It's Jenny's birthday today! To celebrate and to remember her, I present a list of 55 fun facts about Jenny, one for each year since she was born. (By the way, for those who haven't read them yet, there are two other Jenny-fun-fact blog posts: The original version and a second article--each with 101 fun facts about this magnificent woman.)
1. On October 20, 1968, Dick Fosbury won gold and broke the Olympics record for the high jump using a new jumping style first introduced internationally that day. His "Fosbury Flop" would become the standard for the event, even today. Jenny, also introduced to the world that very same day, would likewise become the standard for reaching new heights for her husband and two boys. Even today.
2. Jenny always went to bed in flannel pajamas.
3. Jenny loved standup comedy, especially that featuring comedians with Asian-centric humor.
4. During COVID, Jenny would often wear a blouse and blazer for virtual meetings then immediately slip into comfy clothes (she loved the soft fuzzy stuff) as soon as the meeting was over.
5. It was always on Jenny's mind to recognize others whenever possible at work. She sought corporate recognition for anyone she felt went above and beyond. One colleague won her company's award for Inventor of the Year because of her initiative and support.
6. For shampoos and conditioners, Jenny almost exclusively used Suave and Pantene for their value.
7. Jenny was a silent sneezer.
8. When redlining a document for work, which was often, Jenny would print it out first and mark it. Only then would she edit the soft copy.
9. Whenever her boys watched sports on TV, Jenny would get a mat and free weights and watch alongside them.
10. Shortly before the birth of her twins, Jenny pursued ballroom dancing, but it came to an end because her husband had two left feet.
11. Before the first date with her future husband, Jenny went out for a run and worked up a sweat. She didn't think this first meeting would be worth a shower, though. She simply sprayed perfume in her hair before the date and called it good.
12. Jenny hired a colorist to recommend wall colors for various rooms in her house. As a result, the great room that includes the family room, dining area, kitchen and hallway was painted burnt orange in its entirety. Her boys continue to not be in favor of it but also don't have the time and energy to change it.
13. Though she was a woman of varied tastes when it came to music, all CDs Jenny listened to in her car featured only classical music or opera.
14. Jenny was always the driver throughout her marriage to go to concerts. As such, she and her husband enjoyed live performances by Al Green, k. d. Lang, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Barry White, Santana and many others.
15. Jenny was a practicing mechanical engineer at Westinghouse, where she worked for four years following her graduation from college.
16. Jenny was inspired to leave her career as a mechanical engineer when a colleague of hers left engineering for law school.
17. Jenny and her son Dylan were the two book-lovers in the family. Jenny relished cuddling with her son on the couch while they both read books. She had a name for the two of them: "The Cozy Readers Club".
18. The only flavor of preserve that Jenny would eat was strawberry. And, preserves only--no jams or jellies please.
19. At Jenny's request, there are more than twenty prints, photographs and mirrors hanging on the walls at her house centered exactly 5'7" above the floor. Coincidentally or not, that's also Jenny's height. The average height of her husband and boys is above 6'2". But, in her honor, nothing except for the wall calendar has been moved higher.
20. Jenny told her kids to sit in the front of the classroom given the opportunity. She said this would give them a better opportunity to understand the instructor. This is a practice Dylan has followed in college.
21. For arm exercises, Jenny went for tone rather than sheer muscle mass. The most common weights she used were the three- and five-pounders.
22. Jenny was the only one in her family to write the number "2" with a loop.
23. Much more often than not, Jenny served white rice at home as the starch in a home-cooked meal. However, when going out for poke bowls, she exclusively ordered brown rice.
24. One of Jenny's rules of the house: If one football team has a lead greater than ten points midway through the fourth quarter, the TV should be turned off. Why waste time watching if the outcome is pretty much decided?
25. The common theme to virtually all of Jenny's volunteering and donations: helping children in need.
26. It was the usual practice for Jenny to watch TV with her husband at the end of the day. She often preferred an action thriller. However, whenever it was at the end of a stressful day, her go-to was The Great British Baking Show.
27. Always teaching her kids to "use what they have", Jenny backed it up with her behavior. Most of her personal computing needs were met by a used laptop given to her by her father-in-law, almost all of her reading using a Kindle more than ten years old, also from her father-in-law, and cell phones loaned to her by her employer.
28. So she could listen in on their conversations, Jenny installed a plug-in microphone in the hallway next to the twins' rooms when the kids were in their early years of high school. The boys would have none of it, however, and disabled it within a day.
29. Jenny's first job was as a cashier. Coincidentally, her son Tyler's first job also involved working behind a cash register.
30. Kohl's eventually became the only department store at which Jenny would shop. Even then, it would only be if they mailed her the prized "30% off" coupon.
31. Jenny wanted Tyler to play for the high school football team but not Dylan. It ended up that Dylan played for the Mountain View High School football team but not Tyler. Dylan was on the defensive line (edge rusher) but also made a touchdown-saving tackle at safety.
32. Back when she lived in Santa Clara, Jenny calmly but successfully confronted a neighborhood bully who tormented the twins' playgroup.
33. Though Jenny got laser-eye surgery, she wore glasses for watching TV and for night driving. Never for reading, though.
34. For one birthday roughly ten years ago, Jenny wanted a bike rack so her husband could pick her up--and her bike--at the end of the workday on his way back from Intel in Santa Clara. This permitted Jenny to bike downhill to her office in Mountain View and not have to endure the ride back home during the warm evenings.
35. Jenny's bike rack still gets regular use today, including to bring Dylan's bike down to UC Santa Barbara and for her husband to hit trails all over the Bay Area. Indeed, Jenny's taste in gifts ran towards either the highly practical or the experiential. The bike rack hit both categories.
36. Jenny preferred tea to coffee, grazing to eating big meals, and whole wheat bread to white.
37. While married, Jenny was never been known to take a pass on crabcakes whenever they are on the menu.
38. Jenny was always game for calamari, but not octopus, especially after watching "My Octopus Teacher" on Netflix.
39. With hopes that her kids would read actual articles in the Sunday paper, Jenny would hide the comics, the boys' favorite section, soon after delivery. However, this only had the effect of Dylan and Tyler turning the house upside-down to find the funnies.
40. Jenny had a drawer dedicated to earrings.
41. Friday Night Lights was Jenny's all-time favorite TV series.
42. Jenny would occasionally have wine, but only if someone else at the table was also drinking a glass. She was known rarely to have a beer. But, never a cocktail.
43. A tomato plant that Jenny grew from seed is, as of her 55th birthday, still yielding in her backyard.
44. Jenny was partial towards sleeping on the side of the bed where she could enter and exit on her right side.
45. Whenever Jenny shopped at a bricks-and-mortar store, she invariably showed up in the morning, when it opened for the day, to avoid crowds.
46. At a trivia contest, Jenny was the only member on her team able to correctly list all James bond film actors. Sean Connery was her favorite, by the way.
47. When Jenny walked alone for exercise, she would almost always listen to a podcast. Favorite topics included Supreme Court cases and the fight against social injustice.
48. On June 1, 2020, Jenny took this photo of a hummingbird while working from home during COVID. Although hummingbirds were regular visitors when Jenny took care of the backyard, none have made an appearance there in the past year.
49. The only conflict about vacations that Jenny had with her husband was a minor one: She wanted to use miles and points whereas her husband wanted to accumulate them. For such conflicts, as with most types, Jenny carried an undefeated record vs her husband.
50. Jenny's desk in her home office, to this day, has been largely untouched. There, she kept her writing instruments in a mug: six pens--all of them with black ink--and an old-school wooden pencil.
51. When her kids were small, before going on a business trip, Jenny would lay out their clothes for each day she was away.
52. Except for the very occasional short-term course of meds here and there, Jenny was never on prescription drugs throughout her marriage.
53. During a trip to Australia, Jenny physically put herself between a terrified child (one she had never met before) and a charging dog. When it came to children, Jenny thought nothing of getting into harm's way.
54. As an associate at a law firm focused on intellectual property, Jenny once prosecuted a patent for a stress-relief ball.
55. For those who haven't already heard, it's official: Jenny's the best wife ever.
