Things I have actually texted to my actual boss on his actual cell phone and no, he’s not actually a jerk. Mostly, he just pretends. Mostly.

Ever heard of the Guilty Squid?

What? I’m sorry – did you just say no? ::headexplosion::

Here’s the thing – you know that horrible Slap Chop guy that mixes up tuna and egg and a whole bunch of crap together and then yells something like, “Stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life?” You know how once he said that, you were like, “OMG. That’s the reason my life is so horrid. I have boring tuna!”

I’m the Slap Chop guy today (don’t hate me, my unneeded microphone is awesome) and Guilty Squid is the amazing tuna that you’ve been missing out on. From now on, your life should be a little bit brighter. And come in a water packed can. She is seriously one of the funniest people around.

Please to enjoy:
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I know that most of y’all probably don’t know me, but I’m so excited to be guest posting for the lovely and gracious Diana. She’s been one of my Twitter faves for a while now, and I enjoy counting her as a tweep. So, when she asked me to guest post here I was excited.

But, I’ve been stumped. I’ve had all kinds of different ideas for what to write about here, but I’d get halfway through before I thought, “Nope. That’s not the right one for Diana.”

And then I felt all this pressure to give her a fantastic post because she seems to think I’m entertaining, and so then I felt pressure. I’d don’t really like pressure. Unless I was in labor. Then the pressure meant “THE END IS NEAR” and so that one wasn’t so bad.

Then, just was I was about at the end of my rope, my boss hollered at me and I hit upon my post for you guys. This is called, “Things I have actually texted to my actual boss on his actual cell phone and no, he’s not actually a jerk. Mostly, he just pretends. Mostly.”

I have a unique relationship with my boss. He’s the kind of guy that I can call a jerk to his face and he laughs and all is well. He’s wicked smart (but don’t tell him I said so) and can multi-task like a mofo. (Note: I’ve promised not to curse in this post, because I like Diana and she said it might be too hard core for y’all. And by hard core I’m pretty sure she meant Bad Ass, and so even though I’m all certified in that, I’m going to give it a whirl. Oh, and my point was that if you see something like “mofo” and you don’t know what it means and you’re thinking of Googling it, then let me just say, DO NOT. It means “awesome”. Always. No matter what. Or nice. Or maybe sweet. You know, anything that sounds like it means something positive is what it means.)

So – what was I saying? Oh yeah, my boss. He’s basically like someone I don’t mind being around and getting paid for it. So, to my boss? You’re welcome.

Last year, no one realized it was my birthday on my birthday and randomly, and without warning he yelled out, “Hey! You jerk! It’s your birthday.” To which I replied, “Aw, don’t go being all mushy and stuff. I’ll get a tear.” Because that’s how we roll. And really? My birthday wish is the best way to describe the dynamic we have – he called me a jerk for my birthday and I loved it. He’s an avid Republican, so I sometimes use that to my advantage. I do love to randomly text him random things whenever I’m feeling the least bit random.

WHEN: My boss’s wife made my daughter’s birthday cake. Which prompted this text exchange:

Me: I let my kids have cake for breakfast. Also? My son would like to eat at your house. Not just for a onetime invite. Forever.
Him: Glad it went well. I’ll bring him some scraps sometimes.
Me: My 3 year old nephew tried to stab another kid with his fork for trying to eat some of his cake.
Him: Assault. The sign of a really good cake.

WHEN: He was stuck on a nature retreat with all of the muckity mucks.

Me: I bet you’re having fun.
Him: I just gave a presentation. It was awesome.
Me: We heard the applause and awes from here. We thought maybe you’d been kick out.
Him: You know I’m coming back, right.
Me: Don’t threaten me.

WHEN: I was running late to work. One of the many times.

Me: Mother Nature is making me late and is also trying to kill me. Probably.
Him: Don’t text and drive.
Me: (sent from my desk later): I wasn’t. I was stopped. It’s called being considerate to save you from worrying that I had been in a horrible accident.
Me: You’re welcome.

WHEN: I left work early to go get a tire “really quickly” from his favorite discount tire place in town.

Me: I have to have a special ordered tire.
Him: But of course you do.
Me: It’s crazy! Cheap is NOT $192. Or maybe it is, I don’t actually know. So maybe they are getting me an awesome tire.
Him: How many miles?
Me: For what?
Him: The TIRE.
Him: The NEW one.
(Okay, and I got to hand it to him there, because I was SO starting to text back that I didn’t keep track of all the miles on my one tire, so whatever. And then he KNEW and sent me that. The jerk.)
Me: That lasts 60K.
Me: My head is starting to hurt.
Me: I need a certificate for my tire? Where would I find that?
Me: Oh, never mind. Evidently, they give the certificate to ME. Who knew?
Him: Everyone else but you.
Me: True fact.

WHEN: Pretty self explanatory, really.

Me: I want to go to a workshop on tact and professionalism. It’s here in town.
Him: I prefer you tactless.

WHEN: He had to take time off.

Me: OfficeJerk really likes it when you’re gone.
Him: What a coincidence. Me too.
Him: Tell him to get to work.
Me: I can’t. My eye is twitching. And who takes a woman with facial tick seriously? Nobody, that’s who.
Him: They don’t take you seriously when you aren’t ticking.
Me: I’ll read that when my eye stops twitching.

WHEN: The office full of geeks got a new server and the boss was gone.

Me: We’re trying to name the server.
Him: Tell them “bob” and get back to work.
Me: “They” really want a theme. They are REALLY into it.
Him: Again, get back to work. Bob.
Me: Fine, got it, Chester. *I* wanted mobster names.
Me: They are picking constellations. Ugh.
Him: Why did you even TELL me about this?
Me: I’m bored.
Him: Bet it would be nice if there was someone there to tell you to get back to work.
Me: I know, right? Slacker.

WHEN: I was late. Yeah, it’s kind of my thing.

Me: I’m probably going to be late. My child broke her shoe this morning and evidently, she can’t go to school shoeless.
Him: Shoes are a luxury.
Me: Apparently, it’s a “rule” at school. I blame the Democrats.
Him: Well done. Take your time.
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You can visit Guilty Squid on her blog at http://www.guiltysquid.com/. Thank you to her for the very funny guest post!

Tornado Tuesday Blog Hop – Handcuffs Week

Hormonal Imbalances
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Handcuffs – our hot word this week. Hmmm. Well, when I was 16, I got plastered at a guys house after a basketball game. Having told my parents I’d be home at 10, I don’t know why at 2am I figured they wouldn’t be worried.

I found out that neither of the people in the house I was at drove, I didn’t have a license yet, and my friend that had taken me was already gone. So, having no other options, I walked a few miles in the dark to her house, where I knocked on her window, and called my mom.

Who came to get me in stony silence as I tried to convince her the reeking booze smell was some type of gum.

My dad had other ideas. He was furious, and immediately took me to the police station to have them scare me straight. So they handcuffed me to the bench, questioned me, and I lied. I told them the Mountain Dew had been spiked long before I got to the house, and I wouldn’t give them the names of the people I had been with.

I was charged with underage drinking. I appeared in court, with both my parents, a few weeks later and placed on 3 months probation and fined. The judge asked me if I wanted to keep my drivers license and I flippantly said, “I don’t even have one.” He replied annoyed, “Well, do you want one anytime soon?”

When people asked me what I had learned from it, I always said defiantly, “Not to go home next time.”

I was an evil child.

Leave me a link to what you put for this week so I can stop by!
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Hormonal Imbalances

Questions? hormonal-imbalances at hotmail.com
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"Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You mustn’t say that. He isn’t a toy. He’s REAL!"

Ah, the Velveteen Rabbit. I read that story to my kindergarten class and when the bunny was to be burned because he carried germs, the girls all cried and most of the boys cheered. :)
The Velveteen Rabbit

But they were all happy when he was real. (And while clicking on the pic takes you to Amazon.com – my state doesn’t allow me to participate in their rewards program. I use the pictures they have so I don’t have to Google and link.)

Which bring me to the point of this post – I have, and always have had, an attachment to inanimate objects. When I was about 4, I left my D-Duck (the ultimate lovey – and it was a chicken) at a hotel. My parents had it shipped to me, and while I was upset about having lost it, I was more upset that he had to be in a box alone. In the dark. With no air holes.

I’ve carted stuffed animals with me from place to place (just a few, I don’t have a fetish or anything). I have about 5 or 6 that hold some kind of memory that hits me when I open the box they’re in – mostly from when I lived in New Jersey. Parting with them is unthinkable. I suppose one day I’ll give them to Bella.

When I was younger, I thought that my dolls and animals came to life once I left the room (like in the Little Princess how she tries to catch them). I would turn D-Duck over at night facing up so “he could breathe”. lol

And now? Well, in some ways I still have this. Take my house – I was thinking the other day, “We’re the only owners that have ever lived here. We had it built and picked out the colors and have put so much work into it. I’ll miss it.” Even though this sounds crazy, a part of me wonders if it will miss us.

When my parents sold a home we had lived in for 10 years – longer than anywhere, ever – I was living in San Diego. I told them later, “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to it.” I think all of this has to do with a lot of moving as a kid. Things I could take with me, that had a memory with them, became treasured. So did places that were a home.

So leaving here is hard for me. We’re moving in a little over a month, and although I really want the house to sell, a tiny bit of me doesn’t. It’s my home, I’ve put hours into it. I do love it. I know every inch of this place.

I understand the little boy in Velveteen Rabbit. There are some things in life that are simply “Real.”

Why I love you.

I love you because you:
Make bathtime special.
Prepared for Bella while I was on bedrest and directed the world from the couch.
Walked her all over the place when she screamed for hours on end.
Were the first to take her in the stroller outside.
.
The complete adoration you had of her the moment she was born.
Are her protector and the one she lights up for when you walk in the room.

Make sure we do all the fun things you are determined to have her experience.
Are an amazing dad to our daughter.
These, and so many other reasons, are why I have been head over heels in love with you since I was 14. Happy Father’s Day,

The Cheapening of PPD

I read Blair’s post on Motherhood the other day – where she talks about how she wasn’t prepared for it and felt lied to. I love Blair. I adore her humor, wit, sarcasm, and ability to be completely honest. I read it with the expectation of deep understanding on her level.

I didn’t get it.

Not that I didn’t comprehend what she was writing on – because I’ve read many books/blogs/and stories on it. The “con” of Motherhood. The women who feel that they went in to it with a very different perspective of what it actually turned out to be. I read those and gave birth with almost an apprehension – a guard on my heart for the total mess it was going to turn into.

But it didn’t.

Then, I read Emmie’s post today on “Big Girl Panties.” I thought about it for a long time. Really long. Because it hit home and I understand where her frustration comes from.

Here is my take on it – having been told I have mild PPD.

I honestly believe that as women, we have cheapened PPD lately. Hear me out – it’s a devastating, debilitating disease that destroys lives, robs moms of the joy of a baby, and can ruin families.

I feel that many of us use it as an excuse to escape from what we signed  up for – Motherhood.

No one said this was going to be easy. In fact, I have yet to read anything that said it was all rainbows and sugar and love. I was so terrified to go into labor because I figured as soon as I gave birth I would hate my kid, resent my husband, freak out and want to die, and be unable to ever live a normal life again. That’s what I read about.

I didn’t feel that way. I felt overwhelmed, and exhausted and angry, I wanted to kill someone my nipples hurt so bad – but I can tell you right now – I didn’t have the PPD that Blair and my friend Kim have. No way, no how. My guilt feelings were part of motherhood for me. Not everyone can say that – some people really have these feelings and it is PPD. Not for me, but it was an easy answer. The one that let me get out of some of my responsibilities.

And you know what I think? I don’t deserve the same kind of consideration, treatment, or sympathy they get. I don’t. I don’t even think I have mild PPD now.

Some PPD feelings are normal feelings. Not the extreme ones, but some fear and anxiety is a part of motherhood, of your hormones getting back to normal. We are so primed and ready to believe any type of new feeling is PPD, some of us just jump on it in order to cope.

That does a disservice to the women who actually struggle with this on a daily basis.

Sure, there are forms of mild PPD. There are times when it is short lived.

I’m talking about women who self diagnose. Who know all the right words to tell the Dr. in order to get a prescription or sympathy from their family. Who jump on it in order to escape from the responsibility of raising a child. It’s pretty easy to – given all the info and diagnosing that goes on in books, online, and by concerned family members. I think this was what Emmie was referring too.

I almost did this. I almost read myself, persuaded myself, tricked myself into thinking I had PPD. I don’t. But I was desperate for an answer, a reason for feeling overwhelmed. For me, the answer was, “You’re a mom.” For others, the real answer is, “You have PPD” – and they need to get help. For those of us who just say we have it - it makes the confessions, the desperate attempts for help of those who do suffer from it just a little less precious and fragile. It cheapens it.

I’m sorry for contributing to the cheapening of PPD. I’m sorry that I didn’t take more time to really ask myself, “What is this about?” Yes, my 6 months of motherhood with reflux was hell at times. My pregnancy was horrible. I was sad, I cried, I felt guilty – but 98% of the time I’m happy and love being a mother. That, my friends, to me, is not PPD.

But I don’t have what Blair, Kim, LawMomma, or many other women have. For me to expect the same sympathy or outreach is wrong. It’s not fair. I need to realize that I have to put my big girl panties on and deal with life – just like they have to put them on to deal with PPD.

I want more comments!

Who doesn’t love comments?

(If you raised your hand, please leave now. We don’t want your kind here.)

Getting comments makes blogging worthwhile and meaningful. I don’t care how many people say, “Blog for you, not for comments-” you’re still going to wonder when you hit publish if anyone will care enough to say something. Agree, disagree, share a story, come out from lurking – comments are the backbone of a public blog.

So when you start blogging, you realize there are people who have like 254 comments on every.single.post. Naturally, because we’re human, we all start to wonder, “How come they get so many comments? And how can I get more?”

So we’re here to help you out as much as we can. At least give you a jumping off point – because never in my 5 months of blogging have I gotten near 254 comments. :) This is Part 3 of our New to Blogging Series.

First and foremost – comment on other blogs. Period. Make time for it. Carve out a few hours a week to do it.

Then, find your niche, and really work hard to build a community around it. Make sure you’re connecting with people who have similar interests and ideas – because if you blog about attachment parenting and you only comment/write bloggers who post on CIO and sleep training methods - you aren’t going to have much reason for them to visit you. Join sites that have moms who are interested in the same things you are, and share with them.

Make sure there is some type of a back story for people to look up or be reminded of. Links to old posts within your blog work great to navigate people to a previous story, as well as a good About Me page or side bar. Keep it updated and relevant.
-What’s happening right now in your life? That’s what I look for when I hit a new blog – what’s going on?
- Where can I find it?
- Who are you?
- If someone new clicked on your blog right now, and wanted to know more about you, where would they go?

You want to make your blog one that people recall when thinking about something that you wrote about.

Blog like you’re talking to friends with short term memory loss. Keep it friendly and familiar, but at the same time let them know who we’re reading about. When I read, “It was so fun to see Mindy this summer because we had the best day together last year. We laughed about that time with old Aunt May!” I feel very confused and slightly angry :) because I have no idea what you just talked about. Nor does anyone else that doesn’t know you personally. Link it or do a short explanation.

Ask questions in your posts. Try to figure out what others think about what you wrote. Oh yes, this is scary. There are going to be people that disagree and want to let you know about it. But that’s ok – it’s good to listen to different points of view on topics and have people interact on your comments. And if things get nasty? Well, delete them. It’s your blog after all.

One of my best friends (I don’t care that we’ve never met, we talk every day and we’re so going to meet. Like BlogHer ’11!) Metta from 365 Days: 30+ Mommyhood has some real gems of advice to share – especially since her blog has evolved from a SAHM while she was on maternity leave to a working mom.
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When I first started blogging and gaining followers, it would make me all warm and fuzzy inside to see comments. It was nice to know that I’m not writing just for the internet cosmos to suck in and be forever gotten. And what I started to notice was that I had a handful people who commented just about every day…or at least caught up reading my blog on days when they had time to take it all in.

But now that I’m part of the working momma ranks, I can’t leave as many comments b/c I just don’t have time to read all the blogs I want to. As a result, I’ve noticed the traffic/comments on my blog have slowed down. I even blogged about it once, when I was too focused on stats and not enough focused on why I truly blog. But that post provided me with some great suggestions on how to go about commenting, so here are my thoughts on the issue…and some other random things having to do with comments:

1. I set up my blogger account so that when somebody sends me a comment, it is emailed to me. That way I can take a minute or two to type up a response to them that will be sent directly to their email. (NOTE: This doesn’t always work b/c if your account is set up so your email is not public, I can’t write back.) This has helped me to continue to network with other mommy bloggers.

2. I try to hit up and comment on my favorite blogs at least once a week. Sometimes I only have time to skim posts, if even that, but I want my mommy blogging friends to know that I’m still here, even though I’m busy being a working momma.

3. I never ever leave comments for others with my blog url in them or comments like, “Come check me out.” I hate it when people do that to me. It’s just so insincere. I want people to comment b/c they have something to say about my posts…not b/c they are trying to get more traffic on their blogs.
 
4. I’ve noticed that the more someone speaks their mind…the more controversial someone is with blog posts…the more comments they get. I’m usually not like that…the having balls to 100% voice my views on things…but yeah, something I’ve just noticed.

5. People won’t comment on just any post. This sucks for me at times b/c I’ve set my blog up to be a 365 days post and well sometimes, I just don’t have epic things to write about. But, I’m ok with that as this blog is a lot for me about being able to look back at this year as documented. When I do pour my heart and soul into a post that is when I tend to get more comments. But this takes time, and thought, and energy, and can’t be done all the time.

So yeah, comments rock. I mean I know blogging is about writing for me…to process all the emotions that come with being a first time mommy, but sometimes I need to hear a “I totally get that,” statement, or a “Have you tried this,” statement. Oh, and I’m always down for a, “Abby is so freaking cute,” statement as well.
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Another thing we both agree on is this; yes, almost everyone with a public blog loves, and at times writes, for comments. It’s part of being a blogger – to connect, to share, to find others around you that are on the same page as you in life, or have “been there done that.” But your posts should be for you – they should reflect your way of thinking, your life, your voice. When you write, it should be personal.
 
Whether you get 3 comments or 300, the post you wrote needs to be written in your words, from your heart and mind.

Keep in mind that when people comment, they are telling you something they want you to read. So take a moment, really read what they wrote, and comment back if it needs it. It’s not just a number, if you’re just thinking, “16″ when you get a new comment, then you’re on the wrong track. A comment is much more than that. It’s a little piece of someone, and a bit of their time, that they left with you to validate or connect with what you just wrote.
 
Want more? Read “Comments – how to get ‘em.”
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Next weeks topic: Blogging Etiquette

- Interested in contributing to this?

- Have questions on this topic you want answered?

Email me at hormonal-imbalances at hotmail.com. Even just a small bit of advice is wonderful to get.

Thank you to Metta who helped me this week to put this together. Much appreciated!

Part 1 – Giveaways/Ads

Part 2 – Getting your Blog Name noticed