one of a kind

let's play a game...

what do the people on this list all have in common?

1) Matt Ahrens
2) T.J. Alumbaugh
3) Anne Haab
4) Matt Houseward
5) Erin Tarr

(answer: THEY ALL GOT SCHOOLED BY ME IN POKER TONIGHT!!)

home for the holidays (scene 2)

intro -

'twas the night before christmas

in the jennings abode

not a creature was stirring

til we heard it explode!!'

scene 2 - cold water christmas
[setting: the jennings house at 5:30 pm on christmas eve. mass is at 6:00pm.]

i walk downstairs to find my parents still in their t-shirts and jeans from a busy day around the house. my friends matt and chelsea dropped by to wish us a merry christmas and were in the middle of a conversation when we heard a loud crash. my first instinct was to find my kitten (i had this vivid picture in my mind of her falling down the laundry shute.)
my dad (the more practical of the family) ran downstairs into the basement. 5 minutes later he came back up with no socks on and his pant legs rolled up. our hot water heater exploded.

now this wasn't a leak or an overflow... the thing EXPLODED, and within minutes, our basement was flooded.

we turned off the water and moved some stuff around to prevent water damage. scurrying around, we managed to head out for church only slightly behind schedule. now, if being late is fashionable, my family wins the prize of the classiest folks in townl.... so being late isn't that big of a deal. however, when we got into church, the usher decided to do us a favor by giving us the last seats in the building... the front row!! i about died. here we are, 15 minutes into our 45 minute service, and we walk right up in front of the entire congregation... as if to say "excuse me ladies and gentlemen, the jennings' have arrived!"

it's the day after christmas, and we're still taking cold showers. our plumber (ironically named bob leak) came by and said that we need a whole new hot water heater... which he's trying to find as we speak. he commented that "wow, this rarely ever happens", but we assured him.... oh, it's the jennings' christmas.... ANYTHING can happen!

home for the holidays (scene 1)

intro - home for the holidays
well folks.... i'm in mt.carmel - the small dot on the southern illinois map, defined as the center of drama for the universe. believe it or not, it's true... all drama radiates from this quaint community.

scene 1 - the trip home
[setting: pitch black country road, approx 20 miles from home. no street lights, center line, or phone signal. ]

i've been driving very slowly and cautiously ever since i got off the interstate... it's deer season. (one of my biggest fears is to hit a buck, and have it trapped in my windshield, still alive and kicking. i picture myself screaming as this animal tries to free itself, both of us covered in fur and deer guts. ugh) i've been very lucky so far to not see a single pair of glowing eyes the entire trip, but i don't let down my guard. as i turn off of one nameless road onto the next, i hear the gravel being thrown in attempt to speed up.... but the skidding noise does not end. i soon realize that i am not gaining any speed at all, but rather remaining at an annoyingly slow pace. the thought occurs, "please, don't let it be a flat tire". unfortunately, my fear became reality.

i pull over to a non-existant shoulder, half of my car still on the dark road, and check to make sure. i'm freezing by this point, so i return to my vehicle and grab my cell phone. "oh wait, i've never gotten a signal on this road before." i perform the stereotypical 'can you hear me now' process, and finally one point on the passenger side allows 1 bar to appear. on speaker-phone, i call the call of shame... "daddy, come pick me up".

no cars. no lights. nothing. just me and my kitties (the cougar and the princess). while waiting, my imagination starts to go wild of the slasher movies, so i start preparing myself for what i would do if someone tried to snatch me. i call a number of friends from the same awkward spot in my passenger side until someone picks up... a boy for security sake (and to make sure it isn't harmful to leave my car on).

my dad and 2 uncles show up to help me out.... but the MD, PhD, and MBA don't really include 'how to change a tire 101'. it's dark and cold, so we leave the car abandoned on the side of the road to get it the next day.

i get home a little frazzled, cold, and slightly embarrassed. i eat a warm dinner and catch up with the fam... and i begin to think, "this is only day 1".

dying to live

for some reason, i've become a reader. this kinda undermines my reputation as a no-fantasy, no-book girl... but i've gotta do something with my spare time, eh?

recently, i've started two books. the first one is c.s. lewis' "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe". yes, i will fully admit that i jumped right on that trendy bandwagon, cause i wanna be able to see the movie with my friends!! plus, i know that mark sidarous will def. be butchering the movie in it's entirety, so i figured i'd want to have some sort of opinion before he forms mine!! :)
the second book is actually considered cheating because it's required for class. it's "we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families". the class started reading this book in, oh, october, but i decided to have fun and cram it in during the last 5 days before the exam. in fact, i didn't even buy it until yesterday! (mom, i hope you're not reading this)

surprisingly, i'm thoroughly enjoying this required read. it's about the rwandan genocide of 1994. although slightly gorey, the auther makes alot of religious parallels that i find interesting. i thought i'd quote a couple lines to give you something to think about over the weekend.... cause i'm sure you don't have much else to do!!

let me set up the scene here: paul is a guy who was not of the "race" being eliminated, but he helped hide those individuals who were. this was extremely dangerous (as is in every genocide).

"paul had devoted all his diverse energies to avoiding death - his own and others' - but what he feared even more than a violent end was living or dying as what he called a 'fool'. regarded in this light, the option of kill or be killed translated into the questions: kill for what? be killed as what? - and posed no great challenge."

therefore we must ask ourselves the question: in trying to avoid 'death', are we living as 'fools'?


"...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self."

Luke 9:23-25