JustJenny

As a kid I always remember my parent’s saying “Birds of a feather flock together” or “If your friends jump off a cliff are you going to do it?” I dreaded these conversations.  I would never jump off a cliff unless there was water underneath it, I am not an idiot! I am not sure what they said after these opening clichés because I think I just tuned them out. I’m sure it was a bunch of great stuff, my parents are pretty awesome but again, I didn’t hear it. I do however remember them talking to me about the importance of picking “good” friends, which is what I think they were trying to get at with those terrible clichés. Many adults in my parent’s generation emphasized the importance of hanging out with kids from “good families”. Back then a good family was a Mom, a Dad and kids from those same two parents that went to church.    As an older child and teeneager I can remember adults around me whispering “they got divorced” or “those aren’t really his kids...

Last week I was on top of the world when I learned that teens said Dads were more embarrassing than Moms were . Well, my bubble quickly burst when my sons found out about my bragging. Apparently, I am still pretty dang embarrassing. Here are the top five reasons I am still very embarrassing according to my sons (well one of them anyways) in no particular order and in their (his) own words.  1.       You dance horribly and out of nowhere 2.       You sing off key and CONSTANTLY 3.       You treat me like a child and I am 14! 4.       You love me WAY too much & say lots of lovey dovey stuff 5.       Sometimes, you talk too much Of course I asked them both if there was anything I could change to be a little less embarrassing. The response was, "Nope, cus then you wouldn't be you and you’re pretty cool!" and "You'r...

This morning could have been a disaster. Here is what happened five minutes before it was time to leave the house to drop the boys off at school on my way to work. Son: “Hey mom, do we have a USB port” Me: “huh?” (this was kind of a weird question) Son: “A USB port, do we have one?” Me: “Yeah, you have one on your netbook. “ Son: “Oh yeah, I forgot” Me: “WHY”   Son: “I need to print a rough draft of my paper and I need to save it on my flash first.” Me:    “When” Son: ‘Now” I immediately thought, “ What , we have to leave in five minutes. You should have done this last night! Why didn’t you do this last night?” This is what I wanted to say. I am sure we would have spent at least 5 minutes arguing about all of this. I may have then went off in to a lecture and 15 minutes later we would finally be printing the paper and rushing to school late and angry. That is what my parent’s would have done. That is what good parents do; take advantage of ever...

My boys do not really have the opportunity to be embarrassed by their dad since he is not around but if he were,  my kids would be more embarrassed of him than me. Yes, that is correct. A recent study found that teens and young adults are more embarrassed of their dad than they are of their mom. Dads dress funny, aren’t embarrassed of driving funky cars and their teens aren’t having it. Read more about it at mailonline . Okay so maybe this study was done in the U.K but kids are kids right! I just want to say, I don’t remember being embarrassed of my dad but he was always styling, drove nice cars and was really nice to my friends.  But I kind of always knew he wasn’t the norm. My parent's and siblings Aren’t you glad I am off today and had time to find and share this information. P.S. I think "dad's" are really important (that's why we spend so much time with mine), I just thought the article was kind of cute and funny when I read it. ...

This morning was amazing. When I woke up at 6:15 am the shower in the first bathroom was already running. I could hear the sound of water dripping and teeth being brushed in the other bathroom. Chris emerged from the bathroom already dressed his cloths matched and everything. I made breakfast while my other son got himself dressed and ready for the day. This may not seem like a big deal to you but I remember a time when it was just me in the morning literally dragging my little boys into the shower, nagging them to brush their teeth (sometimes pinning them down) and arguing with them about their cloths. You try convincing a 5 year old that while that florescent stripped shirt his Grandma gave him may be his favorite shirt EVER he can't wear it to school. Weather your kids like school are not, the first day can be really stressful for any parent. It can be just a little bit harder when you are the only one trying to do everything. If your still feeling a little over...

I cannot believe another year has passed. This year Greg is an 11 th grader and Chris a 10 th grader. It feels like just yesterday that I dropped Greg off at kindergarten and Chris at pre-school (Nana’s house). This weekend I passed up the opportunity to go to Nevada with my parents. They have friends who have a great place in the mountains with lots of land, quads and access to a beautiful lake. Hmm, I am starting to re-think my decision. School starts on Wednesday and I did not want to be coming home late Sunday night stressing out about doing laundry, getting school supplies, cleaning backpacks and everything else that needs to happen in preparation of the first day of school. I work full time so the weekends are my only chance to get all this stuff done. It turns out the boys just wanted to hang out with me and “just me” all weekend anyways so luckily I made the right decision. Our weekend has been great. Here is what we have done so far: Friday Night: B...

I have been home for three full days now and the kitchen is a mess, I still need to vacuum and the cat needs a bath.                                        I really have no excuse because every other Monday I get to stay home due to my 9-8-80 schedule, which I love! I will admit it is rough working 9-hour days especially with a one hour commute each way but the extra days off really help me keep up on the everyday things that a working mom STILL has to do.   Okay, so maybe I am  a little behind but that extra day still has  only 24 hours, so I cannot work any miracles. I would hate to see what my bedroom would look like if I did not have that extra time at all. Yikes!   I really need to keep cleaning but my oldest son Greg says, “Hey Mom, you want to watch a ...

I am not a big fan of mushy love songs. As soon as they start, I change the channel. This one was different.                                            Blake Shelton – God Gave Me You I’ve been a walking heartache I’ve made a mess of me The person that I’ve been lately Ain’t who I wanna be But you stay here right beside me Watch as the storm goes through And I need you [Chorus] God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt For when I think I’ve lost my way There are no words here left to say, it’s true God gave me you The first time I heard this song it ALMOST   made me cry.   Okay, so maybe I did shed a tear or two. I couldn’t help but think of my failed marriage from many moons ago (which I NEVER really think   or tal...

Cooking is something I have always loved to do with my boys. When they were still in diapers and using two word sentences, they would jump up on a chair the second they saw me start to make something in the kitchen. In fact they didn't even have to see me, they could hear the fridge or kitchen drawers open from the other room and they would come running. We baked cookies, brownies, cakes and even made some real food sometimes. These days I'd have to pass out and knock down several dishes along the way before they'd notice that I was even in the kitchen. This should upset me, but it doesn't. How could they possibly hear me over the Xbox, Wii, TV and the loud rock/rap music (the type of music depends on which kid we are talking about) blasting in their ears. Oh wait I forgot about YouTube, texting, girls and the spare teenage boys, I did not give birth too but I chauffer around and feed, hanging out in the living room. With so much going on the boys don't even think...

 When it comes to work I am always, well almost all ways, on top of things!! I show up, do my job, try to anticipate what needs to be done and make it happen. At home, I keep up on what matter most to me, my boys. This mostly entails me nagging them about school, friends, drinking water and other things moms worry about. So why is it that when it comes to things I do for myself, I fall behind. I often blame my commute, dedication to my sons and the fact that there are ONLY 24 hours in a day. When the boys were little I said "When they go to school I'll have more time for me!!" When they started school I said" I'll have more time when they are in Jr. High". In Jr. High, Well you get the point. I am happy to just spend every waking moment with my boys but of course they are at the age where they would probably like a break from me anyways. So I decided I should get up off my butt and take the time to do the things I LOVE to do.  "Why is this so...