Whew.

The last five weeks have been quite a blur. That tends to happen when your employer runs an enormous conference and you are assigned the Twitter account of their 30,000+ followers. People had questions, I found the answers. Lots and lots of them.

So, I apologize for one of the longest bloggy breaks since the swine flu/pulmonary embolism scare of 2009, but I’ve had to be on my toes elsewhere. Literally. I have blisters to prove it.

But, I will happily wear my battle wounds…because that elsewhere of which I speak? Was the fabulous San Diego.

I had never been to San Diego before, but I had heard plenty of people talk about it and out of all of those people, I’ve never heard a disparaging word. My mom used to live there and has told me of its beauty for years. Everyone said that I would love it, that the weather is ideal, the sky is always blue and that the scenery is lovely.

I still wasn’t prepared to be so, incredibly, swept off my feet. Let’s just say that if I didn’t have a family, I wouldn’t have come home.

The temperature and humidity were such that you could walk around during the day wearing a bathing suit or jeans, and be comfortable either way. I never saw a cloud in the sky, the water was gorgeous, the streets are pleasantly walkable and the people are so nice. How could they not be, what with all of that sunshine, margaritas and delicious Mexican food?

And, oh boy did I eat that food. Lots of it. Fish tacos, steak tacos, beans, the sushi to end all sushi and a piece of creme brulee cheesecake. See how someone went and invented something made out of my two favorite desserts? They were practically begging me to eat it.

I sat on the wide beach and laughed with friends at the Hotel Del Coronado, walked along the Embarcadero Marina, and sipped drinks around a firepit.

I did a lot of deep breathing every time I went outside and on the last morning those breaths turned to sighs. It broke my heart to leave. There is so much more to tell you about my trip, but for now…I’m still reeling from the perfection of this city.

Follow

Email

When I was growing up we had a family tradition that I fondly remember. Every year, on Memorial Day, we would pack up the car at the crack of dawn and drive to a local park where we would meet up with our entire family for a picnic.

All of my aunts, uncles and cousins were there and we would eat eggs cooked on the grill, then take walks on the trails and after lunch we would play a rousing game of softball–the youngsters against the old-timers.

It. Was. So. Fun.

Those Memorial Day picnics were the highlight of my spring each and every year. I remember laughter, bug spray, dirt and scraped knees. I remember the sun, the gravel under my feet and the smell of the charcoal. Did I mention laughter?

I miss those picnics so much.

That’s one reason why I am SO EXCITED to be taking part in the second annual America Is Your Park campaign sponsored by the Coca-Cola Live Positively initiative. Whew! Say that three times, fast!

The goal of America Is Your Park is to encourage people to play, be active and help their favorite park win a recreation grant provided by Coca-Cola Live Positively. First place winner receives $100,000 and the title of America’s Favorite Park, second place wins $50,000 and third gets $25,000.

How awesome is that?

So, I’m co-hosting a family picnic at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park. Ohio is known as the “Birthplace of Aviation”, because Dayton, Ohio is where Orville and Wilbur Wright were born and is where the design of the airplane first took shape and was perfected.

These men changed the world and we get to see where it happened. We get to sit down with friends and family, have a picnic and probably some of those laughs I was talking about, right on the spot where the Wright Brothers made aviation history.

You can’t beat the historical value, it’s an hour from Columbus and this National Park is located inside of Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where the Air Force Museum is located. Bonus! This park even has a flight simulator for the kids!

We are looking forward to a day, together as a family, enjoying this amazing National Park. It should be great! And, if I can create memories for my children like the ones from my childhood, it will be even better.

Voting details:

·         Everyone can vote for their favorite park to win the title of “America’s Favorite Park” by visiting LivePositively.com.

·         Voting runs until September 6,  2011

·         There are other ways to vote for your favorite park, including uploading photos of the park to LivePositively.com/americasparks and checking in on Facebook Places when you go to your park. More information about these methods on LivePositively.com/americasparks

Follow

Email

On a hot July weekend in the summer of 2008, I volunteered to work at our church festival. My husband was running our, first-ever, casino night and I shuffled between volunteer registration, watching my kids and helping in the poker tent. I was sweaty, dirty, tired and covered in bug spray.

But, all of those things were good because they helped to keep my mind off of the fact that I was missing a blog conference taking place on the other side of the country.

BlogHer ’08 was in San Francisco that weekend and it crushed me to see the pictures of the parties and read about all of the knowledge being shared.

Most of all, I was missing some of my favorite people on the internet get up and read their moving, touching and hilarious blog posts at the Community Keynote. I watched their videos on You Tube after the fact and cried alone at my desk.

When I heard that BlogHer ’09 would be in Chicago I really wanted to go, but 2009 was a rough year for us and I didn’t see it in the cards. Then I got a volunteer position, which paid for my ticket. Then I got a car to borrow from GM and they paid for my gas and the $48 a day parking at the conference. Then my roommate got a scholarship and paid for the room. I was going to MAKE money going to Chicago!

Since my costs were covered, I turned my attention to the Community Keynote. I wanted to read. Bad. I wanted to tell as many people as I could about what it was like to have a special needs child like mine. I needed to be heard. I sent post after post to the judging committee. I sent sad stories, funny stories and inspirational stories.

I was devastated when I was turned down. Even though I was happy for my friends who would be reading, I was still sad that I wouldn’t.

That was until, on the day of the Community Keynote in Chicago, my friend Tanis read her post. Tanis is a special needs mom too. She’s a really, special, special-needs mom and she read a post that tore my heart apart. I sat at a table and cried so hard that I couldn’t even see through my tears. This time, however, I wasn’t sitting alone.

Suddenly, the fact that I wasn’t reading didn’t matter one bit. Someone had told my story and she did a beautiful job of it. Everyone around me knew I was crying because the story Tanis told touched me on a deep and personal level. The Community Keynote made me…well, it made me feel part of a community and every member of that community has a story to tell.

Last year, with BlogHer’10 coming up in NYC, I decided again to submit some posts for the Keynote (now called Voices of the Year). At that point, with my son’s health more stable, I had a different story to tell. I didn’t get to tell it.

But, you know what? It was okay. It didn’t sting like the first time and the people who did read last year were just what the community wanted and needed to hear. I enjoyed every second of it.

This year, BlogHer’11 is in San Diego and when it came time to submit posts for Voices of the Year I didn’t give it much thought. I sent  over one or two posts and didn’t hold my breath. After all, I’m a contract employee for BlogHer and I didn’t want anyone to think they would play favorites, because they wouldn’t. The judging committee is nothing, if not fair.

And, do you know what happened? SOMEONE ELSE nominated me. I was so touched, but I never thought I would be chosen. Never. Ever.

Wanna guess who tied for People’s Choice?

ME! People’s Choice!

To say I was shocked was an understatement. I could barely breathe. I was sweating. I was thrilled. My friend, Melisa, recently told me that “when you stop searching for something, you will find it” and that’s exactly what happened. She’s one smart cookie.

I will be one of 15 people, chosen from nearly 1000 post nominations, to read in front of about 3000 people. Gulp.

For the people who weren’t picked this year, who may have stories similar to mine, I hope I do you justice the way that Tanis did me and I hope that you, too, will have this moment someday. I really do.

Because I, for one, really want to hear your story.

Follow

Email

Back in January I bought a couple of Groupons. One for 18 weeks of boot camp (did I tell you that I’ve GAINED two pounds?) and one for sclerotherapy.

What’s that fellas and kids under 35? You don’t know what sclerotherapy is? Well, it’s when a doctor injects a solution into your blood vessels to eliminate spider veins.

Yes, that’s right. I bought a Groupon for cosmetic surgery and I’m telling you about it on my blog. Who loves self-deprecation? *Stands up* *Waves hand*

But, people, this is ME we’re talking about. I can’t just go in and use my Groupon for vein surgery without getting a pre-operative ultrasound that shows I have honest-to-goodness venous insufficiency. That’s a fancy way of saying my blood pumps the wrong way.

Left untreated, the burning pain I feel in my legs (that I always assumed was nerve pain) would get worse and I would likely end up with some bulging, varicose veins…which would really kind of put a damper on swim suit season.

So before I can have the sclerotherapy, I have to get vein ablations in both legs. Today I go in for my left leg and next week, my right.

Clearly, you can see the good in this situation right? No? Well, let me tell you!

I am preemptively striking against bulging veins (good), the pain and burning in my legs will improve (good), then I can have sclerotherapy to get rid of the spider veins I’ve had since high school (good) and I’m pretty sure they’re going to give me Morphine (better).

The downside? A week of wearing a thigh-high compression stocking in 90 degree heat.

So, while I’m lying in front of a fan and sleeping off some medicine you should head over to my post about Gatorade Moms where BlogHer is giving one of my readers a $100.00 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods!

If you win, could you pick me up some cute compression capris?

Follow

Email