Really?!

Re-posting because this is very relevant today... with this added thought.  I am IRATE that our senators and our president (when their childish stubbornness has caused this mess) STILL GET PAID during a shut down, whereas hardworking Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck, and OUR TROOPS OVERSEAS, do not.  Our government is worthless.

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Dear Political Candidates,

I don’t give a crap.  So please cancel your expensive ad campaigns and put that money towards something worthwhile.  We all know if you get elected you won’t get much done anyway.  You’ll waste your time arguing with your opposition, and since you all refuse to compromise, you’ll waste time talking instead of doing.

Why is it that you care so much about everyone else’s religion and sexual orientation?  In the grand scheme of things, why is it so important?  Why can’t you stand up, be the leaders you’re supposed to be, and say, “Those issues are personal and have nothing to do with the government, I’m going to focus on our most important issues- the war that’s been going on almost 10 years, our poor economy, our need for new, clean energy, and the fact that our people aren’t getting help from our government when they need it most.”

So get yourselves together because I’m sick of the finger pointing, I’m sick of the complaining, and I’m sick of nothing getting done (or at least, nothing significant).   Newsflash:  I don’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat.  You all suck.

You don’t deserve anyone’s vote.  You need to earn it, and you certainly haven’t earned mine.

Jenny 

Love/Hate Relationship

Not everyone likes police officers.

A few weeks ago, we were driving along when a dog ran out in front of our car (no, we did NOT keep this one).

She had a collar and a leash but no tags, so we brought her over to the nearby apartment complex to ask some people standing outside if they knew who the owner was.  One of the men stood back cautiously, and as we were chatting looked at JD and randomly asked, “Are you a cop?”

JD hesitated.  He wasn’t wearing anything that might give that away, and he laughed as he explained he was in the academy.

“You just seem like a cop,” the man replied.  I could tell that wasn’t meant to be a compliment.

A few months ago, we were raking leaves in the back yard when we got yelled at by a neighbor.  The street behind our house dead ends at our back yard, so we usually rake leaves through the back gate to the end of the street, instead of raking them all the way down through the front yard. 

We noticed the lady who lives in the house behind us taking pictures from her driveway.  “Are you taking pictures?” JD challenged her.

An argument ensued.  She called us “very rude” for raking leaves into “her yard.”  The city’s rule is that you rake your leaves to the curb; whether we rake to the front of the house or the back, I don’t think it should matter.  Not to mention that her house is quite a distance away from ours, and since we really were leaving the leaves at the curb, it had nothing to do with her yard.  Regardless, she was not happy and threatened to call the police.

“Go ahead.  I work for the police!” JD shot back.

“Fine,” she yelled, and stormed off.

I tensed up, wondering if the “I work for the police” had made the situation better or worse.  I had visions of her spray painting “pig” on the front of our house or poisoning our dogs while they were playing in the yard.  Of course I was overreacting, but there are times that I feel JD’s chosen profession makes him a target- on and off the street.

My Masterpiece

I gave JD credit for the transformation in the downstairs bathroom, but I will give myself credit for the transformation in the kitchen (minus the floors, which we had installed professionally).  Eventually we'd like to refinish the cabinets and counters, but we're happy with it for now.  It's a pretty huge improvement, don't you think?!

Before: Rockin' 80's light fixtures and the hated wallpaper border.

Semi-after: New lighting fixtures... but the border is still there :)

Before:  Linoleum- yuck.

Before shot of the breakfast nook.

After: Goodbye wallpaper border!!  Hello cheery green, updated floors, and a fun pop of red.

Student Drivers

At this point, JD’s academy class has survived law classes, SCAT (Subject Control and Arrest Techniques), getting pepper sprayed, and shooting.  It seems as though the hard part is over, but there are still some unexpected surprises.  

This week they’re doing driving courses, which is something I’d never stopped to consider that a police officer might need training on.  I mean, driving is something everyone over the age of 16 knows how to do, but I guess most haven’t practiced speeding down alleyways or anything :)

Surprisingly, the driving course is one of the most difficult parts of the academy, and yesterday, the first of their classmates was “let go,” (as opposed the others who’ve quit) because she failed the driving course.  JD took it hard- they’re like a little family now, and to lose someone now that they’re already halfway done was a devastating blow.

Their driving test consisted of a precision course laid out with orange cones.  They had to complete it in a certain time limit without knocking down too many cones, and they had to pass the course at both day and night.  Anyone who didn’t pass the course was out of the academy… and a job, which means 3 months of hellish training for nothing.

Although the driving course marks the first “firing” they’ve seen, it doesn’t mean that they’re not constantly being tested both academically and physically.  They have tests at least once a week, and the pressure of “pass or go home” always lingers.

Yesterday was a reminder that there’s still a lot of work left and it’s not over till they graduate in July, but JD is kicking ass just like I knew he would, so I have no worries that he will be getting his badge in a few months.

Laughing Is Good For You

Had to share because these are hilarious.  I wish I could take credit for writing them, but it wasn't me.  In fact, I don't know who wrote them because they came to me in an email forward.  Enjoy!

1.     I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
2.     More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
3.     Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
4.     I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
5.     Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
6.     I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
7.     The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.
8.     Do you remember when you were a kid playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
9.     There is a great need for sarcasm font.
10. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the fck was going on when I first saw it.
11. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
12. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
13. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
14. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
15. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.
16. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
17. Was learning cursive really necessary?
18. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
19. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
20. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
21. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
22. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
23. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)...ummm...Goonies"
24. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
25. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
26. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
27. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
28. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
29. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
30. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
31. Bad decisions make good stories
32. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
33. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
34. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
35. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
36. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
37. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
38. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to fall after leaning your chair back a little too far.
39. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
40. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
41. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
42. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
43. When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
44. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
45. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
46. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
47. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
48. I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.
49 Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
50. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
51. It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
52. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
53. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than with Kay.
54 The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Sweet 16

Tonight I'm doing something I very rarely do- watching basketball.

You see, I'm from Ohio.  I was raised on Ohio State Football.  Basketball was just the sport they used to get you through winter while you were waiting for football to come back.  Don't get me wrong, I'll watch pretty much any sport, but basketball just isn't my favorite.

It was quite a shock to move to NC, where they couldn't care less about football.  I'm in ACC territory now; this is a basketball state. They take the NCAA tournament (and their brackets) very seriously.

In an unusual turn of events, Ohio State is the #1 overall seed for this year's tournament, and if UNC and Ohio State both win tonight, we'll play each other in the next round.  I would love a chance to rub an Ohio State victory in the face of the UNC fans in the area (let's be honest, this chance may not present itself again... ever).

I would also like to share that I had to ask JD to sit down and watch the game with me.  Backwards, I know.  JD likes sports, but prefers action sports.  Pretty much, if there's not a huge risk of death, it's just not that interesting.

Academy Update

JD's academy class is spending most of this month at the range doing shooting and driving techniques. Because these classes aren't taught by his usual instructors, the atmosphere is much more laid back.  He doesn't have written tests and homework like his other courses, so he's free to actually enjoy his evenings.  He's even been getting out of work early, and I don't just mean earlier than normal.  I mean like 3:30 in the afternoon early.  

We've been given the gift of time.

Last night we took advantage of the beautiful weather (mid 80's and sunny yesterday!) and went for a motorcycle ride, then grabbed dinner on the patio at our favorite local restaurant.  We sat, soaked up the warm spring air, laughed, and talked about things other than the police academy.   

Not that the past 3 months have been horrible, but they haven't been easy either.  The best way to sum up is to say that it's been a lot of work.  JD has the work of the academy.  I have the work around the house.  We both have the work of not neglecting each other when we're focused on so many other things.

He has a week and a half left at the range, then it's back to regular academy life. Back to long hours, lots of homework, unforgiving instructors, and stress.  There's no denying that the transition back will suck, but by then he'll be halfway done.  I can't wait to watch him get his badge.  I'm so proud of him already.