Mom to the Screaming Masses

A Marketer's Dream

I saw this on All & Sundry and although I am nowhere near as gifted a writer as she is, I love the sentiment behind it. Please to play along in the comments below. We could all use some happiness, yes?

Things I've bought lately that make me so, so happy:

• Several Madonna songs. They bring me back to the 80's, a time that was good for me. (Not that it was GREAT and AWESOME and that now is not, but you know what I mean. I hope.)
• The HipStamatic App for my phone. I take way too many pics with this.
• In fact, let's just add my iPhone to this list. I love that thing more than I ever thought possible.
• The last book in the Pink Carnation Series. I finished it on my Kindle while traveling.
• New bras. I could not afford the expense, but I did it anyway. There's no lift like the lift one gets when the girls are swathed in purple floral lace and behaving exactly the way they are supposed to be behaving.
• Black and White Polka Dot Flip-Flops.
• Lime Tostitos and Guacamole.

What's new and amazing in your life that's making you happy?

Food Allergy Week Celebration. Maybe. Possibly. Sort Of.

It seems like everything has a "week". Food Allergy Week is May 9-15, and it's always in the back of my mind. Never more so than this year.

When Gabriel was a baby, he had RSV several times. He also had these odd groups of random hives. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason - he'd just break out in hives. The doctor told me to give him Bendadryl. We went to a party when he was about 15 months old and he crawled around on the floor, and when I picked him up he was happy enough, but his entire body was one big welt.

How The Weekend Set Out to Kill Me and Almost Succeeded

Seriously. I think Saturday was out to get it. It almost succeeded. I almost succumbed. In the interest of not dragging this blog entry out for hours (who, me??) I thought I'd do a timeline of how I spent my Saturday. This is a true and honest accounting. The overwhelming feelings for Saturday? Guilt, frustration, pride and exhaustion.

What Vacation Tragedy Looks Like

The Very BEST Part of the Trip

It rained. And it rained and it rained and it rained.

We arrived on Thursday in a haze of warm weather and misty rains. The opening night beach party was hastily rescheduled indoors, and it was phenomenal to see some of the people we've been on the trip with for 7 years. In particular the organizers of the trip, an amazing couple who have followed me through times when I wasn't a very happy mother, traveling with an obviously messed up child, to now - what I feel is a happy person.

I could be wrong about that. Don't tell me. I like living in Pleasantville.

Doesn't this picture look amazing? This was the view from our room part of Thursday and Friday and part of Saturday.

Beach Fun

Travel. It's ALWAYS a Joy

What I want to talk about is, specifically, the PREP for travel.

I always have such high hopes, y'all. And invariably, they get smack dab in the way of reality. But, really,high hopes and dashed reality are the modus operandi of my life.

I think we'd all agree on that, yes?

Healthy Kids on a Budget

While I'm recuperating from my trip, here's the final guest post I have for you. I met Heather at Blissdom, and she was so incredibly warm to me that I almost squealed when she agreed to guest post.

About Heather: Heather Sokol is the founder of Inexpensively.com and has been featured in the Chicago and the Indianapolis Star. She has also appeared on CBS Nightly News and as a weekly contributor to Fox59 Morning News. She is the married mother of three beautiful, active girls who have created in her a Montessori mom, Scout mom, allergy  mom and avid coupon clipper. She shares her money saving advice at Inexpensively.com, mom proven tips at MiscellaneousMom.com and reports progress on learning to be a grown-up at JustHeather.com.

I Can't Write About This On My Blog

PSST - check out Scrutiny, where I'm giving away some amazing gifts, including Visa gift cards, a Picnic Basket and an AfterSchool Packet! You might need to scroll down a bit, but there's great stuff to be found!

While I'm away enjoying the surf and sand of Grand Cayman - thank you SO much to my husband's job for allowing us to have this wonderful vacation - please enjoy this gues post provided by Ashley of A Young Wifes Tale.

My husband, David and I have been married for three years. Two years ago, David was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. The doctors felt that they’d caught it early, and that he’d be in remission soon. A year later he was worse. Much worse. There were times when he was bedridden, and I had to bathe him. He is more stable now, but due to his chronic illness and the medications he takes to keep his arthritis under control, we are currently unable to have children.

The Road to Parenthood is Not a Straight Line

PSST - check out Scrutiny, where I'm giving away some amazing gifts, including Visa gift cards, a Picnic Basket and an AfterSchool Packet! You might need to scroll down a bit, but there's great stuff to be found!

While I'm away enjoying the surf and sand of Grand Cayman - thanks SO much to my husband's job, for we could never do this trip on our own - please enjoy this guest post by the amazing Kait of Eventually, Someday, Maybe.

It's been a long standing joke in my family that at my wedding shower I would get a cake saying "I'm never getting married!" and at my baby shower I would get a cake saying "I'll never have a baby!" I was wrong on the wedding thing - I married my husband four years ago. I was wrong on the kid thing too. After being married for two years we decided to try for a baby. Five miscarriages later, we decided to go seek profession help.We had a gynecologist lay out a specific plan for us for getting pregnant. After we finished discussing the various steps necessary for us to get pregnant and stay pregnant, the doctor eyed us both up and said "So should I call in those prescriptions for you?" My husband didn't hesitate for a moment before he said no. He looked at me and I nodded because all of it, the pregnancies and the doctors, had all been for him. Yes, I would have loved any baby that might have come from it, but giving birth wasn't really high on my priority list.