Yesterday was my mom's birthday and as she and my dad work in the LDS temple every Tuesday it worked out nicely to gather at my sister's afterwards and celebrate. My parents live about an hour and a half south of Portland. It was nice to gather with family and celebrate my mom. I had a great time interacting with my niece and nephews, especially when somehow the subject of books came up and they each excitedly told me about what they're reading right now. It makes me so happy to see them excited about reading and excited about the adventures that lie within the pages of the books. Tanner is reading To Kill A Mockingbird in his 8th grade class right now. He doesn't care much for his teacher which in turn is making him not care so much for the way she's presenting the book. This is one of my all-time favorites so I tried my best to heighten his interest in the story despite the way his teacher is handling the material. In preparation for his freshman year he has to read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury over the summer. I haven't ever read that but from the little I know about the story it seems kind of an intense rite-of-passage to freshman English!
Jarae is into a fantasy author, Brandon Mull, whose stories are full of satyrs and fairies and trolls and magical, mysterious lands. She had a rough go of it when learning to read so to see her so excited about it now is really endearing. Hopefully when it's her turn to read To Kill a Mockingbird in a couple years she'll be more into it than Tanner.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Not for me
I have a confession. Every once in awhile I google old crushes and old boyfriends to see if I can find out what they're up to. And not so you think I'm a total freak I also look up people I used to know and in whom I never had a romantic interest. One of the easy places to start is MySpace. I have never had, nor do I ever intend to have, my own MySpace page. It's just not my thing. I do know lots of people who have pages, though. Why do people feel the need to make their page as busy as possible? I was looking at one today that had music blaring, a collage of pictures behind the text and flare everywhere. I was so overwhelmed and annoyed that it simply served to remind me why it's a good thing things didn't ever "work out" with this person. I could never support his MySpace layout! I have always felt simplicity is best. I'm not into frou-frou and this page was all about the pizzazz.
I googled my own name and came up with these superior(?) alter-egos:
Jennifer Kohler, Stanford biology professor
Jennifer Kohler, Ph.D.; director of the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University
Jennifer Kohler, grad student at Columbia
Jennifer Kohler, surrogate mother
Jennifer Kohler, New York lawyer
There are 1,416,416 people in the U.S. with the first name Jennifer. Statistically the 21st most popular first name.
There are 18,237 people in the U.S. with the last name Kohler. Statistically the 1,943rd most popular last name.
There are 85 people in the U.S. named Jennifer Kohler. You can figure out your own statistics here.
I googled my own name and came up with these superior(?) alter-egos:
Jennifer Kohler, Stanford biology professor
Jennifer Kohler, Ph.D.; director of the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University
Jennifer Kohler, grad student at Columbia
Jennifer Kohler, surrogate mother
Jennifer Kohler, New York lawyer
There are 1,416,416 people in the U.S. with the first name Jennifer. Statistically the 21st most popular first name.
There are 18,237 people in the U.S. with the last name Kohler. Statistically the 1,943rd most popular last name.
There are 85 people in the U.S. named Jennifer Kohler. You can figure out your own statistics here.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Neighborhood is Growing
Randomly, three people asked me today when I'm going to update this thing. My brother, Jeff, even offered to be a guest blogger! Since only a few of you leave comments, I guess I didn't realize how many are paying attention to my blog. Thanks for the love!
I'm getting excited by the number of my friends who are putting both feet into the blogging circle. I think it's a fantastic way to keep track of what is happening with each other and it's so much easier than sitting down and writing an email or - heaven forbid - picking up the phone. I have never really been a phone person unless it's a conversation that can take place in less than 5 minutes. However, I'm already aware there are exceptions to that rule as I can talk to family members for much longer than that. I think that's because it's simply a continuation of a conversation that has been going on for the last 30 years. Do you know what I mean? There are those people with whom you always have a level of contact so when you speak to them or spend time with them there's no need for small-talk. I find small-talk exhausting. I don't mind going to social events, but when I'm at a party where I only know one or two people I find I'm ready to leave shortly after arriving because I simply can't make myself small-talk with strangers for three or four hours.
How's that for getting off-topic? I was saying that I'm excited about all the blogs I get to read and all the years-long friendships (high-school...college...mission) that are being rekindled through blogspot.It's fun to see the daily events and not just get the highlights in the Christmas letter. And I thank you for sharing your lives with me.
I'm getting excited by the number of my friends who are putting both feet into the blogging circle. I think it's a fantastic way to keep track of what is happening with each other and it's so much easier than sitting down and writing an email or - heaven forbid - picking up the phone. I have never really been a phone person unless it's a conversation that can take place in less than 5 minutes. However, I'm already aware there are exceptions to that rule as I can talk to family members for much longer than that. I think that's because it's simply a continuation of a conversation that has been going on for the last 30 years. Do you know what I mean? There are those people with whom you always have a level of contact so when you speak to them or spend time with them there's no need for small-talk. I find small-talk exhausting. I don't mind going to social events, but when I'm at a party where I only know one or two people I find I'm ready to leave shortly after arriving because I simply can't make myself small-talk with strangers for three or four hours.
How's that for getting off-topic? I was saying that I'm excited about all the blogs I get to read and all the years-long friendships (high-school...college...mission) that are being rekindled through blogspot.It's fun to see the daily events and not just get the highlights in the Christmas letter. And I thank you for sharing your lives with me.
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