Post-It Note Tuesdays - For this I am Thankful

For these I am Thankful...

because how great is it to be serenaded 

and wished "Happy Day To You" 

Every Single Day....

because it's the little things that matter...

Check out Supah and play along too...

Getting Organized... Sorta

** Deep breath ** Ooookay! And I'm back!


I have been gone too long. I really have meant for days to say something... and I've had lots to say.


But as with many absences, sometimes there's so much that's gone on, that it's hard to tell where to re-start!


I've been working on a pet project and been absolutely immersed in that, coming up for air only for my (paying) day job. And after all that? Housework has been a nightmare. Due to water restrictions as a result of the ongoing drought, and complicated by a series of ridiculous plumbing issues one after the other, I haven't had a regular water supply in over 3 weeks.


Three weeks people.


Do you have any idea what three weeks without a steady water supply can do when you have three active children living in a tropical climate. You so don't even want to know. Trust me.


My house looks like a whirlwind went thru it. And I need order to function properly.


Because disorder breeds. And piles of laundry somehow procreate to produce books, toys, paper spilling onto floors, in defiance of the daily roundup I attempt to squeeze in. I guess from the kids' point of view, what's a little more mess, right?


So I've decided to stop and take stock, and totally re-organize. From the house, to tools to help me manage my time. And of course I have to them with you.


So I've been checking out some stuff from CSN Stores. I'm eyeing their tv stands, and maybe a bunk bed for the boys, and definitely some living room accessory-type catch-all stuff. Then of course comes training the little men (and the Big Man, come to think of it) how to use it all to keep Mommy from going insane.


Speaking of CSN stores, check out my girl Dumb Mom over at her blog where she has a giveaway for a Gift Certificate from CSN Stores going on. Don't let her name fool you, my girl is Pure Awesomeness. 


But even before the house is in order, I have a trick to help me manage my bloggy time.


If you're like me, when you miss a few days of blog-round-up, it really catches up with you. So starts the debate - do I catch up Alphabetically by Blog Name, or Chronologically by Post Date? And then, it becomes a pain to read the feed in your reader, and then open the blog in another window so you can comment.


I've never understood why Google Reader doesn't let you just comment right there in the feed window...


And then I found NetVibes which does just that. I mean, it does more than just feed reader stuff. It is basically a Social Media Dashboard. You can monitor Facebook, Twitter, Email and your favourite blogs all in one place. And you can have another tab dedicated to say News, Weather, Stocks... whatever you like.


But the best part for me was being able to group my fave blogs, and while reading through them, click a button to have the feed window show the blog web page right in it, allowing me to leave a comment real quick, and then moving on to the next blog.


I am absolutely sold. Well. It's FREE, so you know... not literally sold. But you get where I'm coming from.


I think I may have also come up with a weekly blogging format, but I'm still working out the details on that. Look out for some upcoming changes, and hopefully, back to a regular blogging schedule again. :-)


(There's another big secret coming but I can't tell you about that yet! Shhh. Just stay tuned, 'k?)


N

Post-It Tuesdays - Inspiration

Post-it Tuesdays words of wisdom from...


JFK

Martin Luther King, JR 

Mohandas Gandhi

Check out Supah and play along too...

Flashback Friday

Ok it's been a while since my last Flashback Friday, but I was inspired again looking at Sesame Street oldies with my toddler...

B is for Bubble
What child doesn't love "rounds" type songs



Sing
This isn't the original version, but it's still a great feel-good song for all ages




Muppets - Bohemian Rhapsody
I love the Muppets! Same Henson, same irreverance, no curriculum



Happy Friday everybody!

With love, from Mom

My little girl is 18 months and I still nurse her. There was a time when that wasn't such an uncommon thing in our society. It was not unheard of to hear of mothers nursing their children until the age of 5 years.

I support a woman's right to choose what's right for her, and it always surprises me how many external factors discourage a woman from choosing breastfeeding. Not because she doesn't have the desire, but because it's becoming socially so difficult to do. Lord knows I have firsthand experience of how tough it can be to choose to breastfeed.

The fact is that more mothers have to be part of the workforce to support the family's income. Despite that fact, however, many workplaces don't recognize the special needs of a nursing mother. As a matter of fact, the surroundings may downright discourage a mother from choosing to pursue breastfeeding for any extended period of time. This despite years of "Breast is Best" education campaigns locally and studies like the recent study published in the American journal Pediatrics.

I recall returning to work after my second son was born determined to breastfeed for longer than I did with my first (3 months). I refused to sit in a toilet stall and express my child's food in the bathroom. (Hello, Mr Manager? Would YOU go eat lunch in the toilet stall?) So I was given the "opportunity" to use the stationery room. The dusty room where the stationery, old equipment, mops and brooms, and miscellaneous effects were stored.

It offered no privacy but was it better than the toilet.

Every day, I would lug a chair in there, clean a little area and try to ignore my surroundings for the sake of my little one. It didn't last more than a month.

With my third, I was determined to make this work. There have been many challenges but we've made it to 18 months. :-)

A week ago decided it was time to wean her since she only really nurses to fall asleep, and only when I'm around. (She'll take formula in a bottle unless she knows I'm close by.) She eats regular meals with the family throughout the day but she wakes in the middle of the night on the same schedule she's always been on - twice a night - but I'm convinced it's more habit than hunger.

But this weekend I noticed that she wasn't really eating her food. She'd chew and then hold the food in her mouth or spit it out. Or she'd ask for the food, and then refuse to open her mouth and turn her head away. Because she was eating only a few bites at a time, I would try her with food again after about an hour had passed, with the same results. And now, she wanted to nurse during the day as well, although - like with the solid food - just for a few minutes at a time.

I was glad to be able to let her nurse - at least I knew she was getting some nutrition - because at this point she really hadn't eaten a full meal for the entire day. This went on for a few days until today when she proudly showed off 2 new jaw teeth.

I remember having to go through this with the boys, and feeling so helpless trying to comfort them in their pain. This time around I feel like there's something I can actually do to help. Like I can let her know that I'm right by her side as she goes through this. It's times like this that convince me that it's all been worth it.

Maybe we'll put off weaning just a little while longer...

Post-It Tuesdays - Memorable Quotes

I am FINALLY taking part in Supah's Post it Tuesdays!

I've been meaning to for ages, but... never quite got around to it.

My own little twist for my first foray - memorable lines from movies or TV shows I love.

So yeah, I didn't technically say them. But I would ABSOLUTELY post them on my fridge! That counts right?!

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

(Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon. Love this movie!)

A LOT LIKE LOVE 

(I love Ashton Kutcher AND Amanda Peet)

FRIENDS

Check out Supah and play along too...

Monday's Muse: Landslide...

This weekend my friend turned 50 and his wife invited friends and family over to celebrate his birthday with him. It was great to see his face when he came home and found us all there, but you could tell when we toasted to the big 5-0 he seemed to be a little shocked to have reached this particular milestone.

I talked to him about it and he told me he doesn't feel a day over 30, and he doesn't know how 50 happened. He doesn't know how his children have gotten to be so grown. You could tell he had to pause to really take it all in.

It reminds me of the line in "Landslide":

Can I handle the seasons of my life

I find something so beautiful about this version of the song. The song and the video are both gorgeous and remember the first time I saw this video I needed to watch it a few times to make sure I had really seen a pregnant belly. I couldn't recall seeing a pregnant artist performing in their own music video before...

It really brought home to me the difficult task of a woman to maintain her own identity while still committing to the self-sacrifice that comes with the job of Mother. But really, even if you were able to maintain your own identity wouldn't there still be this gaping hole when the children do go off on their own?

I am already dreading the day when I find out firsthand...

Please visit Robin at Cinnamon & Honey

Sundays in My City - Hills Afire

It's been an extremely hot dry season and we just haven't been seeing the rains we're accustomed to. Water restrictions are in effect, and the hills... the hills everywhere are burning.

Yesterday I spent the day with some friends at their house on a hill, and you could see the evidence of bush fires all around.

The hill behind their house shows a definite line of burnt vegetation next to green. They tell us this was a particularly scary fire. I can imagine that watching a fireline this wide creep closer to your house is indeed a scary thing. 

The hills a few miles away are similarly burnt, but it's so hard to see because of the haze of lingering smoke.

And the haze isn't just over the hills. It's over the entire city. In this view you can't see the horizon, and you can barely make out two of the islands offshore.

It didn't affect the festivities whatsoever, though. A good time was had by all into the night.

Way into the night.

This is part of Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City. Go visit her and travel the world to visit Sundays in other cities!

No-fuss Video Slideshows - Animoto.com

I was trying to put together a little slideshow for a family member the other day, and came across this site: 

Animoto.com

They take the photos you upload, the music you select or upload, and put them together with some cool video editing techniques to take the work out of it for you. So you can turn out something like this in under 10 minutes like I did.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Free videos are limited to 30 seconds, but you can also use their paid service to do an entire DVD for download for just $5. Or you can go with the $30 annual PRO membership and have unlimited video done.

That's particularly useful if you're a budding photographer who can take a decent photo, but doesn't have the videography skills to turn out a full DVD for clients.

I am not associated with Animoto in any way. I just like their product and decided to share with you, just like someone shared it with me. :-) 

Blog World Domination by Dumb Mom

Hello everyone, I am Dumb Mom (yes, THE Dumb Mom), and I’m here representing the bestes blog eva parenting BY dummies.

I have been an active member of the blogging community since December, 2008, which means I am coming up on my 18 month blog-a-versary.

I have experienced some success with my blog (you know stuff that matters like followers, traffic, comments, Google page rank), but nothing to really write home about (not that I have to since my mother stalks my blog shamelessly).

But, I haven’t gotten to the point where I feel accomplished or truly successful as a blogger (aka the point at which the money begins to roll in).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t live in Crazy Blogger Delisuionalville so I know that I’m not likely to be the next Dooce (no PPD ravings here) or the next Pioneer Woman (no sexy cowboy hubby either), but you know, I kinda would like to be a respected member of the blogging community.

And, I’m sorta sick of waiting for my content to make it happen for me.

Plus, I don’t know anybody (‘cause you know, blogging, like real life, is a lot about who you know), at least not anybody who likes me wants to let me ride their coattails to the top support my “brand”.

So I came up with a new plan.

A plan to ensure blog-world domination in as little as 6 weeks.

A genius plan really.

To eliminate to competition and make people like me catapult me to the top.

Buying blogs!

That’s right people, B-U-Y-I-N-G them.

I figured that one of the main obstacles standing in the way of my become-a-popular-blogger-so-people-will-pay-me plan is that the market is becoming a bit saturated.

It’s getting too hard to have a blog.

Now you have to worry about annoyingly time consuming junk like personal branding, SEO, building a blog community, and other stuff I’ll let you know about when I figure out what it is.

And.  You need a niche.

A niche that is supported by good content.

I don’t have a niche (unless you call being a suckit mom who is strangely funny a niche), or time to think about my brand, or brains to master SEO.

So, I’m taking the easy way out…MONEY.

It may not be able to buy you love (which I’m not sure I agree with) but it can buy you blogs, because everyone needs it and most of us like it (which is more than I can say for my blog).

So the other night when I sat down to do my figuring, I figured that what I need to do is get some cash, find some in-the-market-for-some-cash bloggers, and give it to them to to go away let me be the creative director on their sites.

Basically they post about me and me related material and all is well.

And, guess what?!

It worked!

I’ve turned 12 of them so far!

So instead of reading about Mama B’s peanut butter life, or Angie’s Seven Clowns, or Jen’s Hipness, or KMama’s Daily Dribbles, or Marf Mom’s Marfan, or When SHE became her mom, or Being a former Fatty, or how HER Life Gone Awry, or Amy’s B Hole, or Supah’s Adventures, or Faemom’s Faeness?, or Chicken Nugget’s Wisdom, or even Sunday’s Extreme Parenthood, you get to read about moi.

Before they sign off for good for the duration of their written-in-blood contracts they have each written one last post for you here: parenting BY dummies.

I urge you to give them a chance to explain why they’ve sold you out to The Man (The Man being ME) succumbed to the Dumb.

Come on over and say adios to your beloved bloggers.  MWAHAHAHA!!!

P.S. I am currently not on the hunt for other blogs to dominate as I have run into a bit of an issue with my blog-world-domination budget plan.  #therecessionisruiningeverything