Sunday, January 31, 2010

A Few of My Favorite Blogs

It's been nearly two years since I sat down at the computer during a blizzard and created this blog. A college professor told me once that the the best way to improve my PR writing skills was to read good writers and it seems that the same would go for blogging. I have become a fan of a number of good blogs and Web sites but here I share a few of my favorites and how they've helped shape this site.

There are two national sites I love that are just too important to ignore but I also admire local bloggers who aren't as famous but still give me inspiration.

Dooce
Ok, so maybe not the most original choice but I, like many others, find Heather Armstrong's style and ability to find self-deprecating humor in everyday life very entertaining.
Why I love this blog: It's a peek into another Mom's life that is very irreverent. Her frankness is refreshing and her writing is superb.
What I learn from this blog: Headline writing is a lost art. Use creative phrases to draw people in.
Does she know I exist: No
Why I am insanely jealous: Do I need more than two best-selling books and an estimated advertising income of $40,000 A MONTH?

The Pioneer Woman
In four years Ree Drummond took her blog from obscurity to national awards to a 23-state cookbook tour. What's not to admire. Why I love this blog: The blog is about a woman who can see rural life with an outsider's eye. She's married to a handsome farmer and has a bunch of very active children who love to be outside. Aside from her gorgeous red hair and mastery of the kitchen, we could be twins (ha!).
What I learn from this blog: It's all about the pictures. Show the 98% of people who are not involved in agriculture what goes on behind the scenes.
Does she know I exist: Well, we corresponded once when her site broke my computer. She was very kind in helping me get things fixed. I have not yet been invited to The Lodge.
Why I am insanely jealous: Doesn't every woman want to completely redesign a separate guest home on their property. I want her sense of style (and her budget).

Mommin' It Up
Dayton area mommy bloggers Jenny and Emily are everywhere. They tweet, they blog, they review products and they travel to all the major blogging conferences.
Why I love this blog: Jenny and Emily are down to earth and fun. The writing on the site is warm and friendly but no-nonsense. They joke about being "kind of a big deal." And they are.
What I learn from this blog: Don't knock mommy blogging until you've tried it. There are people out there who want your help to connect their brand with an audience.
Do they know I exist: YES. I have met both Emily and Jenny and find both to be just as friendly and open as they come across on their site.
Why I am insanely jealous: They just announced that they both are getting brand new appliances from Frigidaire.

Soy Boy Mama
She'll probably laugh when she sees I've put her on the same list as Dooce and Pioneer Woman, but Soy Boy Mama is an important influence on my blogging.
Why I love this blog: Soy Boy Mama posts slices of life that make me laugh out loud. She has a unique style of writing and a dry wit that I love.
What I learn from this blog: Don't wait until you have the perfect 300-word post in mind before blogging. Throw it out there and have fun. UPDATE: Soy Boy Mama is pretty darn near perfect. I only meant that I tend to want to create essays instead of blog posts.
Does she know I exist: YES. She's the one who told me I needed to start a blog.
Why I am insanely jealous: She managed to post every day in November as part of National Blog Post Month and she gets comments on almost every post.

Thanks to these talented bloggers for serving as my inspiration.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Gettin' Funky with Soft Scrub

Soft Scrub Captain ToolkitWhen I was making the case that I should be included in the ultra-exclusive (only 200 bloggers picked!) Soft Scrub Club Captain  list, I told them that I lived on a farm and things get messy here.

I didn't want to scare them or I would have confessed that I have to wipe out the inside of my washer every week. Yes, you read that right. I have to clean inside my clothes washer or else farm funk will build up inside the lid. You don't even want to know what kinds of things are on the clothes to cause this.

Right before my free (disclosure of product gratis) sample bottle arrived, the pipes in our kitchen froze. Not only did our old pipes freeze, our drain froze too and water and gunk began building up in the garbage disposal. I thought it would be a good idea to turn it on, which caused the funk of 40,000 years to gurgle up into the other drain. Delicious.



Fortunately, I had a full bottle of Soft Scrub and a healthy skepticism of their claims that this bottle works upside down. So I sprayed and I foamed and I tried to hold the bottle in a position in which it wouldn't work. It always worked. And the sink got clean. Very clean.



Thanks to Soft Scrub and its easy-to-use, nice-smelling product a miracle happened at my house this weekend. I cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen.

Did I mention about the foaming and the spraying. This crazy bottle does both. I experimented with each but found that spraying works most of the time, with a little foaming action good on spots that are very icky.
Like where your five-year-old missfires.

The best part, if you've read this far, is that I have plenty of Soft Scrub left in my bottle for next weekend's cleaning (ha!). So if you want a free coupon to try this yourself leave a comment and I'll do a drawing. It may just be between you a that Korean SEO spammer, so you'll have a good shot.

And in case your laundry also contains clothing soiled with pig poo, pig afterbirth, pig snot, barn filth, matted straw and corn dust, don't worry Soft Scrub can keep your washer gleaming.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

When I first started this blog, I did it to have a creative outlet. I was very tired of spending my days writing about my B2B employer's leading innovative solutions.  I never had any goals for this blog about making money from selling ads or any type of sponsorship.

Along the way I heard about these very savvy women bloggers known as the mommy bloggers, a term some embraced, others decried but all were willing to have tattooed on their a$$ if it meant a free trip to Blogher.

I kept hearing about the trips, the clothes, the free toys, the Twitter parties with giveaways and finally I said to myself and my good friend and fellow blogger M, maybe we're doing this wrong.

One day, on a lark, I signed up for Mom Select, a company that connects mommy bloggers and companies. I thought it would be good research for my career. I also used career research as the excuse for applying for my very first mommy blogger adventure--becoming a Soft Scrub Club Captain.

Well, Big Butter Jesus on toast (this phrase may be copyrighted by Soy Boy Mama), they picked me.

As Bugs Bunny would say--and oh God, most of the mommy bloggers are too young to have seen Bugs Bunny--if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

So stay tuned. I took pictures of my filthy sink.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Guy Reads - Wild Hog Edition

Wow, it's been a long time since we had a Guy Reads segment, I had begun to worry that intrepid ag reporter at the Dayton Daily News, Ben Sutherly, had been permanently reassigned.   

But never fear, last week the Dayton Daily News ran its annual OMG there are wild pigs in Ohio story (covered here expertly last year too).

This year's headline: Wild hogs could be past point of elimination in Ohio. This is a serious story for Husband because wild hogs can carry disease and if they came onto our farm they could wreck our feed, tear up our farmland and de-flower our gilts (virgin pigs--I'm not kidding).

It's amazing to think that there are hundreds of wild pigs in the state. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (not sure why they are involved), wild pigs cause 27,000 auto collisions a year nationwide.



In the comments section of the Dayton Daily News story, many were comparing wild pigs to coyotes, both wild animals that seem to know no boundaries with humans and encroach even in developed areas.

This is definitely not good. Oh, yes, it could be disasterous for the farm but I mean this is not good for me. How am I going to be a niche blogger with pigs in her back yard when everyone has pigs in their back yard.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Obscure Seinfeld Reference Goes Here

Well, I've really done it now. Dayton Most Metro, an online hub for all things Dayton, has published my submission, obscure Seinfeld reference and all. If headline writing were like Scrabble, I think I'd have a triple word score for getting both chicken and sex in the title. Check it out.


Sunday, January 3, 2010

Acting My Age

Yesterday I did two things a woman my age should not do:
1. Go roller skating.
2. Watch a 1973 edition of the Lawrence Welk show.

I am too old for roller skating and have the locker-key shaped bruise on my thigh to prove it. But my younger, hipper sister thought that roller skating would be a fun activity with the kids while she is in town. Even Husband got in on the act, putting on skates for the first time in at least 30 years. Fortunately for him and all the hungry pigs on our farm, he did NOT break his leg. Believe me, I wanted to get photos but was told no blogging. (oops!)

Later in the afternoon I turned on public television, hoping to catch a little Antiques Roadshow (more my speed, you see) but instead saw the intro for a replay of a special episode of the Lawrence Welk show featuring Disney music. The clips looked like long-lost Will Ferrell Saturday Night Live sketches but they were REAL! I decided to pop in my dentures, re-position my Hoveround Chair and settle in to watch TV that was on before I was born. So much of it was unintentionally hilarious but this Mickey Mouse Mambo was the best.



Husband is famous for watching old people shows like Diagnosis Murder and Matlock, so I asked if we wanted to join me. He said, Are you going to put on the blog that you watched Lawrence Welk?

I said, of course, dear. Don't worry; I won't mention that you are old enough to have watched it the first time around. (oops!)

Friday, January 1, 2010

Thanking our Children for Poor Behavior

I am not a stellar mother. I sometimes let my kids eat chocolate cake for breakfast.  I have been known to hide from them in the bathroom.

But here's at least one thing I get right: I don't thank them for poor behavior--ever. You may be thinking Well, duh, nobody thanks their kids for being bad. Let me just share a little scenario with you and you can see if you recognize anyone.

Dad at McDonalds Playland entrance: Sophie, it's time to leave. Come out now.
Sophie: Whines and doesn't come. She continues playing.
Dad: Sophie, come on! We're leaving.
Sophie: She continues playing.
[repeat three more times]
Sophie: Finally stops playing and comes to get her coat.
Dad: Thank you, Sophie.

Did he just say thank you? Thanks for what? Thanks for finally obeying your father after like 10 minutes of ignoring him? What are the odds that Sophie will do what her father says the next time he tells her something? What's the incentive?

I don't know if it has to do with that self-esteem BS or some misguided attempt to teach manners, but no one, even children, needs to be thanked for doing what they are supposed to do.

Now, yes, children can be praised for being cooperative and helpful, but kids who are old enough to handle the McDonald's Playland on their own are old enough to be held accountable for following simple instructions.

Sophie is smart. She's just as bright as her parents think she is, which is why Sophie has figured out that listening to Mom and Dad is optional. And if she does finally get around to doing what they ask--she will be thanked.

Sophie will have to go out in the big world someday. A big world where bosses, colleagues and friends will not have the time or inclination to express their appreciation every time she gets around to doing what she's been asked to do.

Watch out Sophie. My kids will be there in the big world too; young people who have more self-respect than self-esteem, hustlers who understand the value of a job well done. Actually, it won't be hard for my kids to outshine the Sophies of the world. Sophie, send my thanks to your Dad.

[Note: Sophie is not any actual child. She represents all the kids who are being over-esteemed by their parents.]

Appointment Pooping

  NOTE: If you do not want to read about my healthy bowel movement, well too late you just did. I recently became you-better-get-a-colonosco...