As I told you at the beginning of the month in this post, Queen For The Week took a hiatus in May so I could do some "housekeeping"-- reviews and giveaways I had pledged to do months back, but hadn't been able to get around to. I felt it was important to give those companies the attention their products so richly deserved, and to uphold my end of the bargain as well, in a timely manner.

Now, I've realized that it is indeed time for "Queen For The Week" to go gently into that good night, so to speak. I started looking at what I was posting... two weekly features and just one "real" post every week. It kind of felt like cheating-- you know, when you go to the gym, but all you do is walk around and look at the equipment, but never really do anything? That's how my blog was starting to look (if not to you, than to me). I felt like I was going through the motions, but not the Emotions-- the good stuff, the "me" stuff, the stuff that I think you like to read and that I like to write.

That's why I'm ending the "Queen" series. It's also why (maybe you hadn't noticed?) I've been slowly phasing out Truthful Tuesdays over the past few months, and finally putting the final nail in its coffin this month. I'm also ending my participation in Top 3 Thursdays. I want to be real-- both on my blog, but, more importantly, IN REAL LIFE-- and somehow, blogging (which I had started as a means of therapy to combat post-partum depression) had gotten in the way of that.

So, here are my final Queens... these are all the amazing bloggers who had either been nominated or nominated themselves over the past few months to whom, sadly, I will not get to. I do encourage you to visit all of them, give them your love, tell them you appreciate what they do, because they truly deserve the love and attention.

Sam

Kim

Kearsie

Vanessa

Meg

Connie

Michelle

Theresa

Tracey

Kerri

Crystal

Messy Mommy

My Baby Sweetness

MashugaMom
One other quick note: I'm on vacation this week (5 year anniversary cruise for DH & I, making up for the fact that we never took a honeymoon!), so don't think I've totally abandoned my blog. I'm just out of the country!

I still vividly remember the first night DH & I ever shared a bed.

I spent the majority of the night wide awake, listening to DH snore-- and then, intermittently stop breathing. I lay there with my eyes open, ready to pounce on top of him in the least romantic way possible, sure I'd have to use the skills I'd honed years before as a lifeguard to resuscitate him.

Years later, I know the episodes we used to experience in those early days were actually sleep apnea, which can be a very dangerous condition. Since then, DH has lost about 100 pounds (all of his football weight), and he's lost the sleep apnea, too. But he hasn't lost the ability to give me sleepness nights.

I don't know whether it's allergies, a deviated septum, or just his way of ensuring that he annoys me round the clock instead of only during daylight hours, but DH is a loud breather. A LOUD breather. From the moment his head hits the pillow, til the instant his alarm goes off at 5-frickin-o'clock in the morning (ahhh, I just love that law enforcement schedule!), he breathes louder and faster than any other person on the planet. Honestly-- I've tried to breathe as quickly has he does, and it's literally like hyperventilating.... I get all shaky and dizzy. I don't know how he does it.

Over the years, I've made it clear this was his problem to solve. So he's tried those "Breathe Right" strips... but somehow, those only made him louder. He's gone to the doctor and come home with a prescription for allergy medicine; but that didn't help, and only made us $25 poorer every month.

Finally, about four months ago, we admitted defeat-- we started sleeping in different bedrooms.

It made me feel like such a failure as a wife; I mean, my grandparents had different beds, but they were in the same bedroom... and that was decades ago! I knew I had to do something, but I felt like we'd run out of options to fix DH's breathing problem.

You know that every problem-- and its solution-- is a matter of perspective? Well it wasn't until I completely changed mine that we figured out what would work. Finally, I realized it wasn't DH's problem to solve but mine. I went to Walmart and bought a few sets of foam earplugs, and VOILA! Problem solved! Now, I will say that at times, having those plugs in my ear make me feel like I'm swimming underwater (I'm also mildly concerned I'm going to rupture my ear drum, I have them pushed in so far), but it is worth it to finally be able to sleep through the night!

I was riding home from work the other day when I heard a blast from the past... Alanis Morrisette's "Isn't It Ironic", a song which had been the anthem of my youth. While many of this Canadian crooner's songs were more popular-- including the iconic "You Oughta Know" (which to this day can piss me off, just hearing it)-- they were also more virile. "Isn't It Ironic" got me to thinking about the role irony has played in my life lately.

Isn't it ironic...
That Nick Jr. is commercial-free, yet in order to watch Nick Jr. On Demand, I first have to sit through 3 minutes of commercials?

Isn't it ironic...
That the redneck woman at the playground who was trying to teach her son not to push my daughter off the swingset did so by smacking his hands repeatedly?

Isn't it ironic...
That the shift at work I was once offered-- and declined-- because it interferred with my family life is now the shift that would give me more time with my family?

Isn't it ironic...
That my blog-- which was begun to help me relief stress-- became such a source of anxiety last month that I almost dropped it entirely?

Isn't it ironic...

Don't ya think?

Isn't it funny the milestones that signify to us that our babies have grown up?

This morning, amid the haze of getting myself ready for work, my daughter ready for the day, and my husband ready to... well, do whatever he does around the house on his days off... I took the time to sort through G's diaper bag. In reality, we haven't used it in months; it had been sitting on top of the refrigerator, lost and forgotten, a testament to G's baby days.

But amid all the other crap that DH likes to toss on top of the fridge (car keys, junk mail, dog bones, shish kabob skewers, Easter egg dye kits, etc.), something had to go. And this morning, it was the diaper bag.

I pulled it down and started sorting through it. A couple of size 3 Pampers (geez, where were THOSE when I needed them? G doesn't even wear that size anymore!), a bunch of weekly bulletins from church, a toy or two that had gotten lost in the process. Then there was the gross stuff-- dried, crusy raisins; a wipe that (I'm pretty sure by the smell of it) had probably been used at some point; some sticky, gooey, gelatinous mess at the very bottom whose source I have yet to identify.

Once I got the bag cleaned out, I had to decide where to put it. I had a few options-- the attic, with the rest of G's baby things? The top of my bedroom closet, with the rest of my forgotten or out-of-date handbags? Nope. Instead, I went with the most accessible place of all: the hall linen closet.

Because, after all, I might be needing a diaper bag again some day.

(NO, I am not pregnant... yet.)

You know the phrase, "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words?" Lately, I've found each and every syllable that comes out of my daughter's mouth (and usually, that's only the first syllable of a word-- our dog, "Ducky", becomes simply "Duck" to her; "Daddy" is "Dad"; there are only a few exceptions to this rule, chief among them "Mommy", "Silly", and "Dora"... obviously, you can see where her priorities lie!) is worth more than gold.

Am I the only mother who marvels at her toddler's expanding language skills? I'm guessing no. But I really am in awe of now how-- at 20 months old-- G is learning a new word or phrase every day. This week, she's been obsessed with the concept of "falling down". If DH is lying on the floor searching for misplaced puzzle pieces underneath the sectional sofa, G will walk up to him and ask "fall down Dad?". If Ducky suddenly leaps off the back of that sectional sofa to bark frantically at those oh-so-dangerous gang of neighborhood bikers racing down the street (aka, my neighbor's children-- Ducky tends to take things to the extreme), G races after her screaming "fall down Duck!". And sometimes-- when she's feeling especially silly-- she'll spin herself to the point of dizziness (this child spins so much that just watching her makes me nauseaus), then drop to the ground, and scream out, "fall down!" at the top of her lungs.

There are other phrases she's catching on to as well. She likes how "Swiper" from Dora will say, "Oh man", and loves to copy him. She's also got a thing for the ice cream truck, which frequents our neighborhoods on weekends and evenings; in fact, just about every vehicle that drives down our street is greeted by G asking us, "ice cream truck?".

But it wasn't a phrase that melted my heart at church last week. It was a single word. We were saying our opening prayer, and the entire parish said, "Amen"... and G repeated it. DH & I both heard it, and gave each other a knowing smile over the top of G's head. She didn't understand what she'd said that made us so proud, but I certainly felt that motherly pride welling up inside... even if she never says another word, "Amen" is good enough for me.

28 years today, I was reborn...

As you know, I am adopted. I have always been proud of that (as I discussed in this post). But at times over the past two years, I've had a few doubts about how I ended up with my family... about my legacy as an adopted child.

It all began when I got pregnant with G. I've had multiple friends who underwent invasive infertility treatments (at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars) for a chance to be pregnant, rather than the sure thing of adoption. But it was when my own mother-- the woman who had adopted me at 5 weeks, 6 days old-- told me that she still felt a hole in her belly when she saw a pregnant woman that I truly began to question who I was, and where I came from.

It made me wonder-- where would I be today if fertility treatments like IVF and IUI had been around 30 years ago? Would my parents have opted to risk their entire savings account on a hope and prayer, and never considered me? Growing up, I always felt like I was my parents' whole world; so much so, that being adopted was a point of pride for me, something that made me unique among my peers. But knowing that I wasn't enough-- even to the two people who meant the most in the world to me-- almost made me change my views on adoption...

Almost...

After G came into my world, I realized how hard it is to care for a child. I realized how, in order to raise a happy, well-adjusted child, you have to literally devote your entire world to that little person. And I realized that no person-- no parent-- would take on such an enormous task if they didn't whole-heartedly love that child.

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other.
One you do not remember,
The other you call mother.

One gave you a nationality,
The other gave ou a name.
One gave you the seed of talent,
The other gave you an aim.

Two different lives shaped
to make your one;
One became your guiding star,
The other became your sun.

One gave you emotions,
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
The other dried your tears.

The first gave you life,
The second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love,
And the second was there to give it.

One gave you up,
It was all she could do.
The other prayed for a child,
And God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears,
The age old question through the years;
Heredity or Environment, which are you a product of?
Neither my darling, neither;
Just two different kinds of love.

So I am doing something a little different today... I'm actually blogging in the pure, "in-the-moment" way I set out to do almost 10 months ago. Yeah, go figure. After almost a year, I'm back to square one.

You see, my work has been intermittently blocking "Blogger" for the past few weeks, meaning some days I can log on to my blogger account (and YOUR blogs), and other days it's prohibited content. I also cannot visit BabyCenter.com, VictoriasSecret.com, or the Powerball website some days at work, yet I've never had an issue accessing true porn on my work computer (NOT that I've tried, but I have received malicious emails that unwittingly steer me to pornographic sites; I guess I'm gullible, or maybe just naive).

Anyway, so I haven't been able to "waste time" at work lately, which is rather disappointing. It means I actually have to do, well, work while I'm here. Yuck. The thing is, I'm pretty efficient at my job. I think I bragged in one post a few months back that I'd learned to do my 9-hour-a-day job in just 5 hours. That leaves me with 4 hours every day to kill.

So when I finished writing tonight's newscast even earlier than usual this afternoon, I tried to log on to blogger and VOILA! I was actually granted access. But I really didn't have any intent of writing a post. That's why you've got this crazy, stream-of-consciousness thing MckMama (just because I haven't done a Not Me! Monday in months doesn't mean I'm not up to date on her and her little MckFlurry!) does so well.

Anyway, so here's what's going on my wacky, insane mind-- unedited, unabbreviated (sorry!), and posted IN REAL TIME (unlike most all of my posts, which are written in advanced and scheduled to auto-publish most days at 10:15am):

-Because I work in a newsroom, there are TVs (dozens of TVs!) on around me 24/7. Right now, it's the middle of the day, so there are a bunch of soaps on. Anybody else think the quality of the video on soap operas has really taken a hit in recent years? "As The World Turns" looks like it was shot by an 8-year-old using a hand-held flipcam. I'm pretty sure the video my news station puts on the air looks better.

-Speaking of TV news, I have fallen in love with a new blog. Because it's not on blogger, I can read it WHENEVER, WHEREVER I want, even at work. I have no idea who writes it-- it's written anonymously-- but I can't get enough of her. Maybe you won't find it as funny as I do, but I urge you to take a look.

-DH & I leave for our cruise in 19 days (yes, I am counting down; I've actually been counting down since this trip was 138 days away). We WERE supposed to leave 18 days from now, to spend a romantic night in a historic hotel the night before we shipped out (that term sounds entirely too military, but "embarked" sounded wrong). But I cancelled those plans-- without telling DH-- because I couldn't stand the thought of spending another night away from G. It's the first time we're leaving her overnight (for 6 nights, actually), and even though my mom is coming down to stay with her, I am still sad/scared about going somewhere without her.

-Is anybody else as concerned about this whole oil spill in the Gulf as I am? And no, it's not just because I'm going on a cruise in a few weeks. I just find it so repulsive that we have this technology that we don't know how to fix when it's broke. It's so socially irresponsible to me that a company should be allowed to use a technology when they have no plans to stop it from causing massive damage should something go awry.

Oh yeah, and I should use this time to mention the great giveaway I've got going on right now. It's a $25 gift certificate to "Thirty-One", courtesy of one of my amazing readers, Amanda. Click HERE for three different ways to enter!

Are you in need of a good read? Well then, you've come to the right place!

Every month, Foursons and I will host a party that gives you the chance to (1) review one of your favorite reads, (2) pass it on to one of your blog readers, and if luck is on your side, (3) get a new book to read in return! Here's how it works:

If you'd like to receive the books listed on the "InLinkz" today, leave a comment. The winner will be selected using Random.org, just like a standard giveaway. If you have a book you'd like to give away on your own blog, please write up a short review, grab our button, and add your name to the InLinkz. All we ask is...

1) If you receive a book from another blogger during this book hop, please promise that you'll ultimately pass it on using this blog hop as well. It can be the next month, or two months, or three months down the road-- not everyone has a whole bunch of time to read, so the timeline is yours to decide!

2) Once you receive a book, make sure to add your blog name and URL to the inside cover. That way, the people who receive that book in the future will know where it's been.

3) You can add a book to the blog hop at any time. So if you don't have a book you'd like to give away this month, don't worry! You can add something next month, or the month after, or the month after!

I'm not giving a book away today, but I did want to share my thoughts on a book I read (checked out from the library) this month.

It's "Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult. She is one of my favorite authors; a "go-to" in the adult lit section at the library whenever I'm short on time (usually thanks to a little girl who, try as she might, canNOT be quiet in the stacks!) and need to grab a book I know I'll love quickly.

In the past, I've read just about all of Picoult's books (Handle With Care, 19 Minutes, The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Acts, The Pact, etc etc etc!) but hadn't even SEEN this one on the shelf until a few weeks ago. It's about the Amish culture-- a culture I got a chance to know a little bit when I was a child. Every summer for four years, I spent one week on a working Amish (Mennonite) farm in the Ohio Amish country. I milked goats (including a male goat on one occasion, thanks to a prankster Amish teenager), I painted fences, I collected eggs... It was pretty cool!

But the tone of "Plain Truth" is decidedly not as joyful. It's about an Amish teenager who is accused of killing her own child. There are parts of the story that I saw coming a mile away-- and parts that shocked me too. Overall, I love the style of Picoult's writing. She grabs you from the very first page (literally in this case!) and you can't stop turning the pages the entire way through. I would whole-heartedly recommend "Plain Truth" or ANY of Picoult's books!

Do you have a book to give away today?
Link up!


Read It Forward: Vol. 3 will be Monday, June 7th!

No matter how you spell it, it's A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

I am a huge fan of hand-written cards. There is nothing better than opening the mailbox and seeing a note scribbled by an old friend, or a post-card from a family member on vacation. With email, text messaging, and Facebook, I think letter writing is a lost art... and I'm launching a one-woman letter-writing campaign to bring it back to life.

So when one of my readers-- Amanda-- asked if I'd be willing to do a review (and giveaway!) from this spring's "Thirty-One" catalogue, I immediately went for the stationary (stationery? a high school English teacher once taught me a trick for remembering the correct spelling of this word... and for the life of me, I can't remember it, and I'm too lazy to look it up on Google).

Thirty-One has tons of different options for stationery (all can be customized with your name, monogram, whatever you like!), but I went with the "Organic Flower" pattern... which (conveniently enough, for my future-ordering needs!) also comes in a cute little tote! I got to send my first personalized note to Gina, my Queen For The Week from April 25th, when I sent her a $10 Starbucks gift card! Since then, I've used about a dozen more... with rave reviews (by me and the recipient!).

Now, you can win a $25 gift certificate to Thirty-One-- courtesy of Amanda!

Here's how to enter:

1) Be a follower of this blog
2) Add my main blog button to your blog's home page
3) Go to "Amanda's Thirty-One site" and tell me which product you'd buy with your gift certificate

That's it!

Remember, you must leave a separate comment for each entry, otherwise it will not count!
This giveaway will end on Sunday, May 16th at 12pm. I'll announce the winner later that day.

I did receive a set of Organic Flower stationery from Thirty-One-- courtesy of Amanda-- for the purpose of this review/giveaway. The winner will be selected using Random.org. Sorry, U.S. and Canadian residents only.

*************************************
The winners of last week's "Food Should Taste Good" Chips giveaway are:

#54: Much More Than Mommy

#11: Angie's Healthy Living Blog

#48: 3 Little Monkeys

Congrats, ladies! Email me ASAP so I can pass your contact information (re: addresses) on to the company rep!

I need a break...

I really need a break...

<center><a href="http://confessionsfromaworkingmom.com/" title="Top 3 Thursday"><img src="http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/iamconfessing/Top3Thursday.jpg"/></a></center>

This blog carnival is truly as easy as it sounds...

Each week, The (Un)Experienced Mom and I will pick a category, then ask you to share your Top 3 thoughts on it. We hope you'll play along with us!

This week, we want to know...

Where are the Top 3 places you'd most like to visit?
This question was suggested by several blogging friends, and since I am neck-deep in the May Ratings Period (also known as "sweeps", or "hell", if you'd rather), I really needed a mental vacation.

#3) Washington, DC. Yes, I know this location is only a few hours drive from where I live now, and that I lived there during my final summer of graduate school. In other words, it's not all that exotic or mysterious. But you know what? It's jam-packed with free attractions, great food, and lots of history and culture. Not only would I want to vacation here, I'd like to live here again some day too!

#2) Greece. This is initially where DH & I wanted to go on our honeymoon after we were married. As we were both still in school (and poor!) we delayed our honeymoon... and ended up never going at all! I have a friend who went to Mykonos for her honeymoon, and her pictures of those white sand beaches and quaint little towns on the Aegean are the closest I've ever been.

And place I would most like to go on vacation is...

#1) Cappadocia-- a region in central Turkey. This probably sounds kind of weird, but I saw this destination on an episode of "Cities Of The Underworld" on The History Channel, and have been hooked ever since. This location has it all-- breath-taking views, rich culture, history out the wazoo... if only airfare to and from Turkey ALONE didn't cost more than any vacation I've ever been on in my life!




Where are the Top 3 places you'd most like to visit?
Remember, only link up if you are posting about this on your OWN BLOG!

In my endless pursuit to save as much money as possible (remember last week's post-- about the cleaning service? Cancelled. That post made me realize that I no matter how much I wanted it, I just couldn't justify the cost!), I have resigned myself...

Yes, I am resigned... to consign... as in consignment sales.

Before I was a mom, the idea of wearing somebody else's cast-off clothing made me absolutely cringe. I had never shopped at the Salvation Army or Goodwill thrift stores, even when my college sorority sisters swore up and down they were the best source for crazy theme party costumes. I even avoided those high-end "vintage" boutiques (in my opinion, a fancy word for "consignment store"). The thought of putting on another person's old jeans or shoes (especially shoes!) made me cringe.

Then, I had a child...

A child who seemed to grow out of her doll-sized wardrobe not in months, but in minutes...

A child whose clothing budget was quickly doubling, even tripling my own...

So when a friend invited me to a church consignment sale a few weeks ago, I was dubious, but desperate. I needed to find a solution to the mounting clothing bills for a 2T-wardrobe, and the usual suspects-- namely, Osh Kosh, Gymboree, and even the nearest Carter's Outlet-- just weren't cutting it.

So one early (and I do mean early) Saturday morning, I joined three of my besties for a morning of consignment shopping. The plan had been mapped out by one of my more "experienced" friends (at 21 months old, her daughter is the oldest of our little group); we were to hit four consignment sales, all on the west side of town, with a breakfast pit stop at Panera squeezed in (one of my friends is in her 3rd trimester with baby #2, so we knew she'd need to refuel!).

We met before the sun came up, and within an hour, had knocked out our first sale. There was screaming, there was pushing, there were fights-- I swear, I've never seen grown women fight over a "like new" Schwinn double jogging stroller for $40. It was like high school, when the fluff chicks (a term we used to describe the girls with feathered bangs, too much eye make-up, and fake nails who routinely engaged in cat fights in the cafeteria) beat the living daylights out of each other.

Despite the questionable cultural lessons, I did learn quite a few stylistic and financial lessons in my day of consignment shopping:

1) Don't buy anything white. It might look clean in the muddied light of a church basement, but at home, it will look yellowed and worn. Before buying anything, make sure you check for holes, torn seams, or discoloration. All sales are final.

2) Go to the shoe section first. The assortment of like-new, in-season shoes for toddlers-- particularly girls-- is slim pickings.

3) While you may fall in love with the Oilily dress that would look just darling on your little one, is it really worth the $10 price tag? Yes, it may retail for 4x that amount, but in the end, you're probably better off buying 6 onesies, 3 sleepers, a bag of socks, and some sandals for the same price.

4) Shop for basics. Jeans, turtlenecks, sweaters are all staples of your child's wardrobe that you will need and, more importantly, use. Just like you'd do at the mall, check your impulse purchases at the door.

5) Barter. It may seem like haggling over a price tag is bad manners, but at most consignment sales, anything goes. The bigger the purchase price on an item (like a Step 2 playset, or nursery furniture) the more likely the organization looking to sell it will accept your offer.

I came home from my first day of consignment sales resigned to the fact that I will probably never shop retail for G again (ok, never is a strong word. How about "rarely"?). I bought:

-1 pair of size 2T jeans
-1 pair of size 3T jeans
-1 pair of size 3T khakis
-1 patchwork dress, size 3T
-1 khaki skirt, size 2T
-set of 2 gingham skirts
-1 pair of multi-colored sandals
-2 polo shirts (1 green, one pink)
-set of 3 summer shorts
-1 pair of ladybug rain boots
-4 rompers in various colors and patterns
-3 henley style shirts in various colors
-1 bathing suit

TOTAL PRICE: $37.50

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger... "I'll be back."

What are some of your secrets for stocking your children's closets without draining your wallet?

I'm not quite sure where that very-played-out phrase began (although I do know WHY it ended!), but it seemed very appropriate for today's giveaway (x3!) post.


A few weeks ago, when I was approached by the folks at "Food Should Taste Good" about reviewing their chips, I was a little dubious. I read up about their chips on their website; they are all-natural (ok, all-natural food can taste good), gluten-free (anybody else getting skeptical?), and-- hold your horses!-- vegan. I wasn't sure they'd hold up to my salt-craving, fat-thriving diet.

I WAS WRONG.
Yes, yes, these chips proved to be all that. And while I figured I'd enjoy flavors like "cheddar" and "chocolate", it was some of the more unusual flavors that really got my taste buds in a frenzy... like "multi-grain" (I know, who would have thunk it!) and "sweet potato" (my favorite!).

Now, three of you can win a case of five of "Food Should Taste Good"'s newest flavors!

Here's how to enter:

1) Be a follower of this blog
2) Add my main blog button to your blog's home page
3) Go to "Food Should Taste Good" and tell me which flavor you're most interested to try

That's it!

Remember, you must leave a separate comment for each entry, otherwise it will not count!
This giveaway will end on Sunday, May 9th at 12pm. I'll announce the three winners later that day.

I did receive 12 bags of chips to sample from Food Should Taste Good for the purpose of this giveaway. Three winners will be selected using Random.org. Sorry, U.S. and Canadian residents only.

Hey Everybody,

This is just a quick note to let you know that "Queen For The Week" is going to be on hiatus for the month of May. Over the past four months, I've been privileged to feature 17 wonderful bloggers on this site, and I hope you've enjoyed getting to know them as well.

Since the start of the year, I feel like this blog has become "too big for its britches", to use that old phrase. I've taken on too many reviews & giveaways (I'll be using Sundays this month to catch up on some backlogged "business" posts!), too many new adventures (like Top 3 Thursdays and my second group blog, Our Mommyhood), and have spent too little time with my family and friends. I am still committed to just 3 posts a week, and I feel temporarily replacing the "Queen" series with promised giveaway/review posts is what's best for me, my family, and my blog right now.