Ain't too proud to beg

I have to admit that BlogHer is a HUGE reason why I started blogging.

Last summer, when everybody was in San Francisco, was the first time that I realized that blogging doesn't just take place in a vacuum. It's a community. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I desperately wanted to belong.

When I started writing here in December, I wondered if I would have any business at a conference like BlogHer. I then decided that the answer didn't really matter because I wanted to go. Badly.

I finally got the nerve to mention it to the husband and he didn't even bat an eyelash. He wants me to be able to go, but we were waiting for a few things to fall into place.

And then, the conference sold out.

I'm on the waiting list and I'm crossing my fingers.

But wouldn't it be great to win a ticket?

Fortunately for me, parenting, product review, and consumer advocacy and research blog Z Recommends and parents' giveaway and sweepstakes hub PRIZEY, are giving me the perfect opportunity.

I'm sending good thoughts out into the universe and in the mean time, I'll continue writing and work on keeping my baby safe from playground meanies.

Want to enter to win a your own ticket to BlogHer? Visit this post, but do it soon because the contest ends on April 1.

Weekend in Review

If I was (were? what's the rule there?) a smart person I would have brought my fancy camera to the concert on Saturday night, because our seats were so amazing I would have surely come up with one or two great shots in the almost FOUR HOURS of sitting in said seats. As it is, I bring you the best shot I could get with the Blackberry.

Let me just say that I'm not cut out for Big Weekends anymore. I netted about ten hours of sleep total for the whole weekend. I promised Bub a pony if he would take a good nap on Sunday. He did, and so did I.

Oh my, it was glorious.

Friday was successful, if dramatic. I'm trying to put it behind me, but I will say this: The misbehavior of adult women was quite surprising. /drama

Saturday was great night out with BD and my parents. Like I said, this was more up my husband's alley, but Elton and Billy and legends and I had a good time. Probably the best part of the night was the sheer elation that was present in the packed arena. At one point, Elton commented that he was so lucky to have this life and the man sitting next to me stood up and shouted, "We're so lucky to have you!" He clearly meant it with all that he had. And he wasn't alone. People were SO happy to be there and they certainly got their money's worth. They played for nearly four hours with no break. In fact, towards the end, when it looked like there might be another encore, I crossed my fingers and toes for the lights to come on.

Oh my, I'm old.

Also, filed under old: It was loud. Not just concert loud, but much too loud. I stand by that. My parents agreed. BD did not. Hmm.

You know, I never much liked easy

Universe: What's that you say? You have grand plans for this weekend? All your ducks in a row? Outfits planned out? Toes painted and eyebrows tweezed? Oh, ho, ho. Think again my overconfident friend. What good would I be if not to throw a few wrenches into your plans? What good at all?

Wrench #1: The wine tasting party is set to take place outside. Outside in the comfortable cool spring air with candles twinkling. And, evidently now, with the 30-40 mph winds we're having. Not all that uncommon around these parts but might put a little damper on things if we're trying to keep our hair out of our lip gloss.

Wrench #2: The five women who are putting on this event (one of whom is me) have, until today, made many decisions somewhat effortlessly. Call to get appetizers donated? Done. Create cute, but cost-effective party favors? Done. Need someone to pick up supplies at Target? I'll do it! Like I said, until today. Apparently, with only seven hours until the event there's some major dissension in the ranks.

I may not have ever mentioned it here, but I loathe conflict. It makes me sick to my stomach and I often find myself apologizing and taking the heat for things that are not at all my fault just to diffuse the tension.

Somehow I ended up in the middle and I find myself saying ad nauseum, Well, I can understand both sides of the argument. Which I can. Thus rendering me completely ineffective in a tie breaker.

Blech.

***

On a completely unrelated note, I've decided to use this moment from today as my clip for mother of the year nominations:

Bub and I are looking at pictures on the fridge. I ask, "Where's Mama?" He looks around carefully, then points emphatically towards the laptop on the kitchen counter, "Mama!"

Deviating from the Norm

Last weekend I was talking to a friend. She asked me what we had done that day, to which I replied, nothing. On purpose? she asked. Heh. Other than playing in the backyard and taking a walk, we hadn't left the house. I'm not even sure if I showered. And frankly, that's not all that unusual around here.

That's not to say we never get out, but it's not like the day is ruined if we don't have anything to show for it. In fact, pre-kid, one of our favorite ways to spend a Saturday was in our pajamas, on the couch, watching an entire season of Quantum Leap. Or something much cooler.

However! This weekend's plans are sure to please my friend.

Tonight, my moms club is having a wine tasting/fundraiser. We have a sommelier coming and everything. This is a big deal for someone like me who stands in the wine aisle at Trader Joe's wondering what to buy for a party and ultimately picking something with the cutest label. I'm actually going with friends, rather than my husband due to tomorrow night's plans and our lack of babysitters who are willing to drive to us. (We have plenty of babysitters coughgrandparentscough who are willing to watch Bub for days on end provided we bring him to them.)

Tomorrow night we're going to see Elton John and Billy Joel in concert. My parents are sending a CAR to pick us up so I don't even have to drive. My husband thinks this is totally unnecesssary (which is is) but it is also all sorts of awesome and I'm not complaining. Truthfully, the concert is more up BD's alley, but I'm certain we'll have a great time.

So that's what I'll be doing this weekend. What about you?

Gym 101

Bub had his second gymnastics class today. Fortunately, these classes offered by the city are relatively cheap, because Gymboree they're not.

The class, thus far, involves five activities.

Activity #1 - Stretching. The class is made up of one and a half to two and a half year olds. Let me just say this: HA! Stretching is a big fat joke. They should just call it hold your kid down while we sit in a circle for five minutes.

Activity #2 - Obstacle Course: A small, circular set of activities including a balance beam, tumbling mat for somersaults, a cluster of padded shapes (I don't know how else to describe this) for climbing over and a trampoline. We spend roughly 20 minutes going through the course and as it takes each kid about 90 seconds to get through the entire thing, they're bored by the third go-round. I spend the next 15 minutes chasing Bub throughout the gym because he wants to,"Play, PAAAAALLLLLAAAAY."

Activity #3 - Trampoline: Um, this is self explanatory. Except that it should be noted that it's a very LONG trampoline. The kids are instructed to sit down and wait for their name to be called. Again: HA! Another exercise in holding your kid in a sitting position until it's their turn. And they will NOT give your kid a turn if he's not sitting. Not that this was a problem for my darling little angel. Ahem. They are supposed to jump down the trampoline doing "bunny hops" or "froggie jumps." Bub doesn't jump. He just takes off at a full run down the trampoline, collapsing into the padded space at the end. The whole time they're yelling, "Jump, JUMP," and I'm laughing under my breath.

Activity#4 - Rope Swing/Trampoline/Balance Beam: This is only different from the obstacle course in that there is no structure and it's in a different part of the gym. Most of the kids only want to swing on the rope so they take turns doing that until the instructor is tired of swinging around 30 lb. toddlers. Again, two-ish year olds taking turns = spectacular fail.

Activity #5 - Bubbles and Stamps: Each kid gets a turn blowing bubbles and then gets a hand stamp. (You: Duh) This seems to be unanimously the favorite event.

In all fairness, it does get us out of the house and provides a consistent Wednesday morning activity for the next two months. But the biggest benefit of them all comes after the class. Bub, so worn down from being redirected and told "No, we're doing this now," sits quietly and complacently during lunch. He eats without throwing food or demanding to get down after 72 seconds. He then comes home and falls into a gymnastics/grilled cheese induced coma for 2.5 hours.

On second thought, this class may be my best idea yet.

Deep breath in... aaaaand go

Well, I had planned to post my weekend via blurry cell phone pictures, but today's events must be talked about, if only so I can get it out of my system. Oh, and before you're disappointed, this isn't nearly as dramatic as I'm making it sound, just one mildly traumatic parenting moment that led me to think about two other things. Hey, how's that for taking the long way around?

Okay, this afternoon Bub and I had lunch with a friend of mine and her son, who is Bub's "friend." Aside #1: Is it silly to say that one year old's have friends?

There is an outdoor fountain, that in warmer months I'm happy to let him soak himself in, but in the winter is an exercise in toddler restraint. Even though it's spring and it's southern California, it's still too cold to be drenched. Anyway, he runs around the outside of this fountain while I hover nervously and hiss Slow down! There's also a ledge that he knows he's not allowed to climb on. It's only a foot or so off the ground, but it's cement, as is the ground.

Incident #1: He climbs on the ledge after resisting for a loooong time. As I headed over to get him down, he tumbles off and hits his head. He doesn't land on his head fortunately, but there are tears.

As we are getting ready to leave, he heads back over to the fountain. I'm certain he's held back as much as a twenty-one month old is capable of and I follow closely behind to make sure I'm not taking home a shivering, soaking wet kid. There's another mom standing by the fountain and she comments on how well my friend's kid sits in time out. (Not sure what happened, but she sat him on a chair and walked away.) I laugh and tell her that Bub would NEVER sit like that unless I physically hold him down. She says her daughter is the same way and that so many people just tell her she's doing it wrong. She then rolls her eyes and says that it's just a personality thing and I am SO glad to hear this because time out just doesn't work for us. Anyway...

Incident #2: A small cluster of birds catch Bub's eye and he takes off away from me. There's a small step that he seemed to have mastered earlier, but this time, not so much. He misses the step and falls. Face first. I see it happen from behind and know he has smacked his face on the ground. This time there are screams, tears and lots of blood. I've no sooner scooped him up than nice fountain mommy has returned with a bag of ice from Starbucks. Aside #2 Nice strangers tug at my heart in a way I can't completely describe. I'll remember this for a long time.

Ultimately, he's fine. He has a bit of a fat lip, but all of his teeth are intact and he is napping peacefully right now.

If you've made it this far, I've got some questions. Ha! You thought the reading was the hard part.

When things like this happen, I relive the moment over and over in my head. It gets worse every time and feels like I'm being punched in the stomach each time. I can't stop it. Do you do this?

Secondly, nice fountain mommy. I can't help but think that it would be nice to know her. If you're reading this nice mommy, I'm not crazy, just a big fan of non-judgmental mothers. I know people who make friends at the park, coming away with phone numbers and email addresses. This would be stepping way outside of myself. The fear of rejection is just too high. What is she's the kind of person who's nice to everyone? Would you have said something? What would you say? Would you be put off by someone who says Let's get our kids together at a less dangerous location some time?

I'm dying to hear what you have to say.

It's easy being green

We're the trashiest people on our street.

Each Thursday night, when the neighbors are hauling their trash cans to the curb, we always have more than 90% of the people on our street. Our cans our usually overflowing and more than once, BD has had to distribute some of our trash to the neighbors cans just to get it all out to be picked up. I KNOW. It's horrifying.

Granted, in the flow of baby showers, Christmas, Easter, first birthdays, etc. we've accumulated a lot of stuff. And that stuff comes in boxes with 978,342 plastic ties and pounds of cardboard packaging.

Still, we could afford to do our part to leave the planet better than we found it. Or at least, slow down the process.

We've taken steps to be become a bit more green, to teach Bub good habits, and to cut down on the downright humiliation of trash day.

• We've started using cloth napkins. Rather than use paper napkins for meals, we have these super cute napkins that make even pizza night seem a bit classier.
• I use dishtowels and rags for wiping down counters, Bub's face and hands, and general cleaning. I don't use the same one for each of those things, but as recently as a year ago I would have used a paper towel for each of those needs.
• I have turned off the heated dry on our dishwasher. I prop the door open and let them air dry.
  
• I wash all clothes in cold water. If something is particularly dirty (read: toddler stomach flu) then I use hot, otherwise cold it is.
• I've turned off our sprinklers. Well, not permanently, but when we had them installed they were set to water twice per day. Even in the hottest months, this isn't necessary. I now turn them on manually every other day. One of these days I'll find the sprinkler system manual so I can stop treating a computer like a typewriter.
• Ceiling fans. I'm not above turning on the air conditioning on the hottest days, but ceiling fans and open doors and windows can make a big difference.
• No more bottled water! I bought a few cute, reusable water bottles and a filtered water pitcher. I admit, I do buy bottled water for parties, but day to day it's Brita all the way.
• Recycling. Our city provides a large trash can for recycling, no sorting required! I am making myself more aware of what can be tossed in the green can to cut down on BD's late night trash can reconnaissance.
  

None of these has made a negative impact on my life, in fact I don't even notice a difference. Certainly we're not green gurus, but even doing these little things make a difference. To be sure, doing these little things is FAR better than not doing them at all.

What about you? What simple, or not so simple changes have you made to be "green?"

This post was written for the Parent Bloggers Network Blog Blast in conjunction with Nature's Source Cleaners.

Let's Party!

Welcome to my blog!

My husband, BD and I live in Southern California and have one son, Bub, who is racing towards age two so fast I can almost see the baby fat melting away.

I'm pretty new here; I just started blogging in December. Since then, I've made (and broken) some New Year's Resolutions.

You can find me here writing about my envy towards new mothers, some heartbreaking motherhood moments and fighting the urge to look forward in exchange for living in the moment. And, of course, the many, many, challenges of parenting a toddler.

Of course, things aren't always so heavy. I'm not above posting pictures of my cutie pie, or sharing the moments I love. I also confess some of my more shameful secrets.

Oh, and this? I would like to hand out to every parent I shall ever meet.

Basically this blog is my life in miniature, a lot of love and fun, and heavy on the cute kid.

Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to look around and leave a comment. I'll stop by, I promise.

Leaping Lizards

You know, I've heard that expression and I always thought it was just a funny, alliterative thing to say.

Up until a few months ago I didn't know cat scratch fever was a real thing either, so apparently I'm a little slow on the uptake.

When the weather warms up we have a family of lizards that moves into our backyard. I'll catch them skittering away when the sprinklers turn on or when the dog is let out. I like that they're afraid of us. I would never harm them, but I don't particularly want them sipping iced tea with us while we barbecue. (Isn't that spelled with a q? My spell check says otherwise.)

Recently, the lizards have gotten more bold. Apparently, they enjoy taking a break from the sun and the pillows on our patio furniture provide the perfect respite. Every single time I go into the backyard, I have to check behind the cushions before I sit down. More often than not, when it's warm, there's a lizard on at least one of the chairs.

As summer approaches, we will inevitably spend most of our days outside. BD tells me to man up and get over it. I'm not the biggest fan of summer as it is (I live in Southern California. I far prefer late winter/early spring. The temperatures are milder, the bugs are fewer, and I just HATE being hot. I don't tan, so there's no advantage to being able to be outside in a bikini. It's okay if you think that's weird.)

Today, we had a major setback. I came home from running errands and let the dog outside. Bub followed closely behind. The commotion must have spooked a lizard because he leapt from his perch on the chair, across the table, landing on another chair.

I don't want to hear that they're more afraid of me than I am of them. I beg to differ. If this ever happens to me, I'm packing up and moving to a lizard free environment.

Four Prescriptions Later...

Saturday afternoon Bub was a falling machine. Take two steps, tumble over. Stand in one place, tumble over. Granted he's a toddler. He toddles. Typically though, he's pretty sure footed. At one point I had the phone in my hand to call the nurses line and then thought about how that phone call would go and decided to wait it out.

The falling continued into Sunday and while it wasn't all day long, it was enough that we were worried. Finally, it occurred to me that the never ending cold he's been battling may have led to an ear infection and that could be screwing with his equilibrium. What? I'm a rookie.

I was able to get in to the doctor this morning and guess what? I was right! I hate that my kid is sick, but I've taken him to the doctor multiple times, convinced that it was something more than just a cold and every time I was wrong. I'm sure there's a note in poor Bub's chart about his neurotic mom. Hopefully within ten days he'll be back to his old, occasionally falling self.

But, wait! That's not all!

Saturday night, our poor dog Charlie was coughing, gagging and all sorts of sick. It wasn't anything that needed immediate attention, but it was enough that we didn't feel good leaving him home alone. Sunday morning he was worse, so at 5:00 (that's AM folks) BD took him to the vet. Apparently, our 24-hour vet didn't have the resources to deal with what they thought was a foreign body stuck in his esophagus, so they sent us to another 24 hour vet, with another staggering fee just to get in the door. Several x-rays later we were sent home with three medications and the diagnosis of pneumonia.

I don't know how a dog gets pneumonia.

Have you ever tried to get a dog to swallow a pill? One of the pills has to be given without food so that one's particularly challenging. Each of the three pills is on a different schedule, to be given every 8, 12, and 24 hours, which is, um, fun.

Aaaand, that was our weekend. Jealous?

P.S. In case you're wondering, brevity has never been strong point of mine. I know this post could have read like this:

Kid is sick. So is the dog. Antibiotics for everyone!

But what fun would that be?

On a lighter note...

I have two small, happy updates to counterbalance yesterday's post.

1. As we were discussing the worst case scenarios should BD not be one of the rehires, he says to me, "I'm sorry, but it looks like your plans for baby #2 will have to be put on hold for a while." You: Where's the happy in that? See, we've both been VERY on the fence about having more children. BD has been very vocal about his belief that our family is finished at one child. While I know in my heart that he would love and adore any future children we have, it's not something I want to talk him in to. It's not like letting me pick the couch in order to avoid a fight. In this case, the "no" wins. BUT, that statement suggests that maybe he's open to the idea of more children. Or child. Because no matter what, I'm stopping at one more.

2. We had mentioned our New York trip to some friends and now they're coming with us! We're not on the same flight, but we leave from the same airport within minutes of each other! We got a great deal on a great hotel and I'M SO EXCITED. We have always wanted to travel with friends but it's just never worked out and NOW IT IS. If you were here last night you would have heard my voice at all sorts of unrecognizable decibels. And yes, even in light of a possible job loss, we're still going. We already have the plane tickets and, well, we're going.

Pink Friday

I've struggled with whether or not to write about this, but I can't stop my mind from racing, my thoughts from churning.

The recently signed California state budget cuts education funding by $11.2 BILLION. That's just in K-12 education. According to CTA, that's the equivalent to doing any one of the following:

• Cutting $49,153 per classroom, or
• Laying off 165,714 teachers, or
• Laying off 290,000 custodians, bus drivers and other classified employees, or
• Closing California schools for 40 days, or
• Increasing class sizes by 55%.

Yesterday, BD received a pink slip, also known as a RIF (Reduction in Force) notice, stating that his services would not be needed for the next school year. We knew this was coming. We also know that the district is handing out far more notices than is necessary. They will rehire from that bank of teachers once all of the numbers have shake out. We also know that of those teachers who still have job security, hundreds of them will be reassigned to different schools, grades, subjects. That's just within one, relatively small school district.

While we're choosing to be optimistic about this, we just don't know what will happen.

Truth be told, this isn't a woe is me post. This is about so much more than our family.

The bigger picture is a heartbreaking look at the state of education in California.

I've seen the list of anticipated cuts for the district where my husband works, the same district where I used to work. 90 elementary teachers will be cut. NINETY. That means larger classes across the board, including grades 1-3 which had, until now, enjoyed a 20:1 student teacher ratio. There are cuts across the board in every department, every grade. Every single student will be affected.

This isn't political. This isn't about whether you're on the side of the unions or the governor or down with them all.

We should be ashamed to let this happen to our children.

For more information please visit CTA or Pink Friday.

Up Next: Total World Domination

Anyone who has ever stopped by to see Swistle, knows the depth of her Target mastery. I am deeply envious of her finds and no matter how much time I spend browsing the perimeter, I always seem to come up short.

Recently Swistle showed off her cloth napkin finds and offered a giveaway. I didn't win, but looky here what I found this week at Target:

Some of them are the exact same ones Swistle herself owns and uses. Today I found three more two packs of those taupe-y ones so I actually have enough to make it through a weeks worth of dinner assuming laundry doesn't get done more often than that. Which, you know, is a STRONG possibility around here.

I couldn't make this stuff up

Top sign: Sorry, the ice cream machine is not working @ this time. Managent

Bottom sign: SORRY OUT OF DITE and Mr. PIBB

Dear Managent:

What, pray tell, is "Dite?"

Mama

Winners!

The winners of the YoPlus Giveaway are:

Anonymous (Sandra from BZ)

EDRing (eering99@)

Kaylee8

All winners have been contacted. Please check your email and be sure to send me your mailing address ASAP.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

I'm not ready for this

Despite the sleepless nights and the downright neediness of infants, there were some things about those early days that were decidedly easy. Specifically, my ability to keep him safe.

Before crawling, walking, running and climbing, he was safe in my arms. Now he's a collage of bumps and bruises to a soundtrack of my muffled gasps and forced smiling choruses of "You're okay!"

Some days it's enough to make me want to clothe him in bubble wrap and a helmet.

There's an entirely different kind of ouch that's on my mind today.

Last week at the park there was a group of older boys (and by older, I mean they were three) playing with a shovels, buckets and a small tractor. Bub has just discovered the delight in scooping and dumping and he was naturally drawn to them.

He tried to help by scooping handfuls of wood chips into the tractor.

Needless to say, they did not take kindly to this intrusion. Get away BAYBEEEE! Get away! No babies! All of this punctuated by pokes with shovels. Bub took this in stride. He smiled, laughed even, and continued to try to join in their fun.

I'm not sure which was more heartbreaking. The boys refusing to allow him to play or his utter obliviousness to their rejection.

I found myself completely unsure of how to proceed. Their mothers (who I know and who know both Bub and me) stood by without reaction. I'm new to the playground game and I don't know the rules.

Short of sitting down with these boys and explaining to them that we include everyone (which would have been wildly successful, I'm sure) I was left with only one option. I scooped Bub up and distracted him with the swings.

He's still at an age where he doesn't get it. The look on his face told me clearly that he was completely unaware of their contempt. But I saw it. I felt it.

When I was younger, a couple of the neighbor girls, who I played with daily, decided on one particular day that I wasn't worthy. I came home in tears and my mom marched me right back over there. (Looking back, how embarrassing for me.) Soon our threesome was restored. Was that the right course of action? Who's to say.

I know I'm not alone in this particular speed bump of motherhood, but there is no handbook, nothing to prepare you for this.

It's naive to think that I can protect him from ever getting hurt. Can any mom help herself from wishing she could wrap their child's feelings in bubble wrap though?

Playdate Pledge

I (state your name) do solemnly swear that I will not assume that what works for my child in matters of sleep and discipline will work for your child. In addition, I will celebrate my child's milestones and developments in a way that doesn't suggest my child is superior to yours.

****

Enter my giveaway here.

Let's hug it out

I've mentioned before that I'm not the neatest housewife. It's not that I don't enjoy having a clean and organized house, it's just that it's not intuitive for me to do these things. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but it's true. I just don't see some things. Like I'll be working in the kitchen and leave four cabinet doors open when I walk out of the room. Or I'll get a snack and leave the wrapper on the counter. It's not intentional, it just doesn't occur to me.

Naturally, this drives my neat freak husband crazy. And my college roommate, poor thing. My parents used to joke that they loved to poke through her sock drawers when they were visiting just to see them neatly arranged by color, style and type. Don't worry C, that never happened, but I'm pretty sure that's what they would have found.

And, while I am making an effort to change, I would say that on a day to day basis you wouldn't notice much, if any change.

This weekend we were cooped up in the house with a sick toddler so our attention fell to a few home improvement projects on the horizon.

As we sorted through painting supplies we came across several areas of, um, clutter. BD just shakes his head and starts in with his usual What do you want me to do with this. My reply to this comment is ALWAYS You'll have to be more specific as I don't know what this is.

I'm so mature.

Over the course of the next hour he found a grocery receipt yet to be entered into the checkbook, one of Bub's shoes, a half finished bottle of Dr. Pepper, a birthday gift needing wrapping and a pile with three diaper bags and seven baby blankets. He's been pestering me about that pile and I've been saying it's my "getting out of the house stuff." Which it is, in theory. All of this was found in the garage alone. Imagine if we had tackled our bedroom.

Bub, to his credit, chose to take the high road in order to set a good example for Bub. This is a departure from his usual method of dealing with me which involves a pulsing vein in his forehead and clenched teeth.

After finding each thing out of it's place he would cross the room to me and wrap poor disorganized me in a hug. There was a lot of hugging on Sunday.

I would like to request this particular method of handling for all of my indiscretions, thankyouverymuch.

YoPlus Review & GIVEAWAY

I had the opportunity to try the YoPlus Blueberry Acai yogurt and I was NOT disappointed.

I'm always wanting to make changes to be more healthy, make better choices about what I eat. Unfortunately, a lot of those choices involve sacrifice, trading one very tasty treat for something less tasty, less satisfying.

I'm pleased to say that isn't the case with YoPlus. The blueberry flavor is yummy and the yogurt is creamy and well blended (this is very important to me when it comes to yogurt.) With 3 grams of fiber and 110 calories it's a great, and filling snack option.

I've added YoPlus to my weekly shopping list and have purchased it twice since getting to try it for free, so it's definitely a hit!

I have the opportunity to give away three YoPlus gift packs for my readers. The gift packs include a coupon for a free four pack of yogurt, an insulated cooler bag (it's huge and great for beach picnics or days at the park,) a BPA-free water bottle and a nutrition journal.

Post a comment to be entered to win one of these prize packs.

This giveaway will end at midnight on Monday, March 9.

Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch with you. If you leave your email type it like this name at mail dot com to avoid spam.

Me: Um, I started a blog.

Husband: Oh?

Me: Two months ago.

Husband: What do you write about?

Me:You. Bub. Stuff.

Husband: Oh.

All without taking his eyes off of the essays he was grading. I shouldn't have worried. I wasn't afraid of him being mad. I would never have started this blog if I thought he would be mad about it. All of a sudden months had passed and it felt like I had a secret which was never how I wanted it to be.

Also, I have this crazy desire to go to BlogHer and I couldn't exactly go without telling him about the blog unless I wanted to further his belief that all my time on the computer was due to an internet boyfriend.

Five minutes later.

Me: So, um there's this conference. And it's in Chicago in July. And I want to go.

Husband: Okay.

Me: Wah?

Seriously. That was it. Still there are so many things to figure out. Like if we can afford it. And I'll probably need a roommate and so on. But at least he doesn't need to worry when he sees me searching for plane tickets to Chicago.