Everyday Baby Steps

I promise.  Honest, I will be bringing you feature profiles of awesome mom bloggers telling their stories of how blogging has had an impact on their lives.  I've spoken with several phenomenal women already, and I've got lots of great stories to share.  However, most of those stories still sit on my digital recorder waiting for me to transcribe them!  I hate transcribing, but I'm enjoying listening to these women's tales all over again.

I will give you all a preview of some of the interesting and amazing stories that I've heard so far.  I talked to a mother of two sets of twins.  Can anyone guess who she might be?  I also spoke to someone who moved herself and her family 1400 miles across the country to take a job she received indirectly through her blog.  What a brave move!  I've heard stories of how blogging has improved self-esteem and helped instill a sense of identity outside of the home.  Women have also been given an outlet for creativity and philanthropy through blogging!  Amazing stories I will share each Friday, starting this week.  Maybe I'll even give you two to make up for lost time.

And if you'd like to share your mommy blogging story, just e-mail me.  We can set up a phone interview or I'll send you interview questions by e-mail.  I know blogging and social media are changing the lives of women across the country.  I want to hear how it's affected you.

If you've already sent me your information, don't worry - I will be contacting you soon!  I've had lots of response so far.  Can't wait to talk to you!

I've entered a contest at Sparkplugging, a site with great work-at-home resources.  If you're a freelance writer, you may want to enter as well.  But you'll have to hurry - the contest ends today.  I just found out about it over the weekend, myself.  Sparkplugging offers many courses through their Sparkplug U. series.  This contest is for a free Sparkplug U. workshop on finding your freelance niche.  The workshop is led by Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, of the successful freelance agency, Berry Brewer Freelance.  It promises to be a great opportunity to discover your writing niche.  Go here to enter the contest yourself!

Congratulations to Connie, from Princess Time Toys!  She is the winner of the Mary Kay giveaway.  I hope Connie enjoys her Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara and Steely Eye Liner.  Keep an eye out for more giveaways here at Everyday Baby Steps.

Where, oh where did the summer go?  My kids go back to school tomorrow!  TOMORROW! I haven't gotten their supplies, checked to make sure they've got a decent enough wardrobe, or gotten them back on track with the school night bedtime routine.  Ack! 

In my defense, I've been waiting (and hoping real hard) for my Walgreen's gift card to come in the mail from MyPoints before going supply shopping.  It hasn't arrived, so I'll have to go today and shell out the cash.  I did have them go through their drawers and get rid of everything that doesn't fit.  A lot of clothes didn't fit.  Thankfully, they really don't need new stuff until the weather gets cooler.  It's always such a let-down for them to get new school clothes they can't wear until a month into school anyway.  And we did start Norah going to bed a a half hour earlier, but not until last week.  I doubt four days of practice is really going to help much.

But the time for back-to-school has indeed arrived, whether I'm ready for it or not.  So the wonderful article I had planned to discuss on why women tend to focus on the negative will have to wait for next Monday's Magazine Motivation.  But it was a good one, and I've got lots to say on the subject.  Hopefully, this blog will return to its regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.  But I may spend the day recovering, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me until midweek!

I've been tagged by Janina at Bear Bugga for a fun meme.  I'm supposed to name 7 weird facts about myself.  Sounds like fun, except I'm SURE there's absolutely NOTHING weird about me.  So I guess I can't play.

Okay, you know I'm lying.  I'm about as weird as they come.  So I guess I can probably come up with 7 weird facts about myself to share.  And how appropriate that this would come today, as it's Friday Fun.  It's also my 50th post, and I was hoping to do something special!  So here goes.  Let's see...

1.  I hate vegetables.   I don't think that's weird, but my husband tells me it is.  I will eat corn and peas, canned, but that's about it.

2.  I don't think I can drive without singing.  I know people must look at me like I'm nuts.  It's a habit.  But I usually do manage to restrain myself when someone, besides the kids, is in the car with me.

3.  Speaking of driving.  I don't really like to drive all that much.  I had a couple accidents when I was seventeen and didn't drive again until I was twenty-one.  Then I wouldn't drive on the interstate.  I've gotten past that, but I still really hate driving in cities.

4.  I fidget.  Really bad.  One of my legs is always going.  It drives my poor husband nuts, but I just can't help it.

5.  I don't think this is weird, but you may not have known that I have Attention Deficit Disorder.  Lots of people think that only kids have ADD, but it's not something you outgrow.  And I've learned that it affects women differently than men.  Lots of times women don't really notice it until they have kids, which adds to their responsibilities and stress.

6.  I'm allergic to wheat and milk.  Yep, both of them.  I get cold symptoms, like a stuffy, runny nose and cough.  Sometimes if I eat a lot of chocolate or cheese, I'll get a terrible migraine.  Now that I'm getting older, I've noticed that I also feel very fatigued if I eat a lot of bad things.  I've been terrible about sticking to my diet recently, but I hope to get back to it when the kids are back in school.  I feel much better when I cut out the wheat and milk, and I lose weight. 

7.  I don't watch much TV.  Which is weird, because I used to watch a lot.  I've never seen Big Brother, Lost, or Survivor.  I do watch HGTV, Home and Garden Television.  And I guess I watch a lot of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.  Darn it, I just realized I don't watch TV because the kids are always hogging it!

So there you have it, seven weird things about me.  Probably more than you ever wanted to know.  But I'd like to know more about some of my blogging friends, and the rules here say I have to tag more folks. 

* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm tagging:

Angela  at Unexpected Art

Nadia at Walking Through

Courtney at The Only Thing I Know

Jennifer at Happily Ever After Land

Amy at MomSpark

Ann at Ann Again...and Again

Jenni at Jiggety Jigg

Thanks for checking out all the weird things about me.  I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!