The Sewing Mom

My daughter decided to go swimming on Saturday evening while the rest of us were sitting outside.  Plinko was playing and eating the bushes, the usual.  But, when Taylor decided to get in the pool Plinko went nuts!  My daughter sat on the ledge holding one of the pool mattresses and Plinko kept trying to check it out, very cautiousally, it was so funny.  She did manage to get on the mat eventually but got right back off.  She wasn’t too sure if she like it or not!  The next day she did it again when my daughter & her friend were swimming, only this time, nobody was holding the mattress, it was just sort of floating by the edge of the pool.  Needless to say, when Plinko tried to get on it the mattress floated away & the puppy went into the water!  It was actually quite funny after I pulled her out by the scruff of her neck.  It didn’t scare her though, she kept trying to get back on that mattress.  I finally had to take the float out of the pool all together.  I believe she’s somewhat of an adventurer!

I have only been blogging for a few weeks and one thing I have learned is that traffic means just about everything in the blogging world.  You can post all you want, but if nobody is coming to visit your site to read what you’re posting than you might as well stay off the computer, sit in a room by yourself and talk to yourself! 

Well, I just heard about a great new way to get your site featured and that is on fechr, pronounced feature. This site features a site a day for a full 24 hours.  What do you have to do to get featured you ask?  Well, the answer is blog about fechr of course! It’s just that simple and worth every word to get featured for free! Currently they are offering the service for free, however, this may change as their own traffic increases. I am signing my site up right away and you should seriously consider taking this opportunity for free web site promotion.

Thanks to Matt at Blog About Your Blog for posting about fechr.

I for one don’t believe Michael Vick when he is claiming his innocence.  The more I read about what was going on with those poor mis-treated animals the more I’d like to see him and his friends hung by their $&@*s.  It is absoulutely dispicable what they did and while the NFL has suspended Vick from training camp, I hope they will take further action and end his career.  After all according to Vick’s actions, if a player (dog) didn’t do as it was supposed to do, it was let go (killed).   I am in complete agreement with Nikes recent decision to drop Vick all together.  Not only that, he will not get paid for the remainder of his contract.  These guys have to be hit where it hurts, in their wallet.  They have come to think they are above moral standards and they need to be shown otherwise.

 This is a copy of the email I received from the Humane Society of the United States:

Dear Lynne,

I know you heard from me earlier today or yesterday, but I wanted you to be one of the first to know: Nike announced today that it has suspended Michael Vick’s contract without pay and will stop selling all Vick-related products at its stores.

This is a big victory, one that simply would not have happened without your action and those of more than 165,000 others.

As you know, the allegations against Michael Vick are so serious and disturbing that The Humane Society of the United called on his corporate backers to end their commercial relationships with the star player. I’m so pleased that Nike has signaled it has a zero tolerance policy for athletes who may be involved with staged animal fights and other forms of malicious animal cruelty.

Nike’s statement reads as follows:

“Nike has suspended Michael Vick’s contract without pay, and will not sell any more Michael Vick product at Nike owned retail at this time. As we’ve said before, Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. However, we do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States, therefore, we have not terminated our relationship.”

Also today, Reebok agreed to stop selling Michael Vick-branded products. The company does not have a contract with Vick but has an official relationship with the NFL to sell its merchandise.

Thank you again for all you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

We are up to #4 in our Better Blogging endeavor. Marcus has posted #4 Optimize your Blog for the Search Engines. This step recognizes the importance of inbound links, this is when other sites link to your own. This helps to explain the importance of listing your blog in directories. There is also value in commenting on other people’s blogs that are of the same interest as your own. This is not only a way to start conversations, but it can lead to inbound links. Please don’t take this as an opportunity to spam other bloggers. Your comments should be appropriate and on topic. Problogger has written very helpful information on inbound links at How to Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines. He also gives the 3 main things to look for in inbound links:

1. they are from higher ranked sites than your own
2. they are relevant to the topic you are writing about
3. they link to you using relevant keywords to your page

Visit Problogger and implement as many, if not all, of his recommendations to help optimize your writing and your blog for Search Engines.

                                                                            
Appetizer
Describe a toy you remember from your childhood.

I always remember my wooden blocks. They came in a cloth drawstring bag and were all sorts of shapes & sizes. I always liked building tunnels with them and driving my matchbox cars through them.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how observant are you?

I am probably a 6 or 7. I am observant, but I also have a terrible memory, so I tend to forget what I saw unless it is something very unusual.

Salad
Where would you rather be at this very moment?

I would like to be on an island somewhere sipping a frozen drink with an umbrella in it!

Main Course
When was the last time you learned something new?

Yesterday I learned how to burn a cd from my playlist in ITunes! This was a HUGE accomplishment for me because I am somewhat techno challenged.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I have ____________ but I haven’t ____________.

I have been thinking long & hard of what to buy my husband for his birthday which is coming up on Monday, but I haven’t figured anything out yet!

If you would like to participate in Friday’s Feast, please go to:
Friday’s Feast

Michael Vick continues to claim his innocence even though there is obviously enough evidence against him to bring in an 18 page indictment. What he has been doing or allowing to be done on his property is cruel and inhumane. The NFL has barred Vick from attending training camp with the Atlanta Falcons but has requested that the Falcons not implement any punishment until further investigations are done. Had the league not made this request, the Falcons had planned to suspend Vick from the first four games. This would have been the maximum penalty allowed by any team. Further punishment would have to come from the League itself.

Besides being the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick is also a spokesperson for Nike. While all of this has been going on, Nike is still reviewing and deciding what actions it wants to take. The Humane Society of the United States is asking us to help by emailing Nike and asking them to drop Vick as a spokesperson. After all, what kind of message is he sending out?

Please go to the Humane Society and send an email to Nike now.

If you enjoyed Finding the Face in the Coffee Beans you will certainly enjoy this and it is even more challenging. This is very cool and created by Steve.
Be ready for a challenge!

Plinko had her healthy puppy check up yesterday.  She got a set of shots and her first heartworm pill.  She weighed in at just under 6 1/2 lbs!  She was really good while we were there too.  She wasn’t too keen on the car ride and chewed on her leash, but was very quiet while we were at the vet’s office.  There were so many other dogs there, including 2 sharpei’s and their puppy.  That puppy was the same age as Plinko and about 3 times bigger (not to mention a lot more wrinkled), it was so funny to see the difference. 

Anyway, Plinko was given a clean bill of health except for her tear glands having not developed.  I had noticed that her eyes were draining onto her cheeks and so I asked the vet about it.  He put some sort of drops in her eyes and then came back about 5 minutes later with his black light and looked at her eyes and nasal passages.   He explained that the eyes should naturally drain through a gland that goes through the nasal passage and out the nose.  Plinkos glands are apparently closed so her eyes are draining onto her cheeks.  This give her face a wet look.   The vet gave me a bottle of drops to put in her eyes twice a day.  It is a medicine that has cortizone in it that is supposed to help open the glands.  Hopefully it will work, although it’s nothing life threatening if it doesn’t.  According to the vet, this condition is very common in pugs and since Plinko is half pug she probably inherited it from her father.

We left the vet and took Plinko on her first trip to Petco.  She wasn’t really too sure about it, and went back to chewing on her leash.  She didn’t seem to interested in picking out a new toy, until we showed her this bright orange and yellow rope/ball toy.  She grabbed hold of it and I thought she was actually going to carry it up to the cashier!  Anyway, we also got her a tiny football that is fuzzy like a tennis ball and she has been having a blast with both of them.  On the way home she fell asleep in the car, it had been quite a busy morning for her!

I was tagged byMarcus for this blogging tips meme…

It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think– if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. *******
NeonScent

2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. ******
Bushmackel

3. Don’t let money change ya! *****
The Random Forest

4. Always reply to your comments. *****
Chattiekat

5. Blog about what you know & love. ****
http://sugar-queens-dream.blogspot.com/

6. Alt tag your images for added search engine exposure. ***
Fracas

7. Blogging is supposed to be fun, Don’t let it stress you! ***
WherewasI

8. Don’t be afraid to comment on other bloggers sites!*
Not your typical Granny

9. Post at least once a day!**
Basenji Mom

10. Have an informative About Me page**
Marcus at willifordblog

11. Challenge yourself to learn the terminology of blogging, what it means & how to use it.
Lynne at The Coffee House

I’m gonna tag
Karen at The Pond
Lisa at My Thoughts
Becki at Just a Girl
Leigh at Thoughtprints
David at MyBlogIt
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fsewingmom.com%2F2007%2F07%2F25%2Fbetter-blogging-meme%2F'; addthis_title = 'Better+Blogging+Meme'; addthis_pub = ''; No tags.

Venomous Kate over atElectric Venom is sharing so if you are need of some linky love then check it out. Be sure to check out the rest of her site. She has a great blog and she only bites sometimes!  Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t think she’s a venomous as she wants us to believe.

 And can I just say, I took this whole trackback thing as a challenge for me to not only learn what a trackback is but figure out how to put it in my post and I got it to work!  YAY!