<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457</id><updated>2012-05-26T13:45:56.954-07:00</updated><title type='text'>It's all my mother's fault...</title><subtitle type='html'>My goal is to write every day, however, I become paralyzed by perfectionism and fear of failure.  My  mother motivates me on a daily basis; pushing me forward.  It truly is all her fault.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>66</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114696889123984486</id><published>2006-05-06T19:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-06T19:28:11.253-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Short List</title><content type='html'>I have just watched an amazing movie called &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whatisthesecret.tv/"&gt;The Secret&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/span&gt;It is very similar to &lt;a href="http://www.whatthebleep.com"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;What The Bleep&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in that it discusses how our thoughts create our reality; that the reality that we possess now is only one reality.  We are only limited by where we choose to go with our thoughts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the fundamentals of applying The Secret is gratitude.  By being thankful for what we have, we are able to create more of it.  Here are a few things I am grateful for:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;A husband with an amazing sense of humor&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A daughter who is, herself, a product of our visualizations&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;An amazing home in an ideal neighborhood&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Yellow tulips in my front yard&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Grass seedlings sprouting on my lawn&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;High speed Internet&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A king-size bed&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A mother who is my best friend&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A father who passed to me an incredible passion and intensity&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A sister who takes joy in small things and possesses great generosity and undying love&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A brother who unconsciously causes life to spontaneously unfold ahead of him&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Another brother who changed all of what we thought was ideal&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Grandparents who demonstrated passion, intensity, flair for living and generosity of love&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;In-laws who truly love their children and see their grandchild for the miracle she is&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Vehicles that run and have ample space&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A garbage disposal that works&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A laptop computer&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ample referrals so that I will win my ipod and camera&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Friends with wit and insight&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Online money-making opportunities that allow for small risk and large pay-offs&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A place to write how I feel&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;French onion chip dip&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Intelligence to apply these processes&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Clothes that suit and flatter my body&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Cable television&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Toys for my baby&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Masses of women who are empowered and who are strong&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My outgoing nature&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My ability to make people laugh&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My love of music&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hiking in the woods&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Peace; stillness&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My daughter's laughter&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Making my husband laugh&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Being able to understand a concept&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ability to change my life through visualization&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114696889123984486?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114696889123984486/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114696889123984486' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114696889123984486'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114696889123984486'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/05/short-list.html' title='The Short List'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114610588916295741</id><published>2006-04-26T19:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-04-26T19:44:58.616-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Nauseating News</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;H1 class=Headline&gt;Police Want To Know Who's Dumping Bags Of Vomit&lt;/H1&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class=posted&gt;POSTED: 7:37 am CDT April 26, 2006&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=posted&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;&lt;!--startindex--&gt;&lt;B class=Dateline&gt;MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa -- &lt;/B&gt;Sheriff's deputies in Iowa are in the midst of a disgusting investigation.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P class=StoryBody&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;Deputies in Henry County are trying to find the person who is dumping bags of what looks like human vomit.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P class=StoryBody&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;Deputy Dan Wesley said they've found as many as 50 garbage bags containing regurgitated food over the last three years. He said it's pretty weird.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P class=StoryBody&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;They've sent some samples to a lab for analysis, but Wesley said they haven't gotten any DNA yet.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;Wesley said they just hope whoever is doing it will stop. &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=StoryBody&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Originally posted at &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.kcci.com/news/9010015/detail.html"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;KCCI.com&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;; &lt;EM&gt;Copyright 2006 by &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.kcci.com/news/2455821/detail.html"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;The Associated Press&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;EM&gt;.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;!--stopindex--&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=Copyright&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=Copyright&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/News_of_the_weird" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;News_of_the_weird&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vomit" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Vomit&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Police" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Police&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Iowa" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Iowa&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Henry" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Henry&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/County" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;County&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Regurgitation" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Regurgitation&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class=Copyright&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114610588916295741?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114610588916295741/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114610588916295741' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114610588916295741'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114610588916295741'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/nauseating-news.html' title='Nauseating News'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114529464534300682</id><published>2006-04-17T10:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-04-17T10:24:07.736-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Back To My Roots</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;Recently I was reviewed by another blog site.&amp;nbsp; The review was quite blunt; scathing, in fact.&amp;nbsp; It was a major hit to my confidence, but it really became a catalyst for my thoughts.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;I've been thinking for some time that I needed to do something to jump-start my writing.&amp;nbsp; I've talked to Nick about this a lot and, time after time, he has&amp;nbsp;reminded me that I&amp;nbsp; need to be doing writing just to do it - not to make money.&amp;nbsp; While I've known this to be true, I've been sluggish in really "getting" it.&amp;nbsp; It seems that I've spent so much time researching what I need to do in order to make money through writing, that my content has taken a down-slide.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So the other day, following that awful review, Nick and I had another heart-to-heart about my blogs.&amp;nbsp; He really laid it out there again, saying that if writing didn't inspire me and give me life, then I needed to step back and find out why.&amp;nbsp; He reminded me of why I write.&amp;nbsp; I don't write because it brings me big bucks (or even ANY bucks), and I certainly don't&amp;nbsp;put together SEO articles or anything to that effect.&amp;nbsp; I write because it's a catharsis, and because sometimes writing, for me, is easier than talking.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;You'll notice the change in template and the lack of ads.&amp;nbsp; I'm going back to the basics.&amp;nbsp; I need to just write for awhile and let the rest follow as it will.&amp;nbsp; I'm not going to force this.&amp;nbsp; Bear with me as I figure this out - again.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Writing" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Writing&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Non_Profit" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Non_Profit&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Writers_Block" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Writers_Block&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Blogging" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Blogging&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Husbands" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Husbands&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bad_Review" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Bad_Review&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114529464534300682?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114529464534300682/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114529464534300682' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114529464534300682'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114529464534300682'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/back-to-my-roots.html' title='Back To My Roots'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114485909694880449</id><published>2006-04-12T09:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-04-12T09:24:57.036-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dangers of Everyday Life</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;I was reading my friend, &lt;A href="http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-U_86GhEnfrQVoNCMCjGkHtO3?p=32"&gt;Camille's&lt;/A&gt;, blog the other day and was reminded of an experience from my childhood.&amp;nbsp; I grew up in Texas, in an extremely rural area (think tumbleweeds and tarantulas) and we had a lot of snakes - including, but not limited to, &lt;A href="http://www.desertusa.com/may96/du_rattle.html"&gt;rattlesnakes&lt;/A&gt; and &lt;A href="http://www.everwonder.com/david/snakes/watermoccasin.html"&gt;moccasin snakes&lt;/A&gt;.&amp;nbsp; In fact, we had so many encounters with rattlesnakes that we actually owned an ice pick, not for dealing with ice, but for....um...."dealing with" rattlesnakes.&amp;nbsp; I remember several near-miss experiences that we always discussed with a sort of reverence; referring to God as saving us from these snakes.&amp;nbsp; One such situation included my sister (around 3-4 years old at the time) running playfully down a path and just sort of stepping over the feared snake lying in the middle of the trail.&amp;nbsp; Later on, my mother would shake her head with a mixture of fear and relief and we recounted the story.&amp;nbsp; I definitely grew up with a healthy fear of the creatures.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;I also remember often driving on a bridge that went over a river.&amp;nbsp; The dirt was red and the river seemed to be always just short of a true river; drought usually made the water recess.&amp;nbsp; At some point or another, my parents warned us that there was quicksand on the banks of that river.&amp;nbsp; They may have only mentioned that in passing, but it was burned on our brains as if they recited it daily.&amp;nbsp; After we moved from&amp;nbsp;&lt;A href="http://www.dljc.org/"&gt;Prayertown&lt;/A&gt; in Texas, I remember hearing that&amp;nbsp;one of my best friends had run away from home and was found walking down that same road; over that same bridge.&amp;nbsp; I instantly had an eerie vision of her sinking into the sand,&amp;nbsp;arms reaching up for help.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;They also told us that there were moccasin snakes in that river and that if they bit you, your tongue would swell so as to cover your throat, thereby suffocating you.&amp;nbsp; I always had a picture in my mind of a person's tongue getting bigger and bigger as their eyes started to pop out of their sockets; brains consumed by the knowledge that they were going to die soon.&amp;nbsp; We were always warned to stay away from that water because the dangers were unspeakable, and we lived several hours away from the nearest hospital.&amp;nbsp; To this day, I sometimes unconsciously hold my tongue between the roof of my mouth and my lower teeth just to assure myself that it has remained the same thickness as ever.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Rattlesnakes" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Rattlesnakes&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Water" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Water&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Moccasin" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Moccasin&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Prayertown" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Prayertown&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Texas" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Texas&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Quicksand" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Quicksand&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Childhood" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Childhood&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114485909694880449?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114485909694880449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114485909694880449' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114485909694880449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114485909694880449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/dangers-of-everyday-life.html' title='Dangers of Everyday Life'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114477701887891356</id><published>2006-04-11T10:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-04-11T10:36:59.420-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Almighty Google</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;Well I'm back, but I'm hesitant to say so since I just feel so sucked of creativity lately.&amp;nbsp; I know, I know, it's the same old thing every time.&amp;nbsp; I would blame it on Mercury Retrograde again because I've been reading a &lt;A href="http://www.thecrazyhousewife.com/blog/2006/04/09/play-that-funky-music/"&gt;few other blogs &lt;/A&gt;and they seem to be having the same problem, but unfortunately the Retrograde is over and we are left excuse-less.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;I did want to mention that I received a "warning" from Almighty Google saying that my blogs were receiving "false impressions."&amp;nbsp; Apparently it's not a good idea to enroll your blog in a program like &lt;A href="http://www.blogexplosion.com/index.php?ref=mymothersfault"&gt;Blog Explosion &lt;/A&gt;because you are basically generating false hits.&amp;nbsp; I don't exactly agree with this because although I know some advertisers do pay a very minute amount for impressions, the vast majority only charge for clicks.&amp;nbsp; In my mind, a click is a click (unless of course it's click fraud, but that's another story).&amp;nbsp; If a person is interested in an ad on my page and therefore, clicks on it, that is a legitimate click - whether they are coming by way of Blog Explosion or by way of search engine.&amp;nbsp; I would also be interested to see how many people received this warning.&amp;nbsp; I have navigated Blog Explosion and &lt;A href="http://www.blogmad.net"&gt;Blogmad&lt;/A&gt; and have seen countless blogs with Google Adsense on them.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Regardless of what I think, I obviously don't make the rules so I have removed my blogs from any program that could give them "false impressions."&amp;nbsp; I am, however,&amp;nbsp;still trying to wrap my brain around the situation -- but I guess there are whole blogs about this.&amp;nbsp; It's a bit discouraging though because it puts me right back at square one, making .16 per day and at a loss as to how to bring in traffic.&amp;nbsp; At least my mother still reads.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Google_Adsense" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Google_Adsense&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Writing" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Writing&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Creative" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Creative&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Blog_Explosion" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Blog_Explosion&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Clicks" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Clicks&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Impressions" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Impressions&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Advertisements" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Advertisements&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114477701887891356?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114477701887891356/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114477701887891356' title='9 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114477701887891356'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114477701887891356'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/almighty-google.html' title='Almighty Google'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>9</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114435426988223248</id><published>2006-04-06T13:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-04-06T13:11:10.150-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Rising Star</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;As I type this, Nick is finding out how he ranks in his department at work.&amp;nbsp; This ranking determines whether he can apply for a promotion.&amp;nbsp; If he doesn't rank in the "right" spot, he can't apply for promotion again for two years.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;I'm using all of my&amp;nbsp;&lt;A href="http://www.whatthebleep.com"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;What The Bleep&lt;/EM&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/A&gt;strategies in order to create our reality...&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;The interesting thing is that there are very few pinpoint-able times where our lives have been changed by a precise moment.&amp;nbsp; This could be one of them.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;The Irritable Bowel is getting worse.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Employment" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Employment&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Career" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Career&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Career_Change" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Career_Change&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Promotion" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Promotion&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114435426988223248?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114435426988223248/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114435426988223248' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114435426988223248'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114435426988223248'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/rising-star.html' title='Rising Star'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114394905810264441</id><published>2006-04-01T19:30:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-04-01T19:37:38.123-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Human After All</title><content type='html'>I'm realizing more and more that I'm losing my perspective.  Or perhaps it's not so much that I'm losing it, just that it's skewed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See, I'm happy for people when good things happen for them, but I get a twinge - just a bite - deep in my gut.  It's that thought, "why isn't that happening for us?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have &lt;a href="http://www.livingthemomlife.blogspot.com/"&gt;a friend &lt;/a&gt;who just scored a great job working on a newsletter for a Non-Profit.  It's perfect; gold; it even pays!  And really, I am oh-so-happy for her.  These jobs are hard to come by and as writers we must support one another when these things happen.  But, there's that feeling again - "why not me?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then the mind fucking begins and the whispering starts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;It's because I suck; because I'm worthless.  I can't get through to anyone.  No one wants to read what I write.  I'm fat.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But it's all so ridiculous because I have so much.  I am so blessed.  It's this convoluted pattern repeating itself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like I said, my perspective seems to be skewed lately.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114394905810264441?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114394905810264441/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114394905810264441' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114394905810264441'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114394905810264441'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/04/human-after-all.html' title='Human After All'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114375674538844125</id><published>2006-03-30T14:12:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-30T14:12:37.346-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Here Ya Go, Universe!</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;I'm on a mission to find some new work.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Yes, I know you say I've been whining about trying to find new work for over a year now, but this time is different.&amp;nbsp; I actually know what it is that I want to do!!&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;For the longest time (most of my life actually), whenever I've been in the market for new employment, I've just looked for anything.&amp;nbsp; I have a very diverse skill set and really think I could do almost anything.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;[Did I ever tell you about when I went to a "job interview" for a Personal Assistant&amp;nbsp;job, and ended up inserting a&amp;nbsp;catheter?!&amp;nbsp; Yeah, I have a diverse skill set AND I have a hard time saying "no."]&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;It's not that I don't have specific skills or that I'm not employable (in fact, at one point I was able to find THREE jobs in a section of the country with a staggering unemployment rate).&amp;nbsp; It just seems that usually I've been in a bind to find something IMMEDIATELY or I've been in a rural area and there just isn't much available in "my field."&amp;nbsp; Now I haven't done the McDonald's type of jobs, thankfully, but I have worked in&amp;nbsp;a Bingo Hall and I have &lt;A href="http://mymothersfault.candyham.com/2006/03/08/produce-picker-for-a-day/"&gt;picked asparagus&lt;/A&gt;, although I worked both of these jobs before I was finished with High School.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So anyway, cutting to the chase, I'm looking for some new work, and I want it to be in the writing field.&amp;nbsp; I have been able to pick up some proofreading/re-writing work here and there and that's fine, but I want something where I get paid to write creatively.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;There.&amp;nbsp; I put it out there.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Oh, did I mention that I want it soon?&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Writing" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Writing&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Work_At_Home" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Work_At_Home&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Employment" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Employment&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Job_Search" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Job_Search&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114375674538844125?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114375674538844125/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114375674538844125' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114375674538844125'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114375674538844125'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/here-ya-go-universe.html' title='Here Ya Go, Universe!'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114351113313135381</id><published>2006-03-27T17:58:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-27T17:58:55.323-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Hope For The Future</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;P&gt;Today was a beautiful day. It was probably around 50 degrees and sunny. The baby and I went for a hike with our friend A. and her son. I was actually hot while hiking (although I did have a baby on my back). It was amazing to see that although the ground looks dead, the crocuses are coming up and I can see hints of spring. There are buds on the trees and little pieces of grass sprouting.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This put me in the mood to surf the Internet looking at flowers. You see, I can&amp;#146;t really afford to purchase flowers every week, but I like to brighten the day by looking at beautiful bouquets online. Anyway, today I found these beautiful &lt;A href="http://www.dotflowers.com/easter-flowers-flowers-30.html"&gt;Easter flowers&lt;/A&gt; online and I began to feel totally inspired. Easter has always made me think of newness and life. I think of Easter lilies and beginnings.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;And I think the point of all this is that I&amp;#146;m seeing all of these starts, and they are really helping me gain some hope for the future. I love Spring. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Flowers" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Flowers&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Hiking" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Hiking&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weather" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Weather&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spring" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Spring&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Easter" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Easter&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114351113313135381?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114351113313135381/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114351113313135381' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114351113313135381'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114351113313135381'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/hope-for-future.html' title='Hope For The Future'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114326350704300763</id><published>2006-03-24T21:10:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-24T21:12:53.466-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Carl Edwards ESPN Cover</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/1600/carledwards.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/320/carledwards.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sheesh, I guess Nascar isn't so lame after all!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114326350704300763?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114326350704300763/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114326350704300763' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114326350704300763'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114326350704300763'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/carl-edwards-espn-cover.html' title='Carl Edwards ESPN Cover'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114323564000304727</id><published>2006-03-24T13:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-24T13:27:20.103-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Blog Envy</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;Lately I've been consumed by the green monster.&amp;nbsp; No, not the Hulk.&amp;nbsp; We're talking jealousy; envy; one of the seven deadly sins (right?).&amp;nbsp; Yes, I'm afflicted with Blog Envy.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;I think the problem stems from the fact that I've just felt so mentally blocked lately.&amp;nbsp; I feel like everything I write is crap, and I really have nothing interesting or witty to say.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So I read these other blogs, and it seems the authors are on fire.&amp;nbsp; There&amp;nbsp;appears to be&amp;nbsp;wit pouring from every page, along with little sarcastic digs and some nice trackbacks.&amp;nbsp; All of their formatting is perfect, and their template stands out like nothing I've ever seen.&amp;nbsp; They seem to understand the "metatag concept" and have traffic flowing like the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico.&amp;nbsp; They are Midas.&amp;nbsp; Everything they touch turns to gold.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And though I'm filled with envy, I keep plugging away, hoping one day to become witty again.&amp;nbsp; I don't need gold.&amp;nbsp; Just something interesting to say.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Blog" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Blog&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Blogging" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Blogging&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Writing" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Writing&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Publishing" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Publishing&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Envy" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Envy&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114323564000304727?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114323564000304727/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114323564000304727' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114323564000304727'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114323564000304727'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/blog-envy.html' title='Blog Envy'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114314750150562851</id><published>2006-03-23T12:58:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-23T12:58:21.576-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Ultimate Non-Couple</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;I've been challenged by &lt;A href="http://www.datingdames.com"&gt;Gayla&lt;/A&gt; to write about non-couples and any experiences I have with them.&amp;nbsp; At first I had no idea what she was talking about, but then I read &lt;A href="http://www.datingdames.com/non-couple-moments/"&gt;her post &lt;/A&gt;where she mentioned Rachel and Ross from &lt;EM&gt;Friends&lt;/EM&gt;, and I got it.&amp;nbsp; In fact, I immediately thought of Jim and Pam from &lt;EM&gt;The Office&lt;/EM&gt; and started pining away about their romance-that-never-was-OR-could-it-maybe-possibly-still-happen?&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;But I started digging deeper.&amp;nbsp; You see, most of my romantic relationships started out as "non-couple" relationships.&amp;nbsp; I was that girl in high school who is friends with every guy.&amp;nbsp; In fact, I didn't like most girls because of their associations with cliques and perfect hair and smooth skin.&amp;nbsp; Now I wasn't the "I hate girls so I'm going to go whore off with the guys" type of girl, but I just felt more comfortable with the relatively non-judgemental attitudes of the guys.&amp;nbsp; Trouble was that I was totally naive.&amp;nbsp; I didn't get that most of them were friends with me because they wanted more.&amp;nbsp; As &lt;A href="http://www.whenharrymetsallythemovie.com/"&gt;Harry&lt;/A&gt; says, "Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way," and though I don't exclusively subscribe to this idea, I do think that it might have been largely true in high school.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And so somehow in high school and into college, I unwittingly became the other half of the non-couple.&amp;nbsp; People would ask me questions in a subtle manner: "Are you guys dating?"&amp;nbsp; And I would proclaim, "NO!&amp;nbsp; We're JUST FRIENDS!"&amp;nbsp; Meanwhile, the guy would blush and start humming &lt;A href="http://www.bonnieraitt.com/disc_luck_of_the_draw.php"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Something To Talk About&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;, while I just stood there, completely unaware.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;My final non-couple situation was destined to become an ironic one.&amp;nbsp; I met my husband while I was still in college, and my first thought was, "Wow, finally a guy who doesn't want to get in my pants!"&amp;nbsp; He seemed so sensitive and sweet; so easy to talk to; so honest and kind.&amp;nbsp; We emailed back and forth, I, spilling my deep thoughts about current boyfriends into the emails and, he, apparently pounding his head against the keyboard.&amp;nbsp; We remained a non-couple for several years until, one day, everything changed with a few fateful words on the telephone.&amp;nbsp; And with those words, the suspense was dropped and the non-couple became a couple.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Turned out that he really did want to get in my pants.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Relationships" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Relationships&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dating" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Dating&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/When_Harry_Met_Sally" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;When_Harry_Met_Sally&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Couples" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Couples&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Mate" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Mate&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Non_Couples" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Non_Couples&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114314750150562851?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114314750150562851/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114314750150562851' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114314750150562851'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114314750150562851'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/ultimate-non-couple.html' title='The Ultimate Non-Couple'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114295750127723425</id><published>2006-03-21T08:11:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-21T08:11:46.536-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Rough Day</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;I'm having a hard day.&amp;nbsp; It has to do with actually facing some of my very real financial fears.&amp;nbsp; I won't get into all the details here, but I'm feeling tired, sad and afraid.&amp;nbsp; I feel like I'm working so hard to get something to work out, but it's all just sitting there, immobilized.&amp;nbsp; I've sent so many emails; so many resumes, and I'm just feeling so worthless today.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;A href="http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/changing-my-patterns.html"&gt;Everything is stressful; I'm working hard; nothing is going to pan out; we're all going to DIE!&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114295750127723425?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114295750127723425/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114295750127723425' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114295750127723425'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114295750127723425'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/rough-day.html' title='Rough Day'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114289317797175352</id><published>2006-03-20T14:18:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-20T14:20:33.000-08:00</updated><title type='text'>What Should I Be When I Grow Up?</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;I took a test on &lt;a href="http://web.tickle.com/tests/rightjob/?test=rightjobogt" mce_href="http://web.tickle.com/tests/rightjob/?test=rightjobogt"&gt;Tickle.com&lt;/a&gt; in order to figure out what I should do as a career.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;When I was just a little girl...&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;I've done so many different jobs that I was curious to see if it would give me the results I was looking for. Namely, that I should be a writer.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;...I asked my mother "what will I be?"&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;So I answered the five pages of questions with honesty.  After all, I wasn't going to be graded!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;"Will I be pretty?  Will I be smart?"  Here's what she said to me:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;And at the end of it all, this is what it said: "the right jobs for you would allow you to be Creative and Analytical." Hmmm...what does that mean, exactly?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;"Que sera, sera.  Whatever will be, will be.  The future's not ours, you see! Que sera, sera!"&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;So those were not exactly conclusive results, as far as I'm concerned. But at least I wasn't told that I should be a Mathematics teacher or that I should pursue a &lt;a href="http://www.enderun.com.ph/" mce_href="http://www.enderun.com.ph"&gt;Hotel Restaurant Management degree.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114289317797175352?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114289317797175352/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114289317797175352' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114289317797175352'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114289317797175352'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-should-i-be-when-i-grow-up.html' title='What Should I Be When I Grow Up?'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114288667962628944</id><published>2006-03-20T12:31:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-20T12:31:22.410-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Changing My Patterns</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;Well I've put off writing today because it seems like the only things I have to say are the ones I've already said.&amp;nbsp; I started thinking about the whole thing and realized that I probably&amp;nbsp;just say the same things over and over, but on a cycle.&amp;nbsp; So I start out saying "everything is stressful, but it'll be okay," then I say "everything is stressful; I'm working hard; it &lt;EM&gt;should&lt;/EM&gt; be okay,"&amp;nbsp;and I end the cycle by saying, "everything is stressful; I'm working hard; nothing is going to pan out; we're all going to DIE!"&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So in thinking about this cycle, I was reminded of this incredible movie that I saw this week.&amp;nbsp; It's called &lt;EM&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.whatthebleep.com/"&gt;What The Bleep Do We Know!?&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;, and when I saw it, I knew my life had been changed.&amp;nbsp; It basically restated everything that I know to be true and helped put into words all of my ideas.&amp;nbsp; And that evening, after watching the movie, I lay in bed thinking about it, wanting to savor every second of its profundity.&amp;nbsp; My life had been changed; I was going to awake the next morning, exclaiming my intent for the day -- and&amp;nbsp;the pieces&amp;nbsp;would fall into place like Tetris squares.&amp;nbsp; I would break through all of my patterns and change the future of my children's children.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And for about an hour the next day, I did feel very aligned and centered and enlightened.&amp;nbsp; I floated about, focusing on my intent.&amp;nbsp; But then things started to happen.&amp;nbsp; I realized another bill was due.&amp;nbsp; The baby needed lunch.&amp;nbsp; I noticed a cold sore developing on my lip and a random molar felt loose.&amp;nbsp; The downward spiral had begun.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Interestingly enough, I also lost grasp of the movie.&amp;nbsp; Later, when I tried to remember parts of it, I couldn't.&amp;nbsp; It all felt so abstract, and the only thing I could remember was the various "Professors of Quantum Physics" sitting on their chic leather couches.&amp;nbsp; (I wonder how much those cost??!)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And then the usual cycle took root again.&amp;nbsp; It's not even that I got lazy (although maybe I did), it's just that my usual sense of reality felt pretty darn real and I couldn't even begin to think about another reality that could be out there.&amp;nbsp; It became about survival.&amp;nbsp; Just get through this to get to the next thing, which will just need to be gotten through as well.&amp;nbsp; And so on.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So today I am at the "end" of the cycle.&amp;nbsp; I am thinking "everything is stressful; I'm working hard; nothing is going to pan out; we're all going to DIE!"&amp;nbsp; But really, I think I've made some progress.&amp;nbsp; At least I &lt;EM&gt;get&lt;/EM&gt; that it's a cycle.&amp;nbsp; And even though I don't know what to do about it, and it feels uncomfortable and hot and itchy, at least I'm aware.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And I guess that's the point.&amp;nbsp; All it takes is awareness and the rest will figure itself out.&amp;nbsp; But it's waiting for "the rest" to figure itself out that's killing me right now - this limbo; this uncertainty.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;But this too shall pass, I suppose.&amp;nbsp; And we'll be back at the beginning again.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Quantum_Physics" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Quantum_Physics&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/What_The_Bleep" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;What_The_Bleep&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Finances" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Finances&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Telecommute" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Telecommute&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Self_Awareness" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Self_Awareness&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Tetris" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Tetris&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114288667962628944?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114288667962628944/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114288667962628944' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114288667962628944'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114288667962628944'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/changing-my-patterns.html' title='Changing My Patterns'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114271625444712285</id><published>2006-03-18T13:10:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-18T13:17:55.343-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Random Thought</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;If I were one of those people who just like, totally, like, &lt;em&gt;loved&lt;/em&gt; their truck, I would, like, soup it all up, you know?  And I would totally get cool things like &lt;a href="http://www.buyautotruckaccessories.com/product.cfm/cf-bin/pn.egr-big-ten-collegiate-bug-shields/"&gt;bug shields&lt;/a&gt; and those crazy fuzzy dice to hang on the rearview mirror.  I'd probably get some great &lt;a href="http://www.buyautotruckaccessories.com/product.cfm/cf-bin/pn.optilux-model-1772-fog-rainbow-silver-lamp/"&gt;fog lights&lt;/a&gt;, a vanity license plate and some other INSANE &lt;a href="http://www.buyautotruckaccessories.com/"&gt;truck accessories&lt;/a&gt; just to &lt;em&gt;completely&lt;/em&gt; pimp out the vehicle.  And then I'd get all "Fast and Furious" on everyone's ass.  Yeah.  I'd do it.  Seriously.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Problem is that I hate fuzzy dice.  And I don't have a truck.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Oh well.  There goes that idea.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Truck" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Truck&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Truck_Accessories" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Truck_Accessories&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Fog" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Fog&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Lights" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Lights&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bug" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Bug&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Shields" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Shields&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-family:VERDANA;font-size:78%;"  &gt;&lt;i&gt;Powered By &lt;a href="http://www.qumana.com" target="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114271625444712285?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114271625444712285/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114271625444712285' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114271625444712285'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114271625444712285'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/random-thought.html' title='Random Thought'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114254500836334480</id><published>2006-03-16T13:36:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-16T13:36:48.436-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Thorn In Our Sides</title><content type='html'>&lt;DIV&gt;My in-laws are trying to sell their timeshare, and they have enlisted my help as the resident "Internet expert," to help them.&amp;nbsp; Problem is that I really don't know where to go with this.&amp;nbsp; The background is as follows.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;We were on a cruise in the Caribbean and one of the stops was in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.&amp;nbsp; Immediately after purchasing a rather expensive piece of jewelry, they were accosted by a salesperson guaranteeing them various free bottles of&amp;nbsp;alcohol if they came to a "no-pressure" presentation.&amp;nbsp; We all know the rest of the story:&amp;nbsp; the presentation was about purchasing a timeshare.&amp;nbsp; Being in a "vacation" sort of mind-set, they decided "what the heck!&amp;nbsp; throw caution to the wind!"&amp;nbsp; And they forked over $20K for a floating, one-week-long timeshare (*gasp*)!&amp;nbsp; Oh, and I forgot to mention the $1K in maintenance fees that were also included in this Great Deal.&amp;nbsp; But it was a guaranteed vacation!&amp;nbsp; They would force themselves to get away every year!!&amp;nbsp; It was paradise!&amp;nbsp; And oh, the free alcohol they would receive!&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;And receive it they did.&amp;nbsp; Along with a deed, a mortgage payment and maintenance fees.&amp;nbsp; That night as they told us the news, we were shocked.&amp;nbsp; My in-laws are basically the most reasonable people I have ever known.&amp;nbsp; They don't do &lt;EM&gt;anything&lt;/EM&gt; unless it is practical and logical.&amp;nbsp; The purchase was totally and completely beyond anything they had ever done.&amp;nbsp; And that night they started to realize it - at least my father-in-law did.&amp;nbsp; As my mother-in-law showed off her diamond with a flushed face(remember the expensive piece of jewelry purchased immediately before the timeshare buy?), my father-in-law looked sick.&amp;nbsp; He needed the "free" alcohol just to get through the rest of the vacation.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So now they are stuck with the thing.&amp;nbsp; This fateful cruise happened over three years ago and they've only been back once.&amp;nbsp; But obviously they are still paying maintenance fees.&amp;nbsp; The problem is that not only does one have to pay for food and transportation and entertainment while away, there is also the matter of plane fare to the Virgin Islands.&amp;nbsp; Unfortunately, a nice cottage on &lt;A href="http://www.vacations-abroad.com/usa/georgia/tybee_island/870/default.aspx"&gt;Tybee Island &lt;/A&gt;or an &lt;A href="http://www.moremouse.com/"&gt;Orlando vacation home rental &lt;/A&gt;would have been far more affordable as far as airfare.&amp;nbsp; Flying from the continental United States to the Virgin Islands can run a person upwards of $500 per person.&amp;nbsp; Adding up the maintenance fees, the transportation once at the resort, the entertainment/food costs, and the plane fare is enough to give a person heart palpitations.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Yeah.&amp;nbsp; They were had.&amp;nbsp; As my husband says, "everyone is allowed at least one big mistake."&amp;nbsp; (Unfortunately, I've had many, but that's another story.)&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;But going back&amp;nbsp;to the beginning.&amp;nbsp; They want me to help them get rid of the thing.&amp;nbsp; I'm tending to lean towards put it up for bid on Ebay.&amp;nbsp; The only problem is that comparable timeshares are being sold for, at the most, $1K.&amp;nbsp; They would basically only recoup one year's maintenance fee.&amp;nbsp; I've perused such depressing articles as &lt;A href="http://www.tug2.net/advice/ts-sales.html"&gt;this one &lt;/A&gt;at Tug2.&amp;nbsp; I'm just not sure what to do.&amp;nbsp; The reality is that I simply won't be able to sell it for anywhere close to what they paid.&amp;nbsp; They were scammed.&amp;nbsp; And I think they know this, but now I've been put in the position to have to say it out loud.&amp;nbsp; That's a hard thing to do.&amp;nbsp; Especially with in-laws.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;So I'm stuck.&amp;nbsp; Any suggestions?&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Time_Share" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Time_Share&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Timeshare" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Timeshare&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ebay" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Ebay&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Real_Estate" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Real_Estate&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vacation" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Vacation&lt;/A&gt;, &lt;A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cruise" target=_blank rel=tag&gt;Cruise&lt;/A&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV align=right&gt;&lt;FONT FACE="VERDANA" COLOR="#000080" size=1&gt;&lt;I&gt;Powered By &lt;A HREF="http://www.qumana.com" TARGET="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114254500836334480?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114254500836334480/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114254500836334480' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114254500836334480'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114254500836334480'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/thorn-in-our-sides.html' title='Thorn In Our Sides'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114237410463740341</id><published>2006-03-14T13:53:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-14T14:08:24.650-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Bringing More Traffic To Your Blog</title><content type='html'>I posted about &lt;a href="http://www.blogexplosion.com/index.php?ref=mymothersfault"&gt;Blog Explosion&lt;/a&gt; awhile back on &lt;a href="http://mymothersfault.candyham.com/2006/03/07/hands-on-method-of-promoting-your-blog/"&gt;my other blog&lt;/a&gt;, but I wanted to announce that I have been introduced to a new method of promotion.  The company is called &lt;a href="http://www.blogmad.net/index.php?ref=735d3fd9af06554"&gt;BlogMad&lt;/a&gt; and it's similar to Blog Explosion.  Basically you manually surf through other members' blogs in order to get credits towards hits to your own blog(s).  The company is still in the beta phase so there are bugs being worked out, but I really like it so far!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Feel free to email me via the link in the sidebar for more information!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114237410463740341?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114237410463740341/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114237410463740341' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114237410463740341'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114237410463740341'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/bringing-more-traffic-to-your-blog.html' title='Bringing More Traffic To Your Blog'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114237320101330840</id><published>2006-03-14T13:49:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-14T13:53:21.026-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Objects In Rearview Mirror...</title><content type='html'>I'm still reeling from all of the chaos surrounding &lt;a href="http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/displaced.html"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.  So I'm feeling a bit numb and unsure of how to continue with any sort of clarity.   It's not that I can't embrace change, because I can.  Trust me.  I'll be the first to embrace change ( just ask my husband).  I guess everything just feels so unsettled; like we've moved, but there are still boxes everywhere and we're sleeping a neon green room because we haven't gotten around to painting yet.  Do you know what I mean?  I guess everything is not as it seems.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114237320101330840?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114237320101330840/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114237320101330840' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114237320101330840'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114237320101330840'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/objects-in-rearview-mirror.html' title='Objects In Rearview Mirror...'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114226740499994168</id><published>2006-03-13T08:25:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-13T08:30:07.666-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Rainbow At Elam Bend</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/1600/image005.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/400/image005.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;This picture was sent to me via email.  I'm not sure who it was taken by, but it was taken in Mcfall, Missouri on February 2, 2006.  It was taken with a Nikon D70 (my dream camera) and I think it's incredible.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114226740499994168?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114226740499994168/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114226740499994168' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114226740499994168'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114226740499994168'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/rainbow-at-elam-bend.html' title='Rainbow At Elam Bend'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114221850191583760</id><published>2006-03-12T18:31:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-12T18:55:01.943-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Becoming Educated</title><content type='html'>As I mentioned &lt;a href="http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/making-more-money-with-blogging.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, I've found this great new way to make more money through blogging.  The problem is that sometimes they offer some odd items to write about, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to write about the item in a creative way.  On the upside, it does force me to do some research and become more knowledgeable about a wide array of subjects.  (Check out &lt;a href="http://mymothersfault.candyham.com/2006/03/10/bextra-recall/"&gt;this post&lt;/a&gt; - it totally took me out of my element, but was interesting to write.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recently, one of my open offers included the option to write about &lt;a href="http://www.bestfurnitureonline.com/products.php?cat=28"&gt;office room reception chairs&lt;/a&gt;.  While I could go on and on about ergonomics and the pros of having a great desk chair, I am not exactly sure what an "office room reception chair" is.  So I went to the link and became educated.  Apparently an "office room reception chair" is a chair that sits in the reception room of an office.  Makes sense, right?  But there are apparently many types of reception chairs; more than I ever knew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only problem is now that I've searched the Best Furniture Online link, I'm dying to buy a &lt;a href="http://www.bestfurnitureonline.com/proddetail.php?prod=OFM-505-L"&gt;new desk chair&lt;/a&gt;!  Someone hold me back!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114221850191583760?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114221850191583760/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114221850191583760' title='9 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114221850191583760'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114221850191583760'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/becoming-educated.html' title='Becoming Educated'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>9</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114202575790661509</id><published>2006-03-10T13:04:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-10T13:22:37.936-08:00</updated><title type='text'>How To Send A Fax In 25 Easy Steps</title><content type='html'>&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Put it off until the last second; hem and haw.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get motivated and get dressed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Realize you put the same jeans on as you wore yesterday and decide to avoid having to go out to fax.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Decide to figure out how to fax from your home laptop.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Perform a search for "FAX" under your computer programs; don't find it.  Find instead, extensive methods of creating a "computer network."&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Feel frustrated and take a break to eat insane amounts of carbs via banana bread.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get focused again and perform &lt;a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/crawford_02october21.mspx"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.blingo.com"&gt;Blingo&lt;/a&gt; search.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Follow the steps to the tee.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get dialog box that pops up asking you to "insert Microsoft XP Professional Set-Up disc."&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Massive search ensues to find elusive disc; find a &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000GAGZ/sr=8-2/qid=1142025119/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-0997302-6034443?%5Fencoding=UTF8"&gt;Sting cd&lt;/a&gt; that has been lost for five years; no MS XP disc found.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Eat more banana bread.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Search for &lt;a href="http://weddingshop.theknot.com"&gt;cheap wedding favors&lt;/a&gt; for friend's wedding.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Decide to search more extensively for MS XP disc.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Finally find it; A Christmas Miracle, indeed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Insert disc.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Dialog box pops up saying "please select disc drive."&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Select disc drive; nothing happens.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Resist urge to crush disc using only your bare hands, using your inhuman, hulk-like strength.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Try again; nothing happens.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Freak out; eat banana bread while simultaneously eyeing Margarita mix in refrigerator; check watch; it's only 11:30am.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Call your mother; rant and rave; realize she just spent the last hour working with Hospice clients; she doesn't care about the fax situation.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Take a deep breath.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Steel your resolve; pack up baby; check and re-check to be sure that you have documents.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Drive to Postnet.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pay $5 to send fax.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114202575790661509?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114202575790661509/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114202575790661509' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114202575790661509'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114202575790661509'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/how-to-send-fax-in-25-easy-steps.html' title='How To Send A Fax In 25 Easy Steps'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114196078581237551</id><published>2006-03-09T19:13:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-09T19:19:45.823-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Displaced</title><content type='html'>It's been a bit of a crazy day.  One of my favorite &lt;a href="http://www.wahm.com"&gt;message boards&lt;/a&gt; has closed a forum that I usually frequent.  No one really knows why and the whole thing puts us all a bit out of touch.  As one member said, we're like survivors of a tornado - all just wandering around in cyber-space cold and tattered and hungry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There have been so many issues recently with the SEC and Autosurfs in general that I can understand owners of message boards feeling a bit nervous about the continued banter.  But the whole situation happened so quickly and with little explanation.   I do, however, trust the admin of the board and feel that she really means well.  I can only imagine what she's going through right now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the meantime, we've created a new forum for Autosurf discussion.  The link can be found &lt;a href="http://www.createforum.com/phpbb/index.php?mforum=wahmblacksheep"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Please join us and spread the word.  Let's get the family back together.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114196078581237551?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114196078581237551/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114196078581237551' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114196078581237551'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114196078581237551'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/displaced.html' title='Displaced'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114187696165488733</id><published>2006-03-08T20:02:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-10T16:05:30.123-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Loss of a Legend</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Found out today that Kirby Puckett died yesterday.  I'm not a big sports fan, but I was saddened by the news.  I grew up, for a time, in Minnesota, and I remember huddling around a small black and white television as Kirby Puckett brought the Minnesota Twins to Championship victory.  I remember cheering with my mom and brother when it happened, and I remember feeling a connection with others around the state.  I hadn't really felt that before and it felt good.  It felt normal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Read this article from the &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/sports/baseball/07puckett.html"&gt;New York Times&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kirby_Puckett" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Kirby_Puckett&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baseball" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Baseball&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sports" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Sports&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Glaucoma" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Glaucoma&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Stroke" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Stroke&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Minnesota_Twins" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Minnesota_Twins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="text11" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114187696165488733?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114187696165488733/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114187696165488733' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114187696165488733'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114187696165488733'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/loss-of-legend.html' title='Loss of a Legend'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19935457.post-114166558894997604</id><published>2006-03-06T09:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-06T19:03:16.316-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Where Gnomes Dwell</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/1600/gorge%2005.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5651/1428/400/gorge%2005.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;I took this picture at one of our Metro Parks here in Akron, Ohio.  I am, by no means a professional photographer, but I do love taking pictures and, once in awhile, I manage to capture something in my photos.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Brain_electrodes." target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Technorati Tags : &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Nature_photography" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Nature_photography&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/amateur_photography" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;amateur_photography&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/photo_blog" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;photo_blog&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Nature" target="_blank" rel="tag"&gt;Nature&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;!-- End Technorati Tags --&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:VERDANA;font-size:78%;color:#000080;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Powered By &lt;a href="http://www.qumana.com" target="_blank"&gt;Qumana&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/19935457-114166558894997604?l=mymothersfault.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/feeds/114166558894997604/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19935457&amp;postID=114166558894997604' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114166558894997604'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/19935457/posts/default/114166558894997604'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mymothersfault.blogspot.com/2006/03/where-gnomes-dwell.html' title='Where Gnomes Dwell'/><author><name>Sara</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08211423277893528332</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/sara92478/profile.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>
