Say It Forward – Carnival of Loyal Commenters is a new weekly carnival at 5 Minutes for Mom.com where I can feature my loyal commenters and read about featured commenters on other blogs.

First I'd like to feature Elizabeth from The Divine Gift of Motherhood. She has commented on just about every post I've ever written. Her encouragement as a blogger and parent has really boosted me. Here's how Elizabeth describes her blog:

"A Catholic write-at-home mother of four from Long Island, shares poetry and prose about the family life and other topics of interest."

Here's a comment from Elizabeth, who has also become my good friend. We have a lot in common. She probably knows me the best out of all commenters.

"You have me in stitches over here! I'm sorry you had such a bad morning but you made my night. If that makes any sense at all. I hope it does :)"

Next I'd like to highlight a commenter who is not a blogger, but a friend of mine from college, GT. He often sparks further discussion on my posts, and I really appreciate his readership.

Here's something GT said once in regard to one of my faith-related posts that really made my day:

"In the many years between our last conversations from our SJC days and our recent re-acquaintance via Facebook, one of the lasting memories I had of you was how you approached your faith and how genuine it appeared to me as someone who to this day struggles with it. This passage really captures it in a beautiful way. It's nice to know that you still hold that point of view and that you are willing to share with and inspire the rest of us out here in cyberspace.-GT"

Finally I'd like to mention Jen at Are You There God? It's Me Generation X. Jen has taught me so much about designing a blog and networking with others through the information she shares on her site. Here's what Jen says about herself and her blog:

"i live in oklahoma city. this blog is a quiet revolution. it's about Generation X (those former latchkey kids born between 1961-81) at the intersection of faith and culture. i write about marriage, family, kids, career, culture, God, religion, politics, and sometimes, oklahoma. "

Here's a comment from Jen that really made me smile:

"Loren, more than any other blogger on the planet, I connect with your passion for Jesus and the Christian walk. And, I read a lot of blogs...I wish we lived closer. =)"


I'll be thanking three more commenters next Friday. Forgive me if I left you out this week. There are several more commenters that I want to thank publicly here. I really appreciate all of your comments and I promise I will highlight you in the future. Have a great weekend!

Dear Readers,

I'm very excited to be attending the BlogHer Conference in Chicago this July where I will be selling subscriptions and advertising space for Mom Writer's Literary Magazine. This is my first time at a conference for bloggers, and I've heard it is the largest one offered for blogging women. I have read quite a bit about attendees who are promoting products by various sponsors at the conference, and I'd love to do this too! It would be fun to wear a product, or maybe film an informal video commercial for a product at one of the cocktail parties at BlogHer. I would really enjoy blogging about these experiences later.

Here is some information about me for potential sponsors:
I am a mother of three young children, strongly grounded in my faith and well-educated. In addition to spreading the word about MWLM, I'm interested in promoting clever products that reinforce the idea that a woman is not defined by any particular role. She is rather, a multifaceted human being with many layers of experience. If you think I am a fit for promoting your product at BlogHer Chicago, contact me at lorenc_2000@yahoo.com or leave a comment here.

Although Mom Writer's Literary Magazine is not sponsoring my trip, this publication has helped me as a writer and blogger in multiple ways. As a new blogger in March 2008, the staff of MWLM included my writing on their site, and helped me attract an audience of faithful readers. The staff members at MWLM are talented and published writers. Networking with them has provided me with a great deal of encouragement as a writer and support as a mother.

Mom Writer's Literary Magazine promotes the idea that motherhood is literary. It is motherhood expressed as visual art and literature. MWLM showcases mothers with a passion for writing. My first column Welcome to My Circus appeared in the Spring/Summer 2009 print and online version of MWLM. I am so thrilled to be a part of the MWLM team and it is my pleasure to represent this great magazine at BlogHer 2009 in Chicago.

I'd like to invite you to subscribe to Mom Writer's Literary Magazine. We are offering a Summer Special right now, 25% off the subscription price. If you are not a mom, I bet you know one who would appreciate this publication. You can also call toll free 877-382-6771 to order.

If you have a blog or a business, MWLM is a great place to advertise. Mom Writer's Literary Magazine has ranked for the past three years in Writer's Digest Top 101 Websites for Writers. Online MWLM has over 65,000 unique viewers monthly. For $75 your blog or business ad will be posted on our Marketplace page for six months. Our print magazine offers bloggers 1/4 page ad in our Fall/Winter 2009 issue for $50. Full rate information is located here. Contact me at loren@momwriterslitmag.com to place your ad.

If you are going to BlogHer I hope to meet you!



Sincerely,

Loren Christie

My small successes this week (from a parenting perspective) are:

1. I hired a mommy's helper for the summer, so I can move about the house freely once in a while, (such a huge relief when my husband works long hours).

2. Today I escaped to the basement and cleaned it out while my teenage helper was upstairs with the kids.

3. I spent an hour at a nursing home today with my oldest son, helping the elderly play Bingo. In the car ride home, we talked about what was fun and interesting about helping "the wise grandmas and papas in the retirement home."


Go to Faith and Family Live to read more blogger parents' small successes.

Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong had their moments, and now it's my turn. I didn't discover a continent or a moon, but believe me, it's a big step for Loren. Imagine a world of machines that make you feel as if you are walking on the moon, or maybe, playing in a gerbil cage. It is a land enclosed in tinted glass, inhabited by sweaty people trying to get buff. In this strange galaxy there is a wonderful room where a kindly woman watches all of the planet's children. I can close the door and run away to any part of the mirrored galaxy, and set out on an expedition to nowhere for as long as I like while watching SpongeBob on a flat screen above my machine. I got a gym membership last week. I ask myself today as I wave goodbye to the kids and step on a treadmill, why did I not think to do this before?

Like any wild, uncharted territory, Gym Land can be dangerous. My family preps me about the customs and perils of this place over fourth of July hamburgers. I find out that there is drama at Gym Land. It's a reality T.V. soap opera: All My (Buff) Children.

"Everybody is checking out everybody else. There are lots of hot women. Watch out for creepy dudes," warns my younger, bachelor brother.

"Don't use the shower," adds my very clean mom.

So I make a point not to take off my wedding and engagement rings when I go there, to sort of protect myself from negative attention.

It turns out that just like in the soaps, people hang out in clusters in sections of the gym. I can walk to different areas and listen to various "scenes." There's the group of divorced moms talking about their dating life or their rotten husbands on the step masters, retired guys discussing their summer houses over by the weights. Then there are people like me, who just use the machines and watch SpongeBob. (Okay, maybe I'm the only one doing that.)

On the treadmill I hit stop abruptly and nearly fall off after experimenting with the speed. To my left a young woman is running on a treadmill and texting at the same time. This circus trick fascinates me. I can't even talk and drive at the same time. I find a comfortable pace, then turn down SpongeBob to overhear a conversation between two men at a card table a few feet away from me. (I guess poker is exercise.) A stocky short guy in a wife-beater tee is sitting with another man who works at the front desk. They are scanning the room for "chicks," and I am eavesdropping. I wonder if they know that Happy Days is no longer making cast calls. I snicker to myself at my own joke, (because that's what I do when I eavesdrop).

They look over in my direction and I start to get self conscious. There is another lady next to me, a skinny, pretty blond.

"That chick, right there." says the guy in the wife-beater, as he opens a Pepsi. He waves his Pepsi in my general direction.


"Which one, the blond?" asks the gym worker.

"No the other chick."

I look to my left expecting to see a "chick" or maybe another female person, but it's just me and the blond in this corner.

"Dude. Three kids in the playroom and a ring. Look."

The guy squints, then glances back at his friend, surprised.

"Aw, damn. Okay. How 'bout the blond."

I look over at the blond, who is obliviously cross country skiing in her imagination with an IPod in her ears. I laugh a little too loud because I can not believe that this conversation is a serious one. The men stop talking and look over.

"SpongeBob." I say pointing to my little T.V.


They nod and go back to talking in hushed tones. I'm like Nemo the fish swimming inside an anemone, I think. My rings and children protect me from the poisonous aspect of the gym, the lurking tentacles. I laugh again. My brain is trapped in Disney World.


The men don't look up this time. They are focused on the baseball game on a large wall-mounted flat screen above me. I wonder if "chick" is new slang for the word television. Now, That would explain what I just heard. I decide.

I walk four miles on the treadmill and run another two. Sweaty and tired after 40 minutes of really good exercise, I gather my duckling bodyguards from the playroom. They tell me publicly how much I need a bath and cling to my legs protectively as we parade out of Gym Land exchanging smiling nods with all the inhabitants: fitness explorers, and lurkers.


Picture is me from my phone on the treadmill at Gym Land.

Thank you Elizabeth for awarding me the HONEST SCRAP blogger award. I have been a particularly bad influence on Elizabeth in the category of spilling the honesty beans. She is my biggest writing fan! Elizabeth lists her honest scraps on her wonderful blog today, The Divine Gift of Motherhood.

Now...to keep this award, the rules are:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 4 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 4 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving it.

Ten honest things about myself.

Here goes:

1.) I summon Jesus far too many times a day, and if he appeared in the flesh, I bet he would be flipping-tables-mad to find out I called him away from heaven to help me clean baby Bigfoot's diaper explosion.

2.) Sometimes I use my husband's razor if I can't find mine.

3.) My first kiss, at fifteen, was so awful. I felt like I was attacked by a slug.

4.) My dinner often consists of SpongeBob-shaped macaroni and cheese with a glass of red wine.

5.) I wanted to go to Columbia University when I was a senior in H.S., but my grades were too mediocre.

6.) I own a Judy Garland box set of CDs.

7.) I just threw out my blankee tonight, because my kids ripped it beyond repair. It was a 31 year old Holly Hobbie comforter. I kissed it goodbye, then stuffed it in the garbage.

8.) I think my husband is hot.

9.) I hate and love Hell Hound at the same time.

10.) I love desserts that have a hot/cold contrast.

Now, I nominate the following honest bloggers:

Jen at:

Are you There God? It's Me, Generation X

- Jen is very honest and her blog is one of my favorites!

Paula at:

What did you do all day?

-Paula is creative and funny!

Caity the newlywed at:

Caity!

-because Caity sings like an angel, and she reads my blog regularly.

And Mr. Putz at:

Putz Places Blog

-because Mr. Putz is very interesting.