2-for-1 Friday

Can you believe it? Two blog posts in one day. Guess I'm feeling chatty or inspired or something. It's been a bit since I've done a Friday Fragments post and I'm kind of missing Mrs. 4444s and all the friends I encounter via Friday Fragments so let's not waste any more time.

Halloween was fun -- how can endless flowing candy be otherwise? Robbie went as an Angry Bird (of course -- his latest obsession). Charlie went as a cereal killer. I made the hat myself with spray adhesive. I think I might be in love with spray adhesive. I'm tempted to use it to put the patches on Robbie's Cub Scout uniform.

Robbie was insistent that he carry a Nerf gun as part of his Angry Bird ensemble. Then he would walk up to the door of each house and say "Trick or treat. I'm just a Angry Bird...wif a gun." It was so funny. As we walked through the neighborhood, people would say "Look! An Angry Bird," to which Robbie would shout  while raising his hand in the air "wif a gun!"

We're 4 days into November already and I don't even have my Christmas shopping spreadsheet created yet. What's happening to me? This year instead of shopping in Cleveland, my mom, sisters and I are shopping here in Indy. I'm going to really try to make most of my purchases from independent stores and avoid the big box retailers as much as possible.

I'm still totally loving my green El Naturalista shoes. Look how nice they went with the mammogram robe I got at the breast center today! (It was the same soft, cozy robe I had last year too.) When the tech led me to the changing room, she offered hangers that I could use to hang my clothes up on. I thought it best not to say "Oh, that's ok, I just picked these clothes up off my bedroom floor 30 minutes ago."


How would you love to not have to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but still get to eat all the yummy deliciousness? FitCity Indianapolis and Avec Moi are giving away a free, healthy and still tasty Thanksgiving dinner for 8. If you're in the area and want to enter -- or if you live far away and want to enter and bring the meal to my house to eat -- visit the FitCity Facebook page.


Mike is wrapping up week 2 of the new job. He likes it, but its a transition for all of us. That's a whole 'nother blog post. So please come back to read again later. In the meantime, go visit Mrs. 4444s and all of the other Friday Fragmenters.

Whateveryacallit

Pop. Soda. Soft drinks. Whatever you call those fizzy pours of sweetness, do you let your kids drink it? Read my latest post at the Fit City Moms blog and record your opinion there.

'Fessing up

Over at the Fit City Moms blog. Would love it if you read my post and left me some feedback there.

Missing

Is it possible that something which inspired an original song could be missing something?

Yep. Click here to find out what was missing at the Indiana State Fair.

Those evil Happy Meal toys

I just posted "Why suing McDonald's leaves a bad taste in my mouth" on the FitCity Mom's blog. I'd love it if you would check it out and leave a comment there with your thoughts on the issue. Do you agree with me or think I'm way off base? Join the conversation at FitCity.

Favors

Hey folks, I'm asking for a few favors and I'm hoping some of you will feel like granting them.

1. I just did a "Fitness Fragments" post at the FitCity Moms Blog. Like Friday Frags here, it's just a collection of thoughts I put out there. I'd love to get your input on the questions I asked. So please click on over, read and leave a comment on the Fit City page with your input.
   
   
2. There's some excitement going on behind the scenes here at the 4th Frog. Before I reveal exactly what it is, I need to create a tagline that tells what the heck this blog is about. I need to get this buttoned up soon, so check out the three tags listed below and let me know which you like best. Or come up with something completely different! I'm flexible...

• The true story of what happens when life happens to a working wife and mother of 3.
• If you want sugar-coated, buy some crappy cereal. The 4th Frog Blog dishes up the true tales of a working wife and mother of 3.
• The true stories of a working wife and mother of three...warts and all.

That's it. Simple enough, huh? Need to catch some zzzzz's then I'll catch you all later.

Fit ideas for Spring Break

Hey folks, still trying to find my way back to "normal." Might be a losing battle.

But I did manage to put together a list of ideas for fit family fun over Spring Break. Check it out and comment over at the Fit City Moms Blog.

Truth be told

The thing about blogging is that I owe it to readers -- and to myself -- to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. So that's what I've done on the Better U and Fit City blogs this week, owning up to my weekend:

Fit City: How well do you bounce?

BetterU: Confession

Oh, it's nothing tragic. Just a bump in the road. But it's my reality and I'm owning it.

Nothing to fear but...

Check out my latest entry on the Fit City Moms Blog. Can you relate?

Looking for more great blogs to read?

Indiana's Top 50 Blogs contest is going on right now and there is lots of great content out there to read. Some of the blogs are business blogs. Some are lifestyle. Some are family blogs, like mine.

Oh, did I mention that my blog has been nominated? I have a measly 12 or so votes right now, but you know what they say...it's an honor just to be nominated. What I'm more jazzed about is that two of the other blogs I write for -- The Indiana Insider and Fit City Indy Moms Blog -- have also been nominated.

If you want to read some great blogs, go to Indiana's Top 50 Blogs and check a few out. (Oh yeah, vote if you want!) Of course, you can also find great content in the blogs listed in my blogroll to the right.

Fit to be blogging

I really like blogging. I like the format - as casual or as formal, as humorous or as serious as my mood strikes. I like the choice to vary the length of my posts. Sometimes, I just need two lines to say what I want to say. Other times, I need more. I like the opportunity to interact with people who comment about my posts.

So when I was asked to write for another blog, I was all for it. Until I realized it's a blog about health and fitness. Who? Me? But, I agreed to meet with the woman and chat about the opportunity. And I'm glad I did.

The blog is the Fit City Moms Blog and, as Lisa Vielee explained to me, they were looking for "real" voices -- those of moms who are doing the very real dance of trying to take care of themselves and their families while also getting the laundry done, taking the cat to the vet and locating the lost library book.

I'll be writing about once a month at Fit City. There are four other moms blogging there, offering information and insight on fitting health and fitness into the job description of "mother." Though Fit City is an Indianapolis initiative, there are plenty of resources -- from recipes to entertaining ideas, to fitness tips that you'll find useful even if you don't live in Indianapolis. Check it out here.

You can read my first post, "Turning 39: The Year of Not Dying," here. If you venture over there, be sure to leave me a comment to say "hey!"