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Just Jen
Careful with the pretty things

Wednesday, September 27, 2006
I see a red door and shutters painted black


I "dislike" stating that things have been busy, blah, blah, blah. It's life, right? And if anyone has free time on his hands, let me know; I can give you a few errands to run. The thing is that no one really cares why you've not posted or written, they may just wonder when you will. Or they may not give a damn about that either.


And you may not give a damn that I'm terribly excited about the exterior of my house being freshly painted, thanks to my fabulously handy father. But I am excited. I live in an older home, and the bricks were painted when I purchased it, so the entire house had to be painted -- not just the wood. To get ideas on what colors to select, I drove around older neighborhoods, those with painted brick houses, too, and took digital photos of the ones I really liked. I probably looked criminal.


My dad started painting last week and wrapped up this week. He's now re-building the deck out back -- the one I may have previously referred to as appearing rickety though it's stable.


I've spent a lot of time staring at the house lately, when I'm not twiddling my thumbs. I see that time increasing exponentially once this deck is complete.


Tuesday, September 19, 2006
No words.

Though he might appreciate it if I'd quote some LL Cool J. He was funny like that.


Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Hey You
with the stupid hat,
the squinty eyes,
the blemishes that should have long ago disappeared;
Come here.


You, come here
with your messy hair and worn out boots.
But keep the Kerouac paperback
in the Chevy console. Keep your
stories of dogs in snow,
of late nights at the tap house and
of your father providing consumers with fuel for vices.


You worked crosswords
and me,
asking how to spell "feminine."


Go on
and kick an apple core toward my feet.
Hope maybe they'll slow down,
maybe they'll let you catch up to walk me home.


You go on.


Friday, September 08, 2006
Last night, after taking a well-deserved and much-needed, long, hot shower, using the body wash and deep conditioner I never seem to have time for, I opened the curtain and looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed something that has been missing for nearly two years and decided I wanted it back. I wanted my belly ring back.


I took it out when I was seven months pregnant with Ryder, afraid that my swollen belly and stretched skin would cause that sucker to rip right out on its own. This was somewhat of a monumental activity since I got the piercing when I was 18 and kept it in for 11 years. I was a bit heartbroken at removing it. Just a little.


I thought I'd rush to put it back in as soon as the baby was born, but that wasn't the case. It took a while to get my stomach back to where I felt like decorating it again. Last night was the night.


I layed on the bathroom floor for a good 30 minutes working at getting it through the skin. It hurt. A lot. And for a moment I considered the fact that it might actually be more painful than getting my tattoo was last month. I think it had to do with having to watch it poke through the layers of skin that had closed up over time. But I got it in, and I'm pleased.


Reunited and it feels so good.