Thankful Giving Blogger Roundup Giveaway!

I am honored to say that I have teamed up with some of the best bloggers out there to give back to our readers with this awesome GIVEAWAY! We wanted to give back to all of our wonderful readers with the Thankful Giving Blogger Roundup Giveaway. We want all of you to know how important you are to us. Without our readers and fans, we wouldn't have an audience. Without an audience, our writing would be in vain (**dramatically places palm on forehead***).  

Being November, we decided to give back to all of you and the best way we know how is a GIVEAWAY!!!

There are 4 amazing prizes for 1 of our awesome readers. All you have to do is follow the Rafflecopter at the bottom, cross your fingers, and wait for the winner to be announced on November 12, 2012.

What are the prizes? Well I am so glad you asked!!!

With the holiday season approaching quickly, we thought you guys could use some cash. Yes, you read that right. CASH!!! $200 in cash sent via PayPal. But that isn't it! We are also including a signed copy of an AWESOME brand spanking new cookbook (Carrie's Experimental Kitchen: A Collection of Mediterranean-Inspired Family Meals) that won't even hit Amazon or Barnes & Nobles until December!!! We thought you may need a new apron for this year's festivities, so the winner will receive an embroidered apron. You don't cook? Perfect. You can re-gift this apron to someone who does. Last but not least, the winner will receive a surprise gift! How exciting!!!!

Now that you know what the prizes are,or most of them, what are you waiting for??? 

Oh, and before we forget.....THANK YOU!!!

ENTER TO WIN BELOW! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

White Trash Bunco!

Hubby calls it "Drunko" not Bunco

You wanted it, you got it!!

A week ago or so, it was my turn to host our Bunco group.  Don't know, Bunco?  Please click on the highlighted area.

How do I define Bunco??  First it's a dice game with a standard group of 12 women, committed to meet once a month to play (along with a planned sub list).

Each month one member of the group hosts & then we switch off.

How do I see our Bunco night??

It's our monthly girlie night out!
We eat, we have a few cocktails and we laugh out butts off for a few hours.  For the $12 cost to play - we have a full on great time AND you can win cashola!  Can you get that anywhere else???  Um, nope...

Bitches from da hood :)

Sometimes we have themes...
That's where the White Trash comes into play.  This was my month & my theme.  I'd post more pictures, but not everyone wanted their pic up.  Just in case anyone becomes offended, I only went by what Google told me was "white trash" - I do not define people on any level or use that term.  (yes, that's a disclaimer)

The first thing I needed to do, even before decorating and getting dressed - I needed to figure out what I'd wear, if I had anything or if I had to shop.  Luckily, in browsing the internet, it's really an anything goes type of gig.  One man's ceiling is another man's floor....  Leopard was mentioned many times, as were overalls, house coats, curlers, cig hanging out of your mouth, lots of blue eye shadow, blush & red lip stick.  As you may notice in the title picture, I had the eye shadow & lipstick covered.  Ok, truth - I went to Shop Rite and picked up those Halloween face painting crayons & also blacked out a tooth.  If you're going for the blacked out tooth look - don't use this stuff.  Not only does the waxy black crayony crap annoy the heck out of you in your mouth, it doesn't stay on.  Nor does the rest of the stuff.  Oh well...

I chose to use a leopard cami, leggins (ala Peg Bundy) and cut down one of my hubby's old t-shirts and used a sharpie to misspell "Sexy Bioch"  Also tacky boots which I had from another costume (yes, the shoe whore that I am actually purchased tacky boots for a costume)  Dollar store flashy earrings & darkened roots.  Ok - I'll come clean - the roots may be mine.  Oh, and lots of stick on tattoos!!!  I even had a "tattoo station" set up by the booze.

Decor...  Pfft... if you're going to do this - nothing says plain or simple louder.
The only thing I really did was put brown paper bags around things. Chinese take out containers, with rolled crumpled paper bags around them to hold chips, dip & candies for the tables.  A paper plate to hold a roll of crackers & a can of cheese whiz, chips - still in their bag thrown on tables.  I also went around the internet to get some pix of my kin.  This was one of the many pix I had around.  You can really come up with some disturbing stuff, and yes - I did!

I had signs taped to doors and walls pointing to where the toilet is.  My signs said "toilet this way" & instructions how to use it.  An after thought for anyone doing this - cross out "toilet" and write "shitter."  (Thank you, Carole!)

I had quite a bit of fun looking for stuff... the more I Google'd White Trash Bunco, the more stuff that came up.

OK, OK...I'll get on with it.  One of the things that killed me the most when I was looking for ideas is the time factor & just finding what I wanted and moving along...

Hors d'oeuvres:  Fritos - in bag or in paper bags on tables, rolls of crackers on paper plates with Cheeze Whiz (but only at the winner's table), pretzel nuggets
Cocktails:  Wine bottles put into brown paper bags, shaped to the bottle with Red Swill, White Swill or The Pink Shit written on bottle.  Drink of the night, Mud Slides.  Paper or Plastic cups.
Dessert:  Dirt Cake (recipe below), Twinkies in their packages on paper plate & cookies in package
Decor:  The simpler the better.  Bed sheets as table cloths.  McDonald's napkins (if you can get them), signs for everything everywhere.  Cheezy, tacky family photos.  Spell things wrong, X out people's faces.  For example in the photo above, I had written - "My Baby Boy" with an X through the girl's face & "The HO" written.  Just silly stuff.

You sneakin' from my still again, Trish?

Browse the internet & have FUN!!

If nothing is broken or spilled, it's not a party & there will be some drunken biotch looking to start a fight :)

Kidding of course - we had a great time with this & I hope if you ever try this you will too!!!

Have a great weekend!!

~Jenn

Dirt / Ashtray Cake:

Boxed Chocolate or white cake.  Bake per directions.  I split into 2 square cake pans - sent one off with my hubby & kids & kept the other for the ladies (because no one really eats the dessert anyway).  After the cake cools - spread on vanilla & chocolate snack pack pudding.  Crumble Oreo cookies and sprinkle over top.  If you can find them (I couldn't) get candy cigarettes & make it look like an ash tray with the cigarettes snuffed out in them.

All in the orchard...

Ahhh apple picking....

What great fun it is; traveling through the orchards, climbing trees, tasting all the apples & getting as many as you can of those yummy little delights.  Mommy hauling the big 'ol bag as the kiddies keep loading it up.


Our experience was fun.  Myself and three other of my mommy friends along with a gaggle of girls, ages ranging from 6 to 11.  They ran, they played, they climbed.  They sought out the apples at the highest branches. The fattest, the smallest, the tastiest....Hanging upside down from branches and swinging like monkeys.  Smiles abound.

Oooh look, dead possum, or is it? Hmmm - let's not check & let's go pick from that tree over there.

Honestly - we had a blast.  All 16 of us.  Yes - 16.


Going apple picking with kids over the age of 5 is actually fun.  They can run ahead, but know not to go too far.  They recognize to NOT poke the dead thing or even walk to closely near it.  They don't want to pet it, or try to feed it, or eat the apples on the ground near it or anywhere else on the ground.  They may let out a girlie squeal of Grosssssssssss, but I get that.

While we were having fun walking along, laughing and having adult conversation - watching the girlies climb and giggle - I took note to the clearly new parents.



Please don't think of this as a put down in any way, rather view this as advice from the been there, done that club.

Mommies of infants...  Your infant child does NOT want to pick apples, nor will they remember the experience.  While it's cute to tow them around in their little strollers or papoose, you handing them an apple for the first picture of them apple picking does absolutely nothing for them.

Let me ask you something... How's changing that mighty poop diaper in the middle of an apple orchard?

Oh, or better yet - pushing that big heavy stroller and all the baby accoutrements up that muddy gravel hill, slipping and sliding on rotten apples??  Not nearly as much fun as you were hoping, was it?

No judgement - been there, done that.

Your toddlers??
Listen, I love kids - I thoroughly enjoyed watching other people's toddlers run and play and have a great time.  The giggling & the laughter are truly heart warming.

At the same time, I felt incredibly sorry for the mom running after the little 2 year old who'd just slipped in apple slime and whoops.... just missed falling on the dead thing.  Yeah, the dead thing came into play quite a bit.

It's OK - dad had full control over the bag of apples.  Carry on.

I could see the mom's face filling with angst as the moments went on.  This was NOT the day she played out in her head before they left the house for the day.  Yes, it was an AWESOME idea to take Johnny's wagon. You didn't really think he was going to sit in it.  Did you?


Again, been there - done that.

I can remember those days.  Very well, actually.  The times you plan out and can't wait to share with your children.  I'm here to tell you as an older momma, from the been there done that club - wait on that little outing. Unless you have a full team of grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends along with your toddler - it may not actually play out like it does in your head. Go to the park instead.  Trust me.  You'll thank me later.

But hey, if you decide go give it a go anyway... don't say I didn't warn you!  Good Luck and have fun!

May I suggest one of our orchards up here?? There's a winery right across the highway.  It may come in handy.  Just sayin....

Have a fabulous day!

Thank you for reading my blog!

~Jenn

Making it a good day!

Part 2 of 3

Yesterday, prior to replacing my post with the "Who are YOU?" challenge, I had something completely different up.

It is true, I have been in a funk BUT that "Who are you?" challenge gave me a new perspective.  I read others and I wrote my own.  I also sat down and read many other blogs of people, like me, who have lived through the crap and made their way back to the sunshine.

No one promised me a rose garden.
If I want a rose garden, I need to plant my own.  That's what it really comes down to.  Yes, I could look for that someone else who will plant it for me, but that won't do any good.  It wouldn't be my garden.  It would be someone else's idea of what my garden should be.

I have an amazing husband.  He's my friend, my love, my partner.  He didn't give me my rose garden - though he would in a second.  It's not his job.  It's my job to plant my own rose garden then find the people in my life, like my husband, who will enhance it.  To find the good that's already in my life to nurture it.

There will always be weeds.  Some weeds are harder to see because they infiltrate themselves so well into your garden.   Sometimes those weeds look like flowers, and then you notice that they're choking back the beauty of your garden.  It's up to you to get rid of those weeds or at very least - trim them back so that they don't ruin the beauty.  They may be beautiful in a different area.

I've been really hung up for YEARS on what I've lost.

The loss is easier to see when it keeps kicking you down over and over again.  It's kicked me so many times and hurt my heart for so long that the really good stuff fell through the cracks.  The friends who've beat cancer and are still here.  The fact that I have regained my own health.  My husband getting hit by a car & doing more damage to the car.  My amazing son, who was such a challenge in his youth, now serving our country and making me so incredibly proud.  My beautiful daughter who makes me more proud every single day and the hope that our little chickadee may actually be ours.  This is the good stuff.

The stuff that should shine so much more brightly than the crap.  The stuff that I need to focus on when there are down days, overshadowed by the ick.

I will re-run the "ick" post again, but not because I'm feeling it.  It will be for those times, every once in a while, when the ick comes in.  We all need to be reminded that the ick is not real.  The ick is just trying to drag us all down.

The rain will fall, but the sun will shine.  Both are needed for your garden to flourish.

Life does hurt sometimes.  People will hurt you, but people will also love you.

Life may be crappy sometimes, but life is also good - really, really good!

Go make it a GOOD day!

Lots of love for a happy weekend!!

~Jenn

The Rain:

THE day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
  And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
  And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
  Some days must be dark and dreary.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Part 1:  Who are YOU?

Who are YOU?

My bloggie friend over at You Know it Happens at Your House Too issued a challenge yesterday.

Not just for women, for everyone...  to remind us of who we are, to ourselves.

Often in life, in the day to day monotony - we lose ourselves.  To our jobs, to our families, to our schedules.  We forget who we are...

Set a timer for five minutes and write. Write using the prompt I AM ______________________. Don't edit, don't proofread, don't change it. You are not required to share it with anyone, even though I hope you do, but keep it close by so that on those days when you are feeling really horrible about yourself (we all know that we have those days), you can look back and remember all the things that make you wonderful."

Here's who I am....

I am Jenn

I am a mom, a wife, a sister and a friend.
I am me.
I am someone who cares, deeply.
I am very, sometimes overly, emotional.
My kids & husband have me totally wrapped.
I hate to admit that.
I love with all I have inside of me.
If I say I love you, be assured that I mean it.
If I've stopped loving you - it's your fault.
I don't just stop loving people.
There are very few people I've stopped loving.
I can only name 2.
I'm fun.
I like to laugh & be silly.  Often!
I don't need to be the prettiest or have the most stuff.
None of that means anything to me.
I do like to look pretty & feel good about myself.
On my terms.
I don't keep up with the Jones'.
I don't want to.
I'm good with what I've got, because I've earned it.
I'd give it all to you if you needed it.
I miss a lot.
I'm book smart.
I sometimes lack common sense.
I used to be a technology geek.
Now I ask my 10 year old daughter for help.
That makes me laugh daily.
I'm loyal - probably too much so.
I'm a survivor.
I've been through quite a bit of CRAP in my life.
I've been dealt some crappy hands.
I've often made bad decisions and created my own problems.
I never bitched - I just dealt with it.
I am stronger for that.
I am tough, at least on the outside.
If I'm hurt, I'll hide it.
I don't fold - I persevere.
I sometimes need to rely on someone else when it becomes too much.
My filter is usually jammed opened.
I don't know when to back down or shut up.
I generally get what I want.
I am secure with the person I am.
I enjoy taking care of others.
If I haven't seen you in 10, 20, 30 years & you need me -
I'll be there for you.
I like to be taken care of.
I can handle being alone.
I enjoy being with my friends and family.
I am blessed.
Every single day, I know that there IS a God who loves me.
I believe this.
You don't have to,
but that makes me feel sad for you.
I won't cram it down your throat.
I'm not always the best example.
I'm a total mess.
But I still feel good about the person I am.
I am a strong, successful, happy, beautiful mess.
I am me.


Who are YOU??


I challenge each and every one of you magnificent individuals to do this for yourself.

Thank you to Tara at You Know it Happens at Your House Too & Craughing for putting this out there.

Tell me, WHO ARE YOU??

I love you all!

Big Smoochies

~Jenn

(Afterthought....  I'm such a loser.  :)  I messed up & didn't follow the instructions.  AT ALL, because I AM IMPULSIVE (should have put that at the top)  I have a bad habit of not reading things through properly & just going.  I totally overlooked the instructions.  I wrote, re-wrote, proof read - twice & still messed up, deleted things & it took me way longer than 5 minutes to think of who I am.  I sorry.  :(  I can't go back & do it right...
but you can! I'd love to see your stuff!  Thanks for letting me be real :)  xxoo)

Part 1 of 3

Part 2:  Making it a good day
Part 3:  Today I release you

Don't pee on my leg & tell me it's raining....

Not the most lady like approach to a blog title, I know...



I credit my sales manager (and Judge Judy) for that phrase, because it really sums things up nicely sometimes when you really want to say,
"Cut the BS already, will ya!"

I've been relating to this quite a bit over the past year or so while watching the things that go on around me.

Personally, I'm the type that calls 'em like I see 'em.
I don't candy coat it & I don't tip toe around it.  If I have something to say, I say it.  If I can't say it in a conversation - it goes in an email, but I say it.

While I've had some realities come to light in my own life - it's the eye opening events in the lives of others that make me feel sad.  Especially when it's a person who can't care for them self.

Even as a grown woman - I can tend to be easily manipulated.  I am incredibly smart in some ways, but in others - totally and completely naive.  Especially when it comes to emotions and affairs of the heart.  I want to believe that everyone is as honest and forthcoming as I am.

I like to believe that people are who they say they are - and I'm an adult.  The little people - they only see the pretty colors & want to believe it's all sunshine and rainbows.  They miss the stuff under the surface.  The stuff that rips them down.

Most of us know that "affairs of the heart" aren't limited to romantic relationships.  It extends to our children, our friends, our family, even our pets or jobs - any person or thing that evokes emotion.

Three words I take very seriously in my life....

I   LOVE   YOU

If I don't feel it, if I don't mean it, I don't say it.

These words can reduce a heart of ice to a mere puddle.

These three words can also be the biggest manipulation tool on the planet.

Over and over I've seen (and felt) the manipulation of the words.

Look me into my eyes, sweet love, with that big beautiful smile 

and tell me how much you love me.

...and the in the next second tell me how very bad and insignificant I am.

Please allow me do some more back flips to show you how much you are loved while you stick your foot out to trip me.

...but you love me.

It hurts my heart to see someone that I care about being, metaphorically, kicked in the face over and over again while just trying to love and be loved.

All while hearing the words... "but I love you."

Such an easy tool this love is.
So powerful a sword to take down another with so little effort.  How easily it's wielded against someone who's so seemingly intelligent and stable.
Or someone who is, just a child.

Personally, I'd rather feel real rain on my back and know that it's true, than well.... ya know....


Thank you for reading my blog!

~Jenn

Saga of a hormonal 10 year old....

And we're off...

One of the moments that daddy has been dreading since he learned he would be the father of a little girl.  The day when his "baby girl" officially turned on him in a hormonal outburst.  The day when his normal correction of her homework turned into a 25 minute crying event because he "hurt her feelings."

I have to be honest.  I'm giggling a bit as I type this.  I knew this day was coming.  I deal with it on a regular basis.  Yesterday the inability to get a snack from the vending machine drove her to tears.   Of course, I'm also female - so I get the whole hormonal explosion bit.  Daddy, yeah - not so much.

Now Momma's the hero.
Headed to "baby girl's" room, I'm met by her flood of tears.  Armed only with a box of tissues and many years of experience, I calmly try to explain what's (really) going on...

"Honey, do you know how sometimes mommy gets REALLY angry over something really little and you wonder why I got so mad over something so dumb?  Well that's kind of what's going on with your little body right now.  Is having an incorrect answer on homework really a crying event?"

More tears, full on sobbing - snotty nose, red face - the works.  Now she's gasping for air.

Oh for the love of monkeys, I've really done it now.  So I break the ice in a silly way (that would actually work for mom).

"Can I get you a glass of wine & box of chocolates?"

OK - break through.  She's giggling.  No, of course I didn't give her wine OR my chocolates.  Sheesh, that's MY emergency chocolate.  She's 10 - she'll have to figure that stuff out on her own!

Finally she becomes calm.
I explain to her that her little body (and mind) are going to react in ridiculous ways to the stupidest stuff.  She'll be laughing one minute & then crying like the dog died the next.  No, we don't have a dog, but she got the point.

She seems fine now.  She cried it out for a while, but she finally emerged from the bedroom, still pissed off at dad.  Poor Daddy, he's just not one of us.

Maybe he should start drinking now.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Smoochies,

~Jenn

May to September Romance…

The memories alone could evoke butterflies and make your heart skip a beat.

While walking through the campground with my daughter on our last vacation hurrah of the summer – my mind drifted back to my very first May to September “romance.”

It was the summer before my 13th birthday.
I was with my grandparents for the summer and staying at a campground in Myrtle Beach, SC.  I remember it clearly, because it was also the year I was stung by a Portuguese Man-O-War.  I remember, not only because that little stint almost killed me – but because it was the first time I met a boy on vacation.

Random pic from internet.

I can’t even remember his name, all I can truly remember is the blond hair blue eyed boy who made sure I got home from the pool safely every day, even though it was only thirty feet away from the unit where I was staying.  

At 13, the last place I wanted to be was stuck with my grandparents all the time.  Of course I loved them, but I was a blossoming young woman.  I wanted to meet friends.

I didn’t meet girls at first.  There were boys everywhere.  I was less than thrilled.  That was, until I turned the corner & crashed heads with the cutest blond hair, blue eyed boy I’d ever seen at the time.  I was knocked off my feet by the crash, sent to the ground on my butt.

After he shook out the stars he was seeing, he rushed to help me up & made sure I was OK.  He was so sweet.  He helped me up & then held onto my arm and walked me back to our unit – taking me in and letting my grandmother know I needed an ice pack and maybe a nap.  I can still remember how endearing that was to me.  How much I loved that this cute young boy wanted to take care of me – to be sure I was OK.  My grandparents, being proper, were none too thrilled that my first friend was a boy.

We walked to the pool and playground together every day.  He even helped me to watch my brothers.  When I wasn’t expecting it, he held my hand.

That set the precedent every boy after had to meet up to and perhaps also instilled in me, my love of RV camping.

I'm not completely sure this qualifies as an actual summer romance, but it does certainly bring back to mind those May to September days.  The days that country singers sing of.  Summer romances that set your heart afire.  No rules, no schedules – just summer fun.

Until September, when summer ends and everyone goes home...

With hearts and minds full of new memories that make you smile, maybe gasp for a small bit of air as your heart skips a beat.

The "romances" that are only meant to last a few months -  so you get a small taste of what real love is actually like.

Breath taking…

Smoochies,

~Jenn

Paying it forward....

You may call me a do-gooder...I've been called worse, and believe me - I'm not always fabulous, nor am I always a do-gooder.

The fact is that people have been kind to me in this life, and that makes me happy.

I've had my share of crap on a plate and I didn't like it much when I was forced to eat it.

Luckily, there always seemed to be a kind soul reaching out to help me - in real life and in this blog-isphere.

For this reason, I find it important to pay it forward. To do something of equal or greater importance for someone else, no matter who it is.  No matter why.

Most times it's easy to do something nice for a stranger.  You don't know them, they don't know you - it's all good.  How is it trying to pay it forward to someone close to you?
Eh, eh, eh - easy there.... I'm not done.  Not just someone close to you - but someone close to you who's done you wrong...

Hmmmm - that's a whole new ball game, isn't it?

It's a ball game that has recently been placed in my lap.  Yes - I love to help out my fellow page folk on Facebook.  I love to help kids who need help, my friends, my family - whoever needs it.  I'd do most anything for anyone - EXCEPT for the person who tore me to shreds.

I call it lessons learned.

Recently my son has given me some stuff to think about.  Hmmm - go figure that my darling offspring wants to do good like his momma, and in his eyes for his momma.

This is how it feels to me.
(unbeknownst to my son)

Ya know that stuff that you think that you've long buried back behind the garage when no one was looking??  THAT stuff - the family stuff.  Stuff that's been happily left behind.  Stuff that my darling dearest child doesn't like buried.
Stuff he wants to fix.

Ohhhh to be young and un-jaded.
I remember those rose colored glasses.  They fit nicely.  Life was beautiful all the time.  (and I'd be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats...)  Family loved and supported each other and no one tries to hurt each other.  Sounds nice, doesn't it?

I can't blame my son for wanting the Beaver Cleaver family.  He doesn't know some of the stuff that went on. The stuff I've sheltered him from.  I've done my best to raise him up in a way that would make my dad proud and try to create the little peace, love and tie dye world that my daddy wanted me to see.
I hid the drama from him.  I supported him, helped him to grow & deal with the crap that got thrown at him - while sheltering him from the crap.

I then gave him the tools to become a strong minded individual.

Now, my strong minded individual is bringing it back to me.

I understand it - completely and totally and it scares the ever living crap out of me.  Why??  Dejavu....  It's me 20+ years ago - wanting to bring the family back together.  To get everyone to love each other again.  Kiss, kiss, hug, hug....  Let's just say it didn't work out so well.


It IS much easier to pay it forward to those you don't know as well.  To those people who may be absolutely amazing individuals in real life - or total dogs.  I don't know.  I don't need to know.

All I really know is that in this little blog-isphere, you're good to me -

I'm good to you.  If I like you / love you, I'll do all I can for you.  No drama - just good feelings.  Just happy.

Because I do, genuinely in this little blog-isphere and in real life, want the very best for everyone. You bet I'll keep paying it forward!!


Thank you for reading around & hopefully through this to get where I was going with this.

If not, thank you for reading anyway :)

Big smoochies!!

~Jenn

The Liebster Award... The Peace, Love & Tie Dye of Love Awards

Holy Guacamole!!  Check me out, rockin’ the awards this week!!

OK, OK, I awarded myself with the WTF award over at Fire & Rabbits, but yayyyy – this one is real!!

Well, it’s sort of real.

All kidding aside, I am incredibly honored to receive and accept this award from The Plucky Procrastinator.   ‘Real’ award or not, it is a huge honor to be acknowledged among my blogging peers

 “Plucky” is another blogger whom I gravitated to.  In reading her blogs I immediately picked up on how many of the same struggles we share and have come out of, even better, on the other side.  So smoochies & thank you.

I love blogging.  I love this blogging community and I’m so happy to meet new folks & share the ones who have touched me in some way.  So again, thank you.

As with any prestigious honor, there are some guidelines to follow…  So I’ll do my best to actually follow them.

How the Liebster Blog Award works:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.  
3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5  blogs who you feel deserve to be noticed.
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.
6. Go to your front window…  Now FLASH for beads!!

Whoops, never mind  - this isn’t Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  I get so confused sometimes…

Now, onto the new recipients!   I can hardly wait.

I can never, ever, ever pick just 5 – so I want you to know this is REALLY hard for me.

Please no one get mad at me or feel slighted, because if you thought for a half a second I have over looked you… check my page, you may have been pimped in one way or another at some point in time.  If not, give me a holler.

My goal here is to present this award to someone I like to read.  Someone who I feel that I have not given proper attention to lately & someone I think deserving of readership.  Or I just love them.  I think you may like to check them out too if you haven't already. 

1.  I am Forgiven and Loved and FarFrom Perfect  This is my IRLF Heather.  She’s new to the blogisphere & is a great writer.  Everyone has stuff that touches someone else & in turn helps another.  I’m confident that her writing is meant to connect with another.  I love Heather & feel she's deserving of this award.  xxoo

2. FireandRabbits  I know Cass has already received this award this week, but my GOSH – I love this girl!  She’s an amazing and strong spirit with a kick ass little blog!  I know I’m putting pressure on her to reward new folks – but we’ll let her off the hook with just an acceptance speech.  In Pig Latin … In a unicorn costume.  xxoo

3. B(itch)Log  Heather just cracks me up!  I read her stuff & she’s real and in your face.  It’s almost as if she were a Jersey girl.  :)  Warms my heart. 

4. What I Really Meant to Say  Not just because she’s another Jenn, or that she refers to herself as Just Jenn, or even that she’s a 2-n’er like me, but because she’s real!  I love her blog and I’m not sure I’ve given her proper love lately.  So from one Jenn to another…  Rock it chick!

5.  A.D.D. Music Mamma  Cyn has an “unconventional” blog.  She doesn’t write about “stuff” she writes about music.  Because I am also very music driven, some days her posts get me through a really crappy part of the day & I totally appreciate that.  Honestly, anyone who can turn my hormonal moods from "kill someone" to "spread the love" deserves an award!  My husband may clean out the guest room for her.  She’s spinnin’ the tunes all day long & she takes requests!  I request you visit her.

So these are my very special and wonderful award recipients.  I hope you love them as much as I do!  These folks are also on Facebook, if you're interested.

I'd like to hang out longer, but I tripped up the stairs getting my award...and now I've got to ice my forehead.  Don't worry, I didn't spill a drop of wine!

Thank you again to The Plucky Procrastinator for thinking of me and passing on this Liebster Award.  I love you more than my luggage.  :)

Peace, Love & Tie Dye <3

~Jenn

What my husband thinks I do... What I actually do...

I posted this silly little cartoon on my Facebook page yesterday with the caption "What my husband thinks I do."

I genuinely believe that this IS what hubby thinks I do all day long.

Yes, I love the internet!
Pfft... Who doesn't??

Without it, I'd be a sad, sad soul.
Not sad in the sense of crying - though I'm not going to lie, tears would be shed.  I'm thinking more the pathetic type of sad.  Oh stop...I'm joking people. Really!

....right?

It's true.  I rely on my computer for - well, just about everything.  Finances, address book, planning trips, keeping in touch with friends, remembering birthdays and other dates, shopping. You name it and I can and will be doing it online. Often.

What can I say?  I'm a busy person!


Yes, I am online all the time.  Well hello...that's my job.  I can do like 12 different things at once on the computer and be busy, and be goofing off and throw in a few loads of laundry AND make dinner while I'm at it!   :)

It's hard to tell, but I really DO step away.
I have to.  I have a job, a family, friends.
The people in my house appreciate clean underwear AND dinner.  As much as I'd like this shiny little box to do all my stuff... that's still allll me.  That, along with running the kids between cheer & karate, doctor's appointments, school events - oh yeah, my JOB.

Guess what else...  I have a life!!
A real honest to goodness life with real friends -- ooh, sorry IRLFs and places to go.  Fun places like concerts, vacations, lunches (though that has changed since my job scheduled has changed) outties with the girls & time with the hubby.

What can I say?  I'm living the dream.  I know what you're thinking..SHUT UP!  She leaves the house.  Yeah, baby - that's right.  I'm a multi-tasking sensation.

So when you see my hubby, and he comments about how much time I spend online - all you really need to say to him is....

Dude, you have clean underwear, right??

Enjoy this fabulous weekend!!  (maybe away from the shiny box, Ok?)

Smoochies xxoo

~Jenn

I got an award!!!

Well Hot Damn!!  I got an award!! 

It caught me totally off guard, I might add… 
There I was, strolling along, minding my own bees-wax and reading through my bloggie friend Stef's blog at Mom-pirational and BAM!
There I was in big red letters…Jenn's Blogspot - My Daily Jenn-ism

An award!!  Yayyyy!!!   Damn good thing I showered AND brushed my teeth so I could pretty up for this award!

So, what to say – what to say??  Speech??  Hmmmm…. I’m not good at planning – so let’s just say how honored I am to even be considered for an award… and in my best Sally Field, “You LIKE me!  You REALLY LIKE ME!!”  Thank you for this Laine Blogger Award for Beauty.  (Blushing)

I’m not good at rules – but I will follow them, since they are here and they’re actually pretty simple.

(1) answer the following 5 questions, and then 
(2) pass the award onto five more amazing and beautiful bloggers, who I feel are beautiful in the blogging sense.  

Ready?

1.  What is Your Current Beauty Obsession?

Beauty “obsession?”  I’m not sure I’ve got one, to be honest.  I see myself as a giant fashion faux pas.  Since I have been asked & I am actually thinking about it – I’m really liking the specific to eye color, eye make up.  I’ve got green eyes & I love that they now POP!

2.  What is the One Beauty Item You Wish You Owned?

The one beauty item I wish I owned doesn’t actually exist.  It’s a figment of my imagination…  They are magic scissors.  I can cut the fat off of my belly or my thighs or my butt and magically there is no evidence of a cut – only a perfect little tummy, thighs & tushie.  No surgery, no needles – magic scissors!  Yeah… That’s my wish.  Doesn't it sound absolutely dreamy???

3.  What is Your Favorite Topic To Read About?

I like suspense.  Something that keeps me turning the page & on the edge of my seat.  I really like James Patterson.  He’s a quick read – he keeps me interested and I always love the story lines.  A little nookie nookie, but no 50 shades of anything - a little murder, a little suspense.  It needs to feel real to me.  No flippin’ inner goddess or foil packets.

4. What Inspired You to Become a Blogger?

I love to write.  I’ve been writing since elementary school and actually have a few unfinished books (yeah, I know – FINISH THEM).  My girlfriend, Carrie, started a blog for her cook book (she is my first awardee below) and after much discussion, I decided to follow suit in my own direction.  She encouraged me to get started & to stick with it.  Thanks, Car.  xxoo
This is mostly therapy for me.  I went through some crap a while back & I noticed that writing it out made me feel better - all of it, the good, the not so good – the crazy.  It was good to see it all out there in black and white, to see it as it was then get a grip on reality.  
I enjoy knowing that my life experiences – no matter how incredibly screwed up some are – can actually touch and help another person.  That to me is just awesome.

5.  What nail polish are you wearing right now?

The almost perpetual French manicure.  I just started getting my nails done again about a year ago.  After several years of babies & housework, etc, I deserve it.  It’s something that makes me feel pretty – even when I’m unshowered & have no make up on.

And now ....Drum Roll Please....

I pass this high honor onto....    

Carrie’s Experimental Kitchen

Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom

Mom Uncensored

Food Thoughts of a Chef Wannabe

2much testosterone

Every one of these amazing bloggers has caught my eye for one reason or another...  I wish I could send out 500 awards instead of just 5...  

Thank you again, Stef!!  Smoochies!!

~Jenn

See ya on the weekend, kid...

Like many folks and kids these days, I am a product of a divorced family.  The see my dad on the weekend kinda kid.  The weekend warrior. 

It didn't really feel all that different to me while I was going through it.  It just was.

I knew what to expect.  The schedule was more consistent to me than anything else in my life at the time.

My dad was AWESOME.  He never, ever missed a weekend with us.  He was there every Friday night - 5:30 PM on the dot or earlier, ready to get us.  It was hard for my dad to be without us during the week.  He genuinely loved us & enjoyed spending the time with us.

It is for this reason that I don't understand why some parents (and I'm not just talking dads here) would reschedule or miss visits with their kids altogether.

The precious time allotted just for them and their kids...disposable?

I've known parents who thought of their visit days as a hassle.  The time when "the witch ex wife" or whomever, made them wait (all the way) until their kid(s) gets home from school.  They have to delay plans, or rearrange schedules or leave work early to get there on time, yadda yadda  yadda.

Instead of being thrilled to have the time, they're complaining about having to make concessions.

Get over it, this is your kid!

*NEWSFLASH*  Your kid?  They are making concessions too!  Have you noticed that at ten years old a child genuinely has a social life?  They have friends & sports.  They have events and parties to go to as well.  And ya know what - they'll throw it all aside at any time, just for an hour with YOU - their parent!

Sadly, I know both sides of this particular coin.  Not only was I a divorced kid - but I was also a divorced parent. 

My son's father & I divorced when my son was 5 years old.  I was then thrown into the other side of the visitation schedule. The side that I didn't know about when I was a kid.

It was then that I learned my parent's side of it all.

I learned the pain my mother must have felt when I decided I wanted to live with my dad, coupled by the pain of my child not wanting to see me every weekend because of friend commitments.  I learned the joy of my child wanting to come back home & felt the compassion for how his father must have felt when my son came back home less than a year later.

I WAS the kid who was torn between two parents and I became the mom who tried to make the adjustment smooth for my son.  No matter how painful, difficult, annoying or inconvenient it was to me.

As a foster parent I see a lot.  On more than one occasion, I've seen a child sit on the front porch - or peering out a window for hours waiting for a parent to show up.  I've seen the look of despair in a child's eyes when the parent is late and doesn't call and when the parent doesn't show up at all.

I wasn't the kid waiting on the front porch for 3 hours waiting for my dad to show up.  My dad showed up!

Parents need to show up....

So that when your child hears "See ya on the weekend, kid" - they can believe that you will actually see them on the weekend.

Be present.... SHOW UP!

Thank you for reading my blog!!

~Jenn