Facebook

Do You Have Internet Herpes?

February 13, 2013 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 48 Comments

I have to tell you something. Something very serious. Something frightening and probably considered a tad too much information. Are you ready? Here we go …I have PMS. Not just any PMS mind you, this is late-thirties PMS which is quite different from late-twenties PMS or even early thirties PMS. It’s true ladies, it gets worse with every passing month. This month seems to be a bit more disappointing than the others have been and I have been spending the last couple of days trying to figure out why. Last night I had that “a ha” moment. It’s people. Partially myself, partially other people, but people in general are disappointing.

I have had these feelings for a while now, but I think this latest battle with the raging hormones has exacerbated it and brought it to an extremely ugly head. Like a big nasty pimple. This really sucks when you are a writer and you want to write something so damn funny but you can’t. You just can’t be funny. You know you need to be because the people, they like it, but your tank is empty. If you don’t write/say/do something funny the people will be disappointed. If you don’t blow people away with your witty rhetoric they could revolt and leave you to your own demise. The pressure deepens and you feel the funny recede further down into your soul. You beg the funny to come back. You plead and you scream at it. You try to entice it with cookies and wine but it just gives you a big fat finger and tells you to piss off. Come back when you are serious about being funny again. Find what is stealing your thunder and tell it to hit the road, then maybe we can talk.

I say now is the time to talk. I realized it’s the people. Not most people, but a small minority of people. I would say that there is a 99.9% chance that it isn’t even a single person who is reading this right this moment, but I can’t be certain. It’s that 0.01% of people who make it their goal every day to ruin someone’s day. Yeah, I’m talking to you assholes that think you are bad ass motherfuckers who can read someone’s blog and degrade them in the comments. You people that have to ruin a perfectly good status update with your hateful words. That woman in Wal-Mart who has to judge another for disciplining her child in a public setting while she talks on her phone and her own spawn wreak havoc in the aisles. Those parents that volunteer to help with something at school and then the day of decide they don’t want to participate anymore. What is happening to us?

My initial gut reaction is to give up Facebook. It seems like that is where the most drama exists, but I’m not gonna lie. I need Facebook like a stripper needs a pole. I have had so many positive things come from Facebook both socially and professionally. Wait? Did I just say professionally, does that make me a professional? It helps me realize that my kid isn’t the only one who eats her boogers or puts his finger in his butt or asks a teacher if it’s OK for him to play with his balls. What? Your kids don’t say that? It helps me feel like less of a failure as a wife and a mother on those days when I don’t feel like cooking supper or if I admit that my kids are driving me crazy. We all need that reassurance that we aren’t alone and I get that from Facebook, sometimes on an hourly basis.

Unfortunately it also brings out the ugly in people. One terrible comment leads to another terrible comment and before you know it the hatred is spreading like a bad case of herpes. Internet herpes. I can openly admit that I have been known to suffer from this terrible affliction. Luckily for me I am able to control my outbreaks, but for so many others it is a frequently occurring, and apparently incurable, problem. You have all seen it. The tyrannical rulers of the Internet. You can write a post about babies and glitter and little baby puppies and they are all up in your business trying to make you look like you threw the babies and the puppies in a pit of fire and sprinkled them with the glitter in celebration of their terrible demise and you will burn in hell for even writing about it. This is when the outbreak begins and before you know it everyone around you is suffering from the most incredible case of Facebook herpes and and it is spreading faster than the bubonic plague. Facebook herpes is the worst disease to hit humanity in recent history. At some point every person has suffered from it, but only those who really care are interested in a cure.

I think it is time for me to let you in on a little secret. Now, we have to keep this super hush-hush because this has NOT been approved by the FDA and don’t need them all up in my business. I have the cure for Internet herpes. If you enjoy your raging case, then by all means I will give you a second to go ahead and leave…You still here? Good, that means that like me you desire to cure this terrible affliction. Are you sure you can handle this? It is an intensive process, but I think it will be worth the effort. This is so earth shattering it could change the internets forEVAH. Ready? You may want to be sure you are sitting down….here we go:

Holy shit. Can you believe it? Take a minute to pick yourself up off the floor and process what just happened here. Isn’t it a miracle cure? Together we can do this. If you don’t have something nice or constructive to say, shut your pie-hole. If you come across a status infected with the herp, just walk away. Don’t feed the herpes monster, just be nice to each other. Such a simple concept really, but I think if we all join together we can eradicate this terrible disease one comment at a time.

Filed Under: blogging, Facebook, Humor

The Week in Review; 2/2

February 2, 2013 by Tara-YKIHAYHT Leave a Comment

Another week down the drain. Remember when we were younger and it seemed like time was going by at a snail’s pace? Now we blink, BOOM, another week gone. Hmpf. I don’t really feel like it was a very busy week, but apparently it was despite the fact I spent most of it either in the bathroom helping PITA pee (hoping he would poop) or on the couch just trying to survive.

This week I celebrated with myself a very happy “New Blog Year”. I felt if I was going to start this year off right I needed to give something, so I asked some of my super awesome friends to help me. Luckily they seem to like me and they agreed to participate in my shenanigans. I asked them to give me some blogging advice that I could pass along, but being the way I am I didn’t want it to be serious. Read their “faux-vice” here.

It had been two weeks since our last link-up fiesta, so it was time to remind people to not be a Bloghole and to link up. You still have time to share yourself and read up so don’t miss out. Do it here.

I wanted to answer a very important question from a very dear friend and I thought the timing was perfect since I was celebrating. It gave me time to think and to look into my own self. I think it is a great post, but I may be a bit biased. You can read about what fills my soul here.

To take a trip down memory lane this week, I dug out this post from this past June in which I paired up with my friend Chris from Food Thoughts of a Chef Wannabe. It’s a great look at the difference between eating a meal with older kids and younger kids. Plus she shared some of her awesome recipes. You can read all about it here.

On Facebook, the I Am stories keep coming in and I am so enjoying reading them all, sharing them all, and seeing the support that total strangers can give to each other. It really does give me hope that good will prevail.

I keep adding great stuff to my Pinterest boards. If you don’t follow me there, you should. I even have some boards that you can pin to as well. Community boards are great, and I have gotten some awesome recipes from some pins that my friends have dropped. I have community boards for Recipes, Crafts, Books, Blogs, and I even have one for my teacher/homeschool friends. If you are interested in joining me, you just have to be sure to 1. follow me, 2. comment on a pin or send me an email with your Pinterest name so that I can invite you!

I’m on the Twitter too, and every Sunday night myself and some super funny chicas host the #spikedpunch Twitter party. There is no script and you never know what we are going to discuss, so come join us at 8:00 CST every Sunday. Laughs are guaranteed, pants are completely optional.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for February 28 at 9:00 EST for our FREE Webinar hosted by Amy of Positive Parenting Solutions! I will be there and I hope you will too!

Have a great week my friends! xo

Filed Under: blogging, Bloghole, Facebook, Pinterest, Recap, Twitter, YKIHAYHT

Find What Fills Your Soul

January 30, 2013 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 22 Comments

Last week I asked my Facebook friends to ask me questions. Any question. I promised to answer them completely and honestly, and being a woman of my word, I did. All except one. It wasn’t because I didn’t like the question, it was because the timing of it was more than I could ignore. The weird thing here is that it isn’t an earth-shattering, thought-provoking question, but something about it sent my brain into overload and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Today, I answer the question. I can’t ignore it anymore. It comes from my dear friend Mary Tyler Mom, and when she asks you better be answering. Not that she is threatening or anything, but damn…she’s Mary Tyler Mom. Anywho, dear MTM asked me “How did you start writing”. See, nothing over the top. Not like she asked me to reveal my kids’ real names, or to give out my address. What’s so damn hard about that question? The problem is that not only did I interpret it as “how”, but I of course had to put more into it and ask myself “why”. Why do I write?

I suppose the “how” part is easy. The smartass in me says, one day I picked up a pencil and grabbed a piece of paper (remember those days?) and started writing words. In college I progressed up to computers and being a History major, there was never a shortage of papers and late nights. After college, I quit writing. I can’t explain why, but I just quit. Since all I had known for so long was “required” writing, I guess I thought that was all that I could do. Give me the assignment, let me do the research, and I will knock your socks off with a piece about Abraham Lincoln. Boom. Once those assignments weren’t coming in anymore, the writing didn’t go out.

The writing didn’t start to go out again until one year ago. Yep, one year ago exactly, that was when I realized that I missed it. I missed the words. I missed the thought involved in forming the words. I missed writing. When friends suggested I start a blog I never thought it would work for me. I’m not a story-teller, I’m a factual writer. Short of a few funny status updates I had never written for entertainment purposes, only for that grade. I knew I was funny in my head, we are all funny to ourselves, but would other people find me funny? Would other people be able to relate to what I’m saying? Who in the hell would read this drivel besides my mother (occasionally) and a handful of friends. And by “handful”, I really mean one or two. Never in a million years did I expect total strangers to enjoy my words. Never.

As a first-time blogger, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted out of this. I still don’t know if I can fully answer that question. I’m not gonna try to bullshit you, there isn’t a writer out there who doesn’t hope that their work will hit the big time, but this biz is hard yo. There are thousands of writers out there all striving for that same goal and for many, blogging is their job. They do it full-time and they are determined to be the next big thing. Well, I gotta give them some big kudos. I can’t do this gig full-time. Hell, I can barely do it part-time. I can barely get this post finished because of the constant demand for a rousing game of Go-Fish. So I suppose the timing of MTM’s question was meant to be. It was meant to make me search inside myself and really think. Think about how far I was willing to go. Think about how I could let one little blog mean so much to me. Think about how much it has changed my life in just 365 days. Think about WHY I keep writing.

Would I love for a piece of mine to go viral? Duh. Isn’t that secretly what we all wish for? I see it the same as when us parents post a “mom brag” photo on Facebook of our kids winning a spelling bee or a perfect attendance award. If you have something that you are proud of, you want the world to see it. Would I love to be making more money at this? Um…who couldn’t use a little extra cashola in their bank account. What am I willing to sacrifice to get there? My marriage? I think not. My kids? Absolutely not. My friendships? No way in hell. But WHY? WHY am I sitting here at 10:30 at night and 6:00 in the morning writing? Why? Because it fills my soul. Because it allows me to put the thoughts in my head on paper. Because it isn’t a job, it’s a hobby. Because it gives me an outlet and that outlet has helped me to realize that I am not alone. Because it has given me the ability to make people smile. The ability to make a difference. The ability to be a positive light and add some laughter into someone’s day.

The biggest struggle for me has been to find my voice. Don’t confuse voice with self-confidence, I am not lacking in the latter, but this blogosphere is hard. You read one blog and you love her voice, how can you duplicate it without stealing it? You read another one and you love her design, how can I implement that without it being the same? You think the more you write, the more people read. Before you know it you are sacrificing quality for quantity and then then you start wondering maybe you should write less because the people aren’t reading, so they must not like you. You get the haters who knock you down and instill the doubt inside you that you suck and should just fold up shop right this instant. It is like a big ass emotional roller coaster. Joy and excitement one day, a quick trip to emotional despair the next. I think the most important thing I have learned this year, and it has taken me 364 days to figure this out, is to be true to myself. It doesn’t make a hill of beans of difference what you write, someone is going to disagree. That is human nature. The key is to not sacrifice who you are in order to avoid the naysayers. You don’t like me? I’m down with that. Just know that I won’t allow you to rain on my parade. Mama ain’t got time fo’ dat.

We all have those days in which we feel as if all we have been served is a big ol shit sandwich with a side of sour pickles. While I may not be a ray of freaking sunshine every day myself, I make it my goal to try to make at least one person smile every day. I don’t know, maybe I should say I am an entertainer instead of a writer? No. I am a writer. I am a writer who entertains with my words. It has taken me a year to be able to say that. I. AM. A. WRITER. While my words may not fatten my bank account, or put my name on a best seller list, or even get me that dinner with Johnny, my words make a difference to someone. Some days that someone may just be me, some days it may be hundreds of people, but as long as they make a difference to someone I will be here. Writing. Because it fills my soul.

Filed Under: blogging, Facebook, Family, Friendship, Johnny Depp, Love

Can You Poop Without Your Smart Phone?

January 23, 2013 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 28 Comments

Do you have a smart phone or other hand-held electronic device that you couldn’t live without? Can you can keep track of that thing better than you can keep track of your two-year-old? Would your world come crashing down around you if you ever misplaced it? If you have found yourself wondering if you could ever survive separation from your beloved, here are the top ten signs you may have a severe addiction to your hand-held device:

1. You find yourself unable to perform your daily constitutional without having your phone in your hands. If you can’t even put it down to wash afterwards, your addiction is severe, seek help immediately.

2. Your thumbs have become the most agile part of your body because they get the most exercise.

3. Your auto-correct knows your thoughts better than your spouse. It knows that you want to say “that is reDONK” instead of “that is ridiculous”. It knows that you want to say “that is a piece of shit” not “piece of shot”. Your spouse is still trying to figure out your cycle.

4. You have forgotten that books are still printed on paper.

5. You log off Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest only to pick up your phone and refresh just in case you missed something super important in the past thirty seconds.

6. You constantly find a reason to say “let me Google that” and “is there an app for that” during conversation.

7. You start to freak out because you are trying to get out the door and you can’t find your phone. Only to realize that you are currently talking to someone. Via telephone. DOH!

8. You wake up in a panic because your device is missing from its place of honor next to your bed. You find it tucked in under the covers because apparently you fell asleep mid-Tweet and you now you know where that black-eye came from.

9. You start to get the nervous shakes when your battery life drops below twenty percent and you don’t have access to a charger. You know, when you are waiting to catch a glimpse of the one person you have dreamed of meeting since 1987. I’ve heard of this happening.

10. Your idea of multi-tasking is brushing your teeth, telling your kids to put on their shoes, and picking out some earrings all while pinning the recipe for tonight’s dinner followed by catching up on your Facebook news feed and checking your email.

If you find yourself nodding in agreement to any or all of the above, congratulations and welcome to the club. Maybe we should start a support group? Think about it and we can discuss it via Twitter, Facebook, and text message.

Filed Under: Facebook, Humor, Johnny Depp, Motherhood, Pinterest, Twitter

If I Worked at Facebook

December 27, 2012 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 19 Comments

I don’t know if you all have noticed, but lately Facebook has been so kind as to provide us with somewhat of a writing prompt every time we log on. The same cycle of questions over, and over, and over again. Questions such as these;

How are you feeling, Tara?
I feel like shit, thanks for asking.

What’s happening, Tara?
I’ve had too much coffee, I have to pee like a racehorse and my kids are constantly fighting over toys. Anything else you want to know?

Share what’s going on, YKIHAYHT.
I’m struggling just to get a new blog post written, I’m hoping to survive Christmas break without losing my mind or my liver, and I really need to clean toilets.

Share what’s on your mind, YKIHAYHT.
You don’t really want to know what’s on my mind, Facebook. It’s probably not appropriate.

Really Facebook? This is the best you can come up with? If I worked there, I think I would have a good time just coming up with totally random questions to ask. Why not ask questions that would really give some spectacular status updates? Ask the questions that really matter. Questions like;

Who has really pissed you off today, Tara?

Well Facebook, since you asked, Lifetouch Portrait Studios is tops on my shit list lately. Not only did I receive my pictures thirteen days after they were promised to me, but they couldn’t even produce the pictures that I had originally ordered. One would think that for as much as I paid for those incredibly overpriced pictures, they could afford to hire competent people to not only read orders correctly, but to answer my questions and give quality customer service. Since apparently their supervisors cannot return phone calls, I get the pleasure of scorching some poor saps ear canals again this morning in an effort to get results. All I want to do is mail my Christmas cards which now are more like Happy New Year cards that say Merry Christmas. I will look like the dumb ass who forgot to order her cards on time. Thanks Lifetouch. Just when you think convenience pays, it smacks you right in the face and runs away laughing and leaves you wanting to remove someones balls with a plastic butter knife.

Who are you stalking today, Tara?

In all honesty Facebook, today I am stalking some of my fans. Johnny doesn’t have a Facebook page, so I thought I would take my stalking to the people I adore almost as much. I figure that I let them into my life, they should let me into theirs, even if it is without their knowledge. They are all so damn good looking, and I promise I just want to get to know them a little better. It isn’t my fault they don’t have their security settings on lock-down. They do look like a fun group, it really is no surprise that they like to hang out with me. I really think we could have one hell of a party if we all got together. Somebody should really set that up.

Share a totally ridiculous picture of yourself so others can make fun of you in the comments. People love making fun of you behind your back, why not let them do it where you can read it?

Well, OK. I have no shame and I did happen to have a short make-out session with Johnny in Hallmark last night. Sometimes we just can’t control ourselves. It is so hard to keep our relationship, and my fabulous hairstyle, a secret. On the plus side, at least I had a friend with me to take this. I could have taken it in the bathroom mirror by myself, so remember that before you pass judgement. And yes, I did have a FRIEND with me, I didn’t have to pay the salesperson to take it. I have friends ya know.

Share your thoughts on a popular and controversial issue so that those that think differently from you can publicly criticize you and your beliefs.

Gee Facebook, since you put it that way, please let me share my thoughts on religion and politics. I love setting myself up for public humiliation. It always brings out the best in people. That sounds like about as much fun as putting my tongue in a meat grinder. I once made the mistake of asking my friends if they preferred theirs real or fake (Christmas trees. I’m talking about Christmas trees here you pervs), and you would have thought that I had asked them for their solution to the national debt. I learned early on to avoid these topics like the plague, but thanks for the suggestion.

What kind of underwear are you wearing?

Very good question Facebook. Right now, they are the dirty kind since I haven’t showered yet. I’m not quite sure on my mood, so can I report back to you later on my decision?

Quit bullshitting people, what are you really doing today?

Damn you Facebook, how did you know I wasn’t out scouring the rainforest for endangered animals, or having a crafting party for fifteen of Mini-Me’s closest friends, or potty training PITA in less than six hours? In all honesty, I’m still sitting here in my pajamas drinking my sixth cup of coffee. My kids are running around naked, eating cookies and handfuls of M & M’s. The laundry is about to revolt and I haven’t seen my living room carpet in days. In a few minutes I am going to force them to put clothes on and sit them in front of the television for the rest of the afternoon while I take a nap. This parenting gig is hard work.

Tell us the real reason you called in “sick” to work.

Honestly, I just didn’t feel like going. I’m contemplating a career change and thought I would take the day to scour the internet looking at my options. Instead I am sitting here on Facebook and will go back to work tomorrow and remember exactly why I hate my job. I will then spend the rest of the day kicking myself in the ass for getting sucked into stalking, looking at ridiculous pictures, giving my political opinions, and reading totally fabricated status updates meant to make my friends look like the incredible parents that they aren’t. Damn you Facebook.

Come on Facebook, let’s get creative. Let’s have some fun and really get people talking. Isn’t that the point of social media? My creative team and I are always available for consultation, just one little email away.
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In unrelated news, if you are an iPad/iPhone/iPod user, did you know you can add me directly to your home page? It is easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Just follow these simple steps and have access to all my new blog posts with the touch of your finger, plus have a little bit of Johnny to look at as well

1. Open www.youknowithappensatyourhousetoo.com in Safari.

2. Click on the arrow at the bottom. 3. Click “Add to Home Screen

4. Enjoy YKIHAYHT at the touch of Johnny’s face. How awesome is that?

Filed Under: Facebook, Humor

Uh oh…People Have Pissed Me Off Again

October 15, 2012 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 36 Comments

We have reached that time of the month my friends. People are just flat pissing me off and like Shrek says; “better out than in” so you guys get read all about it.

1. Facebook: I know that Mr. Zuckerturd had this grand plan that he would go public with FB stock and make even more money than any one person could ever need. Wait, didn’t he already have that? Well, now the stock has tanked and Crackbook is stuck trying to figure out ways to recoup a handful of their cash. Who suffers? Those of us that were told that Facebook is a “free” service and will always be “free”. Well sure the service is free, but if you want to reach more than your spouse and maybe your children, you now have the option to pay to promote your posts. Well, isn’t that just all sorts of kind. I can now pay you, dear Crackbook, to share my posts that I write, to the people that voluntarily liked my page by their own free will? That seems perfectly logical to me. It almost makes just as much sense as the fact that I shared a blog post with 29,604 people tonight and it has so far been seen by 524 people. That is some pretty shitty numbers if you ask me.

I understand that I am not writing some Pulitzer Prize winning material here, but I know that you, my loyal readers, are here because I have sucked you into my madness and you realized you kind of like it. I am now going to ask you all to do me a favor. If you read me regularly, or would like to do it more regularly, sign up to get my updates via E-mail or through your RSS reader. This way you can be guaranteed to see every single post. Now, I am not saying that you should all stop following me on Facebook. Good gravy no, we have too much fun over there! I am just asking you to be sure to not miss a post here on the blog and the only way to do that is to see me in your in-box. I promise not to stalk or SPAM you or sell your email address to the highest bidder. Blog posts only.

2. Spam: No, I’m not talking about mystery meat in a can here. I’m talking about the “people” who come to my blog and leave me comments such as this:

What’s up friends, pleasant post and nice urging commented here, I am truly enjoying by these.
Also visit my web page

Or this:

very well written and represent step by step!! i like it so much.

This second one really made me giggle because it was posted on my To Soap, or Not to Soap post. I don’t recall giving a step by step account on how to wash your little Johnny Potty’s dirty mouth out with soap. I mean really. I don’t know exactly what could possibly tip someone off that it could be spam. Could it be the horrible grammar? Could it be that it has absolutely nothing to do with the post? Could it be the ridiculous link title (I just received one this morning from “buy cheap cigarettes online”)? Could it be that 9 out of 10 of these are on a post from months ago? Gee, I can’t be certain but I think it may be a mixture of all of the above. Because of this, I have had to put my blog comments on moderate. This doesn’t mean that your comments are lost (unless I accidentally delete them), it just means that I have to read them and approve them before they are posted. My apologies for that, but there is just too many of them to let them go.

3. Dress Makers/Parents: Oh boy, I may catch some backlash for this, but judging by my personal Facebook news feed, it is homecoming season. You all know that I am scared to death raising my girls these days and the current styles don’t ease my anxiety one bit. While I have seen some adorable, completely appropriate dresses, some have left me with one thought; WHAT IN THE HELL ARE THESE PARENTS THINKING????? I mean really, if your 14 or 15 year old daughter has to be constantly pulling her dress down in order to not show the world either her thong or her hoo-hah, that thing just doesn’t have enough fabric. Do we forget that these girls are going to a dance with high school boys, hormones wrapped up in body with a pecker? Why in the hell would you think it appropriate to send your daughter to a high school dance looking like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman? I’m not saying that you should go all Little House on the Prairie, but when you have to trim the hedges in order to avoid it from peeking over the fence, your dress is too damn short. You are in high school, not auditioning for your turn on the pole.

4. Politics: I know, I never get political here but this shit is ridiculous. I just have to say that I am SO FREAKING READY for this election to be over. I love politics, honestly I do. It is just so hard to sit back and watch our political system venture so far away from what it is was meant to be. To listen to grown men sound like juvenile boys arguing with each other over who gets the last of the Legos. To see the amount of money spent on campaign materials, commercials, travel, and debates. Money that could be better spent to do good in this country. Oh, and let us not forget how just by mentioning the name of either candidate automatically turns some people into assholes.

I could go on and on here, but once this is all over, someone will still be President. Some will rejoice, others will piss and moan about it, but it is what it is and we must all move on. The key is to educate yourself about both candidates, make an informed decision and VOTE. Just keep this in mind, it doesn’t matter your party affiliation, if you don’t VOTE you don’t have the right to bitch about the outcome.

That about covers it for today. I know I feel better getting this out, so thank you for reading. You are still reading aren’t you? Hey, while I’m having totally random thoughts, don’t forget to head over to OUR Community and join us for some discussion. Don’t be shy, we all have that one question we have always wanted an answer to. If you are REALLY feeling generous, you could give me vote over at Top Mommy Blogs,

Filed Under: Facebook, parenting, Politics, SPAM

Just in Case You Missed Something

September 16, 2012 by Tara-YKIHAYHT 11 Comments

It has been brought to my attention that maybe I should start a type of weekly recap of what has been going on around here. Ask and you shall receive. I don’t want it to be just a recap of my blog posts because I have a pretty good time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and on other blogs during the week too. I decided that if I was going to do this, it wasn’t just so that you all go and re-read (or read for the first time) my blog, but see what else is out there as well. I will mix it up each week and share my favorite Friend comment(s) of the week from Facebook, some of my favorite Tweets and Pins, and show you what else I think you should be reading. Because if I’m reading it, you should be too.

On my blog this week:

Do You Need a Day Off?: The highest vote getter last weekend when I asked my friends what they wanted me to write about. How in the hell do us stay at home parents balance with our working spouse for a “day off”?

This Could Be the BEST (or the worse) Blog Hop EVER! : After chatting with some of my Twitter friends, I decided to take their thoughts and turn them into a new, fairly rule-free, blog hop. The response I got to this was phenomenal and I plan on turning it into a bi-weekly occurrence here! I would love to hear your thoughts on it, categories, frequency, changes…it’s for you, you beautiful bloggers, so let me know what you would want to see!

Are You Doing Your Part to Prevent Bullying?: This was the second highest vote getter from Facebook last week. I have to admit that I was so nervous about this one. I want to thank you all for your encouraging comments and support. I feel that it was a powerful post and have been so relieved to receive such great comments. Thank you, thank you, thank you!TGIF Blog Hop; Week of September 14; The week just wouldn’t be complete without the TGIF Hop. So many great bloggers consistently link up every week, so if you are looking for even more great blogs to read and follow, look no further.

Is it a Crush?; An impromptu Saturday blog thanks to my friends According to Mags and Old Dog New Tits. They sponsor a great challenge every other week to write a prompted post in 57 words or less. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should. It is a great time!

From Facebook this week:

I found this ecard on Pinterest (so I guess it serves double duty here) and it was not only the “most liked” pic this week, but it received the comment of the week as well:

Lol…true love is changing someone who has shat up their back and through their clothes and all over their
sheets the middle of the night…God, I love my husband!!! ~Friend Mary

What else I think you should read:

This post from my friend Diapers or Wine: What a splendid tribute to her best friend. Honestly, the best blog I read this week. Not that the others weren’t great, but this one got me.

This post from Holdin’ Holden fits perfectly with my post on bullying. I simply adore Jenny and am so glad she shared this story.

This post from Daddy Knows Less is nothing short of amazing. You can just feel the love and mutual adoration between him and his Peanut. If you haven’t read him yet, I suggest you set aside a block of time because once you start, you won’t be able to stop.

Finally, this post from Christine Organ for Erin Margolin was absolute perfection. I often shrug my shoulders and shake my head when people refer to me as a “writer”, but this post helped me to realize that I AM a writer. A real life one. Thank you Christine and Erin for sharing it!

I could share on and on and on with you all. Please, take some time, catch up on the things that you missed from me, and when you are done be sure to read the ones I linked here. So much talent on the interwebs…it would be a shame to miss it! Have a great week!

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