I’m Back and Paying It Forward

// 1.23.09 // 16 Comments » // My Daughter, Thriving

So I haven’t blogged for over a month. I’m back, but with no promises. As usual, I have lots of ideas. Lots of plans. But there’s no guarantee any of that will actually translate into more frequent writing.

We had a wonderful holiday season in the PHAT household. Then we all got sick. There’s some nasty cold / fever / coughing / hacking up a lung thing going around. Half our homeschool co-op was out sick today. And I read that there is an outbreak of whooping cough in the local schools. Yikes.

My daughter got hit especially hard. She could hardly breathe. This is, in fact, the third time this year that she’s had a cold turn into a very bad coughing /wheezing / can’t breathe event. So we’re getting her tested for asthma as soon as she’s fully recovered from this current illness.

Other than that, things are going very well for us all. I feel very fortunate to be able to continue to live my life comfortably in this economy. And I’m very thankful for the good friends I’ve made over the past couple years and the people that make my days happier – online and off.

And here’s where “paying it forward” comes in. Last month I was sent a yummy New Hampshire Maple Candy from Ashlie at MommyCosm as part of the Pay It Forward Blog Game. I don’t know where the idea originated, but I can post as much as Ashlie found out:

I won from Heather at CMGD, she won from River Poet at Poetic License, who won from Daryl at Out & About in NYC. He won from Flea, who won from Peach, who won from Adventures in JujuBoo who won from Ronda’s Rants, who won at Zander and Me, who won it from Mamahut’s House… and then, phew, I gave up.

Here are the rules:
The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and pay it forward. I am going to send something fun, cute, & nice to three blog owners who post a comment on this entry. In turn, those three will post this information and pick three people they want to send something to and so on. Unfortunately, due to postage costs, I can only pay it forward within the United States. If you are interested in participating, be one of the three randomly chosen blog owners to leave a comment! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found. Just a gift that will make the person smile. There are no cost restraints, but don’t go crazy! You have to promise that you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, and then send something to three people who sign up to play along through your blog.

I’m ready to Pay It Forward to three people. Leave a comment if you want to play.

Congrats to the winners: Angela, Robert, and Sonyia.

Wanna Win a Cabbage Patch Doll?

// 9.22.08 // 6 Comments » // Link Love, Tech & Blogging

I’m very excited to announce the launch of a project I’ve been working on for some time.

Introducing… The Present Professor, where you’ll find gift-giving advice, “whether it be for a last-minute birthday party your 10-year-old never told you about or a wedding where all the cheap registry stuff was already purchased.”

Those were Carli’s (The Professor of Giftology) words. I encourage you to read this post to get a taste of Carli’s clever and humorous recommendations.

Carli is my husband’s cousin and the editor, publisher, brain and wit behind The Present Professor. She always gives terrific gifts and has a talent for weaving 70’s and 80’s pop culture references into her writing. So I convinced her to let me be the designer and marketing manager for the site and pretty much ride on her coattails. Nepotism, baby.

So, wait, wasn’t there a Cabbage Patch Doll mentioned in the title? Yes! We’re giving away a Limited Edition 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kid! And the box is signed by Xavier Roberts himself. To enter to win, just visit the site and leave a comment on the Cabbage Patch Kid post.

The Tarot Says

// 9.16.08 // 3 Comments » // Thriving

I went through this big “meta-physical” kick about 8 years ago. I watched “Crossing Over with John Edward“ religiously. I meditated. I read tarot cards. I listened to tapes on my walkman (um, the pre-ipod) that were supposed to help me find my “spirit guide.”

It was all rather fun and introspective but, truthfully, I never had any meta-physical experiences. I didn’t feel more relaxed or at peace. So after awhile I gave up on it all and went on to pursue more… well… more reasonable pursuits.

I’ve been doing some Fall Spring Cleaning around the PHAT home and I found a stack of books and tarot cards that I have been planning to sell on Ebay. My daughter wanted to play with the cards, so we sat on the floor and started laying them out. I handed her the cards and she made a long train with them, winding them through the room. But every now and then, I kept one to myself. I decided to take the cards and do a reading for the hell of it.

I looked up the cards in the book and here’s the gist of the reading:

• I need to take an honest, unbiased look at where I am and realize that I am responsible for my own actions. A fair and honest appraisal will help me define what I wish to achieve in the future. {true}
• I should focus on creative, artistic abilities. They are a positive force in my life. {true}
• The emotional undercurrent in my life is a family situation where people are detached from one another. {eh, kinda true sometimes}
• The main challenge to achieving my goal is isolation and a sense of being stuck in a rut. {not really}
• I couldn’t interpret the rest of the cards because my daughter took them off the table while I was in the bathroom. Maybe the universe only wanted me to read the first four cards.

I also found a deck of Cheryl Richardson’s Self Care Cards, which are quite nice. They are not “meta-physical” or tarot-related, but are beautifully illustrated and contain messages that prompt you to take care of yourself. You can see examples of the Self Care Cards here. Want to get them for free? I’d love to pass my set along. They are used in the sense that I no longer have the box or packaging, but I have a complete set of 52 cards and they are in great condition.

To enter to win, please visit my latest post over at the newly-re-launched Blissfully Domestic, Five Reasons Every Blogger Should Use Flock. Leave a comment there and let me know you’d like to win the Self-Care Cards. I’ll choose a winner on Friday, 9/19.