Today my son was jumping on my bed and then laid down on my brown sheets and said, “Mommy, I’m stuck in the mud.”

“Well, pull yourself out of the mud,” I replied.

I have no idea where he got the idea of getting stuck in the  mud, except that maybe we’ve referenced it since we have so much water and muck in our backyard since Fay paid us a visit last week.

It’s a good lesson though. We all seem to get stuck in the mud at some point. Our answer should just be “pull yourself out.”

Elizabeth Edwards says the easiest diet she ever was on was when she was pregnant. Yes, it’s true. … Her quote in the recent “O Magazine” continues, “pregnant with gestational diabetes.”

Pregnant women everywhere dread taking the glucose test. Worry about negative results. Worry about having to stay away from sugar. But, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Elizabeth says,

I was so rigorous about my eating I actually lost weight. It wasn’t a diet for me to look some particular way (because there’s a part of mte that rebels against that); this had to do with my baby’s health.”

I too had gestational diabetes and I too lost weight overall. I swear to this day it was the best diet I was ever on. It was hard, but easy at the same time. Because I was doing it for my baby, not for me. It’s easy to say no to that donut at work, to white foods, to all the things you love. You want to keep your unborn child healthy. So, why is it so hard for us to have this same attitude for ourselves?

Elizabeth says:

So it may be easier if you describe your health goals in terms of somebody else. But sometimes it really is about you.”

I’ve been letting my son’s hair grow — it was getting in his eyes. A haircut was overdue, but haircuts with a toddler are no fun. There’s crying, crying and more crying. His head jerks from left to right when the scissors get near his head. Forget the clippers.

I started researching hair salons for kids and found one in our area, although a good 30-minute drive from home. It was worth a try, I thought.

This place was awesome. It was colorfully decorated, had a Thomas the Tank Engine train set and video game systems for kids to play while they wait.

Once it was his turn, he got to sit in a mini-firetruck that was raised on a pole. TVs that play DVDs are in front of each chair while the kids get their haircuts.

This combination equaled no tears for us. The 30-minute drive was worth it for us. We’ll definitely be back for the next hair cut, this time before his hair gets in his face.

Photos taken at Cool Cuts 4 Kids salon in Kissimmee, FL

Tropical Storm Fay visited Florida three times this week — twice in Central Florida, brining tons and tons of water with her. My office was closed on Tuesday and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Wednesday and Thursday were soakers. My backyard is one huge mudpuddle.

I can’t campaign though. My electricity only went off for about an hour during the entire four days. The sun is finally out. My house is not flooded. I got to eat lunch with my son today because his school is canceled.

Hopefully Fay will not drench the rest of the state or any other state.

I didn’t want to have two Oprah blog days in a row, but you know what? I was watching the show last night and was really touched. Oprah had guests on who have transformed their lives by giving to others. All it takes is one person with an idea.

The most inspiring was what the audience was asked to do — and what they did. One of the women featured on the show has a program that gives pajamas to needy children, who otherwise have to sleep in the same clothes they wear during the day. The producers of the show called every audience member and gave him/her a challenge: to bring as many pairs of PJs to the show as they could. There was a catch too. They were only allowed to buy one pair — the rest they had to be resourceful and get other ways. It was amazing to see how many pairs of pajamas one audience (aprox. 300 people) brought. There was a total of 32,046. Yes, that’s more than 30 thousand! Amazing. (Click here to see the photo from the show.)

Had I been called by one of the producers, I probably would have brought about 10 pairs. That would have been doable. I’m amazed at how hard some of these people worked. One woman brought more than 10,000 pairs on her own. She reached out to different businesses with a phone call. BJs Wholesale Club donated 10,000 pair. All it took was one phone call.

Read the full story here.