I'm Working on a Post

I have been working on a post for about 2 weeks now. For some reason I just can't get it right. It's one of those heartfelt, emotional posts and I just can't get what I feel into words. I hate when that happens. So, I just wanted to let you know that there is a new post coming sometime soon. As soon as I can figure out how to say what I want to say.

 

In the meantime, please enjoy these photos of my kids at the park by the river a few weeks ago.  It was one of those really great days when they actually liked each other and they spent the day laughing and poking things they found along the trail with sticks.

Late Merry Christmas Post!

It seems like this entire year has found me constantly running behind, in almost every aspect of my life.  It has been a chaotic, unpredictable, rough and tumble year for Boymom and my family!  So it seems fitting that I should end the year like I started, frantically trying to pull together a Holiday blog post before the year ends and I miss the opportunity to thank my friends, family and my wonderful readers for sticking with me and coming back here from time to time to read my...stuff.

So...how was your Christmas?  Ours, although hectic, ended up being a pretty good Christmas.  This year we really tried to focus more on the spiritual aspects of the holiday and less on the gift giving (lack of money was how that idea started, we decided to run with it!).  The gifts we did give were a lot more practical than in years past and thanks to the generosity of friends, family and a Secret Santa, the boys got more than they (or we) expected.  By the end of Christmas Day, I was feeling pretty grateful and extremely blessed.

I think this year, more so than any in the recent past, I truly felt the Spirit of Christmas in my own heart.  Maybe because I quit focusing on what we didn't have and what wasn't working and started focusing on what I could give back.  It was a joy and a pleasure to watch my boys get excited about our own Secret Santa project, which didn't amount to a whole lot of money, but definitely showed my boys that there are people in the world who are so much worse off than we are.  Little Man almost broke into tears when he realized that there are people who literally have nothing other than the clothes on their backs.  Listening to him pray that night for the well-being of a stranger we met who was living under a tree in a park is a Christmas experience his dad and I will cherish the rest of our lives.

I'm glad we took the time to help my boys understand that it's not about the gifts.  It's about being a good human being during a season when we celebrate the birth of one of the greatest beings ever to walk the earth.

(Ignore the tighty whities and focus on the Nativity, please.  The nativity set, people!!!

Merry Christmas, my dear bloggy friends.  Thank you for your wonderful examples, your kind and caring words, your generosity of spirit and good will.  You have made a difference in this Boymom's life.

I'm Going to the Type-A Mom Conference!!

Visit Type-A Mom Conference

Woot Woot! I won I won I won!! Thanks to MomSelect I am going to attend the Type-A Mom Conference this year! I won an event ticket and so now I am working on how to get the travel and lodging portion of the trip taken care of!! I have been blogging for over a year now and circumstances have kept me from attending various other conferences that I have wanted to attend, so the gloves are off now and I am fighting for this one!!

I'm still working out the whole "getting a sponsor" stragtegy, but thought I might start with just ASKING! Up until a few months ago I might have been too proud to do this, but I am desperate now, SO...I am looking for sponsors. I will tell you up front that I am not good at asking for help. I am good at whining and complaining sometimes and am really good at letting my issues get the better of me, but am working really, really hard to get out of those habits. One of the things that I have realized is that when I tell the people around me that I am trying to bring good changes to my life, most people are willing to offer assistance if they are in a position to do so. So I am trying to overcome my aversion to asking for help. And it seems like this is as good a time as any to start.

So if you own a business or have a product that you would like to showcase at the Type-A Mom Conference and you would like to sponsor me, this is what I will do to help get your name out there in front of all the professional and part-time bloggers who will be attending:

I will wear a t-shirt or carry a canvas bag with your logo on it (or both), and I could even wear a hat. I will familiarize myself with your product or business so I can answer questions about it and hand out swag at the conference. I will blog about you, your company and your product on both my personal and product review blogs, as well as include a sidebar button and a sponsor ad on my blog. I will use Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter and whatever other social networking sites I can to promote your company/product and I will take pictures galore of me at the conference with your product.

If you read my blog, you can see I am pretty forthcoming about my life, my kids, my issues. One thing I can honestly say is that blogging has really changed my life. It brought me from kind of a dark, stuck place back into the world. Now I have a desire to better my life. Blogging helped me recognize where some of my talents and skills lie, but I feel like there is so much more I could do to improve my family's circumstances, both financially and emotionally, if I can take some time to work with some professional internets and social media mavens to learn the skills I am lacking. I know with some guidance I can bring some really positive growth to our lives.

So I am pretty motivated to make this whole confernece thing work. Which means that the person or company who decides to sponsor me will benefit my drive and desire to overcome any challenge that would keep me from being at Type-A Mom Conference.

They would also benefit from my gratitude, as I would make sure I pound into my family's heads the fact that we were able to become the successful family we desire to be because (insert your company's name here) sponsored me and sent me to the conference that changed our lives. Imagine watching Oprah 20 years from now, while she interviews 2 wildly successful young men. She asks them how they became so successful and their response? (Insert your company's name here) sponsored my mom at this blog conference and when she came back she was filled with all of this wonderful knowledge and skills and motivation and it really changed the dynamic in our home. We (Insert your company name here) really was instrumental in bringing about the success of our family and Big Brother and I are really grateful that (insert your company name here) offered my mom the opportunity to become the person she wanted to be so she could help us become who we wanted to be!" Can you even comprehend the magnitude of lifetime promotion? I KNOW!!! I am excited just thinking about it!

I know, I'm babbling. Hope you'll consider me as a worthy candidate to help promote your product in return for a sponsorship to the Type-A Mom Conference on September 24th. I'll stop now. After I say thanks for considering a sponsorship. It truly would mean the world to me.

Blogoversary Giveaway Extravaganza Starts Next Week!

I told you all last week that I wanted to have a Blogoversary Party. So starting Sunday, May 24th, we'll have a Blogoversary Giveaway Extravaganza, which will include a new giveaway each day next week! I'll be reviewing a few products in the next few days, starting with Woolites Dry Cleaner's Secret. Be sure to read up on them, 'cuz I may have you answer some questions as part of the giveaway. I hope it will be lots of fun for all of my loyal readers!!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check in on my little corner of the blog. It means a lot to me. So much that I want to give you stuff! So come by and have some fun next week, make a few hilarious comments and maybe win a prize. No RSVP's necessary, we're pretty casual around here at I Am Boymom. Mostly cause I don't have to clean my blog to have folks visit, unlike my real house. On that note, guess I'd better get back to the dishes. See ya at the party!

My 1st Blogoversary!!

One year ago yesterday I started this blog as a way to vent, to archive family events, a way to keep my sanity. It has literally changed my life. Who would have thought that I would meet so many people and have so many wonderful opportunities just by taking a few minutes every so often to share a bit about my life?!

If I'm absolutely honest, in the beginning I was kind of hoping that blogging would cure me of all of my "issues." You know, the daily vent or laugh or cry would just clear out all of the crap and I would be a NEW WOMAN a year or so later! Pretty unrealistic, but typical of my thought patterns lately. I blame my naievete on hormones and lack of housecleaning skills, both of which keep me in a dither a good part of the day.

But while blogging hasn't cured all my ills, it has definitely been cathartic. Writing has helped me step out of my box of problems once in awhile so I could start experiencing life again. So that's a good thing, yeah? Creating I Am Boymom has helped me connect with other folks out in the blogosphere who encourage me to put myself out there and who continually cut me some slack for being behind the curve in the not only the world of technology, but in the world of being organized and functional. They get me. And even if they don't, they accept me where I am at. Which is so...cool. And reassuring.

Sorry - didn't mean to get all weird and emotional, it's just that thinking about all of this...the WHOLE blog experience, makes me get all, you know...wonky.

And now, a year later, my blog is kind of morphing into something that requires me to put some thought into how I want to go forward! So, in honor of my blogoversary, I would love to get some input from my readers. What do you enjoy when you stop by? What would you like to see more or less of when you spend a few of your precious spare moments here? Can I have a review blog and Boymom blog together or does the commercial aspect of promoting products leave you feeling like I Am Boymom has become an infomercial? Or do you even care?

'Cause I'm all about makin' this a group experience. If it ain't fun for you, it ain't fun for me. So be honest! Tell me how you feel!

And then stay tuned for information on my After Blogoversary Party, which will be sometime next week, because I am always running behind! Most of you already know that about me. I promise it will be worth the wait. We'll have fun and there will be prizes!

Until then...it's been a great year. Thanks for the support.