Happy Super Fat Tuesday!

Hope you're voting if you can. I'm really looking forward to doing so a month from now. In the meantime, we're watching the returns and celebrating Fat Tuesday with red beans and rice and some Hurricane Punch, of course. Here's a great recipe from Southern Living that I found on sk*rt.

Hurricane Punch

Ingredients:
1/2 (64-ounce) bottle red fruit punch
1/2 (12-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 (6-ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 2/3 cups light rum
1 2/3 cups dark rum

Preparation

Stir together all ingredients. Serve over ice.

Yield 8 1/4 cups

Kathy Bowes, Metairie, Louisiana , Southern Living, MARCH 2000

Happy Super Fat Tuesday!

(And if you're jonesing to vote like I am, check out sk*rt's Super Fat Tuesday contest. I super fat wish I could win the Brennan's cookbook!)

Happy Monday!

How about a little Happy Mondays to start off the week?

Happy Monday!

(And get ready for Super Fat Tuesday!)

It's National Wear Red Day!

My paternal grandmother Ruby died from heart disease right after I was born, and partially because I never got to know her, I'm wearing red for her today. Because the red dress is the symbol for women and heart disease awareness, and today's the day to pull out your favorite little cardinal number. Besides the wearing of all the red, there are a lot healthy cardiovascular goings on, and my dear friend Gabby has a great list lined up on Design Mom. So celebrate!

Not to put too fine a point on it.

We've been listening to a whole lot of They Might Be Giants recently. Which reminds me of my freshman year in college. When I spent a whole lot of time doing much the same thing.

Only back then, the giants that they might be weren't doing free podcasts of kids songs...songs like Zeros that the Hurricane likes to sing loudly in falsetto...(yes, a two-year-old falsetto, scientists in my home have discovered that there is such a thing.)

Because back then, they weren't singing the modern-day versions of School House Rock tunes. Or were they? Actually, the more I think about it, they could have been doing that the whole time. Well, that's something to consider today. And while you're at it, keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul.

I'm Shriveling Away Into Nothingness.

It seems that the average human gains seven pounds during the holiday season. Which just proves I am incredibly average.

Seven pounds. Exactly.

So to rectify this poundage, I had to do something. A handful of co-workers also wanted to do something, and their brilliant plan had something to do with this thing called fat loss for idiots. I'm not even kidding.

And because I'm such a freaking joiner (Which cliff? Now? Okay!), I couldn't not play along. So I am.

And if you pay attention to this little twitter feed to the right here, you'll notice I've been whining just a little about the weirdness I've been consuming. Last Tuesday, fruit all day. Today, all vegetables. Weird. But I have stuck to it (because I'm a rule follower like that) and have lost five pounds of the seven. In a week. So there's that.

The trick is keeping it off.

And I think I might have found a good solution for that one too.

Last month, Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review The Ultimate Tea Diet, and I was all, "so what are you saying PBN?" And then I was distracted by a shiny sugar cookie and forgot all about it.

But I read through it last week, and it's smart. And it's totally gotten me into tea.

And if you know me in real life, you know that's a big deal, since I formerly drank about five cups of coffee a day. At least. But this year, I'm going tea. Just to try it.

So I reviewed the book over at Cool Stuff today. And I ordered some peppermint patty tea. And I'm giving some away if you comment over there.

So come over for tea.

Cheers!

Women in Social Media are...?????

So I've been asked to speak at a conference on Thursday. Topic: Women in Social Media. Um. Okay. A fairly broad topic. Because apparently there are almost 100 million women using social media....a weird way of saying there are a heck of a lot of pinks reading blogs, blogging, checking out videos on You Tube, reading sk*rt, etc, etc, and all of the above. And I am speaking for all of yous. Yeah. Right.

So if you are reading this blog, and you happen to be a woman, then you my friend are a 'woman in social media'. And I'll be speaking for you on Thursday.

So why not help me out and say what you think women in social media are. Just leave a comment here and complete that phrase..."Women in social media are XXXXX." You'll be registered to win a one-year subscription to Domino Magazine! Because Women in Social Media are lovers of Domino Magazine. Right? Not sure, but this one is. Design Mom is also doing this, so you can leave a comment over there too. Or on sk*rt, of course.

Then we'll put some kind of giant list together a list of all the things women in social media are. Because we're a lot of things. Obviously.

*Also if you happen to be in Htown on Thursday and want to go to the Got Social Media conference, email me at helloqueso at gmail dot com. I have a rad discount code for you.

Raising a Little Boy. Today.

There's a virtual shower going on today for my friend Julie who's having a boy. And as much as I like to talk about the endless amounts of cool baby stuff that exist out there today, what I'd give her, if I could give her anything, is time and space and quiet with her new little son.

That's all. Just quiet and space. Which might as well be diamond unicorns and golden ice cream, because I don't actually know how anyone makes this type mythical "quiet" and "space" happen.

Especially with a little boy. Because with the blues, we've found, there is no slow. There is no stop.

In fact, around our house, the only way for us to even begin to have a glimpse of that quiet is to break our TV. So we did. It's "broken". As in unplugged. After an especially painful whine-fest for Wiggles, the Hurricane drove my favorite HcQ to a place we like to call "done". And even though I'm categorically against an entire family suffering for one punk's addiction, the removal of the appliance has simultaneously eliminated some very chipper Australians from our lives. Which can only be a very good thing. So. We're currently "those" people. The people without a TV. Lucky for us, everything we need is also on iTunes. And YouTube. And the Totally Rad Show.

But back to Julie.
This last weekend, another soon-to-be new mom asked me if I'd like to share any advice. Which, of course, is like asking someone if they'd like to go to Italy. And I was happy to climb aboard that train and go on and on and on and then, after about five minutes of raving about this sleep book or that bouncer thing, I thought, wait a minute, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

I know what worked for the Hurricane. And for me getting used to the Hurricane. But I have no freaking idea if any of what I found actually works for anyone else at any given time with any given kid.

So then I excused myself from my own rant and mumbled something about every child being different and the only real consistency being love and patience. Or something.

And then today I saw this speech about giving children love, education, and hope. With an emphasis on hope. And that sounds about right to me.

And although we're smack dab in the middle of political season, this isn't meant to be political, nor is hope. I believe pretty much every candidate from every party would be pro-hope. At least I would hope so. And although I'm not sure where I am politically (and don't worry, I won't talk about it here anyway), I do know...even without a TV...that in between all the rhetoric, there's a lot of interesting discussion going on. From every side. And every angle. And I'm paying attention. Plus, I found that watching this speech given yesterday at MLK's church was a really great way for me to celebrate MLK day today.

It also solidified our decision to turn off the TV. And find the space to celebrate the hope.And that's what I'd wish for any parent, uncle, friend or daughter today.