Teri Parris Ford's Blog

City Outdoor

I was up coughing my guts up past midnight. I gave up trying to get sleep and just read while sucking on cough drops. I woke up feeling a bit better but still weary. I decided to keep the day low key. My students were quite accomodating. After school I took Balt for his walk and then rushed to see Jessi throw. My husband is home for the week, so he was able to take Monika to her soccer game in Middleton. It was the City Outdoor meet for all varsity in the city of Madison. Jessi came in 3rd for the shot and 5th in her discus. She was disappointed with her discus, but over all she is quite the competitor.  After the meet we went out for soup and went home. I made sure to purchase some Nyquil in order to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Prom 2012

Oh, what a day. From 8am until 12:30am all I did was work on the Prom in one capacity or another. Most of the morning was me being the adviser to the junior kids who organized it, but some of it was being the mom of a sophomore who was helping out and I had a couple of hours being the mom of a daughter attending the dance. It was quite the juggle and I'm glad to be sitting in my pj's, exhausted, knowing that it's done. I don't think anything went wrong. Here's a few pics...
 

Rested

Last night Jessi got back from her track meet at 11:30pm. I found pictures from one of her friends on facebook (see below). She PR'd in her discus throw (over a hundred feet) but didn't do as well with her shot. She came in 4th place for the invite. From the pictures, it looked like it was a good meet. Monika got in shortly after Jessi. My efforts to get to bed at a decent hour were thwarted. At midnight I was up, reading. So when Balt woke me at 5:30am, I let him out, fed him and asked if we could go back to bed. He isn't always accommodating, but this morning he was. I slept in until 8:30am. After a week of less than 6 hours of sleep a night, it was glorious to get 8. My husband made us coffee and we were on our way to Indian Lake within an hour. The morning was wonderful and Balt was ecstatic. The rest of the day was nice and mellow. Jessi and I went to pick up her dress and then took it to get altered. I hate paying someone else to do something I know I could do-- hemming is easy but that wasn't all that was needed. I don't want to risk messing it up, so I'm paying. Monika and I ran an errand and then I went to yoga. I made a vegan stir fry for my husband and enjoyed an another evening home without kids watching documentaries with my spouse.

It's just starting to get amazing!

Oh, the leaves are starting to turn and the day was just amazing. I got up at 5am to take Balt out and then I put him in his crate, so I could sleep in. How wonderful it is to get a good amount of sleep. I didn't get to the dog park until 10am, which is pretty late for Balt but he survived. He got to play with lots more dogs though. 

As I was in yoga today I saw a waterbottle that said, "Life is tough. Get a good manucure and wear a cute helmet!" It made me laugh but it also went with the conversation I had with my husband that day. He felt like he had to gird himself for battle everyday. I shared that I felt more like a race horse with blinders on. I just keep running and have learned to ignore the distractions. When I have time to think about life, I know it's not bad but I struggle to find balance. As I stand in tree pose sweating in hot yoga, my failing feet are what keep me from finding balance in the studio. I'm not always sure what it is in real life. 

I didn't get a lot done today, but it was okay. I went grocery shopping and made a family dinner. I had a wonderful walk with Balt and went to yoga. It was a good day. I am hoping to change things up this month. I have given up SUGAR for 30 days which as already has me making different decisions. I wanted a scone with my coffee yesterday and thought about cinnamon rolls today. Instead I am eating fruit when I have a craving. 

Here are some images from yesterday's busy day:
 

F my Motherboard

I try to keep things light on my blog and I try not to complain too much or too often. I'm supposed to be sharing life as a woman, a mother, an artist and a lover (Monika hates that I list "lover" in my by-line). Obviously my life isn't perfect and bad stuff happens. But, in all honesty, nothing REALLY bad has hit me yet and yes, I am thankful. Now I'm going to complain about some trivial stuff...

Last night my laptop just stopped working. I got a few restarts with a little time to work and now I am kicking myself for not backing stuff up when I had the chance. I realize with some hindsight that the machine had been getting hot, but so has most of the US these past weeks. I talked to Safdar Salam or "Sam" over at Dell in India (or maybe the Philippines?) and he told me I most likely fried my motherboard. I love that laptop and use it everyday. I took it across America and treated it like gold bullion under my car seat. Do I spend $600 for a new motherboard or $1200 to replace it? I HATE computer problems!

I took Monika all the way to Brookfield today for soccer tryouts--Wisconsin ODP (olympic develop program). Monika decided to decline 56ers for tennis but still wants training opportunities. ODP would be a great program for her if she made it but she's going against the best in the state. I was afraid that she might show up and feel like she didn't belong, but she had a great day and hopes she has a shot. It's kind of crazy that I drove an hour and a half for an hour and a half tryout process then drove another hour and a half home. It's what soccer mom's do.

I loved that I had last week in Minneapolis to work on art, but I hate that I didn't exercise at all. I hate that my feet hurt almost all the time a little bit and sometimes a lot -- it makes exercising so much more difficult. Just walking Balt is difficult at times and he needs to be walked more. Complete strangers tell me he's fat and I know it's all my fault for not exercising more. I feel like I need to kick start something drastic tomorrow because it's August 1st. Beginnings do that to me. I'm thinking I might start a fast, go nuts training, do something crazy. I hate feeling fat and feeling responsible for having a fat dog.

Athletic Tuesday

Tuesdays are usually about me juggling Jessi's track meet and Monika's soccer game lately. Today, Madison was amazingly hot (a high of 90) but by 5pm, it was wonderfully warm with a nice breeze. Poor Balt was not used to the heat, but he managed to enjoy the beginning of Jessi's track meet and the end of Monika's soccer game. Monika's soccer team won 5-0. Her back was bothering her again, so she took it easy. She needs to work on strengthing her core. I keep telling her to do yoga with me, but she says she can't take the heat nor the crowd. She's too much like her dad!

Jessi did well on both of her events, making finals for both and placing 3rd in Shot Put (not sure about Discus). After her success at the invitational last Saturday I asked her if she wanted special track shoes for spinning and she said no. According to her, next year is her year. So I get to save up for them for next spring. I can't wait.

Both girls are doing well in their sports and it is really fun to see them having success. 

 

They gave me a crown

We went out for steak before hand with the staff which was a great way to start the evening. There were a few tweeks that needed to happen before students started arriving. One of our decorations collapsed and was tossed in the back. I think it was the only bad thing that happened all night. The students were decked out and well behaved. Everyone thought the theme and decorations were awesome. The most stressful part of the evening is stopping the dancing to annouce the court. The two boys that organized the event did the announcements and noted that they were crowning two prom queens. I thought it was going to be a prank on a kid, so I started getting upset but then they asked me to come up and a they gave me a crown. It was very sweet. 

After a midnight cleanup I came home unloaded the car and drove over to post-prom at a bowling alley a block away from my house. I broke my diet and ate pizza, but by that time it was Sunday. I suppose if I'm going to cheat, Sundays are the days for that. I got home after 2am and found flowers from Jim waiting for me. He had to get up at 4am to go to KY for a training. As much as I would have loved to sleep in, Balt had me up at 8am. Our morning walk was wonderful, the sun was shining and the air warm enough not to need a jacket. That's the best mother's day gift ever.

It's going to be good!

We got set up done in record timing-- especially for all that needed to get done. I had enough time to take Balt to his class and I'm off to yoga. Tonight should be very fun.

Day 30: Victory!

It was a gorgeous day! The most wonderful day for both a track meet and a soccer game. Jessi's track meet was in Verona and Jim decided to go to that while I took the soccer game at Memorial. I ran home and grabbed Balt and came back to my class room while Monika had her warm ups. I took Balt to the game and he made a friend right away. The whole time the game was going on, he got to play. I let him off his leash during half time so that he could run around with another lab. The two of them had a blast. Monika looked like she was having fun too-- especially after winning 2-0. On the other team were several of her 56er soccer friends. I got to say hi to lots of soccer-parent friends too.

Everyone seemed to have a great afternoon! Jim got to Verona right after Jessi threw, but caught her discus-- in which she tossed a personal best! Jim had a chair and a book, enjoying the sunshine while he waited for the rest of the team to finish up. We all got home for grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. It is so wonderful to finally have great weather, time outside and vacation within a week.

Not today.

I was up with Balt this morning at 6am, but after making his breakfast and my coffee, then dealing with his business, the two of us went back to bed. It was wonderful to get a little extra sleep. I had to get up to get Monika going for tennis and then the day just seemed to go non-stop from there. I didn't even have time to fit in a yoga class. 

This evening Jessi had a basketball game across town. She played okay, but the team has yet to see a victory. She has to stay to watch the varsity lose as well. It was only fun because I sat next to a couple of teachers and enjoyed the conversation. We talked about how to make the girls basketball program better. Seeing that I never played basketball in any program at all, I'm not sure anyone should pay mind to my opinions, but I still have them. Anyway, Jessi and I stopped for dinner on the way home and then watched a movie by the fire (The Backup Plan). 

The last day of 2010

Here's the year in review that I sent out to family and friends. I wanted a family portrait this year but I have yet to get one and I don't think it's going to happen today. I didn't make any new year's resolutions last year and felt somewhat aimless throughout the year. By the end of May I was focusing on yoga and putting a lot of energy in that practice. I still very much enjoy it, but am wondering if I should be putting my energies elsewhere. I'm getting my haircut today-- it's time.

2010 was a good year with as little drama as is possible when living with 3 teen-aged daughters. I turned 45 this year and feeling the beginnings of middle aged aches, pains, thyroid issues and high cholesterol I took up the practice of Bikram hot yoga and power yoga. This year I continued teaching high school photography, art metals and glass, advising student government and running a school newspaper. I took a grand summer trip to Italy and Greece with the Memorial Art Department staff and students (Jessi was included). Late in the year our family doubled the drivers on its insurance plan. I spent the year living with three incredibly active young women (& where did they getthat from?) who participate in 6 different sports, are practicing artists and amazingly good students-- not forgetting my one busy husband. Just keeping up with them has been more than I have had time for, not to mention our three cats and a new addition a puppy.

Erika started her second year at Madison College this year. She impresses us not only with straight A’s but with taking classes like trigonometry and economics! Erika hopes to transfer to UW-Madison next year majoring in either business or science. She is keeping her options wide open, working two part time jobs to pay for her tuition as well as saving money and time living at home. She enjoys spending her little free time creating glass art, drawing and driving around in her green Jetta.

Jessi finished her freshman year playing basketball, throwing shotput and discus for the school’s track team and getting great grades. Jessi’s summer was over booked with swim team, track clinics and a basketball league. On top of all of her summer activities, Jessi joined me on a European trip. Sorrento, Italy and the Greek Island cruise were highlights of Jessi’s time. Jessi started her sophomore year early in August swimming again for Memorial. Her season culminated with a trip to the state meet at the UW Natatorium in November, the week of her 16th birthday. It was a very exciting time for her. She got her driver’s license a couple of weeks later. Jessi currently plays JV basketball, maintains good grades, tries to fit in a bit of skiing when she isn’t bogged down with homework or athletic practices and now is the main care taker of a black labrador retriever puppy named Baltazar.

Monika turned 14 this year in February, but had no birthday. She still loves playing soccer. This year Monika made the Madison 56’ers Soccer Club’s Red team, traveling all over the state of Wisconsin for the game. Monika graduated from middle school with a bit of fan fare. She received over a dozen awards including the school’s “Spring Harbor Award” which meant she got to give a speech at her ceremony. Over the summer Monika refused to swim, but she played a lot of tennis. When she tried out for the high school tennis team, she made varsity doubles 2, but after some back trouble (most likely from playing too much soccer after playing too much tennis) she ended the season playing JV singles 1-- 3rd in the city. Monika not only enjoys athletics in high school, she still plays the bass for the high school orchestra, conscientiously gets a 4.0 and has gotten involved with a student council group at Memorial.

I know that Jim is not a fan of the annual letter. I do admit it is an opportunity for me to brag about my girls but Erika assured me she likes that we do it just to stay connected with friends. This year Jim drove us to the white sands of Gulf Shores in Alabama, just a few weeks before the BP oil spill in the area for spring break. Erika couldn't join us, as she had to work. The highlight for him was on the way down we visited the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee and on the way back we went to Graceland in Memphis. A few days later, at the top of April, he went to San Francisco for an Army annual training. He had one weekend free to visit his family in Los Angeles which was a special time for him. In July he went to the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area in Minnesota for a nine-day canoe trip with a few of his buddies. The biggest event for him this year was clearly the Basic Officer Leadership Course in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was there for three months, received some quality military training, and met some wonderful people. It was wonderful to have him back in time to celebrate the holidays all together. I am still writing a daily diary-like blog usually with pictures. While I have aspirations of one day writing something substantial, the blog keeps me writing. Jim has joined me in the writing of a blog, but his posts are not quite daily and sometimes they are outright lies. He writes alot of dark humor and historical essays. Hopefully you will be able to figure out fact from fiction. It isn’t always easy.

Please keep in touch, it is always good to hear from friends and family whether it be via Facebook, email, blog comments or annual letters.

 

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

I'm not sure how much sleep Jessi got last night. The puppy had a hard time in the crate. I heard him crying but let Jessi figure out what to do. I woke up at 5am to let him out and feed him. Boy, he was happy to eat and then pooped right away and went right to sleep. I put him back into Jessi's room and went back to bed until Jessi and Moni woke us up to do presents around 8am. The puppy loves one of the snuggley cat beds. He's half their size, which is pretty funny.  I got Jessi a bunch of dog toys for Christmas and the puppy is smaller than all of them.  He's only 7 weeks old and no, he hasn't got a name yet. Jessi likes "Simon" but no one else does. He made the Christmas morning quite special-- Jessi was not disappointed even though her big gift fell asleep for part of the morning. Erika's gift was bigger and more expensive. Monika got the most gifts of all--it's nice not to have to count out all the gifts the night before to make sure everyone has the same. 

Division 1 Sectional Runner's Up (not bad)

Today was Jessi's "taper meet"-- the one she was supposed to really shine in, but it didn't quite happen. Jessi failed to improve her individual 50 freestyle enough to qualify for state, but she pulled it together for both of her relays. She always does better for her relays-- it must be something about all that peer pressure. Had she swam her split time (24.93) as her individual, she would have come in 4th place and been going to state as an individual. Instead she knows she is capable of qualifying next year. I tried to encourage her on the way home- every year she will go further, she will get better. She has a lot to look forward to! It looks like we will have one last swim meet next week- the state championship. The girls managed to place 2nd for their sectional, beating both East and West (behind Middleton)-- very respectable for such a young team.

Chicago

It was Monika's first SOFA show. Erika went to all four shows during her time at Memorial. I hope that Moni will follow in her footsteps. Jessi won't miss school to go. This year we took 100 kids to Millennium Park and then Navy Pier to see the SOFA show. We had a great day, everything went perfectly. Monika's finger throbs from time to time, but it doesn't seem to slow her down.

Emergency Room

There is nothing that can suck up a whole evening like having to go to the ER. After a pretty normal day, I had my newspaper club, Jessi had swimming and Monika went to Winter training with Joe. I went out to the car to charge my cell phone and talk to Melissa (who is in NJ) while I waited for the girls to finish up their activities. I got a call from Joe, who explained that I was needed immediately. While in the weight room, Monika was listening to Joe with her hands stretched behind her, leaning back and Joe accidentally pushed over a 35lb plate that bounced first before coming into contact with Monika's middle finger. I think Joe actually saw the finger explode, so he was quick on his feet to gather Monika up and take her to a sink and call me. After a three hour wait in the UW Hospital waiting room, we got 3 x-rays and a visit from a hand specialist. The whole process took 4 hours. Her bone is cracked in half, the long way at the end. The skin split open very evenly, but is starting to fall away as it dies. The specialist initially said Monika would need to have her nail removed but after careful examination, decided not to. There is concern the nail will fall off and not grow back correctly, but the biggest concern is with infection because the finger basically split open all the way through to the bone and beyond.  Through it all Joe felt terrible but Monika was amazingly brave. At the end she discussed wanting to go into the medical profession, maybe specializing in sports medicine though. She said she wasn't really interested in guts or brains.

Halloween Thrills

It was an amazing day in Madison, sunny and warm-- a perfect day for an afternoon soccer game. But first I made cinnamon rolls and a fire for breakfast.  I had a cord of wood delivered this morning, so I worked in the yard piling wood, pulling plants, and sweeping. Monika had a winning game in Waunakee (see pictures below). The team went to Culvers for ice cream after. Once we got home, Monika got dressed as Tom Sawyer and went to a party. Erika worked all day and while she didn't make a ton of tips tonight, she made a killing last night. Jessi did homework all day and then invited a friend over to watch Saw 6 (I did not approve). I spent my Halloween evening at the yoga studio, enjoying HOT yoga dressed in all black.

Conference Swim Meet

I missed out on Monika's soccer game to attend the Big 8 Conference Swim Meet. Memorial came in 2nd overall after 5 years of winning, losing to Middleton. That did not stop us from driving over to Middleton to celebrate with custard from Culvers after the meet.

Jessi swam well, no complaints, but there is room for a lot of improvement. Her coach told her state, at this point, was still a big unknown. Jessi is strong and fast, but she is missing technique in her swimming that girls who swim year round have. Her starts, turns and finishes are keeping her from being the best. Her speed keeps her within reach. The top 8 in individual event win medals, she placed 9th in both of her events. The top 5 relays receive medals and she placed 6th in her medley, 2nd in her 200 free. 

Because of the long weekend, there were several girls missing on Monika's team, so I missed a game that she got to play the whole time. She came home happy to have played a good game. Tomorrow is her very last game of the season. I won't miss out.

Well, it seems the cats have decided the couches are comfortable enough for them to use as well. They look too adorable on there to even think of shushing them off. I'll have to buy cat hair rollers now.

Go Green!

Today was a whirlwind of activity and day filled with fun, fun, fun! One of our football players- student leader-artist decided to donate his car to be pounded on as a fund raiser. Lots of kids loved the lunch time activity. A shortened schedule, the best pep-aud I've seen since working at JMM and winning football game made the day non-stop from 7:30am until 10pm. I'm exhausted!

The Saturday Juggle

I got up at 7am to take Jessi to the Wisconsin Invitational Swim Meet at the UW this morning. I came back and got Monika to meet up with JMM students to start working on the Homecoming windows at school all morning. I thought Monika had a 2pm soccer but it had been moved to 11am without my knowing- an email snafu that ended up making a crazy Saturday a bit more sane. 

At noon I picked up Jessi, who had a lunch break but brought her back at school to make up an in-class English essay she had missed yesterday. Her teacher asked her to make it up after or before school but because of swim team she is not available either. Luckily I was able to arrange a Saturday appointment. I thought I would have to travel several times between the school, soccer game and swim meet this afternoon, so I called a soccer mom for help and found out Monika had completely missed the game. She didn't seem too upset since the team easily won the game and it gave her more time to work on Homecoming. She was instrumental for the Freshman. I was happy to spend my whole evening with Jessi at the meet.

Jessi managed a 17th place in the state for both of her individual events where only the top 16 swim in the finals, but she did swim in a B and A relay during the finals. Her A relay got 7th place and the team managed 4th. In the state of Wisconsin, where swimming is a big deal, it was kind of a big deal. I was very proud of her.
 

Who needs a hug?

There's a swimmer who's dad is a professional photographer. He takes great swim team pics. He emailed out his link this morning and I found this great pic of Jessi giving a hug. Jessi told me that the freshman she is hugging did a great backstroke time and wanted to congratulate her. I love it.

FC Milwaukee Tournament 1-1

So this is Monika's first games played actually on the red team. First one lost, second one won. Because she has played so often with these girls it doesn't really feel all that different, but in general we are both having a bit more fun. Monika loves the serious attitudes of the girls on the team. The girls discuss the games played, laugh about mistakes, and carry on about strategy. You can tell they all have the same commitment for the game. There are a few moms on this team that I absolutely love hanging around, so the down time in between games for me is fun! Win-win. We have at least one more game tomorrow, maybe two if they win big... I always hate secretly hoping for tournaments not drag on, but it sure would be nice to be home early tomorrow.

The Lawn Chair

It's actually starting to feel like summer... there's been time to sit in my lawn chair and read. I'm trying to plan a little get-away for the girls next week. Jessi wants to stay in a luxury hotel and rent a boat! Yeah, right. I can afford camping but we will try something in between. 

Group pictures

Today was the very last day of "regular" school. It was a nice day, kind of mellow. The art department had a luncheon for our senior artists. We pull it off every year, so you would think it would be easy, but it's still work. I think it's super worth the effort to recognize these amazing artists.

I am not supposed to give my finals early but because of  Monika's graduation ceremony on Wednesday morning, I snuck one in today so I could run out Wednesday morning early. I try to always get a class picture. Every once in a while I forget but then hear about it the next year when kids realize I ripped them off of their final group experience. I've learned not to forget.

Today was Monika's team make up game for yesterday's cancelled game. Ironically it was the VERY first game every single girl on the team was able to make. Game's with months of advance warning and there is alway at least one girl gone BUT 24 hour notice and everyone makes it-- weird. I have been trying to get pictures of all the girls on the team to make a nice little photo collage for the coach. I've enjoyed being the manager for her, respect her tons as a coach, player and person, but I'm kind of looking forward to not being a manager. We'll see if it works out that way.

Art Chicago

I had the most wonderful day an art teacher could have. Melissa organized the field trip with Joe's student teacher and I just came along for the ride... a long ride. We watched Avatar on the way down and nearly finished the movie. We spent four hours at the Merchandise Mart for the Art Chicago show. It was the first time I was able to also get the NEXT show in as well. 

Melissa and I do well as a teacher team. She very much enjoys hamming it up with kids on the bus' microphone, which lets me take a more supportive roll. Occasionally I join in on the banter and we have a lot of fun (some might say too much fun). We hit a lot of traffic on the way home which gave lots of time for student sharing on the bus as well as a second blockbuster movie. Our students amaze me-- we took 52 students. Some kids are there just to get out of school, I know that, but they all stay engaged and really get into the art. Not one student got into any trouble at all. A group of kids walked down to the Hancock building to go to see Oprah (and they did see her) but the rest spent up to 4 hours looking at art. There was a tornado warning, lightning and rain to welcome us home in Madison. We got everyone home safe, but over an hour late. I did not get one complaint, only happy students exiting the bus!

Games

Monika had a tournament today at Breakaway.  Janet put 3 teams together, a boys team, a girls team and super co-ed team with her kids and their friends-- that was Monika's team--and they made it to the semi-finals!  I hung out helping, watching and chatting but had to leave to get Jessi to her game before it was over.

Jessi had a basketball game in Waukesha (near Milwaukee).  I got Jessi to the bus then left so that I could stop at Johnson Creek (outlet mall).  I had seven $10 coupons for the Adidas Store.  I made 7 transactions in order to use them all and got the girls lots of cool stuff (2 pair of shoes, 2 shorts, a hat, tank top, capris and nap sack) all for less than $20. 

I missed the first quarter of Jessi's game and right away could tell she was still not playing at 100% since getting sick.  The team lost by 11.  The varsity coach was watching and came over at half time to yell at them for not trying hard enough.  It seems Jessi wasn't the only player not playing at 100%.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at Culvers and both Jessi and I ate very healthy-- no custard for us.  I only gained 1/2 lb over Christmas and would like to continue losing weight this new year.  I think I'm finally getting some life style changes to stick.  Adding protein back into my diet after adding lots of fruits and veggie's has been the ticket.  I have gone from Adkins to being a vegetarian and am finding that balance is the key without a lot of calories!

Chicago's Millenium Park Field Trip

It was amazingly wonderful... a nearly perfect day in Chicago.  We were missing Geof as a team, so we asked random men to fill in for Geof in our photos. Fun was had by all! We spent the late morning at Millenium Park, lunch at Portillo's, and the afternoon at the SOFA show on Navy Pier.

Not too wild, but a little crazy...

Melissa got quite poetic as "Edgar Allen Crow" while I was a bit lame, donning my ruby slippers and striped tights, as the Wicked Witch of the East (she is the one the house fell on).  Some students went all out but the majority were, like Jessi, dressed as everyday high school kids, which I suppose is a costume too.

The short week is wonderful and needed by both students and teachers.  I love this time of year.  Halloween is so much fun and every other week is a short one until Thanksgiving!

So Beautiful!

Jessi swims Varsity!

Jessi has cut 10 seconds off of her 100, she looks great, she's learning lots, and having fun! (photos from last night's swim meat against Sun Prairie)

Pictures from Japan

Jim and Jessi are home!  We had a lot of fun looking at pics and listening to stories!  Jim said of the three girls only Jessi would have the stamina to keep up with him and she did.  He said she never once slowed him down.  It was funny to see all the photos of Jim's back.  She did a great job of following and Jim said she never once complained.  Jessi told me she did complain about the "dumb" videos Jim wanted to shoot.  He embarrassed her at every hotel, insisting on video tour!