Well, it''s finally here. Tomorrow I jet set off to BlogHer and I swear to God, it''s all I''ve talked about since I was afforded my E ticket a la the fabulous people at Minti.

Mom 101 wrote a hilarious and spot-on post about it. And so did Motherhood Uncensored among hoards others I''m sure. I haven''t had a minute to catch my breath so I won''t be writing much about it tonight. I haven''t even packed for goodness sakes. FREAK OUT! But if you''re going or you''re not, the posts above are funny funny funny.

And, while I''m away I''d love it if you''d consider submitting one of your posts about motherhood (any interpretation of the word) to the Mom Blogger''s Carnival. Since I''m in party mode, let''s ''Carnival'' together, shall we?? Drinks all around! And beads?? Sure beads for everyone. The scoop can be found at Jennifer''s blog Joyride Through Insanity (which is like one of my most favorite kick-ass, how to get it done as a business woman and a mother blog-and yes, Jennifer makes it look easy)!

Email me at maypapers@yahoo.com with the link to YOUR post BY JULY 30th please and on August 1st over at Picture This I''ll be hosting the Carnival post! Don''t be shy. Send something you''re proud of. And/or pictures, you can send pictures! That''s allowed ya know...to be proud of a post you wrote and pictures you took. Yes, it is. Don''t argue with me.

Alright then, catch you on the flip side peeps. San Jose or bust. I mean San Jose and bust. Lots and lots of them, I''m sure. And you know I''ll have a camera.

Warm and Fuzzy

Here''s the warm:
I am super-excited to announce the launch of the new and improved warmtone.com.

There''s supposed to be a picture right here but blogger is giving me a rash, and won''t let me insert one. Damn you Blogger. Damn you.

And now for the fuzzy:
I am all a tingle for my dear friend Sue as she''s got a fantastic story published at Imperfect Parent. Any parent site with the tagline "release your inner screwup" is good by me. I hope you will stop over and read what she''s got. It is a piece near and dear to my heart. Boy, can I relate! Anyone else feel her pain?

OK, so Blogger won''t even give me the spell-check today! Arg! The humanity. I see typepad in my future.

Yes, I''m doing it again.

Here''s a little something of late that you might enjoy (especially if you have daughters)

The other night as I tucked my 8-year-old daughter into bed, I was stroking her back, as I do every night and was looking around her room. It was dimly lit by the hall light, but I could see just enough to remind me of what an incredibly strong, smart, and confident girl my husband and I are raising...

I said I was doing it again. If you want to read this piece in it''s entirety it''s right here.

Seriously, I''m not just doing this for kicks but out of necessity. I''m finding it impossible for me to be everywhere at once, damn it, no matter how much I''d like to be. So this is the kind of thing you''re probably going to have to get used to. My apologies.

And although I have no business being here today (because of other pressing commitments that I''m putting off to do this) I want to just elaborate on the Mom Blogging group I''ve started at Minti. ONLY because a few of you asked. I know everyone is sick of registering at sites to get the goods, blah, blah. I get it. And I wish I had some great "about it" thing I could use to describe it but, truth be told, I don''t know. It''s my own idea that I have come up with and it''s in it''s infancy. Like any baby, there''s no telling what soul could emerge as it grows. So, it''s still kind of a mystery. I can tell you what I hope it will be. I hope it will be a group where the caliber of women involved sets the bar for some insightful dialogue and sharing of thoughts, tips, advice, rantings, and encouraging stuff. That''s all I got for ya. I can tell you that there are 20 pretty awesome Mom Bloggers that are on board and the talk has started. If you come, then you too can have a hand in making it amazing.

And please, don''t get me started on my new Flickr photo pool that I''ve begun that will be accompanying my ClubMom blog Picture This. OK, yes, it''s true. I am starting one. Damn it. I can''t help myself. And although I am not a big fan of the Flickr, I see what fun it could be in a group setting where we can share photos using the topics from Picture This. So, what do you say, you gonna click over and check that out too???????????????? It''s called "Try to Picture This". I soooo know you''re curious.

What I Consider Cool

My new Mom Bloggers group at Minti
This is a group I hope all of you moms with blogs decide to join. It''s a private forum of sorts where we can talk motherhood, blogging, careers, creativity, and anything else we want. Why? Because it''s ours...aaaall ours...to discuss whatever it is we want. Pick each others brains, ask some question, get some answers, rant, rave, whatever. I''m excited about it and hope you come join the party. I think it''s gonna be great! There''s already some really great bloggers on board-
Friday Playdate, One Smarmy Mama, and the Rookie Moms to name a few. Come on over. You''ll have to shoot me an email a la my Minti Mail with your name and blog info and then I''ll add you to the list! We''ll be talking some serious mom blog shop.

Moving Pictures
Hooray, my baby sister started blogging! Well, OK, she''s not really a baby and she''ll hate that I called her that but it''s my blog and I can say whatever I want. Anyway, go say hello and share some virtual love as she begins her adventures in blogging.

Pamela Kruger
The Novemeber 2005 issue of Child was an incredibly poignant "Work and Family" special edition. I remember many of the articles vividly and went on a quest to get every woman to read them. I was lending my copy out, sharing what I learned, and pretty much freaking out at what I considered to be a very enlightening issue. My favorite article was called "Working at Home-Reality Vs. Myth" by Pamela Kruger. The title alone makes me drool. And then, it hit me so hard I was moved to tears. And it''s not even a sad article! It just was exactly what I needed te read, when I needed to read it.
Fast forward to the August 2006 issue of Child. Pamela offered yet another wonderful story that pretty much hit the Tracey nail on the head. Again. So, I shot her off an email to tell her how wonderful she is and guess what I found? Her website and blog and past articles posted on her site. EUREKA! There it was, THE "Working at Home" article. Go read it. It''s awesome.

Job Offer
Looks like the folks from Minti are hiring. Want a job working for the coolest Aussie''s on the web? Check it out and go for it.

Blogher Conference
Only 20 days until the big conference. I get to meet Kristen, Liz, Andrea, some of the ClubMom Bloggers, my Minti friends, Her Bad Mother, Sweatpants Mom (please, someone tell me she''s going!), the Red Stapler, the list of attendees goes on and on and I am just plain giddy. By the way, if you''re still looking to go, keep checking out the Blogher site. I''ve seen tix coming up for sale now and again.


That seems sufficient for today''s list of cool.
Am I missing anything??

Things Remembered

Julia and I had some time together tonight. Time alone, just she and I, which is rare anymore with a toddler in the house. It was about a half hour before bedtime and although I had piles of work to do and she was content playing a computer game, I asked her to steal away with me to the back yard for a bowl of ice cream. She jumped up and down, enthusiastically agreed, and bounded to the kitchen for the ice cream. The days have been really warm for the last few weeks but the evening temperatures drop quickly as the sea air creeps in, cool and moist. We were dressed in our day clothes, shorts and tees, so we grabbed our sweatshirts and our full bowls and ventured outside. I spied a blanket on the way out and took that too. We sat on the patio couch together and snuggled in........

Yes, there is more to this story...please click here to read the rest at Minti.

"I can be so tricky", she says rubbing her hands together in the most sinister way.
And throw me a bone and comment on it over there, would ya?? Pretty please?