Following everyone back! I LOVE me some Pinterest and participate it Pin It Fridays with 5 Minutes for Mom. Here's my boards: http://pinterest.com/waystosave/

I was sitting here beginning to think about Christmas. Even feeling a little proud because I've already picked up a few things when I remembered a big disappointment of mine from last year. Each year I get at least one ornament for each of my children. Many times I'll pick them up for neices and nephews. My mother did this for my sisters and I and we began our own tree decorating with a full tree. I decided to take the plunge and buy HallMark ornaments for my children last year. I got a Jessie (from Toy Story) ornament for my youngest and a Barbie ornament for my older daughter. I put the ornaments in their stockings (which is what I usually do) and was sorely disappointed to find them broken the next morning. They were made of very thin plastic, but I hadn't taken them out of the box at the store to see them-my bad. I had thought though that for $12+ I would be getting a quality product. I think these ornaments are mass produced expensive brittle plastic. I'll stick with the unique ornaments I can pick up at craft shows and out of the way stores.

Yeah!! Can't wait for tonight!!!!!

Please read. We need to start being honest in our portrayal of breast cancer. It's so important. Also? Stop the victim blaming. It's not helping a single person. http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2012/02/08/komen/ The real scandal: science denialism at Susan G. Komen for the Cure® By Christie Aschwanden

When Cooper and I started blogging in 2004, we had no idea what was coming.
Seriously, who could have imagined the mind-blowingly creative ways that we would all would use the web to make our lives better?!
Down the road, I have no doubt we’ll look back on these days and say, “That’s when it all changed.”
I was thinking about that idea – that we’re living in this incredible time in history when our lives are changing in so many ways for the good - when ONE asked me to blog about their 12 Days of Change Campaign and to focus in particular on Living Proof.
Here’s the connection. We never imagined our lives could change so much so quickly, and across the ocean, vast improvements are happening in Africa that would have been inconceivable a decade ago.
Just this week, the cover story in the Economist is “Africa Rising: The Hopeful Continent.”
Africa … The Hopeful Continent.
Not many people (aside from the ONE Campaign) would have said that about Africa ten years ago.
Yet, “in eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan,” according to the Economist. “Africa now has the fastest growing middle class in the world.”
The health of millions has improved.
In a Living Proof video, Melinda Gates says that 3 million people are now receiving antiretroviral drugs to control HIV/AIDS. That includes a lot of moms who are staying alive and can now raise their children and do all the things that moms do to make things better for their families and neighbors.
We really might see a healthy, prosperous Africa in our lifetimes.
And that’s what the Living Proof Project is showing us - the stories of the incredible progress being made by some of the world’s poorest people.
In the spirit of the holidays, join us today to share and marvel at what’s been made possible in our lives and in the lives of Africans.
Today’s 12 Days of Change action is super easy: Share Living Proof with your friends!!!
Use Facebook, Twitter and the blogs to talk about Living Proof and share a video, a ONE PSA, a story or fact about smart and effective aid that is working in Africa.
Here’s a tweet if you’d like:
It's 12 Days of Change & @EmilyMcKhann says to spread the word on the @OneCampaign’s great Living Proof project: http://bit.ly/e4L2hW
Thank you and happy holidays!!
The ONE 12 Days of Change Project: http://bit.ly/vgpia6
Living Proof: http://bit.ly/e4L2hW
Amy Oztan's post on the 12 Days of Change: http://bit.ly/uutUI8

The bully inside: Women who can't take a compliment Why so many have a tough time graciously accepting praise I recently approached a woman in my local gym, admiring her turn at the weight machines. "Wow, you are really strong," I said. "That's an awesome amount of weight." She looked at me blankly. "What's wrong with it?" "Nothing," I responded. "It's just impressive." “What do you mean by that?," she asked, eyeing me. "Uh, I don't know," I stammered, flummoxed. "I mean…It’s great. I just…anyway…O.K. then.” And I backed away slowly. This sort of thing happens all the time. I once complimented a retail clerk’s hands -- no kidding, she had gorgeous hands -- and you would’ve thought I had just handed her a mash note. Recently health writer Leslie Goldman addressed the issue of female discomfort upon receiving a compliment in her Healthbreaksloose blog. When another woman complimented Goldman’s legs Goldman said “‘Oh my God, are you kidding me?! My legs are covered with spider veins!’” Why, Goldman wrote, do women have such a tough time graciously accepting praise and simply saying thanks? In Goldman's view, the pressure to reject a compliment is ingrained in women from an early age. "I think women are just kind of raised to seem humble," Goldman told Kathie Lee and Hoda on TODAY Wednesday. Developmental psychologist Dr. Robyn Silverman suggests that at least when it comes to compliments about a woman’s appearance, an “inner body bully” makes women deny that the flattery could be true. "[It] tells us we're not thin enough, we're not good enough and not worthy enough to take the compliment and so we downgrade it," Silverman, author of "Good Girls Don't Get Fat" told TODAY. Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44340053/ns/today-today_health/

Most Parents Unable to Detect Sport Injuries On and Off the Field.... http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2011/04/Most-parents-unable-to-detect-sports-injuries-on-and-off-the-field/46248088/1?loc=interstitialskip (I would be in that camp, for the most part....not good)

Got some giveaway sponsors for your blog (go on, take 'em) Hey all. I run a community site called bloggerdise.com. Essentially we link up bloggers with businesses and artists that are looking to be reviewed, do giveaways or promote their offers. Our site is totally free to register and use. We have over 800 businesses to choose from. Though I figure I'd offer up some of my personal picks on this thread. Again, to actually view all the business contact info you just need to register on bloggerdise.com first, for free. Ok, here's my first batch ... [oh, and if you have any questions you can reach me @ jesse@bloggerdise.com] Awesome popcorn company that is into sampling. Love their caramel corn ! http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=501 Novelist with a quirky sense of humor... http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=982 Skincare brand that is in to doing sampling of different kinds of products. http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1422 Eco-lips (premium lip care) open to giveaways – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=531 About Abby (award winning web series) looking for interesting promotional ideas – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1263 Vegan Web series starring Eric Roberts http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1206 Marcal tissues (open to giveaways and reviews) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=872 Delicious Tea co. Open to sampling – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1319 Charitable search site – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1207 Applegate Farms (open to couponing) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1233 I got a bunch more, but interested to get your feedback (like if you want me to keep posting these.) Best, Jesse Bloggerdise.com

Gadget gifts for the fitness forward If you have a fitness-minded friend, these are some great gift ideas! Check out the slide show of eight gifts that can help keep you exercising! http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/14/health/fitness-gadget-gifts/index.html?hpt=hp_bn10

I should post this over in OceanPrayer, too!

Breastfeeding Sucks I was reading the fabulous Jennifer Brandt's blog Perfectly Disheveled tonight and was reminded of something that I had buried deep within the recesses of my mind...BREAST FEEDING! Oh how it sucked! No pun intended. It was one of the most awful things I have experienced thus far in motherhood. I know its not PC to admit this but hey, that's how I roll. I am honest to a fault. I always thought that breastfeeding would be something beautiful and magical; a sacred bond between mother and baby. And it was...but it was also something else. It was what most Hollywood actresses look like without their hair and makeup done, no stylist standing by, no PR person to spin their words into weaved gold. It was raw, it was painful , it was ugly and , on most days, it hurt me..deeply. Worse than that, it was humbling and , at the get, made me feel like the world's biggest freaking loser Mommy! Amen. I'm divulging the truth that it was for me. I remember coming home on that first day, driving 15 miles an hour with our blinkers on trying our best not to damage or mess up this most perfect being that we had just been given. We cooked this baby good and read all the books but when it came down to it, we couldn't believe these people were going to let us take the baby out of the hospital. After all, what the hell were they thinking? We didn't know what to do. We could barely keep one another alive,plants were dying all over the house, I'd lost a dog but these assholes wanted me to keep an entire human being alive! WHAT?? Panic set in. But there was no turning back. We were going to hold onto this halo/fog of new baby splendor as long as we possibly could. The key was to keep the baby in tact. We get home.Hello baby! This is your new house. The whole world, in its entirety, will be forever changed. You will be the sun and we will rotate around you forevermore. Time for a nap. Gently we place the baby into the bassinet and then its time to turn off the lights, pull the room darkening shades and SLEEP. But wait. That won't work. If the lights are off we can't see if she's breathing. If we can't see that she's breathing..maybe she's not. No! Sorry this plan will not work. Abort mission. Abort mission! Turning off the lights won't do. Instead, we collapsed in exhaustion laying across the bed, with our heads half in the bassinet, with the ceiling fan light turned all the way on! Just about the time my brain and heart gave way and allowed my eyes to close,the baby woke up..starving. To my teet I drew my baby.She suckled. She didn't latch very well. I knew that my milk hadn't come in yet, as the lactation nurse had already informed me of my ineptitude before I had even left the hospital. She, also, had set me up with a medieval contraption known as an SNS . Not familiar with this?Oh, aren't you the lucky girl? SNS stands for Supplemental Nursing System which is basically today's scarlet letter for you are a fucking loser who doesn't have the capability of feeding your own offspring. That's right, there are broads in the world feeding their boobie nectar to chihuahuas and I can't keep my own human alive. Fuck. It was the Chia pet all over again. I was panicked. I was popping Fenugreek like they were the last tic tacs in the world. Anyways, those were my choices...Fenugreek and SNS...until my milk dropped. What does that even mean?It's not like a gallon of formula is going to come spilling out of me. I pumped..barely a taste for my infant.So, I grudgingly hook myself up to the SNS. Picture, if you will, some sort of human type version of what is used on cows. Basically, it was a small container that you filled with formula, that hung around your neck. There was a very small tube attached to that which was then taped to the top of your breast and down at the nipple.For me, that meant atop the nipple shield.It was a pretty hostile site. Poor baby Bella. Why couldn't her Mommy just produce like all the other Mommies? I don't know baby. These fucking D boobs apparently are for fun and not function.ARGH! The humiliation. As I sat there, her looking up at me, questioning what wrong she had done in a previous life to be saddled with such a worthless mom, was enough to break my heart. But I soldiered on because I wasn't stopping until that milk gave in and came in. I was going to feed this baby if it killed me or broke me. Oh, don't you worry...it almost did. I called the nurse and she barked at me to only do the SNS every other feeding and only an ounce so that it forced the baby to suckle harder and force my milk to drop. I listened because, quite frankly,this is her job and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Then in that first 24 hour period, Bella fed avery 1/2 hour. Do you know what that means? She was literally off my tit for about 5 minutes every hour for 24 hours. She was crying, out of starvation. I was crying out of frustration, humiliation and guilt. I felt like the biggest piece of shit Mother to EVER walk the earth..even lower than those broads who drove their kids off a bridge. By the next morning, constant crying ( on both our parts) and no sleep, I was at my most vulnerable. And the baby was looking pretty much like an Oompa Loompa. I'm not going to lie to you, I lost my ever loving mind when I realized I had broken the baby. The perfect little baby. I called the doctor and he said to bring her to the hospital. I was raw. OMG. I was the most exhausted, vulnerable, crazed lunatic on the maternity ward. Oh yes, they made me return to the scene of the crime.The nursery. Immediately, they took one look at our Willie Wonka cast member and told us that our baby had jaundice...caused by my malfunctioning bossoms! It was if someone kicked me in my hemorrhaging crotch, smacked me in my sore raw nipples, and yanked my heart out through my chest all while laughing at me. I left the room and ugly cried hysterically...uncontrollably. The Big Guy was freaked out, his baby was orange and his wife was out of her mind. The nurses knew it was hormones. They tried to soothe my fears but it was impossible. The moral of the story is even after all this, I continued to nurse for 3 months...with the SNS system because I NEVER produced enough milk to sustain my child.NEVER! But that damn lactation nurse kept telling me to keep taking the Fenugreek, it will come in. Then she told me to withhold formula, then I lost her number. I have never felt like such a failure. To this day, it still makes me hang my head to know that I couldn't just breastfeed. It's like being 30 and still riding a bike with training wheels. But because I would have been ridiculed by everyone I knew and scowled at for not trying my damnest, I did it again with my second child and again we ended up in the hospital with jaundice. Breastfeeding isn't for everybody...no matter what people say. If I could have, I would have done it for longer. I did love the bond we formed during that breastfeeding time but if you pan out in the pictures, you can clearly see that I was strapped to that SNS contraption which was neither sweet or bond conducive. So, I say to you...for me...BREAST FEEDING SUCKED! Did you breastfeed? For how long? Was it easy? Was it hard? Did you use an SNS? Would you? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

This is my post from Wednesday--the one I felt led to post. http://applesinwonderland.blogspot.com/2011/03/curiosity-of-water.html

Who doesn't love The Beatles? Their songs are now available with the click of a button. http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2010-11-24-beatlesales_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

My secret life. This is what I would never EVER dare share with my mother-in-law or one of my two sisters. I'm even a bit hesitant to share it with my open minded liberal sister. It's not the sort of place you would ever expect me to go to or the people anyone would ever think I would "hang out" with. Sunday night I went to a gay bar (wait, thats not all) for a drag show. A friend of mine had always wanted to see one. She said movies she loved such as "The BirdCage" and "To Wong Fu; Thank's for Everything Julie Newmar" had always made her curious My friend has two male gay friends who had been, but not for years and wanted to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. Some of what I experienced was expected and some unexpected. The first thing I noticed was the burley and not friendly bouncer. They took your ID and scanned it to make sure it wasn't fake. This, as a mom I have to say, I appreciated. The next was the very friendly and extremely PTA/Soccer Mom looking woman who took our money for the cover charge (which was happily only $5 with no drink buying minimum. PLUS!) Then on to the bar where my wild friend and I ordered our Diet Cokes from (no joke) this drop dead gorgeous bartender. Oh and he had the personality to make tips! Very nice guy, young enough to at least be my nephew. It was a varied and friendly crowd. There were many strange people, and I'm not talking about the drag queens here. There were a few people obviously star struck by the Queens and they were a little obsessed and "off;" Other than that there were obviously gay couples, after awhile obviously gay couples, couldn't ever really tell groups of people, groups of friends, and the drag queens who had already performed there to cheer on the Queens yet to perform. All but one person was very convincing as a woman and there is one my friend and I were convinced was thrown in there for fun because I still can't see how it wasn't a woman. I stood there doing what women do, looking at hair, makeup and clothing, taking mental notes on things I liked. No one was out of control. No one was a jerk. Everyone in the room was supportive of the person on stage at the time. It was a kind of Utopia where everyone was accepted and encouraged and no one was put down or judged I know this all may sound strange, and maybe even a bit scarey. I may go again sometime, I may not. I am glad though that I did go because it opened my eyes to a community I'm just not ever exposed to and let me see that in the end Drag Queens are just people. People looking for the same things we all want. Recognition for hard work, acceptance in a community and the freedom to live life in the way they see fit.

Do you love sea glass, too? http://pinterest.com/robinhansel/the-only-treasure-i-seek/

remember the days before Face Book? why do you FB?

I not only sympathized but empathize for you. I myself has been a caregiver to both of my grandparents and now my son. It's not easy and somedays are better than others. But we remain strong because our heart and soul won't allow for us to weaken. We find strength from within and just do it. It takes a great woman to do what you continue to do and it may only get harder, however, know that there are no coincidence, everything has been planned and we were the chosen few. What hasn't killed us has only made us stronger! Have faith, be strong and all else will fall into place. I'm here for you and living proof that it can be done! You are in my prayers today and everyday.

Wow. Its been a long time since I've posted in here. Well, 'Baby Bean' is now Nicholas James. He's a little over 8 months old and looks JUST like his older brothers. I lied before- I was on guard CONSTANTLY, but I guess its just what happens. Life is exciting with 3 boys. They're super nuts and now I'm always on edge that they're going to kill each other. We're officially "Boystown" now. I even started a blog to document life as the queen of my little town if anyone ever wants to visit: http://confessionsfromboystown.blogspot.com If you visit, be sure to leave me a comment so I know you stopped by!

http://yvonnemoss.blogspot.com/2010/03/blemishes.html http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZFbNAvQC2IY/S6jOR80Yu3I/AAAAAAAABk8/5fLY3A6mJLY/s1600-h/IMG_9048.jpg Not just for teenagers... Even adults have them. Here are some tips that can help keep them under control. 1.  Keep your face clean.  Keep your hands off.      (touching door handles, telephones, things that       other people touch is not sanitary and your skin       already is compromised.  This adds to it.) 2.  Ladies, don't go to bed with makeup on!      (If you don't wash it off, your getting old makeup        on your skin from your pillowcase). 3.  Wash your face with a gentle cleaner, like        Cetaphil. (it's non-comedogenic, freagrance      free and soap free). 4.   Use a scrub once in a while.       (I like St. Ives as it's hypo-allergenic and        inexpensive). 5.   http://yvonnemoss.blogspot.com/2009/03/taking-care-of-your-makeup-brushes.html weekly if you wear makeup every day.      (you are painting your face with lovely bacteria if you don't) 6.  Don't go overboard on the http://yvonnemoss.blogspot.com/2010/03/eye-makeup-before-foundation.html .  Too often, girls with bad skin      try to completely conceal the skin and the heavy foundation actually     makes the skin worse.  (this is why I love the Studio Tech by MAC as      it gives great coverage while not over clogging the skin.  It also does     a great job at toning down the redness when using the W series). 7.  Grow out your bangs if you have oily hair.      (a   common mistake that girls make is to grow bangs to cover the blemishes on http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZFbNAvQC2IY/S6jXEBzRuYI/AAAAAAAABlE/W6sCIOFgpE0/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2010-03-23+at+10.56.14+AM.png      the forehead but this just keeps the problem circling, especially if you have oily hair). A LITTLE TIP ON USING CONCEALER TO COVER THE ZITS... Using the end of a slender makeup brush (like in this photo) dot your zits with concealer.  Don't rub them, instead let them dry a bit.  Usually, by the time you are done dotting  them you can start blending them in.  Use a tender dabbing motion rather than rubbing.  Remember, you don't want this to be absorbed like moisturizer.  You instead want this to sort of float over the top of your skin so that is why you would dab. *  Need a visual for dabbing?  Think...dabbing your mouth lightly with a napkin or dabbing the tears from your eyes.  Gentle! The order would be... 1.  Foundation 2.  Concealer 3.  Powder, to set

Today on http://www.cluckandtweet.com/2010/03/censorship-its-my-responsibility-as-the-adult-.html I talk about all the sex in young adult novels.  And how to talk about it with your kid.  Or at least I try.