Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

Hope you don't mind, but I am going to post my WW picture today because....

Tomorrow

 The Blogger of the Month is going to be announced!!!

The Sun & the Moon

Teens Interrupt Regularly Scheduled Programming....

I am completely throwing caution to the wind (and spell check) to throw this post up. Why? Because I just need to vent a little about life with a teenager...

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my daughter. She was 3 at the time and it was taken as the first snow of the season started to cover the grass. We went outside and tried to make snowballs and a snowman but ended up only able to make snow angels.

I realize she would not stay the cute toddler forever.

But :

Why did arguing over friends we don't know-who now can drive- have to come so soon?

Why did "You just don't GET IT!" have to make it's way into daily vocabulary?

Why does our explaination of "no" have to always have an expanation attached other than "because I said so!"

I love going down memory lane; but I am reminded that time passes quickly and no longer am I making angels in the snow, but trying my best to help a young adult learn from the experiences that have paved the path for this adult.

But why does that process have to be so painful, for both of us?

Maybe I just don't get it.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.....

Changes, they are a-comin'!

In less than a week, a new feature will be arriving here in our neck of the woods and I am so excited! It has been in the making for a while and is now ready! Next Wednesday, Sept. 1st we will announce our very first MGB Blogger of the Month! I am so excited to introduce you, so be sure to check back to see who will be our Blogger of the Month!

The other feature that I have been fervently working on is Blog it Forward! I was not prepared for the immediate response for folks to get invloved! In one week, I have been contacted by over 250 bloggers who want to be a part of this movement! That is so AWESOME, and to be honest, a little overwhelming!

I am trying my best to set up a place where Blog it Forward can have a home. After working my full-time job, carting the kids to and fro to practice, trying to get ready for back to school, I am total toast by the time I sit down at the computer! I know-everyone is busy with their own hectic schedules; I am not the exception, however, the perfectionist in me just wants to make sure that I create a place that gives justice to this idea and folks will be proud to be a part of.

That being said, I will ask you to please continue to leave your contact info either in the comment section of the Blog it Forward post, email or on Blog Frog.

Some have asked when this will be started. I would say, if you have an idea of how you can Blog it Forward, put it in to action! Let me know what you decided to do and we will keep track of your story. I plan to have a rolling out of the "official" Blog it Forward in mid-October.

Thank you for being such a large part in the the changes of Mom Got Blog!

Wordless Wednesday: Our Dinner Table Debate: Bugs Bunny vs. Tom & Jerry

A New Movement: Blog it Forward! Are you in?

Remember the game you used to play as a kid when picking dandelions? You would pick them one at a time, hold the stem firmly in your folded fingers and then place the tip of your thumb just under the flower bud and sing: "Mama had a baby and her head POPped off!" When you came to the word "popped", your thumb would flick the flower head as far as you could.

Morbid song, now that I think about it.This week I have felt like a dandelion! I have so many ideas buzzing around that it is hard to bring them into focus and channel all that energy- if I did, I think my head would pop off!

I have two ideas that are competing with each other to get out there to you. One idea has been dancing around for a while and I finally came to a point where I was ready to give it a go, but then another idea came dashing onto the scene and tapped "Idea" on the shoulder and said "May I cut in?" Even though they arrived to the party separately, they really are two of a kind and I think will complement each other nicely.

My first idea came about in the spring. I wanted to really showcase folks that I like to read and that I thought you would like to read too.  Like most bloggers, I keep a blog roll list on the side bar, but it is starting to get long.  I didn't want anyone to get lost on a list, so I thought highlighting a blog once a month would be a great way for you to get to know other sites out there that maybe you would not have found.

Beginning September 1, I will start a new feature called "MGB, Blogger of the Month"! As the title suggests, the blogger of the month will be highlighted for an entire month sharing a guest post or two and will also have a spot on my sidebar-giving you a chance to get to know them and visit their site. I had a button created just for this occasion and have been in contact with our first honoree! I am so excited!

My second idea came about just the other day while participating in a live blog chat with Darren Rowse, author of ProBlogger. He was hosting a live chat to wrap up his 31DBBB Challenge with the SITS and BlogFrog participants. As Darren was answering questions, we came across one that was asking about promoting your blog and getting people to come and read it. Darren had some great suggestions, but one in particular caught my attention. He said something along the lines of: Promote OTHERS and in turn you will be promoted. I thought: Hmm. Like Karma. What goes around comes around. And then I typed into the chat box what popped into my head: "Blog it Forward!" The buzz was instant and then I thought....I think others would want to do this too.

I posted "A New Movement: Blog it Forward! Are you in?" on Twitter and on the SITS Community page on Blog Frog. The response has been phenomenal!

What is it?  Blog it Forward is like Pay it Forward. Do a kind gesture for someone else, with no expectation of anything in return, and it will help you some day. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Some day.

For example: Maybe you have advertisers emailing you to review products, or giveaways, or what not and you cannot for whatever reason say yes. When you reply with "no", refer them to another blog who would love the opportunity to say "yes".

Another example might be that a blog has been trying to get followers or comments. Maybe suggest to one or two of your followers to "friend" that blog and become an active participant.

How will you Blog it Forward?

I'm going to start with my Blog of the Month idea and also feature Blog it Forward. 

If you are not on BlogFrog and would like to participate, please leave your information in the comments section or you can email me directly.

Let me know how you have done "Blog it Forward!" and I will share your story. Maybe it will inspire someone else!

Wordless Wednesday :: I Still Got It!

Dream a Little Dream

I have discovered so many great blogs and people during this 31DBBB Challenge! One site is written by Sandi of Deva Coaching. What I love about her site is that she fully lives up to her tag line: "Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time". I have found that I will read her post and go off and mull it over for a while, then come back and read it again. She makes me think and I like that very much.

She has posted a challenge on BlogFrog asking us to share our dream with her. Sandi posed these questions:

What if you gave yourself permission to really consider that dream?

What if it wasn't a pipe dream, but a dream you could begin taking action on?

What if you had the right kind of support to make this happen?

I've never really given myself permission to dream. I always felt that dreams were forever to be "what if" moments far away and unreachable. The closest I came to fulfilling a childhood dream came this past winter when I entered a contest for a chance to write/blog about the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. I shared my Olympic Dream
in a post and realized that the only way to get to the games would be through written word rather than athletic abilities. I was not chosen to go to Vancouver and ended up writing about the Olympics from my family room chair. Far away and unreachable.

This challenge has opened the door so to speak. What if I did give myself permission to dream? What would I want to do?

 My daughter asked me what I was writing about as I prepared my post and I told her about this question. She immediately said "Mom, you have to write books. Funny books that tell your stories."

Could it be that others can see what path you should be on before you do? Because she hit the nail on the head.

My dream is to become a published writer and be successful enough to support my family in the process. My dream is to grow this blog, my cooking blog and all the passions in my life and create paid published pieces from them.

Boy, if this came to fruition, it really would be a dream come true.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I have many traits that come with being Italian. I talk with my hands, my family is my lifeline, and food is also very important; to eat and to share.

As a former meetings/conference event planner, I worked with many a chef to prepare menus for clients to be sure they ate and ate well for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No one ever went without. One dinner that I planned consisted of over 100 meals. With travel schedules and late arrivals, not all meals were served and the banquet manager came to me and asked what I would like to do with the 15 or so meals that were still plated in the back. She asked if I would like them boxed for the guests still in attendance to bring back to their rooms. I thought that was a great idea. But then something popped in my head and I asked her "Wait. Do you think these meals could be donated to a shelter or a mission instead?" She said that her property did have an agreement with a local shelter that on a certain night of the week all food that was left from the day was donated to them, however, the night of our function was not one in the same and there was no way to find one at this hour.

Another story, is from a time that I spent in Chicago. My husband and I were walking and window shopping along Michigan Avenue. In our travels back and forth along the "Magnificent Mile", we passed a man, dirty and in ragged clothes, that was just sitting there; every day, in the same spot. He wasn't asking for money and didn't have a sign that said "help me". He was just sitting there. As I passed him throughout our trip, I noticed that when people would walk by eating something, he would look up and follow them with his eyes. On our last day, my husband and I had lunch and I asked for the other half to be boxed. As we walked back to our hotel, I handed my bag to the man on the street that everyone was ignoring. He was hungry.

Did you know that one in eight Americans receives food assistance? In 23 counties of my local area alone, 21,597,680 pounds of food are provided annually. I was shocked when I read that. Want to know where your community stands? Check here.

As you know, we just planned a wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my in-laws. The food was wonderful and we made arrangements ahead of time that we would be able to bring whatever was left over home with us. We did not however, plan on so much to come home. What did we do? We collectively decided that the first thing we should do is call a mission that feeds the homeless once a week. Below is a letter that my brother-in-law wrote to us after he and our niece brought the food to share. I asked if I could share his letter and he said yes. Here is his experience in his own words:

All,


As we discussed after the party, we ended up taking the two trays of pasta down to Pittsburgh on Thursday night to feed the homeless/poor. I wanted to write to let you know that and to let you know how amazing a night it was.

We arrived and saw that there were (I’m guessing) 70-100 people waiting for the students from Steubenville. When they arrived we introduced ourselves and explained about bringing the food. They were cool with that, but didn’t realize how important that would become. You see, this was a week when a local priest was scheduled to bring the food for them to distribute. The students had some donuts to distribute, which they did while they were waiting for the other food. The time went by and no one came bringing the other food.


I don’t think that the students realized that I also “happened” to have bowls and some to put the pasta in and some quantity of plasticware. When I pointed that out they said grace and began distributing the food. It wasn’t a lot for everyone, but everyone who wanted had some and many had seconds. With just enough bowls and silverware, the last of the pasta was eaten. God in His providence did provide. Let’s say it this way: if mom and dad hadn’t gotten married 50 years ago (and thousands of other events in between) there would have been a lot of hungry people yesterday….


Anyway, we had an amazing time. We ended up spending most of the time getting a “history lesson” from a guy named Al. Al went on and on engaging us with amazing stories and history of Pittsburgh, America and the world. He was GREAT! He went on and on with fun story and story and also did a real motivational talk about learning. It was really amazing.


Randy

When I finished reading this, I immediately looked up my local food bank to volunteer. I printed out their schedule and told my kids to look at it, pick a date and time when as a family, we would go and help prepare parcels for those in need. 
 
I'm going to ask you to do the same.
 
Look at eight of your neighbors or eight people you pass in the mall or on the street. Statistically, one of them will be receiving assistance from your local food bank.
 
Food is a basic need that all of us require to live. In this day and age, no one should have to feel hungry. If giving my time or donating food to my local food bank will help, then that is the least I can do.
 
Will you join me?
 
Find out more from Feeding America, a great resource of information.

Wordless Wednesday:: Why Little Bobby & Suzy Should Keep a Dictionary on Top of Their Supply List

See original story from Yahoo!

They Link Me, They Really Link Me!

I feel like Sally Field excepting her Oscar as she exclaimed "You like me, You really like me!"

As I have mentioned, I am working my way through daily assigned tasks with the SITS and ProBlogger's "Build a Better Blog in 31 Days" (aka: 31DBBB) Challenge. I am so glad that I have signed up to do this because it has allowed me to move out of my comfort zone and put faith in the blogging community to help me grow as a blogger and I have to say I have not been disappointed! The support from folks that have come by to visit from this community has been wonderful! I wish I could express how grateful I am to receive constructive feedback, techie advice and kind words of encouragement. To all of these wonderful ladies (and gents too!) :

I love you man!

Because of recently traveling for the sweet family getaway to celebrate a BIG anniversary, I have been playing catch up with Days 13-23(today) and completing them, but not necessarily in chronological order.  Today's post (Day 22) is highlighting a special reader or two or three...

I have visited so many great sites that my head is spinning. Some make me cry, some make me laugh, some make me think and others make me learn, but what I am noticing to be the common denominator is: They all have Great Content! So, I will share just a few of the wonderful blogs out there that I am really digging and hope that you will pay them a visit, because they are worth it!

Generating Heat:( a journey back to myself)
Lisa is a dear friend of mine from my favorite sport of speedskating. While taking to the ice in competition, we always encouraged each other and soon became fast (no pun intended) friends. Lisa is a potter (clay) and is currently taking part in an art exhibition all the way in Korea! She is journaling and photographing her experiences each day- including today's post where she shares "I Had Tea With a Monk on A Side of A Mountain"! I mean, how cool is that?! Get lost in her blog: you will find among her lovely photographs and posts that she is not only an artist with her craft, she is with her written word as well.

Making It Work Mom
Heather is a blogging mom that emailed me very early in this challenge asking if I would link a post for her. After reading her stories of being a working mom and trying to balance a hectic family schedule, well, I immediately liked her! Our kids are close in age and we are dealing with some of the same issues, so her take on life makes me laugh right along with her. Her latest post : "Maybe Giselle Should Mind Her Own Business...Just Saying"was very funny, yet very on target. Heather was also kind enough to link back to a post of mine! Thanks Heather!!

Coloring Outside the Lines
Alycia, also known in certain circles as the Crayon Wrangler, has a fantastic sense of humor and her writing is just top notch! I have been more interactive with her via Twitter and Blog Frog, however, her blog also totally ROCKS! She completely surprised me yesterday by leaving a comment on my Facebook Fan Page where she told me that my blog rocked AND on top of that, linked one of my posts for twitter followers to read! If you are thinking of writing a book, be sure to read her post on "Finishing Writing a Novel-A Novel Idea". Where you can double check to make sure that you are writing your character's story!

MultipleMama
Andie surprised me out of the blue (which is a condition of this Day Task 22) with an email letting me know that she linked a comment I left for her and included it in this post: "Messiness Loves Company". I emailed her back with a "Wowza!" I have enjoyed her wit and real life take on motherhood that she shares in her posts and I know you will too!

The Funsucker Chronicles
Cheryl had me laughing the moment I loaded her blog page- it is wicked in more ways than one! When I saw that she had the Wicked Witch as her header picture and that her kids claimed she "sucked the fun out of everything",  I felt a kindred spirit. I have not shared this with her yet, but my sister-in-law used to be pen pals with Margaret Hamilton, aka: Cora the Coffee Lady for Maxwell House, aka The Wicked Witch of The West! Speaking of penpals, I recently learned how long camper's letters to home actually take and invaluable camping advice with her revised post: "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I learned at Summer Camp-Encore Presentation". Although she lost me at "tarantula," (I'm arachnophobic), the rest of her tips are rather helpful! I may hide my Ruby Slippers when I see her, but I will always welcome the Funsucker into the bloghouse!

I wish I could share all the fabulous blogs out there as this is just a small sampling of what I have come across during this challenge! There are many, many more I would love to put in this post...in fact, this task has spurred an idea into action that I have been mulling over and over for months now. Watch for a rolling out of my super-de-duper idea that will be ready by the end of the month. You will love it!

Now, go visit and let me know what you think!

And thanks for the link love; you make me feel like a star!

Joy is My Way of Life

One of my favorite bloggers is having a contest and I was "SoyJoy"ed to see that the only requirement of entry was to write a blog post and include a quote at the end. Did I want to enter and have a shot at winning a ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR American Express gift card? Uh, yee-ahh!

What Brings Me Joy?

Live: My Life in the 'Here and Now' moments always helps me realize I am seizing the day! 

Love:  After 17 years, my husband always makes my heart pound, whether walking into a room or kicking my butt on the bike.

Laugh: My kids always make me laugh!

 

My life is HAPPY because of JOY

“This post is part of SOYJOY‘s What brings you joy contest. Learn more here.”

The Adventures of "Wally World"

I did not set out for a "Three Hour Tour" of my local "Wally World"...I was going for what I thought would be a quick hour shop to replenish the essentials in the fridge, to purchase my daughters favorite cake mix for her Birthday and to make sure I picked up a card. It was a Wednesday evening so this will be a snap-or so I thought! I should have suspected something when the parking gods allowed me the very first space in the lot, right in front of the door; "Sa-weet!" I thought as I whistled  pulling in. I checked not once, but twice to make sure I was not occupying a handicapped spot. Nope.

I tried finding a cart that did not fight to be pushed down aisles. I went through two. I pushed the squeaky wheel thing to the first row of the pharmacy where I saw another cart sitting solo...I could trade mine for that....I pulled out and this one was worse. So I bucked and went sideways as the left wheel spun around like Linda Blair's head. Ugh. Why must I always get the defective cart??

Then the weird started to happen.

I cu-chunk, cu-chunk-ed my way to the protein bar section and was met with Ned Flanders (The Simpsons) in the flesh. He was perfectly pressed; glasses and hair...(the only thing missing was the mustache) and two kids who he was sending down the aisle to retrieve whatever they needed. Our timing was not the best as we would run into each other at the end of each corner. Great googily-moogily. Then we ran into a traffic jam in the shampoo. He said " Oh, you don't need to move your cart out of the way ma'am." and as I reached for shampoo and conditioner I hear close over my shoulder " Ohhh, Passion Fruit? Uh, no, Cherry Blossom & Ginger, mmmmm" Eww. Hey, creepy Flanders...respect the personal bubble space!

I high-tailed it to school supply and picked up notebooks and loose-leaf paper. They will be gone by next week. Not much goin' on here except kids with pained looks on their faces while mom's filled their cart with giddy smiles.."You'll need these and these and these...oh, and we can't forget these!"

Making my way to the card section, I was stopped by a beautiful woman, completely wrapped from head to toe, asking if I knew where they kept the sunscreen. Ah, okaaaay.....I think over....this way....where I ran into an elderly lady who was searching for something for her toe, which of course she had to show me...and proceeded to pull her foot out of her shoe, (faster than my kids could strip out of a diaper-which let me tell you, was lightning fast!) remove her sock to show off her nasty, nasty, nasty toe nails...ah, okaaaayyy...I pointed over my shoulder in the direction of the pharmacy with the nicest smile I could muster and from there I kept walking. "Linda Blair" wheel and I needed to get to the freezer section, I mean cereal section, I mean...anywhere but here.

I made it through the entire store, keeping my last stop to the produce section-everything stays less squished when you can put on top of the cart. I happily bagged everything...until I came to plum tomatoes. Ever wonder why the tomatoes are so smushy and bruised in the store? Well, let me tell you why! Because...Tom Tomato Stacker doesn't place them into their bin, he chucks them...by the handful. And I am not talking a gingerly toss here...I think he was miffed because he got overlooked as a pitcher at some point in his life. He stood between my grape tomatoes and avocados...but I need plums to make my guacamole! Tommy Boy kept staring, more like glaring, at me until I finally asked, "May I sneak in here just to grab a few of those?" He replied "Yeah. Whatever." Okaaay....

Off to the check out I go...not too bad....an hour and 30 minutes....and a line that is short! Yes!
Of course, you know I didn't sail through the line...that would have been too easy. I was two carts and 4 kids away from completing my purchase and going home.

The woman at the check out had 3 kids. Two around 8 and 6 and a baby around one who loved to hit the keypad near the register. I don't know if he hit something on the pad or what, but it created line-gridlock for the rest of us. (Let me just say that it was like a Saturday in this store, crazy busy and not enough registers open. So I stayed put. I would get there eventually.) A supervisor was needed to fix something with a key, so that's who we were waiting for.  I couldn't get upset...I mean, mom is just trying to get through the day like the rest of us and get home.

But little "Dino-Bite" man, (that's what the T-Rex on his shirt was saying) in front of me was having a hard time. He kept telling his mom that he had to go potty...and mom would tell him he would have to wait. Little did she know that she could have gone home and back again and still been waiting. My poor little 3 year old friend. He was being so patient and so good as he sat there in the top of the cart. Then he started making faces at me. First a smile. I smiled. Then a frown. I frowned. Then a scowl. I scowled.  We did this for about 30 minutes. I started to remember how small my kids were and how I loved feeling the touch of their little hands when they would hold my face as they whispered something very important, or just wanted to stare into my eyes. I got snapped out of that Happy Place as a woman pushed me out of the way to grab six Pringles cans on the shelf next to me. Really? You need 6 of them?

I bid ado to Dino-Bite as he wheeled away making room for my stuff. Check out girl was working like molasses and I could not unload my stuff until the belt moved forward. When I checked to see why it hadn't moved I was appalled that I saw her PUTTING MY FOOD BAGS ON THE FLOOR!!!! What the heck??? I moved my cart forward and grabbed the bags off the floor and put them in my cart; then handed her all the items that were still in my cart to ring out. Why on earth would you put food ON THE FLOOR I wanted to yell. But the fact that I handed her things to ring out made her eyes roll and I swear she moved slowwwweeerrrrr.

I finally made it to my car, which remember was in the front spot. My only saving grace. Then I heard that shrill scream that only little kids can do. You know the one...it's as if you are torturing the poor thing. This fiasco was happening not directly in front of my car but on the opposite side of the next parking row. This mom also got the front spot. I wonder if she felt the same joy I felt when finding it. In any event, I hear bloody screams coming from the back of her car and see only half the mom. I knew this scenario all too well- the cries were from a way overtired toddler that was hungry, hot and just spent an eternity in Wally World. (I'm with ya kid). When my kids were that age, I broke into many a sweat trying to fit a squirming, screaming, recently possessd kid into a car seat. It's not easy. I finished packing up my car and as I closed my hatch "Mom" and I made eye contact. I was laughing and I gave her two thumbs up. The gesture made her laugh and she doubled over with a big smile and let her body language exude a huge "WHEW!"

I tell myself every time that I am never coming back here, but how can I not? Who knew one could experience the mundane and the bizarre all in one place? Next time, I'm passing on the premo parking spot, making sure I put pea soup in my shopping cart to take care of any spinning wheels and focus on the humor that the adventure brings.

Wordless Wednesday

Orange you glad I didn't say anything on WW? Damn...I did it again....