They forgot to invite us to the Celebration

Fortunately, there were plenty of leftovers that were brought upstairs so Mrs. Jingles and I got to enjoy all the yummy food as well.

We knew these people are great, but it was wonderful to see the data support what we already knew!

Celebrating a Job well done

Great food, for some great people, for some great work helping other on their walk to Wellness.

Zicke,zacke, zicke zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi, Prosit!

Here is the group celebrating together, I love these people!

Frauleins in their Drindls ( sort of )

To really get in the spirit of things some of us dressed appropriately in lederhosen or drindls.

Here are two of our favorite frauleins.

Oktoberfest Redux

Once again those wonderful people I work with had a great potluck and get together to celebrate our " Inner German"

here is me and my girl Mandy

End of the Tail

This is the end of the tale ( Tail?) of our African adventures as our children turned to their new home and family and we returned back to our home.

Waving Goodbye

When we were in Africa, every where we went beautiful children waved at us and Njoki and Natasha. Today we wave goodbye to Njoki who is leaving our team to join a new one and continue to provide superb care to others. We wish her the very best.

The kids new family in Africa

Here is the family that the Jingles children are now living with along with our Natasha. Everyone is well.

Things go better with Coke

Even in Africa Natasha had to have her coke, now she is off to Mexico and I'll bet she finds some there!

Our Trip to Africa;

Wow, what a vacation this was.

Mrs. Jingles and the children and I were in the care of our lovely young women,
Njoki and Natasha, they are usually not quite this sedate and composed, but considering the awesome responsibility they had of taking care of all of us, it was good to see them so Zen !

There are additional photos I will post, but check out all we have so far.

As I was saying, thank goodness they were so Zen like, because we got lost in transit. It was quite scary. We had ridden in Natasha’s suitcase ( since we heard some passengers might be afraid of mice….go figure!) Anyway, when we were found finally, it was time to go on Safari. This picture gives you an idea of just how big Africa is!

The Lion and the Mouse
A small mouse crept up to a sleeping lion. The mouse admired the lion's ears, his long whiskers and his great mane.
"Since he's sleeping," thought the mouse, "he'll never suspect I'm here!"
With that, the little mouse climbed up onto the lion's tail, ran across its back, slid down its leg and jumped off of its paw. The lion awoke and quickly caught the mouse between its claws.
"Please," said the mouse, "let me go and I'll come back and help you someday."
The lion laughed, "You are so small! How could ever help me?"
The lion laughed so hard he had to hold his belly! The mouse jumped to freedom and ran until she was far, far away.
The next day, two hunters came to the jungle. They went to the lion's lair. They set a huge rope snare. When the lion came home that night, he stepped into the trap.
He roared! He wept! But he couldn't pull himself free.
The mouse heard the lion's pitiful roar and came back to help him.
The mouse eyed the trap and noticed the one thick rope that held it together. She began nibbling and nibbling until the rope broke. The lion was able to shake off the other ropes that held him tight. He stood up free again!
The lion turned to the mouse and said, "Dear friend, I was foolish to ridicule you for being small. You helped me by saving my life after all!"
I just wanted to include this story in case you weren’t aware of it, Mrs. Jingles and I wanted to make sure the children knew about it and would not be frightened of Lions since they will be staying in Africa. Johnny ran across this lions back but he stayed asleep.

Native Americans believe that when certain animals come into your life they are there to teach you something. The GIRAFFE - is about grounded vision. The giraffe, the tallest of animals, may be as tall as 18 feet, with a neck as long as 7 feet. Ungainly as this animal may seem, its weight is well distributed, and it's vulnerable only when it bends down to drink water. Giraffe teaches us to view our lives in a way that is both grounded and expansive and that in our desire to evolve spiritually, we must always remember we are physical.

When I saw this I immediately thought of all our good friends back at home that work so hard to help by being supportive to others, yet maintain their individuality in the group setting.
The ZEBRA - teaches us the beauty in individuality. The zebra's distinctive stripes serves as a protective camouflage against predators, who are often unable to pick an individual out from the herd. For herd members, the stripe patterns, unique to each zebra, have the opposite effect of helping to identify individual zebras. This power animal thus helps us to both maintain our individuality in group settings and helps us to be supportive members of our communities. A third spiritual meaning for the stripes has to do with the integration of opposites, thus enabling us to see a deeper truth.

FUN FACTS
1.
Hippos were once thought to sweat blood. Actually, hippos secrete a pinkish colored oil that helps them keep their skin moist in the hot African climate.


2.
Hippos spend most of their days in the water or wallowing in the mud, generally coming up on land to feed at night.


3.
Hippos are efficient grazers - their lips are almost 70 cm. or about two feet wide!


4.
Baby hippos swim the moment they are born because they are born underwater. And female hippos will actually baby-sit a group of other female's babies.

We felt really small when we saw these guys! Of course they are the 3rd largest living land mammal on earth. The kids thought it was funny about how big their lips are, they were telling Njoki and Natasha,,,,,” Now that is a smile a mile wide! “

Here is our Njoki with a member of the Maasai. The Maasai (also Masai) are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well known of African ethnic groups.[3] They speak Maa,[3] a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer, and are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania: Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census[1] or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994[2] and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993[2] with a total estimated as "approaching 900,000"[3] Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, and their semi-nomadic nature.
Although the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, the people have continued their age-old customs.[4] Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands.[5] But while the Maasai run cattle farms, they invade the habitats of the endangered lions in Kenya. As of 2010[update], there are only about 2000 lions left in Kenya and at the rate the Maasai warriors kill them, the lions in Kenya will be gone within two years. ( from Wikipedia)

Stuart Little Reporting IN

Having said our farewells, we still had a little work to do before the party. A highlight of our career here was to finally meet our "big boss", and she was kind enough to let us help her, by being co-presenters for today's training for our co-workers. I mean really-can you believe such positive reinforcement for the work we do helping the coaches. We are really humbled, and frankly, overwhelmed. Thanks so much Dr. Kristin.

After training, we still had the farewell party - What food! What friends! What fun! Here are just a couple of pictures. Connie may add some more while we are gone.
See you again in mid-August!

Bon Voyage!

Today was the big day for our Farewell Potluck for Judi and Jimmy, saying a special thank you to some of those who have helped us so much, and packing up to head out with Njoki and Natasha.
Where do we begin - well, we started by a making a visit to our dear friend, Annette. If it hadn't been for the unfailing help she has given our co-workers with their computer problems, and the very clear and personal help she is always so ready to give them, we never would have figured out how to use the computer on our own. (We know - it's not nice to eavesdrop, but what's a mouse to do?)
Obviously, one of our first stops had to be at her cube, were she very generously pulled up a map to help us get an idea of where we would be going. Minneapolis, Detroit, London, Nairobi!

The next stop just had to be with Sylvia and Patty. You may remember that they are the pregnancy nurses who introduced me to my dear, Janet, saw her through her difficult pregnancy, and brought the twins into the world. They said it was a rather bittersweet farewell for them, as seeing the twins off to their new life in Kenya was a little bit like seeing their own kids grow up and leave home. We really know what they mean!
At the end of our workday today, we will leave with Natasha to finish our orientation for the big adventure. Saturday we will be off to - AFRICA!

And the BIG NEWS!

Well, that brings you up-to-date --- except for one more very important thing. Thanks to Hal and Cheryl, who spent 2 weeks in Kenya last year and have many contacts there, and to two of our co-workers, Njoki and Natasha, who will be escorting Jimmy and Judi to Africa, we have been able to make connections for them to go to the Kenya branch of the Mouseville University Research Institute of Genetics (MURIG) at Nairobi, rather than having to go all the way to Zimbabwe!

Njoki and Natasha have just "made our dreams come true" by offering, not only to escort Judi and Jimmy, but by inviting Janet and me to go along on the trip as well. Needless to say, we are "in 7th heaven" as our human friends would say.
AFRICA! Can you believe it!!
Janet and I, of course, will return with Njoki and Natasha to our work here, and will be looking forward to further outings and adventures with our friends at work, after our return mid-to-late August.

One more new friend

This trip introduced us to another animal, well bird really, that also has black and white coloring. That is our newest friend, Larry Loon. Aren't his colorings just "too much" --- meaning gorgeous! It certainly isn't hard to understand why his family is the Minnesota State Bird. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet his wife. She was tending the little ones, and he needed to get back, so we didn't have a long visit, though we did hear their beautiful duets many times during the evening.

Feeling Safer

This was really a wonderful experience, and though we thoroughly enjoyed being on the pontoon, and would have loved to have stayed for the whole week, we were a little apprehensive about our perch on the steering wheel. The water just seemed a little too close for comfort, so the whole family took up a spot with Hal's wife, Cheryl, and her friend, Ginny, as we did our cruise around Bass Lake near Annandale, MN.

Getting out of the dock.

Then we went out on Hal's pontoon, which holds up to 14 people, and he graciously let me help get the boat out of the dock and onto the lake, where he invited Janet (Mrs. Jingles) to help steer as well.

Helping Hal celebrate his 65th

The following day, July 11, we went along with Elsa to help her brother, Hal, celebrate his 65th birthday. WOW! Was that ever an unusual day for us!
First, of course, we had to help Hal with the candles on his cake, and sample the delicious crumbs and the berries and cream on top, and some of the other great foods, too.

Meeting Bunny and Bean

On Saturday, July 10, we visited at the home of Bunny (also known as Destructocon) and Bean (whose full name is Vanilla Bean). They were really great to us, and offered us our choice of their foods. We especially liked Bunny's (fresh carrots, alfalfa and a wonderful selection of grains.) Not to hurt Bean's feelings, we did sample her food, and even the curry her humans were serving, but Bunny's food was definitely our "food of choice" --- ummmm, ummm, good!
Their family, Jason (Elsa's grandson) and his girlfriend, Han, were very gracious hosts and told us about Bunny's heritage, and also about Bean's. Bunny is a Dwarf HoTot rabbit, and Bean is a 5-month old Samoyed. We felt especially comfortable with them and compared coats and other similarities, while being ever mindful that Bunny and Bean are considerably larger than we are, so caution is in order when on the floor together. Did you notice the black band of color around Bunny's eyes, and that Bean shares that same characteristic?

Catching Up With The Jingles Family

For those of you who haven't been on our blog recently, here's a quick update.

As many of you know, I came to the Lifestyle Coaching telephonic programs about March of 2009, at the behest of my "foster mom", Connie. Since then, I have become the unofficial mascot of the telephonic coaching programs. Two of the nurses introduced me to my bride, Janet, when they took me along on a trip east. December 24, 2009, we were joined by our twins, Jimmy and Judi, who will soon be leaving us for an adventure of their own.

Before their departure (for AFRICA) we are getting in as much family time as possible. One of our co-workers took us for our first family outing this past weekend, and we met some really fascinating friends.

The Jingles Family: Vilified no more

Well at long last our good name has been rectified after all this talk about troubles in our family with the children not growing,driving the car at too young of an age, Mrs Jingles being distracted and our family possibly being reported to Mouse Protective Services. My adoptive mother was telling these suspicions to one of the coaches and to her great credit she ( Elsa) did some investigating.
I am passing on her note to my adoptive mother:
Elsa wrote:
"I came home and did some "mouse" research last night, and am feeling very defensive on behalf of our dear friends, The Jingles. It would seem that we humans may be guilty of gross prejudice and bias based on what we do in our culture. Shame on us! We coaches, of all people, should be aware of cultural differences, as well as the possibility of genetic differences!

It was my thought to write a letter, from The Jingles, explaining the unusual circumstance of the diminutive size of their children (a genetic anomaly, because both of the Jingles, Sr., carry a recessive gene relating them to the African Pygmy Mouse who grows to be only 1.2 to 3.1 inches tall, etc.). Also, unknown to us, or even to Mr. Jingles himself, he had been born in a research lab and his beautiful white coat is attributable to the fact that he is what is known as a "knockout" in lab terms.

All on their own, these poor, dear friends of ours have discovered this, while having to hear the criticism, innuendos and inferences of possible misconduct from those of us who had originally befriended them, and still claim to be their friends.

Some of the things they shared with me, more related to differences in their culture, and growth patterns, are that their children were fully mature and ready to start their own families when they were only 50 days old! So, when you found the youngsters in the car, they were actually mature (though extremely small for their age) adults. They, as well as their parents, were aware of their small size, and soon discovered that they could not possibly drive the car, even though it had been their hope to reach the University of Mouseville Research lab to try to find answers for their small size.

Instead, when we were not at work, the parents had to try to find information by looking for a computer that had still been left open, and then as a team, manage the keys to send and receive messages to help them find both resources and answers for their plight.

All this time, they were in great fear that their children might be taken away from them by the very people they trusted most --- well meaning, but uninformed friends, Us!

Now that they have found the answers themselves, the children (now young adults) are anxious to move on with their lives, and both want to go away, permanently, to be a part of research studies that can help both their dwindling numbers of African Pygmy Mice in Southern Angola, Zimbabwe and the northern part of South Africa, and their human friends. They are asking for our help to get the young people to the University of Mouseville Research lab in Zimbabwe.

Also, because of the research they have done, the Jingles have decided that they will never have any more children. Sad as that makes them, the launching of their children into their own lives, will allow the Jingles to travel together, or separately again without criticism.

They do understand our concerns for their children, and harbor no hard feelings, though they were deeply hurt. They realize that we were all going through very strained times at work ourselves and just forgot to "think outside the box" where they were concerned. They are most grateful for the life we have given them, which may allow them to live twice their normal life expectancy of 2 years. By our generosity in providing a safe living environment for them, free of disease, and with ample amounts of food for them to forage, they have a good chance of living to be 4 years old, or perhaps even a little older. The children, too, by going to a research center will also have the advantage of a safe environment and the possibility of a longer life span.

So, all-in-all, we have a happy resolution to the problem that was troubling us, and we and our small friends can resume our "happy travels". Mr. and Mrs. Jingles are very much looking forward to attending Steph and Felix's party, and Mrs. Jingles is hoping that I will make her a new cocktail party dress --- if they are invited.

I hope this puts your mind at rest about the children. I admit, you had really caused me to question what was going on, but having worked with married students from the middle east, I had noted some significant cultural differences. Also, I had worked for Graff Auction company, and my boss, Judd, and his wife, Deann, had two beautiful little children, both of whom had been born deaf.

It turned out that both Judd and Deann had a genetic defect that caused the deafness. If they had married anyone other than who they did choose the resulting children would not have been deaf. Judd and Deann have dedicated great amounts of time, money, and other resources to furthering cochlear implants, and a school in St. Paul for children learning to talk and function with what they can hear with this wonderful scientific breakthrough.

I do hope this puts your fears to rest, and that we can all regain the joyful relationship we had with the Jingles. We had such a great trip to Wisconsin with both of them last year, and they still talk fondly of all the things they did with us, but most especially about the wonderful treats they were able to share from the breakfast --- and the humongous Cheese!

I think Spring Is Finally here

Hello,
It has been a long cold winter, kind of depressing too, since so many of my friends have left my company. Mrs. Jingles has been doing a lot of reading lately. I don't know how well she has really taken to parenting.She was reading Animal Farm to the kids, and some thought that was a bit too advanced for their little ears! So Elsa and Sue have been giving her alternate reading material.
The kids are ok, but not growing. Annette expressed concern over this and I think we are being investigated. I just hope MOUSE PROTECTIVE SERVICES doesn't get called in, but I think that is going to be Patty and Sylvia's call.
In the meantime, I am finally going to get to travel again. Amy was supposed to take me to Ireland and then went and forgot me and left me at home. I was bummed!
But Seth is taking me to Niagra Falls next week and I am so excited. Hope to have pictures posted soon of my trip.

More Trick or Treat Pics

These good people believe Laughter is great medicine and they dose themselves as often as possible!

Scary Stuff

So, its been a little busy around here with Mrs. Jingles and all, but I am finally getting around to posting some of my favorite people having fun on Halloween.
It was a lot of fun around here on Halloween.

This Fish swam away

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Our favorite fish ( Carl) was caught by another company. We miss him but wish him well in his new endeavors.

We Are Proud to Announce

Hi,
Janet and Jerry Jingles are proud to announce the arrival of our twins Jimmy and Judi.
They arrived on Christmas Eve and thanks to our Nurse Patty all went really well. I don't know what we would have done without our great pregnancy advisors, it was a loooong , extremely difficult pregnancy. Janet was in bed the last several months and I was just really at loose ends.
Jimmy takes after me in looks and Judi is the spitting image of her Mother.
I may be just a bit prejudiced but I think these are the cutest kids ever don't you?

Hello From the Green Mile

Happy New Year to all,
2009 was quite a year as you will see in my next post. As you recall I got married to Janet, that was the happy news, the sad news was that many of my favorite people have moved on to other career opportunities and they are missed.
Janet didn't know much about the Green Mile and the evil Percy, so I had to don my correctional officer uniform and show her I wasn't afraid of Percy! ( Well maybe I am a little afraid) Look how big he is!