Last month I saw all kinds of people doing a January photo challenge by fat mum slim.

And I wished I had joined in on all the fun. But then February rolled in and…

I have a new camera. I would say we are still in the “courting” period of our relationship. A daily photo challenge is a great way to help us get to know each other better.

Right?

Plus, I’m not gonna be left out this time.

Here are my pictures for the first 4 days of February:

Little sister loving her big brudder. Big brudder absolutely loving it. Photo taken with Nikon D5100.

I am enjoying this photo challenge because I don’t want to be taking pictures of all the familiar and usual things that one usually takes pictures of. I mean, I want to capture the usual… but I also love looking at life from new angles. So. Words. Captured from a different angle. Another photo courtesy the Nikon D5100.

This was a hard one. Hands do a lot of moving. But not these. And honestly, I took this picture for my husband. He has a “thing” for dorky leisure suits and I HAD to show him this waffled, white leisure suit. Then I noticed the hands. Photo taken on le iPhone.

Taking a picture of a stranger… Being a literally thinker, it is hard to think outside of the box. And taking a picture of a stranger can be a wee-bit creepy, no? I took this one on the ferry. The light was just right so I could help my stranger remain anonymous and I was far away enough he never suspected I was taking a picture of him.

But I was. With the D 5100.

Looking at the coming week, I see Feb 8 is set for SUN.

Living in the Pacific NorthWET, one never knows when we will see sun. We DO get sunshine, but this time of year offers little optimism. We shall see, and I may have to tap into my creative self if the clouds hide my subject-o-the-day.

I’m curious. Are you joining in the challenge? I’d love to see what things you are creating and capturing…

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Photo a Day Challenge – I’m a joiner! is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Like that one time at the county fair.

When I saw this:

A cats AND an archery barn.

I WONDER WHAT HAPPENS IN THERE.

——

I use the Bloom app to send me reminders throughout my day. I get a reminder to drink a glass of water… a reminder to pause and be grateful.

And a reminder to take a picture. It sometimes comes in the middle of me rockin’ out to Supersonic by J.J. FAD.

So I did. I took a photo.

Secret’s out.

I’d better move along or before I go all lyricist on you… We’re J.J. Fad and we’re here to rock. Rhymes by us can never be stopped…

——

You know what else makes me laugh?

THE DUCKFACE.

I don’t know what it is about self-portraits that evoke The Duckface. But they do.

And I do Duckface.

::shame::

Go ahead. Make fun of me.

I’m lame.

EXCEPT I’M NOT BECAUSE MY AWESOME NEW SHIRT CANCELS OUT THE LAME.

A big mushy thanks be to Blogging Dangerously for sending me that soft and perfectly fitting t-shirt full of SUPER!

::pretends to fly::

——

I’ve been using the LoseIt app recently.

And because I am worse than a teenage boy, you know I had to look up the calorie count for..

So now?

My hubs and/or I… when… you know…

Our words of lurring may or may not play out like this:

Hey baby.

You wanna go burn 17 calories???…

Give or take…

*wink, head tilt*

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Some things just make me laugh… is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Well, I’ve been working hard to… well, feel better overall.

Aaaaaaand try, try, trying to reduce my warehouse-store-sized-muffin-top to more of a standard-sized-muffin-top.

Am I making sense?

I really am just a woman who sets reasonable goals. I will always have a muffin top. I’m OK with that.

Well, not really, but that’s what I tell myself.

I tell myself a lot of things.

But that’s an entirely different post.

Aaaaanywho. I’ve been taking this challenge for the last month. Which means I am counting calories and exercising more. But in the last week, specifically, I have set my mind to the kicking of my own butt.

I hear that is considered hawt in some cultures. And crazy in others. So.

I have been going for the 500 calorie burn everyday for 7 days straight.

Like I said, I am a reasonable woman doing reasonable things.

And I was doing good… I went 5 days straight!

But on the 5th day I met kickbuttingboxing.

A “friend” (see :: below) had posted on The FB a few times about this kickboxing class and all of it’s calorie burning awesome. So I decided to take her up on the challenge.

I went.

BUT SHE DIDN’T.

::looks at Shayne::

Isn’t there something about crack dealers not smoking their own stuff?

I am a little naive when it comes to The Crack. Does one smoke it, shoot it or snort it?

I actually don’t care. Useless information.

I digress…

Kickboxing. And how my friend Shayne was being like a dealer and she wasn’t there to brave the pain/shoot up with me.

Right?

Aaaanywho.

You want to know what I think? I think God would have rested on the SIXTH day instead of the SEVENTH if he had gone to a kickboxing class.

That class is why I did not burn 500 calories a day for 7 days straight.

Because on Day 5 I kickboxed with Castor and on Day 6 I passed-out rested.

Actually, I started resting THAT DAY. I was passed out COLD by 10 p.m. That is unheard of for nocturnal webmistresses such as me.

People, I could not stay upright!

Even sitting was too much of a request for my kickboxed-out body.

Then on Day 6? I NAPPED.

HARD.

I was ALL up in the face of that nap.

Slobber. Limbs immovable.

I owned that nap in the same way a toddler owns a balloon animal. Don’t mess.

Mothers? You know that tired you feel the first few weeks after giving birth?

I WAS EXHAUSTED LIKE THAT.

But I didn’t have to wear those mesh undies and do all sorts of “undercarriage” care.

So… Kickboxing 1 – Childbirth 0

???

Turns out, a different friend, Staci, was at the kickboxing class! We parallel kickboxed!

::looks at Shayne::

I neither kicked nor boxed my friend Staci.

SUCCESS!

Funny thing though… When I got/dragged myself home I had a note in my FB messages from that Staci saying,

HEY!

BOOT CAMP!

And I think the lactic acid build-up had already reached my brain because I was all, “OK!”

::wild eyes::

::no, WILDER::

So on the 6th day I rested and on the 7th day I went to this “boot camp”.

At boot camp the guy forced us to do things… “worms” or “the worm” or as I call choose to call it, “the most unattractive thing to do in public ever”…

I also did more push-ups than I think is considered legal…

(I think I may be hooked)

See??? Just say no to drugs!

Wait. I didn’t do drugs.

Well, I know one thing for certain… I may be saying NO to stairs for the next few days.

Oh so much.

::ow ow::

::ow::

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An Essay on Kickboxing, Drug Dealers and Resting On the Sixth Day is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Then I must be SEXAY.

*rubs belly*

Happy Friday and may a cup of sexy coffee pass your lips this weekend.

Or tea.

I know not everyone likes coffee.

Or cake.

Or ice cream

Or asparagus?

These crispy parmesan asparagus sticks sure look sexy.

Just sayin’…

xoxo,

JOtS

*Speaking of coffee… there is still some time to enter my Dunkin Donuts coffee giveaway! But you’ll have to click *here* to go to THERE!

If you are what you drink… is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

ANY FARMERS IN DA HOOOOOOOUSE???

OK, so… I’m pretty sure most of the folks who pop by my humble online home here are NOT farmers.

I mean, they are busy. Farmers. Growing food and flowers. Tending animals and crops and such.

But what about you? Maybe you have a few chickens… Do you grow flowers or veggies? Do you do any canning?

Seriously. Have you heard of the Cottage Food Industry Bill? This bill allows folks in Washington state to sell food without utilizing a commercial kitchen – as long as the earnings stay under $15,000 annually. This opens up some tremendous opportunity for local foodsmiths to sell their goods at the countless local farmer’s markets. This expo is providing information to benefit commercial and recreational “farmers” alike…

If you live in or near the Kitsap County Area, and have any interest in the things of growing things of the earth or raising animals for your own consumption and/or profit — the people planning the Kitsap Farms Expo is putting together a great day of great information!

And I don’t just say that because I am leading a session.

“What session?”, you ask?

Well, I am not leading the More Than Meets the Eye, Eye-Catching Market Displays (Farmer’s Markets RULE!) session, nor the From Beak to Toe Eating the WHOLE bird (duuuudes!), nor the Collect, Cover, Compost (I compost!), nor the Flower Growing for Profit, nor the Farm to Table 101 session… These are just a few of TWENTY sessions expo attendees get to choose from.

I will be speaking on the powers of social media.

???

Yep.

Even farmers can benefit from the wonder of social media. Farmers are business people too! I’ll be talking Facebook and blogging and Twitter. Yes, even Mr. Green Jeans has come into the online age and is discovering the power of the interwebz. I have the privilege of sharing good ways to build community, online influence and customer base using social media.

And I just found out my session time got moved, so I just may get to check out that one sesh: From Beak to Toe Eating the WHOLE Bird. Besides, I didn’t want my session have to go up against THAT! It’s hard to beat a WHOLE bird.

Just sayin’.

So. If you live in the Kitsap area, mark February 11th on your calendar. The cost is a do-able $55 for a full day of learning and a Local Lunch. Support local business, support local farms! For 12 bucks more, you can purchase your belly an added dose of joy and join in on the post-expo local beer and wine tasting. For more complete information visit the Kitsap WSU extension page here.

*Disclosure: There is really nothing to disclose. I am speaking at the expo, and receiving a nominal speaking stipend. I am just really excited to be involved and I LOVE to share about local community events. Especially really cool ones that have educational written all over them. And don’t forget about that whole chicken thing. *COLOR ME FASCINATED!*

GO SMALL FARMS!!!

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The WSU Kitsap Small Farms Expo, y’all! is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Now, my daughter didn’t ask me that because I say YES to HER so much.

We were eating dinner and I was, I guess, blathering about the long list of things and tasks and obligations.

{YAWNERS}

I totally just wrote, “yawners”.

Heh.

Aaaanywho. In response to my mid-level belly aching, my daughter asked, “Mom? Why do you say YES so much?”

I told her it was because I’m amazing and need to be needed and surely the world as we know it would come to an end if Amazing Me…. yammer, yammer, chaw, chaw, yammer…

My daughter laughed.

LAUGHED.

Because she’s my daughter and she knows. She knows…

The reasons I say yes are as follows:

• Guilt
• Self-importance
• Guilt
• Aggrandized view of self
• Guilt
• I actually kind of like being helpful
• It’s way more fun that being NOT helpful

I wonder if her line of questioning had anything to do with her comment about how empty our fridge is… if she thinks that our empty(ish) fridge is a direct result of my yes-saying .

Yeesh. I guess the judgementalism starts early these days… like at 9 years old.

Ladies, can we all just get along???!

I did a little gorcery shopping after the kids went to bed.

Hey.

Do you ever talk to yourself?

I do.

Look at you being all not-shocked.

My blog is kind-of a place for me to talk to myself.

Except writing, not talking.

Hi, Self!

You may be thinking I am *this close* to earning a trip to a padded room.

Maybe you’re right. I had a whole other topic mapped out (about farms, I know you’re disappointed)… but something inside me (maybe one of my unidentified other personalities) wouldn’t let me.

No really.

Hey.

How do you keep nail polish on your finger nails?

For serious.

My toe nails do fine, but my finger nails do not accept nail polish longer than a few hours.

True story.

Hey.

Do you know how to Dougie?

You need to learn how to Dougie.

LEARN.

I haz been praxstisin, y’all. I know how to Dougie.

#belieeeedat

*Disclosure: This post was not written under the influence. Unless you consider exhaustion and a sudden influx of anxiety influential. In that case, then… OK. This post may have been written under the influence of those. And an undiagnosed other personality. Oh, and I did listen to Teach Me How To Dougie by Cali Swag District while writing this. Other than that… totes not under any influence at all whatsoever. Hey. I wore an orange skirt the other day…

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Mom? Why do you say “Yes” so much? is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

I decided to bring my computer and me out of my cold, dark office and join the land of the living… the kitchen table. School was cancelled, but I still had work to do.

Seriously. I DID HAVE WORK.

I may have Facebooked. And Tweeted. And also spent a few too many minutes on Modcloth.

(Oh the dangers when one’s work lives in the onlinez. Some folks have a water cooler or a break room. I have Pinterest. And Facebook. And Twitter. And Modcloth.)

Aaaanywho. That whole thing about a “lens-eye view”… My camera (Cami) was sitting there on the table and I wondered what things she was looking at… just sitting there waiting for me to hold her and love her and make beautiful pictures together.

Instead of holding her in my grasp, I turned her on, left her sitting where she was and pressed the little picture-taker-button.

That’s me, in case you didn’t know. Sitting at my computer. That’s a cup of coffee on the right. And a power cord running right through the middle. Crazy stuff. Crazy stuff.

I moved Cami to the other side of my computer. You can kinda-see the bowl of mac-n-cheese from Lucy’s lunch and the swoops of the cords from my earphones. I had 4 calls that day… two were conference calls… calls in which I had to stay on *mute* because… did I mention… SNOW DAY!

I can’t think when things get to cluttered, so I took to straightening up my work area a bit.

On the other side of the table now… the mac-n-cheese is gone, as are the crumbs and cups of hot cocoa and spilled drops of hot cocoa and rogue spoons… a sock.

What is it with kids and socks on the table???

!!!

???

You can see the snow out the window. I love looking at snow out the window. I enjoy snow the most when it is outside and I am inside. I told my daughter I am allergic to snow… for how very cold it makes me feel. I told her it makes me feel colder than anyone else in the WHOLE WORLD.

I am not even joshing you.

= eyes cross =

And this is just a picture of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I made…

BECAUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES ARE AWESOME.

And despite my best efforts to eat very well these last several weeks… the snow got to me. And instead of eating just one. OR NONE…

I ate five.

5.

FIVE.

Make that 6. I should have hit publish.

= rubs ample bellee =

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A Lens-Eye View is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Let’s see…

I got a sexy new camera for The Christmas… and I LUH HER.

I am not a photographer. Nor am I a reader of manuals of electronics.

So I mess around.

With her… my camera… but not in a “back seat of the car” sort-of way.

To be clear.

Though, I will confess… there are times I want to make out with her because I LUH HER so very much.

*mwah mwah mwah!!!*

I appreciate how she easily snaps over my flaws. She is like the best of girlfriends… the way she filters light and makes my skin appear not as imperfect as it is…

I don’t know why I look so serious. I never know whether to smile or not to smile. I usually err on the side of smiling because the not-smile makes me feel like I look like a creeper. I look like I’m getting ready to steal that extra cookie.

I’m too chicken to steal a pack of smokes.

Plus I don’t smoke.

But I DO eat cookies.

Yes. Smiling is better.

But it’s easy to smile for Cami. That’s what I call her, you know… Cami, my camera.

I am all kinds of creative, y’all.

But can she fix my roots?

Well, she is still a good camera.

Cami and I also took some shots of Kevin.

An aside: I stay so busy doing important things while the kids are at school.

Busy busy.

*cough*

Kevin wanted me to be pet him and give him a bone. He did not want to me to take pictures of him.

He is such a private dog…

He was not happy with me…

Not one puppy bit…

Happy Dog Not Happy:

Take one more picture and I WILL CUT YOU.

But he didn’t.

He just gave up.

Good dog.

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JOtS and the Dog is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

That is a picture of one of those bank tubes in my car.

Apparently I took my receipt, laid the tube in the passenger seat, and drove off.

I am all kinds of awesome.

I did take it back. There’s a big difference between a thief and an idiot.

So…

Not only have I taken pictured of “stolen” bank tubes, but I’ve noticed I have been taking pictures of unsuspecting strangers lately…

I thought I was being all stealthy with this picture. UNTIL MY FLASH WENT OFF.

I just thought the purse was covet-worthy and I took a picture.

ISN’T THAT WHAT ALL SANE PEOPLE DO?

And how fun is that big ol’ green purse???!!!

Another picture I took recently was of a man. A man who was hogging the Ms. Pac-Man game on the ferry.

(See him up top there, hoggin’ my game?)

You see, I was on the ferry. A 35 minute ride – SANS CHILDREN.

It dawned on me – I could play that game! I had quarters and no grubby hands to share that joystick with. When I looked up, HE was there. Can you feel my evil eye right now?

Aaanynowhoos…

That man played MY game for approximately 31 of the 35 minute ferry passing period.

I did not have the nerve to ask him to STEP OFF.

I am way more of a bad-as….tronaut in my head

So, I found my earphones and cranked up some Prince, Robert Palmer, Janet Jackson, Club Nouveau and Digital Underground.

I am a mix-mastah! You know you want to come to MY pity party!

I walked off the ferry blasting DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince – Parents Just Don’t Understand because I was feeling all dissed and sulky about not getting to play Ms. Pac-Man.

I think that helped. The Fresh Prince ALWAYS helps…

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Taking pictures behind people’s backs. is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

This Sunday is lazy in the sense I do not need to leave the house.

Not lazy in the sense that there is so much to do IN the house, I dare not leave.

I awoke with a blazing headache… as I often do during the days I am hit with my Monthly Vexing.

Aaaaand two mornings after drinking maybe a bit too much whiskey. My 2-week-alcohol-free body was all, “Dude. DUDE.” And then I swear I gave myself that “mom look”.

And also a 3 a.m bedtime Friday night did not help one bit.

I guess that would technically be Saturday morning.

Today I will scrub and fold and dust and I just chopped 4 bananas to freeze because OMGolly – Eating Clean Banana Ice Cream is the new black!

It’s back to calorie counting… paying the piper.

I am trading a run for some serious laundry folding and floor cleaning.

I don’t “mop”. I get on my hands and knees and clean each inch with cloths by hand. It is in these moments I wonder if I am borderline OCD.

I am a picture of inconsistency, though. On one hand I clean the floors on my hands and knees so nary an inch is neglected… on the other hand if I can’t spend hours on my hands and knees cleaning it RIGHT… I won’t clean at all.

With the exception of the corners. Fuzzy, crumby corners drive me mad.

Hitherhencetofore… I am off. To clean. If cleaniliness is next to godliness, then I am GOLDEN.

If for only one day.

It is actually more of a gift to my mind than anything. The mess makes me crazy. And cranky. I can’t make decisions when my house is so out of order.

To start Monday with a clean home… is to start a week with a fresh mind. Aaaaand a shorter to-do list.

Let’s do this.

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Lazy Sunday Is Not So Lazy is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...