My Take on Review Blogging- Good or Bad

Most of you know that I also write a review blog, Mummy's Product Reviews. Initially, I didn't set out to write product reviews. It all started right here back in 2006 when as a weekly feature I did 'The Product of the Week'. People were always asking me about places to go, brands, beauty items, I could go on. As a self-admitted "product whore" and advice columnist wannabe, it seemed a likely fit. 'The Product of the Week' was simply my take on a product I tried, loved and wanted to share. That's all. Nothing was sent to me, no one pitched me. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Just items from my house. Review bloggers didn't hold much world wide web space if any back then.

Over time things have obviously evolved. An Arbonne consultant sent me a slew of stuff and I joined the Parent Bloggers Network. Review bloggers began showing up all over the place. It was time to create a separate space for it all, thus MPR was born. Right from the start I promoted honest reviews. I wasn't there to appease some company and stroke their fur. Call me an idealist but I really did want the companies to know what I liked and disliked about their products. Pitches from PR reps began to trickle in and by the end of 2007 they were pouring in. I was invited to review a car! I couldn't believe that this was really happening. I loved it.

Now, in 2009, I still love it. Honest reviews are my thing, besides my regular writing. I have a handy star guide and I hate to say it but this is one of my passions. Sometimes a company will give me an honorarium and even before the FTC decided to crackdown I was honest about that too. I willingly admit that I like free stuff, just not all free stuff. Having a company request a review is nice, sometimes. I like building relationships with companies and I admit I have passed on quite a few whose products and/or practices didn't jive with mine. When I work with a company or seek them out it is because I respect their brand and want to learn and share more- good or bad. I enjoy most of the events I attend because I get to learn something new (good or bad), see some blogger friends and network. I don't let it cloud my judgement or ability to be objective about the product. My belief then and now has always been that a company must be willing to take a certain risk when they ask someone to review their product. The very definition of the word review is this- "To examine with an eye to criticism or correction. To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example)."

I don't review everything that comes my way either. Unsolicited items, products without paperwork and pitches that don't fit my criteria or the blog don't make it as a review. I don't see the point of reviewing an item for only positive purposes either. What good does that do the readers or the company? I also think that review bloggers should be paid for their writing. The writing, not for shilling a product. I realize it is a fine line and requires disclosure and I wish it didn't affect a bloggers credibility (read this!). It's work testing a product, working with a company, writing up the review and spewing it out to the masses. PR work, writing work, just plain Work. Work, I love but yes, work. I actually think about what I write and I do not just post up a press release. That idea alone makes my skin crawl. I admit that if a company intrigues me or produces an item that peaks my interest I will set up a review. That is how it works. If I don't like it, I say I don't like it. Attending an event, being put up in a nice hotel and being given free stuff could sway me but it doesn't. Yes, really. I'll cop to it being nice having all that attention and stuff lavished on me but at the end of the day, when the blog post goes up, it is all about the product and not the attention. It really is about blogging with integrity.

Again, call me an idealist but I believe and agree with Liz at Mom-101, that PR companies and the companies behind the products we all review, should be honest. They want us for who we are and like any good relationship we shouldn't have to change who we are just so they will like us. They should love us, respect our opinions (good or bad) just for who we are even if a bad review comes their way. That being said, bloggers need to own up to the relationships they have with these brands and what went on behind the scenes. Be professional and weigh the pros and cons of an item. They should be honest with their reviews and not have their heads turned just because someone gave them a truckload of chips, a night in a hotel and some free meals. Like any job it is your credibility that is at stake. I hate feeling dirty because as a reviewer I am lumped in with "gimme bloggers" who are not credible or professional in their work.

My blood gets thick and begins to boil when I hear reviewers say they only do positive reviews and don't want to offend the company. Really? We are the consumers, people! We buy the stuff. If we don't like it we don't buy it. If we don't tell the makers, they have no idea their product doesn't work, smells bad, tastes awful, is a rip-off or doesn't last. It's just like a regular ol' relationship. It irritates you when your boyfriend bites his toenails off with his teeth while watching television? He's not going to stop if you never say anything! Tell him it grosses you out. To me it is all the same thing.

I'm seriously considering putting up a monthly column called, 'Disappointments' on MPR and listing a bunch of products that didn't perform well regardless if I bought it on my own or it was supplied. I don't care if companies back off from my reviews because then it shows they are just in it for the free PR. It's not about ruining a brand or a product, it's about providing real research and true thoughts and findings. That to me is highly valuable information when it is handled tactfully.

I could say, "Can't we all just get along?" I could say that we are just on the cusp of having real, open discussions surrounding this ordeal but we are right in the thick of it. December 1 is looming large and everyone who reviews is going to have to figure out where they stand. I already know where I stand and it is with full disclosure and honesty.

I'm climbing off my soap box now. Thanks for your time.

Blogher 2010, I'm Talking to You!

Blogher 2009 had the theme of "Blogher09 is People". Every time I heard that phrase all I could think of was a quote from the Muppets Take Manhattan, "is frogs, is pigs, is chickens and stuff... is New York!" Oddly, Blogher 2010 is New York.

Now that I am home, sticky with teething biscuit crumbs and out of the bubble that is every Blogher conference (I swear the world could implode on itself and the only way we would know is if it was on Twitter.) I can see beyond "BlogHer is going to hell in a swag bag..." and the bad and the ugly that happened. I see the mistakes that were made and all I want to do now is to fix them. I want to help in any way that I can. I want to make Blogher 2010 even better than it has been in year previous. If all I contribute is the much-needed start to this discussion then so be it.

1. The Networking- In the past, the representatives from the various sponsors at Blogher were generous with the swag but also knowledgeable about social media and what we as a blogging community had to offer. They wanted to work with us and forge new bonds and create breakthroughs in this new media realm. Frankly, it was exhilarating in a kick ass sort of way. This year I found almost none of this. The companies sent reps that sometimes even asked the question, "Oh, are you a blogger?" Huh. I do not want coupons for tires or CD's on clothes. Please refrain from schilling your products. I'm not at a trade show. I do not care about detergent samples either. I just want to form a dialogue with these companies and figure out the best way we can all work together. That is what Blogher is about for me.

2. New Bloggers- I love you! I want you there! We all do. However, BlogHer is not only about collecting loot and reuniting with your online friends only. You are there to learn, network and you can do all that other stuff. That is why this whole conference was created. It is not a Bachelorette party free for all. If you felt lost this year then speak up and let’s start discussing how to make things better for newbies.

3. Old Bloggers- Veterans to the whole shebang might have come off as slightly bitter this year and I can see why. Only in my second year at the conference (my fourth blogging), I consider myself an "old" blogger. A dinosaur if you will. I think Amy said it best on Saturday night and in the most well rounded fashion (please, please, please post on this Amy!) "We were young once too and people frowned upon us. There will always be some new media/technology that comes up and/or someone or something we do not like. We have to respect it though." I am totally paraphrasing but she is right.

When I think of the reasons why I love going to Blogher it is because I am there to network with other bloggers and the companies that want to work with us. I go to learn a few things and to be inspired. I want to hone my craft to a sharp little gleaming point too. Typically, by the time Blogher rolls around I am feeling burnt out. It is just the recharge I need. It is also a perfect chance to have fun, see your friends and revel in this amazing community that we have all created and share daily. It is a beautiful thing Internets and I just want to take it back to its roots. I know we can do it too. We can move beyond the commercialism and saturation that we all just experienced, because if anyone can find a good balance and new way to do things, it is we, bloggers.

There is No Holy Grail.

Ahem... is this thing on?

Right then. Listen up, Internets! It seems we have a few issues to address here at Blogher09. It's come to my attention through my own personal experience, plain viewing and accounts from other blogging friends and blog-strangers that there is a different sort of vibe in the air here at the conference this year. It's not a good one either.

1. The Swag Grab- Yes, free loot is fun. I'm not going to say that I don't like to get free stuff. I do. But I'm not about to go elbowing a few babies, stealing swag bags off of carts or run into a party just to pick up a free key chain, phone or what have you. It is not why we are here. We're here to talk shop, learn a few things, network and see our friends. The purpose of Blogher is people. Got it? It's not getting your hands on some 3 ounce sample of Tide and a pink All Lollipop as you shove another well-meaning blogger out of the way. That kind of karma will just kick you in the ass later.

2. There is No Holy Grail- I know it is overwhelming. You want to see your favorite bloggers, your friends and meet the cool folks over at Nikon and Sprout. Plus, you want to make yourself known too. Blogher seems to be the end of the quest. The best place to search for answers to all your blogging questions and find that elusive golden chalice that will bring in tons 'o blogging cashola. But it is just not like that. Sure, you can make contacts, get some work and learn a whole lot but the secret to making money at blogging is that there isn't one. There is no tried and true formula. The truth is while money can be made doing this it is not big bucks money. It takes constant effort and a whole lot of time. It takes balls. You can brand yourself and before you do that you need to know what you stand for and who you and your blog are. You don't go into blogging to make some coin. It's just that simple. You do this because you love it. It's your passion- be it food blogging, photography or simply writing. That is all. Embrace it for what it is.

3. Manners- This ties in strongly with the first two points. We may be online half the time but that doesn't give us the free reign to lose our manners. Don't ask a blogger if they are "well-established." Don't go around asking "how can I make money?" repeatedly. Don't ask someone you just met if they can help you find a fave blogger of yours so that you can meet them. It's a tad awkward. It's off-putting to the person and doesn't make them want to get to know you further. Blogher is a wonderful way to meet other like-minded people. However, it doesn't mean that manners no longer apply. Don't make me throw an Emily Post tome at your head.

Now go, have fun. Blogher is people. Remember that.

It's Like I Don't Know My Own Blog Anymore

My brain is a bit fuzzy today. Probably from all the buzzing it has been doing this morning as I try and get a grasp on what this blog is really all about. See, I'm going to be on a little radio show this afternoon (2pm EST) called, Role Mommy and Friends.

I just know that the big question will be what this blog is all about and quite frankly I'm still trying to figure that one out. MPR has the reviews. And sure, I have issues that I hold near and dear and write about from time to time but it's not like I have some sort of niche. Not unless you count the daily tightrope act that I do where I try not to be a diabolical cross between Bree van de Kamp and Mommie Dearest.

I'm having a bit of an identity crises lately. How do you see this blog? Why do you read it? Help me Internets, you are my only hope.

Oh, and don't forget to listen to my nervous laughter on Role Mommy and Friends today.

Meeting Jen Lancaster

Last Friday I took a trip two years in the making. I boarded a metro train bound for the city and met up with a friend. After a delightful dinner of tapas and sangria and a quick stop for cupcakes we made our way to the Jen Lancaster, Pretty in Plaid, book signing.

Awww... look at the cute crazy stalker fangirrrl.

I know you are already like, "Uh, what is the big deal? She's just some author. What are you some crazy stalker fan or something?" Well, I could be. I did after all wear lime green pants, a pink polo and pearls. And the above mentioned cupcakes. Divine, by the way. So while I could be construed as crazy stalker fangirl (hmm.. despite the lime green pants and pearls I'm really more of a fangirrrl, anyways...) it is more that Lancaster's first book came to me at just the right moment. Let's go back three years, shall we?

There I was all post-partumy and on my first outing after having TD. I was standing in Borders humor section figuring, "Why the F not. I could use some as long as it's not the Jeff Foxworthy variety." And there it was, Bitter is the New Black, Lancaster's first book and I thought, "I'm bitter..." I picked it up and began to read while pushing a colicky TD. I couldn't stop laughing and relating. When I was done with the book I wanted more. I quickly discovered her blog, Jennsylvania. While I had a live journal back in 2003 and a pregnancy/family-only blog, I never thought of blogging on the scale that Lancaster was doing. I had never read any one's blog either. Suddenly, I had a fever. A fever that could only be quenched with more... blogging.

And there you have it. I created The Mummy Chronicles, quit my day job and now I'm a writer, reviewer, consultant extraordinaire! I really believe that I have Lancaster to thank for that in some way. She inspired me to do something I didn't think I could and kept me laughing throughout. Meeting her for the first time (despite two years of trying and missing book signings) was a real highlight for me. Even if I couldn't get up the nerve to do more than shove cupcakes at her, grin stupidly and squat beside her with the brilliant line of, "Wow. I feel really tiny squatting down here." I iz wicked brilliant writer, no?

I'm hosting a few giveaways at MPR this week- check them out here! There's a silver pendant and more!

Hershey Lockdown

One of the great things about blogging isn't just the free stuff that sometimes arrives on my front door step but it is the opportunities it offers me to connect with other bloggers and get to know some of them on a more personal level (and you know, quit stalking them and such.) Most of all though it is the times that I get to bond with my family in some truly memorable ways. Hershey's, while having always been a fan of their candy, stole my heart this weekend when they invited TD and I to 'A Night at the Museum'.

As part of this special event they treated nine bloggers (Classy Mommy, MomDot, MomGenerations, Mom101, Sundry Mourning, Cutie Booty Cakes, Blissfully Domestic, Suburban Bliss, And Twins Makes 5) to a taste of their grand prize "Win a Night at the Museum" promotion. Hershey in combination with Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian is going to have a lock-in at the Smithsonian Institute contest for five lucky winners!

Mainly though, the weekend was all about TD and I getting reacquainted. In the past five months since The Comedian's arrival we've had precious few moments of just Mommy/TD time and we were both in need. It was such a nice treat for me to just spend time with her, indulge her whims a bit (who says $6 Oreos aren't worth it?) and just loose the confines of our daily grind er, schedule.

Here she is luxuriating in the king-size bed with her Oreos and chips. Who says we don't know how to do it up DC-style?

Charlotte, TD and Mackenzie (William not shown) became the best of friends that night.
The night by Hershey's was fabulous and not just because they loaded us up with free candy and chocolate galore but also because they made all of us feel so very special. From the pizza party, night time museum tour where the kids ran buck wild through the exhibits and the staff didn't bat an eye (brave people at the Smithsonian!) to the endless attention they paid our children it was truly a wonderful time that I, and hopefully, TD will never forget. We watched endless cartoons, played with all the bathroom amenities and took a nice mid-morning walk through the city ending up at a cafe for some brunch. I think she feels she has her Mommy back and I feel the same way.

I'm so thankful for Hershey's for providing that exclusive treat of having one on one time with my daughter and not just sending me a box full of candy to get fat on *cough* review.

Hershey's has partnered with Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and is offering 5 lucky fans the amazing opportunity to spend the night at the Smithsonian! If you find a museum key inside the wrapper of a specially marked Hershey product - you won! Now through October 31, 2009 - be on the lookout for keys in Hershey Kisses, Reese’s Pieces, Whoopers, Good & Plenty, Milk Duds, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures, Hershey’s Miniatures, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups 8-Packs, Kit Kat Wafer Bars 8-Packs and Almond Joy Candy 8-Packs.

"Unleash the Loot!" too by entering on the website daily for a chance to win the $50,000 Grand Prize or one of ten first prizes and more!

This is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Also - let the excitement continue by heading over to http://www.hershey.com/nightatthemuseumto enter daily and “Unleash some Loot!”

Got Cancer? Hopefully, No.

Two weeks ago I got off a plane at Logan Airport in Boston, went into the women's room and as I washed my hands I noticed a red bump under my left eye. A sty? Drat! Mainly annoying and sometimes itchy I assumed it would clear up in a few days.

A week later and no longer itchy the bump was still there. This time with new scaly action. My friend suggested applying hydro-cortisone cream to it and dutifully I did. The scaly bump stayed put. It just shed itself like a snake and resumed squatting on my face. I took matters into my own hands and tried anti-fungal cream. Gross, but maybe it would help. The evil scaly red spot would not budge. When I touched down into DC earlier this week after a trip to the desert the first thing I did was call my trusty, if not "Is it Safe" dermatologist.

Yesterday, Dr. Happy Slicer decided that while the scaly mess didn't look cancerous but we should just be sure and biopsy it. We don't want another episode like this one. Nothing like taking a needle to the eye in the middle of your sunny afternoon. Did I mention The Comedian had just decided to add her own zany humor into the mix and puked on me only seconds before? She's a charmer that one! I digress. Dr. Humming, Happy "Is it Safe?" Slicer Man told me he would "just scrape" the area. Ugh. Scrape he did. I now have a lovely divot that is sure to scar and never fill back in, forever marring my face. Seriously. I admit to being vain here and now. This is my worst nightmare.


Just after the face-altering divot


And this morning-


Tomorrow I'm expected to face a group of bloggers and tour a musuem with some Hershey PR people and I have to look like this. As if I really want to take forever keepsake photos for TD's scrapbook with this eye-sore. Heh.

To leave it all on an upbeat note (results come back in 7-10 days from Dr. I Love to Slice the Faces) I give you Sundry Mourning, a blog I just "discovered" and find hilarious.

UPDATE: The doctor just called. Pre-cancerous but benign cells. Hmm... is that actually possible? Must keep watch on it and it if returns have it frozen off. I wonder if sharks with lasers could do that. I might prefer that to Dr. Love Me Some Scalpel.

Many of you know I blog about genetics and pregnancy at 23andMe. I'd like to know how you would anwer the question I'm asking this week- "Genotyping- Scary or Freeing?" I would not want to know when I’m going to die.” I heard that many times when I divulged the fact that I had taken the 23andMe genotyping test. Read more.

It's a Good Morning All Around

You know what's a great way to start a day?

First, take a baby that has been blissfully sleeping through the night for the past week and allow them to wake you up every two hours. Said baby is not content at just seeing you enter her room but instead glares at you, flails her arms about and screams as if to say, "Hey, Feedbag! Hustle! Feedbag, Hustle!"

Second, add in a Tiny Dictator who awakens at 4:45 a.m. to wet the bed. More screaming and hot tears ensue and just as H, who thankfully got up to take care of that hot mess of problems, crashes back into bed the dog throws up rather loudly into her crate right next to you. The smell permeates the room in about 2.5 seconds and you realize you have no choice but to start the day.

The laundry monster you spent all day slaying the day before? It's back for round two. We call that the battle of piss and vomit.

And good morning to you too!


Be sure to set your DVR, TIVO or whatever recording device you might have to Good Morning America tomorrow. I, along with a slew of my blogging friends, will be gracing your television screens!

You Know You Are a Blogger If...

1. You have your "real life" friends and your online friends who you might not have ever met. You can have close relationships with both.

2. You are dying to attend CES each year. In your previous life you didn't know what CES even is or that you "needed" all its lovely gadgets.

3. You have been paid half in real cash money and half in product.

4. Your family thinks you speak a foreign language because you speak of such things as Twitter, tweeting, vlogs, wordpress and can conduct business on Facebook.

5. You start sentences with, "I'm so blogging this..."

6. Your friends and family start stories with, "Please don't blog this..."

7. You get to know PR people really well.

8. Your kids make computer keyboard replicas out of their Lego's.

9. If you know how many people read your blog on Monday, what city they live in and how many pages they looked at.

10. If your drug of choice is a "comment."
Want to complete this list? Add more? Send me your thoughts on 'You Know You Are a Blogger If...' in the comment section.

Calling Webster's Dictionary

I'm tweeting, I'm IM'ing, and um... yeah, not really posting or doing anything worky right now. Oh wait. That is my job.


In the midst of it all I think I made up a new word today- blogfrence. I think it's pretty self explanatory. I'm totally calling it and when the NYTimes uses it in the next few months for one of their articles about bloggers and how we seem to all be superstars or what have you they are going to have to refer back to me. The same goes for Newsweek. Mine!

Not satisfied with my meager blog post today? Check out some of these fine ladies.

I'm All About Trying to be Better and Stuff

Because I don't even want to get into how many times I was up last night, discovering busted breast pump pieces at 3 a.m. or the tantrum that occurred in our house in the middle of the night that wasn't by one of the people possessing the XX chromosomes in our house- I give you this- 2009- The Year of the Mom.




Feel free to print that zen-like button out and stick it somewhere - like your bosses head- or your car. Everyone in the carpool line will think you are like, totally in the know and they aren't, despite your Mom jeans. I kid. But not about the Mom jeans. Seriously. Don't even donate those suckers. Just light them on fire and buy yourself something from 2009.

If 2008 was the year that women went nuts for a teenage vampire and a whiny girl who has no apparent appeal whatsoever, except yeah- to some guy whose been dead about 93 years, go figure- then 2009 is going to be all about-

-Training for my first 5K

-Hitting up BlogHer one more year

-Being a more patient mother. Less JC, more inside voice coming from my larynx.

-Sticking to the idea of date night once a week with H. Even if it's only turning off the TV and talking for thirty minutes before our eyes glaze over, our brains shut down and we fall asleep. At least we'll probably fall asleep holding hands or touching, which is more than I can say about us on most days with a couch that seats nine.

-Saving more, buying less. I do this already but it feels so good and I just need to stay on task and not let that scary little monster of consumerism get a death grip on my wallet and let me free fall into mass materialism again. My little monster looks a lot like the orange Weight Watcher one- only mine is purplicious.

And really? That's all. I'm not going to try and consume less SBUX or organize more. That's all stuff that keeps me sane and happy. I'm just going to try and take it slow and focus on these things. I'm sure there will be days where I'll be running amok with a masque on my face and bitchin' about hangers but I'm only human.

Oh and one more thing. Maybe I'll scrap the idea of filming Dash Two dancing to the Humpty Dance and throwing it up on YouTube. It never fails to make me laugh so why not others, right? OK... I won't do it, I promise.

I Want My Two Dollars!

If only it were that simple or even that insignificant amount of money. However, it is not.

Here's the problem- some months ago I was hired to be a blogging consultant to launch a particularly new (and by new I mean, having no idea what the heck they were getting themselves into, all very obvious now) scheduling company to the DC Metro area. I was ecstatic. I completely believed in and loved the product. The company is woman-owned and family friendly too. It was proof-positive that going to BlogHer can get you work too.

Rates were negotiated. Plans outlined. Contracts were signed. Work officially began.

Then things started to go awry. Emails were missed and bounced back. Contact was a bit hard to make. I tried to hold to it all together and make the campaign as successful as I could on the 5 hours a week I was allotted. Not much time in the grand scheme of things and truthfully I worked over that five each week just to get done what I did. The whole project took four weeks total. I charged them for three because I knew things were tight for them budget-wise. I couldn't excuse that third week because I had worked almost 10 hours that week alone. I needed to be paid.

And I was. For two weeks. Now? Nothing. My last $350 is not being sent. Why? They didn't budget it despite what my contract states, "a minimum of two weeks of work" and an agreement that I would be paid regardless. I am livid.

I want my money. I want to take the high road and not run their name through the mud but I'm wondering if after all this time (work ended in early September) I should just go ahead and call them out here and here and amongst my whole blogging network. They gleaned contacts from me through this project. My word and reputation is on the line. If another blogger is screwed out of hard-earned money because companies think they don't have to actually pay a blogger for work then they have another thing coming.

So, Internets- some advice? What would you do?

To think they had the nerve to ask me just last week to do more press for them as well. Sickening.

Things that Burn My Britches

I read this post by my friend, Kim today and now not only are her panties in a bunch but mine are too. I mean seriously, Wal-mart? Get on the wagon and realize you have to pay your bloggers for their work. I'm getting real tired of the whole,"your blog will be promoted through us..." as payback line. We're doing the work, we are finding your audience or hawking your products, it takes time and research, so pay us. Enough said.

Then I got to thinking about other things that have gotten my undapeeants not just in a bunch but burned.

- When someone writes a check. Be it Target, Smarmy-mart (aka Wal-Mart) or the 7th ring of hell also known as Safeway, I ask you this- Who does that anymore? I'm not saying you need to be swiping your little Visa go card all over the place but check writing reminds me of tissues up an old ladies shirt sleeves, mothballs and velamints.

- Companies that send teensy, tiny samples of body oil, body butter, body scrub- BODY ANYTHING- in jars the size of a nickel or quarter. Ooooh my pinky finger is so moisturized or exfoliated now! Really? I want to give a bad review based solely on that stingy factor.

- Fox News claiming they are fair and balanced. It used to make me laugh really hard not I just narrow my eyes into tiny slits. Sadly, no new is fair and balanced. Except maybe, The Onion.

- When your OB-GYN (or any doctor for that matter) talks so fast you have to replay the last thing she said so many times in your head to understand it that you miss everything else that she spouted out after that. I like more than five minutes of your time, doc. Remind me to never see you again. I'll stick to the mid-wives from here on out. They at least ooze a slowness that comes only from promoting natural child-birth and not dollar signs.

- When people call me Victa. It happens more than you would imagine.

Am I Just a Lucky SOB of a Blogger?

While I was at BlogHer (I know, I know! Enough already about your little love fest, called BlogHer!) I listened to many women bloggers talk about hate mail. The nasty comments they get about their parenting skills, life choices, children and more. Then yesterday I was reading my friend Kristen's blog and read a nastygram that she had received regarding a recent post of hers and it dawned on me.

It's been ages since I received any hate mail. What does that say about me I began to wonder? Am I that middle of the road? Do my readers just adore me that much?! Heh. Am I that boring or am I just that lucky? They say you have really made it when the masses decide to turn on you, but then again they also say no news is good news. Does that apply to evil commenter's too?

Really, the last time I received anything mildly inflammatory was when I quit my desk job and a few co-workers found the blog and decided to pounce. Sadly, they were anonymous and didn't have anything really of note to say. It got boring fast. I once made a comment about Catholic guilt and that riled someone up good (she told me she never wanted the misfortune of reading me again.) but that's been it. It seems everyone must agree with me and my perspective.
I'm even going to assume that everyone has Joan Crawford days like me. Which by the way, if you want to further dispel that Mommie Dearest myth you simply must read, Not the Girl Next Door, by Charlotte Chandler. No wire hangers, indeed.

I guess you all believe in limited television for children, seeing the fun side of Darth Vader, liberal politics and retro parenting. Also, drinking while pregnant, beating small animals and laughing at small children while they cry.

Excuse me, while I go out to buy a carton of Winston lights for T.D. and myself. We're running a bit low and we have a possible road trip in our future. A road trip where I will be sure to let her consume at least two BIG GULPS in under two hours and will ignore all potty requests. What's a little urine in the car seat, right?

And done!

I woke up this morning thinking about the Avon Walk. It is less than a month away and we have four fundraisers, big and small, in the works in less time than that. Sometimes I think I must be crazy for attempting to do this walk while still in my first trimester. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for agreeing to do so many fundraising events. Organized I can be. A seller of wares I am not.

Just thinking about the fact that I'll have a whole Arbonne table to myself on Saturday makes me sweat giant beads of perspiration no matter how good the cause. I am full of 'what ifs'. What if no one even glances my way? What if my friend who sells Mary Kay kicks my ass in sales? What if no one buys a single thing despite it being for charity. Arbonne is not cheap. It's hard to convey how awesome it is as a skincare line when a giant hormone-induced zit is sitting front and center on my face as well.

Last time we held a fundraiser I came away with less than $20 and a huge feeling of defeat. Then today I open up my inbox and there it is, the donation alert from Avon. I met my goal. A friend from high school, who has never donated before and I haven't spoken to much in the last few years sent me exactly $91.99. I stand amazed and with a huge grin on my face. It's like the kindness of strangers or something quaint like that.

Suddenly I feel all about fundraising. The pressure is off and I'm simply helping my teammates meet their goals. I have nothing to lose and tons of fun to have. It makes me feel sort of sweet and sappy inside. Excited too, because despite how much work it is going to be corralling over ten capitalistic vendors early Saturday morning it is all for a good cause again. The worry is no longer an issue. I feel all Chariots of Fire running now or something. If I ran anymore and didn't feel like puking every five minutes even while sitting still.

Thanks Eric! You ROCK!!



Also this? This is seriously awesome and something I am sad I had to miss.