It was unlike any cookie exchange I had been to. No Christmas carols playing. Minimal decoration. And most of the adults in the room were complete strangers to each other 24 hours earlier. Although no celebrities were in attendance, camera flashes were going off almost as frequently as any red carpet event. This is what [...]
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It’s been a little rough in the JavaFamily household this week… JavaDad has had the flu and a kidney infection and when JavaDad is sick, no one is happy! It is clear how much we function as an entire unit — when one of us is out of commission, it throws the household out of whack.
So pardon the absence of posts of late, but I thought some of my readers might enjoy a couple from this time last year:
Happy Thanksgiving to you, and among my many blessings are YOU — the readers of Caffeine and a Prayer, which is now ONE YEAR OLD!
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I admit I’m terrible about remembering names when I’m first introduced to people, but I’m a real stickler for learning whether a William is a Bill, Billie, Will, Willie or the full William. I cringed when I realized that at a conference this past week I called a Katherine, “Kathy” by mistake — it had been a few months since I had seen her and I only knew her amidst a sea of other Junior League officers, but I’m sure she hates being called Kathy as much as I hate when someone calls me by my full first name instead of calling me J.J.
You can read more about my weird hang-ups about the importance of getting people’s names right in my latest post at DC Metro Moms Blog: What’s In a Name? Everything.
Photo credit: © istockphoto.com/Jill Fromer
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Motherhood isn’t all Jell-O and cute drawings on the fridge you know… it’s fraught with a lot of don’t-go-there thoughts. Especially for someone who not only watches lots of crime TV but has been a crime reporter and has seen some of the worst humanity can do.
You can get a glimpse of the dark corners or my maternal mind in my latest DC Metro Moms post, “Not on the School Supply List” today.
A slightly less dark and twisty post is my rant about DCMM post on Sunday about HOV lane cheaters.
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Now here’s a use of texting I can get behind. Texting as a means of fundraising/donating.
Electrolux and celebrity Kelly Ripa have launched a “Text-A-Thon for a Cause” as a way to raise money and support for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF), an organization whose mission is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer. I’m sorry to be late in the game to tell you about this, but since September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, this Text-a-Thon runs through September and by texting “KELLY” to 85944 from your cell phones (standard text messaging rates apply if your plan charges for text messages) you can donate $5 — it will show up on your cell phone bill.
There are other ways to participate in the campaign. You can go to www.kelly-confidential.com and donate via the web site, send a “virtual T-shirt to a friend”, or purchase a limited edition T-shirt designed by Kelly Ripa. For every virtual T-Shirt sent, Electrolux will donate $1 to the OCRF. For every limited edition T-shirt purchased, 100% of the proceeds will go to OCRF. In addition to spreading awareness about ovarian cancer and helping raise funds for research, logging onto the web site gives you a chance to win a luxury front load washer and dryer from Electrolux in Turquoise Sky, the color inspired by the teal ribbon of ovarian cancer awareness. Learn more about the campaign at www.kelly-confidential.com and through this video.
The campaign ends September 30.
Somehow this seems like a much higher purpose for my phone than: cu l8r
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I have always loved sharing my opinions of products with friends — and now that I have a blog, I can not only share those opinions with you, I can also sometimes provide feedback to the companies who make the products. BlogHer is an organization for women who blog (well, that’s the simple explanation) and I respect what they have to say, and they have recommended that reviews be kept separate from other content, so I have launched a separate site, Caffeinated Reviews, so I can bring you “Honest reviews with PEP!” in addition to what I write here.
I am thrilled that my inaugural review is the PlasmaCar toy because it was a really fun product to review — a toy that both kids and parents can enjoy! So please check out the new blog — blogs are always a work in progress so pardon any cyber-dust as I’ll probably continue to tinker with it for a few weeks — and read the first review and comment! I have more reviews coming and soon, JavaDad and another dad soon to reveal his online identity will be joining me to do some guest reviews from the dad perspective.
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Silicon Valley Moms Group and Yahoo! are piloting a new web video series called A Byte Out of Life and I’m in the first episode (webisode) – Are You a Compulsive Blogger?
You can see the other ones at: http://svmomblog.typepad.com/abyteoutoflife/ There will be a new one each Monday. A second one about kids and technology is already up!
Do you consider yourself a compulsive blogger? Let me know why and where you blog in the comments section below. Or… tell me if you would watch a video series online.
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They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They? was the title of a 1989 episode of a TV show called Designing Women. In the episode the character played by Delta Burke, Suzanne Sugarbaker, always proud of her beauty queen looks, realized that she was now seen as “the fat girl” by her friends at a high school reunion. She was awarded the “Most Changed” trophy at her fifteen year reunion, as a snark at her physical appearance, and she accepted the award with a lovely speech letting everyone know that she was going to take it as a testimony of how she has changed from shallow beauty to a woman of intellectual and emotional substance rather than the hurtful comment on her weight gain it was originally intended.
I remember reading an article about this particular episode a long time ago, because the episode was written specifically to address Burke’s real-life weight gain. She was a gorgeous, sexy slender woman when hired, and her weight gain became a problem on set between Burke and the show’s producers/writers. Burke’s weight gain was due to a combination of physical and psychological issues and the more she felt pressured about it, the worse it got. Since then, her weight has see-sawed and she has launched a line of plus-sized clothing. At some point she shifted from running from her weight to trying to help others who were heavy feel better about it.
I’m outing myself as a fat woman. I have been terrified of old friends seeing photos of me online in the shape I am in currently and I have decided to end the terror now.
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