How to Have a Thick Skin and Learn something new

As writers, we don't often want to learn new things.  Sometimes we have that imaginary barbed wire fence that tends to block our way to something new.  We don't want to realize that we need to water the garden to get the flowers, or listen to the cow that wants us to cross the road.

We want to only hear the praise and let the bad roll off.  We sometimes get hurt or offended when someone critiscizes us.  We wish they would just go away. 

I recently had someone criticise my poetry on Triond.  Well, I always had been writing poetry my way.  I tended to write my poetry any way I wanted.  I had tossed away the unwanted sonnets or limericks or rhyming poetry that my high school teacher wanted us to learn about.

I wanted to free verse.  So for the last twenty five years I was writing poetry in free verse.  Yet, technically they probably weren't poems.  Not in the true sense.  It was a type of poetry, but not truly a poem.  Yet, I would never get rid of any of it, as I still like a lot of it, even it doesn't flow like a poem should.

A lot of it was written after my mother died, so I wouldn't change a thing about those poems.  It was a poignant piece of writing about my mother.  Enough said.

Well, a few weeks ago, this character named The Tick, started commenting on my poetry and couldn't believe how terrible it was and that it wasn't a poem.  He actually was quite rude and mean and to this day, I think his tactics weren't very nice. 

Several times I told him that it was all right to criticize but that he should have done it in a nicer, more polite way.  He was quite rude, but he was actually right.

Today, I have learned about meter.  I didn't realize until today that even free verse has to have some sort of rhythm or meter to it.  I think I am going to get the gist of meter.  I tried a few poems using it and thought it was kind of fun.

Who knows, maybe someday I will even try rhyming.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.  You figure 25 years of not knowing, it will take a little bit to get used to writing poetry in a new better way.

But we really do hate to have someone knock us down even if it is in a literal or artistic sense.  Nobody wants to be told that their stuff is terrible.  It hurts, and digs a hole into our skin.  But we have got to learn to keep a thick skin and don't let the worst get to us. 

But it is so lovely to get the praise, but in the end the praise doesn't really make us better writers.  It is the criticism and the things that we need to learn to become the better writer that we want to be that counts.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted February 20, 2012

I guess we've got to develop the thick skin so we can take the cold hard criticsm.  I often wonder why the horse likes the cold hard winter.  Thick skin.

I drive by this horse farm every week on my way to my boyfriend's house.  This farm easily has about sixteen to twenty horses.


If anyone is interested in paper dolls check out my Paper Dolls for sale on this blog and my other blogs.
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  Paperdolls blog


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

How to Get Your Small Business to Begin?

It's been a crazy week, with car troubles, website dilemnas and figuring out how to do the paypal code for the paypal buttons.  It seems like such a struggle when you don't know how to do something.

In creating my websites over the last year, I kind of had to figure things out all over again more than several times and here I go trying to figure it out again. 

But now I am excited about have my paper dolls for sale on several blogs.  I never thought of selling them on blogs, but it seems like everyone is selling stuff on their blogs, so it seems like a good way to go.

I felt bad for not getting back to writing on my blogs.  My car troubles seemed to get the best of me last week.

But, I am back writing today and hope to continue and keep it up.  Yet, now one of my projects that is going to take over is getting all my paypal buttons for my paper dolls in the right spot on my blogs where I am going to sell them.  Or hoping to sell them.  I have to face the fact that they are a specialized thing and it targets young girls and women. 

I was told quite a few years ago at a craft show, that they are very popular in Europe.  And when I am selling my old vintage and reproduction paper doll sets on Ebay they seem to be very popular.  You never know until you try.

When we want our small business to start up we want to try everything under the sun to make it work.  We look at other people selling their stuff and we wonder how they do it.  We do have to do a lot of research and try to come up with ways that are going to work for us. 

And we sure seem to get doors shut in our face as we try to establish ourselves.  So far I haven't had very good luck with my photography.  I tried a local ad with Seven Days which did nothing for me.  I got business cards and put them in wedding shops, florist shops and any place I thought would attract people.  Nothing seemed to work.  I tried Marketingtool.com advertising last year.

 In the beginning, I got scammed by some modelling company called Hollywood Auditions.  I paid them $300 for putting an ad for me on their website and they were going to send me 130 to 150 clients to me each month.  All people that needed headshots (actors, actresses, musicians...)  After a week or a little more, they gave me the client list with addresses and phone numbers. 

I started calling them and all of them didn't seem to know what I was talking about and none of them of course needed my services.  And then the modelling company wouldn't give me my money back.  I reported them to the Better Business Bureau.

And I am choosing not to continue my ad with Marketingtool.com next month.  I did manage to get two to three jobs through them over the summer and fall.  One wedding, one boudoir session and a barmitzfah.  And since fall time all I have been getting is inquiries and then no jobs.  So it seems like I don't want to sink the money into it.

Maybe I just need to set up a blog for my photography services.  That probably would be the way to go and see if anything happens from that.

And I know the Paper Doll project is going to take some time to get it set up right but worth it in the end.

And then, I have been coming up with more projects that are going to take up my time.

I've been selling stuff on Ebay.  I have been discovering that repainted dolls are big on Ebay, and I am going to give it a try.  I'm going to start out with cheapo Barbies and see how things look after I am done.  I think the eyes are going to be the hard part as they are so small and I'm not used to painting on a Barbie.  Have been finding a bunch of the girls barbies that they don't play with anymore.

I'm not going to take all the faces off until I know I can do it and make them look good.  I did figure out how to dye their hair.  That was fun.  I took the acryllic paint, got the hair color I wanted and then combed it through the doll's hair.  And then I had fun cutting a few of the doll's hair to get a new do.  I think when you go to curl their hair, you wrap it around a straw or use a bobby pin and then you boil it.  Different.  It must be because it is doll hair.

For us, we just go buy the hair spray or the hair gel or mousse, but it probably wouldn't work the same way for the dolls.

If you ever go to ebay and look up repaint dolls, some of them are absolutely gorgeous!  Too rich for my pocket.  Some of them are repainting the Gene dolls, Tonner dolls, and the Monster High dolls and maybe pocketing a few hundred dollars or more for their work.  The eye painting is incredible.

One person had a Monster High doll redone with a gorgeous rose in her hair and pretty outfit.

Which brings me to my other projects.  Doll clothing.  I am going to learn how to make some of the dresses and other outfits.  Which not only brings me to creating the sewn ones but the knitted ones.

And then with the knitting, once I get a basic pattern, I should be able to create my own patterns for the dolls.  I used to knit all the time quite a few years ago, and I dabbled in making my own sweater patterns and other patterns.

Friends would often say, "What is that?"  They wouldn't know what it was and I would explain, "It's a bag.  It's a burp cloth.  It's a sweater.  It's a bandana.  It's a headband.  ETC..."

I've always been one to come up with my own creations.  Tried to think of clever things to sell at the craft shows.

And suddenly I have another idea of other things I would like to try selling on Ebay and my blogs.  I'm going to attempt to sew up some aprons on my sewing machine and the doll clothing and my cute little pincushions and then see if I can sell them on Ebay.  Over the last few weekends, I've been making these cute little yo yo pincushions.  If not on Ebay, I will try them at a craft show later this year.  Or maybe on my blog.

That would have to be different than the paper dolls as I would probably only have a certain amount of each thing.  I would probably just have to go in and change the pictures once something is out of stock.

I am hand sewing the pincushions, but I think I will need to machine sew the outfits for the dolls to make them look more professional looking.  And the aprons.

So now I have a bunch of doll patterns for the outfits and even one to make ragdolls.  Good lord, there's another project. I saw another woman's site where she had handsewn the doll (a topsy turvy doll).  She had gessoed it and then painted on her with acryllics and it looked really good.  I got thinking, I could probably paint a good face.

I did a dress once of my paperdoll Julia.  My daughter.  I created the dress, which I never completely finished and I drew the outline of my paperdoll on the fabric.  We still have it kicking around the kids house, but the shoulders of the dress aren't completed.  I did the same thing and made a fabric doll face and drew on it with a black fine tip marker.  It came out neat, but I never did a body for her.

I think as crafters, we all try to come up with a product that people are going to love.  But first of all, I think we have to love what we do first.  That is the important thing.  And then we need to try to find a niche for it and make it work.

We all would love to start up a small business crafting what we love and providing it to an audience of collectors who are going to love our quality products.

It can be very hard and daunting to try to find our outlet for it.  It takes a lot of trial and error and I have also heard a lot of advertising to get it off the ground.

And the hard fact is that many of us don't have the money to put our business where we want it.  Established, growing and profiting.  For some of us it takes years to get something off the ground.  I was told that I have a unique thing with my paper dolls, but getting it off the ground and promoting them is another matter.  And as entreprenuers and business owners and all of us that would ultimately like to be working for ourselves and be our own boss, we realize that it takes alot of time for something to grow and prosper.

It takes a tremendous amount of patience and effort to make it work.  But what we strive for is to grab hold of the moon and let our dreams take root and become something that we can be really proud of.

I've always been a person that tries really hard to make a success of something, yet it has been a hard road to figure out what works and what doesn't work.  It doesn't come easy.

And most people will say that it doesn't happen overnight.

Well, perhaps it does for some people.  Some people just have the luck of coming up with the perfect product that everyone is going to be wanting.

And another thing, it is so much easier for a celebrity to come up with a product and promote their fragrance line, clothing line, handbags, write a book, or anything else.  They are already famous and people flock to the products because they are a celebrity.

It comes a lot harder to the regular average Joe, Dick, Harry, or Jane, Lesley and Rita.

And then there is Tom, Dick and Harry, but that should be a post for all of us women.  I think we have all met our own Tom, Dick or Harry in our lives.  And some of them all seem to be Dick.  Ha ha.


I wonder what the name would be to men.  Dickina?

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted February 15, 2012

http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/
http://bloggersblock.blogspot.com/
http://yourstrulycraftygirl.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/
http://jennyjofayfancyphotography.com/  Wordpress where I've got to get back to my patiently waiting new chapters to my novels.  Sorry chapters!!!

I guess I have created some very full plates for myself.

My really fun thought with the sewing.  I've drummed up a cute christmas gift for my daughters, neices, two of the little sisters that wait with my girls at the bus stop and my friend's daughter.

I'm going to make a cute yo yo pincushion for each of them, buy some needles, a measuring tape, thimble, stitch ripper and a few other little sewing neccessities.  Then I think I will make a cute fabric bag to put it in, along with some yo yo circles so they can practice making them.  And then I think I will cut one or two American Girl Dress patterns and they can practice sewing them together.  Kids like to make fun little things.

I know I did when I was their age.  It all started with making a Shawn Cassiddy Doll.

These two are my most provocative Paper Dolls.  I think Pretty Kitty (this one on the bottom) has an extra page somewhere that I haven't completed.  I think it is one where she is all tied up!!!

Marla Mermaid paper doll is the one on top.  She was a lot of fun to create too.

I want to do more mermaids in the future.  And then there is my Gothic Girl line that I haven't created yet, and the Bella Swan one that I want to do sometime.

Yup.  More projects.

That's the life of a writer, artist, crafter and any other creative person.  We all have a tremendous amount of projects lined up.

In hopes of finishing and prospering.  So we never have to work for someone else again.

Another thing that always crops up in the back of my mind that my mother said and one of my college teachers.

"You should learn to do one thing and do it well."

Well, I try, but I've always been the girl with many different projects and ideas floating around in this head of mine.



If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

How to get a Website looking the right way.

Putting this post on all my blogs today, as I have been doing my Paypal buttons wrong and they don't look right on the side of my blog layout.  47 paper doll sets later, I figured out how to put it underneath the paper doll set.  Yay!!!!   Which means I have to go back and do all 47 over again the right way.

Good lord, I have been doing my pay pal buttons all wrong I think. I have been trying to get my paper dolls for sale all set up on this blog and my other blogs.

 Earlier last year, I learned how to build websites. For eight years while I was married to my ex, I was hoping he would teach me how to upload digital pictures to the computer and teach me how to build a website for my paper dolls. He is a computer programmer yet, it never happened. There never seemed like a time where he could show me how.

And then almost three years go, we got separated. At the time of separation, I had two new digital cameras and wanted to learn how to use them. And then one day, I had filled a memory card and didn't know how to upload pictures yet, so the cameras got cast aside for about a year or more. I didn't know how to upload and erase the pics. And I was computer illiterate and couldn't seem to use my new computer at the time.

I had a profile on Match.com but no picture, so didn't get anybody calling. And I couldn't seem to figure out some of my software. And I couldn't figure out how to get the discs to come out. It was a weird computer. I ended up giving it to my youngest daughter.

Well at the beginning of last year, I was missing a computer and had finished typing up my first mystery novel, Black Roses on the family computer. Yet, was craving a new computer. In January, I broke down and bought a new laptop.

I suddenly fell in love with it. Liked the easy turn on button and the features. And one day, I took the memory card out of the digital cameras and stuck it in a memory card reader that I purchased. At the time, I didn't know you could easily stick them into the laptop and upload.

 I discovered how easy and simple it was and I figured out how to erase the pictures after. So I fell in love with my digital cameras and will never go back to 35mm cameras. So once I uploaded, I learned how to get a picture of me on my dating profiles. That is a whole other post, the whole online dating scene. I met someone from it anyway and have been dating for a while.

 And once I learned how to upload, I wanted to learn how to create websites for the paper dolls. In Jan and Feb I signed up with Intuit, Web.com and GoDaddy.com. I didn't like Web.com site builder. Cancelled out of that and I think I had to pay extra fees for cancelling early. Cancelled out of GoDaddy.com and stuck with Intuit until March. I liked Intuit's site builder the best, but still got no action. No paper doll sales.

Maybe I didn't give it long enough, people said. But anyway, I ended up forking over lots of money to these sites and fees for cancelling early. And no sales. So for a while, I had no paper doll website.

Then in September and October I decided to fork over a smaller amount of money to Vistaprint for a cheaper website. $14.95 a month to start and then of course I wanted the full optimization and blog so $30 a month. End of October the website was complete and I waited patiently for some sales to happen.

 Over this last month, I got a comment from a girl who makes doll clothing who was also having a hard time getting sales. She told me I should sell my paper dolls on my blog. I had never thought about that before. I was getting 1250 visitors to my Vistaprint Website but no sales and by the end of this month, I had forked over $150 to Vistaprint with no paper doll sales in return.

 As I looked to the future, I really wanted to give that website a year to see what happened, but at the same time, I didn't want to fork over another $300 to $450 with still no paper doll sales. So, I called up Vistaprint a few days ago and cancelled my website there.

If anyone would like to view that website and my blog there, you can up until the end of this month. jenniferjofaypaperdolls.net I liked the background I had picked out but oh well. Better to have my hard earned money in my pocket instead of Vistaprint's. They can get my money at Christmas time when I order my Christmas cards with them. They do have cheap prices for pictures on their products. I had ordered a tote bag with a picture I took of my daughter sleeping. It was really cute.

So in this last week, I have been transferring my stuff over to my blogs. A few weeks ago, I wasn't sure how to get the paypal buttons onto this site. Then I remembered getting the buttons from Paypal, when I first started doing my Intuit website. So I figured it was the same deal.

So I started going into Paypal and created my buttons and copied the code. And at first I wasn't sure how to put the code in next to my paper doll set. When I first tried, I pasted the code underneath and just saw all the jumble of code and not a paypal button, so I figured I wasn't doing it right. Then I figured out how to paste it into the gadgets on the layout page.

 So for the past two to three days, I have been pasting all these gadgets on the side of the page. I looked at it on the page and it doesn't quite look right. Well, finally about a half an hour ago, I think I figured out how to get it next to my paper doll pictures of the set. I tried it under my Little Sparky set. I went into the html and it spit out the codes for the whole page. I scrolled down to Little Sparky and went underneath and pasted the code for the add to cart button.

And also in the beginning, I was doing a buy it now button and realized I should do Add to Cart instead. So I had to backtrack and begin again. Which, now I will also have to begin again. But when I viewed the picture again after I pasted in the code, I was pleased to see the pay pal button underneath the set.

So, moan and groan, I will have to go back and re do forty seven of the others that I had done. I was thinking of leaving the buttons on the layout page, but probably should take them out, as you can't see the paper doll right next to them and it doesn't look right. I did this to my five other active blogs. I wanted to get my paper dolls for sale on all my blogs to see if that would help.

Which means I have a lot of work cut out for me. But it will be worth it in the end, to have a working paper doll website for paper dolls for sale. I'm thinking that I will join Tumblr too and get this going on some other sites too. I probably could figure out how to do it on Wordpress too. It will just take some time to get it all in place. And I might have to go back and do some minor tweaking.

When the Pay pal button showed up there were a few other sections too where I am wondering if I can change something and type in the name of the Paper doll instead. But right now I don't dare to tweak anything without knowing.

The only other thing I'm not sure of yet is working with the shipping options. The pay pal button asked me to put in one shipping amount. So I put the basic amount for one item. But I want to have the options for people to save a little on the shipping if they order more than one item. So right now, I am wondering if they can have an option to ask me for an invoice, where I can change the amount of the shipping accordingly to what I have set up on my order form.

I figured out how to get the button for them to view cart. That was neat, and it looks like through Pay pal, I can send someone an invoice. Some of this is all new and Greek to me, but I am slowly learning.

 Jennifer Jo Fay Copyrighted February 15, 2012

So for right now my paper dolls are for sale here and my other five blogs, but I will need to work on doing the Paypal buttons right.

I am liking the idea of selling my Paper Dolls on the blogs.  It's a good feeling to know that it is free to sell our stuff on our blogs and not give someone else our hard earned money.  I think last year, I easily forked over $300 or $700 to these other more expensive websites and got nothing in return. 

And I will also not do another book self publishing with Authorhouse.  They got alot of my money too and the royalties haven't gotten to $30.  Greatly disappointed about that venture, but like that I got my book in print.

I'm thinking of CreateSpace for the next novels and just the amount to get it in print and copies for my kids.  Should be much cheaper.

And the thought of having products for sale on our blogs is that we can have the blog for years and years and not have to fork over money to other people.  It just might take longer to get more people to the blogs.  And a lot of free advertising.

I do have a small website with Intuit now just to increase traffic.  Right now for one domain and three pages it is free for a year and then the price goes to 4.99 a month which would be pretty good if it will increase traffic.

If I think about it, maybe I could sell just a few of my favorite paper dolls there.


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

Gisele and Controversy

Well, Superbowl Sunday is done and now we have the controversy of Gisele Bunden on tv yelling back at a fan who had to speak his mind.  He claimed that Eli Manning owned her husband.  What he meant was that Tom Brady will never be able to beat him.

And Gisele had to swear back at him and speak her anger.  She should have kept her mouth shut.  Now, she's got Tom's team angry with her for speaking her mind.  And now it seems like she has gone viral, which is usually the case. 

What she needs to do is own up to what happened and get on with it, so they will stop talking.  And it is just a game and the players should get past their loss.  Someone has to lose and it ended up being the Pats.  They played a sloppy game.  It happens.  Although with this game, it comes with mucho bucks, so I can see why perhaps they are upset.  But, after all, life is to short to stay upset about it.

They will get more chances.  They are a good team.  Even the best teams have to lose sometime.  And there are probably just some teams that they can't beat.

But besides this, I was watching the clip on Gisele this morning.  I didn't realize that a few years ago, she tried to get it so all women had to breastfeed for the first six months.  I thought that that was wrong.

Women should have a right to choose if they want to breastfeed or bottle feed.  The choice shouldn't be taken away from them.  It's their freedom to feed their babies the way they want to.  I bottle fed all my children and I had a close bond with them all the same.  I had nurses telling me I will be able to bond with my baby better if I breastfeed and I was against that belief.

Not every mother wants to strap on those breast pumps to their boobs.  I didn't want to do it, and I didn't want to spend any money on those contraptions and all the other stuff that comes with it.  I was perfectly fine to buy the formula and mix it and put it in a cute baby bottle.

We should have the right to choose.  And not all mothers take to breast feeding.  I have heard that some mothers didn't like that it hurt sometimes.  And some babies don't latch on very well.

I am sure glad that Gisele didn't get that passed.  I am sure it has it's perks and maybe is beneficial to your health, but it should also be a choice.  Not every mother wants to whip out her boobs in public to feed her child.  We don't all want to have the pain of the breast feeding bras and shirts and attaching a cover up.  It wasn't for me and I'm sure that there are many other moms that would agree.

Don't take away the choice.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted February 7, 2012

If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, here we are watching the Super Bowl.  Patriots and the Giants.  I'm for the Patriots and my boyfriend is for the Giants.  My brother and my dad are for the Patriots and so are my kids.  I guess that's a new englander for you to route for the Patriots. 

Well, I am also sitting here typing and checking Ebay and other stuff.  And after I am done this post, I have to get my knitting and repair a row I started.  I read the instructions wrong and have to go back and fix it.  The pattern is on my  Yours Truly Crafty Girl Blog.  http://yourstrulycraftygirl.blogspot.com/   The pattern I am attempting is a Fit - N -  Flare Trumpet Skirt for me.  I attempted this in wool many years ago, washed it and it shrunk.  Tossed it as it didn't fit.

This time am knitting with acryllic which has a little bit of wool.  Shouldn't shrink like the other.

That is one project.  Then I've got the yo yo blanket added.  Aprons, shirts for me, American Girl Doll outfits for the girls webkinz.  Sewn up handmade pincushions, etc..........

I cut up two of my dresses today for the yo yo blanket.  They didn't fit me.  One I tried on and I couldn't get it off, so I ended up cutting my way out of it.  And as my nine year old and I were looking at it this morning, I mentioned some of it could be an apron and she suggested a skirt.  One piece could almost be turned into a skirt for her.  And the other pieces will be aprons.  They already have a ruffle at the bottom and would just need to be finished up with ties and a pocket with some rick rack on it.  Or lace.

And then I had fun burning the edges of my poetry last night for fun and an old aged effect.  Mollyanne colored in my hearts this morning and scribbled on it.  Added touch.

Julia got to have some of the fabric from one of my dresses for her webkinz and then she wanted a strap so I cut one for her.  She is into cutting up fabric.  She's got a bunch of my yo yo's scattered in a spot in the living room.  It's her Webkinz pad.  I'm thinking if I cut up some of the doll clothing patterns, she should be able to sew the little dresses up herself.  It would be good practice.

Just before the super bowl started.  I whipped up fresh mushrooms in beef gravy and then poured them into a microwave bowl and melted mozzarella cheese.  I've been eating that tonight and will be eating a glob of cheese tomorrow.

We've got the chips and all the other yummy snacks.

Madonna put on a good show.  And she didn't have on a thong, like the radio was talking about and hoping not to see that.  It was tastefully done  and really good.  Much better than Steven Tyler.  Couldn't believe his terrible National Anthem song.  Not good.  And they did show him in the audience afterwards tonight.

Lots of car commercials.  So far our favorite commercials are the little boy who ended up peeing in the pool because all the other doors were closed.

And the other one was the Seinfeld one with the zip line and then Jay Leno shows up.  That was funny.

Right now New England is ahead.

Years ago, my ex and I used to bounce between Super Bowl Sundays at either his parents house or his aunts different years.  Everyone would bring a dish.  And all of us women would be in the kitchen while the men were in the living room.  My mother n law would make a chocolate pudding cake that was to die for.  And my girls would fill up on whipped cream.  And so would Jake.  Or they would have tons of ice cream.

One of my ex's aunts used to bring her knitting sometimes and she would knit while she talked.  And I think she was teaching one of the younger girls how to knit.

There was always lots of snacks.

Today when I searched yahoo trends, you can bet that nacho cheese dips were right up at the top.  Everyone has probably been searching for great dip recipes to have tonight.  And everyone is going to be rolling themselves home.

And then I think the Voice and Smash is one after the super bowl.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted February 5, 2012


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

Quality is about the Finer Things

When we write, we should always think of quality instead of quantity.  True quantity can also be a good thing, but we should always shoot for quality in our work.  And quality really is about the finer things.

Fine things tend to build up the puzzle of quality work.  It's all connected.  If we fill it with garbage, that is all you are going to get.  A black plastic bag filled with worthless junk.  We don't want that to fill up our writing.  That is not what we are about.

Anyone who attempts to write a novel, doesn't want it to be a junky skeleton with no brain.  We want something that people are going to want to read.  We don't want them to stop after the first page and toss the book aside.  We want them to keep reading until the very end. 

What defines quality?  It is all the important additives that make up a novel, an awesome poem or short story.  An article that grabs your attention and makes you read on until the very last word.  You know a reader is bored when they find themselves skimming just to get to the end.  Sometimes all they want are bits and pieces.

Work on the finer things and make sure you are clear and concise throughout the piece you are writing.  Write about what you know.  You don't want to write about something you know nothing about.  How are you going to be able to write about something like that?  Could be impossible if you don't attempt to do any research.

As writers, we are always practicing our craft.  Striving to be the best of the best.  We want to be heard and known.  We want to attract readers to our stuff.

We should always be writing anyway, no matter if it is perfect or not.  And a good writer always goes back in and edits and fine tunes his or her stuff.  Check for spelling errors, scenes that don't work, character flaws and anything else that just simply doesn't fit.

And we should always be reading anything under the sun.  I have often enjoyed reading books on writing.  Janet Evanovich has a cool book on her craft of writing.  I read it and loved it.  And I have read at least one of her Stephanie Plum books.  Today, I have discovered that Katherine Heigl's new movie, One For the Money is based on one of Janet's books.  I will have to go see it, seeing as I have gotten Janet's characters in my head.

They need to come up with more movies based on the James Patterson books.  I have read a bunch of his books and loved them.  Violent, but good.  I like that his chapters are short and sweet.  Most readers don't like a really long chapter.  They like to find a nice quick resting place to stop reading for a moment.  Give your readers breaks.  Most of us can't read a book in one sitting.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted February 2, 2012

one of my items I am selling on Ebay.  I will take some lovely close up pictures of her before she is gone, so I can use them on my blogs.


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

Think Twice Before you call it Quits (relationships, marriage, babies, jobs and calling quits on my website. Don't throw in the towel yet.

Think twice before you call it quits.  This would apply to almost anything.  A relationship, a job, an opportunity, a business, a website, a marriage and just about anything else that applies.

When it is a relationship or a marriage, you really have to think hard about all the options.  Think about all the things that are good and all the bad.  Which outweighs the other?  Is one worse and you just can't deal with it?

Perhaps make a list of all the positive things and then all the bad things that you can't stand.  Then examine them and decide which is worse.  Explore all the things that could happen if you decide to throw in the towel.  Think really hard.  Is the relationship for you?  Can you work out all the kinks?  Will you be satisfied and most of all will you be happy with the outcome?  Or is it the change that is going to make things better. 

Think really hard.  Can you really walk away from her or him?  Or aren't they the perfect fit?  Or perhaps is it something in the relationship that you want to change.  A fault.  A compromise.  A change in a situation.  A move.  A big step?  Moving in together.  Tying the knot.  Having a baby.  Having more than one.  Moving to a new house.  Change in a job.

Whatever it is, you both need to sit down and talk about it.  And as a relationship moves on to something more serious, naturally one or both of you are going to want to decide on making a move in the relationship.  Are you ready yet to begin your life under one roof?  Moving in together can be a big deal.  But usually it is something at least one or both of you would want.  Usually this is the girl hoping for it.  Or the girl hoping for marriage.  Lets face it, the girl wants to change her address.

Make sure you are both ready for either moving in together or getting hitched.  Either way, if it ends up being a really long time before it is talked about, one of the two of you is going to question the relationship and want more.  Or leave.

So that is relationships.  Then there is babies.  That is another huge step in life.  Make sure you are ready to play russian roulette, because once that egg is planted, there is no turning back.  And believe me, they will change your life whether you want it to or not.  But they are great.  I love my four.  But at this point in my life, I wouldn't want any more.  If I ever ended up pregnant by some fluke, I surely would love it to death anyway, but I have reached the age where I am done.  I was a breeder, but four is my limit.

Spend time together before you have kids.  Then your time is cut in half.

So that is babies.

The other things when you want to call it quits is your job.  Maybe you want a change.  Tired of your current place of work.  The hours aren't that great, the pay is bad or you aren't happy working where you are at.  Weigh out all the options.  Can you live on less money?  Can you find a different job?  Do you want to do what you really love?

So that's the job.

Now there is the website that you have created for your new business.  This is where I am at.  Well, there are things I would like in my relationship too, but this present thought today has been my website. 

My paper doll website has only been up and fully running for the last three months.  It's seen 2030 visitors, but no emails, comments or sales.  I've been kind of bummed out.  This morning, I was almost seriously thinking of calling Vistaprint and pulling the plug.  I called a few other places that I needed to get a hold of, found out I had a credit on one of my utilities so I don't have to pay it for a few months.  That was nice to hear.  Then I was almost ready to call and cancel the website.

Then I got online to my site, went in to edit the website for a minute and add a share button for twitter tweets.  I should go in and do that on every page.  As I was doing that and looking at my stuff and my account, I had a slight change of heart.  I called them up anyway.  I wanted some questions answered and was kind of ready to cancel if I felt like it.

Then, I thought of my old websites that I had created last year in the beginning of the year.  I only gave those two months at the most and I was told by lots of people that I gave up too soon.  And those sites were more expensive and I didn't realize I was locked into a contract for a year and I had to fork over more money to them for quitting early.  And I made nothing.  I was really bummed out by no sales.

So when I was on the phone, I thought back to that time.  And I talked with the girl about calling it quits too early.  I told her I really did want to stick it out for a year.  But I started to ask her some questions about advertising and all the info about google ranks and getting found.  I told her I really couldn't afford to pay for all kinds of advertising.  But we talked about free advertising and different ways of advertising.  Getting the word out.

Of course, all along I have been using my blogs, facebook (which is friends and family and your friends and family usually don't buy your stuff.  They would rather have it for nothing)., twitter, digg (which I have been told is a wasteland), stumbleupon, delicious, buzzfeed, linkedin, myspace, igoogle, blogher, and any other type of social bookmarking site.

I am considering getting my paperdolls on one of the blogs to have for sale on the blogs.  And Blogger is free. 

While I was on the phone with her today, she mentioned googling free advertising, which I started to do.  Then she mentioned googling paper doll groups and joining and doing some free advertising with people that are into the same thing.  I thought that was a very good idea and tried to join two places so far.

Then I started looking at free advertising.  I started with Yelt and discovered I was sent to a section where I was supposed to pay.  Not free.  Backed out of there.  Then I went to Manta.  I was able to get my website on there for free.  Of course they want you to pay if you want more exposure.  But I called to verify my listing and told them I couldn't afford to pay and could just do the free advertising. 

Then, I discovered another place.  Intuit.  I thought, "Oh great, now I am back to my other old website service."  I really liked their website builder though.  It was my favorite site out of the three places I created a website with.  I had one with GoDaddy.com  but never really got that one started.  I had one with web.com but I didn't like their website builder as well.

So, today as I started to sign up for Intuit, I read very carefully the plan.  You can have a free website with them for up to a year and then they charge you $4.99 a month.  Which that isn't that bad.  Especially if by then I'm getting some orders.  Which I really hope.  So today, I have signed up for the free plan for a year.  What you get is a domain, 3 pages and I'm forgetting the other part.  Maybe the memory space?

Which for what I want it for, 3 pages is fine.  So I have published the first page today.  It hasn't been registered yet, but I imagine by tomorrow it will be.  I basically got my first page, with business, address, all the important information.  A big introduction which also refers them to my writing sites and my blogs.  Might as well advertise for them too.  Then at the bottom of the first page I had added a few of the paper doll pictures with some details.  I think my second page will have lots of other pictures and then my third page will be an order form with all the details for them to order.  I haven't decided if I'm going to add paypal buttons.  I don't want to suddenly have two websites where I am paying. 

But what it will be basically for is to direct them to the full blown website.  Where they can order paper dolls.

So, I'm not calling it quits on my website yet.  I should give it a good year.  If I was to quit now, I would always be wondering, "What if I had given it a year?  Maybe I would be getting sales."

Paper dolls aren't a neccessity.  It is a specialty.  But people are buying them.  I go to look at the OPDAG paperdoll magazine and I see all these popular new paper doll artists that seem to be making money at what they do.  And I wonder to myself, "How are they doing it?"  I probably should ask the editor to have an article from one of them about the secrets to success and having a successful paper doll website.  That would be really helpful to read.

I once was told by another artist that I had something really unique that could take off and become a business.  I have always remembered that, and now I think, "REALLY?  How do I attempt to do that?  With luck?" 

And another person said it takes a lot of advertising.


Well anyway the new advertising website is going to be:  http://www.jennyjopaperdoll.com/  That's the domain name.  But I'm not sure if it will work until I get it registered.

jenniferjofaypaperdolls.net  My paper doll website.

I would really appreciate it if anyone would leave a comment with some possible suggestions.  I will take anything.  I feel like I'm just grasping at straws right now.

Which seems to be the same with the writing sites and earning money writing online.  That's more fun than anything.  And it's kind of fun to see a little bit of money trickle in.  I've actually had enough to buy a dunkin donuts pound of coffee and then some.  And with the writing sites we are getting practice and connecting with a community of writers.  Which is always a good thing.

And selling on ebay is great.  But I would love it even more if my paper doll website could just take flight.  I don't want to throw in the towel just yet.  What if someday I got found?  That would be great.  And if not, I have the paperdolls anyway to pass down to my kids.  But I would love to see it become something else.
Money in my pocket.

So anyway, any suggestions would be helpful.  Maybe there are some things I haven't thought of.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 31, 2012

If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

I love myself enough to walk away

Divorce and separation are never an easy thing.  But when you know that it isn't going to work out you really have to love yourself enough to walk away.

When things are really rough and you don't like how you are being treated, you need to look at things in perspective.  Is it more harmful to me to stay in this marriage?  Is it hurting me to stay? 

Sometimes women stay in a marriage even though they are being treated badly.  They think they love the guy and are willing to stay and keep getting shattered every day.  They take the hurtful words and let them dig into their bodies and destroy their minds.

When do you know that you need to get yourself out?  If you really love yourself, you will walk away before it is too late.  A harmful, hurtful marriage will slowly eat at you and destroy you until there is no end and you will start to get the blurry eyes and you won't know what is good and what is bad.

Get out now. 

When you have kids, it is harder to leave.  Many women want to stay in the marriage for their sake.  They want their children to be in an intact marriage.  But it is no good for the children, when they can clearly see that Mom  or Dad is unhappy.  Unhappy parents make for unhappy kids.  And an unhealthy childhood.

Leave.  They will thank you for it.  It means that you are just going to have new beginnings where you are going to be happy.  That is what you want.  Perhaps a new love.  I did.  I found new love and fresh starts.  And my kids are happy for me. 

And the thing you want to stress to your kids the most, is that when Mom and Dad get divorced it doesn't mean that you are going to love them any less.  You want them to know that you are always going to love them.  That hasn't changed.  Mom and Dad both love you.  Love for your children never should change.  You don't want them to feel angry that Mom or Dad doesn't love them anymore.  That isn't true and you know it.  But sometimes they don't know it and it is your job to tell them that you love them.  Often.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 30, 2012

http://authspot.com/poetry/childhood-closet-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/love-speaks-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/flower-power-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/path-of-truth-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/

http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/  Mommie Dearest 101
http://bloggersblock.blogspot.com/  Bloggers Block
http://jennyjofayfancyphotography.com/  Wordpress where I am writing my new novels




If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

How Do You Start a New Day?

How do you begin your day?  It's a new dawn of a sparkling fresh new day and many of us begin by worrying about all kinds of little things.

What is going to happen at work today?  Will my car break down again?  I forgot to pack my kids school lunch.  My daughter missed the bus and now I have to bring her to school.  I started the morning by spilling my coffee.  The microwave has hit the fritz.  The dog is whining to go outside.  Again.  And again.

There are so many things that get in the way of having us start our mornings off right.

And so we wake up, gather what we want to wear for the day and we look at our morning face in the oval mirror.  Who am I today?  I don't really look any different.  But am I?  I think I have changed somehow, but I can't see it yet.  It's under the surface and hasn't boiled over yet.

And then we think, should I wear the red babydoll shirt with the white polka dots or the green babydoll shirt with the flowers on it?  I can't decide.  And then do I want to wear a skirt or my slacks?  Socks or tights?  I pick socks over tights as the tights are always a little too small at the waist and I don't want to deal with that today.

And then if you are wearing a dress to go to work and you put on your nylons, you groan and moan as you notice that huge run going down the lower leg.  It's going to show so you take it off and search for a good pair that is going to last at least one more day.

I remember so many times when I would be painting my small runs with some nail polish so that it wouldn't spread.  A trick I learned from my mother.

So, once we are dressed and have the day's normal costume on, we head downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat and our morning's wake up coffee.  Hopefully strong.  But I have never been a fan of black coffee.  I need my cream and sugar.  And then more and more sugar.  No wonder my daughter wants to drink my coffee.  It's sweet.  Some days, I discover that my nine year old daughter has just drunk half my coffee.  And it's going down her little throat.

There's so many mornings that just get so hectic.  I have memories of getting all my kids ready for school.  I thought that they would always miss the bus.  They dragged their feet and were slow to get off the couch, get dressed and make sure that everything is in their backpack.  And at night I would be the last one to bed, as I was always making sure that all papers were filled out and lunches ready to go. 

And to get them to hold their feet still while I struggled to tie their shoes.  Or force on a sock.  This was when they were younger. 

Now, they are a little more independent. 

And then once the kids have hopped on the bus and they are now on their way to school, you feel like you can catch your breath for a moment.  Yet, now you have to make the commute to go to work.  Face the traffic, get your coffee to go.  Spill it on your tie on the way.  Have to make a quick stop as someone has run a red light or you didn't see the person in front of you stopping fast.  And then you might have to wait for the long train to go by.

And once you get to work, you begin to settle in and become a part of the fast paced work day.  And you silently wonder, "When am I going to be done?  I'm tired already."

And you wonder where you left your face.  Your changed face.  It was changing wasn't it.  Did you leave it home?

And if you are a writer like me, now you are sitting down in front of your computer screen and you are pondering what you want to write about today.  You haven't really thought too much about what it was you wanted to express today.  I know I didn't.

I went to bed last night with my HTC tablet that I didn't end up using last night.  Sleepiness took over.  And I had my brand new daily blog planner by the bed too and I didn't write in that either.

If you don't have a daily blog planner, I suggest that you get one.  I was on Pinterest yesterday and saw all these pins for daily blog planners, special blog note paper, and all kinds of other things for blogging.  And I thought, "Hey that's a good idea."

A blog planner could kind of be like a blog notebook.  Write out each day and write notes.  Like:  January 30, 2012.  Blog more.  Write more posts today.  And then go on to some titles or ideas.  Maybe you might want to plan it out for the whole week.

I think I'm only going to go a few days at a time, as I might want to keep writing in it during the day and I won't know how much space I will fill up on the page.  A blog planner could also be considered as a journal.  It's yet another form of the days thoughts.  Your inspiration.

Maybe you want to write the weeks schedule and have a few topics to write about each day.  And then you can go back and make sure you write about those things.

Map each day out and try to stick to your plans and go with your flow.  You never know what each day holds.  Good things I hope.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 30, 2012

And have a chocolate fix as part of your day.  Sinful chocolate is always a good thing.

http://authspot.com/poetry/childhood-closet-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/love-speaks-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/flower-power-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/path-of-truth-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/


http://jennyjofayfancyphotography.com/  Wordpress where I'm writing my new novels.  Speaking of which I have to get back and write the next chapters soon.  I've been procrastinating.


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

Knowing When to Stop and Take a Break

Don't we all need to take a break sometimes.  This is why I wasn't online on Blogger for the last few days.  I once again was feeling ill and didn't feel like writing.  It happens.  It was odd.  I had a cold for one solid day last week and was plugged up to the gills.  Then the next day made a miraculous recovery for the most part.

Once again, yesterday I was plugged up again severly.  Went through a whole box of Kleenex and had a watery eye.  Nothing seemed to work and I couldn't relieve myself.  And now today, I feel so much better.

Perhaps I am looking at possible allergies.  I remember from years back having whole months either in early summer or falltime where I would be severly plugged up for the majority of the month.  This was when I first realized that I had allergies.

I had never had any allergies as a kid.  And then suddenly as an adult I am not immune to them.

So when should we let ourselves take a break? 

Sometimes we just need to rest for a day and don't come to our blogs once in a while.  And then we have other days when we want to be writing constantly at the blogs.  But, sometimes we need to slow down and let our brains rest.

This is when we should be reading other people's things and giving our brains the much needed inspiration so that later on we can attempt to come back and write down our thoughts.  What if we never took breaks?  We would probably become washed out and drawn into the vast ocean and swallowed up.  We would run out of much needed energy.

And speaking of energy and metabolism, maybe a walk is needed.  I should do this tomorrow.  I wanted to start a walking routine.  But sometimes the blogger in me just wants to sit at the computer all day and write, surf the net, and go to Ebay.  Check my mail, do some social bookmarking and go to a few of my writing sites.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 29, 2012

http://authspot.com/poetry/childhood-closet-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/love-speaks-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/flower-power-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/
http://authspot.com/poetry/path-of-truth-a-poem-by-jennifer-jo-fay/


If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/ 

What is One of the Stupid Things that you have done?

My reason for this topic, is that we all do stupid things.  All the time.  But some of these really dumb things we seem to remember.

This morning I was listening to John and Chantal in the morning on 95 Triplex.  If you are near the Vermont area, they are really funny.  And they do some really hilarious phone scams that are really off the wall.  This morning's phone scam was about a brother calling up his married brother to see if he could babysit his nephew.  He then went on to see if he could bring him to the park so he could score some chicks.  Of course his brother didn't want him to use his son as bait for that.  Then the brother talked about bringing him to the bars and all kinds of insane stuff.  He said that they could make some money and his friends could borrow the little four year old and they could make some money while his friends bring the little boy to the park so they could score some chicks. 

But, besides the phone scam, John and Chantal started talking about all kinds of stupid things they had done and people called up to tell their stories.  Chantal talked about walking into the wall and hitting the metal wall sconce.  This girl called up and told some stories about playing outside with guys playing football and she fell and broke her thumb.  Then a short while later, she was playing horseshoes with friends and the guy threw the horseshoe backwards and she broke her nose.  Then one evening they were playing hide and seek with cousins and she was in some bushes and she found out it was poison ivy so she had to go to the hospital for a violent reaction to it.  All in a space of a short bit.

After her story, Chantal said, "No more playing.  Take up video games or become a blogger."  I had to laugh at the latter part.  That's right, nothing too violent about blogging.  Unless if you fall asleep because you got bored with your blog and you hit the screen.

And some other really moronic things are when these guys are working on a house, barn or shed or some other project and they staple gun themselves with the nail gun.  Or fall off a ladder with a saw.  My friends husband did that one and he was lucky things weren't too serious.  Can you just imagine nailing yourself in the leg, foot or butt?  And I read one article on Triond that was about a guy who recently put a nail into his brain.  He didn't realize it and then later went in as he was having some symptoms and sure enough they could see a nail in there.  He was lucky and he ended up being okay.  Although I would hate to think of what the later on effects of that would be.

I've walked into the side of the wall before.  I've left my keys out overnight in my garden before.  I had been planting stuff one day and had on leggings and had no pockets for my keys, so I placed them down.  The next morning I was on the hunt for my keys and then I remembered I had set them down next to the petunias.

I hate it when I can't find my keys.  I'm always misplacing them.  I'll come into the apartment, set them down somewhere and about ten minutes later when I am ready to leave again, I can't remember where I put them.  And before I know it, I am sifting through all the junk in my pocketbook for the stupid keys.

And there is the other stupid thing of going out to the car to drive back to my place from the kids house and I sit down and realize that the keys are in the house.  My sister for some reason has left her keys inside the freezer.  I'm not sure of the reasoning behind that.  She did that once when she came to visit our house for one of the kids birthday parties.

What is one of the stupid things you have done?

Another one is going to bed and leaving the tv on downstairs or all the lights downstairs didn't get turned off.

Or perhaps you went to bed and forgot to lock the front door and you know you have to go down and lock it.

Here's another real stupid one.  Have you ever been baking and then you go away on your vacation?  This has happened to me on several occasions.  My family and I would be packing all day for a weekend trip to Maine to visit my family (or rather, I would be packing all day for the whole family while the kids entertained themselves). 

Of course I would also be baking and cooking things to bring with us.  I would sometimes be cooking up to the last twenty minutes before we were ready.  My husband would come home and then we both would be packing.  He was usually in charge of getting things into the coolers and other stuff.  Mind you, I am the woman who packs everything but the kitchen sink!  I always wanted to bring my doing stuff and I have always been one to over pack and pack too many things that I don't end up having time to use.

Well, we would all hop in the car and start driving.  We once got about forty five minutes into the trip and then I told my husband that I wasn't sure if I turned off the oven.  He was pissed and we ended up driving all the way back to see if it was turned off, (which it was).  I usually checked it too and he would check, but there was the occasional two to three times when I couldn't remember.  The other times, we hadn't gone as far but still it was a pain in the neck to turn around and add more time to the trip.

Ever try to bring a movie back to the rental and the cd isn't in the case?  Or forget to close the windows when it starts to rain?

Leave the ice cream container out for an hour and it all melts?  Forget to take the meat off the chicken or leave food out for a long time?  Leave a full soda can in the wrong spot and it spills?  Pour milk and miss the aim?

I almost forgot, has anyone remembered going to Junior High with their shirt inside out or backwards?  I've done that before.  Which was okay if it was Backwards Day, but if it wasn't you were pretty embarrassed.  And I guess one of the most embarrassing Junior High awkward moments would be arriving to school with no pad and you discover you needed one.  This is where many of us women have had to learn how to make our own pad.  Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it worked.

What woman can't remember the fear of knowing you have stained through your undies and your jeans and you are so embarrassed and you are hoping that nobody can see it?  This would also be compounded if a young girl going through puberty is wearing white.  Then the whole world knows you are on the rag!

Then another embarrassing thing, (once again Junior High) I was feeling ill while in the classroom, so I got up and threw up in the middle of the floor as I was leaving the room.  Of course everyone started laughing.  And while I was gone, I'm sure it was the teacher's not so fun job of having to clean it up.  I got to gather my stuff after and go home for the rest of the day.

Another stupid thing, how about tripping in a marble hole or another stupid hole in the yard. I did this one night upon leaving my writing class.  It was dark and I didn't see the big hole in the driveway.  I fell on the rough tar and scraped up my knees really bad and tore through my jeans.  That was a mess for a good three weeks or more.  Took a while for that to disappear.

Another one, jamming your finger or thumb in the car and it ends up getting infected.  I had this stupid thing happen to me last year.

And one year when I worked retail, I started to drive my car in the dark and I rammed into one of those cement posts and dented the side of the car.  And one spring while collecting things from our camp that we had to give up and sell, I tried backing up the trailer attached to the van.  Didn't realize I wasn't supposed to back up with it, got stuck in muddy ruts and luckily our neighbor was next door working on his camp so he was able to fix my van for me so I could drive right out after.  Needless to say, two more dents to both sides of the back of the van.

And then this last fall, I got in an accident (her fault)  She cut in front of me as I was driving and I couldn't stop quick enough.  Dent in the front corner, but lucked out no broken headlight.  And my cat got knocked around in his carrier.  The stupid thing to this story was that she asked to borrow my cell phone, then neither one of us had insurance and she told me if I could back up and move the car I would be okay to go and which I took her up on the offer as I didn't want to get a fine from the cops.  Well, when I got home I realized she still had my phone and I didn't think to take down her liscense or get her name.  But she knew where I worked.  She was scatterbrained and never returned the phone either to my place of work or to the police station or Verizon.  And you can bet that that same day, I called up and got basic liability.  So now I am covered. 

And I am sure that there are many more stupid moronic things that we all do from time to time and there is no escaping it.

I guess one for my Junior High Principal would be forgetting to lock the bathroom door.  Once, when I was in the main office, I needed to use their bathroom and I walked in on the Principal sitting on the can.  He was embarrassed and I was.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 28, 2012

Think back to all those memories of stupid things.  And hopefully we don't keep repeating them.  After a little while I learned to bake the day before a trip instead or do it early enough that I remember to turn off the oven.  And I have always been like my mother and bake in the middle of the hottest day in the summer.  Like Mother Like Daughter.  Things never change.



If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:

http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/  The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/ 
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/