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LIVE with Kelly and Emily (and Ovaries)!

So something crazy happened to me today… I skyped with Kelly Ripa! (If you’re my Facebook friend, you’ll note that my status update says the exact same thing – but I just like saying it, it makes me feel cool). It was so fun, and she’s just as friendly and approachable as she seems on TV. She also has a very important message she wants to share with all of our readers.

Kelly Ripa and Electrolux appliances have teamed up to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF), whose mission it is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer. They’re going back to basics in terms of raising money and encouraging everyone to have a lemonade stand… but with an up-to-date twist – it’s all online. For every virtual lemonade stand created here, Electrolux will donate $1 to OCRF, and after you create your stand, you can raise even more money by selling your own virtual glasses of lemonade. Oh – and you’ll also be entered to win an amazing French Door Refrigerator from Electrolux!

This is a hugely important cause, and not one we often hear about. But believe it or not, ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women. It’s often called the “silent killer” because they symptoms are often vague and by the time it’s diagnosed, it’s often in an advanced stage. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer, but there are tests that can detect it when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms. The most effective way women can protect themselves against ovarian cancer is to learn the signs and symptoms – the OCRF website is a wealth of information, and I encourage you all to go there and learn more.

I would have been happy to Skype with Kelly Ripa and spread the word about any important cause, but this one hits particularly close to home. My mom died of ovarian cancer at 36. And people? That shouldn’t happen to anyone.

So please, go to ElectroluxAppliances.com and open your own virtual lemonade stand. It’s easy and fun, and they have all the tools you need to share your stand and the message of ovarian cancer awareness with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Click here to see the stand I made (you can even buy a glass if you want!).

Remember when I said I Skyped with Kelly Ripa? Here’s the video. Please take a minute to hear Kelly’s important message about her involvement with OCRF

Is that cool or what? A huge thanks to Kelly Ripa and Electrolux appliances for speaking with me and supporting such an important cause, and to Maria Bailey and BSM Media for thinking of Mommin’ It Up.

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Sammy Chatter

All of the sudden, almost over night, it seems like Sammy is talking a lot! It sounds weird to say “it seems” because he is talking a lot, but since he is the second child and I have no time to read weekly “Here’s what your kid should be doing” emails from Babycenter, I have no idea if he’s actually talking a lot for a 14-month-old or not. And contrary to my type-A neurotic personality, I don’t really care.

He is talking a lot for him, anyway, and it is SO CUTE.

He’s been saying “Mama,” “Dada,” and – his favorite – “ball” for several months now, but now his vocabulary has expanded to include “night night,” “down,” “Daisy” (his sitter’s dog), “Papa,” umm…. and other stuff that I can’t think of right now.

It’s so exciting to watch his speech develop, because it seems like he’s saying something, or several things, new every day. Last night was the first time I ever got him to perform – I’d ask him to say one of his words and he’d repeat it. This morning, when he woke up and I went to get him out of his crib, and he said “I want down” plain as day. I said “You want down?” and he said “I want down.” So I did this several more times until he looked at me like “Seriously lady, how many times do I have to tell you?”

He’s so smart and so cute. (yes, I know I’m his mom.) He still can’t walk.

But the boy can dance.

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A Walk on the Wild Side

Ok so last Friday, Andy and I had this big night planned – we were going to go see one of our very favorite singer/songwriters, Todd Snider, play at the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky, and since I had won a free night’s stay at the Hyatt from Jo-Lynne it was my birthday, we were going to stay in Cincinnati for the night. And to add to our already exciting plans, my girl Amy in Ohio was going to the concert too – I was soooooper pumped.

We started off the evening at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Margaritas, and then we were ready to head to the concert. We stepped out on the sidewalk to hail a cab, when Andy said “You know, we could just walk. It can’t be that far.”

“Look, we can see Kentucky.”

He was right, and after a few margaritas big dinner, it sounded like a pretty good idea.

So off we went.

Let me provide some visual aids so you can in fact see what geniuses we are.

Here’s where we were:

And here’s where we needed to be:

So, here’s what we should have done:

But here’s what we did:

As you can see, we walked across the wrong (and completely terrifying, I might add) bridge, and then walked in a GIANT circle around the fine city of Covington, KY, before winding up at the foot of said terrifying bridge once again.

At that point, I sent this text message to my good friend and Northern Kentucky native Emilie:

“We thought we could walk to the Southgate House from Margaritas on 5th St.. We’ve been walking in bleeping circles around covington and we are still miles away.”

Her response?

“Oh no! if you’re in covington you’re a long bleeping way from southgate house. Hope u wore comfy shoes”

Grrrrreat.

By this point we decided that a cab was the most prudent choice for the remainder of our journey, but since they aren’t found in abundance in the fine city of Covington, KY, we had to stop and ask a nice hostess at a neighborhood restaurant to call one for us. As we waited, I got a call from Amy asking where the heck we were. I told her the truth – we were waiting for a cab in Covington – but failed to mention the sojourn that had gotten us there.

Oh, and the best part? All this time I had the brand new Garmin my dad had given me just hours earlier in my purse. Of course, that did not occur to me until the following day.

Finally, our cab came and we arrived safely at the Southgate House. We went upstairs to find not only Amy and her husband but also Shannan, who had no idea who Todd Snider was but wanted to hang out with me and Amy enough to give up her Friday night anyway.

Before long, though, the story of our hike through the hills of my old Kentucky home came out.

Shannan said “I feel so bad – Amy told me you are staying in Covington. I could have picked you up – I drive right through there.”

“Well… we’re actually staying at the Hyatt. We just thought we’d walk over here, but then we ended up taking a cab once we got to Covington.”

Shannan looked at me quizzically. “You tried to walk here from downtown Cincinnati?” she said slowly, as though she were trying to process completely illogical information.

“Yeah,” I said. “We could see Kentucky.”

“Hahahahhahaha you could see Kentucky!” she burst out laughing. “Oh, you cute northerners.”

Cute, dumb… take your pick.

Anyway…we had such a good time. The Captain Morgan music was great, but the company was better. I just love those girls. I wanted to squeeze them. I get all oogly when I think about it – it was just the greatest night.

I had warned Amy earlier in the day that I was likely to get tipsy really excited and express my undying love for her.

I don’t think she or I either one anticipated that the expression of love would be found on the bathroom wall.

So Jenny? In terms of the list of things I should do during my 30s? You can mark “tight rope walk across the Ohio River” and “Deface public property” off the list.

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