Posts Tagged ‘Follow Friday’

I have always had my nose stuck in a book.  There’s many a picture of me, from when I was a kid, sitting at a campground during summer holidays curled up with my latest novel, ignoring the beautiful outdoors.

And truth be told, I’m still the same way.  I love books.  It’s the one thing I don’t get nearly enough time for anymore. I would happily sit all day and read book after book after book if I could.  Yeah, I’m a loser and I’m OK with that.  I’m also one giant ball of useless knowledge, so, word of advice – don’t talk to me unless you want to be irritated by random facts.

So with in mind, here are the lovely ladies I think you should rush off and talk to:

• Aidan Donnelley Rowley has an interesting series of posts on whether men and women can just be friends (I say yes) and being friends with exes (I’m friends with many of mine). I seem to be in the minority with my opinions on both posts.  There is a great discussion on these two topics going on in the comments though, that’s well worth chiming in on.  She also just happens to have a book that’s coming out on Vista’s birthday.
• VampireSmitten and rewritingkel have teamed together to start an online book club called Paperback Readers.  So if you’re looking for some awesome ladies to chat with and an excuse to get 5 minutes to yourself (’sorry, Mommy HAS to read this book’), go check it out.

Now it’s your turn. If you’d like to play along , then link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

Let’s give the boys a haaaaaaaaand……

Yeah, I know you all have the urge to go watch Footloose now… sorry about that.  Well, not really, cause I’m kind of a bitch like that.

And speaking of bitches, I figure I give my fellow bitches and beotches enough props on here, it was time to give it up for the men this week.

• wfehler - I would say follow him for the simple goodness of this tweet, but he really is a lot of fun to chat with
• jayincalgary - He totally deserves your sympathy now that he’s working with Bil.  As if having me harass him wasn’t enough, now he’s forced to talk to my husband face-to-face every day.  Poor guy.
• And no list would be complete without the evil duo of the brothers childsplayx2 and bjhenry.  Funny, compassionate, both a little bit crazy, and both very worth a follow.

Short, sweet, to the point.  That’s how you do a Follow Friday. 
If you’d like to play along , then link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

I decided to do double duty with this post this week.  Jen at The Psychobabble nominated me for a Sunshine award.

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.  The rules for accepting this award are:-

• Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
• Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I’ve never been really good at following instructions, so here are a few of favorite follows / great blog posts I read this week.

• DuchessMama - It’s her birthday today (Happy Birthday love!!) AND she’s about to have a baby any day now.  Double win!  Oh, and she’s stuck putting up with my sorry ass as a roomie at BlogHer this year.  Poor thing.
• Jennscrzy - Has a great post on facing the frustration and the feeling of failure that comes with being an at-home mom, some days
• pocklock - Brought up a really good point in one of her posts this week – Are you more forgiving and tolerant of people on the interwebz than in real life?
• Messponential - I know she was on my Follow Friday list just a couple of weeks ago, but her Girl Talk Thursday post this week spoke to me.  Her and I tend to be of the same mind on a lot of things.  And only Colleen could do a ‘bitch rant’ and have it still come off as classy.
• Chibi Jeebs - If you need a good laugh today, go read about the time she burned her cooter. Seriously.  I was rolling on the floor laughing.

If you’d like to play along on Follow Friday, than link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

*smooches*

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

With life getting in the way, I find there are lots of people I don’t get to talk to as much as I would like these days.

But despite that fact, they could be my wingmen (wingwomen?) any time.

• Sara3isenough – she’s my personal shopper, well, Vista’s personal shopper.  I can always count on her to find me some great summer clothes for V that are perfectly her style and at a fraction of the cost I’d pay for them up here (*cough* Canadian outlet stores suck *cough*).  And shopping aside?  She’s sweet as can be and her kids are A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E!
• TheMaggers – Most people I know who are upbeat, supportive, and cheerful all the time, make me want to bitch slap them for being so fucking perky.  Especially when they pull that shit first thing in the morning.  Unless it’s Magda.  Because I love her like chocolate cake.  Nuff said
• Sweet_Life – In addition to dealing with a special needs child she’s also facing her own medical drama right now.  So, I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for her, right now, that everything will come out OK.  Because, really?  She’s way to nice to be dealing with this kind of crap in her life.  And just to prove how nice she is? You need to start following this next person.
• Tres_Hearts - when Chrissi’s chocolate lab went missing last year, she was heartbroken.  This was the dog that had been the comfort and link to sanity for her and her husband after her son passed away.  Enter Sweet_Life.  When she heard about this, she offered to hold one of the pups from her lab’s latest litter (see what I mean about the nice part?).  Next week Chrissi is getting her new puppy!  (SQUEEEEE)  So if you love rolly-polly puppy pics like I do, then this is going to be the lady to follow.

If you’d like to play along on Follow Friday, than link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

*smooches*

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

 

 

My Follow Friday post was bumped when Vista got scheduled for an early Friday morning CT scan, late Thursday afternoon. This came about after talking to our family doctor about some regression we were seeing since her last seizure. Apparently regression can be a sign of a stroke, so they wanted a scan to make sure that wasn’t the case (and it’s not… the scan is fine as far as we know). Now we’re just waiting for them to schedule an EEG for her, which, I can tell you right now, will also come back normal.

As we pulled up to the hospital Friday morning, though, Vista chirped from the back seat “Oh! The hospital. We go see doctor?”

My heart broke a little. No two year old should recognize the hospital from the outside of the building. No child should know that pulling up to a hospital means a doctor is involved.

And it made me think of all the reasons she’s been to the hospital and all the different doctors we’ve seen there in the past two and half years.

Some of those reasons have been as a result of her brain issues. But a lot have been because she was born to early and the fact that her system just wasn’t developed enough to handle all the things it needed to.

And so this Follow Friday is dedicated to Heather’s Maddie, who was also born to soon. And it’s dedicated to my friends who are walking in Maddie’s memory to raise money for the March of Dimes, so that one day no child will have to deal with endless doctors visits because of complications from prematurity.

• Messponential - I love Colleen. Her and I talk almost every day, even though we live a country and two time zones apart.  I cried when she told me that this year she’s not only marching for Maddie, but for Vista as well.  If you’d like to support Colleen in her walk, too, you can  click here.
• Adil320 - Ally is one of my roomies for BlogHer this year.  I’m also dragging her to get inked with me while I’m down there (just don’t tell her husband that I’m a bad influence, kai?).  In addition to Maddie, Ally is also marching for her close friend’s baby girl, Natalie Diana, who was born at 31 weeks.  You can read more about why Ally’s marching, and support her, on her March for Babies page
• Mom2snk - Meredith and I first met through our husbands (yes, we’re both SharePoint widows).  And in a weird, 6 degrees of separation twist, found out she’s also friends with Colleen.  She’ll be joining Colleen on April 24th in for the Jacksonville Friends of Maddie

If you make one $5 donation this year, I would encourage you to consider the March of Dimes.

I’m one of those people that it’s not just looks that makes someone attractive to me.  It has to be a whole package deal.

Beauty, brains, personality… yeah, I’m greedy like that.

So here are a few of the “Mommy’s” I follow on Twitter that are the full meal deal.  And that I’d totally hit given the opportunity.

• MommyGeekology – You might remember her from my Relationship Series.  Well, in addition to being a wild woman in the bedroom, she’s also a brilliant web designer.  See…smart AND sexy.
• MommyNeedsMeds – This woman puts the YUM in yummymommy.  And she still manages to look kick ass hawt wile running after five (yes, count them, 5) kids.  Yet she still finds time to be a witty on Twitter.  It exhausts me just thinking about it.
• BrainofaMommy - Smart, sassy, snarky.  And ooooohhhh… so cute.  Her unapologetic style also really turns me on.

If you’d like to play along on Follow Friday, than link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

*smooches*

<a href=”http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114″ target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ alt=”Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’” src=”http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg” /></a>

Actually that should probably be ‘if I ever grow up’ but who’s counting?

This week I’m sharing with you the ladies that I admire and respect.  Not because they have a lot of followers or win awards or anything like that.

These women exemplify what great writing is.  They are smart, witty, and not afraid to have an opinion.  And yet, not so high on their horse that you can’t have a conversation with them.

• MommyMelee – This is one lady who’s not afraid to voice her opinions and stand by them.  And her writing on her blog is what I aspire to.  Sometimes witty, sometimes controversial, sometimes raw, but always elegant.
• MommyWantsVodka – I adore Aunt Becky.  She has that sharp sense of humor that gets right to the point and makes you snort your drink out of your nose.  Seriously.  She’s also up for a Bloggie award, so you should totally go vote for her (just scroll to the right and look for her under ‘most humorous weblog’)
• Looneytunes – Loralee is amazing when it comes to evoking emotion.  You’ll laugh with her, you’ll cry with her, but mostly, you’ll love her.
• And a quick ‘bonus’ follow.  I just started following byflutter.  Her hilarious passive / aggressive commentary on Facebook is my must read blog post of this week.

If you’d like to play along on Follow Friday, than link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

*smooches*

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

 

 

One of my biggest pet peeves about Twitter on Fridays is the massive amounts of spam that is called ‘Follow Friday’.
I’m talking about people who ‘just can’t possibly choose who they like the best’ so instead they send out tweet after tweet with every single one of their followers listed in them.

And that tells me what exactly? That you have enough time (and few enough followers) to type each and every one out.

Yay for you!  Here’s your sign.

And you know how many of those people I’m going to follow because you said so?

None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Because you haven’t told me anything.

Why are they worth following? What makes them special? What makes you WANT to talk to them rather than the other couple hundred people on your list?

Unless you can give me a reason WHY I should follow them, I’m not going to bother weeding through all the names to figure out which are really worth adding.

So….

1. Stop filling up my twitter stream with absolute useless garbage
2. Grow a pair and stop sniveling about the fact that ‘you don’t want to leave anyone out…’. This isn’t grade school. This is the real world. Not everyone is going to like you all the time. Deal with it.
3. Pick a handful of people you’ve talked to A LOT in the past week and tell me why they were worth talking to.

See? Not that hard.

Now, I still don’t like to send out tweet after tweet on Fridays, so I’m going to bring back my Follow Fridays here on my blog and irritate the shit out of all my readers instead.  I know you guys love me.  Wait….where are you all going??……

Well, fine.  For the three of you left reading, every Friday I’ll be (trying to) post my top follows of the week.  I’ll be telling you a bit about what made them stand out for me that week.

If you want to play along on your blog, I’ll be adding a Mr. Linky at the bottom of the Follow Friday posts, so add the link to your post with your picks of the week so we can go check them out.

Alright?  Everyone happy?  No?  Just me, eh.  Well that’s OK.  It’s my blog and I’m the only one that really matters so pfffffffttttttt.

Ahem.

Without further ado, my Follow Friday list for January 22nd:

• masmom:  My girl, Lu, always makes me giggle.  Especially when she starts popping pain killers from her ankle surgery and starts stoned tweeting?  OMG.  Pee your pants funny.  And if you’re really lucky she’ll leave you a comment on your blog while she’s stoned that’ll take you half an hour to decipher and that she won’t remember writing the next morning.
• carareed:  I just about died when she posted this picture on Tuesday.  That would be a sketch her doc did of her hooha explaining how a cervix works to keep a baby from just falling out (because she’s only had a couple kids and would have never figured that out on her own *snort*).  But the fact that she brought the drawing home and put it up on the interwebs for our viewing pleasure?  Doesn’t get much cooler than that.  Oh, and I may also follower her because I want to be skinny and beautiful like her one day, but that’s complete supposition.
• terrie_j:  Real life mama to @mommyneedsmeds and all round awesomeness.  She’s always there to dispense virtual hugs, kisses, and cuddles, and the occasional smack upside the head if it’s warranted.  It’s like having the best version of your own mom on Twitter, without all the drama, and guilt.
• toywithme and her darling husband Mr_Puck:  The reason these two are on my first list of 2010 goes back to something they did at Christmas for a little girl they’d never met.  I’ve talked about Nat, the daughter of our good friends, who has brain cancer.  Her parents saved up to buy her an iTouch for Christmas.  Something she could bring with her to all the endless appointments she has.  They got the notification from the local post office in mid-December that the package was in, and they went to pick it up.  Only to find that the post office couldn’t find it.  Anywhere.  They went back every day for two weeks to see if it had turned up (as of writing this – mid-January, there’s still been no sign of the package).  There was no way they could afford another iTouch this close to Christmas, so they were scrambling to figure out what they were going to do for Nat’s gift from Santa.  I went on Twitter with a rant about how Canada post sucks the big one (especially since their response to the whole matter was ‘here’s a 1-800 number you can call’).  Enter toywithme and Mr_Puck.  They very quietly, without fanfare, and with no expectation of recognition, offered to replace the iTouch.  They made arrangements to have a store close to Nat’s family hold their last iTouch for them to pick up.  This was Christmas Eve by the way.  I consider these two people true Christmas angels.  They will forever have my gratitude for making the Christmas of a little girl who’s had a really rough year.

So those are my first Follow Fridays of 2010.  Sure, there are dozens of other people I could have put in that list, but I have a whole year for that. 

If you want to play too, than link up, and if you’re so inclined, grab a badge.

*smooches*

<a href="http://www.princessjenn.com/?cat=114" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Princess Jenn’s ‘Follow Friday’" src="http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx353/designsbyprincessjenn/Followfriday.jpg" /></a>

 

 

People who don’t use Twitter don’t get Twitter.

It’s a powerful beast.

And I’m not even talking from the ’social media’ perspective.

I’m talking from the perspective of a mother.

The day Vista managed to get a huge sliver in her finger that I couldn’t get out , I mentioned it on twitter and immediately had a dozen suggestions on different tricks that might make it easier to remove.  And it worked.  Sliver removed without crying and fuss.

The day we took V to the hospital for yet another round of gastro issues, I twittered it.  I was overwhelmed with support from mom’s who had been there with their kids.  Who walked me through different meds.  Who twittered me about different procedures the docs might suggest and what they all meant.  The pros and cons of each.  They offered phone numbers and then sat there on the phone offering support while we waited to be seen in the ER.  And most people just offered support, good thoughts, prayers.  All of which meant so much.

On Monday night of this week when I mentioned V had spiked a sudden fever and a cough, Dr. Twitter pronounced it Swine Flu and advised me to get some Tamiflu for her.  I should know better than to doubt the all powerful Dr. Twitter.  I put it off til she got worse on Wednesday.  Took her into the local ER and walked out with our Tamiflu prescription.

Then yesterday afternoon, I mentioned on twitter the wheezing when she was breathing and the barking sound she was making when she cried.  Several experienced mom’s popped up to tell me Vista had croup and I should take her in.  I brushed it off, attributing the symptoms to the flu (yes, silly me…. I’m a slow learner).

Later that night, after V decided to drop a soup can on her big toe (why yes, it’s been the week from hell.  Thank you for asking), the first place I went was twitter.  I was informed by the Mom’s Who Have Been There Done That that the toe would need to be x-rayed and then the nail would probably need to be punctured and drained.  Guess who was right again?

We bundled up Vista, took her into the ER.  The nurses took one look at her and said “She has croup”.  We explained that we weren’t actually here about that.  That we figured it was probably the flu and we were actually here to have her toe looked at.  After they picked their jaws up off the floor we were informed it was lucky we brought her in because of her toe.  The wheezing (stridor) we were hearing when she was at rest was NOT a good sign in terms of croup.  The doctor refused to do anything about the toe until the croup had been looked after for fear of getting her upset and sending her into respiratory distress.  So she was plied with steroids and popsicles to take care of the croup.  Later, as per the Twitter consensus, her toe was x-rayed (verdict was no visible break) and after a quick puncture of the nail we were on our way home.

Time and time again, my friends on twitter have been there for me.  With advice, recommendations, personal experience, and support.   I have learned that doctors give you REALLY funny looks when you say “My twitter peeps think this is the issue”, especially when it turns out they’re right on the money.  But I have learned to turn to these people first.  They are my rocks.  My support.  They are what keeps me going when I just want to sit down and give up.

So, to     

• 1mcmommy
  
• 2princessmama,
• adil320
• agentninety9,
• ali_rn,
• AmyElk,
• angelia_t,
• antibob,
• arosefull,
• ashryel,
• avasmommy,
  
• BOREDmommy,
• bostonmama79,
• carareed,
• Deidra23,
• drlori71
• eatplaylove,
• EverythingMom,
• heartmychloe,
• heathersebi98
• hereslizz,
• irishsamom,
• Issascrazyworld,
• Jenners26,
• justwaiting
• KarenVazquez,
  
• Kekibird,
• KnowMeLoveMe
• knoxvillepixie,
• ladybugsgrama,
  
• Letstalkbabies,
• Lgibson79,
  
• leighish,
• Leprakans,
• libertygirle,
• lukahsmom,
• LYIS,
• mamaspeak,
• masmom,
• Messponential
• mom23greatgirls,
• MomtoBrady
• Mom2HandR
• mom2snk,
• MommyMelee,
• mommywantsvodka
• movinandgroovin,
• MyBottlesUp,
• newfiehun,
• pbandjazz,
• playgroupie,
• pocklock,
• PsychMamma ,
• rewritingkel,
• sara3isenough
• TheRantingMommy
• TheRealBecks

To all those amazing people who are constantly there for me, there’s only one thing I can say.

Thank you.

And I don’t mean like a good bra (although that is worth it’s weight in gold)

I’m so lucky to have a great group of people I chat with on twitter and through blogs.   September was a rough month at our house because of sleep issues and sensory problems rearing their ugly head.  These ladies have given me so much advice and support.  Everyone should be so lucky to have people like them to turn to.

• PsychMamma is teh awesome in my books.  I love this lady.  She has been a wealth of information and support for me this month.  She’s amazingly insightful and perceptive.
• irishsamom is the sweetest, kindest person.  She’s always there with quick word or thought to put a smile on my face.  And the fact that her dog is just as bad as mine cheers me immensely some days.
• heathersebi98 is a pillar of strength.  She is an inspiration and one of the first people I think to turn to with questions as she’s ‘been there, done that’.  Oh, and it’s her Birthday today!  So go send her some happy wishes and read why today is extra special for her.
• mom2nji is having quite the month herself.  Their latest trial is a house full of swine flu.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?  And yet she still finds the time to answer questions and offer support.  Amazing.

Don’t forget to head over to Ali’s blog, My Life With Them, and check out the other Follow Friday’s.  And make sure to add your Follow Friday post to her link so other people can find you!