Work Incident #2 and #3

Many customers at Ikeda's do not want a bag for their groceries if the items are small. In this case, I still always ask the customer if they want/need a bag. Tuesday was no exception. Looking at the man's small jar I asked,
"Do you need a bag for your honey?"
I started to smile, thinking that that sounded like I was asking if he needed a bag for his wife. The guy didn't notice my grin, which soon widened as I laughed to myself,
"Wow, is she really so ugly that she needs a bag?!?"

While completing my closing duties on Wednesday, I happened upon a small boy standing near a table full of produce. As I passed the little guy, I could see his big eyes staring at the green artichokes piled high on the table. Shocked at what he what he was seeing, he exclaimed,
"Pinecones!?!?!"

Merry Christmas!

Work Incident #1

Here begins a series on funny/interesting/entertaining things that happen at work. Some of them happen at Ikeda's and some of them happen in the ibex office.
I worked at Ikeda's last summer (2006), and I am working there again over break (with a raise)! Ikeda's is a little family-owned indoor fruit stand/market, located right next to the freeway. Ikeda's is most well-known for peaches and pies. Mmmmmmm...

On Thursday, I left my cash register for a moment to check on the price of a chocolate-covered frozen banana. Walking to the freezer, I noticed a huge puddle of coffee forming on the cement floor.
**Why is there coffee all over the floor???**
Looking up at the coffee pot, I realized that someone had started the coffee, but never put the pot underneath to catch it! The coffee had flooded the counter and washed onto the floor! Wow...The funny thing is is that the mess was not made by a new employee, but by the owner of the store: "Oh wow, I think I did that!"
Yes, you did...... : )

You know you're in NorCal when...

*you can see more than two stars at midnight...
*every third person either is a redneck or looks like a redneck...
*the visibility is "bad" because of trees, not smog...
*people actually let you merge on the freeway...
*a car going 75 mph is passing all the others...
*bumper stickers say, "My other car is a John Deere"...
*the favorite team is the Kings, not the Lakers...
*you have to swerve because of deer as opposed to litter...
*fences are used to keep animals in, not so much to keep people out...
*you get to know the people at the grocery store...
*the main roads seem like back roads...
*people claim you live "in the middle of nowhere"...

Finally...haha

Finals are over! Yes! All I need to do now is spend some time catching up on work in my office and finish my DS over the break!
After my final final was turned in, I headed to the Intramural Field for 2 1/2 hours of Ultimate Frisbee! I think my team lost every time, and that was with switching people every time, too! Oh well, I still had fun...
Had a fun time at Katharyn's, as always. Tonight we had stew, garlic bread, and potatoes. Of course, the night was not complete without homemade apple crisp and apple cider! Paul decided that we should watch a movie, so this time we watched The Sword and the Rose. It was okay. I don't think I'll watch it again, just 'cuz I wasn't that impressed with it. Later Lester, Katharyn, Paul, and James Dunn (just returned from ibex) played Christmas carols on their recorders. Before you think, "how annoying!", let me tell you that three of them are music major and that they had bass, tenor, alto, and soprano recorders. It sounded pretty good, though the resonation was affecting my ears (and my music major friends will probably tell me that I am using the wrong term!). Elizabeth fell asleep on the floor, and my eyes wanted me to fall asleep, but I didn't. Shane wandered in and out of the apartment. Lindy came for the first time, but she had to leave early in order to get ready to go home to Willits, off the 101! Shane took her back to school, but we didn't think that he didn't have a cell phone! After a few of us wondered what had happened to him, it suddenly dawned on me that he probably didn't have a way to contact us! Poor guy was sitting outside the gate for 15 minutes!
Tomorrow I will work in my office, load up my car, and wait for Garret, Kaydee, and Taryn to arrive. We will be carpooling home to NorCal on Saturday! Garret is my younger brother, Kaydee is his girlfriend, and Taryn is their friend and Kaydee's roommate. Yes, almost home!
On the way home I am planning on stopping in at my work to see when I am scheduled. I am so thankful for what God did in that situation. I called up my manager, asked him if I would be able to work for the month that I was home, and he said yes, they would love to have me! Wow, just like that! So cool!
Well, my eyes are extremely tired, and I know that I am going to have to use them a lot tomorrow, so I am going to bed! Adios! Lila tov!

That boy in my life...

For those of you who know me, this is not like me at all...I think I hid it pretty well, but here it is, out in the open...
So there is a boy in my life...His name is Sutter (I know, interesting name). I've known him for a--bout a year? 10 months? Something like that...It was very sad, because right after I met him, I had to leave for ibex and he wasn't able to come on the Friends and Family Trip...
He is so sweet : ) He has brown eyes and blonde hair. You probably haven't met him or heard much about him 'cuz he lives in my hometown, back in NorCal. His parents raised him well, so Sutter's a good kid. My family likes him a lot and hopes he'll stay for a long time (which I wouldn't mind ;) )...
He always listens to me when I talk to him, and he's always there for me. Sometimes he comes over and we sit on my porch, or we go on walks (yes, the proverbial romantic walks, but not on the beach). Our relationship is a unique one, but we're okay with that. I thought I'd include a picture of him, and I hope you'll grow to love him just as I have.....
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Oh, did I mention he's a dog?

I hope nobody thinks differently of me because of this...Oh well, you only live once...Might as well spend it with man's best friend... : )
(This all came from a conversation between Randy, Shane, and me...This is a sad attempt at humor on my part...hehe)

My Week...is almost over

What have I done???? (This week, that is)...This week seemed sooo short!

Monday we had a birthday party for Elizabeth! Oh happy day!! Paul and I proceeded to make a huge mess in the kitchen. Katharyn went to class. Shane and Emily were entertained by strange TV commercials. Lester and Elizabeth wandered in and out, grating cheese, eating cheese, eating chicken...Katharyn came back. We ate. Heather and Naomi came later.We had a ton of food, and there was enough left over so that Katharyn wouldn't starve during the next week! We continued the fun times with much laughing, cocoa, tea, cider, and birthday cake!

The cake was interesting, as you can tell...Poor Katharyn ran out of room, so Elizabeth became Elizabe-th...hehe...Emily gave Elizabeth an interesting fish, which Elizabeth is holding on her lap...The strangest noises come from that thing... ; ) We later watched "Kidnapped"...It was pretty good! I love old movies...Elizabeth fell asleep on the floor, and Katharyn was quite entertaining with all her reactions to the movie...
Tuesday I had dinner with most of these people, I think (?)...Hmmmmm, sometimes it all runs together. I finished my final for Language and Language Acquistion. That class is done!!!!!! Yes!
Wednesday I went to chapel and wing dinner...Nothing too exciting...
Thursday Shane hung out in my office and helped me stuff envelopes and kept me entertained. It was the last day for Philosophies of Education! Yea!!!!!!! And the final doesn't look too hard, either. We waited a while for Paul to be done so we could go to dinner...Watched Paul be entertaining for the last few minutes of class. Went to dinner, had fun...Went to a Christmas party for Bible study. I got a Master's College portfolio as my white elephant gift. What am I going to do with that? Maybe I can give it to my brother Ross...Stayed up too late studying for a math test and other stuff...
Friday was crazy! Class, chapel, test, lunch, work, ibex meeting, work, babysitting, talking on the phone, going to bed!
Today I did NOT want to get up and play Frisbee, and I think my friends could tell...Sorry! I was very tired. But I went and played, and I did very well today, if I do say so myself...The rest of the day was distraction, more phone calls, studying, eating, and caroling! Oh yeah, and Paul let me drive his Suburban! That was fun! I don't see how he can drive that thing...There are too many switches and nobs and stuff...Good thing Lester was there to tell me where everything was! Caroling was fun. I had never done it before. About 20 of us got together and caroled through a neighborhood! It was a lot of fun...Now it is raining, and I am excited to drive my friends through the splashers to church tomorrow! yea!!!!

New (and improved????)

So I got a new blog layout...I'm not sure if I like it yet...Supposedly it is new and improved, no longer blogger but beta blogger! Whatever that means : )
I will have to get my little text box back somehow...I don't think I like this as much...hmmmmm...
I just remembered that it is the first day of December...
Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!!!!
ibex students return soon...
Todd has a good post about being a strong woman...
I keep forgetting that I have a Directed Studies to finish...whoops
I got to see Mish tonight!

Ellsworth Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I didn't go home. Instead I spent the long weekend with the nutty people pictured below. Here are some the of the quotes that came out of this interesting time...
Bethany Ellsworth, Bran Ellsworth, Dany Brodzinski, Lindy Smith, me, Shane Topolinski, Paul Ellsworth, Kai Akagi

Paul: I think I missed something inappropriate...
Bran: I think that's written in Woodstock.
Paul: It's kind of funny having a laugh-track in the back seat!

Paul: That's my Swedish leg...
Bran: A cow potato?!
Paul: You have an armpit, too! (to Bran, after Bran suggested that Lindy use Paul's armpit to keep her feet warm...)
Bethany: I don't get it, but I'm still laughing!
Bran: These were without the bzzzt-bzzzt, more of a hmmmm-hmmmm... (talking about goads as compared to cattle prods)
Bran: Ladies and gentlemen, I will soon turn off the seatbelt sign. Feel free to move about the cabin. No lavatory lines near the front...
Shane: Anyone want some cheese?
Dany: What format is the cheese in?

What's your name?!

So I realize that I may be opening myself up to some teasing, but here are some of my nicknames, old and new:

*Leigh-Leigh
Leigh is my middle name. Leigh-Leigh quickly switched to...
*Loui
My dad has a ton of Lou's, Loui's, Louises in his family (from Maine).
*Jenkie, Jenks, Jenkie-Lou, Jenkie-Binks
My mom, and sometimes my brothers Ross and Garret, call me these. Hmmmm...
*Jenny
My former next-door neighbors, Sam and Ali, used to call me this.
*Jenniker
This came from my grampa.
*Jen
This came from my friends. For some reason they always apologized after using it...
*Jen-Jen
This came from my Awana friends. We each had a nickname for the back of our t-shirts.
*Jenn-Jenn
This came from my ibex friends, after they knew that I was Jen-Jen.
*Jeh-neee-ker
This came from my roommate, Katharyn.
*Ayelet
This came from Bill, my ibex prof. Ayelet is Hebrew for gazelle, because I would run down, jump over, and climb up everything in Israel.
*The Voice of Reason
I got this in ibex, too (thank you, Nate). Needless to say, I did not appreciate this one, but what can you do? : )
*Yennica
This came from my newer friend Shane.
*Japanese Currency
This too came from Shane (see above).
*Jennifer, Jenna
This comes from all those people on the phone who do not catch that my name ends with an ica, not an ifer.
*Jessica
This comes from professors in their e-mails, when they visual ss instead of nn.

Hmmmm...

This is from the blog of Miriam Blankenship. I don't really know Miriam, but I know that she goes to Master's and that she is the girlfriend of a friend of mine. I read this on her blog and thought that it was very profound. If you want to read more of her profound thoughts, I hope she doesn't mind that I'm giving her link here:
http://www.godadmirer.blogspot.com/

So...I'm not going to stop doing the small, insufficient things that I can just because they're not the big, huge, ideal things that I wish they were.

Ahava

Ahava is Hebrew for love, and that is what I feel for Israel. Why am I here in the States?
The strangest things remind me of my time in that land. There is the hummus in the caf. There are the Tevas that my friends still wear. There is the Star of David around my friend's neck. There is the phone call from my old roommate. There are the pictures posted outside my door. There is "From the ends of the earth" in chapel. There is a note from Bill, calling me Ayelet. There is the Hebrew ring on my finger...
Even last night, I was walking between dorms. I had my jeans on with my slippers, and it was just cold enough that I could walk to the next dorm without getting chilled, but if I stayed out much longer I would get cold. It was dark and the wind was blowing. I was taken back to my time in Israel, walking in my slippers up the white stone steps, past the dining hall, the assembly hall, the reception, down the steep wooden steps to our little library.
Another day I looked across our athletic field and saw a little blonde boy being carried by his dad, and I thought of Eitan.
Are these just selfish longings, or will I be able to return to the land? I hope it is the latter...