Uncle Jackie

Most of you know that we've retired the name "Caca," as Gramma didn't much care for it. She worked hard with Aaron to teach him to name my name right, and he has mastered it. In fact, a while back she called me from the car because Aaron was literally yelling "Ja-ckie" over and over.

Lately, Jenny has been working with Aaron on learning all his family members. He's always known his uncle Paul, but he's called him Paji. He's learned Uncle Danny, Uncle Mickey, and now knows Uncle Paji. It only makes logical sense that Jackie is his Uncle Jackie. Last night at dinner he was running down the list of his Uncles and busted out with Uncle Jackie. It was pretty hilarious. Jenny reminded him that I am Auntie Jackie, and he repeated it (several times in fact as he is now in the habit of doing). I'm certain that eventually, I'll be Auntie Jackie. But for now, it seems like Uncle Jackie might be my title.

I am awesome...

I'm not really one to brag, unless I do something truly awesome. Tonight, I didn't something completely awesome. I blogged a while back about my new job at my synagogue. Part of my job is being the youth director. I've been noticing that a lot of the other youth groups have their own logo. BTY does not, and I was simply not ok with that. Tonight, I was working on some other projects late at the office, and I wanted something slightly brainless to do. Check out what I did.

It made not seem like such a big deal to you, but I am so darn smitten with myself, its not even funny. And now, for the Junior Youth Groups! :)

I Hate Traffic...

Seriously... I truly loathe it. I'm fairly understand when there is an accident or a bridge up or something... but not when there is absolutely no reason for it. Tonight, I was really looking forward to a nice dinner with my mom, Jenny and Aaron. Jenny texted me at 5:30 to see if I wanted to join them, and I said I would love to. I finished my email, logged off my computer and left work at 5:35. I then proceeded to sit in traffic for 2.25 hours. I haven't been taking 520 simply because the traffic is completely inexplicable. There is no rationale behind it... its just always crappy. Tonight, my family was literally eating dinner on the other side of the bridge, so would have been stupid to go around the lake, not to mention very time consuming. As it turns out, it really wouldn't have mattered how I went. Apparently the Greater Seattle Area decided to rally for a mutiny tonight and every major highway was jammed. Long story short - I missed dinner and finally walked through the door to my house around 8:00. I should have just stayed at work... lesson learned!

Classic TV

As I get settled into my new work schedule, I am rediscovering the joys of morning television. Each morning, after Paul leaves for work, I get my laptop and climb back into bed. I turn on TBS and watch 4 episodes of one of the greatest sitcoms from the 90s: Saved by the Bell. I know, I'm a nerd, but I love it. I only wish I could find the Cosby Show in the mornings, but alas, no. I've been patiently waiting to get out of the lame 1st season with Ms. Bliss, Mikey and Nicki so that the glory that is AC Slater, Kelly and Jessie can come back into my life. Not only did it finally happen, my FAVORITE episode was on this morning. Season 4, Episode 24: Slater's Friend. For those of you not familiar, its about Slater's pet chameleon named Artie. The lizard dies, and there is a funeral in which Jessie sings a special version of "Oh Danny Boy" with the alteration "Oh Artie Boy." It's just simply amazing.

It put me in a great mood for the long day I had. Long story short: Sleeping in... good. Laptops... good. Saved by the Bell... GOOD :)

Catching Up On Life

Oops... its been 2 months since I last blogged. I don't really think anyone reads this, but in the off chance I have one follower who feels left out, I'll make a valiant attempt to be better at blogging.

In all fairness, nothing really excited has been going on until very recently. I decided to leave Brighton Jones ater 3+ years to take a full time position at my synagogue. It was a very tough decision, and its hard to think that I won't see my friends at team BJ every day. Having said that, I'm super excited to start a new adventure working at Temple B'nai Torah.

Because my last day at Brighton Jones was Monday, and I don't start at TBT until the 18th, I have 2 weeks off to catch up on life. Little things like lunch plans with friends, walking the dog and doing laundry are high on the list. Larger things like spending the day with my Mom and Aaron are a bit higher. And most daunting of all are my super optimistic goal of painting the house. I'm SO sick of white walls I could vomit.

In any case, my mom, Aaron and I went to the Seattle Children's Museum yesterday and had a total blast. Below are some of my favorite pictures from our adventure

Sunburns

Here we are in the Dominican Republic, two grown ups who have been taking tropical vacations for decades. Its absolutely paradise here, and we couldn't be having more fun... except not entirely. Both of us are completely sunburned. We can handle the red chests and sunburned knees (how weird is that?) but its the eyelids that are killing us. Yesterday Paul woke up with huge swollen red eyelids. He stayed out of the sun for most of the day and his puffiness has gone down a whole lot. In an effort to get rid of my raccoon eyes (i fell asleep with my sunglasses on - dammit!) I spent the day in the sun without my sunglasses. I woke up this morning feeling crustier than usual, mostly in my left eye. I went to the mirror, and sure enough, swollen and sunburned! We've been wearing 15 every day and reapplying frequently. I guess the sun is just ridiculously powerful when you are this close to the equator. We bought some 30 today, and I've slathered it on. It'll be a shady day for me today, and hopefully, my swollen eyes will go down and I'll be able to come home nice and toasty brown instead of lobster red!

The Name Game

One of my friends posted this on Facebook, and I think its pretty funny.

1.YOUR REAL NAME:
Jacqueline Sara (Rosenthal before I married Paul....) Kleinstein 

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of name plus izzle.)
Jacizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Blue Dolphin

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and favorite place to go)
Sara Honolulu

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Klejakap

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Green Rum

7. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (nickname of your grandma/grandpa, and your favorite candy).
Yenkel Snickers

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (fathers middle name and mothers middle name.) Vice versa for the ladies
Joe Lynn (I did it backwards because it was funnier)

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Eliash

10. TERRORIST NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's name spelled backwards)
Aras Einahpets

11. YOUR PORN NAME: (name of your first pet and first street you lived on)

Fluffy 108