Of Course I Hear Voices: I Own Parrots

Writing Prompts: 1.) Describe a memorable first date. 2.) Write about a child you find inspiring. 3.) What do you find most challenging about blogging? 4.) Name a pet peeve you have about how other parents raise their kids. Go on…stir the pot. 5.) We often spend time and energy talking about people in our lives we don’t see enough of. Describe a person in your life you are in contact with often. What does he/she mean to you? Oh dear, another week where it is hard to choose (and another week where I can't do the vlog because it will make me cry). Ummmmmm: Prompt Number Three  I love blogging. While my dreams of being a writer are pretty much pushed to the back burner, I still have my crazy random blog (the one you are reading now) and my more serious blog as my writing outlet. My biggest issue is staying consistent with my posting volume. I will post daily for a while and then I will  not post for weeks at a time. I am trying things like this writing workshop and some blog chal...

This is actually the second name of my blog. It used to be  A Little Bit Of Everything...and I hated it. The catch was, I couldn't come up with anything better, so the title stuck. About nine-ish months ago, I changed it to something a little more fitting: Of Course I Hear Voices, I Own Parrots. I'm always running and doing something these days, and I'm sure I appear crazy. I have been known to talk to myself. The good news is the only voices I hear come from my pets: my parrots They talk. They even talk back. My flock is a shy bunch, and they typically do not talk in front of strangers, but occasionally Popcorn and Batty  will oblige. I had one cockatiel that said "hello" every time I opened my old flip phone. Actually, he would get agitated when I would get a text and not say hello. I think it is fitting.

This is what midterms has done to my desk. This week is insane. I will probably make someone cry by the end of the week...but it is an unfortunate reality. Next week will be better, and we will have enough staff to get caught up.

As many of you know, my name is Jenni. I am from Ohio, went to school in Michigan and about a decade ago thought Indianapolis was just a stopover...I'm still here. I'm the girl with the dark hair and glasses frames 15 things you need to know: I hate having my picture taken I'm particular about who I let get close to me (emotionally or physically: see the people who can touch Jenni list) I'm not a huge fan of surprises I have a short attent...wait. What was I talking about? I'm dyslexic I'm an insomniac I'm sort of the mom of most any group I'm a little protective of my friends (and by a little I mean if you mess with them I will release the hounds on your arse) I'm a textbook "fixer" I wish I had more time to travel If I'll write a blog post about it...and it pertains to you...I won't say anything in my blog that I won't (and in most cases haven't already) said to your face Aside from Google maps, I use my ...

It is time to step up my game here on the blog. More regular blog posts Continuing to do the weekly writing workshop Start doing wordless Wednesdays More posts from the phone And...the 30 day challenge: Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name Day 3: Your first time away from home Day 4: Your parents Day 5: A song to match your mood Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy Day 7: Favorite movies Day 8: A place you've traveled to Day 9: Best movie quotation Day 10: Something you're afraid of Day 11: Favorite tv shows Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without Day 13: Goals Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed? Day 15: Favorite saying Day 16: Dream house Day 17: Something you're looking forward to Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat Day 19: Something you miss Day 20: Nicknames Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why? Day 22: What's in your car Day 23: Fa...

Okay folks, despite my fear of needles, I'm finally buckling down and getting a tattoo. I'm shooting for my birthday, but it may have to wait until later. It will be going on my back...either at the top and in the center or n the back of my right shoulder. Oh and it is going to be small. That is about as far as I made it in my decision process. At first I wanted an angel, but then I thought just the wings, halo, and the date of our accident would be better. I haven't really found anything I really want yet though. I know I will probably just go with a design the shop already has in their books, but I want to have an idea of what I want before I go in there. I sort of like these http://t.co/Tjsn7EL http://mytattooink.com/images/tribal-tattoo-angel-wings.jpg http://t.co/tVvjlAC http://t.co/ZYmxa0d But I'm not sold on anything quite yet.

Okay readers, what do you want to know? Shoot me a question on formspring and I will answer it here. http://formspring.me/jhammitt

view more detailed instructions on how this weekly meme works, check out the  Writer’s Workshop  FAQs. Writing Prompts: 1.) List 10 things you wish you could say to strangers who share unsolicited advice about your parenting skills. 2.) Write a poem inspired by a picture you took last week. Share both! 3.) Create a bucket list of 50 things you want to do this summer (with or without the kids!) 4.) A country you would like to visit. 5.) What is something you could stand to learn from your significant other? After much deliberation, we are going with prompt 3 Let's see how this goes I will get a tan...it will take all summer,  but I can do it I will spend more time with my friends I will go to Cedar Point I will have a non-craptastic birthday I will grow out my hair no matter how hot and miserable I get I will go to Chicago just to shop up at Clark and Belmont I will run every day that I can...even when it is balls hot  I will take at least one friend home with...

When I was younger, I was fearless. I would jump head first into things without the fear of failing, not being good enough, or any of the other things that bog the grown up me down. By the time junior high came around, I was more cautious, but I was still always looking for my next big adventure. High school did nearly kill the fearless me, but she survived . College took its best shot at her, but she hung in there. Hey..lets move to Indiana without any real plan or a back up plan! Yep. I sure did. I made that choice without a moment of hesitation. I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow it all worked out. Let's go to Chicago for my 25th birthday, alone...meet random strangers at the concert and spend the whole weekend with them. Guilty. Let's go to California, alone, and again meet random people...and then go back to spend Halloween with them in San Francisco. Yep, that's me. How about going to a Goth Club in San Francisco befriending 2 filmmakers from V...

This Week's Prompts 1.) Girls Night Out! Describe the last time you got to hang out with your friends? What stops you from doing this more often? 2.) If Social Media died tomorrow, describe another hobby you might get into. 3.) Share a Summer Camp memory. 4.) We're too old to be getting in trouble...aren't we? Write about a time you were scolded...as an adult. 5.) Barefoot and hormonal...describe an incident that upset you when you were pregnant, but now looking back makes you laugh. While this may be cheating...since I did a similar post recently, I think my best bet is to run with Prompt 2 (mainly because I'm not quite ready to share my summer camp stories...yet) There is one hobby that I have always been in to, but I have not taken the time to really develop it. Other shiny things keep distracting me from digging in and becoming excellent at it. That is photography. I love taking and editing pictures. It is something I really enjoy doing.  As a kid I always h...

The summer I graduated from college, my mom's dad passed away. From then on, we just pretended Father's Day didn't exist. Last year was the first time we had celebrated the day since 2000. Dad was still in UTMC for therapy. I was gearing up to head back to Indy for the first time since our accident. Dad was surprised, but it seemed to lift his spirits. This year it is easy to feel sorry for myself and dwell on everything I've lost with my father. I joke and say he's  my 62 year old child...and maybe there is more truth to that than I would like to admit. Instead of dwelling, maybe I should just be grateful for the good memories I have: Christmas on duty at Bucky's the week before my 30th birthday our cruise even towel animals judged him super sunburned Charlie loves Dad High School Graduation Party normal Christmas Senior night the original rubber duckies

Actually, I have been looking back at childhood photo's recently, and in almost half of the pictures I am holding my old toy camera. It was a Fisher Price 110 camera complete with the rotating flash. It also had a zoo slide show with it. I basically took it everywhere until someone bought me my pink 110 camera, and then I took it everywhere. Now, I love taking pictures. Ask me anything

Watch "Liz Phair - Why Can't I?" on YouTube It just came on my phone and it made me smile...not sure why but I will gladly take it

I'm a little leery of hoping for things. 99% of the time it just leads to me getting disappointed and my heart getting kicked to the curb once again. Whether it be a relationship, a friendship, a job or any other opportunity, it still sucks when what you hoped for falls through. It is one thing to just have feelings about something. Feelings can be hurt, but your heart can't truly be hurt unless you have put hope in those feelings. Hope is what makes it real. A little over a year ago, all my hopes were pulled out from underneath me. I became dependent on my "gut" to lead the way and keep me safe. Every time I have not listened to my "gut" I have met disappointments, or been left with another mess to clean up. Most days, I just chose to play it safe. My heart just seems to want to keep getting stepped on, and I can't stand how that feels. Now I am faced with a situation where I promised myself I wouldn't hope, but I did...and now I don't kno...

Meet Lester In the days immediately following the tornado, the director of the ICU and the Director of Patient Care at Bay      Park Community Hospital allowed Amy and I to stay on site. They had a maternity ward they were not using, and they gave us one of those rooms. They said it was to keep us closer to Dad, but I think some of it was so that they could keep an eye on us. While we were there, were became friends with several of the staff.   On afternoon we returned and found several things that had been left for us. One of these things was a stuffed bear, with a card from one of the employees. It was a very sweet gesture and we are very grateful for the gift.  However, I am not sure the employee actually listened to what the bear said.  Yes it is one of those talking bears.  First, what is quite possibly the most depressing music ever played comes on. Then out comes this voice of a creepy, haggard, (possibly drunk) three pack a day smoker w...

Going through my old portfolio reminded me how much I love doing photo editing. I really do miss it and taking the time to  make things like this: Maybe it is time to get back at this? The question is where do I start?

Writing Prompts: 1.) Last week you chose a 6 word memoir to share…this week elaborate. Tell us the story or thought process behind the sentence you wrote. 2.) Write a dramatic synopsis of a memorable day in your life, as if it was a movie or TV series. (Inspired by Alison from  Mama Wants This ) 3.) Describe what you think your life would be like if you had never had kids. (inspired by Amy from  Somebody’s Parent ) 4.) In honor of the “white” after Memorial Day rule, name a fashion rule that you either break or enforce. (inspired by Jenny at  Karma Continued… ) 5.) Share a memorable road trip story! (inspired by the  Crooked Little House ) This post is sponsored by prompt #5 December 23, 2008: What should have been a "3 hour tour" became a nightmare. I was going home for Christmas. I was supposed to have the day off, but for some reason I ended up having to come in until 12. I finally escaped work at 12:30, arrived back home by 1:00 and was packed and ready to ...

This weekend brought up a lot of memories and emotions from over the past year. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (that still doesn't mean my emotions weren't all over the place and that Pink's Who Knew...a song I sing all the freaking time..didn't make me cry like a baby in my car). These things are true (and suck) I miss my mom. Yes, we had our moments (lets just call those my "teenage years") and I still find things she has done that make me very angry. Still, those are things we just have to forgive and deal with. She can't ever be replaced. I miss my child/parent relationship with my dad.He will always be my dad, but that dynamic is gone. Now I worry about things like if he has pants that fit (he loses weight like it is his job), if we have money to pay his bills, and I worry about his health. I feel badly for not getting to see him as much as I would. He doesn't want me to give up my life and move back to Ohio, so I have t...

Writing Prompts: 1.)  Six Word Memoir : Write about a significant time in your life in just six words. 2.) “One need not be a chamber to be haunted, One need not be a house. The brain has corridors surpassing material place”. -Emily Dickinson What haunts you? 3.) Describe a talent or flaw that seems to be in your genes. 4.) What are you passionate about? 5.) Comfort food at its finest. Share a family favorite recipe you loved as a child. Lets go with #4  Shall We? It has been an interesting ride over the past almost 32 years: I was a cute baby: I was an adorable toddler: I was a child with a bad perm: Police Radios were just a part of Christmas morning and family dinners : I had the "coolest car" I may have vandalized a friend's car with evidence tags and rubber gloves found in aforementioned cool car: I went to college: Moved Away and Made New Friends: I traveled: I even toured with a band: Bottom Line: No matter where I have gone, what...