Once upon a time (May 2011) there was a family that went to a land far, far away.

Well, far away to them. Seattle to FLA = far.

And sunny.

Heaven bless my fair-skinned, blue-eyed (OK, one has green eyes) Northwest vampires babes. The sunshine throws their cloud-covered eyes into a tailspin.

Speaking of tailspin… imagine our surprise when we happened upon a Despicable Me Minion flashmob while we were hangin’ out at Universal Orlando!

I have to say, my favorite character wasn’t a Minion. It was this guy:

Made. My. Day.

He had SPUNK. He had FIRE. He had ENERGY. And he had a Rascal.

AWESOME.

Speaking of awesome…

Just call me LEGIT.

Street Media creds, yo!

Which lead to this moment:

See how Lucy is hugging that Minion? The girl could NOT keep her hands off those guys. Could. Not. Give her costumed personalities or give her death.

But Lucy didn’t keep the Minions all to herself…

(See my little Lucy there in the pink skirt on the far right? She just had absolutely no fun.)

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, the coming attraction Universal revealed so many months ago – will be opening THIS summer. Like, 2012. ya’ll! It will be another fabulous Universal 3D adventure sure to draw the young and the young at heart.

Speaking of Spiderman…

(Hey, sometimes one has to get creative with transitions.)

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman is not a new attraction at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, but in March the ride re-opens with a shine that I undertand will give Awesome a run for it’s money. Something about putting an extra D in 3D, or something mathy and amazing like that!

Speaking of giving Awesome a run for its money…

We are smitten. And very wet.

I had the privilege to join in on a media webcast last week as Universal announced all the stuff the world has to look forward to in 2012. I am not exaggerating when I tell you I teared up a little… especially when they said Blue Man Group has a new show.

Before seeing the show, I was all, “Blue Man, Schmu Man.”

Foolish me. BLUE.MAZING.

We didn’t take our kids to that show, and I regret it. They would have lost their MINDS.

Things we did not get to experience (because that would have required time travel and it seems that is the one thing Universal has not yet created) (what’s the hold-up, Universal?!) (I kid) (kind-of) was the upcoming night show – 100 waterfall screens within the Universal Studios lagoon showing some of Universal’s most magical movie moments… Nor did we get to experience the new interactive family water play area at the Wet and Wild Waterpark… aaaaand the Hollywood Drive-In Golf at Universal CityWalk. More details on the new attractions can be found here.

Will the wonders never cease?

Signs point to NO.

*Disclosure: I was not paid nor asked to write this post. However, I (and family) did spend a week at Universal Orlando (on their dime) (last year) as part of a media tour. All experience, excitement and sincere delight are mine. I’m not sure at what point this isn’t considered sponsored… so for the sake of being fully transparent (because I care what you think) (and I want you to trust me) I add this so you can know there is history with this relationship. Thanks for reading, yo.

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The Minions are coming, the Minions are coming! is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

It happens every year.

I dread this time of year all. year. long.

Everytime I drive by one of those guys wearing a Statue of Libery costume, flippin’ a “We do your taxes so you don’t have to” sign… my stomach churns and I get chest pains.

Don’t we wish I was exaggerating.

Chest pains.

How do I cope? I prepare for the tax season throughout the year by shoving receipts and important documents

in a basket.

And then…

Please ignore the stains on the carpet.

I choose to think my floor has character when there are stains on it. Hitherhencetofore, my floor has a great deal-o-character.

I do have CPA who will make sense of all this, but first I must sort through the paperness of 2011.

You’d think I’d be all software or Excel spreadsheet savvy.

Noooooooope.

Pen. Paper. and a calculator.

Then I close my eyes, plug my nose and give my scribbles to my beloved and much adored CPA. Along with my apologies.

I might as well deliver my papers to her in a horse-drawn carriage.

To all my fellow United States of Americans… best of luck, Godspeed and may the math be on your side.

Igh. Math. *gag*

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The Confessional: This is how I prepare to pay the piper. 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...

Lucy has had this tooth hanging on for dear life. Neither apples nor daily, solid tugs from dad has coerced this tooth to leave it’s gummy home.

Seriously.

Enter floss, a daring 6-year-old (who would have preferred to have tied her tooth to a horse) (she LOVES horses) (who was also miserable because you know how irritable those loose teeth can be), Kevin (our dog), and a Milkbone dog biscuit.

You know what? You just have to see it to believe it.

May I just add… this was NOT mother approved. I hid around the corner. Ish. I have no idea where my little girl got her spunk and nerve.

Also I almost threw up and had a belly ache for an hour.

But not Lucy… she’s tucked tight in bed awaiting the arrival of the Tooth Fairy.

And Kevin, I have it on good authority that the Tooth Fairy also brought him another dog biscuit.

Note: ALL video credit to the husband. Like I said, I was hiding. He asked me to hold the camera and I refused. Even IIIIII have my limits. Apparently.

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Caught On Video! Dog Pulls Loose Tooth! No, seriously… 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 know, I know… “going green” is so trendy.

But really, we should all be doing what we can to reduce, reuse and recycle.

I do a pretty good job of recycling.

I even compost! Well, for 2 weeks now! In fact, the eBay folks even posted a composting FAQ that I have found to be very helpful!

Since when does eBay give composting advice? Well, since they’ve gone green!

But an area of The Three Rs that is a bit harder to integrate is REUSE. .

Enter the eBay Green Team.

People don’t aften associate eBay with “green”, but they should. It is a re-user’s paradise… And for that matter a reDUCER’S paradise as well. On can reduce one’s stuff by selling on eBay and one can reuse another’s unwanted stuff by … buying on eBay.

Right?

Right!

In an effort to let the world know that eBay is launching and growing this earth-friendly option… they are giving away a $1000 eBay gift card (Oh what a girl could do with a $1000 eBay gift card!!!) You must follow the steps below to enter… I did it myself. It’s not hard… only took a few minutes!

1. Visit green.ebay.com
2. Sign with your eBay User ID and password
3. Join the Green Team (link is at the bottom of the page)
4. On the homepage, locate  the “Greener Alternative” and “Eco Shopping Lists” sections
5. Next to these sub headers, you’ll see “add an item” or “create a list”
6. To enter the contest, select the proper category and click on “add an item” or “create a list”
7. By adding an item URL from the eBay marketplace and explaining why it’s a greener alternative or creating a list of eco items, you are entered to win!

Go Green With the eBay Green Team & a chance to win a $1000 eBay gift card! is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...

Fact: I don’t have a Dunkin Donuts near me.

Fact: As far as my bent toward not being able to reisist baked-goods goes… this fact is probably not so bad.

Fact: Dunkin Donuts is also in the coffee business… Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee at Grocery.

Fact: You can find it at your local grocery store!

Here’s a picture, so you can know what to look for:

Yep. Dunkin Donuts has now brought their donut house coffee goodness to the grocery store!

In case you weren’t aware… Me + life = more coffee please. 

I recently brewed-up a few pots of that Dunkin Donuts at Grocery Original Blend. My dad and I (the man who drinks nothing but coffee ALL DAY LONG… that’s how he gets his water – through his coffee) enjoyed consuming our fair share during his and mom’s visit over the holidays.

This blend is reminiscent of the cup I get served at my favorite local “greasy spoon”… you know, every small town has that one breakfast place you can’t resist.

I always look forward to their cup of coffee and homemade bread.

*closes eyes and breathes in imaginary cup of steamy coffee*

I know coffee tastes vary and so why don’t we just do a fun giveaway?  One lucky winner will receive one bag of Original Blend, one bag of Decaf, and two Dunkin’ Donuts mugs.

Dudes. Those mugs are just all kinds of retro-orange and pink awesome!

To enter, please leave a comment … about coffee. Proclaim your love… or share if you are excited to try Dunkin Donuts at Grocery, or check out the the different options and tell me which blend you think you’d likely pick up on your next trip to the grocery store. Contest runs January 23 to midnight February 3, 2011 (PST)… You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

• Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post.
• Tweet about this promotion (example tweet: Win Dunkin Donuts coffee & cool Dunkin Donuts mugs via @jennyonthespot!  Check out the giveaway here: http://bit.ly/yYvdu5  ) You must leave the URL of your tweet in a comment on this post.
• Open to US residents only.
• Winner chosen via random.org

*Disclosure: I was given a package of Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend for review and compensated by Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee at Grocery. All opinions are 100% my own.

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Dunkin Donuts is in the Coffee Business is a post from: Jenny On the Spot * This is what I do...