So, there is this website out there that I quite honestly don't understand called Top Momma. And, if you are a momma (I suppose) you can submit your blog and a photo and at some point they might put your photo up on their site and see if a) you can get people
to visit and click on your photo and b) get other visitors to the site to click on your photo because you photo leads them to believe they want to know more about your blog.

Gosh - that was one long sentence!

So, MomoFali and I are on the Top Momma's page AT THE SAME TIME! We certainly didn't plan it but I know I have clicked on her picture of her kids at the beach about 10 times just today.

So, if you have some time and want to share some love...you can visit us by clicking on both of our photos!

You can get there by clicking: : http://www.topmomma.com/mommas/referal/1418

Thanks for you love & support!!!

Erin

So, hi ya'll. I have been so busy lately. I started a new company about six months ago and it is taking off. Quite frankly, faster than I am currently able to keep up with and I am trying to figure out what to do about it.

I also have been taking some classes at a local university and between class time and course work, free time has been kind of scarce.

So, in the last week, life has just punched out family in the gut and we are quite frankly reeling from it.

Last Monday, my husband's younger brother died of a massive heart attack. Besides the sheer grief of the event, we have had to deal with the fact that my brother-in-law was in the middle of a pretty nasty divorce and bringing the families together for his funeral has not been emotionally or logistically easy. My husband is devastated and now frightened for his own health and that has been heart breaking for me.

And, to top everything off, my son fell off of the monkey bars at school yesterday and broke his leg (tibia). He didn't break it badly but it sucks for a three year old to be in a cast for 4-6 weeks. Not to mention that getting medical attention during the Spring Break holiday has been a NIGHTMARE!!! And, my husband is out of town on really important business.

Yikes. F'n Yikes.

But, all is okay and will work out okay.

My son, Scooby, is resting comfortably and currently reminds me of the poem The Land of Counterpane. He is surrounded by pillows, army men, jets, books and his trusty pug, Winston, while eating in bed and watching and obscene amount of television and movies. He is scheduled to be fitted for a cast tomorrow and we will rely on the assistance of Tylenol w/codeine to get him through the experience.

My husband had some great meetings today and I am just so excited and proud of him. He is working on some significant things that could bring a lot of revenue and jobs to our community.

My new company is bringing me so much joy and satisfaction that I would not have believed you if you told me about this venture and it's impact even two years ago. I just cannot explain in my words what it means to me to help working women find quality, reliable and experienced child care. It is a big deal...a very big deal to me.

So, there you have it. I haven't been around in a while...too busy trying to make me a better person, taking care of my family and trying to make a positive impact in my community.

However, I have missed you!

SWAK!

Erin
http://blogspot.expectingexecutive.com

Okay - so it took me such a long, long time to figure out what a badge is. I saw them and wanted one but didn't know the first thing about them. You know what I am talking about - those cute pieces of art that tells your readers that someone thinks you have "the best blog post of the day" or you are a "kewel blogger".

Well, my friends - you can make and present badges too. It is easy, breezy and beautiful.

Seriously, if I can do this, your three year old can too!

Jump on over to www.hyplet.com. Don't be afraid because it says "Your online ID and flyers" - it's just another term for BADGE! Yes, www.hyplet.com can help you take a picture, add some text to it, add a link to it (like a blog post url) and you got yourself a BADGE my friend!

A badge is a piece of "art" that has been uploaded onto the web in a place where the art is available to everyone (usually a url address) and that art is linked to a website, blog address or other web address.

FYI, as long as you play by the terms of use (which means you can't sell with it or create a logo with it) I love the free clipart that you can find at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx

Find a background or some art you like, upload it and link away! By the way, Microsoft uses .wmf files for a lot of the free clip art on their clipart site - and www.Hyplet.com is cool with that!

For other software, .wmf files don't work. If you have a .wmf picture that you want to use but need to convert it, if you have Microsoft Office loaded on your computer, use the Microsoft program Microsoft Office Picture Manager to convert .wmf files to .jpg or .gig or .png files.

You can see an example on my profile page. My Happy Valentine's Day badge on my profile page was made with www.hyplet.com and if you click on the picture, it will take you to my blog. It's so easy, you should make one too!!!

Come back and comment on your new badge and where we can find it!

Hope this helps-

EE

So, I AM OLD. Well, old for this Web 2.0 world.

As far as Web 2.0 users go, I am older than water! So, thank Gawd for HuckDoll (www.cre8buzz.com/profiles/1730) who has provided !!!HuckDoll's Urban Dictionary!!! to help poor, ignorant saps like me.

Read it here: http://www.cre8buzz.com/profiles/1730/blogs/11535/blog_entries/20391. I cannot thank her enough. She has prevented me from buying white slip on shoes and rolling my knee high nylons down to my ankles and adopting a cat! Thank you HuckDoll, I am sure you saved my marriage. ; -)

It was just today that Ender (www.cre8buzz.com/profiles/1097) and I played "who is the artist" on his profile page. Ender has this fun gizmo on his profile page that is one big green right arrow. If you click on it, it plays a great song. But, it doesn't tell you who is singing. So I asked; Jackson Browne? NOPE! Paul Simon? NOPE! Go to Ender's site and figure it out yourself!

But, it did remind me that while I like the "jumpy" "kewel" "bounciness" of the songs, er tunes, um mixes? that you can hear on HuckDoll's profile page - I really do like OLD music. I like old Beatles, Van Morrison, Genesis, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Sweet Baby James, Paul Simon, Crosby Still & Nash and 10,000 Maniacs (who knew they were old?!?!)

Can I be a hip, cool and beatnik Web 2.0 user all at the same time?

Hi ya'll-

As you may or may not know, I am a bit of a gadget junkie. With web 2.0 sites becoming main stream, we have some great websites & website gadgets available and I plan to share them with you!

This week's favorite site:

Snipshot (http://snipshot.com/)

Snipshot lets you upload a picture or other graphic file and resize, recolor, crop, rotate and change your image.

I love Snipshots because there is nothing to download, it is EASY, it provide easy to understand help and you can save images in any format you prefer.

Take a look at Snipshot today and save yourself HUGE hassle the next time you need to crop, resize or reformat your pictures, avatars or images.

Snipshot (http://snipshot.com/) is a free, easy-to-use and helpful website to add to your browser "favorites"!

Until next time, be well-

Erin - ExpectingExecutive