I think just about every area of my life has suffered over the last week or so as I have allowed myself to become obsessed with this GM-Chrysler merger thing.  I'm a Realtor in Michigan so you know my business is not booming.  So for my Hubby, a Chrysler employee, to be facing potential unemployment, we are really concerned.  This past weekend, though, we decided to have a Chrysler Free weekend.  We ignored all localism and even brought home the New York Times instead of the Flint Journal or Detroit Free Press. 

With the ban on Chrysler speak imposed it was nice to find that we had plenty of other, more interesting things to talk about.  We also had the energy and spirit to do spontaneous things, take the kids, to the movies, go for a bike ride and even workout.  

The downer came when Hubs looked deeper into the New York Times.  Just when he was starting to feel good about himself again, he ran into the wedding announcements.  Have you ever read the wedding announcements in the New York Times?  My dear Hubby was even more convinced of his own loserdom than before.  I thought they were funny and I told him it  all seemed a little trumped up to me but he had already decided that these folks were the heartbeat of America, the "norm" if you will, and our place so far below them in society proof that we don't deserve to exist.  

That's a pretty big statement to make based on one day's worth of wedding announcements, don't you think?  If I am an Obama Mama like my kids call me, my Husband is Drama Obama.  He can really get carried away.  I had to take the paper away from him and give him my Victoria's Secret to look at instead to cheer him up.  LOL.

While looking for a link to the announcements I learned that they actually only choose the best of the best to make it into the Times Wedding Announcements so I can't wait to share that with Hubs tomorrow.  As for the link I never did find one.  But if you run across a New York Times in the future on a Sunday, be sure to check out that section.  You will either crack up or be ready to check out!

Hey Fellow Droppers!  Do you think you have a high quality blog or a site with a little something special?  Would you like it to be highlighted on the Entrecard Blog?  Then let me know!  I am on the hunt for the best of the best to feature each Thursday on the Entrecard Blog.  

Who am I and what makes me an authority?  I am Cin and Graham said I could do it!   You might not recognize me right away because I have only recently started getting more and more involved in my drops.  And I have 3 other blogs that I split my dropping time between so you might know me better as I Want 2 Be a Skinny Bitch, Her Family Blog, or Fad Diets & Workout Trends.  I also write for The Imperfect Parent and The Rich Women Sisterhood but I don't do the dropping for those!

I am excited for the chance to highlight Entrecard Blogs because I enjoy reading them and discovering new ones so much!  I keep saying I am going to just drop and hop and get my numbers up, but dangit, all your good tips and engaging content sucks me in. 

I have started to keep a steno pad next to me so that I can make note of the blogs and titles that grab me and return to them later at the appropriate blogging and commenting time!  One of the first things I learned is that without some structure I can get lost in the blogoshpere for hours that seem like minutes.  Anyway, I will also be making note of the most super excellent blogs I run across.  In the meantime if you want me to take a good look at yours, let me know, and I'll be sure to check you out.  

This crazy blog does not have a comment form (live and learn) so you have to leave your info in the guestbook.  And just an idea, but if you want to submit your blog to me on Twitter it will give you an opportunity for a little extra exposure.  

Thanks!

I love the Ellen Show. I could fill blog after blog up with material stolen from her show.  Here is a clip where Ellen sent Dennis Quaid to Starbucks with a hearing device in his ear so he could repeat everything she told him to say.  It is hilarious!

For years my hubby has been telling me that when I turn 40 I will watch MTV less and CNN more. That is a stereotype of women he wholeheartedly believes in. I will admit that I felt really out of the loop watching the MTV awards this year.  I will also admit that my background music of Sirius Radio's THE COFFEE HOUSE is often replaced by CNN.  But was he right or am I a product of my environment?

Let's start by establishing that yes, my Husband, although precious and loving, is sexist.  I have described him as a "caveman" since we met.  But what used to roll off his tongue and crack me up, now-20 years later- concerns me a little bit because I realize they were never jokes.  He was serious! 

Now let's address the facts surrounding my changing behaviors and viewing habits.

I no longer watch MTV. True.  But I stopped watching it long before I became interested in current events.  MTV does not play videos anymore and I find their reality programming offensive.  I found their "spring break" shows offensive when I was 19 and they've only gotten worse with all the dating shows.  The exception- "Punk'd".  So.  I think I've made my point here.  

I DO watch CNN.  Also true.  But I didn't begin because I was a "smartie".  A few years ago I accidentally watched Anderson Cooper and it was love at first sight.  He is smart and sexy.  I didn't really care about the news he was telling but I liked the words he used, his voice, and the way he pronounced things.  I started watching CNN but only HIS segments. I imagined wrapping him up in a suit of newspaper and peeling away one section of the paper at a time as he enlightened me with his smartie talk. I hung on every word and "accidentally" learned stuff. Important stuff.  Stuff that made me feel aliveand care about things like I had not in a long time, since becoming a mom and getting wrapped up in my own little world. I read his book and I was reminded that as a kid I was called the "hippie" and the "flower child" in the family.  I was reminded that I staged Burger King boycotts in college because they were catching dolphins in their nets.  And I realized that I have stopped minding my karma and meditating good vibes to the world, all because I got tired of being called a "tree hugger" and a "Phoebe". I think it's clear that Anderson Cooper, not my age, opened the door to my growing worldly awareness. And it was an awareness that actually always existed but got buried.

I am addicted to the election.  True again.  I've gone from Anderson Cooper only segments, to anything on CNN I can find.  I admit, I am still confused a lot, but I've got my bearings on the election. I even sneak and search out Youtube election clips so I can get caught up on everything I miss. (Shhh... don't tell my Hubby though, he thinks I am researching cute kid vids for my MOMMY BLOG... I can't take the "you're watching news cus your's turning 40" smirks anymore!) But the fact that this election is happening 2 months before I turn 40 is a mere coincidence.   For one thing, having either a black man or a woman coming so close to being elected is a very exciting thing to be a part of in history.  We get to talk about this to our grandkids someday.  And it shows great progression in the attitudes of Americans.  It gives me goosebumps.  Less goosebump inspiring and more stomach ache causing, is the state of our economy. If we don't identify what is important to us and make our voices heard, how can anyone deliver to us what we need? These two things make this election crucial to all of us, regardless of age and proximity to 40.

Now I ask you, isn't it obvious that it is the exciting, wondrous world that has reawakened my sleeping spirit and inner activist?

So to the guy on the talk radio station that feeds the woman bashing stuff to my husband, "Shut the hell up."  To Anderson Cooper, "Thank you for being so passionate, smart AND yummy".  To my Hubby, "See?  I told you so.  Now finish putting that Obama sign in the yard and come give me a smooch."  

I must admit that one week ago I did not know what NaNoWriMo was but now that I do, I don't know how I lived without it!

National Novel Writing Month is November and that is what all the fuss is about.  If you sign up for the NaNoWriMo program your job is to write a 175 page (50,000 word) novel in the month of November.  There is no time for editing or perfecting in any way.  You can work on the quality in December.  November is all about quantity.  

All you have to do is complete the task to be deemed a NaNoWriMo winner.  We all know that one of the hardest parts of writing that book is getting it started.  So if you are interested in writing, allow yourself to be inspired by NaNoWriMo and the community of participants that are so enthusiastic and as excited about you reaching your goal as they are about reaching their own...Check out NaNoWriMo HERE!

So what started as a small post in memory of my Mom today has turned into a huge project of twittering, facebooking, linking, and commenting. These are all good things, but I have a schedule and deadlines and to-dos.  So I'm keeping it short here today and directing you to the two posts I already wrote.  Please stop over to read and take a minute to think about her.  She was pretty amazing.  

Remembering Mama is at my Today Blog and One Great Mom is at my Family Blog.  And if you start at Today it will link you to Family.

Thanks and have a wonderful Mama Shirl day.

I have battled with my husband over my hair for the last few years and he is ticking me off!  I say it's my hair and I should wear it how I like.  He says it is HIM I should be pleasing since he looks at me more than I look at myself.  Listen, I am all about making him happy and have no problem going along with what he likes except that in this case, he has no taste!

I am a brunette.  My natural hair is dark brown with a reddish hue when the light hits it just right.  I have dark blue eyes and I like the dark hair blue eyed combo.  My Mama warned me when I was 19 that I would regret starting to color my hair but I did it anyway.  Had to learn on my own.  But I was trying to find myself at that time and alternating between burgundy, red, and violet hair seemed to be the the key to my search. 

A few years into that, about the time we were all rushing to the stylist for the "Rachel" cut, I decided I wanted to try highlights.  My stylist/cousin again warned me not to do it.  She said that my hair is so dark and doesn't "lift" well which meant we would have to use permanent color instead of the Redken Shades we had been using.  "Just do it" I told her.  

What a nightmare.  Mair hair just absorbs the blond.  A few streaks end up bleeding all over my head.  My roots sprout quickly leaving me to look like Nascar Barbie within just a few weeks.  And my husband LOVES IT! But I hate it.  I mean, I don't just "not prefer" it.  I find it hideous.  

I colored it today because the roots were beyond edgy.  I used some bronze shade of Clairol and I LOVE it.  I am tempted to put a few strands of highlights in but I just know it will ruin the rest of the color.  Hubby likes it but recommended the highlights.So I was thinking about the highlights when Hubs across a picture of me with a shorter cut, all strawberry blond color and no highlights and went crazy saying how that's his favorite hair for me.  Now I have been trying to explain to him that is what I have wanted for a couple years but he keeps bawling for blond. I should have just done what I wanted to do to begin with!  

So what do you think?  Is it a woman's duty to wear ugly hair if her husband prefers it?

Shame on me for expecting the worst and actually looking forward to it.  

When asked during Social Studies class who was going to be watching the debate, my 7th grader raised his hand and said, "I can't wait to watch Sarah Palin get smoked!"  I was proud of his vigor for politics but couldn't help but wonder if I had been sending the right message.  I would have been more proud if he'd said something like, "I'll be watching Mrs. Nelson.  I am looking forward to a lively debate between the candidates and am especially hoping to hear a little more about their thoughts on the bail out."  Oh MAN that would have been awesome!    Something for me to think about, for sure. 

So with the snacks laid out in front of us, I with my mojito and Drew with his vanilla coke, we tuned in to CNN to see what we thought was going to be a hot mess.  Instead we were treated to a pretty good debate.  Granted the bar was set really low for Palin, based on recent appearances, but she was calm and charming and had obviously spent her study time well leading up to this.  You know, maybe she was just out of her mind the last few weeks because she's been sleep deprived on no-doz and the 5 hour energy shots, cramming for the debate!  Makes sense.

Of course this Obama Mama found Biden to be the clear winner.  No matter how charming and polished Palin is, she is still too conservative and kooky.  She smiled and winked a little bit too much for me.  I see more SNL skits on the horizon.  And election shopping in your future...

kids showers... check!

kids homework... check!

lunches packed... check!

everyone's clothes laid out for tomorrow... check!

kids tucked in... check!

turtle fed and lights out... check!

Hamster walked and fed... check!

chips and salsa prepared... check!

mojito stirred... CHECK!

Time to tune and cozy up for 90 minutes of "debate"

We'll chat more tomorrow!

Seriously, Sarah Palin's interviews have been so absurd that I keep thinking she is going to turn to the camera and say "Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!"  And it's not  just because of Tina Fey, who is amazing,  by the way.  It's simply because Sarah Palin says the most ridiculous things.

Check  out this video of the Palin interview with Katie Couric and the Tina Fey Pohler/Couric satire.  They didn't even have to write new material!  

Do you know where you will be Thursday night?  I'll be putting the kids in bed early, making popcorn and watching Must See TVs return to Thursday night with the new comedy starring Joe Biden and Sarah Palin!