I'm jaunting off to Colorado Springs for work this week. In town for one night only! I won't get to see any sights like Pikes Peak or any sights actually but that's fine. The Fifth Element turns one this week and who needs Pikes Peak when there is an octopus cake to be made? While I'm gone, read about the new section, This Week in Cars, launched on MPR last Friday. Enter to win a skin care set from Cures. or Try your luck at winning the Back to School package from Post-It's I'll be back soon! … [Read more...]
Healing Mama
I need a healing right now. My mind is a whizzing blur of tangled thoughts. I feel like a glowing orb of sad feelings is just emanating from me non-stop. Starting marriage counseling is probably for the best. Once started though it gets the ball rolling for more open and frank discussions that are usually left unsaid. That seems so much easier doesn't it? Not in the long run for anyone of us I know but right now I feel like a pretty sucktastic person and mother. I'm too addled and confused to feel real relevant or like I am imparting any wisdom and life skills on anyone. So I'm going to do something nice for someone else. Crunchy Chewy Mama has a friend in need. Liz has always been there for Jessica when she was in need and now Liz, a mother … [Read more...]
I’m Grateful for You- Lattes and Life
It's not your typical friendship. In fact, I can't even remember the last time we saw each other in person. It might have been at my bachelorette party and that was about ten years ago now. Remember those things called web rings? They were all the rage in the new millennium right along with message boards. Tiffany and I met on one of those message boards. Both new west coasters, trying to find jobs and the only thing we initially had in common was that we were girlfriends of Marines. We bonded over that and our shared geography.I don't know when we first started breaking away from the message boards and only talking about our boyfriends and their deployments but our first meeting was quite memorable. We decided to get together at Balboa Park. … [Read more...]
So Long Old Friend
Recently I posted about how good it felt to come away from an afternoon spent with friends and colleagues. It was the SVMoms Group DC Metro Moms Symposium and I needed it. Weeks later it was announced that SVMoms would soon cease to exist.I can't tell you how sad this has made me. Being a part of SVMoms/DCMM was one of my favorite parts of being in this field. I not only enjoyed the camaraderie of other women, writers and friends but came away from each meeting and get together feeling revitalized, smarter and more accomplished. While DCMM didn't pay, it provided something so much more invaluable to me than monetary means. There were adventures that happened because I wrote for that group, opportunities presented themselves that created more … [Read more...]
Finding My Way, Again.
I admit that lately I have felt uninspired. I have ignored my blog, been busy with life, work and incubating the Fifth Element the last few months. It hasn't left a lot of room for contemplation, new ideas or much of anything but the bare necessities. I have felt removed from the blogosphere too. I have tried to attend events only to have to cancel from exhaustion. Last Sunday changed all that. I managed to get myself dressed and have the energy to attend the Silicon Valley Moms Group/ DC Metro Moms event that two of my friends put together. After a brunch that I missed (The Comedian got sick, that's life) there was a ssymposium of companies and professional bloggers that allowed me to not just eat some damn fine cheese but to sit in a room full of women … [Read more...]
Team WhyMommy’s Virtual Science Fair
Susan is a friend of mine and fellow DC blogger and DC Metro Mom. She's the girl who always has a smile on her face and something intelligent to say no matter where we are. I love being around her. She went in for surgery today. The cancer is back. She will fight it and she will beat it. She has so much love and support and Team WhyMommy Virtual Science Fair is just a small part of that support. I think Jean from Stimeyland says it best when she states, "We want her to know that she is loved and supported. But we also want her to know that our love and support is not all because of the cancer. We love and support her because of who she is, not just because of what she has. She is not just a cancer fighter, but an incredible person, one who is passionate … [Read more...]
Let’s Achieve Something Great Today. Lives Depend On It.
Here's the thing about me. I'm am not a nurturer. In fact, my family calls me "Nurse Ratchett". When my husband is hurt he asks for my help only out of desperation. I don't like pain and suffering. I'm more of the 'suck it up' 'your legs aren't broken' type of person. I think I've actually told my kids that. OK. I confess. I have told my kids that. Yet, I'm oddly empathetic to total strangers and those in need. I still get choked up about the Titantic, people. When I read a blog post, "It's Getting Real Bad" from Virginia, a Pittsburgh blogger, I got choked up. Then motivated. She has friends Jamie and Ali McMutrie in Haiti who run an orphanage there. If you didn't read the link I just posted here's the brief … [Read more...]
2009- It Hasn’t All Been Bad
2009 is wrapping up and everywhere I look there is an article or recap about how sucktastic this past year has been. Truthfully, there has been a lot of sadness, worry, woe and hard times for so many. The media, left and right, loves to report on all of it every milisecond too. It is hard to see or remember the good that has happened.- In January we were all about hope and change. We elected our first African-American President. A truly historic moment that revitalized the nation. We need to remember that feeling, regardless of who you voted for, you cannot deny the air did feel electrifying and full of possibilities. - Data and news in the fine print shows that the Dow is up, real estate sales are climbing, the economy is coming back and … [Read more...]
Jingle All the Way 10k
I had my first 10k this weekend. For so many months I have been training, then side-tracked, then training again, gearing up for the cold, dealing with my nerves and all this time fretting and fretting about my time. I was using this particular race to qualify me for RunDC next year. Then something happened.H found out about a work trip to Florida that I could accompany him on. One week in the middle of my least favorite month of the year, March. Sorry March birthday goers, but that lion/lamb thing just messes with my SAD-effected brain. The whole month is like a giant hangover to me. Kind of like how August is just one giant Sunday. Oh, is that just me? Back to the work trip then. A whole week of sunshine, time alone with H, … [Read more...]
It’s Just Sad
Blatantly stealing from Jodifur's post today because I can't crawl out from under my own conundrums here is what is "Crazy Sad".- I asked for a Polder meat thermometer for Christmas. I would rather it not be a gift but since I can't cook a chicken to save my life, I might actually need this thing.- Asking for a meat thermometer makes me feel like I'm 87 and should be named Pearl. I think patent leather box-shaped handbags are all the rage. My best friend's name is Madge and she smokes Salems. My 14 cats hate her and our long games of Canasta.- I can't for the life of me think of what to buy a one year-old at Christmas. Still I would feel just awful if years from now she didn't see any photos of her unwrapping a present, just photos of her eating the wrapping paper. … [Read more...]