Things that made today awful:

1. Grocery shopping in the rain.

2. Wet socks

3. The dog rolling in dead stuff.

4. $388 in medical bills in addition to the $224 from yesterday and the $188 I spent on groceries. In the rain.

5. Hot coffee splashing my eyeball.

6. A hangnail.

7. My scale.

Things that made today good:

1. I didn’t have to turn on the heat.

2. I didn’t have to turn on the air conditioning.

3. I got paid for a post I wrote.

4. Kenny Loggins. Shut up.

5. The dog got a bath.

6. I laughed.

7. I realized that tomorrow is another day.

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My husband made a comment about my blog being heavy with sponsored content right now and I agree. I know I don’t have to explain it, but I want to. You will see more ads and more sponsored posts than usual (at least for the time being) for three reasons:

1) Companies are interested in this space because readers show up. When I write a review post, the majority of the time this includes a giveaway for one of you. Gift cards, game systems, Kindles…many goodies are offered because these brands understand that social media is word of mouth, times infinity. Twitter is the old corner store and Facebook is the old front porch. You like something, you share it, they do more business. My reviews don’t just benefit me, they benefit you because brands know that blog readers are a social media savvy group.

2) I don’t review or promote anything that I haven’t tried and believe in. My recent Kings Island and Microsoft Office posts, for example? One-hundred percent authentic. Tonight I’m reviewing wine (and there will be something in it for a reader). I will also tell you the truth about this wine, especially if I drink a bunch of it first. I am nothing if not honest. I just told you people about my colonoscopy for crying out loud.

3) We’re broke. Like, FLAT broke. We have medical bills that are mounting so high it’s starting to look like an episode of “Hoarders” up in here. Hearing aids, sleep apnea, intestinal emergencies, congenital heart disease, and this week we add an orthodontist to the mix because my son’s roots have so little room that they’re actually deteriorating. Yippee! This is why it makes perfect sense that we went out the other day and bought this:

No, this is not sponsored by CarMax. They gave me nothing. I’m just so used to taking sponsored photos that it must be instinct.

Okay, in our defense we had NO intention of buying a new (to us) car. But, at merely five years old and only 43,000 miles, oh…and manufactured by a non-existent car company *hi, Saturn!* they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. Not to mention that our 15 year old SUV was, quite literally, falling apart around us. No, really. I didn’t feel safe in it and certainly didn’t like my children sitting in a back seat with doors that wouldn’t open. Also, it’s for sale! Call me!

So, there you have it. You may have to scroll through some sponsored content with more frequency for awhile, but I still like to think you’ll show up.

Of course, that could be the free wine talking.

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In the five years that I have been blogging, this site has received tens-of-thousands of comments. Often, the comments are better than the posts. Stop it, people! You’re going to put me out of a job!

But, if I lose my blogging gig at least I know of an industry desperately in need of new hires; spam writing.

For every one of your comments that gets posted, I get one that hits my spam folder. If these people had better writing techniques, maybe they wouldn’t get so unlucky. Let’s review, shall we?

Wow! This can be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Magnificent. I am also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.

The use of “wow” and “magnificent” are excellent choices, and I can overlook “particular of the most.” However, you lost me at “ever arrive across.”

I did want to ask where a green toy such as the one pictures of the dump truck can be bought? Thanks in advance for the help.

Is it one picture or are there pictures? “One pictures” is throwing me off and I can’t figure out which dump truck post with which you need help! It’s hard to decide between the ZERO dump trucks posts on this site. Note to self: More dump trucks.

A bestfriend plus i want to create any operating a blog web page, although you have no idea what type to use. We generally will certainly you should be adding unique equipment on the subject of in no way we end up needing the website to get interesting plus creative, an excellent simple structure..

Dude. Thank you for the double-period, because it reinforces that I was doubly-excited for that sentence to end.

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I had this great big post planned because I have been gone so long (I’m pretty sure my advertisers think my colonoscopy killed me). I typed it out at the airport in New York yesterday and thought it sounded awesome, but when I looked at it again today, it was just a giant rambling mess.

There is too much, just TOO MUCH, to say and when I try to put it all together it looks like verbal vomit on my computer screen. So, instead, I will share the very few pictures I took, and a few that I stole from my friends without asking. Without further ado, here is my last week in pictures.

I visited the 9/11 Memorial. It’s beautiful and well-designed. I ran my fingers over random names and had goosebumps the entire time.

I hung out with friends.

photo courtesy of Dresden from creatingmotherhood.com. Food courtesy of Ree from The Pioneer Woman.

photo courtesy of Angie from awholelotofnothing.net

In some photos, I appeared more greasy than others. NYC in August, holla!

photo courtesy of melisa of suburbanscrawl.com. photobomb courtesy of Jenn from mommyneedscoffee.com

And, for geeks like me, the fun and games continued in the panel rooms where I spoke at a day-long workshop on how blogging can change your life and then at a session on how to leverage Twitter and Facebook. The Twitter and Facebook panel was standing-room only and was a highlight of my short, but amazing, social media career thus far. I took a picture from the front of the room before we got started.

And, my friend Angie, snapped this picture from the audience.

That’s me on the right. This was insane fun for me. Geeks, unite!

I fulfilled my AV dreams. This is where I sat during keynotes by Martha Stewart and Katie Couric as I fed questions to the interviewers. It’s a long way from the cable access show that I worked on in high school.

Yes, I just wrote about how awesome it was to sit with the tech crew. At least I own my level of geekdom.

An impromptu dinner with the hilarious Jessica Bernturned into a quick tour of the Upper West Side and I got to see The Dakota and Lincoln Center and eat a vegan burrito in a hole-in-the-wall, which made it all the more delicious.

The gate John Lennon walked through just before he was shot.

I went to mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I walked along the plaza outside of 30 Rock, strolled past the entrance of the Museum of Modern Art, and I bought an I <3 NY shirt from a street vendor. I peered into Gray’s Papaya and Carnegie Deli, but couldn’t resist the food at the Famous Halal Guys’ cart on the corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.

The best falafel. Period.

I did SO much, but I didn’t scratch the surface of what NYC has to offer; yet my heart and mind are full.

And, more than anything, my feet hurt really, really bad.

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