I feel the need to explain myself before tomorrow's giveaway announcement but two things first:
1) For Gramsie and Nantie: This is a Mother's Day gift spoiler alert. Please skip this post completely. Go on now..
Shoo!For my wonderful readers: This is going to be the longest winded post to date so please feel free to skip it and check back tomorrow. Ya'll have been warned..
'Splaination: A few weeks back I had a few extra minutes and was blog roll hopping. I came across
Confections Of A (Closet) Master Baker, did a double take and laughed out loud. I surfed over and found a darling little blog with some great writing. And boy howdy can this girl bake. Her creations looked mouth watering, sense of humor tickled my funny bone and I loved her new packaging.
I was hooked.
You see, back in the day I launched my own sweet shoppe and have a true envy (er, appreciation) for turning a dream into reality. With the encouragement of family and friends I took that leap of faith. I loved everything about it.. from creating my logo to the goods themselves. I hit the ground running and soon enough my sweets were selling in local boutiques, I launched my web site and had ads were running in the local paper:
I proudly partnered with
Victory Junction Gang Camp and created race car chocolates that sold as a fund raiser. Their approval process was pretty intense and I was honored to get their thumbs up.
My dream of dreams was to open a shop.
Sadly, that didn't happen. My "real" job cut our hours and I had to take on 2 more to make ends meet (I was single at the time). All this and staying up until 1am filling orders got the best of me. In a matter of months I had to shut my virtual doors and it broke my heart.
Fast forward to the present.
I find this cute blog by a girl that is living my old dream and mosey over to her online store.
Brilliant!! I've suddenly found my MIL's and Nantie's scrumptious Mother's Day gifts and it occurs to me later I've found my special giveaway treats to celebrate my Mommy readers and viewers of Adoption Angles.
Last weekend I searched through the site looking for gift certificates for the giveaway but didn't find them. So I wrote the company directly, explained my situation and asked for guidance. Can I simply send a short, business-like email? Of course not. I go in to this whole dissertation about wanting to give back to my blog/show friends with a sweet gift (pun intended) on a holiday that really hits home: Mother's Day. I miss my mom dearly and I feel the need to celebrate other Moms.. be it bio, stepmoms, caregivers .. you name it. Honestly I feel (as a foster mom) less significant. I wanted express to them what an honor it was for them to be "the chosen one" for such an important occasion. I may be a little fish in a big pond but these are gifts from my heart. In true me-style I blurb it all out and await a reply (time is a tickin' because I'm going to announce winners on my show on 5/5).
But I hear nothing.
Unfortunately, I am a natural born skimmer. I don't scour-read and take in all the info.. and sometimes it comes back to bite me in the bootie. Tuesday night I read through the site again and realize 1) I can just purchase the winners' chosen prizes as gifts (no certs needed) but worse: 2) I didn't realize the branches of her family tree and suddenly feel like an icky stalker. That evening I wrote again, apologizing for the previous email (the discovery of the gift option-which was a big
DUH) and basically told them I felt like a buffoon (my exact words).
The following afternoon, the world gets wind of some big adoption news and I about slid under my desk. I'm looking like a
complete stalker at this point. I had dropped a comment on her blog and realized it was never posted. I'm one of
them.
Unbelievable.I started to waffle on doing this particular giveaway. I thought maybe I should quietly slink away and leave well enough alone. I had already purchased the gifts for Gramsie and Nantie, let that be that and find another prize. However, after some reflection (and my own stubbornness getting the best of me.. Hello? I didn't do anything wrong) I have decided the giveaway will go on as planned.
SO that all being said, check back tomorrow for the low down on how you can win a most delectable treat. It's going to be a fun time and I'll announce the winners for the blog and show giveaway (there will be 4 total.. 2 from each) on Wednesday night's show!!!
If you made it this far, thanks for hanging in! I feel much better now..
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Judy is an adoptive parent and adoption advocate living in the Midwest with her husband and four children. She has mentored prospective adoptive and adoptive parents for over a decade about adoption—its joys and issues. Judy is a columnist for the adoption network, Grown in My Heart, focusing on transracial parenting, special needs, and teens and tweens. Her essays and articles appear in adoption and parenting magazines. Judy’s stories are featured in A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families (Adams Media), Pieces of Me: Who Do I Want to Be? (EMK Press), and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Mom (Chicken Soup for the Soul). She presented on “Finding Our Stories Online” at Story Circle Network’s Stories of the Heart. Judy works as an adoptive parent educator and also offers online classes for adoptive parents of tweens and teens at Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens and Beyond.
A big, "THANK YOU!!" to our friends at Company Kids for the totally fun (and darling) hooded Ducky towel we'll be giving away tonight to 1 lucky viewer! Please make sure to check out their web site.. it's loaded with DARLING products!
