Questions From you, the Viewer

Here are the answers to life's my blog's most pressing questions -

When will the ABC World News show air?
The producers probably saw the footage shot at my house and decided it was just too bad to show on national t.v. and the tape now sits in the recycling bin.
Actually, I still don't know. I'll post about it on my blog as soon as I find out.

Why does it take a year and a half for your blog to load?
I have no idea! It does the same thing for me. In fact most blogs on blogspot.com take a long time to load for me. My suggestion is to click on my blog then go pick up the cereal on the floor, change the laundry, throw something in the crockpot, refill your coffee cup (adding Bailey's Irish Creme is optional), unload the dishwasher and try to figure out why you're suddenly missing eight spoons. When you return to your desk, it should be fully loaded.

What is wrong with the first people who commented on your post last night?
Nothing at all. As soon as I published my post, I realized I'd messed up and I went back to edit it. The pictures without the captions showed up for them which is why they thought it was a riddle. What does a snake skin, a big orange ball, and a wad of tangled up hair have in common? The answer, of course, is - my kids spent the afternoon with dad! Need I say more?

Do you really teach your kids to read in the bathtub?
Yes, I teach them to read in the bathtub as much as I teach them to run with scissors, put nailpolish on the t.v., and dart across the street without first checking for traffic.

Can you show us a picture of your daughter's impromptu haircut?
I can't right now because she's sleeping. I guess I passed my cold onto her. I had to pick her up early from school today because she had a fever and a croupy cough. The poor school nurse. Every time she calls me, I answer in a less than enthusiastic, "Which kid is it this time?" My middle son just likes to visit the nurse, I think. She now has strict instructions from me as to how to deal with him when he walks into her office. She's to ask him, "Are there any bones protruding from your skin? Are you unconscious? No? Then go back to class. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200." Seriously, she's a very sweet woman and I don't blame my son for wanting to go hang out in her office every now and then.

How can I find out more about your book?
Well, it's going to be written on paper. I'm pretty sure it will have a title. Oh and a cover! It will definitely have a cover. That's about all I know right now, but I've got a little form on the right side of my blog where you can feel free to sign up for information about the book.

You mentioned moms whose husbands work long hours and moms whose husbands are deployed. What about us single moms?
I didn't intentionally omit the single moms. Of course it would be difficult for single moms to find some "me time" every day, or even every month, I imagine. So to every stay-at-home mom, working mom, work-from-home mom, work-from-home dad, stay-at-home dad, working dad, grandparent, godparent, single parent, married parent, living together in some sort of arrangement parent, mom of few kids, mom of many kids, anyone with the letters M, O, and M in their names, and anyone else I might have forgotten about, pat yourselves on the back! You're doing a very important job and you're awesome! Repeat after me, I'm good enough and I'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me.

Will you be doing a book give-away like the one you just did when your book comes out? I'm sure I will! :)

Why do you make your smiley faces with a semi-colon instead of a colon, like this :)? Huh? Smileys? Ohhhh, so that's what those are? I had no idea. I just thought that was a fun way to punctuate a sentence.

P.S. If I was going to make a smiley, I'd use a colon. If I was going to make a winking smiley, I'd use a semi-colon. ;) Got it?

That banana looks familiar. Did you steal it from my car? Ummm yes. Yes, that's what I do in my spare time. I break into other people's vehicles and steal decomposing fruit because I just don't find quite enough of that stuff in my own house.

Now it's time for me to ask a question. A few of you have said that you've given me an award and to visit your blog to get it. That's so very sweet and thoughtful of you! However, I'm really slow here. Explain in simple "a 2 year old could understand" terms as to what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm sorry, but I'm just not familiar with this. Remember I just started this blog a couple months ago. Thank you for your help!

Because September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I want to post he following text taken from an article written by Brian and Stacey Ledwon.

Childhood cancer is not fair. It is not fair to the children that suffer from it each and every day. It is not fair to parents who try to do what is best for their children under extremely difficult circumstances. It is not fair to siblings that have their life suddenly turned upside down. Our family knows firsthand how ugly childhood cancer is, as our 5-year old daughter Lindsey has been battling a rare brain cancer since September 2004. Did you know:

• 12,500 children will be diagnosed with cancer this year

• Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under 15

• 2,300 children will die from cancer this year

• Incidence of cancer among children in the United States is rising about 1 percent each year, however, survivorship is also rising

• 1 in every 330 Americans develop cancer before the age of 20

I have a button on the right side of this blog for St. Jude's Research Hospital. If you are able, please consider making a donation. One dollar makes a difference. Think of how many people have read this blog this past month. There have been nearly a million hits! Imagine a dollar, just ONE dollar per hit. Wow!