Thanksgiving

This yearJonathan, Gretchen and I will be celebrating our first Thanksgiving together alone at our home. I must admit, I'm really excited to begin a few special traditions of our own. We may go for a hike with Penelope, maybe bake a pie or two, or jump in the growing leaf piles that have found their way to our front yard. I'm guessing the one of us who is under three feet tall will be fully supportive of the leaf pile jumping. We had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday with some of Jonathan's family this past weekend and we'll be with some of my family at Christmas so we are piecing together the puzzle that is sharing special times of year with all of the people you love (not without its challenges). What a wonderful year it is. This past weekend our pastor spoke about being good stewards. Of the earth, of our gifts, of our roles etc... This year (among many, many things) I'm grateful of the opportunity to be an always-better steward.

Vintage

Clothes don't mean a whole lot. Unless they do:). This dress was a dress that I wore when I was little, like, toddler little. My favorite baby photo of me was taken in this dress and now, my daughter is wearing it. It is one of those moments that marks the passing of time and really reminds me of how special family is. I'll have to find a copy of the picture and upload it to the site. She's such a peach. Sometimes I need to pinch myself to remind myself that she is ours. Anyway, this is my second post of the day, so I'm going to make it short and head off to get some extra sleep. More tomorrow or the next day. Tshchuss!

"Arms Race to Authenticity"

Today, like many others, I was asked a pretty typical question by the father of a young man who attended one of our Fall Focus Day prospective student events. "How do ya'll ensure that the essays students submit, are actually their own work?" My first thought was, "how sad... the national conversation has come to this." Enough people are cheating their way to the top (in business, government, relationships etc...) that even our high school age students have begun to get in on the game. Enough of the college going population is using loopholes to get into their preferred institutions that students and families who have moral compasses feel a need to ask us, "how are we ensuring that it's all fair?" Uggh. I am a mom, a counselor, a wife, a friend, an administrator, a teacher, a communicator, an organizer- I am a lot of things (some better than others). I must admit, I never thought I'd feel like a member of the plagerism police. Thankfully, I genuinely believe that we haven't reached a point where anywhere near the vast majority of students are cheating their way through the essay writing process. I hope, with all that I hold dear in the world, that we never get there. It would be an immensely sad commentary on the messages adults are sending children these days.

I was having a conversation about this very topic with my boss a couple of weeks ago. He referenced an article recently published in which an independent college counselor said that he actually encourages his students to include spelling errors in their applications- so as to look more "authentic". After all, we are all imperfect- right? His philosophy- the high gloss, polish of college applications these days has become less and less attractive as admisison counselors begin to question where the line should be drawn between the packaging that a college counseling staff does, and the application prep that a student in capable of. Yes- don't stop now, you read that correctly, the counselor actually recommends to his students that they include spelling errors in their college essays so that admission counselors will think that they haven't received "too much help" in the revision department. -- Silence-- Sorry, I just needed a second to shake my head, sigh and get myself together. Isn't that sad? That the pressure to get in, the pressure to be admitted to "that place", the pressure to "figure out the system" is so great, that students are cheating their way through.

At the risk of underdeveloping this post and getting off of a topic I could probably write about for an hour- lets move on to a tangent. It is hard to be truly authentic- all the time. If I really think about it, I'm myself most of the time, but I'm sure there are moments when I'm not as open about my fears, opinions, desires etc... as I would be if I wanted everyone interact with to know the REAL me. As Thanksgiving approaches, maybe I'll make that a new goal. To think about authenticity. I'm not in the arms race, just interested in feeling like I've gotten there. How could we all be just a bit more real?

On another unrelated note, it is FREEZING tonight. I'm going upstairs to put on my fuzzy bathrobe. It feels as though winter is arriving- and I love it. The leaves were gorgeous today. Almost as if the peak foliage waited to arrive until November 17th, just to celebrate my mom's birthday (today). We're in the countdown to Thanksgiving- t minus five days- and I'm grateful that quintessential Virginia weather has been replaced by the crispness that reminds me of my New England home... Heres to hoping I can throw a few dishes together that make me feel equally holiday like. If I was being real with you, and we know that's my goal, I'd tell you that it isn't Thanksgiving without my mom's creamed mushrooms, my grandma's stuffed dates or cherry swirl pie. If I get all of that done it will be a miracle. So, I'll keep you posted.

Onward to authenticity.

The Keyboard or a Tylenol?

Headaches are awful... Sometimes my head throbs. Kind of like there is a group of frustrated one year olds in there, trying to find their way out through my eye socket, or my ears- with no ability to communicate and ask for help. (Admittedly, that statement was wierd- REALLY WIERD- but I think it gets my point across, and additionally, throws in a reference to the challenges and frustrations that one year olds goes through as they are "finding their way". Good for me.) I think my head throbs because I'm still finding my own way- as a mommy, as a wife, as a professional, as a friend. If you'd told me at 20 that I'd be writing that at 30 (oh gosh... I actually wrote that- and I'm 32... where does the time go) I would never have believed it. Aren't we supposed to have it all figured out by now? No, of course not, but little parts of us believe that. That is why rough patches seem hard to deal with. Tough moments are tough. Every day has one or two (thankfully on most days, the challenging stuff is far outweighed by the number of amazingly wonderful moments), but the tough ones- they cause headaches.

For me, the really unfortunate thing is- swallowing pills is worse (there's a story there too- but that is for another time).

Writing is a pretty amazing thing. I've realized of late that I should really make more time to freewrite- just get my thoughts out, "on paper" if you will. Right now I'm relishing a few minutes of quiet time here at the house. Grey's Anatamy is on in the background, Penelope is cuddled up on the floor next to me and Gretchen is snoozing upstairs. Oh- what was that- angel bells? Am I in heaven? It is really nice to have a few minutes to breathe... just breathe, just be. Some times time goes so quickly. It is hard to appreciate everything that is going on when the clock seems to race by you. I'm working on that though. Kind of like the day of our wedding. People told me to take time to watch, to listen, to smell. Reminding myself that it is important to pay attention, to go slow, to appreciate. That is something I'm getting better at as I get older. So, writing- that is one way I'm going to attempt to pay attention. To process. Maybe tackling the keyboard each evening, to share- to write... to get it out on paper... maybe it will be a good replacement for the Tylenol tablet that is becoming a standard part of my bedtime routine...

Apple Picking in Vermont

We had an amazing time closing the cottage this past October. Miss G seemed to love the apples- gooey, sticky, cold, slimey wetness and all (oh wait, that's right, that was the best part). We think she ate three macs while we were there and enjoyed running around in the tall wispy grass while Penelope dutifully trotted on behind to be sure she didn't slide on too many fallen soldiers. We may try to make this a tradition when we close the cottage. It was a wonderful way to finish off the summer and early fall months. Crisp, brisk air... the sweet, fresh smell of crunchy red fall leaves... Time with Auntie Kimmy. Geographical love. That is Vermont for me.

Spring Has Sprung!

We had the chance to go to Jamestown Beach earlier this week and loved every second of it. She enjoyed the sand, the lapping waves... It was a perfect afternoon. She's growing so fast. It is quite amazing to watch her develop and change. I learn from her more than any classroom has ever taught me. How to be patient, how to observe, care, teach.... Of course, there are those moments... the rough ones. Those are for another post. I hope I'll have more time to write in the next few months. Capturing the world through her eyes is pretty special. I'd like to try and do more of that.

Gretchen Charlotte Scott!

Our daughter arrived on September 6th, 2006 at 11:22 p.m. She is amazing. More soon!

We have a contract!

Jonathan and I are excited to announce that we have a contract on a new home! The search process was a long one but we found a fantastic 5 over 4 colonial in a wonderful wooded neighborhood here in Williamsburg. We'll have lots of extra room and although we have a whole lot of wallpaper removal and painting to do on the inside, we feel great about it as a home we can truly make our own. The home inspection went well but there are a number of details to still work out with the sellers so keep your fingers crossed that all will go well:) We'll keep you up to date as the closing date get's near. We will hope to be in our place by mid-July!

Happy Friday to you all.

We're Having a Baby!!

Hi All,

We are really excited to share that Jonathan and I are having a baby:) We are due on October 7th and couldn't be more excited. Below you'll see some fun pictures from our 12 week ultrasound. I'll post more information about how everything has been going (wonderfully) in the next couple of days.

Love,
Jenny

A Weekend in New England

Wow, this past weekend was wonderful. I spent three days with Kerri and Adria in Boston and New Hampshire celebrating Kerri's baby shower and some good time with friends. Adria picked me up at Logan on Thursday night and after a nice quiet dinner in the North End we went back to her place in Amherst, New Hampshire. Lots of cooking, laughing and talking was JUST what the Dr. ordered after a bunch of weeks cooped up in my office so I could not have had more fun. I'm grateful that me putting Kyan's clothes on backwards and filling their home with smoke during the cooking of a quiche were my only blunders during the visit. (The last time we were there for the weekend Jonathan and I managed to lose their dog Kava in the woods- later to be found- thankfully- so a little smoke and snaps in the wrong place seems somewhat minor this time:) Ahh well, thankfully, friendship withstands such craziness.

Saturday was Kerri's baby shower celebration and we had about 25 guests for the event. Kerri looked absolutely beautiful and had everyone in the room jealous of her fantastic figure at 32 weeks along! I'll post some photos in the next day or two but just wanted to put a short message up to say we had SOO much fun. Kerri picked up some wonderful baby things (although I'm guessing every first time mom needs some lessons on nipple cream and all of the interesting contraptions one receives from the seasoned mommy veterans:) It was a great time!

On Sunday before I started my trip home I finally got to learn Dree's super secret eggplant parmesan recipe so don't be surprised if you have that the next time you visit!!! It is terrific.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

SNOW in March?

Morning everybody! I have a meeting in a few minutes so this will be short but I wanted to write to tell everyone how shocking it was to wake up to SNOW this morning:). It was crystal clear out and sunny as could be but there it was... a few inches of snow on all of the trees and covering the ground. Given the warmer weather we've been having it was a little shocking. Penelope was absolutely in heaven (or so it seemed) with the unfamiliar condition. I took her out for some play time and after being a little unsure of herself on a slippery deck she tore around in the snow for a good 45 minutes! I'll post some pictures of her in the next few minutes. Hope you all enjoy a wonderful afternoon and if it is snowing where YOU are that you've found a way to keep warm.

So, here is the master list...

After posting the last note I realized... "What a great opportunity! I could post my list of summer projects and see if I'm the totally insane person who has this much to do or if any of our family and friends find themselves in the same predicament!" So here is our list of things we need to do, want to do, have to do and WILL do over the course of the next summer. Maybe we'll update it as we progress. I'm definitely a list maker and checking stuff off often is VERY gratifying.

TO DO
1. Laundry- yup- it's been a while and Jonathan is just about out of the zillion white t-shirts he owns (his t-shirt army and my undies compete for the "Obnoxiously Large Supply" award in our household).
2. Spring Cleaning- we've started to clean out the flower boxes and do a full clean up of the house but we have a long way to go...
3. Repainting- The upstairs bathroom needs some serious work since we replaced the ceiling two years ago and it did a number on the paint job (which was fresh at the time).
4. Plumbing- Fixing the upstairs shower head and the kitchen faucet. Hmmm, might have to hire someone for this. Neither of us are particularly adept at plumbing and they've need some fixing for some time...
5. Househunting- I know, we're nuts. BUT!! We are going to look for a new place this summer so we can spread out a bit and, more importantly, have some storage space. I've told Jonathan that if our next home doesn't have an attic, a basement, a garage or SOME underground tunnel hide away for our extra boxes, decorations clothes etc... I'm going to jump off the back porch. (I realized that a "poke my own eyes out" there might have been overdueing it a bit so let's just say I'll express some serious discontent.)
6. Friends- Catching up with those I love and spending some time just having FUN! Can't wait for that.
7. Car Care- I'm about 3000 miles over the number at which I should have gotten my last oil change and tire rotation so that is an important one on the list along with cleaning out the inside and waxing. Phfew...
8. Furniture Shopping- We are beginning to think about what kind of dining room table we might like for the future house we we'll have. We also might try to find a different entertainment unit so we can put up the TV we bought a few months ago and haven't been able to use yet (Jonathan's a little fried about that so this one will happen sooner rather than later)...
9. Finances- No one really tells you how long it takes to organize all of this stuff after you get married. We still have lots of decisions to make and need to have a mini financial retreat (just the two of us) to make some real progress...
10. VACATION- Ummm, yeah... we need a lot of this. Right now we have Vermont, the beach and a few local trips on our radar. We also are looking forward to having a bunch of visitors this summer! Yippeee.

I'm sure I'll think of others, but this is a good start. Enjoy the day.

Happy Belated St. Patty's Day!

(Kimmy & I in Vermont two years ago... just liked the photo.)

Did you wear green yesterday? Yup, I did! Although I was told by my colleagues that it was turquoise so it didn't count. Whatever. Party poopers. I figure if I have a stepfather named Patrick O'Toole then I'm part Irish so I had a good time celebrating regardless. It was another long work day but lots of progress was made on the plans for our Day for Admitted Students event including the highly coveted arrival of the program's 1st draft. Our publications office does a great job at pulling it together quickly as the turn around time for when the plans are complete and when the program is needed in our office- goes by in a flash. Ahh, one more thing off the list.

It was a lovely day yesterday but the temperatures have dropped again so it feels like late winter (admittedly appropriately so) instead of the springlike days we were having a week ago. Hrrmphf. I can't wait until spring it here full time. It just lifts everybody's spirits. Our daffodils have now passed and the flox is just beginning to turn pink so lots of color and fresh stuff to look forward to.

Hee hee. Penelope is staring at me from her crate right now and wimpering in a way that I'm sure means, "Please take me out and play with me... I can see you RIGHT THERE... I know you are there and I can't believe you haven't seen my cute pouty face yet and decided that playing with me is better than ANYTHING you could possible need to be doing right now." Ahhh, me. Hopefully Jonathan will have some time to take her on a long walk at Waller Mill Pond today. Unfortunately she's become a bit of a weekend warrior when it comes to really lengthy and exhausting exercise because we simply haven't had time to take her out into the woods during the work weeks. When we do though, she LOVES it. I'll be at work today with a quick stop at 11 a.m. for some time with Emily and will hopefully be finished by 3ish as Saskia is coming into town (a good friend who I used to work with and is now in graduate school at UVA) and I'd love to catch up with her.

I must admit I'm not sure what the heck I will do with a whole weekend free after our busy season finishes up! Haaaaaaa. I just wanted to see what it would be like to type that sentence. Actually I have a list of about 500 projects I'm looking forward to doing when I have some time so there will not be enough days off to even tap the list...

Alrighty, I'm off to jump in the shower (yup, that is right folks, 7:50 a.m. on a Saturday) and to head to work for a 9:30 a.m. start time. Do you detect a little bitterness? We'll make it through but when you are in the heart of it- there are moments that STINK!!!

Happy day to you all!

Happy "Pi" Day

Morning Everybody! Today is officially Pi day. You know, 3.1415… Day. One our applicants wrote an extended essay about how she celebrates March 14^th in recognition of the esteemed number- for obvious reasons- don’t you? Hee hee. One of my colleagues decided to follow in the applicant’s footsteps and will bring in two different pies for us to share during our committee discussions today. Ahh, we must all be overtired, but having another reason to celebrate and get our minds off of all of the files we are reading is welcome. I really am lucky to work with a group of wonderful people. At this busy time of year I’m never more grateful to have well intentioned, fun, open, supportive folks here in the office.

So, right now I’m getting ready for a meeting and thought I would write a short post on our day yesterday. We woke up to another almost 80 degree morning (gorgeous) and a puppy who was READY TO PLAY. We found someone else’s kickball in our backyard and after promptly popping it with her puppy teeth Penelope decided it was THE PERFECT TOY. She and Dad have enjoyed it on several different potty trips since. She had her third Vet trip at 5 p.m. last night and Dr. Mangelsdorf thinks she is doing very well! She’s now up to 29.4 lbs from 18 at our last appointment (holy cow) and after one more set of vaccinations (which will be complete in the next two weeks) we’ll be able to take her to the dog park for some play time with other dogs. Yahoo! We also set up her spay appointment for May 17^th and got her starter Frontline medication (to ward off flees and ticks). Now- we also learned that this time of year is the time when typical puppies root out spring bugs to munch on which can lead to upset tummies and vomiting. Ugggh, I’m praying she’ll be grossed out by 8 legged friendsJ. All in all, things are fantastic with her. We are noticing some welcomed behavioral changes with the puppy play biting (our hands are noticeably less scarred) and around other people she now promptly SITS in a perceived effort to be polite when she greets them. It is VERY sweet. She still seems a little unsure of herself around other dogs (especially ones that are larger than her) but we expect that will change with more exposure and time. She met a handsome yellow lab at the Vet yesterday (Brodie) who was only one month older than her and he wanted desperately to play and she just sort of flirted with the idea. Jumping around a lot but never close enough to let any touching occur. Admittedly he had a loud bark and the owner didn’t seem to have a whole lot of control over his jumping yet- AND he HAD to have been at least 20 or 30 lbs larger than her… but, we were hopeful that she would think he was fun. In time. After the vet appointment Jonathan and I picked up our online grocery shopping order, unpacked at home and then, you guessed it, headed back to my office.

I had some clean up work to do on the files I’d been working with throughout the day and some phone calls to make regarding the upcoming Day for Admitted Students event I’m coordinating on April 8^th. It was nice to have him with me for the evening. If I was really honest I’d tell you all that we stopped at Brewsters for ice cream AGAIN (yup, two days in a row) on our way home from my office, but I hear white lies are o.k. sometimes so I’ll avoid sharing that little embarrassing tidbit with you. (We are addicted.) It was an early bedtime for us and now… here we are again! I think we are going to make a curry chicken dish for dinner tonight –YUM. More later! Have a wonderful afternoon.

Posting Via Email!

This is so neat! I can post to the blog via email which will allow me to update it with far greater frequency than if I had to go to the website and deal with all of the technical jargon:) I may not be able to include a lot of pictures when I'm posting via email (well- until I figure it out) but I'm psyched that this is possible! Oky doky... so, this is the test post. We'll see what happens.

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Yahoo! Mail
Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

Declaring Today- 1st Official Day of Spring

Today was the most wonderful afternoon. It was 80 degrees outside (which is officially amazing in March) and after a morning of spring cleaning, working on files for work, and getting our lives back on track (you know, the normal weekend stuff), Jonathan and I went for a long walk in Colonial Williamsburg with Penelope.

I swear walking Duke of Gloucester Street is like a doggy coming out party every day:) She met an adult yellow lab named Charlie, a boxer named Jackson and a baby beagle who was the exact same age as her AND was named Penny- funny eh... She is doing very well with other dogs and Jonathan and I can't wait until she's had her rabies shot so that we can take her to the Waller Mill Pond dog park. I'm also officially convinced that all single people should own dogs. We've met more wonderful people just by walking with her... Phfew- gotta get the word out to Kimmy Kim- wink wink. After our walk in CW we visited some of my colleagues who were still slaving away at their desks (this is our busy time of year, but it IS a Sunday folks so they needed a reprieve...). She did super well with all of them (Henry, my boss, riled her up with a game of ball in the office hallway- but she loves him so it is o.k.), and THEN we hit Brewsters for our official "first day of the ice cream season " ice cream. I chose key-lime-pie and raspberry sherbet while Jonathan chose coffee-chocolate-chip and nutty-coconut- all were PERFECTION. Ahh, sigh. Life is great. I mean what more is there than our health, a sunny day, some time to enjoy the sky, some time together and opportunities to meet new folks! That's it for now! Happy happy warm weather to everyone!!

Blogging Babe & Bodacious Buddy Hubby- start, "The Scott Scoop"

Well hello! Here I am starting an official blog for our new family. Jonathan and I are now eight and a half months into our marriage and things are wonderful! Life has its up downs and in betweens and we just thought a blog would be a great way to share those moments with those we love on a more frequent basis than our calls and emails allow. So, here we go! We'll try to include pictures, quips, short stories and just random pontifications at the end of each day. Please forgive the obvious stream-of-consciousness nature of the blog but I think that is really the nature of the beast. Sort of a diary-esque journal online. Once we've worked out all of the kinks we'll hopefully have an opportunity for guest bloggers to come join the fun (hopefully ya'll won't think this is too geeky:). Onward and upward!