Make blogging easier

I had been blogging for about 4 months before I discovered the beauty of a feed reader. I can’t even remember how I discovered it, but when I did it was a joyous occasion.

Before using a reader I would find myself clicking on the links in my blogroll at all times of day, waiting for the blog to load only to be disappointed that there wasn’t a new post up yet. It took a lot of time and I was getting to the point where I didn’t think I could keep up anymore when I learned about Google Reader.
All you need to be able to use it is a Gmail account. Once you log in you click on Add Subscription and type in the url of a blog you like to read. Then add another one and so on. You can have as many blogs in your reader as you like.

The purpose of the reader is to consolidate all of your favorite blogs in one place with notifications when they have been updated. Now I just check my reader twice a day instead of clicking on each individual blog link without knowing if it’s been updated or not. It’s a terrific time saver and works well for me!

P.S. -Are you a mom up for a Challenge?

Mother’s Day Challenge

I think it’s great that we have one day a year devoted to us. Of course, we are mothers every day but our husbands don’t make us pancakes for breakfast every day. Our husbands don’t make us our dinner of choice (steak, sauteed mushrooms and asparagus) every day. Our kids don’t thank us for being their mommy every day. So this one day that promotes that kind of behavior is pretty cool in that respect. Because we do an awful lot as moms. Whether we stay at home or work, our emotional and physical load is more than those around us might ever realize. It’s important to be good mothers.

BUT…

We need to remember that being a good mother, starts with being a good woman. If we’re not taking care of ourselves on all levels, it’s hard to adequately care for those who depend on us. So this Mother’s day, make some goals to rediscover the woman behind the mother and take better care of yourself.

Lay off on the ice cream a little

Find your inner ’sexy’…

But don’t take yourself too seriously

Hang out with just ‘the girls’ every now and again
Why don’t I know someone who throws parties like this

Learn something new or start back up on an old hobby.
Next on my to learn list:Hair Bows!

Make your self up on occasion

Like, more often than every 9 years which is how long ago this picture was taken. I actually used a diffuser to turn my waves into semi-curls. That’s the most work I’ve ever spent on my hair.

And even if you happen to leave the house feeling scary looking…

…hold your head up high

Are you in on the challenge? Here’s how it works:

1. Pick one of the above things to work on or make up your own to get in touch with the woman behind the mom. Or if you don’t have time to start on something, you can tell us about what you’re planning to do.
2. Come back here on Monday May 19, 2008 and tell us about it. I’ll have a Mr. Linky up for you to sign. You can put up your post (or posts if you’re ambitious) before then of course, just be sure when you link up that you link to your actual post and not your front page.
3. While not required, I would love for you to spread the word so other moms can get in on the fun. So blog about it in a post or grab the button below and I’ll be very grateful. I might even have a little something special for one lucky participant. 

BUTTON CODENote-you have to retype in all the quotation marks cause they’re coming out skewed here for some reason:
<a href=”http://summersnook.com/2008/05/11/mothers-day-challenge/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/summeresque/womanbutton.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a>

Happy Mother’s Day!

Can your child swallow a quarter?

Because mine can. Which I discovered yesterday after he came to me clutching his chest, sobbing that he had.

I was skeptical for a moment, wondering if he really knew what he was saying. Besides, he had learned long ago ago not to put money or other non-food objects in his mouth. But then I remembered that childhood lessons are often learned through experience because parental council is ignored.

I pulled out a nickel, dime, penny and quarter and asked him to point the one he had swallowed. Yes, he pointed to the quarter and it was then that I called the doctor. I assumed she would tell me it would just pass on through and to not worry, instead she told me to take him to the ER immediately.

I grabbed the baby, called the hubby and took my kids out the door. I figured the situation was not immediately life threatening so was pretty calm until my 4 year old boy looked up at me and said with tears in his eyes, “Aw miss you.”

“What do you mean you’ll miss me?” I asked
“Cause I gonna died,” he said.

Yeah. I lost it.

“You are not going to die sweetie. You’ll be ok.” I said as we both cried.

Once at the hospital the ER staff was quick and friendly. They took an x-ray of Obi Wan’s tummy and we saw the quarter sitting in his tummy (darn that I didn’t have my camera on me to show you how big it looked in his little body). He thought that was very cool.

They made us walk around for another hour to make sure the quarter could move past the sphincter (which if it didn’t we would have been transferred to another hospital to have it removed using a scope).

Thankfully, the x-ray taken an hour later showed that the quarter had moved into his intestines. Upon being discharged the nurse explained what symptoms to watch for that would tell us if it got stuck, but she reassured us that it really ought to pass through fine and get pooped out in a couple of days. Upon hearing this Obi-Wan, in his high pitched loud voice yelled, “COME OUT IN MY POOP?!?!?!?!? Oh, I gotta go poop wight now!” A chorus of laughter could be heard from patients, nurses and doctors. Yeah, that’s my boy.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am he swallowed it whole instead of choking on it. Now I suppose it’s time to clean out the couches so he’s not tempted by anymore stray coins.

Dying to get my husband out of the house

I’m not the only one who has a social hermit for a husband right?

He always enjoys himself when he attends large gatherings and the like but I have to drag him along every time. So that is why I’m always eager to let him hang with someone doing something he enjoys when the invite comes along. Which isn’t very often. He doesn’t know any other guys out here well enough to just go and chill. He used to golf with one or two every couple weeks or so but they’ve since moved away. So you can imagine my delight when he got a call today from someone we know through church, asking him if he wanted to go fly fishing.
*I may or may not have discovered this person was a fly fisherman and practically begged asked him to invite my husband on an outing with him at least once.

Hubby was a huge fly fisherman back when we lived in Utah but he hasn’t gone out for 5 years now, what with work and family life being most important. But I know he wishes he could and really loves the sport.

So hubby timidly told me this person had left a message for him but that he wouldn’t call back if I didn’t want him to go. After all my mom is in town and I had planned for her to take a family picture of us at some flower gardens this afternoon.

Well forget that! We can go tomorrow!
I told him to hurry and call back. In the meantime I went looking for some of his fly fishing equipment that I was betting I had stored in different boxes in all different areas of the apartment. It only took a moment to find his fishing vest for him and he gathered the rest of his tools, including his rod. That was when he realized he didn’t see his reel and he had no idea where it was. Likely I had packed it away too but could I remember where? No, and his buddy would be here very soon.

So crazydear little wife that I am, I ransacked my house. Every place I thought it might be became an instant mess as I pulled out boxes, bags and the like. I tore apart our bedroom closet, the hallway closet, the entry way closet and the storage area beneath our bed in search of his reel so he could get out and do something he loved with somebody other than me.

In the end we couldn’t find it and his fishing buddy was waiting downstairs. Hubby glumly called him and informed him the reel was not to be found. But fishing buddy relayed the fact that he had an extra reel Hubby could use. Hooray!

As Hubby grabbed his stuff to run out the door I jokingly told him that he owed me big time. But all I really needed in return for my ransacking my house was given me at the door – a quick kiss and the happy look on his face as he walked out the door.

The good, the bad and the ugly

The Good – My mother flew into town yesterday and will be with us for the week. Yay!

The Bad – Count Dooku appears to have an allergy to something. Lately his eyes have become very red and itchy at random. Today though he really scared me when after a 28 minute drive he got out of the car and I saw his eyes had become slits. The lower lid on both of his eyes were each so puffed up, they looked like there was something stuffed inside of them. We’re waiting for a blood test to tell us if it’s something seasonal or if it’s the hamster. If you have any suggestions to help him in the mean time (besides Benadryl which didn’t do much besides making him sleepy) it would be appreciated.

The Ugly – That monthly visitor of women reared her ugly head yesterday after a 1 year 9 month break. Woe is me!

Go vote!

So the voting for April’s Photo Contest is now open! My photo is in there so if you liked it, go ahead and vote for it eh?

Hands

You see it in my header.
You see it in my avatar.
You see it on my social networking profiles.

That is because it is the photo which most identifies what I am and will always be, no matter how big those hands get. A Mother.

Hands
A sonnet
© Summer Owens

The hand that clenches my finger so tight
Will only this day in time so small be,
And it shall seem as though barely one night
Has passed between childhood and infancy.
Soon you’ll be older, your hands bigger too.
They’ll reach for mine as your first step you take.
Scrapes will soon follow but you will pull through
I’ll teach you to learn from mistakes you make.
Each new accomplishment will bring a smile
We’ll laugh and talk of the things you have learned
Yet I know it will seem such a short while
Before you seek for the freedom you’ve earned
Soon you’ll be ready to let my hand go
You’ll hold my heart in your hands always though.

The above photograph was taken by and is the sole property of myself, Summer Owens. I have entered it into the Mother’s Day Giveaway Photo Contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom. Be sure to check out the other wonderful entries there.

A giveaway to get really excited about

The ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom are having an amazing giveaway event.

They’ve kicked it off with a themed photo contest: Motherhood. The winner will receive…$1,000 dollars.

I am really excited to see all of the personal photographic interpretations of motherhood. Especially from you, my regular readers. I think this contest will be more about what you’ve captured than how you’ve captured it, so don’t feel like you have nothing to offer up because you’re not a practiced photographer (I’m certainly not practiced). Let’s get out there and go for the gold!

Flaming Beauty

For April’s Photo Contest

If tulips were people

This is Modest Mary. She looks a bit plain from the outside
but her true beauty shines from within.

This is Graceful Gabby. She is lovely inside and out and well
rounded besides.

This is Wild Wendy. She prefers a look untamed, just for the
sake of shock value. And of course, she’s all about having fun.

This is Confused Claire. She’s a lot like modest Mary, but she wants
to be like her friend Wild Wendy. She’s a bit overzealous at times in trying
to be someone she’s not. She’s still working on finding the right balance.

This is Flirtatious Felicity. She’s got good looks and she likes to flaunt it.
She makes an extra effort to outshine her peers in the garden.

And what have we here?

A pet hedgehog? In the tulip garden? It’s so flippin’ cute!
Must get one!
Ahem.
Back to the subject at hand.

Which tulip are you?