Be It Ever So Messy, There's No Place Like Home: The "Adventures" of a 50-Something Southern California Mom - who used to be interesting... and her teenage daughter.
An oldie but goodie emailed by my sister (author unknown):
THINGS I DIDN'T LEARN IN HEBREW SCHOOL:
1. The High Holidays have absolutely nothing to do with marijuana.
2. Where there's smoke, there may be salmon.
3. No meal is complete without leftovers.
4. According to Jewish dietary law, pork and shellfish may be eaten only
in Chinese restaurants.
5. A shmata is a dress that your husband's ex-wife is wearing.
6. You need ten men for a minyan, but only four in polyester pants and
white shoes for bowls.
7. One mitzvah can change the world; two will just make you tired.
8. After the destruction of the Second temple, God created the shopping
mall.
9. Anything worth saying is worth repeating a thousand times.
10. Never take a front row seat at a Bris.
I have a post up right now at 50-Something Moms Blog, where I talk about teens who text (and their mothers who follow). I took great pains to mention that I pull over to the side of the road when I need to send my daughter a text (i.e., if I am running late to pick her up).
While I don't text while driving, I will admit to occasionally sneaking a peek at my Blackberry Inbox when I am stuck at a red light. I know this is something that seems like it would be safe... but I also know that anything that distracts me from the task at hand (driving!) can lead to an accident. Let this be a public notice: THIS IS SOMETHING I RESOLVE TO STOP DOING.
I'm a signatory of the pledge at Mom Sends the Message, which supports safe driving practices -- which are harder to maintain, as anyone who drives a kid's carpool will tell you. I say a little prayer of thanks every day I make it home safely from school drop-off - between the parents who make illegal U-turns or double-park or encourage their kids to jaywalk in front of other cars... and the middle school kids who don't even look to see if a vehicle is already in the intersection before they start crossing the street...
...it's a miracle I've never been in an accident near that school. Or worse - that no kids have been hit by anyone.
Today should be the day of my biweekly trek to the Santa Monica Farmers Market, but this month's crazy schedule hasn't abated much, and I told my partner-in-crime Deena that I might not be able to make it today -- which is kind of a bummer, because it's her birthday, and some of our other friends were planning on going down there with us and doing a nice lunch.
And you all know how much I hate missing a good ladies' lunch.
So in hopes that I can finish everything on my plate by 10 AM, I'm cutting a few corners - beginning with the following press release. I don't usually reprint these verbatim, but this one is short and sweet - in more ways than one:
Who: Everyone!
What: Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night.31 cents per 2.5oz scoop – any flavor!
Where: All Baskin-Robbins locations nationwide
When: Wednesday, April 28 from 5pm – 10pm
Why: To serve those who serve others: Baskin-Robbins has
partnered with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation who support families and co-workers of fallen firefighters.
The Inside Scoop: Looking for a flavor to try?
Fan favorite Cotton Candy is April’s Flavor of the Month.This pink and purple Cotton Candy-flavored
ice cream is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
It's times like this when I wish I didn't have to watch my weight. Maybe some day, BR will make a sugar-free, non-fat, low-carb flavor. In the meantime, I have a feeling my husband and daughter will be there tonight!
I also want to call your attention to a great deal on membership in the Zimmer Children's Museum, through Savvy Savings, which arranges discounts on great family venues and kicks some of the proceeds over to local preschools.
The Zimmer is one of those places I wish had been around when my daughter was little. It's located on Museum Row on Wilshire, and its hands-on exhibits are not only fun, but educational for young children (it was voted "Best Museum" in Nickelodeon's GoCity Parent Guide last year).
It's the perfect place to take your kids on a rainy day like today - and if you use this affiliate link, you can purchase an annual membership for just $40 (that's a savings of 47%). But there are a couple of catches: The first is that 50 people have to purchase the deal in order for the discounted rate to set in (at this writing, 27 people have done so -- so we're well on our way).
The second catch is that this deal is only available until midnight tomorrow (April 29). So if you are looking for something fun to do with your younger children today (and the rest of the year!), do check it out now! If you -- like me -- are no longer in the playdate arena, please pass this information on to your friends who are.
DISCLOSURE: If you purchase an annual membership using this affiliate link, I will earn a small commission as part of the Clever Girls Collective'S Clever 1000. However, I don't have any kind of interest in Baskin-Robbins other than the fact that I love their ice cream and love a bargain even more- especially when it benefits our firefighters.
We completed the dog training course a couple of weeks ago, with mixed results.
Mac understands the command, "sit." He even obeys me about 70% of the time. But he still won't come when he's called.
This is not the fault of the dog, who is actually very intelligent. His spotty obedience is due to how busy everyone in the family is; no one has 40 minutes a day to work with him on the exercises. And I, for one, have a lot of trouble with being told by the trainer that I MUST hold the leash in my right hand, as I'm left-handed. So I probably contribute to the animal's confusion.
I know Mac is smart, because all we have to do is utter the word "crate" and he dutifully walks right in. No one spent any time trying to train him on that. He figured that out all by himself.
I've concluded that dog ownership is like having a toddler: a big, furry one that sheds.
His toys are scattered all over our backyard. And he doesn't play with them unless he has an audience. He simply won't stay out back without one of us keeping him company.
It's no wonder my husband has bonded so closely with the dog. They have the same personality.
I'm pretty old school: I started blogging because I have a compulsion to write, and the easiest things to write about are the activities I pursue in my own life.
Blogging is like any profession or hobby: As time goes by, you want to progress - get better - and push the envelope. That is why in 2005, after keeping this blog for 18 months, I signed up for a little upstart conference called BlogHer... which opened up a whole new online world for me. I met some of the most fascinating, generous women I've ever known -- and discovered all kinds of amazing tools and techniques I could be using to be a better blogger.
I incorporated some of these right away: deli.cio.us, Flickr, Technorati tags (typing this out now, I'm blown away -- can you believe all of this was BRAND NEW just five short years ago?) But there were other areas that didn't feel right to me.
One of those was video blogging, which was being produced by a handful of pioneers even then (before pocket camcorders like the Flip made it REALLY EASY to do). I found the concept intriguing. After all, my college major was Radio-TV-Film.
Actually, my first major was theater - but I have a face made for radio. And after a disastrous exercise in freshman acting class - when I was told by the blind girl (!) that she hated my voice - I realized I wasn't going to make it as an audio performer, either.
But writing is something that has always come naturally to me, and I decided to focus on that. For several years, my writing efforts were concentrated on telling stories through visuals and dialogue... until the years passed and I realized it was time to get out.
For nearly seven years, this blog has been my creative outlet. While my friends engage in scrapbooking and cool crafts, I've self-published my weird little thoughts on the Internet. I've been accused of being narcissistic, and I suppose I am - but not any more so than anyone else who keeps a journal or writes a memoir. The difference is that I publish mine myself. I'm still kind of surprised when someone tells me she's read it...
...and I love it. I love the immediate feedback. I love the relationships I've built.
And yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love getting free stuff. But while I didn't expect to earn an income from blogging when I started out, it would be really nice if I could. For one thing, I wouldn't have to keep defending my blogging activities to my husband, or try to explain it to my friends.
I could blog without the guilt.
Although I say over and over again that I don't really care about my stats or my standing or my popularity on the web, that's not entirely true. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I can't help but think that I will someday create something of value from this obsession to write.
So I had a lot of reasons to sign up for Kimberley Clayton-Blaine's Vlogamama workshop, which was held on Saturday at the luxurious Montage in Beverly Hills:
1. Web surfers increasingly prefer to watch video over reading blogs. Text-only sites are becoming extinct. And I'm sensitive enough about my old age without comparisons to a dinosaur.
2. Search engines now have the ability to index video content - so having some can dramatically increase your rankings.
3. Can you say "viral"?
4. The blogging networks I belong to want us to do it.
5. Kodak gave me a beautiful HD camcorder for the red carpet interviews I got to do at the Streamys this month (previously disclosed!), and I would like to put it to good use.
6. After attending the Streamys, I've felt renewed interest in telling stories via visuals and dialogue again. But so far, all my attempts have been dorky -- especially after I saw what Sugar Jones did with her Streamy footage... all I can say is WOW.
I hoped Kimberley could point me in the right direction.
And I was right. Kimberley cut right to the chase with excellent tips and guidelines to make our little video blogs more engaging. She also showed us some best-case examples of what some of the more creative mommy blogging vloggers are doing right now and then told us how to get our finished product out and in front of an audience.
It was quite an eye-opener. Web video is a whole new world.
We finished the workshop with a hands-on session, where we partnered into pairs and took turns video-ing one another, trying to incorporate the guidelines Kimberley set forth.
I was only partially successful - and had even more difficulty when I tried to edit the goofs out. (NOTE TO SELF: Must find better video editing platform. And no, at this time, I cannot afford to purchase an iBook so I can use iMovie, which everyone says is THE BEST for this purpose.)
One other main flaw with the video attempt below is that I'm pulling it from YouTube. Vimeo (one of Vlogamama's sponsors) has superior quality - but I've exceeded my upload limit for that service this week, and I wanted to get this post up while the workshop is still fresh. I will replace this clip with the Vimeo version as soon as I have one:
Kimberley will be holding this workshop in other cities very soon. Information forthcoming on her website, here.
I would be remiss if I did not make mention of the level of service we received at Montage Beverly Hills. We've all had to attend meetings held at hotels, and often need assistance finding the meeting room. You are usually lucky if you can collar someone who will give you a meeting room name and point you in the right direction. You might not quite follow where you're supposed to turn and then get lost. (Well, that's what usually happens to me.)
At Montage, the question "Where do I find the meeting room?" did not result in directions. No, the hotel employee I asked insisted on escorting me there.
The same thing happened when I asked the wait staff where I'd find the ladies' room. I was not sent off into the hallway alone to look for it - I was led there.
From the beautiful luncheon spread to the golden pens we were given for note taking, all of the women in attendance were treated like VIPs.
And you can get an idea of how gorgeous the facility is from this video Kimberley made of the session.
Disclosure: My attendance at Vlogamama was paid for by Yahoo, as I am a member of the Yahoo Motherboard. But I didn't know that when I signed up! Kimberley had kept the cost of the workshop for non-Motherboard members surprisingly low. Knowing Kimberley and the scope of the material we would be covering, I felt I was getting a bargain before I discovered I wouldn't have to pay for it.
I have no affiliation whatsoever with the Montage hotel chain (much as I would like to!). I am merely a fan.
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