Collections

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What do you think of when you hear that word?

Some deadbeat without a job who runs up bills they know they can't pay? Or won't pay?

Well instead you could think of me and millions of people like me, who get cancer, go through treatments, feel like hell, maybe get better and maybe not and all the while keep binders full of bills and do their best.

And not only do their best but actually DO pay their bills; maybe slowly, but every month they dutifully give their money to the people who provided their health care.

And what do they get in return?

They get harrassing phone calls and letters on an almost-daily basis from collection agencies and their lovely employees because someone, somewhere at the behemoth organizations (such as HOSPITALS but I'm not pointing fingers here) made a "mistake" and sent a bill that is being paid ON TIME EVERY SINGLE MONTH, as agreed between said HOSPITAL and PATIENT to collections!

And said PATIENT becomes rather IMPATIENT at making yet another call to verify that YES it was a mistake and yes we are "taking care of it" (Hello BS) and gets the pleasure of calling back the collection agency again to have them tell her that they can't do anything about it, it's in collections and I need to pay them now.

(I couldn't sustain the 3rd person perspective any longer).

They are so ridiculous, I swear. My phone rings, I answer it and I get a computer voice telling me "Jessica. Nichols. Has. An. Important. Personal. Business. Matter. To. Discuss. Please. Call. Blah Blah Blah with Reference Number Blah Blah Blah" and then they hang up on me! So I call their blah blah blah number and go through voice mail hell to get to live human hell.

And around and around the crazy carousel I go.

I am now seven years, one month and one week into this world and cancer sucks in so many more ways than one.

Astronaut

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For some reason, this email that I sent to Jeff on April 24th showed up in my drafts folder this morning. Whatever. Who knows what's up with that. But it is a cute memory and I'm surprised I didn't blog it then. Or maybe I did and this is a duplicate. Nothing would surprise me these days.

Anyway.

Jaden said to me, "I wish we had a strap for him" and I said "well maybe one of mommy's hair rubber bands will work." I didn't know exactly what his plans were but very soon it was very clear.

The Countdown


Blastoff!

Kids+Money, A Short Film

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Stumbled on this short film on the New York Times site. It's a documentary with teens about money -- mostly about spending it and the pressure to fit "in."

Where are we living, what are we doing and what are we teaching our children?

That's what I wonder.

How is it that you need a double 6-figure income to live in a normal house in a normal neighborhood? How much is enough? Where does it end?

I've spent so much time wondering how this all began but I realize it doesn't even matter. Here we are. We live in California and it has "so much to offer" that it costs a very high price. I don't think Hollywood forces it on us per se, as one teen said in the film. We CHOOSE to live this way. We accept it, we encourage it and we keep it going. Everyone has a part in it.

I, for one, want to throw up. I was never sure I wanted to be part of it here. I knew I wanted to be near family, that's all. It's just too damn bad our family didn't settle in Oregon, that's all I'm saying.

Design

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Forming Rosina Red Designs got me cruising online and I stumbled on some really cool stuff that people are doing. There is a lot of talent out there. (aka a lot of competition). I am untrained but it's okay. The point of RRD for me is focusing on fun. Bringing that part of my brain to the fore more often. I do not expect to make any kind of living doing it. It's just a passion and it's never a bad thing to indulge your creative passions.

Anyway. Here is a cool blog that I really like that I found the other day. I found it through Good on Paper which I don't remember how I found that. Anyway between those two sites, I could spend hours looking at design blogs. It is so fun and totally inspiring.

Here is just one small picture from Design*Sponge to delight your eyes.

Playing with Paper

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This weekend I got to play with paper, my very favorite thing to do. And this time, it was for someone very special to me so it was extra fun.

This special person really believes in me and so is nudging me to form a company for this stuff.

So here is the official introduction of Rosina Red Designs.


playing with paper



rsvp presentation


my first purchase from the Marth Stewart Crafts collection


speaks for itself!

Squirrels

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Seems there's a lot of talk about squirrels this year so I want in on the squirrel action.

Alas, being a literary sort, I choose to offer up a quote about them instead of real-life anecdotes and facts.

A squirrel leaping from bough to bough, and making the wood but one wide tree for his pleasure, fills the eye not less than a lion, -- is beautiful, self-sufficing, and stands then and there for nature.

— RALPH WALDO EMERSON

"Calming" Playlist

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In about 37 seconds on Wednesday , I created probably the best playlist in my iTunes career. I created it for Jackson actually because I was off to the realtor meeting to hear the offers we received on our house and I was leaving him in his kennel with the Visualizer on. (Isn't that nice of me, not sure he can even see it from his vantage point).

Turns out it didn't help much, in fact maybe it drove him to break out of his kennel and destroy the house while he purged his Giardia parasite on every available surface! Maybe I should made a Crazy playlist for him instead.

But anyway, I decided to play it for myself right now while I try to catch up on my job.


And my goodness, it is mightly lovely if I do say!

Home Sweet Home

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Our noon appt. cancelled so I get to be home for the rest of the day! Yippee! We have been staying at Betty's since Saturday so it's great to be home. Jackson is in doggy daycare for today also, so that's a bonus. Jaden will be home from his lunch date with Nana in half an hour. It will be good to be home, even for a short time.

Our realtor is expecting two offers. Now we have no idea what the details are but surely it's better than having zero interest so far. Meanwhile everyone's nerves are frayed. So being home will hopeful recharge everyone a little. You know, the joy of sleeping in your own bed and looking at all your stuff -- staged as it may be.

I got a few groceries at Trader Joe's and cleaned out the fridge. How thrilling.

Still need to eat some Tums though. :(

Stress Relief

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This picture makes me smile at a time of great stress. I see it on various and sundry websites all the time. Oh my email is down since last night for anyone who is wondering. Our house looks so amazing. I can't wait to share pictures with everyone. We have worked very, very, very (did I mention very?) hard. My office is dreamy. Just what I always wanted. A clean, beautiful office to work in. Too bad I'm so anxious about these big decisions and having a hard time concentrating on work. More random thoughts later. I'm going to take a shower and try to lower my blood pressure some.

Babysitting

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While Jeff made a trip to the dump today, Jaden and I went to visit Chris & Clare during their big move. Jamie was there to keep an eye on Rayleen while Jay helped Chris with the really big boy stuff.

Jaden had so much fun talking "baby" with Rayleen, playing Toss The Blue Duckie (she tosses, he dutifully retrieves), going for a long stroller walk and pushing the stroller oh-so-safely for the length of one house, soothing her in her play pen first by turning on her mobile and then by sitting inside with her.


And then came the ultimate babysitting experience for Jaden. Rayleen got hungry. Really hungry. So he got to watch her eat carrots and then! She got to have a bottle and Rayleen's grandma said it would be okay if Jaden helped her steady her bottle. OH was he ever happy. It's one of his little dreams come true. I told him to close his eyes and listen to her drink her bottle, that she makes the cutest little sounds. So he tried it, as you can see.


All in all, it's just too precious for words to watch the two of them interact. Rayleen loved to have someone speak her language and Jaden sure couldn't get enough of her big smile and adorable cheeks.

SO STINKIN CUTE!

Jaden's Sister

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This afternoon Jaden related the following story about his sister:

"When I was four years old, my sister got a rock thrown at her forehead. She got a little bit cut and it bled but she was okay."

There was a long pause.

"Then she died."

There was another long pause.
(For dramatic effect?)

"It was fun while it lasted though."

At this point, I had to get involved.

"What was fun while it lasted?"

Jaden replied, "My sister."

"I thought the rock didn't hurt her too badly."

Jaden said, "It didn't."

"Then how did she die?"

Jaden answered matter-of-factly, "She lived until she was old. She had a good life and it was fun while it lasted."

Uproarious! Where does he get these sayings from? Fun while it lasted indeed!

Jaden's Sister

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This afternoon Jaden related the following story about his sister:

"When I was four years old, my sister got a rock thrown at her forehead. She got a little bit cut and it bled but she was okay."



"Then she died."



"It was fun while it lasted though."

At this point, I had to get involved.

"What was fun while it lasted?"

Jaden replied, "My sister."

"I thought the rock didn't hurt her too badly."

Jaden said, "Oh no she lived until she was old. She had a good life and it was fun while it lasted."

Uproarious! Where does he get these sayings from? Fun while it lasted indeed!

Bitten

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(C) 2007 Steve & Barry's and 45220, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



I saw SJP on Oprah recently and was very intrigued by her new venture, Bitten -- so named because after SATC, she was "bitten" by the fashion bug.

Her manifesto is "It is every womann's inalienable right to have a pulled-together, stylish, confident wardrobe with money left over to live."

Amen!

Too bad these stores are only in the Northeast! The line premieres on June 7th and us West Coast folks can only hope she sells her line online.

It might sound odd, the notion that she might not sell online; but my favorite store, the now defunct Janeville, didn't. And they were not founded in the 1950s or anything. Nope a late 1990s company that didn't sell anything through their website...it is no surprise their plug was pulled.

Anyway, SJP's clothes look fun and simple and best of all -- affordable to people like me.

On Vanilla

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I was just searching my sent emails for something and ran across this gem about my deep feelings for vanilla. It's from July 10, 2003. It makes me laugh, my passion for vanilla.

"I don't think vanilla bean ice cream is at all boring by the way. Vanilla has a real depth of flavor to it, esp. real vanilla bean like Haagen Dazs. I really have a thing for defending vanilla, esp. when someone calls something boring by calling it vanilla: "that is so vanilla." I get so perturbed by that. I should be on the Vanilla Advisory Board and start a PR campaign for the underdog flavor of the world."

Some things never change, although I do prefer chocolate ice cream ever since I was pregnant with Jaden. (Thanks Jeff, I blame you for that.)

But, you won't catch me defending chocolate, I mean that's totally non-sensical. No one says anything like "that is so chocolate" when something is really great either. What's up with that? Maybe I'll start a new trend.

Here, I'll practice right now.

Buyer: I'd like to offer you 550k for your tiny townhouse.
Jess: That is so chocolate!

Indoor Plumbing...

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...is the greatest invention EVER.

Who cares about sliced bread?
Hello Knife.
Big Fat Deal, sliced bread.

Being able to hear all your water appliances running again so you can have clean dishes, clean clothes and clean bathrooms in progress again -- Priceless!

Not having to drive to Starbucks to use a loo?
Ever more priceless.

Everyone go around and kiss your pipes tonight and thank them for all the hard work they do for us every day.