Doodah Diva

I’ve just learned about a wonderful contest Scholastic is sponsoring for young readers.

A few weeks ago I told you about Winter’s Tail, a book about Winter the Dolphin, an amazing little dolphin rescued from a crab trap off the coast of Florida. Poor Winter’s tail was so mangled from the trap that she lost her tail. To everyone’s amazement, a prosthetic company offered to design Winter a prosthetic tail. Now Winter has learned to swim with her new tail and is doing great!

Scholastic, the publisher of Winter’s Tail, wants to hear about an animal who is a hero to your kids! All they need to do is write an essay of 200 words or less and tell Scholastic about their animal hero.

One grand prize winner and his/her guardian will receive a trip to visit Winter at her home in Clearwater, Florida, one night’s stay at a hotel, $500 travel voucher, a Winter prize pack and a Nintendo DS Game system! Ten runners up with receive a copy of Winter’s Tail, a Winter’s Tail Nintendo DS game and a Winter plush doll!

Download the contest details here.

Send entries to:
Scholastic’s Meet Winter the Dolphin Contest
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Entries must include student’s name, age, and grade; teacher’s name; and school name, address, and phone number.

All entries must be received by November 30, 2009. Winners will be announced on or around December 14th. No purchase necessary. Open to legal residences of 50 United States and D.C. ages 6-14 as of November 30th 2009. Void where prohibited. Click here for complete contest rules

I am a real mom at last! I made pancakes for my family on a Saturday morning. Is this some sort of critical rite of passage?

When my mom started learning how to email (”sending things on the ‘Net”) a couple of years ago, it was great. Suddenly we could communicate way more often and at all hours of the day or night without endless voicemails back and forth. Although, in the first six months, there were a lot of emails along the lines of: “Oh shit, I just wrote you a really long email and it didn’t save and it disappeared! Anyway, I will just call you.”

But she steadily improved, and now we email several times a week, or even daily sometimes. Now that I live in another state it’s even better. And her emails crack me up. They are cute and sweet and sometimes downright hilarious. I save all of them.

So when Mom sent me a link to a New York Times article about bloggers landing book deals (of course now that I have this blog and Romeo’s blog, she’s been making sure she keeps me abreast of all of the news of the blogosphere. She and Dad are my human media monitors!

Anyway, in the article, I learned about this awesome site, Postcards from Yo Momma. It’s a compilation of the emails readers have received from their moms. I almost peed my pants laughing and I immediately went to the “Mom and Dad” file in my email. Here are a couple of my own:

Regarding my daughter and my girls trip to NYC:

“Our girl is truly changing by the minute. It’s hard keeping one step ahead of her. Hang on. Just remember you are smarter and older than her. That helps for a moment.

Have a marvelous time with the girls in NY. And enjoy your nights of sleep! Take a good slug of wine or something before you cork off.”

When the whole family had colds:

“I didn’t know little J. was sick too! Also, you are up on things! I never knew about suctioning snot! A good idea! “

And my favorite most recent email sign off:

“This is really too long. Too late now.

Lots of love, Mom”

If I’m only half as adorable as my mom is, J. will be one lucky girl.

Share your favorite mom emails!

I never really “got it” until J. was born in August 2008. Motherhood, that is. Everyone talked about it and gushed about how your life would change but I just didn’t quite realize what they meant.

Now I do.

I didn’t know I could love a little person as much as I love Miss J. She is the most amazing little creature and I am so so, so, SO lucky to be her mom.

So when the lovely people at Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing offered to send me a couple of books on mothering to review, I accepted. Just to see if I would relate.

Of course I have a mother who I love dearly. She is very special to me and we are best friends. So I get the whole mother-daughter bond thing. But it takes on a whole new meaning when you’re the mother, doesn’t it?

All of you mothers out there are probably nodding your head in agreement and thinking, “Uh, yah. DUH.” But just let me enjoy this discovery, people!

Anyway, I received Chicken Soup for the Soul: Like Mother, Like Daughter and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Moms and Sons. And I loved them both! Even the son book had a whole new meaning now that I’m a mom. I read and passed along the Moms and Sons book to my mother-in-law who has THREE sons. She definitely appreciated it.

Each book is a collection of stories written by moms and their daughters and moms and their sons about their mutual respect for one another. They are part of a “101 Best Stories” series that Chicken Soup’s new publisher has released. All I can say is, “Thank you, new publisher!”

If you’re looking for a good, touching read these Chicken Soup books are perfect. AND for someone like me who can only read for a few minutes each night before I pass out, the short stories are ideal.

I’m more than halfway through the moms book now and I am looking forward to reading the rest!

You can get Chicken Soup for the Soul: Like Mother, Like Daughter and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Moms and Sons at any bookseller. Or you can check out the Chicken Soup Web site.

Wait. Can there be such a thing? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, one thing the original Crocs are not is cute. I bet even the Crocs people don’t think they’re cute. They were made to be boat shoes for Gad’s sake.

Despite the fact that they aren’t pleasing to the eye, thousands and thousands and thousands of people purchased them. And as much as I love comfy shoes, I couldn’t bring myself to get those Crocs.

But last summer I won the shoe lottery. I found a whole line of Crocs that ARE attractive. And pretty much the most comfortable, delicious things I have ever put on my feet. In fact, I might have purchased my favorite shoes ever.

I bought the Crocs Sassy style (this year’s version is called Sassari) and never wanted to take them off. Their 3” wedge heel is just the right height to give me some short-girl confidence and their streamlined style makes them work for cargo pants, jeans OR a skirt. They are definitely stylish and they have a little strip of patent leather on them to prove they’re sassy.

I was pregnant last summer so these shoes were even more of a wunderfind. You should have seen the envious looks I got from the other pregnant chicks when I visited my OB’s office! Comfy and cute? Ooo la la.

Even though last year’s model is still in great shape, I am definitely getting another pair. I think I’ll go with the Havanas.

Oh, and the Cyprus.

Uh oh, I’m in trouble.