Hamsters Smell!

So Devin read my blog and came up to me today and was like, "Hey I read your blog thing but...hamsters smell!" Oh, but on the contrary, Devin, you don't smell and I was refering to how cute you are. Just like this picture (thanks, Rebecca!). I tried to explain that, back in the day, I had one of the cutest boyfriends, Jason, who my best friend would tell me he was so cute she just wanted to put him in a cage and watch him run on his little wheel. Devin again took that as I was wanting him to be in a smelly cage and go nowhere, kidding of course. So, me blushing, had to flat out tell him that it was a compliment, that he doesn't smell and that I think he's super cute. Way to be subtle, Jen! So, again Devin, you're a super cutie, you smell like Chapstick and I love your green bandana!

*To Jason - Hope you are doing well! And remember, you were the original hampster!

Cute as a Hamster

This is about a guy I know named Devin. I met him because his shop is kind of attached to our hotel. He works at this place called Sharp Shooters. It's a photo shop that takes pictures of people skiing and or posing on the mountain.I've gotten to know him this winter because those guys always pass in front of the front desk where I work. He's also friends with my friend Dan that I've mentioned before. Devin also takes pictures on his own. He just gave me his website where he posts his pictures, www.dbphoto.deviantart.com. There are some pretty cool ones and also this picture of him on the site too. He's also cute as a hamster but I would never tell him that :) He'll probably read it on here anyways. Anyways, I thought I would talk up his photos and give you guys some cool pics to look at while you're reading this!

*To Devin: Thanks for stopping and chatting with me during work even if it does get you in trouble with Randy. You make my day!

Too Much Pressure

I laugh everytime I see that commercial they show on MTV where the high school girl is basically squished flat because she says she has to deal with too much peer pressure. But even I, at 30, have too much pressure. Here are 5 sources of my personal pressure:

#1 Pressure: TO BE SKINNY
At 5'8", I am never going to weigh 100 pounds, not even 120 pounds. I would be skin and bones. I am perfect weight for my height yet I still get told by society, T.V., my friends and even my dad that I need either work out more, lose weight or tone up. It's never good enough to be satisfied with yourself. I've never been one to make myself throw up and I love to eat. I also think it's crazy that P!nk's song and video "Stupid Girls" makes fun of the Hollywood starlets on being scantily clothed and making themselves puke to be skinny and yet P!nk doesn't have an ounce of fat on her. It's hypocrisy!

#2 Pressure: TO MAKE MONEY
At 30, I should probably own a house or condo, own a car and even have a savings account, but alas I have none of the above. All I have are student loans, credit card bills and now a huge hospital bill because the profession that I have chosen does not allow me to have ongoing health insurance. I love reading about those top ten billionaires that are under 30 who really didn't make their money by earning it, they inherited it from a trust fund or a rich, dead family member. Way to work it!

#3 Pressure: RECYCLE!
My feelings on recycling is that it is a super big waste of time. Unless you are willing to go down to the dump and physically watch them put your supposed recycled crap in a different junk pile and watch it get mulched up and reused, don't kid yourself that it actually happens. It's just another scam to get us to stress out and get on medication because the world is coming to an end. Come on, people, you can think of another reason to take Zanax, can't you?

#4 Pressure: EAT ORGANIC
Go ahead and eat organic if you want. But my dad is a microbiologist and according to him, we're better off eating the antibiotics and pesticides than the meat full of grubby viruses (i.e. bird flu) and grubby grubs (i.e. pin worms) on your stupid, sliced for you, packaged organic apples. Plus, organic food is way more expensive and should be called "yuppie" if we were still in the "80's. There is a lady that comes through the hotel that is on a complete organic and macrobiotic diet and she looks like death warmed over all the time. Hmmm, coincidence? I don't think so.

#5 Pressure: TO DRINK MORE THAN ONE DRINK AT THE BAR
OK, this is totally self induced, so I can't complain. But, apparently I drink like I'm in a race and my feet are the finish line and I puke on them. God forbid I sit at the bar and sip on one or to drinks and go home. No way! Not Jennifer! Let's see how many drinks I can guzzle down before I feel like complete crap, which by the way don't go hand in hand.

So there you go, just some of the pressure I have to deal with in my life. Why can't I just live my life to the fullest and not worry about things. And if I dwelled on all five of these at the same time, I would probably end up in a fetal position in my closet!

*To Esta: Eat some meat! You need some color in your cheeks!
**To my guy friends: You're never going to find a Paris Hilton!
***To my dad: I'll never look like Mom, Whitney Houston (cocaine addict) or even Angie Harmon! Sorry :(

Cellphones...Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Live Without "Em

So John lost his cellphone today, you know the guy who I've been talking to for the past month in a half from NY. It's probably for the best because he's going on a cruise in a week and I won't be able to talk to him for 10 days anyways. But it leads me to the question, what would we do without cellphones? I know I feel naked without mine, a little unsafe and totally disconnected. And I love having caller ID with every call, because you can choose to answer or not. I love it! But, we as Americans are so spoiled in having our cellphones to call or text and blackberries to be able to get emails or text messages or even our social calendar. All I know is that I'm sad when I can't hear someone's voice or thinking that I may be missing out on something. Anyways, knock on wood, I've only lost one cellphone and was able to replace it in a heartbeat. So, I guess I will have to settle on emailing John and hear from him when he gets back from the cruise. So sad...

*To Mike and Aubrey: Can't wait to see you tomorrow!
**To my friend Cliff who passed away a year ago today: Four bowls, four beers, four shots and four bars.

Good Times, Old Friends

So I chatted online with one of my old friends today named DW. I was friends with him when I was a golf pro down in Orlando. We KINDA dated a little back in the day when I was "brand new" but I kind of screwed up and ended up seeing a good friend of his. When I chatted with him today, it's like we didn't have any years between us. You ever f---ed up a relationship and then looked back years later and say, "Damn, I really messed that up"? Well, that's what I say about him. At the time, I was really immature and didn't know what I wanted. I guess you live and learn. But he's always been really nice to me and never held anything against me. Thanks D-Dub!

One of my favorite times with DW was during Hurricane Floyd back in the mid-90's. There were seven of us holed up in a house with what must have been 20 cases of beer and couple bottles of Crown. We watched Tommy Boy and the guys stood out in the wind and rain like the studs they were. The next morning we were all hung over and went to eat at Shoney's for breakfast, the only thing opened. I can remember that like it was yesterday. Thank goodness Floyd didn't hit land or it might have been like Katrina! He's also one of the guys that loved great music like I do. We were into Dave Matthews Band and Creed back then. I'm sure I will have more to write about him later but that's all for now!

*To my friend DW: I can't believe how long it's been but I hope we hold on to what we got!

Aren't We All A Little Irish?

Well, I know that I'm 1/4 Irish thanks to my mom's mom. My other quarters are Czech, Greek and Welsh. Wow, talk about Heinz 57! I've definitely got the drinking down from my Irish side, the outgoing and loud side of my Greek side, the pretty, tan Mediterrainean skin from my Czech side and....everything else from the Welsh side, I guess.

So I'm stuck at work tonight on St. Patty's Day, which is fine. It's not super big here in Vail for some reason and it really is amatuer night anyways. One of the very first St. Patty's Days that I remember was when I was in college and we had a golf tournament in Mississippi. My coach ended up taking the team to stay in New Orleans for three days, which I may remember one of them. Yikes! So after that, nothing can really hold a candle to the Irish holiday anymore than chugging Hurricanes on Bourbon St. and watching the sunrise on Lake Ponchatrain. Hope everyone got lucky tonight!

*To my old golf coach Stephany: Thanks for holding my hair back!
**To Matthew McConaughey: Dump Penelope Cruz and find me!

Wine, Steak and Free Dessert

My friend Dan and I went out to eat last night at the Gashouse. Great restaurant in Edwards. We had wine and raw oysters to start out. So yummy! I had the 10 oz NY strip (medium rare) with veggies and a baked potato. Dan had a rack of lamb with mint sauce and get this...curly fries. That's the kind of restaurant this was! Anyways, we were full as ticks and then our waiter brings us a combo of pecan pie and vanilla ice cream for free since he kept bumping into my chair all night. That put both of us over the edge! After that we went back to my house and played gin. I kicked his ass!! Anyways, it was a good night and satisfied my craving for steak for the time being. This picture is what I would have been looking at if I would have turned around in my chair. Seriously, this water buffalo had an attitude problem!

*To Manchester at South Forty: Thanks for the wine, cutie!

Glad To Be Able To Walk

A girl I know from my job had a pretty bad accident this weekend. She was driving on our crazy Colorado roads and flipped the big truck she was driving. She was thrown from her vehicle even though she was wearing her seatbelt. My boss Julie is really good friends with her and said when she went to visit her yesterday, she wasn't able to move her legs. She fractured her T2 and T3 vertebrae and had to have a rod put in her back for support.

For those of you who don't know me, I fractured my L1 vertebrae last summer falling off a ladder. My vertebrae was 50% into my spinal cord and I was in the hospital for two weeks. My surgeon was great but it was tough rehab to be able to get out of the hospital. I'm about 98% good with flexiblility and have no kind of limp or problem swinging a golf club. I got really lucky! And I have a really gnarly scar to boot. But I am so lucky to be able to be alive, be able to walk and be a golf professional. I thank God everyday that I am not in a wheelchair and all of my bodily functions work properly. So when life gets you down, just remember to count your blessings and know that you are here on earth for and reason and live everyday to the fullest.

*To Gina: We're praying for you, girl! You're gonna be OK and we love you!

Thank God It's My Friday!

I'm so excited for a day off finally! It's been a busy week for the hotel and this next week will be slow before spring break hits. I really need a vacation though. I would love to be laying on a beach somewhere soaking in the sun. My friend John is going on a cruise at the end of March and I'm so jealous. My boss Julie is going to Jupiter, FL in April. I have no idea what I'm doing for mud season yet. I have about two weeks off starting the middle of April. I wish I could go somewhere fun.

Anyways, we are having a girls night out tomorrow night. Me, Julie, Sarah and my GM Tamara are going to go to a musical and having dinner and drinks. It should be a blast! We've been looking forward to it all week. Maybe I will have some fun pictures to post (even though my dad warns me about that). Other than that, I'm pretty excited about having two days off in a row! WOOHOO!

*To my long lost friend Shann: I heard a song that reminded me of you today and I wonder how you are. I miss you.

**To my mom and dad: Thanks for making me finish college. Too bad I not in sync with this picture.

Back to Being Friends

When I lived in Florida, all of my friends loved the Dave Matthews Band. I liked them too. I have quite a few of the cd's and used to listen to them all the time. But when I moved here to Colorado, everyone called DMB sellouts. Here in the mountains, we have what is called underground music. Many bands get their start in this area and we get to listen to them for the bargain price of a five dollar cover. Gov'ment Mule, Acoustic Semi, some really good Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead tribute bands and many others have got their start here.

Some other bands that are really popular are Phish, Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon and The String Cheese Incident. When a festival will come through the valley or to a neighboring town like Telluride or Aspen, everybody skips work or takes a weekend trip and goes. Really cool atmosphere if you're into the whole mushroom and ecstacy trip. Me, not so much. I appreciate music for what it really is and don't need it chemically or herbally enhanced. Which brings me back to Dave Matthews. On Itunes, as you Mac users will know, there is a feature called Party Shuffle. What a great idea! But DMB ispired the title to this entry. "Say Goodbye" is probably one of my favorite songs from them and it just came on before I started writing tonight. I might just have to play it again.

*To my friend Bobby: Thanks for introducing me to Dave Matthews!!

Bus Etiquette

After about a month (yeah, mom and dad, it's been a month) of riding the bus, I've realized that there is a protocol and etiquette to taking public transportation. Listed below are a few of these observations and etiquette tips to fellow bus riders.

1) Always be early for the bus. It more than likely will be late but if you're late, it won't wait for you. Don't worry, I haven't found this out the hard way. I'm ALWAYS 5 minutes early.

2) Make sure you pull the stop request cord if you need to get off at the next stop. It helps the bus driver be efficient in stopping and helps the whole bus from coming to a jerking stop unexpectedly.

3) Don't talk on your cellphone on the bus. This is the most annoying thing ever! Just today, I couldn't turn my music up loud enough to drown out a woman talking to one of her guys friends who apparently has a dead end job. God, that was the most annoying, agonizing 5 minutes of my life. You should have seen the looks I was giving her that she was oblivious to.

4) Don't talk to the bus driver while he's driving. He's got important cargo, namely me, that he needs to guide the 15 ton vehicle you're riding in. He doesn't want to know that you just got a new job or whatever you think is important.

5) If you sit in the front of the bus, it's gonna be cold; sit in the back, you'll be sandwhiched in between smelly Mexicans. Not being prejudice at all, that's just the way it is. It's funny though, the bus is like a school bus, the boys sit in the back and the girls sit in the front, it never fails.

There they are, a few helpful tips for when you guys ever have to take public transportation. Just sit back, enjoy the lack of road rage, cruise to your music and love the ride. That's my outlook :)

*To my friend John: Sorry you got fired babe :( Everything happens for a reason!
**To my friend Mike D.: I miss you!
***To my roommate Kim: Have fun in the Dominican Republic! See you in two weeks!
****In memory of my friend Cliff who passed away this time last year: I love you and will never forget you!!

Trip tp Wal-Mart with Julie

It's really sad when all I have to blog about is a trip to Wal-Mart. My boss and of course friend, Julie, needed to go to Wal-Mart so we went together. Much better for me than trudging home with groceries on the bus. I ended up spending more than I wanted because I'm trying to stock up so I don't have to go back for a while. We had a good time but I could have spent way more money than I did. But I stuck to my list and only impulse bought a couple of things.

Impulse buy #1: Orbitz Sweet Mint gum - this gum is awesome! It's not as strong as straight peppermint. I compare it to chocolate mint ice cream flavor minus the chocolate. I encourage everyone to try it.

Impulse buy #2: Movie Theater Butter popcorn - love this snack. I try not to eat popcorn a whole lot because I could eat it every night and then it takes away from it being special when you actually go to the movie theater. The light butter just doesn't cut it though. It's too dry!

Forgotten item - Parmesan cheese - this goes on the popcorn. It's an awesome treat but a very high priced item.

The only bad thing about having all the stuff I need grocery-wise in the house is that I nibble constantly at night. Yikes! I need to watch it or I might become a little fat piglet :O)

*the picture has absolutely nothing to do with anything but I've been in a retro-romantic mood so I like it!

No More Winter Blues!

Well, today was probably the most beautiful day I've seen in a long time of winter. It was 55 degrees here, full sun and lots of snow melt. My walk to the bus stop was fantastic! I have this CD that is jam packed with my favorite music and it lasts all the way to work. It's got a lot of Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Jack Johnson on it, great boppin' music. Did some hard core partying two nights ago which made me waste all of yesterday on the couch. BOO! I have sworn off the bar scene for another week at least. My roommate leaves for the Dominican Republic tonight and I have the whole condo to myself for two weeks. YEAH!! What I'm gonna do with that time I don't know but I will miss her.

So here is a question I have been pondering since my bus riding has started. Is it polite to try and talk to someone when they clearly are listening to music? I was on my way home the other night and an aquaintance saw me sitting on the bus and started to talk to me. I had to fumble with my headphones and pull one of them out of my ear just to be able to hear him. It was pretty annoying. If he saw that I was listening to music, you would think he would just wave and I could wave back and if I wanted to talk to him I could decide whether I wanted to start a conversation with him. But is that being rude?

My Own Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo is the skirt-chasing character who constantly searches for a woman willing to date him, but even when he seems to find one, something goes wrong. Johnny Bravo looks and sounds like Elvis Presley, except for having blonde hair and a Fonzie-ish appearance. He is incredibly narcissistic, and incredibly dim-witted.

Well, I have my own Johnny Bravo believe it or not but he only slightly resembles the above description. Apparently, I have chatted with this guy for going on 6 years. We are both golf pros and he is from NY. Until recently, we only chatted online and only at random times. Within the past two weeks we have exchanged phone numbers and have started talking to eachother on the phone. It's so awesome to have so much in common with someone. But, we still haven't met one another. I think I remember seeing a picture of him a long time ago but I think he might have been 19 or 20. He says people call him Johnny Bravo because of his blond hair and I would assume a little bit of the other part of the description is true going on just phone conversation. Anyways, I'm having a great time getting to know him and we'll see where it goes. I'm not getting my hopes up though. But at least for now, I'm happy to have my own cartoon character.

Babysitting Cuties!

This past week has been super hectic hence not posting in a few days. I've been babysitting for possibly the 3 cutest girls I've ever met in my life. The family is from Scarsdale and the girls are 9, 8 and 4. Their names are Danielle, Courtney and Emma. Even though my week has been busy, they definitely brighten up my day. They are very well behaved and are currently trying to set me up with their ski instructor! I tell you what, if I ever wanted to have kids (which is not on my life agenda as of right now) I'm pretty sure I would be an awesome mom. That "Mom" gene kicks in and I find myself doing things automatically that i had no idea i could do i.e. make mac and cheese and be able to split it up between three, let the 4 year old put my hair in pigtails, make sure they all brush their teeth and tuck them all into their beds. Anyways, these girls are such cuties, I'm gonna miss them!

Thanks Neighbor!

For reasons beyond my control, I've been having to take public transportation to work lately. Our bus system here is great only I have to walk about a half a mile to the bus stop everytime I'm going to work. The other morning at 6:30AM, the wind was howling and we had just gotten the most snow in one night as we have for a long time. I started my trek and just as I got out of my driveway, one of my neighbors pulled over and asked if I wanted a ride to the bus stop. God bless people like that in desperate situations! BTW, thanks for the ride Ryan!

Another calamity with the whole bus venture happened today. I was boppin' along changing buses and I was crossing the street. I can't remember what song I had playing in my Walkman but as a snowplow went through the gate that has an electronic arm, I walked behind the snowplow. And then, "Bam", the arm came down a hit me in the side of the face. Luckily, it wasn't right on top of my head or it probably would have knocked me out. But as a result, I have a nice bruise right by my temple and on my cheek. Fun experience, this public transportation thing.

Valentine's Day...Who Needs It!?

So here I sit at work again. 6th day in a row. No biggie though, because I have no life. Posting on my blog is sometimes the highlight of my day. I am completely off work on Tuesday though, Valentine's day. I'm actually going to hang out with my friend Dan. He works at the Sharpshooter store in our building and he's one of the funniest guys I know. He's bisexual so we aren't going out as a serious date but I'm excited to do something with a guy on Valentine's day even if he will be checking out both guys and girls :)

The youngster actually asked me if I wanted to do something on Tuesday but when I reminded him it was Valentine's, he promptly climbed out of the hole he had dug and started to stammer. I let him off the hook and said I already had plans and that I hadn't expected to do anything with him anyways. Girls, be glad you have someone if you do. Guys, treat your women like queens, they deserve it!

1st Five Songs on My Auto Playlist

My auto playlist is what I listen to when I set my laptop up at work and listen to background music. I have all my music downloaded on my laptop. Here's the first five songs:

1) Devil's Party - INXS

2) Primavera - Santana

3) Who's Got My Back - Creed

4) Laugh As The Sun - Rusted Root

5) Like A Prayer - Madonna

My New Favorite Chocolate

Every night I have a craving for chocolate. I usually deny myself to keep the fantabulous figure of mine. But I indulge every once in a while and tonight I grabbed a thing of Swoops. They come in different flavors: York Peppermint Patty and Hershey's. I got the York variety tonight. They're pretty good. They are thin chocolate wafers and they look like mini Pringles but they are pure chocolate. They fit on your tounge perfect and taste awesome!! The box has three containers of 6 wafers each which makes 18 (I did the math for everyone). Anyways, I would encourage you chocolate lovers out there to try these for a snack. I'm sure there's something you can do to work off the 190 calories for...every...2...wafers. HOLY CRAP!! Get ready to run a lot on the treadmill!!!

Free Prose For Valentines Day

This is really not as desperate as it sounds. This is the way most girls feel about the guys that are super but the guys don't know that's how they feel. I entered this prose in our local paper here in Vail but I doubt I will win anything for it. Enjoy! And remember, it's not supposed to rhyme...


Can’t Live Without You
By Jennifer

I’ve denied it for too long
I try to ignore the feelings
My heart doesn’t want to admit

How can it be true?
Why does it feel so right?
Is my mind playing tricks?

We fit
It can’t be helped
It’s against the odds

My sprit needs to express
These thoughts of being whole
It’s a difficult task

I don’t work this way
But not having you
Makes me crazy

You’re my soul mate
You’re my best friend
You’re my partner in crime

We need each other
Complete on our own
Together we would soar

I love you deep down
I respect you
I trust you

Good times and bad
There for one another
I don’t want anyone else

You’re the one for me
My knight, my saint
I won’t break your heart