Good Night Irene

Wow.

Is it irrational to have feelings for a Hurricane? 

When I found out that "Irene" was coming up the coast, my initial, irrational, childish, reaction was...
"Crap, Mom's coming for me."

Yes.  My very estranged, very dead, Mother's name is Irene.

Irrational?

Paranoid?

My Mother and I never got along.

 I wanted an all accepting mom.

 She wanted the girly girl interested in beauty, fashion, homemaking and ... I don't know. 

I could've been those things...maybe... but sandwiched between two brothers I would've had no chance. 

Please understand. 

We never saw eye-to-eye.

I was outspoken (mouthy) and never gave in. 

I was adopted.

 I knew that from the beginning.  I don't think that was the issue, although I think totally different genetics may have had something to do with it. 

We NEVER agreed. 

I did everything that was important to her.  Begging for acceptance.

I tried modeling, at five.  I pushed the other kid off the stage (Sorry Randy).  FAIL

I excelled in Cheerleading (at least in Jr. high) it was  never enough.  Too Good?

Here I am.

 More than 10 years after her death...

 my initial instinct is DOOM.

REALLY?

Re-think That!

I am what I am. 

She should then and now be PROUD of me. 

I am an Independent woman and am doing right by everyone I know.

Isn't that what matters?

Good Night Irene. 

RIP, Mom.

Cinema Cafe, You've Disappointed Me

I knew that Wednesdays were $3.50 movies all day so I decided to see what was playing and let the kids decide what they wanted to see.  The opening page looks like this...

See.  All movies.  All day.  There is a snippet in there about special engagements not being included, but surely that refers to special sporting events or concerts that theaters now like to make available, right?

Not. So Much.

See?

How is The Smurf's Movie or Zookeeper special engagements?  It says nothing about "New Releases"  In fact, Spy Kids has only been out since Friday and it's included (even though you can't see it in this picture due to print screen sizing).  So why the false advertising?

We ended up seeing Mr. Popper's Penguins and thought it was really cute.  It's just sad that companies hook you in with a great deal just so you can find out it's not that great, or at least not as great as they claim.

Puddin Pop had a Nightmare

Pic Credit geekologie.com

Puddin Pop woke this morning and immediately announced that she had had a nightmare.  It went like this...

"Daddy, Papa and I went hunting.  We were hunting for Bigfoot.  We thought we found him but it just turned out to be a crazy man... and he followed us home.  I was really scared and ran into the house.  Grandma asked me what was wrong and I told her about the crazy man and that he followed us home.  She grabbed a frying pan and went right up to the crazy man and hit him in the nose with the frying pan.  Then he was nice and we invited him in."

Thank Goodness for Grandma!

My Thoughts on Blogging

Image from boostability.com

Stop Following Rules made by Others.

That's my main bit of advice.  Everyone has thoughts on what needs to be done to become a successful blogger but what they neglect to understand is that we all have a different meaning of "successful."

Set Your Own Rules... and Don't Be Afraid to Change Them

When I first started blogging I wanted to make money.  Plain and Simple.  I did sponsored posts on anything and everything.  I posted about stuff I had no business talking about because I didn't even know what I was saying, but I was making money, so I was successful.  Then I decided to be more selective.  I still do sponsored posts and reviews, but only on products and services I understand, have a need for or am interested in.  That was my choice.  My Rule changed and I embraced it.  I also started making more money for those posts so it all evened out. 

Be True to Yourself

Some of the well known bloggers will tell you not to give away anything for free.  They may be right and that probably reflects their personalities.  That doesn't fit my personality at all.  I'm one of the "go-to" people amongst my friends.  When someone is in a bind and needs someone to watch their kids, they know they can call me and I'll happily help them out.  I don't ask for money or for them to return the favor.  If I come across a business that makes cute hair bows like Little Owl Boutique or an individual that does awesome bead work like Molly's Lampwork Beads  I'll promote them because I can.  Those two ladies are incredibly talented and happen to be personal friends of mine.  Not only did they not ask me to promote them, they don't even know I'm doing it.  It makes me happy to help them out.  I often post about charities because I am always looking for ways to "give back".   If I asked these charities to compensate me I would feel like a fraud.  Really.  One of my favorite sites to promote is Bridge and Beyond.  Sandy and I have become virtual friends through blogging and Facebook.  She encourages knitters to donate hats, mittens and scarves that she gives to the homeless men in her area.  She also donates some of the stuff to local free clinics that make them available to women and children.  She also doesn't know I'm posting this.  It's a cause I support and a woman I think is amazing, so I share it with you.  That's what works for me and makes me feel successful.  You have to do what's right for you.

Post When You Have Something to Say

This is another tough one.  I understand that your articles are more likely to be picked up by the search engines with regular posting but, setting a goal of X number of posts a week has never worked for me.  I often fail to hit my goal or post something crappy because I'm trying to hit a quota... that I set for myself.  How silly is that?  Now I post when I feel like it.  I no longer feel like I've failed and I'm much happier with my content.  My happiness is what matters here.  Your happiness is what's important on your blog.

Do It Your Way

Read what others have to say.  Arm yourself with the knowledge others possess and then do what works best for you.  Change your mind when you want and continue to strive for new goals and knowledge.  That's the best way, I've found, to make this a continuing hobby.  I call it a hobby because it isn't a "living".  That was never my goal.

Too Good not to Share.

Fijit Friends Review

We were sent Fijit Friends to try and share with Friends via an in-home party.  All the dress up party supplies were included and the kids were super excited to interact with their new friends Sage and Willa.

Designed by Mattel, these adorable squishy robot friends are designed for girls 6-10.  Telling my 8 year old son that they were for girls didn't stop him at all.  He jumped right in and claimed Sage as his own.  Having both kids and their Fijits in the same room shouting (you don't need to shout, they were just trying to make sure their new friend heard them over the other) didn't work well at all.  We tried out one at a time but still had difficulty letting one person do the talking.  This toy definitely works better in a one-on-one situation.

Reacting to certain words and phrases the Fijit friends dance, tell jokes and hold their own in conversation.  You can go online and load "chirps" which are sound bytes that the Fijit friends respond to and it teaches them special dances and jokes.  If they are within 20 feet and in chirp mode they will respond immediately.  Pretty neat.

You can have your Fijit dance to their own music or yours.  Having them dance to your music allows for longer dance modes.  They sense the beat and move accordingly.  More rhythm than I have.

We found the Fijits didn't always respond to commands correctly.  When asked to dance they often mistook the command and went to sleep instead.  I found that posing the commands as a question with strong voice inflexion worked best but it's important to not have any background noise.

One of the Fijits we received had a small bubble in the outer plastic coating that tore within two hours of coming out of the box.  It was the one my son was playing with which may, again, be why they are being marketed for girls.

At our party, where we introduced the Fijit Friends to our friends, the kids (5 and 6 year olds) quickly got bored yelling commands and not getting the correct response.  They also weren't very patient in letting just one child speak at a time.  I think the idea would have worked better with kids a little older that weren't just excited to be together.  My son (8) also got frustrated when the Fijit wouldn't respond correctly and gave up.

The toy has obvious benefits and would make a fun toy for an only child or one that prefers alone time.  It is not meant to be played with by  several children at the same time, at least not at our house.  Puddin Pop loves to take hers with her wherever she goes and often sneaks off to her room to play with Willa when no one else is available to play.

For more information, visit Fijit Friends online.  Watch the videos of the Fijit friends with family pets.  We laughed so hard.  They never stop being funny.  Promise.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel Fijit Friends and received product samples, a party kit, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate

Happy Anniversary UPromise!

This post brought to you by UPromise. All opinions are 100% mine.

Happy 10th Anniversary UPromise!

We joined when Handsome was born, 8 years ago.  UPromise has come a long way since then and continues to add new ways to save towards your children's future.  With the ease of buying things that are already on your grocery list.  You can "load" savings to your corresponding store cards and when you purchase the items, money automatically is deposited into your UPromise account.  I have ours set up to split the funds between the two kids.  60% goes into Handsome's college savings and 40% goes to Puddin Pop.  I decided to split it this way only to compensated for the age difference.

To celebrate their 10th Anniversary, UPromise is giving away $20,000.  To enter, just head over to www.upromisetodream.com and tell them what dream you have for your child/ren.  Here's mine..

"My dream for my children is nothing more than for them to lead a healthy and happy life.  I would love for them to find something they are passionate about and be able to make a career out of it.  UPromise will help them be able to attend the University of their choice to, hopefully, further their education and study the things they love. "    """  "

You can find the dream wall official rules for full details.

 

What dreams do you have for your kids?

 

Are you a member at UPromise?   You should be.