Week-End Review, 10/16: Travels across the Blogiverse this week

 Tomorrow, my family and I will be walking a few miles  to raise awareness and funds for the Alzheimer's Association at the 2009 Memory Walk in Thousand Oaks, California. We do this every year in remembrance of my mother, who passed away ten years ago this month. I've had a donation widget in my sidebar for a few weeks, and I'd like to say a big, public THANK YOU to everyone who has supported our team! (It's still not too late, by the way...)

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Announcing the winners of the 1000-Post Celebration Giveaways, who were selected using Random.org's List Randomizer:

ARC Fiction Package: Amy of The House of the Seven Tails

"A Life Well Read" Organizer: Amy of Melniczenko Musings

LibraryThing Lifetime Membership: Cara of Ooh...Books

All of the winners have been notified by e-mail.

Thanks to everyone who entered! 64 individuals participated in all, but some got extra entries for spreading the word.

I had hoped that hosting this giveaway would be an opportunity to get to know a little more about who my readers are, which was why I asked the questions - thanks for humoring me and answering them. (I never would have imagined that I had so many readers in Portugal!) It was great to see that some of you have been hanging out here for a long time...but as it happens, all three winners are fairly recent subscribers/followers of The 3 R's. I hope this encourages them to stick around for awhile!

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Dispatches: Links of the Week

Women undermining other women, or why no one will ever win the Mommy Wars - and why they're being fought over the wrong questions anyway

Faces of the health-care-reform discussion; Disney World is magical for food allergies

Is the FTC getting interested because blogging and product reviewing just aren't a good combination? (Personal opinion: in some cases, they aren't - or not good enough to be something I want to read, at least.)

There's no clapping in yoga, and other cautionary comments about the workout

Vocabulary begins at home (and sometimes grammar and punctuation do too)

More inappropriate Halloween costumes: characters your kids shouldn't even know about

The Amazing Race is my favorite "reality-TV" show, and recaps from the early "indie" days of Television Without Pity got me hooked on it: the former TWoPper formerly known as "Miss Alli" recaps this week's episode in classic TWoP style, all for a good cause

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New Arrivals in my Google Reader

Advance Booking
The Written World
from the mixed-up files
House of the Seven Tails
The Book Case
Bookwormom

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From the E-mail Inbox this week

Would you have signed up for the job if you'd known all this beforehand?

POSITION TITLE - PARENT:
Alternate titles:

Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma, Mother
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop, Father

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging, permanent work in an often chaotic environment.

• Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
• Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! (Travel expenses not reimbursed)
• Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.
• Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
• Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
• Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.
• Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
• Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
• Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.
• Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
• Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
• Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product.
• Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

EXPERIENCE/CREDENTIALS:
No education or licensing required (unfortunately)
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:

Get this: You pay them, offering frequent raises and bonuses!

• A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them
• become financially independent.
• When you die, you give them whatever is left.
• The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered, this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.
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What big weekend plans do you have?