Wordless Wednesday ~ Results!

Well, many of you were right! It's a dragon. Or a dinosaur. I think it depends on when you ask. But mostly a dragon. And now she wants to make more dragons.

But I most especially enjoyed NYCgirl0501's answer:
"I'm going to step outside the box and says its a man leaning back in an office chair wearing a tu-tu! :)"

You rock, Chica, thanks for the chuckle!

Here are a few more pieces of the little one's artwork, just because ... Enjoy!

On Folly Beach ~ Giveaway!

I have not yet read this book, but I received a free copy for review later this month.

That being said, the publishers have offered me two copies to give away, so I figured maybe I could do that now and they'd get them to you so we could read "together" and discuss!

So, here's a short synopsis of the story (from the Tour website):

To most people, Folly Beach, South Carolina, is simply the last barrier island before the Atlantic. To some, it's a sanctuary, which is why Janie Hamilton's mother encourages her to buy the local book store, Folly's Finds, hoping it will distract Janie from the loss of her husband in Afghanistan.

Janie is at first resistant, but intrigued after finding love letters and an image of a beautiful bottle tree in a box of used books from Folly's Finds, and decides to take the plunge. The store's seller insists on one condition: Janie must allow Lulu, the late owner's elderly sister, to continue selling her bottle trees from its back yard. Historically, bottle trees were brought by African slaves to the American South, and Janie had grown up with one in her backyard, and it has always been a symbol of refuge to her.

Janie generally ignores Lulu as she sifts through the love letters, wanting to learn more. But the more she discovers of the letters' authors, the closer she feels to Lulu. As details of a possible murder and a mysterious disappearance during World War II are revealed, the two women discover that circumstances beyond their control, sixty years apart, have brought them together, here on Folly Beach. And it is here that their war-ravaged hearts can find hope for a second chance...

If you're interested there are a few ways to win!

MANDATORY ENTRY:
* Leave me a comment with the title and author of one of your favorite books ever!

EXTRA ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each one, please):
* Follow me and let me know!
* Follow me on twitter @goodgirlgonered (leave me your handle so I can follow you back!)
* Tweet (or retweet) about this giveaway

That's it. Not too many exciting extra entries, I just want to get these free books out to two people who are interested in reading, ya know? So, have at it! And good luck!

Oh yeah, I'll keep this open and pick the lucky winners on May 5th. A Cinco de Mayo win! :) [And easy enough for me to remember!]

Wordless Wednesday ~ Can you tell?

What this is ...?

Manic Monday

It's not a meme. It's just my own little recap of how Mondays seem to go. If you're having a manic Monday, as well, feel free to comment and let me know. If not, well, comment anyway! I like to know I'm not alone in this!

So, what makes Mondays manic? Well, where to begin?

Mondays are manic because hubby goes back to work. Yes, I get to sleep in on the weekends, and he never lets me forget it, and I probably sleep later than he does on weekdays, because I tend to wait until the very last minute I can possibly wake up, which usually has my child standing on top of me, or hovering over me, until I open my eyes. Manic enough start for you?

We took a walk today, which was nice, but we also had to take the babies with us. In their dolly stroller. Which is fine. And I encourage(d). And I didn't mind stuffing in Perry, Pounce (a kitty-cat beanie baby that was mine ages ago from old friends, but is now in the child's possession. At least she let me tell her his name!), and not one, not two, but four babies. Oh, wait! I forgot about Naked Baby. Five. Five babies. Two teeny tiny small ones, and two medium ones and then her bitty baby. Ah, the fun of it all. And so, when she asked me to push her babies in their stroller and I refused, I at least twice had to threaten to leave them where the stroller stood, as you know what? I may be 5'2-3/4" and all (shut up, they just measured me at the doctor's office) but it's annoying as all heck to hunch over and walk that d@mned stroller down the street. YOU wanted to bring them out, YOU push the thing. OK? OK, Mommy.

-- Child's line of thoughts surely had her wondering if Mommy took her happy pill this morning. I did, I did. But I probably could have used a second! --

Anyway, the babies and crew and the child and I made it home safely. At some point this afternoon I tried to sneak upstairs to tag some inventory for our Saturday sale. She found me. I mean, I couldn't have been up there for 5 minutes before she came up. Come on, kid! Phineas and Ferb are on for a reason!

And so, now, here I am, typing this while she eats a PB&J (my choice this evening) for dinner. She really wouldn't eat lunch, but did have "bugs" [pkg of fruit chews] and a Danonino yogurt, and a few noodles, and, well, something else, I'm sure. Oh, yes, almost two Target brand pop-tarts this morning. throughout the morning. so she was OK to skip lunch, don't you think? Oh, wait! That wasn't even breakfast. Breakfast was turkey sausage and egg-white patties. The kid can surely eat!

Anyway, here we are. Manic Monday winds down with my figuring out what to make for hubby for dinner, and heading down the street to a bidness meeting. And how's by you?

This Year's Bash

A big thanks (again!) to Sarah Null for her incredible pictures of my little one at this year's birthday bash for TriangleMommies!

I posted her pic from last year's bash here!

And here's a link to her website if you're a Triangle NC peep, or if you have peeps in the Triangle area: Sarah Null Photography

Just take a look at these candid shots and you'll see why I couldn't wait for Wordless Wednesday to share them with you all!




Especially the first one ... I love it so much it almost makes me cry when I look at it.

Some Days ...

* The best you can do is sit back and watch it all happen.

* You need to put on a pair of jeans and a normal looking shirt to feel "real."

* You have to give up hope that you'll ever see your couch, floor, any other possible surface again.

* It's important to laugh a lot.

* It's important to let it all out (with a good cry, or whatever works for you!)

* You may need to pretend you can't hear or see your child.

* Your only free moments will be when you're in the bathroom.

* You'll have to truly SCREAM to get the kid to do anything. Like clean up the living room floor of her puzzle. And all the other crap.

* You'll find out it is Take Your Daughter To Work Day from your own mother, and wonder why nobody told your husband!?! (Dude, SO not fair!)

* You'll look at your child and be amazed that she comes from you, is of you, and is the biggest pain in the a$$ you've ever known. And loved. All at the same time.

* A little sunshine will make it all seem better.

* You will sigh every. single. time. you hear the shout: "Mommy!" And call back, "Wha-at?"

* Your child will do something that amazes you -- like draw her very first real picture of a person. Really. A person. You'll hang it up, take digital pictures of it to ensure you have them forever, and log in later to send them to friends, family, and to post them on her very special blog.

And then you'll remember what it's all about.

* And on other days you'll wait til she's asleep to crack open the wine.

Either way, it'll start all over again tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday!

How much sleep do you ...

Get? Need? Want? Has it changed over time? Are you ancient like me and just want to stay in bed? Although when I was younger I wanted to stay in bed, too. I like my bed. It's cozy, comfy, and safe (except from kitties and claws!) for me.

I always seem to want more than I get (who doesn't?), and yet I need less, most likely. But I also don't get enough, so if you can make sense of that then more power to you!

Just lazy, tired and need to get to bed. These past few nights have been way too late and so I figured I'd toss a question out there and let you respond! Now if I started a community we could talk amongst ourselves, but I'm lazy, remember? So I'll tweet it and send you here.

And then you can talk sleep to me. Or sleep talk. Or whatever works!

Sweet dreams, y'all!

Flashback Friday

Tomorrow is the Annual Birthday Bash party for TriangleMommies, the mommies' group I have belonged to since I was pregnant with my little one.

I thought I'd take this time to do a flashback to 2008's Birthday Bash:


And then a shot from last year's party, as well (much better shot, taken by Sarah Null Photography:


And so I'll have to post again tomorrow evening with an updated picture from THIS YEAR. My gosh, my child has grown so much, it's crazy!!

Hope you all have a fun Saturday! Smooches!

Wordless Wednesday - You Can Call Him

AGENT P!

(Nice, It's Thursday. I knew that.

No, really. I did.)

Swap with me?

I know we've talked about my hosting a swap ... and considering I'm late in getting my package out to my swap buddy Sandy (oops!) I probably shouldn't even be talking about setting one up myself.

But ...

Here I am!

What do you readers think of setting up a book swap? Kind of like a regular ole swap, but we pick one of our favorite books and pass it along to the person we're swapping with? Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? Maybe we make it a perfect beach read, before the summer hits, even if we have no plans to make it to the beach!

If so, comment here and let me know. Maybe I'll truly get something going before May hits us ... or shortly after that, at least.

I'd want to be sure that our partners hadn't already read the books we sent them, so if you have some ideas on how to go about ensuring that, feel free to share!

This is a short intro post to the one I have coming up later about a freebie book I got and will also be giving away! I'm just too uncoordinated right now to get the details all up at once!

Later, Gators!

Serious Monday

Today I am linking up to a fellow Momma Blogger who has posted a tragically sad story, one that is true, and highlight the importance of all parents, adults, children's caregivers, being aware of SIDS and the true danger this can be to our little ones.

I was planning to copy her post here, as a guest poster, but I couldn't truly access the images, and so I am linking over to My Life Through Pink. She has written a beautiful post in memory of her friend's grandson.

It's terribly tragic, and so sad, but it is important to pass along the awareness and alert one another to this possibility.

So in memory of Baby Paul, and all other babies out there lost to this syndrome, may we pass along the word to ensure that we protect the rest of the babies of our world, and prepare the mommies and daddies and other caregivers with this awareness.

Guest Post: LabMom

Hi fellow 'Good Girl Gone Redneck' fans! Andrea has given me the great honor of writing a guest post on this fabulous mommy blog and so I thought I would introduce myself first.

I am LabMom, and I blog about mommyhood, science and quilting over at The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love. My blog name and my alias both reflect my career as a full time laboratory scientist and full time mom of two little girls under the age of 5. I am doing my best to balance it all, but that mostly means I have lowered my standards.

Today in the spirit of collaboration, and with the idea that as fellow moms we should always be there to support one another and share the insider secrets to raising happy, healthy children, while keeping ourselves sane, I am going to share with you my top 10 things that I think every mom should stop feeling guilty about.

Things that you would never confess to doing unless someone else admitted them first! So here I go.. I'll fess up, only for you Andrea and your wonderful readers!

LabMom's Top 10 List of Things Moms Should Not Be Ashamed About:

1. It isn't terrible to lie about a toy's dead batteries. If the Laugh and Learn Puppy is driving you absolutely crazy, you should feel no guilt when you tear those suckers right out. Feel free to tell your kids that they died, or even that the toy is permanently broken. There is no shame in this, and your pounding head will thank you.

2. It is okay to lust after children's television characters. The next time you toilet breaks it would be great to have Handy Manny on speed dial while one of the Wiggles gives you a back massage. There is no shame in this fantasy.

3. There is a fine line between motivation and bribery. Don't worry if you occasionally cross it. If the promise of dessert gets the carrots eaten, so be it. As long as the reward you are offering isn't also accompanied by begging and pleading consider it well deserved.

4. Put your kids in clothes that you like while you have the chance. Don't let anyone tell you that pink frilly dresses are 'too girlie' or that your little boy shouldn't wear that 'Dadddy's little tax deduction' tee. If you want to play dress up with your kids while they are little, go for it! Pretty soon they will not let you pick out their clothes and so you may as well enjoy it while it lasts (just be sure to take lots of pictures for blackmail.)

5. It is okay to blame your spouse if your child is dressed like a hobo. Didn't have time to do laundry? You child is running around in a dirty shirt and mis-matched socks? You run into the head of the PTA at the grocery store? Feel free to blame your husband. We all have seen what happens when Dad chooses an outfit, you so may as well let him take one for the team this time, since NOBODY wants to confess that the allowed their child to leave the house dressed like that!

6. Your child will still learn to read even if you don't always read every word in the story. Sometimes you just want to get through the bedtime routine and that may mean skipping words, lines, paragraphs or even whole pages of bedtime stories. You do what you have to do. Eventually your kids will wise up to this scam, but until they do go ahead and fast forward through stories when you are in a time crunch. They won't end up needing remedial reading lessons because of it.

7. You can serve an occasional meal composed exclusively of pop tarts or peanut butter crackers. We all know there are days when you just can't get it together to get a meal on the table that would be considered even moderately healthy or balanced. That is okay. Every once in a while let your kids run roughshod through the pantry and let the cards fall where they may. It isn't going to warp them for life.

8. Take a little extra time whenever you are running errands without your children to do something for youself. Even if it is just spending a couple minutes at the grocery store checkout thumbing through the latest trashy tabloid. Don't feel compelled to rush back home. Free time is hard to come by and you may as well help yourself to some when you get the chance.

9. Don't feel bad if you giggle when you hear a child say words like boob, weenie, balls, vagina, or penis. It is funny to hear those types of terms coming out of the mouths of babes. Yes, we shouldn't encourage them, but we just can't help it.

10. Never wake a sleeping child to A) change them into their pajamas or B) brush their teeth. It isn't worth it. Ever.


There you have it. My top 10. Yes, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of more things we feel guilty about and shouldn't but there just isn't space for them all. Just know you aren't the only one doing them, even if you are the only one to admit to it!

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks again to Andrea for giving me this chance. Please feel free to stop by my blog if you get some free time, I promise I won't giggle if you say "weenie".

A Few Of My Faves

So before I head out of town tomorrow for the weekend and wedding from, uhm, heck, I figured I'd post a few links to keep you busy while I'm away.

Some of my earlier posts. I'm coming up on a year of being out in the public eye, and figured I'd share some of the earlier thoughts of mine, from pre-thinking anyone was really listening, or ever going to! So read them all at once, spread them out across the weekend, whatever works for you. Heck, don't read them, I won't be insulted and I won't ever know!

Pizza and Sex and the City

A Jewish Girl in the South

My Iced Chai Addiction

Still Alice

And no worries, I have a guest poster lined up for tomorrow to entertain you all, you're gonna do me proud and show her some love, right?

You can fry an egg

Outside. Has anyone actually TRIED that? I mean, egg on the sidewalk kind of thing? I seriously think it's hot enough. What the heck? Man alive, what is up? It's only early April. I shouldn't have to worry about shaving my legs yet (sorry, TMI, but it's true) or melting on a short walk up and down the street.

Even my poor little one, her cheeks were so red and ruddy by the time we got back, it was only ten minutes, if that. I mean, come ON, Mother Nature. Cut a fellow Momma some slack, wouldja?

Now, today is the kind of day I wish I lived off the beach, had a nice frosty beverage ... and where IS that cabana boy, anyway?

Sigh -- sweet dreams, right? And speaking of sweet, I could really go for some ice cream right about now. Wishing I was back in NY where a Mister Softee would hit the spot. Now that sounds a bit dirty, doesn't it? Oops. Sorry. Didn't mean to, ehem, embarrass you.

My Parenting FAIL

I'm Sick and Cranky

I've been MIA some because I still don't have my MAC back. But also because yesterday and today I'm blessed to have caught the two minute cold my husband had last week. Which, of course, means a week and then some for me. Oh joy.

Anyway, I am happy to announce that my creativity in advance helps me out right here, as I was a guest poster at That One Mom's blog yesterday!

You can find my post over here at The Only Parent Chronicles just in case by the time you read this she's posted something else.

I am living vicariously through her as she gets some travel time in, and therefore had a nice flashback/dream sequence of my own travel plans. Enjoy!