Need Advice?

Today I have been thinking about what all it has been to be a mom.  25 years to reflect on.  And it makes me really wonder what I wish I had to help me along the way.  You know the 'how to' books that you could have used way back when. Yeah, when I thought I knew it all!

Well as we all know babies do not come with owner's manuals.  Heck we never read the one on our new cars so what makes us think we would if it was issued at birth.  But sure enough we all need one.  Well Quirk Books has one that is just like that.  The Baby Owner's Manual gives you just what you need.  How to operate, trouble shoot and maintain for the first year.  Darling to put in the diaper bag for a new mom and dad's Christmas present or baby shower gift.  It looks much like a info graphic in book form.  Easy to understand and handles about every situation.  There is even an app, The Baby Owner's Data Tracker,  you can download so you have the answers right at your fingertips.

Well once we get on past the baby stage then we have to look at raising our child.  Parenting is a nerve wracking concept yet we all muddle through it some how.  Of course some of us are better than others.  And we all have those 'ah ha' moments that keep us trying our very best.  What I would have loved having is "The Best Advice I Ever Got on Parenting" to help me see what I could focus on doing better.  I will tell you that everyone gives you advice, some good and some not so good.  But to have some of the best all in one place makes a better 'bathroom reader' than anything else.  Why a 'bathroom reader'?  Well as any parent can tell you, it is the only time (maybe) you can have time to read!  I will pass on my sage advice.  Remember first and foremost you are raising a future adult!

Well I raised my daughter from a babe to a child and on to a young woman.  But what would I want to pass on to her for advice most of all?  How about what it is to be a woman.  I tried to explain to Dear Hubby woman are a whole different race than men.  We are the energizer bunny without the cute floppy ears and tale.  Yeah that had him thinking of an entirely different bunny right off the bat! But the next biggest issue is remembering your a Woman! not just a mom.  It is often confused.  Not Your Mother's Book...On Being a Woman is a great collection of stories from real women on being US!  From pajama jeans to hot flashes to less than perfect boobies, we all have those moments of real life.  Here is story after story of the great realizations that come to us during them. Also pop over and see new titles coming up in the series.  Why?  Well they are accepting submissions for stories.  I know the bloggers around here have more than one tale to tell.

So what is left.  How about what we forget about as moms.  That we are also wives.  Or better yet lovers, friends and sage buddies as time goes by to our darling hubbies.  Yes our focus for years is raising our bundles of joy into amazing people.  Then we find we succeed as they go off in the world.  As we slowly turn back into our homes we find this man who has been waiting on us to return.  Oh how our marriages need to be nurtured just as much as our children.  How do we do it?  Well do it all?  Why not follow The Best Advice I Ever Got on Marriage as a guidelines?  This is the one we should be reading while we are waiting to get the kids from school, in line at the beauty shop or sitting in the doctors office.  All those times when we are wondering what is coming up next we could be planning it out ourselves.

So yes, how to books, advice books, story books....all one in the same.  But oh my they could very well be the extra lil bit that makes your life from one of duty to one of achievement.  It just is a matter of what we are looking to achieve I guess.  I am thankful to have all four now from the publishers to share with you.  All I want to know is why did I not have them 25 years ago.  Don't wait around like me.  Add them to that to do list....yeah right at the top!

Showered with Gifts

My birthday was amazing. My best friend Jennifer (we have been friends for 36 yrs) sent me a Dell computer. WOW!

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My friend Mary, who has the B & B/antique store gave me a sting of pearls. Yeah! Amazed. I always wanted to be June Cleaver as the perfect housewife and mother.


My in-laws are passing down a 100+ yr old piece of original craftsman furniture that belonged to DH's great grandfather in California. Beautiful and I will treasure it so much. I feel honored that they are giving me a piece of family history. I know I am part of their family

Image by bro0ke via Flickr

now.

Dear Hubby took me, College Girl and her best friend Thomas out to lunch at my fav eatery in Stephenville. (Simply Deli off the square)

My mom and friend Nessa did me a great dinner of sandwiches and snack foods that I enjoy and

Image by Photos o' Randomness via Flickr

then we played games. I so want the recipe for the Cucumber Lemonade that Nessa made me! And Nessa's kids showered me with stuffed animals for gifts. Nessa and Dan bought me a fishing license and Dan took me and my pink fishing pole out fishing for a bit Friday night too!

See---a wonderful birthday all around. To tell you the truth I do not know what gift I love more as each was given to me from the heart and was just want I wanted too!

Then I had so many of my bloggy friends wish me a Happy Birthday here. On Facebook I had even more well wishes! I feel so loved and honored to have so many good people in my life. I know this is how one measures richness. In the friends and great people in their lives. THANK YOU!

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My Mom's New Blog

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FORGIVE ME....MY FEED BURNER MESSED UP AND IT BLOCKED ALL OF MY BLOGS FROM GOING TO MY FOLLOWERS. SO YOU ARE NOW HAVING ALL OF MY LATEST BLOGS AT ONE TIME.....OOOPPS!

Today is the birth of my mothers blog.

JUST GOOD HORSE SENSE

FROM AN OL' NAG

I hope that you will be willing to pop over and tell her a proper bloggy hello.

I know that y'all all know her. She has her etsy shop on my side bar. And of course her advice has been in my column many times. You know her as Grandma. Well I will have to change her name to Granny M. That is what she has chosen as her new handle. All of this is very new to her. And she is convinced that she can not do this. But Nessa and I know she can. It will just be another learning curve for her.

Well, enough from me. Go see Granny M at Just Good Horse Sense from an Ol' Nag. Make sure you become a follower. She will be one that you will want to read.

OH FOR ALL YOU BARGAIN SHOPPERS
Go to my mom's Etsy shop at Grandma's Homemade Corner
She now has FREE SHIPPING on everything.
And nothing is over $20.00 either.
How is that for a SPECIAL?