All My Quirks…and then some June 6, 2008

   I have been tagged by Big Binder to share with you a few of my quirks. I actually think a few of these are already well documented (feet, dishwasher loading, etc.) and I am always thrilled to know through my comments that there are other freaks out there besides me. Women, we are a freaky, mysterious creature. Anywho, here I am in all my quirky glory. And I apologize if I have told any of these before, but maybe, just maybe there are only so many quirks to share (or I am very forgetful).

• I can’t eat food that is on a bone. It seriously freaks me out. I have to have the hubby cut it off the bone somewhere where I can’t see him before I can eat it. While we are on the subject, I also don’t like it when food touches on my plate. Really gives me the heeby-jeebies.
• I shave my big toe. Please tell me I am not the only one.
• Songs by Steve Winwood are like nails on a chalk board to me. I feel like if I was a dog and his song came on the radio, I would immediately begin howling. I don’t however howl when I hear his songs. But I can’t stomach them. Sorry to the Steve Winwood fans of the world. Please don’t stop reading, I have many other wonderful traits.
• Lately, I have been using the word “wonky” a lot in sentences as in “My dishwasher is acting wonky again and I have to get it fixed.” Sadly, this is in fact true and I am again dishwasher-less. I am dying a slow death.
• I don’t know how to make a pot of coffee. Truly. I don’t drink it so I never learned. Now, we have a french press so I am even more confused. So if you want coffee and the hubby isn’t home, you are out of luck.
• My biggest pet peeve in life is women who squat on the toilet seat and leave a splatter of pee on the seat. Doesn’t that completely defeat the purpose??? If you are grossed out by germs on the seat then don’t pee all over it for me to have to sit on. Either sit or wipe up your pee!! (I may be a. PMSing or b. still upset from a public restroom incident earlier today).

So there you go. Wanna play? Mama Mia you are required to, you are my meme go to girl Anyone else? Let me know so I can come learn that you are as quirky as me.

BTW- when I think quirky, this is all that comes to mind. Enjoy…

 

Since Brevity is a Gift of Mine May 4, 2008

  Toni over at It Is Nap Time tagged me for the 6 Word Memoir Meme. Apparently I am supposed to title my memoir in 6 words. I have been thinking for days and decided that THIS IS REALLY HARD! I have never been one to be succinct, brief, or concise. See I used 3 words right there to say the same thing. I could ramble on for hours about nothing at all. In fact I am convinced if I did have a memoir, it might put War and Peace to shame.

Still, I can’t resist a challenge. So here is my attempt. Well after the rules.

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post in on your blog. Include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the original person who tagged you in the post, and to the original post if possible.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Been Way Too Blessed To Complain

Except I think I still do a little. But I shouldn’t. So maybe I should post this somewhere. Anyway, THIS WAS HARD!!

But I am tagging 5 people I think are up to the challenge. And anyone else who is feeling like their life can be summed up in 6 little words.

Big Binder, Anne, Katie, Mama Mia, Holy Mama. Actually those are some of my recent commenters. I fear saying that or you might never comment again and comments are crack for bloggers. We can’t get enough and they give us quite the rush. But I am pretty sure we avoid all of the negative side effects. Enjoy!

The Hubby Meme April 19, 2008

 Krista over at Welcome to Married Life tagged me for a meme. We just got back from dancing our booties off at a wedding so it is only appropriate that before I crash, I hammer this one out. I know I just wrote about him, but if I gush about him a little more, is that OK? If all the gushing makes you naseous, just come back tomorrow.

How long did you date? 4 months before we got engaged. When you know, you know

How old is he? 34. He is officially in his mid-30s.

Who eats more? Definetely him. He can put away more food than almost anyone I know.

Who said “I love you” first? Ugh, it was me. Soo not like me, but I did and then immediately freaked out.

Who is taller? Him, but oddly enough before me he dated a lot of girls taller than him.

Who sings better? No contest, me.

Who is smarter? Hmmm, we would need an IQ test for this. I think we are pretty evenly matched (which of course means me, but I don’t want to make him feel bad)

Whose temper is worse? Again, I don’t know. We aren’t really temper kind of people.

Who does the laundry? I load and unload the dishwasher. He does the pots and pans. Ok I just re-read this and this was supposed to read, he does the laundry, but I fold and put away. I don’t know what happened between me thinking and my fingers typing.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does

Who pays the bills? Me

Who cooks dinner? Typically me, but he is a really good cook.

Who drives when you are together? Typically him, because he is a horrible back seat driver and it drives me crazy.

Who is more stubborn? probably me

Who kissed who first? I think him, but it was pretty mutual

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Him, nearly always. I frankly suck at this.

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine, cause they live 3 blocks away, but we see his quite often also

Who proposed? He did. He painted me a picture that said “Will you marry me?”

Who is more sensitive? The hubby

Who has more friends? I have more friends that I interact with on a regular basis, but he has friends that are the lifelong kind.

Who has more siblings? Me, but that is only because he is an only child

Who wears the pants in the family? Thank goodness, I think we are pretty equal. We approach most decisions jointly. I like skirts anyways.

Alright ladies, let’s hear about your men. I tag some of my most regular commentors and anyone else who wants to play along. Char, Playful Professional, Vintage Dutch Girl, Toni, and We Are That Family.

7 Random Things Meme April 1, 2008

 So here is how you know you might have a blogging problem. I had a bad headache and so I ended up falling asleep at 7 pm during what was supposed to be a “I should lay down for a second and see if this headache will go away” moment. I woke up briefly at midnight and felt I MUST check my email quickly before falling back asleep. I then noticed I had been tagged for a meme and couldn’t stop my brain from thinking about “7 Random Things.” So now I am awake at 1 am and I thought I just need to write this stupid thing so I can get back to sleep. This is sooo sad.

So here is the deal Chanin over at What’s With All the Pink tagged me for this meme. I have actually done this before, but there are always random facts to be shared so I will do it again. Here are the rules:

1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

• Chanin stated over at her blog that she didn’t know my name. It is Jill. My kids have code names on the blog cause we are weird about the internet, but I am not creative enough to think of one for myself. When I was in high school I always wanted my name to be Jade. I think I thought it sounded mysterious and edgy. Which is so the opposite of what I was in high school
• I didn’t know a ton of Jill’s when I was growing up, but there was 3 in my sorority pledge class of 30. There are now 2 in my Mom’s Club out of 20 and 3 in my MOPS group. I am one step away from becoming a Jenny.
• My parents met in 8th grade and aside from 1 minor breakup have been together ever since. My dad was a jock, my mom-homecoming queen. They are still very happily married with their 2 kids, 1 girl and 1 boy. Yes, my life is like a black and white 50’s TV show. Kind of makes you want to puke a little, but I know I am extremely blessed.
• I don’t maintain baby books or scrap books for either of my children. Lily has one that is mildly filled out, Hannah’s has her name and date of birth in it. My mom (who meticulously recorded every event in my first 3 years of life) finds this appalling, but I am just setting the bar really low so my 3rd and 4th kids (if they decide to make an appearance) can’t ever complain that the first kid got all that stuff and they didn’t.
• Apparently when I was little (per my meticulously detailed baby book) I made up the word “booglio” and used to say it to anyone and everyone. No one knew what it meant. Lily appears to have done the same with the word “poogywaggy.”
• I drive a 1995 Subaru Legacy station wagon. It is the poor man’s Outback. I truly like my car, but long for the day we have a car where the driver and passenger can control their own heat (dream big people) so my hubby will stop turning off the heat cause his feet are sweaty while mine are slowly turning into blocks of ice.
• I firmly and strongly believe that the heat setting in a car should always be only at the feet, while the air conditioning should always be only at the face. It drives me crazy when my hubby tries to do this any other way. Fascinating.

So there you have it. I have no idea who hasn’t done this meme, but if you want to, consider yourself tagged and let me know in the comments you have done so so I can come check out your randomness.

Tag, I’m It March 10, 2008

 The lovely Candace over at Mama Mia (one of my first and most loyal readers I might add) tagged me for a meme and it seemed like the perfect thing to end a Monday with. Better start running or you will get tagged next!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago: 10 years ago, I was finishing up my first year of graduate school to become a physical therapist. I was living in a nasty cockroach hotel (better known as student housing) and racking up large amounts of debt thanks to some stellar advice by the college loan officers. The hubby and I had not even met and the idea of kids was really, really far off. Still truth be told I was biding my time to become a wife and a mom.

5 Things on my To Do List today: Considering it is almost 7:30 at night I hope I can’t think of 5. Here goes anyway: Finish putting away laundry I folded today. Hang up the 4 new summer dresses I just bought at Target (yippee). Head to book club and carry on deep, deep discussions while pigging out and drinking wine. Spend some “quality time” with the hubby. Fall asleep before 11 pm (yeah right).

Snacks I Enjoy: Pistachios and smoked almonds, string cheese, granola bars, Flat Earth chips, chocolate of any kind, chips and guacamole (although that could honestly be a meal with how much I can polish off in one sitting)

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire: Pay off all debt (no, really), buy a new car (bye, bye 1995 Subaru), invest to pay for kids school, donate a big chunk, and then who are we kidding buy a whole, whole, whole lotta clothes (and purses, and shoes, and jewelery…). I would also to travel a bunch and buy a second home somewhere warm!!

3 of my Bad Habits: Talking too much, being on the computer, not washing my face before I go to bed (which is frankly more of a lacking of good habits)

5 places I have lived: Marshalltown, IA; Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL; Toledo, OH; Grand Rapids, MI

5 Jobs I have had: Taylor’s Maid-Rite (seriously, enough already!!), Younkers (a department store), detassling corn, a perfume sprayer lady in a department store (yes, that annoying woman was me), a pediatric physical therapist.

 There you have it. How exciting was that!! I am going to tag a few of my new, loyal readers and commenters. Ordinary Momma, We Are That Family, Britni, Sunshine, and Vintage Dutch Girl. Anyone else who wants to jump in is welcome!

Aw shucks February 9, 2008

Tiffany over at Life on the Road gave me a couple awards and tagged me for a meme. I have already done the 7 random things meme. So I am just going to pass the awards on.

 I don’t know if you noticed, but I have recently added some new blogs to my blogroll. I am passing this award on to some of my newest reads.

Lifenut- This woman has the best blog headers around! And her writing ain’t so bad either

Moosh in Indy- She makes me giggle

Nap Warden- A stay at home mommy or a superhero? You decide.

Sarcastic Mom- I discovered her while NaBloPoMo. Name says it all.

Still His Girl- SAHM to girls, loves God, loves chocolate…nuf said

Toddled Dredge- This blog is just brilliant. And I don’t know what exactly the name means, but I love it.

 Award #2. See that other part of my blogroll. The bloggers I have the good fortune to know in real life. The few who understand the crazy obsession that a blog can become. The few who don’t think it’s weird that I even have “blog friends.” You all get this award. Go spread the love!!

3 in under 3

A Little Bit Crazy

A Slice of the Epic

Adventure Mom

Big Binder

Eastowners

Good Idea Momma

Grand Rapids 4 Huckabee

Life After Baby

Look, Mom, Look!

Mom to Two Boys

One More Last Word

Resouling the Stilettos

Sunshine Eyes

The Left Bower

And if anyone else wants to do the 7 random things meme have at it. Let me know you did it so I can see if you are weirder than me.

FINALLY, my very own rock band February 3, 2008

 I saw this meme over at …and the pursuit of happiness and had to play along for a new take on Music Monday. Here’s how you make your band.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first article title is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Now take your pic, add the band name and title to it, then post it.
Drumroll please. I am ready to introduce my totally rockin’ chick band.

                  

wah, wah, wah. My rock band could not be more lame. Unless that fox somehow represents how “foxy” I am. I guess I won’t sign up for those guitar lessons afterall. Coincidentally, Nabil Ajrim happens to be a rockstar over in India. So he would probably be upset if I stole his name for my chick band. Back to the drawing board…

Two Memes for your reading pleasure January 26, 2008

 I was tagged for 2 memes this week, so I am doubling up and making this unofficial meme day! I will be celebrating with wine and chocolate, but that is just me.

First, I was tagged by Adventure Mom for the Mommy Meme

1.           How long have you been a Mom? 4 ½ years

2.          How many children call you Mommy? 2

 3.          Girl? Boy? or both?: 2 girls

4.          Did you know what you were having? Absolutely, I can’t stand the suspense

5.           How old were you when you became a Mom? 28

6.          How long were you in labor? With Lily my water broke at 8 am and I had her around 8 pm. But I was only in hard labor for half of that time.  Hannah was born 53 minutes after I walked in the hospital door.

7.           What’s your favorite thing about being a Mom? moments like finding this note next to my bed.  Priceless!

8.          What’s your least favorite thing? not being able to “fix it” when they are sad or hurt

9.          Do you want more kids? absolutely

10.       Do you plan on having more soon? yep, but right now we are practicing (See The Challenge)

11.        How many times have you been pee’d on? Not many, the benefit of girls J

12.       Barfed on? Actually on? I don’t think so, Lily has good aim.

13.        Is your child named after anyone? Lily’s middle name is after the hubby’s grandmother. We discovered that Hannah’s (real) name is a family name on my side, but didn’t know that until after the fact. Her middle name is after my dad’s sister who was killed by a drunk driver.

14.       How did you come up with their name? Lily’s (real) name we both loved from the start. Hannah’s name was found in a baby book after we couldn’t agree on either the name Hannah or Lily (hence their blogging names)

15.        When your child gets in trouble, who is the bad guy? We both trade off playing good cop and bad cop. We are actually excellent partners in this. Whenever one of us is beginning to lose patience or raising voices, the other usually calmly steps in. Of course that doesn’t help when the hubby is at work…

16.       What is the longest you have been away from your children? 5 days during our trip to London

17.        Bedtime routine? Sometimes a bath, Hannah gets a book and a snuggle. Lily gets a book, bible study, prayer time and some snuggling

18.       Are your toes painted? Always in the summer. In the winter they are often in their current state of 2 month old polish that is mostly chipped off. Classy.

19.       Last movie you saw in the theater? Veggie Tales.  Before that who knows.

20.      One thing you will not give up just because you’re a mom? Fashionable hair and clothes. No mom jeans allowed!!

21.       One thing you did give up now that you’re a mom: A lot of spontaneity

22.      Best Mom perk: Seriously so many things. I absolutely love being a mom

23.      Snack, you sneak bites from your child? I have a weakness for fruit snacks

24.      When the kid is napping, you are: Catching up on email and then hopefully a quick nap myself

25.       Where is your child(ren) now? Eating breakfast

26.      Favorite place to buy maternity clothes? Old Navy and Target 

27.       If I could do it over…I would love to think I would gain less weight when I am pregnant, but who are we kidding…

Secondly, Mama Mia tagged me for another meme. Here are the rules.:Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog or share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list or share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old. Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

I given you 100 random things and a 7 random things post. How many more random things can I possibly come up with? So I think I will do the top 5 places one.

1. Asia: I studied in Japan, Taiwan and China when I was in college. My college frequently offers alumni tours through the region. Someday, my dream is to go back and show my hubby the places that were such a meaningful part of my life.
2. Eastern Europe: Prague, Budapest, Krakow. I have heard they are all stunningly beautiful. Cheesily, I would also like to head over to Austria and do the Sound of Music Tour.
3. Sonoma Valley: The hubby and I LOVE wine so I would love to find some romantic B & B and taste away!
4. Vancouver:I have heard it is really beautiful. And I would love to try out the skiing.
5. Placencia, Belize:We went to an amazing resort on our honeymoon and LOVED Belize. The hubby and I hope to return for our 10 year anniversary.

*notice none of the above locations are all that kid friendly. Accident? I think not…

Now for the taggin’. Here are your assignments.

Mommy meme: Misty, LAB, MamaMia (gotcha back), Candi and Anne (a BRAND NEW MOMMY!!!)

5 Things: Heather, Olivia, SCW, Big Binder, and Nicole

Let the meme-ing begin!!!

Scattegories- Bloggity Style January 5, 2008

 Shalee over at Shalee’s Diner is playing a little Scattegories. I thought on this Saturday night when I am operating on 2 brain cells after taking down my Christmas decorations, that it would be great to play along. Here’s how you play. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following categories. They have to be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same first initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Here goes nothing.

What is your name? Jill

4 letter word: Jump

Vehicle: Jaguar (oh a girl can dream)

City: Juneau

Boy Name: Jacob

Girl Name: Jade (my favorite name when I was in high school)

Occupation: Janitor

Something you wear: Jumpsuit (orange if you are Paris)

Celebrity: Jennifer Garner (how cute is she)

Food: Jelly Beans

Something found in a bathroom: jumbo roll of toilet paper

Reason for Being Late: Jam of the traffic nature

Cartoon Character: Jem (Jem is truly outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous: bonus points if you know her alter ego’s name)

Something You Shout: Jesus, help me not kill these children! (not in vain people, a literal prayer)

Want to play along? Already dying on day 5 of Blog365? Let me know you are playing along in the comments so I can come check you out. If you don’t have a blog, just play along in the comments.

A Toddler Has Hijacked My Blog! December 22, 2007

 Braden James over at Sarcastic Mom tagged me (Hannah) for a meme where I tell 8 things about myself. The first thing I should tell you is that isn’t me in the picture. In fact, I am pretty sure it is a boy. Someday, I will probably be mad a my mommy for trying to pass a boy off as a picture of me, but for now I just think she is the bestest, most coolest mommy ever (Jill says: who me? go on…). Also, if you are new to the blog, know me in real life and thoroughly confused as to who this Hannah girl is, you should know that Hannah is my super secret alias. Please don’t blow my cover, the future of the world depends on my staying underground.

1. I was really anxious to come out and play with you all. I was born 3 weeks early, 53 minutes after my mommy got the hospital. She says I made her miss her epidural, whatever that is. Still, I was kind enough to come out in 1 push so how nice is that?
2. I love animals. I have mastered the sounds of nearly every species around. I am still not talking, well at least to the humans, but I have this Dr. Doolittle thing down.
3. If there is music on, I am dancin! My personal favorite is “Hey Ya!” by Outkast. I even shake my hands when he sings “Shake it like a Polaroid picture”. I also like to kick my leg out to the side while dancing, much like Elaine on Seinfeld. It seems to make the adults giggle and I aim to please.
4. Whenever I see a camera pointed my way, I just can’t help posing and flashing a big grin. I am practicing up for my future stint on America’s Top Model.
5. I can’t wait to be a mommy. I have never met a baby I didn’t like (or like to poke at). I just love patting them on the head and giving them hugs. I can often be found running towards the nearest infant carrier desperately trying to get at the baby inside. When a real baby can’t be found, I settle for hugging and squeezing one of my baby dolls.
6. Just like my mommy and sister before me, I love a good book. I prefer any board book by Sandra Boyton or Karen Katz. Actually anything with lift up flaps pretty much rocks. That seems to be all I am getting for Christmas though so maybe I should start showing interest in something else before I own every board book east of the Mississippi.
7. Rarely have I met a food I didn’t like. Nuf’ said.
8. I was born with a decent head of dark brown hair. Most of that fell out and really light brown hair came in. Now it seems to be growing in as a mullet. The front just won’t seem to grow. My mommy tries to camouflage it by putting the back in pigtails, but I am not sure she is fooling anybody. I am only 1 1/2, but already I am pretty stressed about the future of my locks. Am I destined for lunch lady duty?

Ok, so now I am supposed to tag 8 of my buddies to play along. I know it is Christmas and everyone is crazy busy, but maybe you are also looking for blogging material. So tag your it! Maybelle, Oliver, Addison, Sophie, Jessamine, Baby #3, Taylor, and Flybaby. Let me know if you play so I can come read what you say.