This is my new pet peeve! I just opened a new box of Kleenex because I needed a tissue. I didn’t want three tissues –  just one single tissue. But could I pull up just one single tissue? No.  You can not open a new box of Kleenex and pull up one tissue with the first pull. Three sheets are forced on us, like it or not. Why? Apparently, the technology does not exist. But didn’t some guy walk on the moon? Can’t you store 40,000 songs on a small metal stick? We could probably clone a human being if we wanted to. So what’s up with Kleenex? I think if they folded them right, you could get one to pop up with the first pull. Seriously, it can’t be that hard.

Congratulations to Mike Paradis from my hometown of London, Ontario!

Mike, you are getting a $100 Visa gift card for guessing 91 apples.

The day I took the photo, there were exactly 91 apples on my tree.

There are less today after I made my apple pie bars. (that recipe is coming soon!)

Thanks for playing, everybody. This was fun!! Oh Canada!!!

Here is a photo of our winner,  Mike, taken at a wedding this past weekend.  Mike is a 28-year-old client relations coordinator and here’s what he wrote…

“Really? I actually won the Jenny Jones apple tree contest – too fun, who’d thought that blowing the picture up and counting the apples would pay off!!

My friend Scott Mitchell, called me 2 days ago, and said new contest on JJ’s blog, you better play – and buy me something if you win” Jenny – can you send him one too? haha

I am 28 year old Client Relations Coordinator by day, while working P/T evenings and weekends at London’s own, The Windermere Manor.

Jenny, I miss your show, keep up with the wicked blogging & contests – you keep it fun!

Until next time, Mike.”

Tomorrow is the first day of summer and the perfect day for a new contest.

Guess how many apples are on my tree and win a $100 Visa gift card to spend on Summer Fun!

Here are some clues & rules:

1. It’s a 5-year old dwarf apple tree and stands about 6 feet tall.

2. The tree is so heavy with apples I had to tie the branches up so they don’t break.

3. One guess per person. Closest guess over or under wins.

4. Winner will be announced Friday.

Good luck!

I cried when I heard this but I’m still not sure if it was from sadness or joy. Someone told me they were at the cemetery today and heard violin music nearby so they went to see where it was coming from. They saw a young woman, sitting on a stool at a family plot, playing the violin for her father.

I can’t even describe the difference between homemade and store-bought tortillas. Can we compare a Rolex to a Timex?

A BMW to a skateboard?

Anthony Weiner to a cocktail frank?

I don’t think so.

Here’s my recipe for the best homemade tortillas you’ve ever had.
They are so worth the effort. Try them this weekend!

Click here to watch the video.

We always want to get something we can use for our birthday.

Now this, I can use. It’ll be my new credit card. I can use it to buy things, like….

A new hip, a walker, a motorized scooter, one of those chairs that pushes you up to stand…. and some teeth.

Finally, a gift I can use! 🙂

We went to a concert at the Greek Theater in Hollywood last weekend that featured Sierra, War, and Tower of Power (remember “So Very Hard To Go” and “What is Hip?”) Tower of Power rocked the outdoor arena. (I hope the surrounding neighbors were fans!) It was a four hour, loud concert – outside – and around 9 p.m. it got cold! I wore three layers and was still freezing. Oh… my new pet peeve: people who stand up at a concert when everyone else is sitting. About twenty people kept getting up to entertain the rest of us with their own personal choreography. One guy, who made five trips to bring more beer (which they served in giant cups big enough to bathe a small child), danced as thought he was alone at home listening to headphones, oblivious to the other 5,000 of us forced to watch in disbelief. His moves were a bad combination of country line dancing without the line and the hokey pokey. He may not remember it but all of us do.

Remembering my dad and all others who serve on this Memorial Day.

Yesterday, I bought a carton of ladybugs at the nursery. They’re supposed to be good for the garden and they were on sale so I decided to try it. The package said it contained 1,500 ladybugs. The top was vented so they could breathe and I could see some movement inside. You’re supposed to release them in the evening when they’re less likely to fly away. Oh right…they have wings… they can fly. But out of 1,500, if half flew away, I’d be in ladybug heaven. So last night, I slowly opened the carton to let them go, afraid they’d all make a run for it. But no. They were in one sticky mass in the bottom of the carton, not moving much, resembling a giant meatball. So I shook the carton and spread them around my garden (mostly in lumps) and then night fell.

This morning, I went out with my camera expecting to spend the whole day taking ladybug pictures as they filled the air, flying from flower to flower in my magical garden. How would I decide which ones to shoot?  It was an easy decision – I found two. What happened? Where did they go?  1,498 ladybugs gone! How do I know the one on the daisy was from the box? Maybe he flew in from next door. Hey, isn’t he missing some spots?  Never buy ladybugs on sale. They must have been seconds.