Photo Contest! Rock The Vote! Please Help!

Wow!  I have so much to share with you friends.  My life has changed DRASTICALLY in the last 72 hours.  I want to do the story justice, so stay tuned...

Here's what I will say, now, in this moment.  God is good.  I'm a changed woman.  I promise to pass along the details soon.

But first, CHECK IT OUT, I'm so excited.  Out of more than 400 entries, my photo was chosen by 5 Minutes for Mom as a Summer Fun finalist for $500, sponsored by Skinny Cow).  I am so thrilled and honored.  Please VOTE now.  My photo is #13.  In all honesty, I feel like a winner already.  What a treat to be featured with the other photos.  

If you can help me by putting a link on your blog, I would truly appreciate the help.  Good Bloggy Karma would come your way, and, if you post a link, please take as a token of my gratitude the following award:

Kick-Ass Blogger Award

This award was given to me by Good Golly Miss Blondie who is quite the kick-ass blogger herself.  She's a new read to me and she's just delicious!

Please lend some bloggy love if you're up for it, and help my photo get some votes.  

Thanks friends.  Stay tuned for Just Jamie's Life-Changing News... (I'm not pregnant).

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Dear Jamie's Readers,

Jamie is a Great Friend, Woman, Mom, Writer, and Photographer, as you already know.

PLEASE go vote for her. Go. Now. Are you there yet? How about now? Now?

And then? Help spread the word! Turn your one vote into multiple votes. How? Put up a vote linkie thingie on your sidebar (see my blog) or write a post with a hyperlink.

Be Jamie's pimp!

Love, Blog This Mom!

(This message was not pre-approved by the candidate. All statements contained herein are the sole responsibility of Blog This Mom!)

Heads Or Tails?

Sometimes I stuff my kids into footy-jammies just to pretend I have my babies again.  Aw...

Do You Want To Hear My Acceptance Speech?

I suck.

There you have it.  

I have received some awards, like maybe a month ago (or more, okay yes, more) and it's time to show my thanks.  

Color me conceited, but I'm going to let myself off the hook, and take the nature of giving and receiving literally and say, thank you, sincerely, for allowing me to covet and cherish these awards, and now, please, allow me pass them along.  

There were probably some rules that went along with these and I'm totally blowing it.  But probably, they were this:

1)  Enjoy

2)  Share

(...or something like that.)

Lisa at Very Busy Mom With 4 awarded me with the loveliest little thing:

Aw, isn't it purdy?  I'm so proud.  Lisa is a hoot.  I don't think I've ever said that before, so I'll say it again, a hoot!  (That feels good.)  She travels with really old people, hangs out with 4 little young people, watches Malcolm in the Middle, and always makes me mute my volume because Josh Groban interferes with my reading of her daily musings.  Check out her post where she comes clean and admits she has a blog!

I would like to pass along the Sharing The Love Award to:

Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?  Krystyn is adorable, has an adorable daughter, and an adoring husband (okay, I'll say it, he's adorable too), and a soon-to-be adorable baby on the way.  She leaves sweet comments, lubes up, and even lets her kid figure sh*t out for herself.  I dig that.  Please say hello.  

And, I'm sending it along to Lindsey at Douglas Drama.  Lindsey is a true sweetheart.   Like a modern day Disney Princess.  She is easy to relate to, funny, sassy, and has two darling, DARLING little angels.  Lindsey is also renovating a house and moving with these angels, so please take some love Lindsey!

Kristen, oh Kristen how do I love thee?  She sent along this cool baby:

Kristen at Loving Our Simple Life is one of those bloggers that remind us that we are not alone in the big ol' world of parenting.  Her kids are delicious, she shares before-and-after hair pics, and she's taken her kids to her parents for A MONTH!  Thank you Kristen!

I'd like to share the Must-See Blog Award with:

The one and only Burgh Baby's Mom is a TOTAL Must-See!  She says it like it is and just rocks me every time.  Although I give her no credit for her freaky-ass crazy baby games she plays with us, the rest of it is just golden.  If Burgh Baby lived closer I swear I'd kidnap her (don't contact authorities, I meant adopt her) because she is one coolio kid, like her mama.  Check out Burgh Baby.  Just don't blame me for the nightmares.  

And also to two total camera babes:  Tommie at Tuesday Update.  Tommie is a Must-See literally because she shoots the most beautiful damn pictures.  Her and MamaGeek at What Works For Us just drive me crazy with their mad camera skills.  Seriously.  Stop it!  Okay, don't.  But take the award, please.  

Wendi at Because Wendi Said So gave me this cutie-patootie.  Yes she did.  And I am so loving her blog to pieces.  Uh-huh.  Wendi cracks me up.  She has a great outlook on life, her son's name is Chase (hello? I'm kind of fond of that), she hooks me up with prizes (maybe I won fair and square, but I think she rigged it for me), and she makes me smile every dang time I read her.  Thanks Wendi!

So I'm passing along the Love You To Pieces Award to Karen at The Rocking Pony.  Karen keeps it real.  She gardens.  I know nothing about those leafy things, but I dig reading about hers (or at least seeing those garden-y things grow and stuff).  She talks about her peeling boobies, her crazy kidlets, and how she manages it all with like a farm and stuff.  Like totally.  Plus she has the most rockin' T-shirt designs which I guess I'm just going to have to buy one of these days because they are so freakin' smart!

(Okay, time-out.  I have a few more to share but I want to do it right and my kids are like locked in their room and stuff so I can blog.  Guess I ought to let them out.)  

I've got a wee bitty favor to ask of you.  Can you please check out my BlogRoll and tell me if you'd like to be added?  I just know I have many of you on my Google Reader but have mistakenly forgotten to add you to my BlogRoll.  Or come on out like Tiffany did and tell me you've been reading.  The guilt of (potentially) leaving my peeps is causing me to lose sleep.  Zzzzz...

You still there?

Okay, the music has long since played me off the stage.  I get it.

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Wait.  I forgot about my own contest.  Remember the Caption This Giveaway?  You don't?  Oh, well, that's because it was like forever ago.  Well, Trish chose the winner and it is hereby dubbed as Kathryn, funny woman.

She said, "Ugh.  My butt STILL itches and now it's full of sand too."  

Hee Hee.  His butt was all itchy.  Itchy butts are funny.

Kathryn, please email me and I'll send you Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.  

I must say, honorable mention goes to Jennifer.  She referenced her grandma's dog dragging its ass across the carpet.  She was afraid she offended me comparing a dog's ass to my son.  Sheez.  Right.  :)  I nearly peed my pants.  

Learning To Fly!

Learning to Play, to Share, to Compete, to Go For It!

Learning to Dive!

Learning to Freestyle!

Learning to FLY!

(P.S.  I'm entering the last photo into 5 Minutes for Mom Summer Fun Photo Contest.  If that's not summer fun I don't know what is.)

Oh Crap

I don't know what you can see ... but I'm working on a facelift for my blog, and I've freaked everything out.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!  

Here's to hoping I don't screw it all up...

Pulsing and Buzzing

You know those times during the day when you brain pulses and buzzes: the grocery list flies through, along with the to-do lists of fixing that loose button, finding that misplaced lipstick in the car, wiping out sticky lunch boxes, emptying the dishwasher ... oh, and watching that DVR'ed episode of The Office, reading one last chapter of that book, redesigning my blog template, writing a thank-you note to your grandmother?  Some are must-do's.  Others are would-like-to-do's.  And others are just plain do-I-have-to's?  

They swirl around in there throughout the day.  Usually it happens just as I'm dozing off to sleep as I promise myself to remember tomorrow all of those things piling up, which conveniently I don't.  Or they come to me in the shower or as I'm driving.  Perhaps I ought to take after Jennifer H. and grab a Thursday Drive, but with gas prices the way they are, I'd be better off making it Thursday walk.

But then, when I grab a moment to accomplish these things I have either forgotten what they were, or just plain don't want to.  Sometimes I just want to stare off, and do exactly nothing.

I have some awards I've been hoarding.  Six actually.  I'm so grateful for these because in some way they tell me, I'm not alone.  Me too.  Thanks for sharing your world even if you are a whack-job most days.  I plan to pass them along, really I do.  But today, while the kids are doing their own zoning out, I just want to sit and stare... and have what O Magazine calls, Breathing Space.

Deep breath in....

And exhale....

But Wait ... There's More!

(Read The Evolution of a Hole, first.)

Look what that little bitch did after getting taped in.

Are you kidding me?  A hole?  In the floor?

Bastard.

We declare war on your little punk-ass.

Today, the trap.

Tomorrow, I'm getting a cat.

(Please, honey.  Can we get a cat NOW?)