I Feel a Little Less Awkward Now

I found this site courtesy of the Glamorous Life blog...made me feel just a wee bit better about my own lame family pics. This one made me giggle, mostly because of the caption. Okay...I was laughing before I read the caption.


Caption: Double the Pleasure, Double the Built-in Chaps.

Break Pal Winners! Get Ready, Get Set, Rams Head Punches!

Get ready to start workin those arms in between posts ladies, 'cause yer all winners of the Break pal Contest!!

Jenna
Connie
Rachael

Thanks much for entering the contest...watch your email for instructions on how to get your Break Pal account set up!

My Weird Mother's Day Post

Mother's Day. This should have been an easy post for me to write. But my whole experience with mothers, both being one and having one, is pretty complicated. Let's just say I did not have a typical Ozzy and Harriet upbringing and leave it at that, because going into detail is painful for me and confusing for you.

That being said, I want to honor my Mother, even if I am struggling to find the words to do it properly.

I truly love my mom. She is an amazing woman in so many ways, but our relationship has been pretty complicated. I don't blame her. I don't blame me. We were victims of circumstance and that's just how it was. It has taken us all of our lives to figure out how to love each other, but I think we are doing pretty well now. And it could not have come at a better time for me. My mom is a big source of strength for me right now, which is something I was never sure I could experience with her before. I need to thank her publicly for stepping up to be the mom I didn't know I would need so much at 44 years of age.

She's a tough gal. Like John Wayne tough. She had to be. She didn't really have a strong support system. It's taken her a long time to let her soft side show. But she has. And I'm grateful for her efforts to be the mom I've needed for so long. I know it makes her have to deal with her own issues as she tries to help me deal with mine. Nobody likes to talk about that part of being a mom. It's one thing to deal with your issues when you are ready to face them and choose to do so. But it's a whole other thing to have to face your issues and deal with them because someone else is in need of your support and you giving them that support forces you to face things you weren't ready to face. That part sucks.

So I want her to know that I am grateful that she is willing to make the effort, even when it's hard. I want her to know that I am trying to rise to the challenge to be more like her in areas where it counts. I want to absorb her strength, her ability to rise above the problem and keep going, her ability to check the emotions at the door so she can face the tasks of the day without having a meltdown.

And I want to say I'm sorry. Sorry that you have to worry about me. I know that sucks too. I know because I anguish over my own two boys. My heart breaks for them daily because I want everything for them that I didn't have and I am afraid that my issues will get in the way of me preparing them for what lies ahead. How do I teach them to be happy when I can't always get there myself?

But this isn't about me, it's about my mom. Who, by the way, I rarely call mom. It's a long story. I need work on that, because she's earned the title.

There's so much more I should say, but I want to get it right. I want to make it happy and fun and upbeat. Because she is those things too. And so much more. All rolled up into one cute little cowgirl package.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Mel Will Give You One for Free!

My bloggy friend Melanie over at "My Little Patch of Sunshine" is having a giveaway that ends on Mother's Day.

Macy's has teamed up with the Family Violence Prevention Fund and are selling these bracelets with the word RESPECT stamped in them. Half of the proceeds for these $5 bracelets will benefit the RESPECT! campaign, a Family Violence Prevention Fund initiative sponsored by Macy's to raise funds and awareness to end violence against women and children.

Melanie is giving one of the bracelets away on her blog. Stop by her place and enter the contest!

Thinking about the bracelet gave me pause to think long and hard about how I can be more respectful toward my children. It's so easy lately for me to get impatient or snippy with them after being asked the same question 20 times in a row. I need to take the time to make sure my example is one I want them to take with them out into the world.

So thanks for the gentle reminder Melanie. It came at a good time for me.

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.

Florastor Kids Winner!

Big Brother chose the winner from his Easter bucket!



Congrats!

I'm Goin' for the Laptop

This is a shameless blog plug to help me win a computer from the 5 Minutes for Mom Mother's Day Giveaway, which ends May 9th. If you need a new Crock Pot...enter the contest. I do not. I don't want to cook more. I want to blog more. So I won't enter the contest for the Crock Pot, thereby making it easier for one of you who likes to cook to win. See what a good bloggy friend I am? I'll even take a picture of the Crock Pot and post it on my blog for you if I win the laptop and you win the Crock Pot, which you will have won because of my great unselfishness in not leaving a comment to win that prize. I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that all of you will do the same for me by not leaving a comment on the laptop giveaway so I can win the the computer...right? Helllloooooo?? Wow. The silence in here is deafening.