Six days and counting...

Well, in six days I will have reached another milestone in my life. No, I haven't beaten cancer (or found a cure for it either), nor am I flying in a shuttle to outer space (dang it!). On March 18th, I will be turning the big 3-0. I assume it's somewhat obligatory to make a list of all the things you love about your life and the things you feel you're lacking..things you feel you should have accomplished when you hit 30. I don't think I'm going to do that. I honestly feel that although my life may not be what I thought it would be when I was 20, I feel I can't really complain. I suppose I wouldn't mind having a newer car--I dunno..I guess driving a 1993 Honda Accord with 183, 600+ miles on it and a big dent and rust eating away on your fender isn't really sexy. But, then again, it runs (more often than not), so then I feel lucky to have it.


My family is lovely. My dad and stepmom, my mother, my brother and sister-in-law are all wonderful. (I must say that the fact my mother has not been on speaking terms with my brother for four months breaks my heart a little more each day, but I try not to think about it too much. I try to keep the faith that one day she'll come around...) And as far as in-laws go, I couldn't have hand picked better parents-in-law if I tried. :o)


I feel that I'm blessed to have my husband Floyd in my life. I knew there was something special about him the moment we locked eyes with each other. Yes, we had a "moment" when we met. That mushy, unreal, love-at-first sight, only-in-Hollywood moment where our eyes met and in that instant, I felt my heart skip. Since then, I knew he was the one for me. As I got to know him, not only did I realize that he's funny and smart as hell, but he always--well, he just makes me feel good. Simple as that. And when we had Chloe, holy crap. Everything changed. My love for him tripled. He is flawlessly amazing at being her daddy. She is the light of our lives and we truly can't remember a time without her. From her enormous blue eyes with insanely long eyelashes, to her loud, hilarious laughter, to how sweetly peaceful she is when she slumbers, Chloe makes our happy family complete.

So when I think about my family..my parents and in-laws, brother and sister-in-law, and the loves of my life, Floyd and Chloe, I find it silly to think about making that obligatory "Dammit, I'm turning thirty!" list. Do I have regrets or things I would've liked to have done by the time I turn thirty years old?? Sure. But with those people in my life, I couldn't care less if I haven't climbed Mount Everest or gone scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Besides, I have to have some items for my "Dammit, I'm turning forty!" list in ten years... :o)

My daughter looks like Fred Sanford

Lemme explain..I don't mean that my sweet little 14 month old resembles Red Foxx at all. But sometimes, when she's stumbling around with her hands behind her back and her stomach puffed out, Chloe reminds me of Fred Sanford. It cracks me up. I feel sometimes that at any given moment, she's going to clutch her hand over her chest and exclaim, "Oooohh! This is the big one!! You hear that, Elizabeth?? I'm coming home, honey!!"

Now that would be odd.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..in March?!?!

Yes..I am appalled at that title as well. Here it is..the start of a warm, beautifully sunny weekend. Spring fever is definitely taking over my mind and body. But what did I notice in the streets of Sunnyland and East Peoria last night after my husband and I dropped off Chloe for the night at Grandma and Grandpa's? Snowflakes and Christmas trees lining the streets on the lamp posts. Whaaaa?!?!?! There are still Christmas decorations hanging up?? In March?! Why? I mean I understand how East Peorians are a proud people, with Folepi and the magnificent floats and exciting lights that decorate the city during the holiday season. I know I always enjoy seeing a city so lit up, it would make Las Vegas blush, but jeezy creezy, man..spring is only a couple of weeks away. We're rapidly approaching our third holiday since Christmastime. I think it's time to move on. No wonder we're still getting snow every three days. Poor Mother Nature is confused when she sees holiday decorations still up.


Hmmm...perhaps it's finally time for me to put away my holiday floormat with the penguin holding candy canes...

Attention men: Leave your eyebrows alone!!!!

I must admit..I do have a few pet peeves--approximately 1,638 pet peeves the last time I counted. It cracks me up because my hubby definitely knows my top ten list.


Floyd was telling me that the Cubs Caravan was today, which took place at the Riverplex. He told me that Ryne Sandberg was there, as well as Ted Lilly and Geovany Soto. Then he told me in a lowered, gossipy voice, "And Geovany Soto plucks his eyebrows!!!"


"WhaAAAaaatT?!?" I exclaimed. "Ugh, I hate that!"


I'm sorry. I just can't stand to see men with perfectly shaped womanly eyebrows. A guy could be drop dead gorgeous and I wouldn't have the foggiest idea, because I would be staring at those damned plucked eyebrows on his face.


Now, don't get me wrong..I'm not exactly advocating a unibrow either. Although, Bert from "Sesame Street" did say, "Never underestimate the power of the unibrow." I think if you men prefer having two eyebrows instead of one, that's alright. Just clean up the hairs that connect your eyebrows and maybe a couple of stray hairs underneath. I don't need men walking around with some crazy, perfectly arched Joan Crawford eyebrows yelling at me, "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!" (I'm sorry to digress a bit..)

So, men, unless you're the 14th reincarnation of Menudo, please..for the love of God, put down the tweezers. Step away from the eyebrow wax. Show some respect for yourself and think about the children. You don't have to go overboard with your metrosexuality. I know it's hard to differentiate between simple grooming and looking absolutely effeminate...especially when there's famous athletes out there with overplucked brows also. (I'm talking to you, Rex Grossman, Pudge Rodriguez, and Michael Strahan!(to name a few) Most women just appreciate it when their guys shave occasionally and shower every once and a while. And when they give them flowers. :o)

Sometimes I wonder about myself

I'm usually an averagely smart woman...I have a decent amount of common sense. I know to look both ways before crossing the street..I'm aware that if I'm on fire, I need to stop, drop, and roll. The other day I did something that made me shake my head in disbelief.

While looking in the kitchen for a snack for Floyd and myself, I noticed we had a can of crescent rolls and four hot dogs. Floyd suggested, "How 'bout making some pigs in a blanket?" I thought that sounded tasty, but never made them before. He told me it's easy--just slice the dogs in half, roll 'em in the crescent roll, and place the cookie sheet in the oven. Simple, right? Hahaha..not when you're Just Jenny.

I began slicing the hot dogs in half, like I was instructed, but as I was finishing slicing the fourth and final hot dog, I noticed that I had sliced them in half the long way, as if they were pickles from Steak 'n Shake. Don't ask me why. I never claimed to be Chef Kevin, but I thought I could at least pull off friggin' pigs in a blanket with ease.

Never one to be defeated, especially not by a bunch of cold, lifeless frankfurters, I said, "F**k it" and sliced them the correct way. I rolled them up, slid them into the oven, and before we knew it, we had some golden brown, deformed, greasy and slightly doughy on the inside pigs in a blanket in which to feast upon. Sigh...

If anyone needs to cater a party, Just Jenny is available...very available. Probably at a very low cost. :(

Christmas is only one month away...

Damn. That's crazy.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Aaaah, I love days off, especially since I hardly find any joy in my job, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be than with my family. I feel that a day off is a wonderful time to relax, enjoy some time to yourself, sleep in, perhaps gets some errands done and tidy up a little bit around the house, taking care of the clutter that accumulates throughout the week. Since Floyd is involved with the mock elections at WIU, which is taking place every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next couple of weeks, I get to stay home those days to watch Chloe. So here it is, 7:37 pm on a Thursday night, with the hubby at school and the kid FINALLY taking a long overdue nap, which is a plesant change from her crying jag from a half hour ago. The apartment is quiet, albeit the incessant buzzing coming from the computer. I realize I have time on my hands in which I can accomplish many things while I'm free. I begin to weigh my options..here are some possibilities:

~I could put away the baby's clean laundry which has been sitting in the basket since Sunday night
~ I could work on a couple of scrapbooking pages which I haven't done in probably a month
~ I could clean up the dirty dishes while there's only a few, instead of letting the stack grow higher and higher
~ I could stop being a lazy bum and hop into the shower and get out of the pj's I've been wearing since last night

I had all day to do this, and more. I always create these lofty goals for myself as my days off are approaching. 'I'm going to clean every room in the apartment top to bottom..I'm going to do twelve loads of laundry..' And honestly, what did I do today? Not a damn thing. Like I said, I'm still in my pj's. It so easy to squander time and be a lazy bum. But I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to get up and do something, while the night is still young and my place is still quiet. I'm gonna to pick up the living room. I'm going to go to the kitchen to tackle those dishes and...oooohh..I forgot we have turtle cheesecake. I think I'll have a quick slice and check out those magazines we got in the mail today. But after that, THEN I'll start cleaning...