Chick Lit Cheerleader: What a year!

Introduction by Melissa Amster

One of the things that made me really happy in 2018 was that our Chick Lit Cheerleader, Jen Tucker, moved to my neck of the woods. We're now an hour away as opposed to 11 hours away! We got together last week with our families for a fun afternoon of bowling and Chinese food. What more could two chick lit lovers ask for?!? I hope that we will get together many more times in 2019 and beyond... Next time, we'll be hanging out in "The Jam." (Jen knows what that means.)

Jen is here today to tell us what made her happy this year. 


Where in the world did 2018 go? Anyone? Bueller?

It’s so true that as my years fly by they’re travelling at warp speed. Yet the irony is that I really don’t want time to slow down. I love my memories and experiences, and I also like where life has me right now. The bumps and bruises, the highs and lows, and even the praises and preposterous markers we encounter in life make us who we are at this very moment. Plus, I don’t have the skills or technology to turn back time, so I’d rather focus on the sweetness than the suck-y-ness on any given day.

Here’s my short but sweet list of getting happy in 2018. Please, hold your applause until the end…


Jen’s Top 5 Happy Moments of 2018
(These are in no particular order…as far as you know)

1. My jeans from last year still fit after a long Maryland summer in shorts! Can I get a hallelujah?!
2. Mike, my beloved, and I re-binged the series Breaking Bad and it had a different ending. At the end, everyone lived happily ever after and Marie broke up with the color purple, replacing it with pink shades of “blush” and “bashful.” No—wait—that’s Steel Magnolias. Never mind.
3. I have discovered that gin doesn’t taste like Pine-Sol when combined with the correct ratio of tonic water and a squeeze of lime. This was life changing, friends. And it took me twenty-five years of being married to a bartender to find this truth. Things that make you go hmmmmm.
4. Three months is the longest Mike and I have been separated from our nineteen-year-old college sophomore, Ryan, since he entered our lives. I burst into tears as Ryan and I embraced amongst Thanksgiving travelers in the baggage claim area at BWI airport. His visit was short, yet so very sweet. And now he’s home for Christmas. He packed only a duffle bag containing, mostly, his PlayStation 4 paraphernalia. This is how college men pack for three weeks at home. God, I love that guy.
5. I’ve happily learned I’m not too old for adventure. Like moving to the east coast with four-fifths of Team Tucker. Most mornings, I awake to deer foraging in our backyard and that doesn’t suck. I only live a short road-trip from so many friends that were once too far away to see often. That my Midwestern crew, who are now father in distance, are but a quick text or inappropriate meme away. This is the truth that sticks with me: no matter where you go in this world, your love for others goes with you.

On behalf of the entire CLC family, I want to wish you and yours only the best in 2019. May peace and joy surround you and your loved ones.

XOXO,
Jen

Jen Tucker is the author of the funny and true stories, The Day I Wore My Panties Inside Out and The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt. In September 2012, she had her children's book, Little Pumpkin published as an e-book. She also blogs monthly for Survival for Blondes. She currently lives in Indiana with her husband, three kids and two dogs. You can find her at Twitter, Facebook, her blog and on her website. And in case you missed them. check out her previous Chick Lit Cheerleader posts here.