Now, here I am, pregnant again…fourteen years later.  And I managed to get big fast.  On top of that, every day I seemed to get itchier.  Moisturizer has always been my beauty regimen.  Now…nothing I tried worked.  I was absolutely miserable every night.  Nights were the worse.  S would question what was wrong.  And I didn’t have the words to adequately express my discomfort.

That’s when I met Michelle at the Plum District blogger luncheon.  She’s a blogger and mom, just like me.  And she told me about this company she works with: Earth Mama Angel Baby.  It’s no secret that I love doing reviews.  So, when she offered me the opportunity to try some of the pregnancy product line, I jumped on it.  If there was any way that I could find a product to alleviate my itchiness, I was going to take it.

Michelle offered me the opportunity to pick two products, but I decided to defer to her expertise.  The products she chose for me did not disappoint.  In fact, I’m finally comfortable once more.  I have been using the Earth Mama Body Butter for a couple of weeks now.  And I’m so much more comfortable.

According to the website…

Earth Mama Body Butter combines organic Borage oil and Neroli pure essential oil with rich Shea butter in a safe-for-pregnancy blend that won’t aggravate morning sickness. It’s vegan, cruelty-free, zero toxin and it’s the purest, most luxurious lotion for pregnancy stretch marks you’ll find.

All I know is that it smells something like Fruit Loops, which is not an altogether unpleasant scent.  Equally as enjoyable is the second product I was sent: the Natural Stretch Oil.  And I love oil.  I used to use an oil on my body after every shower before drying off when I was younger.  This Natural Stretch Oil goes on all my special stretching parts.  Want to know why it works so well?  This is how the site explains it:

Mama starts with plant-based oils that are infused with the healing herbal goodness of organic Calendula and calming organic Chamomile. Organic Borage oil and Neroli pure essential oil help nourish and encourage skin’s natural elasticity for natural stretch mark care. Natural Stretch Oil is light and readily absorbable.

I guess it all comes down to one simple question.  Would I recommend this?  Oh, yes.  Unless of course in recommending it to others I somehow create a massive shortage over the next three months while I desperately need it.  In which case, I would recommend that you not try it until after I give birth.  Then, go crazy.

This dose of love was…lovely!

I am proud to be a Purex Insider.  It lead to the discovery of my favorite fabric softener ever: Purex Crystals.  I’m completely hooked.  And now…I have a new Purex love: Purex Complete with Zout.

Before this, I had no idea what Zout was.  And I had no idea why I would need Zout.  Now, I’m a convert.  Now, I wonder where Purex Complete with Zout has been all my life.

See, my man is a contractor.  It’s dirty, smelly, and sometimes bloody work.  He doesn’t always know when he slices into his arm or hand.  Oh, but I know.  It’s on his clothes.  And after three years of doing his laundry, I kind of just accepted that some of it would be blood stained and some of it would look dirty even if it was clean.  I considered the wear and tear on his clothes to be an occupational hazard.

Now, I know it’s not.  There is an answer.  There is another way.  It’s Purex Complete with Zout.  The beauty of this detergent is that it’s a detergent and pre-treater all in one.  (Who has time to pre-treat?)  And the Zout acts as a triple enzyme stain remover.

So, I can get out the grass stains from the socks he soils while mowing the lawn.  (Yes, some parts of the country are already doing that.)  And I can get out the chocolate that I drip on my shirt.  (What a waste of chocolate, but a great way to save my clothing.)  It works just as well on tomato sauce.  Yeah, that’s me, too.

For those of you that have top load and high efficiency washers, Purex Complete with Zout works in all of them.  Yay!  It can be purchased in Morning Burst (my favorite) or Free and Clear, for those of you who need it unscented.

Now you know how I roll.  I pair it with the Purex Crystals.  And my laundry has never looked cleaner or smelled better.

It takes so little to keep me happy.  Thank you, Purex!

Celadon Road believes in promoting greener, more socially responsible living.  They do this through the products they offer, and the strict ethical business practices they adhere to.

And oh, what an amazing array of products are offered!

They have organic bath products.  (I love nature…tamed!)  The salt scrub caught my attention.  I always feel so much better after I exfoliate.  And they also have body butters.  We all know my entire beauty regimen is pretty much about moisturizing.

Celadon Road offers a nice collection of baby products from bottles, to blankets, to stuffed animals.  The organic blankets are absolutely adorable.  And I completely fell in love with their stuffed collection.  (I have an affinity for monkeys.)  Ah, but since my kids are almost grown, I only have Bishop, our Great Dane to buy toys for.

And Bishop would die happy!

So many companies seem to cater to smaller dogs, but Celadon Road carries a line of toys even for my big beastie.  Know what else?  They have a Super Squeak Monkey!  It would be a nice change from all the plush cows we have littering our great room.

Speaking of the great room, the product line also covers decor, entertaining, and kitchen goodies.  I am a sucker for wood…anything.  they have cutting boards and beautiful salad bowls.  They have a really cool wooden cheese grater.  And if I wanted to look pretty myself while entertaining, they carry jewelry.

Yeah, I fell in love with Celadon Road.  And I’m hoping that you will, too.  So show them a little love.  Visit their site, browse their catalog, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter.  And maybe even consider that you would love to be a part of such an amazing company.

Celadon Road offers a home party business for those who are looking to generate some income and promote green products.  Simply contact the company and someone will be in touch to explain the three easy ways to begin the business and start earning extra income.

*sigh*

Where does that leave us?

Well, if you are fortunate enough to have an iPhone…I don’t, but that’s a whole different post…you can soon try the new app for singles that makes meeting a breeze.

I first heard about MojoMapp when they found me on Twitter.  I follow back!  And so, I read up on them, especially once they offered me a phone interview.  Nancy, one of the co-founders, was so wonderful and genuine and nice.  Soon, we were commiserating like old friends.

Next, I had an answer to the question…what do you get when you take a single girl, Nancy, and a single guy, Stephane,  tired of the dating scene, with a vision and the knowledge to make it a reality?  Apparently you get an app that enables you to figure out where to go to meet people.  Better still, you get to remain anonymous while meeting.  There’s no time consuming profiles to build.  There’s no way for people to track you down.  (We all know there’s nothing worse than an unwelcome stalker.  Is that an oxymoron?  I’ve never had a welcome stalker.)  There are, however, ways for you to communicate and build a rapport while you think about whether or not you are interested…and safely, too.

So, say you are at a bar, you simply check-in on the app.  It does all the work for you, tallying up all the single men and women who have also checked-in at the place, as well as their sexual orientation.  (See, that’s another key that the creators took into consideration.  Brilliant!)  Each check-in lasts for two hours, unless you move and check-in elsewhere.

Another cool feature of the app is that you can post on a virtual wall there, like Facebook, to try to start a conversation with some of the singles.  And if you really hit it off with anyone, you can have a chat in a private room all while maintaining whatever level of anonymity you are comfortable with.  Ahhh!

Shoot.  (That’s what we say in the dirty South.)  It almost made me want to be single again.  Almost.  Then I remembered how much I love S.  Then it was just as well that I don’t have an iPhone and the temptation of such a cool app as MojoMapp.  Then I remembered that S has an iPhone.  Good thing he loves me, huh?

The MojoMapp app is being introduced first in San Francisco.  Soon it will expand to other areas.  And ultimately, they are working on designing one for Droids.  Naturally, I don’t have one of those either.  Of course, I still have S.  <feeling a little better now>

When I came home and discussed the post I would be writing, my fiance felt so strongly that I should end the piece with hope, that I should work to touch people’s hearts.  Incidentally, the project is Heart of Haiti.  And I love it.  Bad things happen to good people, all the time.  And in Haiti, so much bad happened.  To most of us, it is completely unimaginable.  How would most of us go on?  So much loss.  So much devastation.

Still, the human spirit is an amazingly resilient thing.  Even though there were limited raw materials, the artisans of Haiti managed to create beauty from what was often debris with remarkable results.  They had to create.  They had to make a living and rebuild their lives.  Things we take for granted, like schools and food and homes, are luxuries there.  We camp for fun.  They have no choice.

So, after recognizing a need for sustainable income, Willa Shalit, daughter of Gene Shalit, initiated a joint project between her company, Fairwinds Trading, and Macy’s.  The result is a collection of products created by the artisans of Haiti.  These products are being sold at Macy’s around the country.  Not mine, unfortunately.  Oh, but we feel so strongly about this that we are buying online.  We have to.  We believe in a meaningful life and bringing meaning to other people’s lives.  I can’t think of a better way than to help a country rebuild, to help the human spirit thrive, to heal the hearts of a nation.  Just remember, when you help Haiti, you aren’t just helping them, you are healing our economy, too.

I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity. All opinions are my own.

Yes, Purex was our first laundry detergent.  The first time our clothes mixed, it was with Purex at the beach.  Awww!  And we’ve been using Purex ever since.

So, when I had a chance to be an Insider, I jumped at it.  I had no idea what it would mean, but I wanted in!  And they snatched me up.  (Thank goodness!)  I received in the mail on Christmas Eve my Purex welcome package.  It was beautiful, and smelled yummy.  There was a four load sample of their latest product and a coupon for a full-sized bottle of the amazing stuff.

I love the new Purex Crystals Softener.  These crystals are poured into the water as the load is being started.  And the first thing I noticed was how it made the entire house smell so good.  I mean…really good.  And the scent had to overpower the litter box in the laundry room to even make an impact.  That’s saying something.

The clothes then come out of the dryer feeling noticeably softer and so clean and fresh.  I caught myself sniffing my turtleneck sweater all day.  It has become a comfort to me.  And we all know the benefits of aromatherapy.  (Good stuff.)

Next time you are in the store, pick up a bottle.  You won’t be sorry.

From the news reports, I realized that he had been the mastermind behind the biggest Ponzi scheme EVER.  Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure what a Ponzi scheme was and I was only somewhat informed when it came to his victims.  So when I was given the opportunity to read and review a copy of a book written by his survivors, I looked at it as an opportunity to further educate myself.

The book did that…and so much more.

Don’t get me wrong, I am always a champion of the underdog…probably since I usually am the underdog.  I felt for those affected by Madoff’s greed, but I simply didn’t understand the true depth of the situation.  And reading the stories of the survivors clarified it better than any media report ever could have.

In the book, there were pictures of real people affected, as they shared what happened in their own words.  And I think that is what I liked best about it.  there were so many voices, so many stories, so many generations of the same family, sharing their pain, sharing their struggles, sharing their efforts to stay hopeful.  Imagine the effort it takes to remain hopeful in this economy in your later years.  Now imagine the effort to find hope with no nest egg after twenty years of investing, thinking that all is well, comforted in well-informed responsible decisions.

So many of the people that I read about were just average ordinary citizens.  These weren’t greedy money hungry individuals out to make a quick buck.  They had done their research, studied Madoff’s credentials, saw that he had been previously investigated and exonerated of any wrong doing.  They felt confident in their decision to invest with a man who promised reasonable returns and steady growth, rather than making outrageous claims of a fast return on their investment.

What made reading the stories difficult was that so many of the victims were entire families.  Yup.  Mom and Dad would invest and tell their children about how pleased they were with Madoff.  They were doing what good parents do, look out for their children.  And in the end, entire families were wiped out financially.

Sure, some people lost more than others from the Ponzi scheme, but realize that with people investing until it hurt towards retirement…everyone was equally devastated.

It saddened me to read about people forced from retirement back into the work force because their funds were gone.  It saddened me to read about the dreams people had to give up, the houses they lost, the lives destroyed.  We know about those that couldn’t face the loss, couldn’t face another day of humiliation and worry.  We know about those who gave up and took their own lives.

In reading The Club No One Wanted to Join we get to read the stories of hope and survival.  We learn that no one is safe.  No one is immune.  We learn that even after doing the research it is still possible for bad people to take advantage of good people.  On the other hand, we discover that hope and the human spirit are strong.  We learn that good can endure.  We learn that hard work and ingenuity count.  We learn and we feel for Madoff’s victims.

This book can be found on Amazon.

This time, I was offered the opportunity to read a novel and some blog entries by Steve Ostrow, a lawyer who has decided to put his knowledge of the law to work for the common man.  It is said that when authors write, they are attempting to solve a problem, or in the case of fiction, respond to a ‘what if.’  In this case, we have the solution to a problem that has plagued most Americans FOREVER.

There’s nothing I hate more than having a meal interrupted and quality time with my family put on pause while I answer the phone.  Inevitably, I would discover the source of the disturbance was a telemarketer.  Yippee.  And through the years, family and friends made numerous suggestions for how to remedy the situation.

• Offer to take the offender’s phone number and call them back during their dinner.
• Blow a whistle in their ear.
• Hang up.  Loudly.
• Ask to be taken off their list.

Me, I simply gave up my land line.  I figured it was time to do away with that thing when I was receiving more calls on it from telemarketers than I was from friends and family.  I walked away and never looked back.  Only now…I’m rethinking that decision.  Dagnabit.

See, in his writing, Ostrow teaches us how to profit from those annoyances.  He gives step by step procedures to follow.  These are procedures he has used time and again with much lucrative success.

Imagine how differently we would be feeling about the phone if we were simply wringing our hands, waiting for it to ring so that we could get some money.  Hmmm.  If only I had known so many years ago.

Oh, and that’s not all that Ostrow teaches.  How many of us have walked into work or our home office only to discover a stack of junk faxes.  It isn’t enough to face unsolicited mail in the box, we have to get inundated with junk faxes, too.  I used to be continually assaulted by the health benefits and special deals on vacations.  Those seemed to be the most popular, the most determined, the most frequent.

Well, Ostrow teaches us how to profit from that annoyance as well.  And this is one of the many reasons I wonder where this man has been all my life.  I could have been rich!  Okay, I could have been better off at least.

At least it’s never too late.

Check out Steve Ostrow’s latest work, How to Sue a Telemarketer. The time it takes to read will be more than worth the effort.  And know that it promises to be an easy and educational read.

There’s something special about being given products to review.  I really love it.  Part of it, no doubt, is the idea that I’m getting free schwag.  (And who doesn’t love a little free stuff?)  At the same time, as with all honors, it comes with great responsibility.

Sometimes, I’m a lot of work.  I received two books this month to read and review.  And I was really excited about both.

The first was a book for teens.  I have a teen.  It was a fantasy.  She lives in a fantasy world.  Seemed like it would be a great fit.  Oh, better still…it was an ebook!  As I’m slowly breaking away from the life of the technophobe, I thought this would be fantastic.

Word to the wise, keep in mind, ebooks can be easily deleted.  Yeah.  About that.  So, the book was emailed to be as an Adobe file.  And I received it the same day I found out about the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit in California .  I had soooo many emails in my box that I promptly deleted it.  Well, nuts!

After a few apologetic emails, I received Winter’s Passage by Julie Kagawa once again.

Now, this book is a teen fantasy romance for Harlequin.  I was intrigued because it combines the fairy realm with the real world in a contemporary setting.  In this novel, Megan Chase, half-breed daughter of Oberon, the king of the Summer Court, is traveling with Prince Ash, son of Mab, Queen of the Winter Court.  If you have studied any of this area, then it helps.  (And by studied, I mean watched movies, read literature, even experienced a bit of Shakespeare…)  Puck is one of Megan’s best friends and is currently encased in a tree.

The story, as part of a series, does a fine job of keeping you in the loop if this is the first one you’ve read.  It just so happens, for me it was.  And I liked that.  I’m pretty quick on the uptake, but it’s nice not to have to work for it.

The premise was reasonably fresh.  I liked the book.  This is not one that is destined to become a timeless classic.  It does, however, fill a void.  For those kids who can be convinced to read most anything as long as it’s on a computer screen, this is ideal.  At 67 pages, it is considerably shorter than most novels.  That’s how ebooks work.  And I think, in order to truly give a better review, I’d have had to read more of the series.  There are others in the series coming out over the next few months.

PS. On a completely different note…wish us luck! Rachel and I are off to the DMV.  I’m not sure which of us is more scared.