That’s one of the reasons I loved this post from Jessica Ashley at Sassafras.  I usually find these coincidences of nature when I’m not looking for them, so I loved how her son, with his closer to the ground perspective, found one in their home.  And as he said, just like love, it was there all the time, even though he wasn’t looking for it.

When it comes to the political, there’s always room for humor.  That’s why I loved Jenny’s take on SOPA at The Bloggess:

Karen at Chookooloonks always reminds me of things to be grateful for, and that I should find at least one moment each day just to breathe.

And while I’m shaking my head in wonder over the amazingly beautiful images Karen takes (and how she doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to come to her house one day and make her teach me her magic!), I’m trying to find my own way with Andrea and her amazing class at Superhero Journal and Superhero Photo.  I don’t get to do the prompts everyday, but the inspiration is in my head.  I’ll get there soon.

Image by Joanne Bamberger.  All rights reserved.

If this guy like Mothers of Intention, isn’t that the best book endorsement an author could ask for?

If you’re attending, I hope you’ll join me for my panel on Saturday morning, Radical Mom Blogging: You’d Be Crazy Not to Take These Women Seriously!

My co-panelists are Annie from PhD in Parenting and Stephanie Roberts of Shutter Sisters fame and the Picture Hope project!

We’ll be talking about how our motherhood experiences have turned us all “radical” in our writing, our blogging and our approach to life, and how we’ve tried to use that radical side to help make positive change in the world!

Come on!  Bring rcoffee and danish!  We’ll have fun!

Pondering Sarah Palin’s claim that she’s the face of the “new” feminism at my weekly column, Speaker of the House.

Trying to get my head around the fact that two-thirds of third- and fourth graders in my community are seriously lagging in their reading skills.

Hanging with my photography peeps.

And my MOMocrat pals.

Playing with my new favorite iPhone app.

And resisting the temptation to take a match to all the unfiled paperwork on my desk! 

But those sly Kirtsy ladies Laurie Smithwick and Laura Mayes had been taunting me and teasing me for a couple of weeks beforehand about the “surprise” they had waiting for me.  They wouldn’t give me any hints about it other than to say I needed to be at the Friday night event featuring the photography of so many women I already knew, both in real life and online.

I knew none of my attempts at arty photography were included, so I wasn’t sure what was up.

As any good friend, I dutifully listened to their admonitions (I wouldn’t have missed the party anyway!), and made my way to the event — Mom 2.0 Defining a Movement Art Exhibit.  This is what I found waiting for me:

In addition to displaying the amazingly moving and beautiful photography of many of the attendees, they also had commissioned a variety of new pieces of art work that combined work of incredibly talented artists with the words of bloggers, including my own.

I was moved beyond words and could not believe these women — who are my friends, my colleagues, my muses and my heroes — had decided to honor me with this amazing work of art.

Needless to say, there were a lot of tears involved.  Fortunately, you can’t see them in this photo that Sarah took!

I can’t guarantee one of these for every Sunday this year, but I thought this would be a good start.

Image by PunditMom

I’d say 12 inches and counting

That oughta keep ‘em inside working for a while

Mr. PunditMom isn’t coming over to Capitol Hill with his snowblower until you work out some decent legislation!

UPDATE: We clearly will not be sending Mr. PunditMom to Capitol Hill, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is capitulating to Senator Ben Nelson about even MORE restrictive language on abortion & women’s health care.  This isn’t a health care “starter home” as Reid proclaimed; this is shack in a back alley.

Mr. PunditMom and I did eat at this establishment on a quick 24 hour getaway to Virginia.  And the sandwiches were DEE-licious!

While my Nikon D60 is in the shop getting evaluated from some problems I’ve been having with it, it’s nice to have a loaner camera! I’m trying out the Nikon L100, which is sort of a hybrid — a cross between a point and shoot and a full SLR.  It’s a little more complicated than I thought it would be, but I feel that way about any new electronic thing I get my hands on!

Can you say luddite?