A Virtual Roast of Amanda from Confessions from Household Six

My friend Jerri Ann, in all her wisdom, suggested that in lieu of an ordinary Secret Santa gift exchange, the members of Collective Bias should participate in a virtual online roast to get to know each other better and spread some linky love this holiday season. Super great idea!

So today I am pleased to introduce you to the lovely and talented Amanda, who blogs at Confessions from Household Six and Today's Military Spouse. The latter kind of hints at the meaning of her main blog's title, but you'll have to go there to discover it! (I spent the last two years of high school as a de facto Army brat and I did not know this term…)

Amanda is a stay at home mom, an Army wife and mother of two boys, ages 9 and 4. Since her older son was diagnosed with Asperger's and her younger son is is also on the spectrum, she has become a tireless advocate for special needs and Autism, especially as pertaining to education and the military healthcare system. She writes about what others might consider exhausting with a great sense of humor and understanding. Amanda is not afraid to make fun of herself or admit to using video games as a way to keep the kids at bay. I love how outspoken she is but she also backs what she says up with innate smarts. She is nothing if not pragmatic. Someone should really send her a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for Christmas. (Are you listening, Santa?)

I'm hoping to meet Amanda in 2011, in real life. Until then, I plan to visit her at Confessions from Household Six, on Facebook and on Twitter. You should, too!

Visit the other CB holiday roasters/roastees:

Balloonatic

This is the band I managed while I was failing out of college. (I did eventually get my BA after moving to the NW, so don't tsk tsk me too much…) Apparently they got together at a house party last spring after a zillion years and all sorts of crazy life stuff and did a show. Without telling me. And I stumbled across it on YouTube. Yes, I am out of the loop. But they still sound great, right?

Live, in Person!

I know I've been lax on the personal stuff lately but there's a feature on me over at Katydid and Kid today if you've been wanting to know a little bit more about me. Yeah, right…



Kathleen is my BlogHer roomie for next week and I am so excited to hang out with her in person. We'll be the ones hanging out in the corner, talking about our kids, come say hi… as an added incentive (along with our obviously charming personalities and covetable business cards), I'll be handing out goodies from Chicken Poop, Twisted Silver and Mayron's Good Baby while supplies last!

Commenter Luv

5 Minutes for Mom has started Say It Forward, a new Friday carnival to honor loyal commenters. I am a haphazard commenter, in general, so I am totally impressed with those of you who can not only keep up with the fast-paced blogosphere but actually comment on everyone else's blog. Pertinently, even!

I am blessed with quite a few lovely commenters but I am going to spotlight two who are incredibly smart and funny… and prolific, both on their own blogs and everyone else's, too!

Jennifer at Rundpinne:



and Erin at Mrs. Cox's Slice of Heaven:



I'm not going to say too much about these ladies other than they are wonderful people to get to know and seem to have unimaginably sweet and blog-friendly husbands (unlike my own crankypants spouse) and infectious positive outlooks on life. You must visit them to see what it is that I am writing about, I will go no further.

And did I mention they give me stuff? True. Erin gave me this award, so here are my five reasons why Life Is Grand:



1. Jasper sleeps through the night these days. Hallelujah!

2. Roo is the smartest, funniest, most confident girl I know.
(Mrs. Farinola says I am so popular, all the boys want to marry me… What does "popular" mean?)

3. Jasper got ahold of a marker just now while I was on the phone. It was a Crayola washable, not the Sharpie I ripped from his grasp earlier this morning, so it came off (the kitchen cabinets and appliances, coffee table, Jasper's face) with baby wipes. Yay!

4. Wichita is almost always sunny, with blue skies. Today it's about 53º and clear. Good for the psyche.

5. Our trash company has started offering biweekly recycling with a 96 gallon can. We no longer have to sort AND they are taking virtually everything now (it used to be cans and #1 and #2 plastics, and they did not recycle ANY glass)! I can't emphasize how thrilling it is to not have to cart all of our recycling to different places.



Jennifer has bestowed me with the Hooked on Your Blog award, so I shall tell you six things that make me happy.

1. Chocolate, in general.

2. Digital cable and DVRs.

3. Apple products, in general.

4. Hearing from long-lost friends on Facebook. (Yes, it's annoying at times but overall it's so great to reconnect, isn't it?)

5. Finding a bargain, no matter how big or small.

6. Having a parent conference and coming away with the feeling that the teachers really, really like my kid. Parental pride ROCKS, y'all.

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. If you play along, please leave a link in the comments. And don't forget to visit Rundpinne and Mrs. Cox's Slice of Heaven to say hi!

Thank You, Friends

I have such great bloggy friends. This has been a dismally cold week although the sun is finally shining. What has been especially nice, though, is that we've received some sweet unexpected care packages from the proprietresses of Fractured Toy and Katydid and Kid. Aside from being daily blog reads, they dole out advice and humor and it's been a pleasure having them in my life. And did I mention that Kathleen knitted hats for all of us?! Check out her handiwork:

Six Things Meme, Redux

Robin from Life is Like Champagne… has tagged me for a meme. I am super duper behind on posting and laundry and everything in general so I am going to cheat and link back to the six things meme I wrote back in January. I know you're all busy, but if you have a spare minute, I'd love for you to play along. I won't tag anyone specifically this time (too much pressure!) but if you post your answers on your blog, please sign the Mr. Linky below so we can all get to know you better!


Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

It Could Happen To Anyone

One of my aunt Erin's best childhood friends, Sandra, was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Inconveniently, she had finally quit her day job earlier this year to follow her dream of acting full time and was no longer insured. Her surgery bills and continuing chemotherapy treatment and medication costs are mounting and everything must be paid for in cash.

Sandra has a blog, Girl Eats World, that is well-written and a lot of fun despite all of the chemo and cancer posts lately. (Her pre-diagnosis posts were a voyeuristic peek into the life of a witty struggling actress in Brooklyn, you should read through her archives…) Please drop by Girl Eats World and wish her well.

If you would like to contribute to her recovery fund, an account has been opened in her mother’s name. Please make checks payable to Sally Holguin and mail to: Sandra c/o Deanna Lowrey 19135 Echo Pass Rd., Portola Hills, CA 92679.