The Book, The Blog & Weeds

After working for nine days, in a row, I was ready for these last two days off!! My boss is going on vacation soon and so I expect that I will be working a good deal more AND not having two days off in a row!! Something that I consider a luxury. Nothing gives you a better mental health break than to have two days to putz around, read, write and whatever the hell you feel like doing. That, my friends, is exactly what I have been doing.

Obviously I am devoting time today to blogging. Something that I greatly enjoy and also consider part of mental health routine care. How outstanding is it that I do not even need to use my insurance or pay any kind of co-pay to reap the benefits.

I sometimes feel negligent when I do not have anything current to write about, but I know that I am busy as well as the good folks that I co-write with. Mixter is making a big move and I can not even imagine moving at this time in my life with all the STUFF that has accumulated in said time! All the best to Mixter as she makes this journey!! Hopefully you have a strapping lad to lend a hand or two!!

Naturally there are issues, like health care , to be discussed and our often continuous religious debates. I must say that I did watch Obama the other night and I am glad that I did and he did make me feel better about the direction that the health care issues are heading. I may not always feel that way, but for now I am not fretting.

I have gotten myself to chapter five in my book. Which, for someone who did not think that they had much to say, seems to be a good deal. I went back and read what I had written in the first three and it made me laugh so I think that I am heading in the direction that I intended. My best friend from high school has given me much good input as to possible topics and it has greatly increased my creative juices.

I do feel as though I have jumped around, topic wise, and I believe that this is why people have editors! A few people have offered and I am thinking about who I will have proof read etc.

I have also discovered, thanks to a friend at work, the Showtime series "Weeds". Always a bit behind the times and trends AND we have never had Showtime, I am watching it on Netflix on my laptop. It is an excellent show. If you have not heard or ever seen this show it is about a suburban housewife whose husband drops dead and she begins to sell pot to make ends meet. There is a plethora of neighbors and people that live in their development that are crazy characters. I sit with my earbuds in and laugh and laugh. I know my neighbors must think I am crazy as I sit out there in the early mornings watching season one laughing out loud.

The other thing that is continuously drawing me into this show is the cast of strong women characters. None of them are delicate little flowers, but strong and in your face women. Just my kind of folks! I love it when people introduce me to something that I end up really enjoying and now....I do it for you all.

The Top 25

An awesome article compliments of Time Magazine! The top 25 blogs of 20o9. There is something there to love for everyone. You have your political blogs, sports, mommy stuff and everything geek that will make you giddy with geeky delight!!

Thus far I have only been through the list once, there is just so much to read. I plan to bookmark this site and spend some time reading and checking out the good stuff.

Shout Out to Dooce!

One of the blogs that I read is Dooce. The creator and writer on this web site is Heather B. Armstrong who was just on the Today show and has been an acclaimed blogger and winner of many awards associated with her blogging. She can now also boast a new book! "Things I Learned About my Dad in Therapy".

"Compiled by Heather B. Armstrong, award-winning publisher and über-mistress of the phenomenally popular dooce.com®, this hilarious and heartwarming celebration of "everything dad" features original stories from some of the country's most celebrated bloggers, including Alice Bradley (Finslippy) Doug French (Laid Off Dad), Maggie Mason (Mighty Girl), Matthew Baldwin (Defective Yeti), Sarah Brown (Que Sera Sera), and more.

From a new father's comparison of pregnancy to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, to a mother's story of bravely surviving a husband-son infatuation with Star Wars, to the mini triumphs and tragedies of toddlerhood, this book provides a unique, no-holds-barred glimpse into the quirks and candid moments of modern dads.

Whether we relish or fear growing up to be like our fathers…whether we've inherited his nose, sense of humor, or entire value system, our dads loom large in who we are and the choices we make. Things I Learned about my Dad in Therapy touches upon the many joys and discoveries of fatherhood, one essay at a time."

I have always enjoyed Heathers blogging and often the stories are irreverent and hilarious; like the time she tells about how her dog had his head up the chimney for days only to find out they had a huge raccoon living in there! Some of the stories about their little girl, I could skip because I am just not fond of stories about small children any more, but for the most part she is an excellent and funny writer and you should stop by her blog and check it out. Her stories about going to New York to appear on the Today Show are funny and often she includes photos that add to the enjoyment of the story.

Heather B. Armstrong is the award winning publisher of dooce® (dooce.com). She gained notoriety in 2002 as one of the first people to be fired because of a blog, and in 2005 dooce.com was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 50 Coolest Websites. Armstrong has been on Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, and ABC's World News Tonight as a featured commenter on both blogging and postpartum depression, as well as profiled in the New York Times Sunday Style section and the Washington Post Weekend Magazine. She was published in Real Simple's Family edition in August, 2007.

Armstrong lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband, daughter, and dog.

She also has a very cool dog, Chuck, that will allow them to pose him with some of the craziest things I have ever seen on a dogs head as well as clothing! He sits and poses so patiently, more than any dog I have ever seen. That dog has expressive eyes and a wonderful looking face.

Heather also coined the phrase "recovering Mormon" that I am often fond of using as she was raised in a Mormon home and therefore I can relate to her stories of dinnertime prayer etc.

Congrats Heather & Dooce on being a fun and award winning blog and on your newest literary efforts!!