Mental & Emotional Health

The good just keeps getting better doesn’t it?

Robinson Home Products, Inc. Debuts New Crock-Pot® Cooking Tools

First Ever Line of Utensils Specifically Designed for Slow Cooking

What does Valentines mean to you?  A big ring?  A dozen roses?  Chocolate?  Wait, CHOCOLATE?  For me, yea, it basically has always meant chocolate.  I’ve never spent a Valentine’s day that was so romantic that I swore I’d never forget it.  Actually the only one I can remember was the one when my first born child was about 4 weeks old.  He was born on January 14th.  And, that very February 14th, I made the decision that my hard working husband deserved a decent Valentines.  So, I made arrangements to meet him at this Chinese place between our house and his job. 

Well, the place was packed and our one month old son was far from even a little bit impressed with the lack of room and all the noise.  Lesson Learned.  Period.  Anyway, there’s some other folks who do better holidays than I do and who celebrate better than we do.  And, one such group of people are the people conducting an awareness campaign and are known as LIFE Foundation.

LIFE Foundation is holding a contest over the next few weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.  Basically, the idea is that Valentine’s Day has become to be labeled as a “greeting card holiday,” but this year in particular offers the opportunity for people to get back to the holiday’s roots by rethinking what a genuine gift of love is. 

So, LIFE’s goal is to make this year’s holiday a time to consider life insurance and make it a selfless and enduring gift giving occasion.  And, buying someone life insurance can be much like buying them chocolates.  Ok, maybe that’s a bit much but you know what I mean.  At least the life insurance would be around much longer than the box of chocolates.  Unless you are like me and you wear that box of chocolates around your waist for a few years. 

To encourage people to commit selfless acts of love this Valentine’s Day, LIFE is sponsoring an online contest during the weeks leading up to February 14. Anyone over age 18 is invited to nominate a close friend or family member who has exhibited selfless love for a chance to win a variety of prizes, including $2k towards the Cartier Love Collection!  Learn more at http://www.insureyourlove.org/.

The contest ends February 14th!   And, it’s worth noting that the act of selfless love doesn’t have to be insurance related but can be anything! I hope you enter as well!

Go check it out, ok?  Just do it for me.  Consider it your Valentine gift to me! mkay?

If you aren’t familiar with the give away, go check out this post and then comment to enter to win.  The contest ends on Sunday night, the 18th at midnight.  So, go now, don’t get left out.  What’s included? 

Super Bowl Prize Pack contains the following:

• 1 football

• 1 beverage pail

• 1 snack helmet (my favorite!)

• 2 key chains

• 2 hats

• 2 t-shirts

• 5 Pepsi 24 pack coupons

• 5 Frito Lay coupons

and when you pile it all up, it looks lke this….

Go, now, give it a whirl!  You can’t go wrong. 

Just so you know, this is not my official post for the day, I just thought I would hit you with some reminders……if you haven’t had enough of me, you can get more at 24/7 Moms

Part One:

the Super Bowl Prize Pack contains the following:

• 1 football

• 1 beverage pail

• 1 snack helmet (my favorite!)

• 2 key chains

• 2 hats

• 2 t-shirts

• 5 Pepsi 24 pack coupons

• 5 Frito Lay coupons

Go here to win…

Part Two:

If you have time, give this a read…  So, first of all, I think I have some ‘splainin’ to do

Part Three:

The unveiling of Jerri Ann Reason (a work in progress so pardon the bugs, we are working it out)

If you participated in the contest here on my blog, please shoot me an email indicating whether you got your prize or not so that I can double check everything and hopefully get everything taken care of before I leave on Sunday for a short vacation.

I’ll have my laptop with me but I’d rather get this all taken care of before I leave.  I so what to recognize all the sponsors one last time before I end this….if it weren’t for the sponsors…there wouldn’t be a contest….

Glow Mama

Adorn Me Jewelry

Happy Panda Baby

Mom on the Rise

My Sweety Room

Lisa Leonard Online

AK Designs Studio

Plain White Press

Treasures Par Avian

DesignsbyRS

Stacey Kannenberg & CedarValley Publishing

Susan K Jewelry

Busy Body Books

Skin Care RX

List Plan It

Kllycat

Coco Zen

Heidi at Silpada

Tiny Prints

Bella Button Designs

Charles Orlando

Bustling Baby

Bitty Bum Boutique

Unbridled Books

Brain Child Magazine

Mom Spark

Analiese

Family Travel Gear

Knowledge Adventure

Jewelstreet

Miss-Britt

Shops at 24 Seven

South n France

Peachbutt Designs Studio

Eclectic Candy Cane Cards

Just Bubbly

Eebee

Jimi

Sunshine and Ravioli

Mama Mio

Pretty Cheap

Little Brown Pen

Usborne Books

Motive

Mommy Bracelets

Oranje

My Precious Kid

Sara Bennett

Thanks again to everyone!  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!

*I have a Christmas tale to tell of all tales!*

Before I get started, let me tell you about a secret code.  It’s a coupon code for

Child Safety & Baby Gear Store 25% off your first purchase with coupon code BLACKfriday08 at http://www.MyPreciousKid.com

If this is not your first purchase from My Precious Kid, you can use the following code as well 10% off code # TWITTERten

MY BIG NEWS!

Ok, "something big" refers to quite a few things, BUT THE BIGGEST OF THE BIGGEST IS….

• my upcoming "12 Days of Christmas" Give Aways…
  • 
• I can assume that you realize that is the big one, and yes there will be prizes every day.  More instructions on how to enter to win are forth coming and soon.  The contest will start on December 1st and end on December 12th..for the 12 Days of Christmas
• The next big one is this…..

• And, I’ll save the last BIG disgusting issue for later….

• Until then, start dreaming about all you have a chance to win.

Ok, so here’s the deal, if a company were to offer me something…I don’t know what yet, just something…and I was to give it away here on the blog…..what kind of contest would you participate in and what (within reason) would you like to see as the prize being given away??????

I’m not a big shopper, but I’m telling you, when I get started, there is no looking back.  And, I’ve been a little slower than most with the shopping online phenomenon but honestly, can shopping get any easier?

Anyway, I’ve got a contest for you me, it’s called Shop and Confess.  Basically it’s pretty simple, you go to the link for Shop and Confess and sign up.  When you sign-up, tell them that I sent you from Life in Reality, that way I get credit for you signing up. 

I know, it sounds difficult, but basically, if you are going to do your holiday shopping sooner rather than later (later is when I tend to do mine) and you are going to be doing online shopping, then definitely this can benefit you as well as me.

Now, are you thoroughly confused….if so, go see this video on youtube and see if it helps.

I’m not sure when this contest actually ends, but as soon as I know, I will let you know.  And, I did say it was a contest and the contest is basically about me trying to get as many people to sign up with my referral Life in Reality as possible…so please, sign-up, spread the word and have everyone you know use Life in Reality as the referring link. 

I’m not even sure what I would win if I won but you know, I’m all about sharing and will gladly give away some of my winnings in another contest on Mom~E~Centric.

Ok, so go to Shop and Confess, sign up with Life in Reality as the referring blog and when I win, I will in turn give away part or all of my winnings on Mom~E~Centric.  That simple, looks like I could have just said that in the first place, uh?

CONTEST:  Take the following five questions to your blog (if you don’t have one, simply answer in my comments section) and post the questions and answers by Friday night, September 26th at midnight.  Then, send me the link to your post showing me your questions and answers.

WINNER:   Everyone who participates, either on their blog (as long as you send me the link) or in the comments will be entered into Random.Org after Midnight on September 26th.

PRIZE:  The winner will choose from one of the following:

1.  a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate

OR

2.  a copy of The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish

OR

3.  a copy of The White Trash Mom’s Handbook by Michelle Lamar and Molly Wendland.

Here are the following questions, remember that Survivor kicks off its 17th season tomorrow night with a 2 hour premier.  So, here goes…

How Well Do You Know Your Survivor Seasons and Players?

So, weeks ago Mad asked me about smiles. I listed 1-50 in what makes me smile, and here is 51-100 … kinda. My numbering was off and I didn’t want to correct it. Deal.

1. the monkey on my keychain. My friend Lynn bought these monKEYs and gave me the blue one … he makes me laugh
2. browsing fancy stationary online
3. feeling fabrics (all but velvet/velveteen/velour/courduroy) at the fabric store
4. talking craft-talk with my friends
5. an empty & clean kitchen sink
6. when my ice-maker dumps it’s tray (MissMiss will understand this one … when we’re IM’ing and my ice tray dumps I always write: “ooooooh! more ice!!!”)
7. speaking of MissMiss, cute socks make me smile
8. my air-freshener I bought with MissEnnPee, I’m not in my car enough to enjoy it full there, so I put it in my bathroom. LOL *shrug* It works!
9. completed cross-word puzzles, 1,000-piece-puzzles, and all other word puzzles. I don’t give a rats patooty about number puzzles though.
10. 105.1 The Buzz … their morning show NEVER fails to make me laugh.
11. driving with the window down - I’m cheap & never use the AC and so it’s a damned good thing I like this!
12. cracking the spine on a brand new book. Some people deliberately try not to do this … I LOVE to do it.
13. the word “pompelmuese” - in German it means grapefruit … I don’t particularly like grapefruit, but I do love the German word
14. LOLCats … I Can Has Cheezburger makes me howl some days.
15. my nails when they’re long-ish
16. the recycling letters; “HDPE” … while as an adult I know it stands for high density polyethylene, growing up I swore it meant “help dumb people everywhere” and that my milk carton was just trying to better the world
17. sore muscles from dancing
18. dancing the Samba … seriously, it’s FUN … and seriously, I look JUST like that when I do it! LOL
19. white hoodies … I don’t know what it is about ‘em, but they make me happy. I own three of them.
20. telling people I’m going back to school - I’m really proud of this fact
21. stargazer lilies
22. Justin Timberlake … he makes me more than smile … he makes me swoon (the concert was great, btw)
23. the song Rockstar
24. little kids who haven’t quite mastered running … they just kinda amble quickly
25. my mom bloggers … I love reading about little kid antics
26. comfortable underwear
27. comfortable PRETTY underwear
28. gift cards
29. seeing feeds to read in Google reader
30. iGoogle - thank you Talana for showing me the greatness that is iGoogle!
31. Apricot Pyramid beer - right after Black Butte Porter, I’ve learned this is a favorite!
32. long hot showers
33. sleeping in
34. falling asleep to music
35. click of high heels on hardwood (one thing I will miss from this job)
36. Beavers football! I think I get to go to the Stanford game this year!!!
37. using Facebook/MySpace to catch up with old friends
38. the idea of changing my last name
39. dresses that spin out when you turn quickly
40. bright pink toenail polish
41. new purses … who doesn’t like a new purse?
42. The Best of CraigsList - especially the few & far between Portland ones
43. Jon Stewart quotes
44. alliteration … oh how happy hearing h’s makes me
45. Judy Garland songs … Julie Andrews songs … Marlene Dietrich songs … I have a thing for older singers apparently
46. some boys … yeah, there are a few who make me smile. Most of them are married or gay though. That makes it even nicer for me.
47. NOT dating. I’m really enjoying this being single and not feeling the need to date thing!
48. my interview questions for TWO upcoming interviews that will be featured here
49. making new friends thanks solely to 451Press - thanks guys
50. being DONE with this list! I had forgotten about it until this morning!

mental & emotional health, things that make me smile, monkeys, stationary, fabrics, crafting, crossword puzzles, cute socks, 1051. The Buzz, Samba dancing, stargazer lilies, underwear, mom blogs, high heels, OSU, Beavers, football, Pac-10, beer, Facebook, Myspace, CraigsList, Jon Stewart, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Marlene Dietrich, dating, not dating, 451Press, blogs, blogging companies, long lists

Terra, of Eating Disorder Talk asked me about medication interactions for the recent question contest I ran. While her question was specific with regards to the types of medication she is taking/has taken for her cyclothymia, obsessive-compulsive & attention-deficit disorders, I am going to provide some resources for you that will help you check your own medication interaction risks.

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So, I drew names from my hat, and took pictures of the entire process!

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So, the contest has been closed, I have six entries, and on Monday night, I will take pictures of me drawing a name out of a hat. That person will have a book sent to them as soon as I pick it out - which it actually is dependent on who won. I’m that cool - catering specifically to my readers!

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Right now I have three entries for my mental health question contest. That kinda depresses me. *wry smile* Of all the things to depress me, a lack of questions about depression does it! *eye roll* So, if any of you lurkers would like to ask me a question, do it now or forever keep your trap shut! I’m closing the hat on Friday!

There have to me some of you who are curious as to where why depression is such a “popular” diagnosis, or someone who wants to know why alcoholics become alcoholics, or why running makes you high, or why smell is such a strong emotional sense for most people. COME ON; you have to have questions! Okay, yeah, now I’m begging for entries. This is sad. Email your questions to mental.and.emotional.health@gmail.com!!!

Have a mid-week-me.

1. Whats one thing thats heavily weighing on your mind? Finances
2. Whats one thing you’ve learned from a good friendship gone bad? If both parties aren’t willing to put the effort into creating friendship, it won’t last.
3. Whats one thing you’ve learned lately from love? Familial love will always be the strongest.
4. Is there anyone special in your life in general at the moment? Yes, there are always special people in my life. I wouldn’t want anyone in my life NOT to feel special.
5. What’s a happy time you’ve had in the past week? Leaving work today. Sad but true; I was ready to get out of there.
6. Is there anything in your past that you’d like to try again? Marriage. One day. With the right man.
7. Who do you like to spend your nights with? Me.
8. Are you an emotional person? Highly emotional.
9. Are you self conscious? Depends on who I’m around and what I’m doing. In Viennese Waltz class I’m VERRRY self-conscious.
10. Do you think of others before yourself? Yes, I’ve been told I’m too nice for my own good; so I’ve been standing up and taking instead of always giving.
11. Whats something that can always make you feel better? Singing The Little Mermaid songs.
12. Who was the last person you had a crush on? A boy.
13. Where do you see yourself this time next year? In Greece, getting ready to start school there.
14. Do you tend to make relationships complicated? Yes, I am complicated so it’s natural for a relationship with me to become complicated.
15. Who do you feel the most comfortable around? MissEnnPee and MamaDee
16. Is there something that you’re waiting for? Yeah!
17. One thing you’re not looking forward to? Getting up and going to work tomorrow.
18. How do you feel about change? Change is great. Change makes the world go round. I am a fan of change.
19. What are you most looking forward to? School starting, going to San Diego.
20. What are your plans for your next birthday? Celebrate.
21. Do you even care about your birthday? Not really.
22. Do you think anyone in general out there loves you? I know people out there love me.
23. When do you think the world will end? When it does.
24. Whats the most expensive piece of clothing you own? My ski jacket
26. Do you still talk to the person you LAST kissed? Yeah
27. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Yes, she’s had a baby, of course I’ve seen her cry!
28. What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? generic ones
30. Did you get any compliments today? Yeah, “that dress looks great on you!” and “you’re so tan!” while I was trying on my Grand Opening dress
31. Are you friends with your neighbors? Yup, Judy and I talked for a bit earlier!
32. What were you just thinking about? Judy
33. Name the places you have lived in. Oregon, Florida, Alaska, Washington
34. When was the last time you drove more than 15 minutes? Today on the way home it took me quite a while.
35. Have ever had a crush your on your sister’s/brother’s friend? Nope

So there are secrets for being a true smile detective and the best technique there is involves looking at the eyes. There are muscles around our eyes (the orbicularis oculi) which create the real feeling expressed in our smiles. When real smiles are “activated�? (not quite the word I was looking for, but it made me laugh (hah! I smiled writing this entry!)) the orbicularis oculi move and create a “twinkle�? effect in our eyes. *starts singing “Irish Eyes are Smiling�?*

I know that when I start looking at photographs to edit them, I don’t always look at the mouths. I look for expressive eyes. I can always spot the real smiles because of those eyes, and find that most of my really great pictures have NATURAL eyes and “twinkling�? eyes. I use those and get astounding results once I start editing them. I love real smiles … and I have a few favorite tricks to GET people to smile. With children I start making monkey noises – who doesn’t laugh when an adult starts making monkey noises? With adults, if it’s just adults, instead of saying “Say cheese!�? I ask them to “Say vagina!�? It catches most adults completely off guard and I end up with a picture-full of smiling and laughing adults. I love it!

So, why did we develop a “fake�? smile? Probably to protect ourselves. Many scienctists believe that we smile to “cement�? bonds and ease tension. This may have sparked the uneasy feeling we get when we see someone faking their smile – we know that they are trying to hide something from us. Are they lying? Are they planning malice against us? Your goal for today is to start being a smile detective. Watch for people who aren’t really smiling – and then do something to make them smile!