Thank God it's Fragments!

Was this week long or what? Always glad to hit Friday -- especially because of Friday Fragments, courtesy of Mrs.4444. Check out her site for more freaks who like frags.



Yesterday I was in a funk. When I left the office, I was totally jonesing for some french fries (because potatoes and oil are a definite cure for what ails you). But something about eating fries on the way to the gym didn't seem right. So I made myself a deal. Workout first and if I still wanted the tasty spuds, I could get them on the way home. Well, what do you know? It turns out 40 minutes on the treadmill did the trick. No fries, no funk.



Two of our kids have birthdays next month. Their gifts from their great-grandmother are coming from the Sherwin Williams store -- paint and a guy to do the dirty work! (Because I am totally banned from painting for life.) So by this time next week, when I need an escape, I'll head to Belize (Annie's new tropical blue room) and when I'm hungry, I might just go nosh on Robbie's Edamame green walls.



There's a thing going on at Facebook right now where you're supposed to pick a Hollywood star that you look like and use a picture of that person as your profile pic. I can't decide who I might be? Rosie O? Kathy Bates? Maybe Katie Couric, the early years if she had had a serious addiction to ice cream, making her gain 50 pounds? Got any ideas for me?



The latest on the Go Red for Women Better U front was an early morning of playing dress up at Macy's. Five women with free reign in a department store before it even opened! We got to try on a bunch of clothes and just act silly for a video they are making for the luncheon. Then they shuttled us to the Estee Lauder counter to have our make up done so we could have photos taken for the luncheon program. Too bad I had to go straight to my workout with "Father" Kyle, the trainer, and sweat off my beautiful painted face!



Charlie's basketball team plays tonight. I am vowing to keep quiet -- even if I have to get out the duct tape. I think I scared some of the other mothers at the last game when my alter ego appeared.



Attenion iPhone users! I keep forgetting to mention this. Mike had an app made for me for the iPhone. You can download it free from the App Store. Just search "4th Frog." Then you can have my posts and my tweets always at the ready! He said he thought it might be available for Blackberry users, but I'm not sure about that.



Finally, please keep Hope, a good friend's 3 year old, and Jeanne, Charlie's teacher's wife, in your prayers. They are both very, very sick and could use all the prayers we can offer.

The 12 blogs of Christmas: #5 -- Soccer Mom's got the spirit

Through the obsession with -- I mean the magic of -- Facebook, I recently reconnected with my friend Lori. She and I met in the lobby of a major pharmaceutical corporation where we were both starting that day as members of the media relations department. If I remember correctly, it was the Monday before Thanksgiving and no one was exactly waiting for us to arrive. We should have taken that as a sign of things to come.

After spending nearly three years writing ridiculously long and convoluted press releases that no one but the legal department was happy with, she and I both left said pharma company to embark on lives as mothers and freelance writers. Aside from the occasional run-in at the grocery store, we haven't been in touch much. But Facebook changed that; Lori found The 4th Frog and I found her blog, A Soccer Mom Speaks.

A few days ago, I read her entry Christmas hits and knew I had to link to the post as soon as I read "Christmas shopping used to mean hunting for something your loved one really wanted; today it's all about finding that one thing your loved one doesn't have."

Then all this RIDEMAKERZ mania happened and I didn't get to it. So tonight, when I went back to Lori's blog to link to her post, I was treated to another link-worthy entry, Mom tunes. Where Christmas hits might leave you a little teary, Mom tunes will have you giggling and singing along.

And the best part? The legal department doesn't get any say!

The Soccer Mom Alter Ego

Every weekend in a park near you, a strange phenomenon takes place. Ordinarily well-mannered and properly socialized women undergo a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation into accusatory and confrontational soccer moms. Of course I only know this by observation...

Women who politely mutter "excuse me" as they reach six inches in front of another shopper in the ketchup aisle are suddenly on their feet screaming, "Get in his face. Don't let him past you!"

Mothers who are normally deferential and choose to remain quiet so as to not upset the apple cart emerge on the sidelines of a soccer field as the nemesis of the referee, who is often only a few years older than the players. "What?! Red ball? How can you say that? That was totally off red."

And woe to the official who should miss a call when Cybill Soccer's kid is on the receiving end of a dropped shoulder or a trip from behind. "Hey! Where's the call on that one? What game are you watching? Who is paying you?"

Yet, when the last whistle blows, the she-devil of the soccer field returns to her perfect mom persona. "Great game honey...how 'bout some ice cream?"