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My life is a jungle, as you will soon find out! I remember when I was younger, my mother always said, "Watch out Sweetheart...it's a jungle out there!" Seriously! I never quite understood what she meant until...The adventure began...
I attended high school in a small town in Alabama (Roll Tide!!) and during my Junior year became pregnant with the first little monkey, Danielle (the drama queen of ALL drama queens). My family and true friends were totally supportive and I absolutely adore the eldest of the monkey's, however, I am in NO way recommending this path for any young person! This ending is so predictable, isn't it...Seriously! It went something like this..."I'm pregnant...ummm, Ok, you aren't ready to be a Father...yeah, Ok....um, Ok, guess I'll see you around then...But, I thought you loved me...Ohhhh...I see, you're confused....SEE YA!" However, I'm not good at sharing so this kinda worked out pretty good as far as I'm concerned! I managed to raise her without TOTALLY screwing her up!
When Danielle was five, we moved back to my hometown in Tennessee. (Let's grab another vine here...) This is where I met and married my first husband...we'll call him, cheater...um, I mean...Cheetah! After two years of, well, I don't know what to call it...craziness, stupidity, ummmm HELL, in a moment of brilliance I decided a baby would make it all better! WRONG! However, my second and middle little monkey, Morgan (the Emo kid), was a blessing. Again...another predictable ending, right...Seriously! It was all..."If we were financially better off you would divorce me?...you wish I had a boyfriend?...you are tired of being responsible and want to hang out with your friends (and girlfriends) more??? What the *>#&?...You want it, you got it!" After 5 1/2 years of really trying to make it work, I gave up. The good news is that my ex and I actually get along SOOOO much better now and we aren't, by any stretch of the imagination, perfect parents but we work together to make our daughter happy & healthy. There's a lot to be said for finally growing up!
I went back to college, got my degree and was in a very serious relationship for six years after my divorce...I won't go into this one...let's just say it started out really good and ended with mind games, invasion of privacy issues and really wacked out, crazy antics that came straight out of a horror flick! This was NOT a predictable ending...Seriously! It was more like..."I'm really not happy anymore...I've met someone and I want to move on...What??? You're dating one of my friends to piss me off? Well, it's NOT working!!...When did you sneak into my house?...You had my email's forwarded to your email account?...You've tapped my phone??? WHAT???" Unfortunately, as you can tell, this one DID NOT end well! I actually feared for my life at times. (Let's swing over to another vine...WATCH OUT FOR THAT BANANA!!)
One thing you need to know about me is that I LOVE Rick Springfield!! I was sheltered growing up and wasn't allowed to attend concerts because they were the "devil's playground!" Therefore, my first Rick Springfield concert didn't happen until I was 31 years old! I didn't even know he was still performing and the elder monkey came home from school announcing Rick Springfield was playing a concert at our local fair..."No way, Danielle! You are just having me on...if I find out you're lying, you are dead meat!!" SERIOUSLY??? As luck would have it, I won tickets for backstage passes through our local radio station!! ME! The girl who's NEVER won anything!! The concert was superb...(if you haven't been to a Springfield concert, do yourself a favor and GO!) The meet & greet still feels like a fog that bounces around in my head from time to time...He was charming and I WAS HOOKED! I immediately went home and turned on the trusty computer...surely he had a website...yep, I was right! I just HAD to find another concert that was close enough I could go...but no such luck! However, there was a chat room on the website (www.rickspringfield.com) that I just peeked into. Looked nice enough...a few ladies my age...so, I thought I'd stay a while and BOY did I!? I was the chat room queen! Just call me FreeSpirit...I did a "dream sequence" (about Mr. Springfield, of course! *sorry Rick!*) every night in the room and ladies from ALL around would come by to hear my stories...I'm surprised some nights we didn't crash their server! You would be surprised how many guy fans there were as well...all Rick fans are just the nicest people! It was alot of fun...then IT happened! "IT" goes something like this..."so, you seem like such a nice guy!...really, you're a photographer...IN AUSTRALIA??? What???...you are a children's book author and you're writing a novel...the lighting is just right and you must go for now....Seriously??" A couple days later..."Oh, glad to see you're back...You are a HUGE Rick Springfield fan?...Yes, I know Rick Springfield is from Australia, too! I love the accent!!...*chit chat* *blah blah*...you'd like to call me sometime?...Sure, um, yeah...I'd really like that!" So, we chit-chatted in the chat room for about a week and he called...
Are you're arms tired of swinging from the vines yet??
What's that sound..."AAAAAahhahhahhahhahhahhahhahhAAAAAAAAA........
ahhahhahhahhahhahhahhAAAAAAAAA!!!* (Enter Jane's hero...Tarzan!)
Turns out, after talking on the phone for hours...every day for a year, swaping pictures, cards, videos, Christmas presents, etc...Tarzan was "some kind of wonderful!" Tarzan made the biggest sacrifice a person could make to be with Jane & the monkey's...Tarzan left his whole family in Australia just to be with...*gulp*...me. AND...let me clarify this point...Tarzan's has two families (birth family & adopted family), neither of which is the typical "see you at the next holiday" family. They are ALL extremely close and enjoy seeing each other daily. Hell, they all live within a couple of houses of each other in the same suburb! These are just really great people and Tarzan left them to join me in the Jungle?? Seriously?? Long story short, six months later we were walking down the aisle and are now approaching our eight-year anniversary! Tarzan swept Jane off her feet...
Tarzan is a kind, sweet and generous man who will go out of his way to ensure your comfortability. Sometimes I look into his chocolate brown eyes and just think to myself, "My God...I love this man!" He's a very artistic & talented old soul! I say "old soul" because I swear he's a 70 year old soul trapped in a 40 year old body!
Being a very deep thinker and detail oriented, I know he feels under-appreciated at times. Little does he know I couldn't function without him. I'm not in anyway saying he's an old fart, just that he's very introspective at times and his outlook sometimes reminds me of my Grandfather (who I absolutely adored!). Also the fact that 9:00 p.m. to him is LATE and he begins dozing on the couch! Tarzan is my perfect fit, I knew he was "the one" from the very first day and I will never figure out what I did to deserve him but, I can't imagine one day without him! Seriously!! He will swear I didn't write this (I love you, honey *kiss-kiss*) because Jane tends to be a hard-ass and just naturally bitchy...I don't know if it is situations I went through to get to this point, if it's inherited or just hormonal. I will do anything for anyone and have a tremendous amount of love for Tarzan & the monkey's, as well as, all that surround me, I just feel like I have to be this way to keep things going in our lives, if that makes any sense!?The last little girlie monkey, Hannah (the wild child), decided to join our little family four years ago, after much trying! What a "halo-challenged" sweet angel she is! After a few visits to the jungle...you'll see! Seriously!!
The elder monkey, Danielle, married her sweetheart, Sam (Tarzan Jr.), last November and we've been told that *heart pounding...GULP* "Boy" will be arriving in April and we are going to be.............Grandparents!?? SERIOUSLY?????
All I can say is: Welcome to the Jungle, Baby!
Love & Hugs,
Jane...Queen of the Jungle
