Tuesday Giveaway: Brother Bear 2 and Madea's Family Reunion

Updated again: Homemom, thanks for your generosity. Please send your address to clouth@gmail.com so I can mail your winnings: Brother Bear 2 and Madea's Family Reunion. Congrats!

Updated: After a night's sleep and a few cups of coffee, I realized one DVD's kind of lame considering I'm asking for a donation. So! I'm throwing in another DVD for the winner: Madea's Family Reunion. I've got to run to an appointment, followed by a million other things including John's birthday party. I'll add more info later!

I almost didn't do a giveaway today because I am just dead tired. Too tired to write a review of Brother Bear 2, I'm afraid. But then I had an idea.

My friend Mieke, author of the blog Kid Squared, is raising money for cystic fibrosis. A dear friend of hers discovered last year that her baby, Adelaide, has the disease. In response, they are doing everything they can to raise money and find a cure.

As a carrier of CF myself, I spent a fair amount of time worrying during my three pregnancies that my child would have the disease. We were very fortunate, but the cause is still close to my heart. Also, Adelaide is so close in age to Ava. I would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Mieke's plea for donations.

So, to help out Mieke and Adelaide, I'm asking that, to enter to win Brother Bear 2, you make a donation -- however big or small -- to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation using this link. Once you make a donation, come back here and leave me a comment. That's it!

Here's a brief description of Brother Bear 2:
We watched it as a family and found it very moving. I recommend watching Brother Bear first, but it's not absolutely necessary. Anyway, the story involves an American Indian man named Kenai who, through the magic of the Great Spirits, becomes a bear and develops a brotherly bond with the little bear Koda. In this second installment of the tale, the Great Spirits send Kenai and Koda on a journey, and in the end they both have to face some troubling truths and make some big decisions that will change the course of their lives forever. The movie left me with warm fuzzies about the lifelong bonds of family, the sacrifices we make for each other, and the power of forgiveness.

I will accept comments until next Monday, February 5, at midnight EST. Good luck, and thanks for considering Adelaide's cause.

Meredith Viera Equates Moms With Babysitters

In case you haven't heard, Melissa of Suburban Bliss was on the Today show Friday morning. Melissa! On the Today Show!

I was so excited to see her that I didn't give the topic much thought: Moms having cocktails on playdates.

Oooo, so controversial. *Zzzzzz*

When Melissa wrote for Blogging Baby, I once left a comment on a post of hers, disagreeing with her about the safety of cleaning a pacifier with your mouth. If one could have her head ripped off through email, I would be headless right now. Melissa, from what I can tell, does not take crap from anyone. So I knew she wouldn't take flak for having a drink on a playdate, even on the Today Show.

Melissa did a stunning job (you can watch the segment here): she was articulate, composed and smokin' hot. She didn't apologize or concede. She didn't look at Meredith Viera and the ivory tower academic beside her like they had 50 heads and ask them what their freakin problem was. She did, however, mention sometimes wanting to sell her kids on ebay. Brava, Melissa!

Viera, on the other hand, managed to insult me and all mothers. A cofounder of ClubMom, Viera doubted that moms could have a single drink on a playdate without becoming incapacitated and damaging the delicate psyches of their kids. She then took it a step further, equating moms with babysitters.

Would Melissa mind if her babysitter had a drink while working? she asked.

Of course I would, Melissa answered. She's at work.

What's the difference? Viera asked, brows buckled.

Melissa, bless her heart, took the question seriously and explained that babysitters, as hired workers, shouldn't drink on the job.

Viera didn't get it.

Well, Meredith, let me clear this up for you a little bit. When I hire a babysitter, I don't let her drink on the job. I don't let her park my kids in front of the TV, I don't let her drive them all over town, I don't let her feed them candy to shut them up, I don't let her yell at them if they drive her batshit crazy. If I got to know her well, and she became like part of the family, maybe those rules would become more flexible. Otherwise, those are the babysitter rules.

But guess what? I'm not the babysitter, I'm the mom. As such, I do have a drink in front of the kids, and I park them in front of the TV, and drive them all over hell's half-acre, and give them candy to make them stop talking, and scream at them when they push me too far. Yes, it's all true. Call DSS, right away. Send me an email and I'll give you my address. I'm turning myself in.

Also, will you please tell me when NBC will air a segment on dads who drink beer while watching the kids and a football game simultaneously? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Yesterday, I went into Boston with some friends for our 5th annual chocolate brunch. Did you know you can get very buzzed from chocolate? It's true. Moms, look out for that stuff! Anway, I was still pissed off about the Today Show segment and planned to bring it up, since they're all moms.

Try as I did, though, I couldn't mention it. We talked about the triatholons three of the women competed in last year, and the 25 pounds I gained. We talked about our kids, our birth stories, and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. But I couldn't get myself to mention a TV segment about whether moms should have a cocktail on a playdate.

Back at home, while having a beer with Brian as our kids ran around naked, cold and hungry, I realized why I didn't bring it up: Because it was so stupid.

The entire segment, save for seeing some real moms behaving as real moms do, was stupid. The entire premise, that there is some kind of problem with a mom having a drink in front of her children, made no sense whatsoever.

Not only is the topic too idiotic to bring up among intelligent women, it's also nothing unique. Moms get questioned and doubted all the time by these fake media types, with their looks of concern, worried whether we'll breastfeed or spank or feed organics to our kids.

Normally I don't bother with any of it. And this story was no different: I would never tune in to a segment on such a lame topic.

But I watched to see Melissa. And she, unlike Ms. Viera, didn't disappoint.

MotherTalk Blog Tour: Babyproofing Your Marriage

I will always remember Babyproofing Your Marriage, the subject of this week's MotherTalk Blog Tour, as the book that educated me on the many powers of the Five-Minute Fix.

Don’t know what that is? I’ll give you a clue. Here’s how the authors describe its advantages to wives:

“You don’t have to get undressed. Your body doesn’t have to be invaded. You don’t even have to talk. You can return to watching TV, reading your novel, or scouring the catalogs for the perfect holiday gifts for the kids’ teachers in less time than it takes to utter the following sentence: ‘I really don’t want to do this because I’m about as excited as a loaf of bread, and, by the way, you’ve been a colossal pain in the butt this week, and oh, speaking of bread reminds me, can you please remember to pick up a roasted chicken on your way home tomorrow because Danny has soccer practice and I won’t be able to get to the store after work.'” (Phew -- that was a mouthful!)

When I agreed to review this book, I hoped for advice on getting Brian to pitch in with the chores, to buy me flowers every now and then, to once in a while act taken aback by my overwhelming beauty when I manage to put on some make up. While it delivered in those areas, I didn’t expect a lesson on the far-reaching benefits of blow jobs, or the revelation that our sex life (or lack thereof) is likely as upsetting to Brian as the state or our house (disaster area) is to me.

Here’s a conversation of ours from just last week:

Brian: Can we have sex tonight?
Me: Oh, tonight? I’m just so exhausted. This is the worst possible night. Plus I’ve got this head cold.
Brian: OK. When?
*crickets*

The next night ...
Brian: Can we have sex tonight?
Kris: *grumble* Yeah, I guess so.

Brian and I have been parents for 6 1/2 years. After our third kid joined us a year and a half ago, our sex life became, um, not great. Not frequent, either. Downright infrequent, in fact.

With seven young children among them, the authors, Stacie Cockrell, Cathy O’Neill and Julia Stone, are in the trenches. As parents and wives, they feel our pain. After talking with many wives and husbands about marriage, sex, raising kids and trying to maintain some semblance of self in the process, they've compiled lots of suggestions for a happy marriage, for example, to have sex at least once a week. Yes, ladies, even if we are exhausted, even if we feel don't like it.

A big strength of this book is the many quotes from husbands and wives scattered thoughout the text. I always enjoy commiserating with other women facing the same dead-end arguments with their husbands about division of labor and motherhood’s effect on the female libido. But, not surprisingly, I don’t often discuss these things with men. This book provides plenty of that missing male perspective.

In the chapter "The 'Sex Life' of New Parents," when talking about being rejected sexually by their wives on a repeat basis, men say it feels like “the wheels coming off” and “the sky falling down.” They say the lack of sex is “soul destroying.” Not just a few men describe it this way. The vast majority of the men the authors talked to were not only keenly aware of the exact date and time they last had sex, but also pretty devastated if their wives let them down in this department. (Again with the puns. Sorry.)

“How would we feel,” the authors ask, “if our husbands didn’t talk to us for a month? If they didn’t ask us how we were feeling? If they simply ignored us? We would say the wheels were coming off our marriages and that the sky was falling down. We would find it ... ‘soul destroying.’”

The authors do a fine job of presenting the female perspective as well. Addressing the men, they say: “When you don’t make any effort, you send the message that you just don’t care about her anymore, or that your relationship and her happiness are not all that important to you. She can feel rejected and neglected just the way you do ... When a husband doesn’t engage in any form of intimacy, such as talking or cuddling, and simply expects to have sex, it makes a girl feel like an animal.”

And not in a good way.

While I think the sex chapter alone is worth the price of this book, there is much more here. The authors did their research, drew their conclusions and assembled tons of concrete steps husbands and wives can take to bridge the great mom/dad divide. With lots of funny cartoons and a glossary full of hilarious, spot-on phrases to describe the mind boggling effects kids have on a married couple, the book manages to reach brand-new parents of one as well as “veterans” with three kids or more, women as well as men.

While I know Brian will not sit down and read this book, I flagged plenty of pages with Post Its for him. I think once he sees the kinds of ideas I've gotten from the book, he'll be willing to do some reading.

Tuesday Giveaway: The Checklist

UPDATE: We have a winner! Mike, author of Something About Parenting has one a copy of The Checklist. If you haven't seen Mike's blog yet, you need to. Now. It's great! Mike, please send me your address, and I'll get the book right out to you.

If you read mom blogs at all -- and obviously you do, because here you are -- then you've probably seen ads for today's giveaway book, The Checklist, by Manny Alvarez, M.D., a.k.a., Dr. Manny. You may also know the author from FoxNews, where he is managing editor of health news. He also runs a Web site, AskDrManny.com.

As part of their ad campaign for The Checklist, the publisher offered me a "gift" copy of this book. I asked if I could have two, one to review and one to give away, and I'm glad I did.

The first thing I noticed when I received the books was the endorsement/introduction by doctors Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, others of YOU, The Owners Manual. The pair has made several appearances on Oprah over the years, and recently had their own special on the Discovery Channel. I love them. They are my health gurus du jour, so an endorsement from them goes a long way with me.

The Checklist is presented in eight chapters, one for each decade of life, with a preface for pregnant women and a pep talk at the end entitled "Living Long." My Mom, age 72, was a bit taken aback when she looked up her decade and found "The Eighth Decade and Beyond: Ages 70 to 100." How's that for an age bracket?

Each chapter ends with a "Test Checklist," and the appendix has a "Master Checklist of Tests and Vaccinations," that explains why you need it, when and how often, what to expect and what the results mean. Throughout the book, there are useful charts and sidebars, such as myths and facts about teen depression, how to help someone with mental illness, how to choose a plastic surgeon, and the best cities for seniors to live in.

The structure makes the book an easy reference for all members of the family. Everything is in laymen's terms; a 12 year old could easily read the chapter on his age and understand the information presented. While the book touches on all of the common health issues for each decade, complete with symptoms, prevention and treatment, it presents just the necessary basics. This result in a book that is both comprehensive and succinct, a useful resource for all ages but not an overwhelming tome.

The Checklist is a useful health reference for anyone's bookshelf, as it has key information for all age groups. Moms, especially, will find it helpful, since we tend to look out for the health of family members of all ages. Teens can even use it nag their parents to start exercising. Something for everyone!

Would you like to win a hardcover copy of The Checklist? Just leave a comment here between now and Thursday at midnight, EST. I'll pick a winner at random and update this post Friday morning. Good luck!

Six Weird Things: Family Edition

I've done this meme before, recently even. But the lovely Christine of Empowerment 4 Women has tagged me, and I just can't say no to her. Have you seen that site? It's got lots of interesting things going on, and they've even got a few calls for writing submissions posted. If you're a writer, or a woman, and you haven't read Empowerment 4 Women, you should check it out.

Hard to believe I can easily think of six MORE weird things about me, huh? Don't answer that.

1. My Dad joined AA when I was four years old, and remained sober until he died when I was 28. He was very active in the program, especially in the early years, and my parents often took me to meetings with them. I went to A LOT of meetings growing up. I found them as entertaining as going to a movie, and never knew if a meeting would be raucously funny, a tear jerker or a tense drama. And, they always served donuts! I don't remember being bored, just suffocated by cigarette smoke. Sometimes I miss going to them.

2. Because of the aforementioned meeting attendance, as a teen and young adult, AA slogans were sort of my "religion." Maybe you've heard a few of them: Easy does it, first things first, live and let live, let go and let God, one day at a time, but for the grace of God. Many transfer well to non-sober life, I must say.

3. I am the youngest of four kids: a brother who is 15 years older than me, a sister who is 14 years older, and a brother who is 5 1/2 years older. My sister got married when I was 3, at the tender age of 17, and my oldest brother joined the Air Force and moved to Nevada around that time. This was also about the time my Dad got sober. So my older siblings lived with an alcoholic dad and an enabling mom, and I, well, didn't. For all of these reasons, my family is more like two different families. For a long time, I saw my older two siblings more as aunt and uncle figures than siblings.

4. I became an aunt at age 5. By age 10, I had four neices and nephews. I have so many memories of them growing up, they feel more like siblings or cousins than nieces and nephews. I am now an aunt to nine, and I'm great aunt to six cutie-patooties.

5. My siblings are all sort of disfunctional. I love them all very much. They cause a certain amount of stress and heart ache in my life, though, and always have, each in their own special way. Growing up because they were getting in trouble, getting divorced, having substance abuse problems, holding grudges, being homeless, creating or extending family feuds. Usually it's the parents, but I'm here to tell you, sibling turmoil can be quite upsetting as well. I include this as "weird" because I haven't met anyone else with sibling turmoil. Hey, maybe I just coined a phrase!

6. My family and Brian's family share several birthdays:
- Me and Brian's aunt.
- Brian's mother and my brother.
- My father and Brian's cousin (the one he's closest to).
- My oldest brother and Brian's oldest aunt.
- Brian's uncle and my uncle.

OK, that's it folks. I'm weirded out for now. If you want to, leave six weird things about you in the comments, are leave a link to it on your blog. Christine has posted some pretty specific rules, an I need six participants. C'mon, help a girl out!

Tuesday Giveaway: Air Buddies and Fox and the Hound 2

Updated: Hey, has my Tuesday Giveaway jumped the shark already?? I just started it! Well, eight is a pretty small number of responses, but I'm sure that Novaks8 of Fireflies and Frogs doesn't mind one bit. She's the lucky winner of both DVDs this week. Please send me your address, and I'll mail it right away. (Also, pssst, Tammy. You won last week, dear, and you didn't leave your email address. Please send me your snail mail address, so I can send your prize.)

In the interest of keeping thing running on schedule around here, I'm giving away two DVDs today. That's right. Two. Hold on to your hats.

1. Fox and the Hound 2: This sequel to the classic is even cuter than the original, in my opinion. Essentially, the fox and the hound are friends, until one has a "career" opportunity that threatens the friendship. The movie may prompt a family discussion about loyalty, self-esteem ... or simply who's going to get more popcorn. The boys really did like it, and the music, featuring Reba McEntire, was pretty swell too. To read more about this movie, visit these pages:
About.com, Amazon and Blog Critics.

2. Air Buddies: My boys loved this too, although I'm beginning to think they're not too discerning. Another sequel, this story centers around five puppies who are kidnapped. There were are a few suspenseful moments when I thought Ben was afraid, but alas, he was just on the edge of his seat, so to speak. I must say, talking animal movies have come a long way since Mr. Ed. This is one I think we'll watch again. To read some more-professional-like reviews, check out these links at Common Sense Media, Amazon, and About.com.

Both movies are brand new, with bonus backstage footage and music videos. The Fox and the Hound 2 has a few games, and Air Buddies has a segment of dog tricks that you can, supposedly, teach your own dog. I wouldn't know about that. I'm a cat person, and cats don't do tricks. Unless you consider vomiting every day for four years a trick.

Sorry about that.

Anyway! If you'd like to win these two DVDs, please leave me a comment between now and Thursday at midnight, EST. I'll pick a winner at random and update this post Friday morning. Go!

What's black and white and cute all over?

A few weeks ago, on the night before New Year's Eve, the daughter of Brian's cousin married her longtime sweetheart. My five year old served as ring bearer.

John did a great job, and never once complained about his tux: not on the car ride, not during the reception, never. I think the mandarin collar helped.

The wedding started at 6 pm, and was located an hour and a half away. Of course that was the one day this entire winter that it snowed. At the church, I almost killed myself navigating the steep, icy parking lot in heals. Then I scrambled to get the boys to the bathroom, before the bride arrived. Conveniently, it was located all the way down the aisle, past the alter, through two rooms, and down two flights of stairs. Everything went fine until post-urination, when Ben and John decided it would be hysterical to run away from me, barrelling up the stairs to, presumably, charge into the quiet church, knocking down candles and setting whole place on fire.

The narrow staircase curved along an open hallway, so even though they were a flight above me, I could see still see them.

"BOYS!" I hissed. They froze and looked down at me, smiling.

"DO. NOT. MOVE. Or you will be sorry!"

They waited, and no doubt, the hideous contortions of my face at that moment will remain etched in their memory for all time.

During the ceremony, John attempted to repay Brian and I for every unfairness we'd subjected him to since his birth. He found every way to cause trouble, despite being sandwiched between us. He tapped his foot, loudly. He made raspberries. He poked the grandmother of the bride in the back. In short, our family provided the entertainment during the spiritual part of the evening.

I wasn't sold 100% on the idea of a "New Year's" wedding. But seeing everyone on that alter amid a sea of red pointsettias, I could see the attraction. The bride was radiant in her off the shoulder white gown, with her red lipstick and bouquet of roses.

The flower girl wanted to dance with John so badly. He almost took her hand, too, but just then Ben appeared, pointing and laughing, and that ended that.

Seven fully decorated and lit Christmas trees sat on a stage behind the head table. Centerpieces of red roses, boxwood and pine adorned the tables, one of which I got to take one home. (My second centerpiece win in a row, go October 6 birthday!)

The bride and groom performed a dance that I should know the name of, in addition to their first dance and the one at the end of the reception. This must be a trend. In October, my niece and her groom did the jitterbug, and now this couple, with their dipping and turning. At my wedding, Brian and I did a bastardized version of the foxtrot, and then I had too much to drink.

As a testament to how photogenic I am not, this is the best picture of me from the night, even though I have a tray of drinks on my head. As you can see, I have done a bang-up job of teaching the boys "dinnertime manners."

Toward the end of the night, about 20 boys found their way to the lounge. They looked like the brat pack, the lot of them lounged out on dark leather couches, white shirts untucked. As you can see, Ben and John wasted no time bonding with (i.e., throwing themselves on) their cousins.

Despite my misgivings, I am now a fan of the Christmas-New Year's wedding. I had a really great time. Even in the church, when John hucked the satin pillow, then himself, down the aisle during the priest's homily, forcing me to tackle him in 4-inch heals in front of God and everyone. Even then I was having a great time. Even driving home for 1 1/2 hours at 1 am, because my husband refused to sleep at his parents' house. That part was awesome, too.

In other news: John had his endoscopy this morning. His esophagus looks great, with no visable abnormalities, and he did fine with the anesthesia. If only I wasn't home with a sick 6 year old, a five year old recovering from an endoscopy, and an 18 month old who's into every damn thing, I'd be celebrating right now!

Delurk, Damn It

Have you heard of Delurking Week? Sheryl of Paper Napkin created it a few years ago.

Here's how it works: I beg, you comment. Easy! Oh and, when I say "damn it," I mean it in the nicest possible way.

There's also a meme going around, in which bloggers share 5 new things about themselves with their readers. I think it's called the Cocktail Party. I figure since I'm asking lurkers to comment, I'll do something in return. It's the Internet version of tap dancing on the street corner for quarters. Only probably not as entertaining as tap dancing.

1. I live in the same town I grew up in. Well, until age 12, when my parents moved and ruined my life. It is also, according to Forbes magazine, the most overpriced place to live in the entire country. Sweet, I know. I LOVE paying $17 to have a snack at the the bookstore with my two kids, and that a four-bedroom colonial with a 1/2 acre costs $750,000.

2. All of my grandparents died before I was born. My mom, who was 34 when she had me, lost her own mom at the age of 12, to a cerebral hemmorhage. Her dad died of compications from drinking when she was in her 20s. She was a young mom to my three siblings at the time. My dad's mother died of breast cancer at age 49. He was in the Air Force at the time in Florida, and got a special pass from the Pentagon to go home and see her. His dad died of cancer at age 64.

3. If you read here often, you might know that both my boys are in speech therapy, and that I have a Boston accent. You don't know, however, that I've started to wonder if my Boston accent is causing the speech problems in my kids. Note to self: Start pronouncing your Rs!

4. A journalism professor once accussed me of copying an assignment from the school newspaper. I had to admit, the similarities were pretty damning. However, I hadn't intentionally copied it, I'd just made the mistake of reading it before sitting down to write. I copied it subconscously. Not a very strong defense. Unfortunately, I cried when she made the accusation, I was so mortified. When I insisted on doing a make up assignment, she sent me to a presentation given by a band of Syrian thugs. I've been paranoid about plaguarizing ever since.

5. One when I was about 8 I rode my bike to the corner store (not a chain, can you believe it?). It was under new ownership, the latest in a line of Asian families. When I paid for my candy, the man behind the counter handed me my bag and gave me a strange look. When I looked in my bag, on my bike halfway home, I saw that he'd stuck two crisp $5 bills in there. I immediately rode home and told my 13-year-old brother, who promptly borrowed the money and never paid it back. I always wondered why the guy did that. Was it a test? If so, I failed.

OK, your turn. Leave your URL so I can visit, tell me something I don't know about you, or just say hi. See? I'm flexible.

Desperately Seeking My Motivation

I want to lose 20 pounds. Really. I do.

Read more at DotMoms.

Tuesday Giveaway: High School Musical Remix

UPDATED: Tammy, you're the winner, by random drawing. Is that exciting or what? Send me your address, and I'll get it right out to you.

For my first Tuesday Giveaway of the new year, I'm taking the lazy way out by featuring a DVD that I already wrote about. The movie hasn't changed, but High School Musical Remix, the 2-disc special edition, has some, um, remixed and special things added to it, such as:

• Two versions of the movie, original and sing along.
• A Learning-the-Moves featurette led by director/choreographer Kenny Ortega.
• Several music videos
• A Behind-the-Scenes featurette
• Interviews with the cast, where they talk about how their lives have changed since filming the movie.

If you'd like to win my brand new, in-the-package review copy of this DVD, leave a comment between now and Thursday night at midnight, EST. To qualify, answer one of the following questions:

• What was your favorite gift you received during the holiday season? For me, it was cash.
• What's your New Year's resolution?

As you can guess, I'm feeling lonely and need people to chat with. Good luck!

Resolved

I just read my resolutions post from last year. All I could think was, "Wow, I knew 2006 was a shitty year, but I didn't realize how shitty it was right from the beginning!" I mean, on January 2, 2006, I was already writing about being sad and not taking care of myself. That's pretty much how I spent the year.

However, I am smiling now, because my affinity for new beginnings and self help books may be paying off. In the fall, I bought a book called The Pathway on the cheap at BookCloseouts.com. Almost as soon as I picked it up in December, I felt a sense of relief much like I experienced when I found FlyLady.com. I knew I'd found something with potential to change my life for the better.

I've been going to a therapist for four years. While she is great and has helped me, I haven't experienced the kind of emotional/spiritual growth that I hoped therapy would bring. In many ways, I am in the same place I was four years ago.

With "the Pathway," a person's happiness depends on her ability to nurture herself and set limits with herself. As a first step, you check in with yourself through the day, asking "How do I feel," and "What do I need," and "Do I need support?"

The Pathway talks about being "above the line" or "below the line," emotionally. I tend to think of being depressed as being under water, so this analogy resonates with me.

The program offers a "toolkit" of skills. One is the "How do I feel? What do I need? Do I need support?" questions. Another is doing "limits cycles." In a cycle, we go through a "Natural flow of feelings," anger, sadness, fear and guilt. ("I feel angry that I get depressed and eat. I feel sad that I've gained all this weight. I'm afraid I'll always eat or drink or spend to excess. I feel guilty that I haven't taken better care of myself.") We then think about our "unreasonable expectations," (That I could nurture myself well from below the line) and replace them with reasonable ones (I expect that, as I stay above the line more, I'll take better care of myself). The cycle ends with a powerful, positive statement that rings true for us. (As I learn to the skills from the Pathway, I'll be above the line more often and will take better care of myself.)

There's another cycle for those of us who dwell in the negative: I feel grateful ___, I feel happy ___, I feel proud ___, I feel secure ___, naming five things for each.

The original thing that drew me The Pathway is its claim that, as we strengthen our "skills," our need for "external solutions," such as drinking, eating, overthinking, withdrawing, people pleasing, etc., will fall away. Instead, we'll have "internal solutions": a "nurturing voice" and an "inner sanctuary." As we reach the "top of the tree," (i.e., our "solution,"), we will feel our feelings, good and bad, without experiencing as many "false highs" or "unnecessary lows." In other words, we will be emotionally balanced. And, we will have our "sweetest fruit" in life, whether that be intimacy, emotional balance, freedom from external solutions or something else entirely. I still haven't pinpointed my own "sweetest fruit," but I've got a few candidates.

So, yeah. You won't catch me with the school pick up crowd, expanding about the "toolkit," and my "climb" toward my "sweetest fruit." I'm not sure how much I'll even blog about it, but I hope you'll feel free to email me if you're doing the program or are interested in talking about it.

With all that said, my resolution for 2007 is to do what I can, hour to hour, day to day, to keep myself emotionally "above the line." I'm going to keep going with the Solution training and see where it takes me.

As far as goals for 2007, I have a few of those too:

• Keep evolving as a mom; stay involved with the kids.
• Get into better shape: eat better and exercise more.
• Figure out what I want from my blog. A hiatus, a division into two blogs, or a new, anonymous beginning may be in order.
• Have another baby or give away the baby stuff. This has been the toughest decision of my life. But I can't put it off any longer.
• Pick up some paid writing work.
• Hang pictures, and add furniture, pillows, etc., to make my house feel more like a home.

Good riddance, 2006. Bring on 2007!

Happy New Year

Gosh, is it just me? I'm just so unmotivated lately! Brian went back to work, the kids are back in school, but I'm still in vacation mode. Actually with everyone gone, the atmosphere is perfect for a vacation.

Thank you for all your suggestions on my Christmas card pictures. Luckily, Shutterfly.com let's you put up to 10 pictures on a card (I know!), so I didn't have to choose just one. Since I'm incapable of setting up my scanner or taking a picture in focus, you'll have to settle for this blurry shot of it. But you get the idea.

I've been busy with a writing deadline and Christmas returns, plus planning John's birthday party as well as a dinner for Brian's parents this Saturday. And let's not forget the long and arduous assimilation process for all the new crap/toys the kids' got.

Maybe that's why I can't seem to write anything interesting here lately. You know it's bad when my fingers keep trying to type "LOL" or ":)". Obviously they're trying to make up for my mind-numbingly boring words.

On that note, I'm off to get some coffee, before this post gets any longer. Thanks again for the picture advice, and Happy New Year! See, now I'm repeating myself. LOL! :)