This morning I was watching the morning news and both CNN and my local news channel ran a story about American Girl creating a homeless doll for this Christmas season. Gwen, the new doll, is hitting Michigan Avenue, although she will not be out shopping and having tea.

At first, I admit, I thought it was a good thing. But then I thought about it a bit more. This is a company that has fostered overspending on our kids for years. It has created a product that few American families can actually purchase. It has helped to create very unrealistic expectations for our children and made it difficult for parents to explain the financial restrictions many of us face.

So why change now? Because America has gone through the worst economic period since the great depression and spending is on the decrease. Because parents are tired of spending more then they are actually making. Because credit card debit is no longer acceptable and consumers are starting to revolt. Because we have wised up and frugal is now “in”. Because not every family can take a trip to Chicago and have tea on Michigan Avenue with their child.

As we have experienced our own personal financial struggles, the American Girl brand has too. Their web traffic is down and their sales are flat. Mattel is trying to balance the changing consumer views on spending with their overpriced and utterly unrealistic priced dolls. Good luck with that.

We Americans have changed or at least many of us have altered our spending habits and they will most likely not return to the levels once seen in years past. Gwen may be giving you media buzz, but I doubt she will turn American Girl sales around.

This whole story leaves me wondering one thing. Did Mattel include instructions for turning Gwen’s product box into a house for her to sleep or did they include directions to the nearest shelter? That is the reality of the real homeless this holiday season. I wish Mattel had saved the money spent on developing and marketing Gwen and instead, given it to a homeless shelter to feed and cloth those who are struggling this Christmas season. That would have given our children a much better message than an overpriced doll that comes with only one dress.

9. Dropping your insulin pump into the toilet is bad, therefore, always secure before using the toilet.

8. It is the insulin delivery that hurts and not the actual needle. Not having a needle shows me the errors in my prior assumptions.

7. Medtronics rocks at presales activity, but completely sucks at post sales support.

6. You must only take your morning shower when you are awake enough to actually figure out how to detach your cord.

5. My clothing needs to be thicker and my underwear needs to have a bit more material. Attaching an insulin pump to string bikini underwear is not at all feasible.

4. Six thousand dollars seems like an awful lot of money for a device that looks like it is straight from a 1980’s movie.

3. My children are resilient. Neither even cared that I had a purple device attached to my body or a cord hanging from me.

2. The insulin pump makes me feel like a Borg drone.

1. As a Borg drone, I know resistance is futile. I am a type 1 diabetic and assimilation to my new way of life is required.

On multiple occasions throughout the year a parent – aka Mom – must bring in snacks and stay for the duration of the preschool session to assist the teacher in activities and help control the inevitable chaos that is created by twenty four year olds. The “snack and stay” requirement makes my stomach flip and not in a good way. I immediately felt stressed as my mind wondered about fulfilling this obligation and also adhering to the constraints of my job. Then it hit me – I quit my job and started my own consulting firm. I am my own boss and I can set my own hours. As long as I meet the deadlines and expectations of my clients I’m good to go.

I pondered this for a minute, because at this point, I realize the irony in it all. My former employer was actually led by a man who put everything above family. He was a man who would schedule business trips around tennis matches and dance recitals. Of all people, he would understand. I did not. The internal need to exceed at every single task put a great deal of stress upon my OCD self. The need to please my company and be available at any time, was probably more me than them. Nonetheless, I had constant stress from trying to please everyone and do so all the time.

Today I feel I have reached the coveted Yin and Yang of motherhood. I can truly have a professional career that I love and I can participate in my children’s activities as much as is needed. I feel balance and I didn’t realize this until my mini panic attach at orientation.

I find myself not only balanced, I am thankful.

I’ve been to Wal-Mart and I’ve witnessed some of the oddest people in my local area shopping for food, clothes, and toiletries. My Wal-Mart does offer some entertainment, but I try not to notice and feed off of it. I even scold my kids for pointing it out. Not everyone is graced with high levels of intelligence or just good old fashion common sense. You take what you’re given and you work with it.

That being said, it was like a car crash, I had to review the website. If CNN reported on it, it had to be good. I tried to peek at the website, but again, the server was overloaded and no more visitors could gain access. I forgot about it until this morning when I checked CNN for the news of the day and saw the article again.

I admit I went and I laughed. Not necessarily at the people, but at the goat and the monkey who apparently also like to shop for low cost goods. I recently saw a woman at my grocery store with a dog in her purse. Obviously, this occurs not just at a Meijer store in Michigan, but also at Wal-Mart stores across the country. The best part of this morning’s entertainment was the fact that these young men are making money on this website through ads and they are giving back to charity. One idea that took off and most likely happened in an instant is now an income and a service to the community.

While the website does feature overweight people in skimpy clothes, I’m trying to look past this and focus on the positive aspects of the charity they are passing on through their visitors and advertisements. After all, these two young men are living the American dream of get rich quick! Our parents always told us “get rich quick schemes” didn’t happen, but this was well before the days of social media, Facebook, and MySpace.

In the fifties, if some drama occurred, the women rallied in their kitchens bake a basket of muffins or a casserole to soften the trauma, illness, or emotional upset of a fellow mommy and her family. While the modern mom may bake something, she is more likely to seek out her superpowers and go to work. In the case of my mommies and friends, this means you throw a party.

I’ve mentioned my friend Bonnie before and how I established an online support group called Betties for Bonnie. I have also noted I am just a small part of this large community of love and friendship. Last weekend a small segment of this group whipped up two separate parties for my gal Bon. While I only attended one event, it was a testament to the modern mother.

Instead of having a bake sale, Lisa – a teacher by day – brought together a group of women to throw a party and hold a silent auction. She took over our subdivision clubhouse, threw in a band – thank you Mr. Moody – and her fellow mommies brought food and other necessities. Did Lisa have any experience in fundraising? Nope. But obviously didn’t need it because she did a great job and produced a fun night that brought in a lot of money for medical bills and insurance premiums. And quite frankly, everyone who came had a great time

While Mother Nature did not play nice with our outside event, the mommies did. They all came out in the pouring rain to show their support and have a good time with their follow moms and husbands. It was more than a great night. It was a fabulous example of the modern mom who is unafraid of taking on new challenges, walking into unchartered territory, and simply taking control of world around her.

The modern mom may not iron her husband’s shirts or make sure there is a hot meal on the table every night. What we do is rally in true Betty Rubble style. We fight cancer, we take charge, and we do take care of our Betties when needed.

After a mishap with the bio-dad (remember we are a nontraditional family), my daughter was unable to come with us. So much for my afternoon off playing hooky with my two kids – can I stress the number two? My three-year-old son and I head off to pick up his three-year-old girlfriend, her two older brothers, one of their friends, and my girlfriend and fellow mommy. We head down to Dearborn, Michigan for our little adventure. Misadventure I should say as all did not go as I had planned or hoped.

The museum that was supposed to be “perfect for kids” was a huge let down to the older boys. My son and his honey were just happy to be together and hang with their mommies. After a few hours of battling pent up boy energy, we call it quits. While the museum was cool, it was designed for a retired car dude and not a seven-year-old boy.

My girlfriend takes it all in stride and we head north to her house for ice cream and some outside playtime. She admits she didn’t think it was a good idea, but went with me anyway because I wanted to go. I had to remind her that technomommies are clueless and to please speak up when I am headed off a cliff as I was today.

Thankfully my girlfriend loves me no matter how out of it I am when it comes to play dates. Obviously, I have other attributes that are worthy of friendship. I am still looking for these, but I am confident I will find them eventually.

Fast forward about three months and I’m half working, half manning a play date for my son and his friend. I decide today is the day; we are going to build the train! We can do it I think and it will be easy. Yeah, not so much.

Not only did it NOT look like the image on the box, I hear my son’s friend say “Look at the box. Your mom didn’t put it together right.” While his assessment was accurate, I tried. I’m a technomommy, not a crafty mom. I can build a website and optimizes it for Google, but heaven help me, I cannot create anything crafty no matter how hard I try.

A recent blog entry I wrote discussed a mom’s superpower. Obviously my superpower is not crafts and never will be. I wish the companies who make these products would realize this and begin to make projects for us technomommies. While I have virtually no ability to create crafts, I have a desire to bond with my children!

I believe in taking care of your own. I believe in small towns and those who derive income from the vacationers who come to spend quit weekends or lazy summer vacations. They are picturesque American and the heart and sole of our country. They are our roots and a constant reminder of the world before iPhones, wi-fi, and Tivo.

My mother-in-law has a cabin up in Hale, Michigan. This tiny little town is in the middle of nowhere and it completely small town USA. Flags line the one and only street in town, people are friendly, and life is simple. There isn’t even a McDonalds. The grocery store – there are only two – closes early and you have to watch the clock so that you can pick up supplies for dinner before the workers go home. You also have to stand in line at seven am for fresh black and white doughnuts that melt in your mouth. I love all of this and I love Hale.

A few years ago a grandmother I know was speaking of Uncle Kracker buying a cottage on Long Lake. She said “the lake isn’t going to be the same now that cousin whoever bought a place”. She proceed to rant slightly about The Bachelor TV crew filming on the lake when bachelor Bob was popular and that the music crowd was going to party it up and remove the small town feel.

While I love Carrie and suspected she may be right, she was actually wrong. Cousin somebody was really Uncle Kracker. His love for Hale and the residents of this tiny town is evident in his video. He takes the best of Hale and proudly displays it to the world. His love and admiration for the people of this small town is apparent. While I liked this song before, I fell in love with it once I saw the video and the images of the city of Hale that I hold dear.

For us Hale is a magical place. It is quit and calm. It includes the cabin that was built by my in-laws many years ago when the children were small, space limited, and laughter filled the air. It includes lines on the wall that mark my daughter’s growth spurts, as well as water shoes that my children wore when they we just babies. It is family. I am so happy that Uncle Kracker sees this family and uses his media power to show it to the world.

It just makes me Smile.

I spent the next ten minutes or so discussion the merits of eco-based living. I told her we already recycle and that our township in Michigan accepts virtually everything, which I love. I told her I nag at the family about leaving lights on to conserve energy and that the lights we do us are eco friendly lights. I explained that I spent three thousand dollars the summer before to buy recycled mulch for our flowerbeds and that out entire yard is literally filled with rubber tires. I told her that I regularly use reusable shopping bags in an effort to be green. In actuality I love these bags and find them much more mommy friendly, but this would not have helped my case.

So after our discussion, Al Gore climbed off the soapbox and headed off to return to life as a nine year old. Unfortunately the subject was brought up rarely after that and even when I try, Al Gore rarely makes a reappearance in my home.

I was reminded of this experience this morning as I read yet another news article on Jennifer Granholm’s efforts to turn Michigan into a Green jobs hub filled with clean energy efforts and eco friendly employers. While she is doing a great job sustaining this momentum, I am not. My daughter has forgotten about the importance of being green and I wonder how I can be a bit more like Jennifer.

Other hot costumes include Wonder Woman for adults, Transformers for the boys, and a snazzy candy corn witch for the girls.  The kids will be in heaven with the news costumes straight from the Transformers Bumblebee and Star Wars movies. And while Hanna Montana is still taking center stage for girls, the classics return as Strawberry Shortcake and Disney princesses make for fun and updated outfits.

Hot Halloween Costumes for 2009 – Kids

• Disney – Aladdin
• Disney Princess – Snow White and Sleeping Beauty
• Star Wars – Stormtroppers and C-3PO, R2D2
• Marvel – Wolverine Origins, Hulk, Captain American
• Star Trek – Classic Costumes and Little Spock
• DC Comics – Watchmen and Batman
• Sesame Street – Ernie

Hot Halloween Costumes for 2009 – Adults

• Sexy – Harlequin, Vampires, Naughty Habits
• Historical – Viking Princess, Knights, and Gangsters
• TV & Movie Characters – Various Elvis Costumes and Michael Jackson
• Plus Size Costumes – Hot Devil
• Humorous – Pretty Playing Card
• Fairytale & Storybook – Mother Nature
• Couples – Zoot Suits
• Retro TV & Movies – Marilyn Monroe and Michael Myers
• Witches & Monsters – Playboy Witch
• Space/Aliens – Classic Star Trek
• Occupations – Dr. Shots
• Food & Beverages - M & M’s for Him and Her, Booberry, Baked Potato

My superpower is not nearly as awesome as my grandmother’s had been some twenty years ago. That being said, her actions imprinted my soul and she taught me charity begins at home, work, church, or within your subdivision.

What is my superpower? It isn’t gardening, an Einstein-like mind, patience, or athletics, even though I would have given anything to be Nadia Comaneci as a child. And although I can whip up a mean Thanksgiving dinner, it isn’t cooking. My superpower is Internet marketing, technology, and organization, which in my household, is also referred to as a control freak.

How do I use my superpower? I use technology to help when help is needed and when I am completely ill prepared to help in other ways. I have built websites for charities, I have helped organize and promote fundraising events, I am the Girl Scout cookie mom each year, and I’ve organized and set up a support group for my friend Bonnie. Bonnie is a breast cancer survivor who recently had her cancer return. At the kick off meeting for this event I spoke about superpowers. As the need for vegetarian meals was brought up, I saw many eyes glass over in fear. I immediately said cooking a vegetarian meal was not my superpower and thus I would not be cooking. I said we needed to each find our own superpower and use it to help benefit Bonnie and her family. And we have and I believe done so well. I have been emotionally touched time and again by the actions of others. I created a support website using Lotsahelpinghands.com, my friend Jill sold raffle tickets with her sales superpower, Kenny mowed the lawn with his superpower, Christian rallied his band and played at an event with his superpower, and so on.

God has granted us each a superpower and I believe one key to both professional success and personal enrichment is to figure out what this superpower is and to embrace it.

I actually did not even notice it had occurred until just recently. This summer I returned to my hometown of Grayling, Michigan for a funeral and a twenty-year class reunion. At both events people commented about this noticeable change. At the funeral my beloved sister looked at me and asked how and when did it occur. I told her I could attribute the change to my friend Jen, her patience, and her continued effort to broaden my horizons. At my reunion a classmate walked up to my husband and asked him how the transformation can be pass. He laughed and said a girlfriend desensitized me. He shared this with me on our way home and when I thought about the event, I realized I voluntarily walked up to everyone I spoke with and proactively hugged each and every one of them. I would not have done that is a million years back in school.

So the moral of my story is that you too can be a hugger. While I would typically say a leopard cannot change his spots, I will say he can learn to hug freely. If needed, I can have Jen write a guest blog where she teaches the proper techniques for changing a girlfriend’s faults overtime. She is, after all, rather good at it.

In the mix of the pregnancy of my son Hunter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Shortly after his birth my difficult struggle with gestational diabetes ceased and I was back to normal. My OBGYN actually wanted to write about my case in a medical journal. Then reality hit and he quickly changed his mind.

After a slap in the face at my gestational follow up, I was sent to a new doctor who quickly became my hero. My newly found endocrinologist correctly diagnosed me as a LADA or as having type 1.5 diabetes. Which in basic terms means I have juvenile diabetes, but contracted it well into my adult life. This also means I do not produce insulin properly and more importantly I did not obtain this disease due to poor eating habits or by being overweight. While I do not exercise, I eat well and I am well within my ideal weight.

This may feel like a death sentence for some, but really, it is not. Even though my father died of type 2 diabetes while I was pregnant with my son, I know from first hand experience it is controllable. His diabetes was more by choice and a severe lack of control, where as mine is due to genetics. I will take this genetic trait, as it is much better then some of the other factors I have floating around in my DNA. My mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was six months old and I only ever knew her as “sick” with MS. When I compare the two, there is no comparison.

So I began my journey into the unknown world of type 1.5 diabetes. It has been four years now and I know my story is so much better than others in my situation. I started a LADA group on Facebook and I have found not all LADA patients get diagnosed properly or quickly. Again, my endo is my hero.

Thanks to the great folks at Medtronics, my insulin pump arrived yesterday. My training will take place in a few weeks and I will be forever tied to a device. When I asked my endo about placement and complained about the insulin pump creating tan lines, his ever so frank reply was “Rebecca a tan line is better than dead”. And so the reason I love him so. Direct and to the point just like I prefer. He will not only spend an hour educating me one on one, he also tells me to stop whining.

I considered this a blessing and I am thankful every day for my insurance and my ability to manage this disease. I say I am a survivor and I am. My stubbornness will see me through this challenge and my OCD nature will keep me healthy. I eagerly await the usage of my little purple pump and the change it will have on my every day life. I also eagerly await the effect this lesson will have on my children. They and their friends are very aware of my condition and the fact that I diligently monitor and take care of my special needs. This has taught them and continues to teach them that life is not always easy, challenges will arise, but the smart will persevere. And while some may question this statement, I know it is true. My daughter Ally proudly tells people my story and that unlike my father, I do everything I can to control the uncontrollable. It is actually something she shares too liberally and with way to many people. But the love she oozes as she does, makes me smile and I know she has learned a valuable life lesson.

My Christmas Decorations

• I believe in putting up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend and filling the tree with as many Christmas ornaments as it can hold.
• I believe in small white lights and lots of silver ribbon.
• I believe you can have artificial trees, but you must fill your house with pine scented candles.
• I believe in an angel at the top of the Christmas tree and ornaments that are thirty years old hanging along the side.
• I believe that ever Christmas tree should have at least a dozen birds hidden for children to find.
• I believe in wrapping a few Christmas presents early, so the Christmas tree doesn’t look or feel lonely.
• I believe there is nothing as pretty as a Christmas tree at night, sparkling in the dark, as children lay in front gazing in amazement.
• I believe Christmas decorations should be both beautiful and sentimental.
• I believe my Snow Village Christmas set is as pretty as it could be and that each broken piece holds a memory.
• I believe Christmas brings out the best in us
• I believe in Santa Claus.

Ingredients

• Salmon lox
• Cream cheese, softened
• Sour cream
• Chives
• Lemon zest

Directions

• Chop salmon into small pieces.  Pass a few to the cat if he/she is awake,.
• Mix cream cheese , sour cream, and salmon.
• Stir in chives and lemon zest.
• Transfer to serving dish and refrigerate for about four hours or so.
• Taste test and add chives and lemon zest as needed.
• Serve with variety of crackers.