I thought, “This is going to be fun.” Not a half mile into it, we approach a small hill. WHAT? I can’t get up this itty-bitty hill? I am so embarrassed, ashamed, and ready to cry. I couldn’t believe it. Here I am walking my bike up this ramp of a hill while cars drive by and joggers and walkers pass me up. <heavy, heavy sigh>

I reach the top where the Boy was waiting for me. I told him my grievance, but he encouraged me to go on. It was easy because the next slope was the backside of that hill. “Wahoo,” I echo down the hill and I’m happy again. Just after a bit of leveled stretch of road we find a gazebo and I’m ready to relax. That’s it! I was just enjoying the serene surroundings. It wasn’t that I didn’t have it in me to go on.

After a short break, we head on down the road. I was getting quite thirsty. We didn’t have water. Why should I bring water? It wasn’t going to be difficult. We stopped at the Boat House. There we found some Gatorade and a girl selling snow cones. After the half mile of sweat, heart palpitating, and lung expansion, I deserved a mango and melon snow cone. Oh my gosh, it was the best snow cone I had in a long time.

After a brain freeze or two we get back at it. Let me remind you, we have only gone 1.5, maybe 2 miles with three more miles to go. At this point, my ass is killing me. Crazy out of shape. I’m actually an active person – not a fitness guru, but I enjoy exercising regularly. I was in a size eight (10) a year ago. Just over the past eight months I’ve slacked off.

I tell you this because I’m hoping public humiliation will slap my ass into gear. Back in January, I said in 2010 I will run a 5K. I need to do that before 2010 runs out. I even have a running plan from my friend Laura. It’s just the matter of…I think I can.

You know in the movies how they paint the notion of how romantic it is to spend a summer afternoon in a canoe? The man is suppose to do all the rowing and strum on a guitar while singing, I thought…

Moraine rents the boats by the hour and you think, “That’s not enough time. This is going to be expensive.” Hold that thought the next time you go to rent a boat. If it doesn’t have a motor, you’ll be wondering why they don’t rent boats by the half hour.

As we paddle across the water, we admire the boats. I start talking about how I would like to have a sailboat and have my friend Roxy teach us. As we (he) rows, I point out, “Ooo, I like that one. No, I want this one. Wow, nix that! I want that one.” He crushes my dreaming with LOGIC, “Let’s take lessons first before purchasing anything.” I think, “That’s never going to happen – like, buying one will. ” <insert slight princess-like attitude here>

The Boy and I still have our kid-like imaginations and start to play pirate, and pretend the fireflies are dragons and the water plants are sea monsters. Having fun at play he says, “Do you want to steer?” Mistake, “Sure,” I say. We pull over to this desolate Island where the wild things roam. We switch seats, and I realize that my can-o-pop (he bought) has tipped over and spilled in the boat. My kid-like imagination soon turns evil because my life jacket (I’m not even wearing) is sticky. <insert slight princess-like attitude here>

As if I’m steering incorrectly, he says, “If you want to go right, then paddle on the right…” Before he could finish that statement, I immediately snap, “I know how to steer a boat.” He says, “Next time we are getting two kayaks and I’m going to watch you go in circles.” Playtime is over and we start to splash each other, I scream, “Stop it! I have a camera, but you don’t.”

Somehow we were on the other side of the lake when I realize that we have to paddle back. I say, “We should have gotten a pontoon boat.” <insert I told you so smart-ass tone here> He tries to use child psychology, “Let’s see how fast we can paddle to get to the other side…” So it works but only for a moment. I’m pooped saying, “How long have we been out here? WHAT! Only 40 minutes? Let’s go back. I’m done with boating on the lake.”

As we paddle back into port, I say to the Boy, “Stop paddling.” So of course he continues to paddle… We get closer to the ramp (filled with people watching us), I scream, “STOP PADDLING.” He says, “Why?” As we crash into another boat <long pause for drama…the moment seems to last longer than I want> trying to look cool in front of all those people, he turns to give me an evil look as though it’s my fault. In attempts to cool me down, he gets me an ice cream. Still a little pissy, I flash him one last evil look before biting into it.

Happily Ever After…

I absolutely adore bunny lips, and bunny bums. But the lips are my favorite – so pink and sweet. It’s even sweeter when they are munching on some greens. This is Madame Bunny. Though, she may seem like she’s having fun, she’s actually perturbed. I was able to snap a picture just before she snapped at the camera. She’s such a scary bunny.

I toss and turn a bit when I hear ever so faintly people talking. After several minutes of struggling to figure out where the voices are coming from, or if I am even imagining it, I realize it’s the second alarm going off. Agitated, I yell at the Boy, “TURN OFF THAT GOD DAMN ALARM.” Only I didn’t say, “God Damn,” and I didn’t really yell.

Okay, so I get up and pee (I might as well at this point). I let a long sigh out, and go back to bed. I flip from side to side trying to find my “I-do-not-need-to-work-this-morning-sleep-in,” when the Boy groans, “Stop fidgeting.” <insert what you think happens next> Really? Let me remind you that those two out of three alarms are YOURS, and mine was shut off. <long pause for drama> FINALLY, I fall back to sleep.

TWO HOURS LATER…

GASP! I sit up holding my chest and a strong headache comes over me from the sudden adrenaline rushing through my body. What the hell just happened? I was dreaming. What was I dreaming? I start to remember that I had two baby turtles, two miniature bunnies, and two of some other animal (I can’t remember for the life of me what they were). I’m playing with my animals when I hear the Boy scream from the basement, “Gremlins! We have Gremlins!” I yell, “Gremlins! What are Gremlins?” I had to ask because the only Gremlins I know are fiction and this was real. =|

I start to see something moving up the stairs, I grab a broom (which must have been Witchy Poos broom because it was right there standing in mid-air). Anyway, as I approach the Gremlins, they seem to get bigger. They start to go after my turtles and bunnies (side note: I’m crazy). Afraid for my animals, I start pushing the Gremlins out the door and off the porch (which resembles Dorothy’s Kansas home – everything turns black and white when you walk out onto the porch). They get bigger and bigger and they’re growling and saliva is running off their sharp-pointy, thick teeth. <insert dramatic music here>

FINALLY, I push them outside; I slam the door shut. <BAM> One of the turtles screams out, “The bunnies are outside.” Shocked that my turtles could talk, I pause for a moment before I swiftly bust open the door and go to grab my bunnies. The Gremlins are laughing at me, and I shout out, “Stop it! Stop it!” I scoop up my bunnies put them inside the door and as I turn to shut the door one last time, A Gremlin spits at me, then lunges at my throat. Almost simultaneously, the Boy comes walking up the stairs. I look at him, “Brad!” I GASP!

She's still here...

I spring-cleaned the buns condo and courtyard. Let’s just say, it’s not their fav thing. Mr. R is use to it, but that doesn’t mean he likes it, and Madame, well, I don’t want to talk about it. The cutest thing is when I’m done, they go in and investigate. <sniff, sniff>. Then, as if they discussed it, they start to toss everything around until they get it just the way they like it.

Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage for new and advanced marketers. As an efficient social media marketing tool, Twitter allows you to build a giant list of followers. It allows your clients and subscribers to see whats up right now. It gives them access to your immediate profile and permits you to share your ideas with other twits – and the best part, it’s FREE.

While many people have other purposes for the use of the free service, the marketer can use Twitter to jump start a list of followers that can grow into thousands.

These followers are the next best thing to customers. You need to keep providing them something new to look forward to, they will receive your message, and eventually will purchase something from your company.

You need to measure activity. According to quantcast.com, Twitter reaches about 6.1 million U.S. people every month. There are so many tools out there to analyze you Twitter reach. One that I like is TweetReach. “It gives you detailed reach analysis for any search term on how tweets about that term have spread on Twitter — all in one simple report.”

There are other methods of social media marketing available for your use.

1. Blogs
2. Community forums
3. Social networking sites such as Facebook, FriendFeed, and LinkedIn.
4. Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, and Google videos.
5. Content sharing sites such as Dropbox, Flickr, Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, Qassia, and Google Knol.

There are many more. It all depends on your objective, and you definitely do not want to limit yourself to one thing. It only works if you work it! In addition, with the Internet as vast as it is, you should use every opportunity to make your voice heard. Not to mention, it’s a great way to learn and connect with people online.

Leave comments on what you are doing and what’s working for you. Questions are also welcomed.

My mom was poor, and lived off the state. She shopped mostly at food banks, or churches, or Goodwill. She didn’t have much at all. Even though she was poor, she was a very generous woman. Many years she donated her time to the Salvation Army. Barely a stocking on, or a coat that didn’t button, she would stand in the cold winter air ringing a bell to collect money for the homeless – people less fortunate than her.

We gave her food, money, and clothes all the time, but she gave it away. She’d cook the food for her neighbors, and she would give the clothes away. We’d fight with her, “Why are you giving this away?” She’d simply say, “They are less fortunate.” So we decided to ask, “What can we bring you? What do you need?” She’d say, “Red lipstick.” I guess those essentials are not sold in church basements.

My last day with her was a great day. It was a sunny day in March – still a little chilled, but a beautiful blue sky with the warming sun. We headed out for some clothes shopping; she needed a winter coat. I wanted to take her to the mall to get a new coat; not a used coat. She said, “No! I want to go to Goodwill.” So, we did. She was looking for a long-red coat. Funny, as I write this, I can’t remember if she ever found one. That is sad to me – a simple memory that is slipping away.

Afterward, we went to eat. As we finished, I pulled out my lipstick and put it on. She noticed, “You can put on your lipstick without a mirror?” She watches in amazement, “That’s talent!”

A few short weeks later, I get a call that my mother is in the hospital with pneumonia. As I sat there holding her hand, she realized, “I missed your Birthday.” I said, “That’s okay.” She said, “No it’s not!” She died later that night.

That was a decade ago, and I can still feel her hand in mine, I can still feel the warm sun from the times I had with her, and I will cherish the small moments as long as my memory allows me.

Cherish your mom! Even the one’s that are not so normal; because in their last hour, they will be thinking of you.

I’ve just discovered the wonders of Babybel.

What a cool way to market it – in this red wax of surprise.

My favorite part is opening it. You take the stem and pull. The cheese is soft and yummy. It’s fun and a delicious snack.

On April 2, a man who lived in that home, passed away in that house that I played, skipped school, had parties, sleepovers, and great memories of family. He was my best-friend’s father, but he was like a father to me.

Some called him Truschel; some called him Mr. Wilson; and some called him Dick. Whatever you called him, he was a loving, genuine man who touched our lives.

I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend time with him in his favorite place on earth, Las Vegas. Last June 2009, my best-friend and I, went to Vegas with him. Of course, we pissed him off on the last night because we were drunk and it was only three in the afternoon. He was yelling at us as if we were 10 years old again. It was quite comical.

To Truschel! I love you, and I’ll always remember you working in your yard sportin those cut-off jean shorts.

Having a rabbit as a pet is more work than initially thought, especially in the beginning. You need to bunny-proof your house to make it free of electrical cords, plants, or chewable items. Rabbits are social creatures with gentle natures and individual personalities. They also require special diets, stimulating environments (never an outdoor hutch), and veterinarians who specialize in their care. Caring for rabbits is not simple or easy, which is why rabbits are the third-most surrendered animals in the U.S.

I urge you to pass this on…
Before adopting a rabbit, or any pet, please do your research. Be confident you can handle the attention and care that they need for their entire life. An animal also suffers from heartache, and it is stressful for the pet when their owner abandons them. And, as animal shelters, and rescue groups suggest  —— think carefully about giving a stuffed or chocolate bunny this Easter.