he said. she said. a married couple's blog.

New Website

2008-10-31T10:47:00.000-05:00

Check out the new and improved brenandjess.com.

The feed for the new blog is:

http://www.brenandjess.com/blog/feed/

Please update accordingly. I'm trying everything I can to get this to forward, but can't make any guarantees.

We'll no longer be updating this feed.

Thanks,
Brendan

photos and more on soccer

2008-10-15T17:43:00.003-05:00

Photos of Bridget from this month are up.

And so are photos from USA vs. Cuba. The guy pictured above was so completely drunk the entire match. We weren't sure if he was going to make it.

And I totally missed the action shot on this one, but the dude in the red Hawaiian shirt had altered the DONOVAN star to also say "is a WANKER" on one side and "and a Pussy" on the other. The guy in the American flag bandanna (along with some others from NJ or NY) didn't think it was very funny. DC United fans are not generally fond of Landon.

And here is some video extracted from our DVR of Brendan, Jeannine, and John (AND NOT ME) on ESPN. Look for them in the top right corner when you see the ALTIDORE star.

Eventful

2008-10-12T16:51:00.002-05:00

The babysitter worked out wonderfully. We had a great time at the match. Six U.S. goals. A patriotic display. Brendan was even on TV! He's got video extracted from it, I'm sure he'll post it at some point. Bridget thinks it's hilarious that her dad was on TV (because we're dorks and DVR-ed the game even though we were there).

***

Then, today we decided it was too nice to stay inside, so we went to a park down the road a bit. On the way home, Brendan noticed a boy walking down a pretty busy road alone, and so, we decided to stop, turn around and see what the deal was. He was pretty scared and just wanted his mom, and was about 3. Oh, and he crossed the street on his own, too (it's a four lane road). So I tried to converse with him in Spanish, and Brendan called the police. Four cops later, we had finally understood what his name was, they took his photo with a digital camera and went down the road to where we first noticed him and came back with some of his family. I was a little worried that they wouldn't want to talk to the police but thankfully everything seemed to work out. He was with his grandfather, uncle and brother and lived all the way in Stafford. No wonder he was so confused and scared. Bridget totally understood that the little boy was lost and we helped him find his family. It all ended well.

***

And then, just now, three police cars rolled up to the house next door. There have been people over there working lately -- mowing the grass, painting, running power tools out back. As far as I'm concerned, as long as someone is actively caring for the property, it's a good thing. Brendan said that he heard some beeping while he was out grilling, so it's probably just an alarm going off. Again, it's all a good thing. There just hasn't really been too many quiet moment here at home today.

sitter

2008-10-09T07:34:00.000-05:00

We are meeting with a babysitter tonight. I am hoping for the best.

You see, for a brief month this summer we had the best sitter we could have hoped for: Rachel. A sweet college student who Bridget adored immediately. Brendan and I went out twice and never gave it a second thought. It was perfect. Alas, Rachel had to go back to school (in UTAH!) and we were again sitterless.

I'm sure the sitter we have lined up will be fine, and she might be better than the last, but to have such good luck the first time makes me a little wary the second time around.

debate

2008-10-07T21:27:00.002-05:00

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling at the moment about tonight's debate.

makes my ears bleed

2008-10-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

Worst local commercial. Ever.

don't want to spoil it completely

2008-10-06T20:32:00.002-05:00

I'm a little proud of my 2^nd prototype. The finished product is going to be so awesome.

tired

2008-10-04T12:37:00.002-05:00

"I'm tired, mommy," she said to me. Ten minutes later she was sleeping on the couch and stayed there for an hour. And now, she's taking a nap. I only hope she sleeps tonight.

disproportionate

2008-10-03T08:17:00.002-05:00

I got all excited at the end of the debate when Joe Biden mentioned LIHEAP: I just wrote a module that simulates it! Finished it up yesterday, in fact. I feel all timely and important and stuff...

seriously?

2008-09-30T08:26:00.003-05:00

I wanted to punch a guy on the metro in the face this morning. He was a complete tool-bag. First, he thought it'd be a genius idea to give every American taxpayer $25,000 dollars instead of the whole (potential) $700 billion rescue plan. Surely that'd be a better idea.

And if that wasn't idiotic enough, he also seemed to agree with Anne Coulter's latest totally racist ~~column~~ rant.

Admittedly, I'm a little partisan here, but I fail to believe that it was all the fault of the Dems. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps both parties were responsible. Crazy talk, I know.

question

2008-09-25T19:52:00.001-05:00

So, have you seen the Katie Couric interview of Sarah Palin?

i feel so much better now

2008-09-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

fall!

2008-09-19T14:56:00.002-05:00

It's so nice out today. We had some fun running around in the yard.

busy summer

2008-09-18T13:20:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty busy summer. Not only did we go to C'ville, but we also went on our trip to the Poconos, Ocean City and the Cottage. Each trip was not long enough, but fun.

The Poconos trip was originally supposed to include all the Muskoxen, but it ended up just being us and Keith and Shade' with a few days with Kate and Vince, too. The photo above was from my favorite part, the Boulder Field at Hickory Run State Park. It was quite literally one of the most striking things I have ever seen. Mostly, we just chilled.

The trip to OC was more spur of the moment. We ended up staying not too far away from where I always stayed as a kid. Not a whole lot has changed, so we hit a few spots: Trimpers, Marty's Playland, Assateauge and of course, the beach. Not too many photos because I mostly just wanted to enjoy the moment and I just didn't feel like it!

Our annual trip to the Cottage was later than usual this year, but we got to visit with Brendan's brother and his family who were up from Texas. The kids had a ball. In addition to all our regular activities, we went on a Safari and to Nelson's Ledges (shown above).

All in all, it's been a good few months.

apparently

2008-06-20T18:57:00.003-05:00

Let:

j = size of jessica's stuff
b = size of brendan's stuff
m = size of misc stuff
c = capacity of eight passenger vehicle
x = size of bridget's stuff

So:

c = j + b + m + x

Suppose:

m = 1 person capacity
j = 2 person capacity and
b = 2 person capacity...

That means that x (aka Bridget) is = 3!!

it really didn't feel like we were packing all that much. no wonder my parents used to take two cars when all 6 of us went downeoshun for two weeks!

exterminator

2008-06-12T17:25:00.003-05:00

I think my favorite story from our C'ville trip happened at Monticello. We had just come through the "all-weather passageway" and Bridget, Brendan and I were waiting for Anne to use the facilities. Bridget, as she often does, noticed a big old ant crawling around on the brick path. She crouched down and watched it for a few minutes. Some high schoolers who were on a group trip gathered near her and commented on how adorable she is. Then, right on cue, Bridget stood up, sized up the ant, lifted her foot and stomped on it. "I GOT IT!!!" She yelled "SQUISH ANT!!" Too perfect.

hot & bothered

2008-06-08T17:44:00.003-05:00

Today, we went to Monticello. And boy, was it hot. For the most part, there was at least some sort of a breeze, but when the air completely stopped it was almost unbearable. We had wanted to get an earlier tour than the 9:55 we had ended up with, but our efforts to purchase tickets online were unsuccessful. SQL error messages and no phone number to call to buy in advance.

The grounds were quite pretty; however, there wasn't as much to see as say Mount Vernon. The tour of the house went quite well. Bridget was very good for the most of it, and about halfway through, we took her out of her stroller and carried her. Between Brendan, his mom and I we had plenty of hands. In the very last room (we didn't know that at the time), the Madison bedroom, she got a little fussy and made like 30 seconds of noise.

Well, that was just unacceptable to some Monticello old-lady employee.

She popped her head in the room and said, "Does she need to go out." I said, "No, it's alright. She'll be fine." and then she said "Why doesn't she come out, come with me." and I said again, "She'll be fine." And she was fine but this woman was majorly pushy. I know it probably doesn't sound like it, but she was giving me the disapproving eye like she somehow knew better.

Whatever lady.

And seriously, two minutes later our guide was leading us outside. I mean, she made it through 6 other rooms... I was pretty damn annoyed. I understand that they need to think of all the people on our tour, but it was literally longer to tell this woman that we were fine where we were than Bridget was "fussy".

I would definitely go back though. The house was interesting and the grounds were very nice. It'd be something to see in the fall. I'm not about to let one sourpuss ruin the experience.

Bridget is an incredibly good little traveler.

hot visit

2008-06-07T19:05:00.003-05:00

We decided on a whim to drive down to Charlottesville this weekend. On the way, we stopped off at the Wilderness battlefields to where Brendan's great-great-great grandfather was wounded. Obviously, he lived, but it's quite amazing. He got shot in the chest and made it all the way to the hospital in Alexandria.

The drive through the country was really pretty. I honestly want to live in an old farmhouse somewhere. Brendan, not so much.

We spent a little time at the downtown mall, had lunch, did some shopping, took Bridget to the Children's Discovery Museum and had gelato.

First of all, the gelato was AWESOME. I had a scoop of rose and a scoop of blood orange. Amazing. Brendan had raspberry and chocolate hazelnut. Brendan's mom had strawberry and dulce de leche. Bridget had a little of everything but preferred the strawberry and the rose.

The Children's Discovery Museum was a lot of fun. It was only $4.00 per adult ($3.50 with our AAA discount). Since it was so crazy hot, it was so nice to get out of the sun, and let Bridget run around and play with a bunch of fun stuff that we didn't have to clean up.

After we checked into our hotel, we took a short drive (2 minutes) to the UVA campus and got some T-Shirts at the bookstore and walked around. It's apparently a big alumni reunion weekend, and they were setting up a dinner around the rotunda, so we didn't get any photos -- we'll have to do that tomorrow morning. We're heading out early to Monticello, a winery (or two) and who knows what else before we go home.

We grabbed some dinner at a little Italian place right near our hotel, and then spent some time cooling off in the hotel pool. (Mom, you will be so happy to hear that Bridget says swim pool with a nice little southern accent.) Bridget LOVED the pool, and did not want to hold onto anyone; however, she does not know how to swim. I totally understand why kiddie pools exist now.

She's fast asleep in the bed now while we wait for the DC United vs. Chicago Fire game to start.

makes me smile

2008-06-05T11:04:00.004-05:00

There's this commercial that's running on a local radio station in which a man is acting as a labor coach for his wife and doing Lamaze. Bridget has started repeating it, going "tsssst tsssst whoooo" from her carseat.

Cracks me up. Every. Single. Time.

statistics

2008-06-01T12:55:00.009-05:00

My brother Kevin graduated high school earlier this week (YAY KEVIN!); he's headed to my alma mater, Towson U for college.

Some things struck me in the program (not all surprises)

Total	226
Male	104
Female	122

	Number	% of total	% of females
Headed to traditional 4 year college/university	49	21.68%	n/a
Named Brittany/Brittney	12	5.31%	9.84%
Middle name Nicole/Nichole	17	7.52%	13.93%
First name Brittany/Brittney and Middle name Nichole/Nicole	4	1.77%	3.28%

where is my mind?

2008-05-26T19:59:00.003-05:00

I was making cookies for Bridget to take to daycare tomorrow to celebrate her birthday (a day early since she won't be there on the actual day), now I am making brownies. Why you ask? Because cookies need 2 1/4 cups of flour. I put in 5 quarter cups, put in the first batch and thought they might be a little bigger then usual. It wasn't until I checked on them 6 minutes in that I realized I was a cup short on the flour. They were the grossest looking things. So now, brownies from a box that required no advanced measuring skills. GAH!

after your party...

2008-05-25T06:53:00.002-05:00

number of new play houses: 1
number of punch cups to wash: 20
number of guests at the house: 4
contents of new plastic swimming pool: 2 watering cans, teapot and teacup, curious george jack-in-the-box
number of my little ponies: 3
number of twisties removed: one billion
number of pictures taken by Bridget's parents: ZERO (oops)

cycles

2008-05-23T11:36:00.002-05:00

Bridget has this thing about being wet (outside of the tub or swimming): she HATES it. If she gets a drop of any liquid on her pants, she'll cry, "TOWEL PLEASE!" until she gets it.

The worst is when she's tired and in bed and crying. She gets mad that the sheets, pillow, or God forbid, her hand get tears on them and are a little wet. Of course this leads to OMG! I'M WET! crying and more damp spots and still more crying.

I wish she'd just understand that if she stops crying, there will be no more wet spots. Thankfully, she's sleeping now. I'm crossing my fingers for a few hours and a much happier child at 3pm or so.

OMG

2008-05-14T18:21:00.005-05:00

Just look at her:

She will be two at the end of the month, and she is DEFINITELY not a baby anymore. She likes:

necklaces
teaparties
dresses
Charlie and Lola
and various other girly type stuff

I am planning a very girlish, Lola themed party.

We also got the house cleaned today. Holy crap. It feels so decadent. And we'll continue getting it cleaned every two weeks. Already I feel like it was a totally fabulous decision. I feel compelled to keep it clean now, too. Bonus: it smells like lemons in here.

My garden is not doing as well as it could. Not enough sun. But nothing is totally dead, so that's more than some people expected. It's just taking its time.

More Banana. Good Banana.

2008-05-11T21:46:00.014-05:00

As Jess said before, Bridget likes the banana song. Here's a video of her when she's only about half-psyched for it. When she knows she's on camera she doesn't go full-on.