelling he was finally able to turn the water off, but not before the entire floor of the bathroom (and his socks) were covered in about half an inch of water. I was safely out of harms way standing in the hallway, watching the master plumber. Lucky for him, it was "clean" toilet water.

Now, the bathroom is clean, his socks are in the washer, and all is right in the Jansen house again. But don't think for a minute that I won't use this against him, the next time he tries to teach me about household repairs.

Road Trip

On Monday morning at 4:45 AM JJ, Rick, Barney and I started out on our 31 hour cross country drive from Phoenix to Charlotte. Due to my husband's overachiever-ness, he wanted to be back in Charlotte for workouts on Wednesday. I was not thrilled about the prospect of going 31 hours in two and a half days, but you gotta do what your husband's gotta do.

In order to pump myself up for the drive, I convinced everyone to make Fort Worth the first stopping point. It was a 15 hour drive so it was good to get a big chunk out of the way, but my main motivation for getting to Fort Worth the first night was the thought of Fuzzy's fish tacos for a late night dinner. It really doesn't get much better.

The road trip was nothing short of exhausting, but we did make it! Here are a few notes from the emails I sent to friends and family during the journey:

DAY 1- Phoenix to Fort Worth, TX (Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas)

1. Wilcox, AZ- a restaurant called Salsa Fiesta with a Miller Light banner out front advertising "Now serving Chinese food"
2. El Paso- Barney will only go potty in grass so we had to drive around trying to find some green space. A lot harder because El Paso is about the brownest place on earth. We did find a church with some dead grass where he happily peed, but not without getting yelled at by a church elder for not cleaning up after the dog. I'm sorry sir, would you like me to blot the area where he peed with a paper towel?
3. About 30 miles outside of El Paso- being stopped by border patrol to confirm that we are in fact American citizens. Excuse me, but we couldn't be any whiter if we tried.
4. Just before I-10 turns into I-20- Rick was pulled over for going 83 in an 80 zone...really? But don't worry, I got to witness my husband drop the "I play in the NFL" line to the cute female cop to get out of the ticket. I'm so proud.
5. East of Odessa- a man had to pull his car over because he hit a tumbleweed and it got stuck to his bumper.

DAY 2- Fort Worth, TX to Atlanta, GA (Eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia)

1. Just outside of Monroe, LA- JJ got another chance to drop his "I play for the Panthers" bit. He was driving in the left lane, and in LA the left lane is only for passing. I don't think he would have been given a ticket even without name dropping the Panthers, but he just couldn't resist. Also, it was not a female cop this time. Just a short bald man, who's only response to JJ's NFL status was "Cool". Cool indeed.
2. The anti-littering campaign for Mississippi is "Pick It Up Mississippi". Not as cool as "Don't Mess with Texas", but good try. Maybe someone should pick up the budget for the state's marketing department.
3. Midway through Mississippi- Rick pulled a rosary out of his pocket and prayed. Now I can't be sure of his motives, maybe it was a positive way to fill time, or maybe it had something to do with the fact I had just started my driving shift...you make the call.
4. No one was pulled over in Mississippi. (In reference to #3 I am the only one who was not pulled over the entire drive.)
5. I slept through most of Alabama so nothing really interesting to report, except that they do not have skim milk. Just whole milk. And boiled peanuts. At the gas station.

Tuesday night in Atlanta we were lucky enough to meet up with Kathy, Bill, Courtney and Jason to celebrate Courtney's birthday at Terra Terroir in Buckhead. We had a great meal, and it's always good to see family!

Day 3- Atlanta, GA to Charlotte, NC (Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina)

1. I slept the entire way so I missed out on any potentially interesting moments. Oops!

Well at least its over...for now. We will have to do this drive again at some point, but I think I can convince JJ to take a little more time next time.

PAO

What an amazing weekend! We just got back from Dallas after enjoying a few days at the Pro Athlete Outreach conference. I think it would compare to FCA (we didn't have Fellowship of Christian Athletes in high school, so I'm just going by what I've been told) for grown ups. We had amazing speakers and workshops, two incredible worship bands and an awesome time bonding with teammates and their wives. The Panthers were well represented with 14 players and their wives, I think the most of any team. We also got to see some of our friends from the Packers and some old Notre Dame teammates

All of the speakers offered incredible insights and really made you put your own life in perspective. If anyone is interested in adding some Biblical education to your life, I would highly recommend looking up Dr. Voddie Baucham. He is a pastor at a Baptist church in Houston, and is probably one of the most intelligent pastors I've ever heard speak. His knowledge of the Bible just makes you want to learn more.

One of my favorite speakers for the weekend was Priscilla Shrier of Going Beyond Ministries. She is from Dallas and has a gift for touching the lives of everyone who listens to her speak. She spoke twice, once to just the women, and I was really moved by her sermon about the seasons of life and trying to enjoy where you are currently as opposed to trying to rush through the difficulties to get on to the next stage of life.

The chaplain for the Detroit Lions and his wife, Dave and Ann Wilson, spent three sessions talking about marriage (the keys to a successful marriage, conflict resolution, and sex in marriage). Their openness and honestly was so helpful and made for great discussion even after they were done speaking. If your itunes needs a spiritual boost check out Anthony Evans and Michael Boggs. Both are incredibly gifted.

Not only were we blessed with an amazing conference, we were also blessed by the Dallas location and were able to see lots of our friends from college (when do you stop referring to people as friends from college and start calling them life friends???). So thank you to Katie, Maggie, Emily (and Jacob!), Geoff and Bobby for spending time with us during the breaks in the conference. It makes me so happy to see old friends again, and it just makes me want to move back to the DFW area.