jessd

My first 3 AFF jumps!!!

Reunited with many old friends

Many new friends

Good times at the beach...

Good times canoeing...

Trip to the Dominican Republic.

New job

I thought that 2002 was a great year - I had made my first tandem jumps and graduated from grad school. I never thought I could top it. But, in retrospect, 2003 was a much greater year.

My Grandfather is the same way. He is 80 also. A few years ago he had a brain tumor removed. The surgery caused some nerve damage (which was a big concern going into the surgery) and he has a hard time moving his left hand. Ever since he will not go to the doctor's. He never even went back for physical therapy like he was supposed to. My whole family and I have tried to get him to go and have made appointments and everything. He just refuses - very stubborn. So, we all just kind of eased up a little and nicely told him not to complain all the time if he was not going to try and do something to help himself. It may seem a little cold but, I would do anything to help him if I could, unfortunately he is not willing to let anyone help him.

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I think i'm in love with Jess

Aww...thanks.

When I get more time I will post some more of the beaches and scenery. It was beautiful down there.

Oh it was not rough at all. It's been almost a month since I have been home and I am still not out of vacation mode. I had such a good time while I was these. The food was horrible but the sceneray was beautiful and it was just so laid back all week.

I just posted these in another thread...but here are a couple recent pictures from my vacation.

Yeah; thanks - it was a blast. I have a ton of pictures. I'm too lazy to scan in more of them. It was so beautiful down there. Nothing but sitting on the beach and having drinks for an entire week.

A few more....

1st - Brock and I on the beach
2nd - me horsebackriding
3rd - me and the guy with a gun at McDonald's
4th - me and some random people on the boat ride

I went on vacation the end of last month to the Dominican Republic. Attached are a few photos from the trip. Unfortunately, 2 rolls of film we ruined somehow and did not develop. But, some of these pictures were pretty funny to look at.

The 1st is me on a catamaran ride
2nd - me in front of some water that blew up
3rd - my man and I sitting on a log
4th - me dancing w/ our tour guide
5th - me with the guy making our drinks on the boat

Mine didn't turn out too funny but I will post it anyway.

Dear Santa,

I have been a good girl.

It really wasn't my fault what happened at brock's Christmas party. It was joel who spiked the punch with too much beer. I can't help it if I drank 8 glasses. It was so good---smelled and tasted just like apple pie.

I thought it was funny when I put shane's sweater on my head and danced the waltz on the bed while singing `i feel home'. I didn't mean to break brock's dvd player and don't know why brock would sue me for drunk driving.

I don't remember calling jesse's wife a sweet cow---even though she looked like one with green eye shadow and purple lipstick!

And when I threw up on pauline's husband's leg, it was only because I ate too much of that pizza.

After all that fun, I admit I was a little tired. So I fell asleep on my way home and drove my celica through my neighbor's bathroom. I don't think that was any reason for my neighbor to call me a small dog and have me arrested for murder!

So, Santa...here I sit in my jail cell on Christmas Eve, all large and attractive. And I'm really not to blame for any of this dark stuff. Please bring me what I want the most---bail money!

Sincerely and patiently yours,
Jess (Really a nice girl!)

P.S. It's only 7 bucks!

I have always love The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by TS Eliot.

There are a ton of things that make me feel good. My little brothers (14 and 16) by telling me that I am the coolest sister. In general my whole family manages to make me feel good about who I am everyday. Also, my close friends. I've recently connected with some friends from my childhood that I lost touch with and they are amazed at all the things I've accomplished since I last talked to them. This makes me feel great because I personally don't feel like I've accomplished too much.

Congrats! That's awesome. I all my years in college I got a 4.0 one semester - I know how good it feels when you work so hard for it. Way to go!

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When you asked for help what did they say? Did they direct you towards a hotel directory or did they just say go away? Did you go to a customer service counter or just they gate counter? There can be a difference.

When we asked for help they said that it was our responsibility to find a hotel. Makes sense - BUT - we didn't know were to go. We did ask for a hotel directory and even a phone book which they did not provide either. We tried customer service but the person at the counter spoke no English while the person at the airline counter spoke English. We were very calm in asking for help which they flat out did not provide any.

Yes, we did ask them for help. Never once did we get angry at them for the cancellation. We asked if they knew of a hotel in the area or if they knew where in the airport we could speak to someone who would be able to assist us. It was difficult because of the language barrier (this experience makes me wish I spoke Spanish). I don't expect them to give me anything in return for the cancellation. I just merely wanted to express my dissastisfaction with the service after the fact.

I am not blaming the airlines for anything and I am not complaining about the cost of a flight either. I just would have thought that under those kinds of circumstances that they would provide a little assistance in finding accomodations.

Chris well said! Hmm...maybe I am not really a skydiver because I rode the plane down once.

No, I am not mad because they could not control the weather. I was fine with the cancellation because I would rather be stranded than have them fly us in unsafe conditions. My friend was in Florida and scheduled to come home on Saturday as well and could not because of the Boston weather. But, his airline (Delta) offered assistance in getting a hotel at a discounted rate. My airline (American) did not. I was dissatisfied with the service that they provided to us. I would have expected a little assistance in finding a place to sleep for two nights. We were literally stranded with no idea were to go. We ended up hoping in a random cab and had them bring us to a nearby hotel that wound up being in a really bad section of the city.

My flight home from my vacation in the Dominican Republic got cancelled this past Saturday because of the snow in Boston. Once we learned of the cancellation the airline offered no assistance at all in finding a hotel for the night (the resort we stayed at was an hour from the airport and was too expensive to stay in for an additional night or two). So, basically we were on our own in a foreign country and neither or us speak Spanish. We had a hell of a time getting to a hotel.
I have never experienced a flight cancellation for any reason before. But, should the airline have covered the hotel costs and offered some information on where to stay etc... I wanted to get a few opinions before I call the airline tomorrow to express my dissatisfaction with the service that they gave us.

As far as the sexuallity question I have never thought differently of anyone because of their sexual orientation.

In response to Treejumps - I agree that tandems come and go. So do many of those who have made only a handful of jumps. But, I still think it's important to note that they in some way and at some time had an interest and desire to make those jumps.

Incidentally, I think that if someone has made enough comittment to get a license, thats about the time I think "skydiver" becomes an accurate description.***

I respect your opinion on this point. But, some of us would like to be able to have the comittment to get a license. Sometimes life just gets in the. I think if someone wants to call themselves a skydiver after a few jumps then so be it. Myself - I don't consider myself to be one just because I made a few jumps.

Thanks Chris! I wish I could say I've been jumping. Hopefully in the spring again.

This thread has been going on forever. I have not posted to it because my computer has been all messed up. Here are a few pictures. JESS1 is from a booze cruise this summer, SACO1 is from a canoe trip over the summer, and the last one if from a Thanksgiving dinner with friends from this year.

I voted refered. But, it was by my dad who had never jumped. He always wanted to try it, while the thought never seriously crossed my mind.

High: Doing a tandem jump after not jumping since April. It was what I needed to get the nerve to continue with AFF!!!!

Low: Not having the money to continue AFF this season.

Is anyone going to be jumping at Skydive New England on Monday? I am driving up there tomorrow morning to do a tandem - just trying to get myself back in the air. I have a friend driving up with me who is still undecided about whether he is jumping or not. But, it would be cool to meet some people while I am there.

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Good game, right outcome

I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to see tomorrow's game!!! GO SOX!