Where's that wagon?

I know I am probably a bandwagonner at this point on my AI selection, but whateveah.

I like little Archuleta but he always sounds like he’s singing to an audience made up of old folks home residents listening in for a special treat from their grandson. Brooke is nice, but I get bored listening to her. Same with Sayesha. Jason is just plain awkward and I think maybe he’s always high?

IMHO, and that’s a real H as someone that self-admittedly cannot carry a tune, “America” kicked off all the good peeps already except David Cook (and I don’t even think he has the charisma factor that Blake-that-ended-up-going-nowhere-from-last-year had). But that’s my pick and I’ll stick to it.

PS It is even possible that I might miss Kristi Lee Cook's glitter stick shadow? Cuz I think I do.

My own inconvenient truth

A client oh-so-kindly (not really) revealed to me the origins of my favorite treat (via pie chart no less).


While I am surprised I don’t have a snout, horns and hooves by now, I think this may have done the trick to rid me of this bad habit.

Addition: After my mom sent me a note thinking the ingredients in the pie chart went into Red Bull, I thought I should clarify. These are the ingredients that make up gelatin, and which hold together my previously-precious gummy bear and worm treats.

Social Networking (aka those annoying invitations to join so-and-so’s network)

Those of you reading that know me from work know that I’m an avid Facebooker (new word, I guess). To those of you out there that are in the family and friends category and are not already on Facebook, you’ve probably heard me encourage you to sign up or speak to its benefits – professionally and socially.

So far, from my family, I have one convert. My mom. The fearless tech pioneer that brought Rat Maze and Goldmine into our house via our Commodore PET 8032 computer in the early 80s. One of my aunts and several of my cousins are also on Facebook. I swear I know more about their lives now than I ever did growing up as a kid. It’s pretty great.

Anyway, if you’re wondering why you might want to look into joining a social network, like Facebook or LinkedIn (where I also have a profile but spend far less time) this PBS MediaShift blog post offers some general education on social networks (if you won’t just join Facebook to see pictures of my son’s rockin pirate ship birthday cake). For you "oldies", there's even http://www.boomer.com/!

Women, guilt and being a mom part 2: Choosing peace

The other day, umm I mean last month, I posted a few initial assumptions that I felt in my heart (and gut) based on a post aimed towards SAHMs on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Assertions aside now, and back to the specifics of the post, I wanted to take a moment to admit a few personal things here…

One, I have never stayed home with my kids full time more than five months at a time (at the birth of my second child) so I can’t claim to have ever been a committed SAHM in the real sense because I always knew I would be going back to work after my leave. And of course, I feel guilty about that. But I re-make my choice to work every day. And, there's a "support group" of sorts for this, Working Moms Against Guilt (WMAG) so I know I'm not alone.

Second, I am guilty of making a remark on at least one occasion that was called out in the comments section as being hurtful towards SAHMs. (Cue the Homer Simpson DOH! to echo in my mind as I read the comments on the post.) And, again, of course I feel very guilty about this too.

Now, I will say that I am more a social idiot sometimes than I am judgmental. The comment was made out of ignorance and not judgment. I have several friends that stay at home with their kid(s) full time. I have friends that have kids and full time jobs. And, I have friends that have done both. And I respect each of them all the same. Everyone needs to make their own decisions based on the circumstances and – if you’re lucky – choices offered to their family. And because we are all not cookie cutter images of one another (how boring would that be?) everyone’s decision is as unique as we all are as moms, wives, colleagues and people.

I believe it’s only hurtful to women as a gender for these “Mommy Wars”, as the friction has been dubbed, to rage on. We all need to support one another, support each others’ children. For my part, I choose to really think before I speak to SAHMs to avoid saying silly things that may be construed as hurtful because I simply don’t know better without their valuable perspective.

I also choose to acknowledge that I am lucky enough to have a choice. I choose to be the best mom I can be, however that may come to be based on my own personality, dreams and ideas of how to raise our children. With that freedom of choice, I choose to work. Finally, I also choose to accept all moms as VIPs and aspire to be the “anti guilt advocate” for all, no matter the “label”. How about GFM (Guilt Free Mom), does that exist? ;)