Top 10 Reasons I am Excited to Stay Home with My Family this Coming Weekend.

Note: Because this particular blog post is actually entered into a contest, sponsored by Cozi.com (which is based on getting the most comments), please leave me a quick reply, even if it's just to say hi! :-)

In fact, as a thank you if you help me out here, if you leave me a comment on this post, I will count it as an entry into a drawing for a free copy of my book, "Two Snowflakes!"



Please just make sure you leave a way to contact you, in case you win! Also, if you tweet, blog or otherwise share a link to this post, you can leave me additional comments letting me know you did so, and each one of those comments will also count as an entry into my giveaway!

OK, onto my actual blog post.... :-)

While I've actually been on the internet since 1995, I've only been what I consider an actual "blogger" since about mid-February of this year. I registered TwinHappy.com back in 2006, but didn't really do much with it until this year. I can't believe that next month will only be my 6-month blogoversary :)

So, while I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of "BlogHer," I knew I wasn't ready to go there yet. Maybe next year :-) So, I plan to check out some of the online events that are going on for those of us who aren't making their way to Chicago this weekend! (I list some of them at the bottom of this post.)

Here are 10 other reasons I'm happy to be staying home this weekend:

1) My garden needs some working on... I have this crazy garden experiment going on :-p Earlier in the season, I took the girls to Target and they picked out a bunch of seeds they wanted to grow: watermelons, pumpkins, carrots, etc.... of course, we live in an apartment :-p But, we do live on the ground floor so I am actually able to have a small garden out back... just maybe not quite big enough for all those things :-) But, for whatever reason, I let them get the seeds and, since I had them, I threw them in the ground, if for no other reason than, I just wanted to see what would happen. Well, I don't know what happened to the watermelon seeds (I think maybe the squirrels got to them), but I have a nice little patch of carrots... and I have several pumpkin plants that are taking over my tiny garden :-p I've gone out a couple of times... uprooted things, moved things around, etc... trying to make as much room for them as I can :-) But, they're taking over again... I don't know how much longer I can let them stay there :-p Here's what my backyard/garden looks like now (please excuse the mess... I really need to clean up out there :-p):



But, while I've had a few pumpkins start to grow, only to die off for one reason or another, I actually do have a couple (one in particular) that look pretty promising!



I would be thrilled to just get one out of this whole crazy expirement :-p And even if I don't get that, I have learned a lot. Did you know that the first pumpkin flowers are always male? And then, as everything gets pollinated, little pumpkins will start to form at the base of the flowers (I didn't before this :-p)... that's actually what looks like it's rotting at the end of the pumpkin above: the remains of the pumpkin flower. Any gardeners/farmers know if I should just let that fall off on its own (kind of like an umbilical cord :-p) or should I remove things like that myself?

Also, the flowers really only open in the morning... it's actually quite beautiful out there early in the day, even though they tend to close up in the afternoon. Here's a couple of photos of the pumpkin flowers:




Anyway, I think I need to do a little thinning out in the garden... it's all starting to extend past my little area out back :-p Although I don't want to touch any of the ones that are actually doing really well. Which might be hard, since they all tend to get tangled up in each other :-p

Have you figured out that I'm not exactly an expert gardener yet? :-p Someday, I'd love to have a small farm, but this year is really my first foray into any kind of major gardening. Again, if I get anything out of this, I'll be ecstatic :-p And even if I don't, it's been a big learning experience! Not to mention some good exercise :-p

2) My Mom's "Twitterthon" ends on Saturday... her birthday is on Saturday, July 25th and she has pledged to donate 2 cents for every Twitter follower she has by the end of the day, on her birthday, to the ASPCA! That might not sound like a lot, but since she already has over 2,000 followers, they will at least be getting $40 and change from her :-) Plus, to help spread the word, she's giving out a bunch of prizes to those who retweet for her.... some that she's donating, some that others are donating... it seems to be growing every day! And, it's something that I'm helping her run, so I definitely want to be here for that. If you're interested, there are more details @ http://grpetsupplies.com/bday.html... and, if you want to put in your "2 cents" for needy animals, all you have to do is follow my Mom @grpetsupply!

3) One word: "Twinstock!" :-) It's my upcoming Blog Party for August, and it's shaping up to be a pretty big deal... I did just a tiny bit of work on it today, but I have several e-mails in my inbox (and messages on Twitter) from those wanting to donate things for giveaways... so I definitely need to get back to all those people by the end of the weekend! While my TwinHappy Carnival in May was fun, I think this is going to be even more so! So, while it doesn't officially start until August 1st, I definitely want this time to at least get things well on their way to being set up!

4) On a related note, I was looking around today for some music options for "Twinstock" and I came across "RadioWoodstock.com"...

Now, my Dad introduced me to a lot of music, starting at a very young age. He actually started out by tap dancing with his brothers in "show troupes" and, the "Peterson Boys" were actually a pretty big thing in Maryland back in the day :-p He took tap dancing lessons for over 20 years and to this day, can still perform some of the steps... I can only imagine how great he was back when he was performing.

My Dad's true love, though, has always been drumming. He made a friend named, "Tommy Rizzo" during his show troupe days that he still talks about as being the best drummer he's ever seen. I dream one day of finding Mr. Rizzo and getting him back in touch with my Dad... I can't imagine how thrilled my Dad would be if I could do that...

But, ANYWAY... my Dad is quite the drummer himself. He is completely self-taught... he did take a couple of lessons at the Peabody Institute (where I studied piano for 3 semesters after high school), but really, all his training just comes from hours upon hours a day of being lost in music. He played with several bands... I think one of my earliest memories is of being in a bar (I know... hey it was the seventies :-p) and, listening to my Dad's band playing "Proud Mary"... and little toddler me dancing my heart out to it :-p

He also took me to several Elton John concerts when I was little. I think I was Anna and Josie's age when he took me to my first one... I remember going to the "Baltimore Civic Center" and watching Elton John perform "Benny and the Jets." (Also saw the "Stray Cats" perform there.... along with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch when I was in high school :-p)

Also remember going to the Merriweather Post Pavilion, and sliding down muddy hills (because my Dad and I had lawn seats) at an Elton John concert... sitting around for hours on end while he played one record for me after another. I think I knew how to read sheet music before I knew how to read a book. And oh how I loved to dance :-) My Mom still jokes about how I would dance even if there was no music playing... but I know it's because I had music playing in my head. I still do 'til this day :-)

I've been listening to this Woodstock Radio station, though, and hearing stuff that I've never heard before... I don't think my Dad was much of a hippie :-p He was more of the gold lamé type :-p I'm really enjoying this, though.... so just another great thing to come out of "Twinstock!"

5) While I'm getting consumed by Twinstock, I can't forget TwinTuesday! Still have next week's to plan for...

6) Plus I have my Mom's #MeowMonday and #WoofWednesday Giveaways to update on her site.

7) I also want to work some more on my "Two Princesses" book (the sequel to "Two Snowflakes!" :-p)

8) I still want to try and find an Etsy crafter to make me some little plush snowflakes that I can give out at the Baltimore Book Festival in September!

9) I also have some other, less-pressing, projects that I really want to get to... but one thing I definitely want to make time for: taking another lightning-bug walk (so named because we take them at dusk, when the lightning bugs are just coming out) with the girls. We don't do it every day, but most evenings the girls and I take a specific path through our neighborhood where we visit such things as the "magic path," looking for "wishing flowers"... then we make our way back through the "spooky forest" where we ultimately end up at the "little slide." We didn't go tonight because it rained a lot today and I knew it would be unpleasant :-) But, definitely need to make it out there at least once this weekend for at least one "lightning-bug walk!"

10) And finally, I'd like to spend some time checking out the site that inspired this blog post to begin with: Cozi.com, which I found through Mom of 2 boys, Wife of 1. OK, so I'm trying to win one of the $100 sponsorships Cozi.com is handing out through Mom of 2 boys, Wife of 1 :-p However, not only does it actually look like a very cool site that might just come in handy to me, like a lot of these blogging contests, it has at least inspired an interesting (at least to me :-p), if rambling, addition to my blog :-)

So, what are your plans for the weekend? :-) If you're not going to BlogHer, there are actually some events online this weekend... just look up these topics on Twitter: #BlogHop09 #BlogNerd #PityParty09 #nonBlogHer. Maybe I'll see you there... if I can find the time! :-p

And be sure to get Cozi, too! :-)