Sparks and Butterflies

Update:  We have a winner! 

I’m very excited to announce that my very first giveaway will be Rockabye, by blogger Rebecca Woolf, aka Girls Gone Child!

First, a bit about the book…

Rockabye is Rebecca Woolf’s heartfelt and often hilarious account of what happens when an irrepressible young city girl gets pregnant by accident and decides to keep the baby and marry the boyfriend. Forced to come of age almost overnight, Woolf charts her transformation from odd-job doing, commitment-phobic, chain-smoking, party girl to wife and mother, trying to adapt to and at the same time rebel against the stereotypes and responsibilities of modern motherhood. Woolf never relinquishes the qualities of her free-spirited, pre-baby self, however, challenging herself to grow up without outgrowing her dreams – and embracing motherhood fearlessly in a style wholly her own.

Second, how do you get one? **Leave a comment here anytime before 12 am, Saturday, April 12th (in other words by Friday night). You have a whole week – so don’t leave it until 11:59! I’ll then use a number generator to pick the comment… And that number comment will win a signed copy of the book from Rebecca herself!

A small note about commenting? If you’ve never commented here before? Chances are that your comment will be moderated, so fret not if your comment doesn’t show up right away… I got it, and I know the time it came in.

If you don’t want to chance it and want to buy the book, you can do so at the Amazon link below… Pre-order for delivery next week.

Comments are now closed, and giveaway is over. 

I have made the AllTop List!  You can find me in the Life bloggers section.

I’m very excited about this!  These are really good blogs, people.  Please go take a look around.

Thanks, Guy!

If you’re not into that self promotion thing, you can just move right along until I write again…

heh.

Every once in a while I think it’s good share what I’m doing. You might actually be interested! Let me re-introduce you the other places I write.

A review blog. Yes I’m paid, either in products (which I then review) or in cash. I do not take assignments in which I’m requested to write positively. I’m way too snarky for that and would then try and finagle the review. heh. So – I only take assignments in which I can actually really write what I think. Hopefully – for them – it’ll be positive. If not? Such is life, and maybe they’ll have interest in the criticism.

This is my baby. A blog geared towards the parents of kids with special needs. I touch on everything from mild learning disabilities to children in a vegetative state. Being that both my kids are special needs, it’s almost cathartic at times.

This little project has NO redeeming social value whatsoever. It’s a celebrity blog of legal hijinks they get themselves into. One thing there isn’t much of is Britney. I cannot stand that situation or anyone involved, and can’t bring myself to write about them.

I’d love for you to visit one of my other homes, you never know what you’re going to get. But this is and always will be my home. So, don’t worry – I’m not going anywhere.

OK.  This is a warning.  Tomorrow is April 1st.  If I get on here and rant about some stupid thing Poe told me, or did, or said he did…

REMIND ME that it’s April 1st.

Trust me.  He’s done some doozies to me.

On my old paper calendar, for years, I had written in on each April 1st, “Don’t Believe a Thing Poe Says.”  Really.

Oh, and never believe this one either.  She’s gotten me sucked in every year, and every year I swear she won’t get me again.

Now that I’ve written this all out, let’s see how supid I am tomorrow, mmkay?

My latest endeavor.

There is more content coming. But I wanted to announce it.

If you write a blog, please read this entry.

I am a brand.  So are you.

So, last night, The Queen of Spain twitterized a video chat session. I went ahead and logged on. I just text chatted, while the other ladies (and there was a dude too, but I never caught who he was) were on video chats. That’ll happen soon – I have a camera on my new! computer! coming!

Along with QoS, was GeekMommy, Schmutzie (didn’t get to chat much with her), ToThink, Crunchy Carpets, and TheMacMommy.  These are all new to me bloggers, except Queen of Spain.  Actually, I’d heard of them, just never actually read them before.  My point is this – these were all new peeps for me.  I’m now twitting them, and I’ve bookmarked them for perusal.

First let me just say – it was fun.  Real time chatting, while seeing pretty faces, in an unplanned (I think?) “hey let’s talk” kind of way.

Unless I totally barged into a party that was thought out, in which case, mea culpa.

However, this isn’t the point – I’m just setting you up.

My point is this…  I’m a blogger for three reasons.

1. Journal my life/a marking of the passage of time for my family
2. Impart information/react to information
3. Community

For me personally, I don’t make friends easilly.  I’m busy, I’m distracted, and I’m stressed.  I don’t have a lot of time, and the time that I do have is often designated for survival activities – until about 8pm pacific (ie: kids’ bedtimes.)  I feel that this is the case for everyone, not just me.  I think it’s harder to make a buck, harder to keep kids out of trouble, and harder to keep the household in order.  As a result – it’s hard to maintain relationships and friendships.

We’re in an online world now.  I believe it is the natural evolution of things – I think we go the way technology guides us.  We’re a bit isolated.  We’re solitary.

While all this is true, and more – I’m sure writers more eloquent than I have succeeded – what I love about blogging is community.   A sappy word that I’m not sure truly identifies what I want to say here, but I cannot think of a synonym at the moment.   In those women (and unidentifiable male?  Help?) I saw different blogging styles, different lifestyles, different political and religious beliefs, different experience levels – both in life and in blogging – and yet.

And yet.

There we all were.  Talking about blogging – but as women are wont to do – it bounced.  Subject to subject, interest to interest.

A group of women.  Talking.  Together.  Ultimately, isn’t that the point?

I truly love it.

This is my community.

If you’re reading this, then I encourage you to take the survey. The data helps BlogHer and BlogHerAds stay relevant to both me the blogger, and you the reader.

So.  You may have noticed the new button over there on the right.  It’ll go away in April.  It’s part of Sonia’s March Birthday Party.

I’m turning 33 on the 29th.

I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be forgot around the home parts – it’s been a bit crazy.  So – if this is the only recognition it gets?  So be it.

It’s my birthday month.  I’m celebrating.