Follow Friday: Watch My Butt Shrink...erm..Bump Grow

If you are interested in health and fitness, check out Jenn at Watch My (Butt Shrink) Bump Grow.

If the title throws you for a loop, let me explain. Jenn originally started the blog to document her weight loss and fitness journey. She was kicking butt and taking names, and then she discovered she was expecting. So while the weight loss portion of the blog is currently on hold, Jenn is keeping up the fitness aspect as she concentrates on having a healthy pregnancy.

So if you enjoy active blog communities and reading good, and often funny, information and other people's experiences as they work toward their fitness goals, check it out.

You can also follow her on twitter @JennIsShrinking.

Follow Friday: 5 Minutes for Mom

If you've never heard of 5 Minutes for Mom, now is a great time to check them out. They'll be hosting their annual Ultimate Blog Party in just a couple of weeks, and I know you don't want to miss that.

These ladies consistently publish funny, interesting, and informative blog posts and tweets as well as listing links to hundreds of other great blogs.

What's the Ultimate Blog Party? It is a week dedicated to bloggers coming together to read and comment on each other's blogs. I found dozens of new blogs during last year's party I'm still following today, and I know I'll discover new ones this year.

So stop by their blog, or check them out on twitter. They're worth a follow.

Follow Friday: Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project

If you're interested in what our public schools are feeding the nation's children, make sure to check out Mrs. Q over at Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project.

Mrs. Q is a public school teacher who is eating cafeteria lunches each day through the 2010 school year. The day's meal is photographed and blogged each school day, and the weekends are devoted to discussions regarding nutrition, waste, policies, and possible solutions. The posts are simple but thought provoking, as is easily seen in the comments for each post.

Reading the blog and commenting has caused me to give greater consideration to many things I am doing with my family. Thinking about how schools could improve their nutrition programs and education gave me ideas for projects and lessons to do at home with the girls. It renewed my passion and interest in revamping our diet at home, paying attention not only to how healthy and tasty the food is, but how appealing it is visually. Because, as Gabriella put it on Sid the Science Kid, "If it's not pretty, I'm not interested."

If you have children, especially girls, you know how true this statement is.

So if you're concerned about our national school lunch program or just interested in health and nutrition, head on over to Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project and check it out. Or follow Mrs. Q on twitter @fedupwithlunch.

* The picture is Mrs. Q's profile picture and used in lieu of a logo.
** Note: This post was planned before Mrs. Q added the blog roll last weekend. It was in my brainstorming notes from March 4. I just didn't have a chance to post it last Friday as planned due to computer issues and time constraints.

Follow Friday: David N. Wilson

Today's Follow Friday is @David_N_Wilson.

Wilson is a novelist, poet, and screenwriter of horror and science fiction. He twitters about everything from twitter itself to lolcats to events of the every day. At his blog, Glimpses into an Overactive Mind, you can find posts about his work, life, inspiration, writing in general, and lately a series dedicated to preparing for NaNoWriMo, which are helpful to anyone interested in penning a story at any time, not just during November.

Follow Friday: Kelly McCausey

This week's Follow Friday is Kelly McCausey, owner of Moms Talk Network.

McCausey is a nice woman and very helpful. If you're interested in blogging, keep a watch. She has an intern program designed to teach the basics of building a successful blog, and she periodically asks for new applicants.

Moms Talk Network has something for every interest from work-from-home information to tasty recipes and resources chosen specifically for moms.

Follow Friday: TXWriter

Today's Follow Friday recommendation is TXWriter. Besides simply being a nice woman, TXWriter is a wellspring of information when it comes to freelance writing or running an online business in general. Her blog, Writing Thoughts, is just that, in depth thoughts on the subject of the writing process and everything that comes along with it, including the business side of things.

She can also be found on Twitter here and is noted for regularly conversing with her followers, asking questions as well as answering them, in addition to posting some excellent links to others articles.

Follow Friday: Hannah Keeley

It's been a while since I've done a Follow Friday post, but I had to put one up today. Following yesterday's post, I had to let you know about a source of inspiration for me of late. Just after putting the girls to bed the other week, I curled up with a cup of cocoa while Hubby tended to grading. I was flipping through the three PBS channels hoping to find NOVA, Nature, or Science Now. What I found instead was Hannah Help Me.

Hannah Keeley is the show's life coach for lack of a better term, and she helps frazzled parents find methods to calm the chaos and build the life they want for themselves and their families. Basically, she helps them with the exact same stuff with which I've been struggling with the 52 Week Challenge.

Mrs. Keeley's website, complete with blog, articles, and downloads, can be found here. Also, she can be found on twitter here.

Follow Friday

Sorry for the lapse, readers. I've been distracted in the mornings with catching back up after last week's reverse vacation, and Hubby's new books came earlier in the week, so he's been wanting the "office" to work on lesson plans. (Writing them now means we see him more during the school year, which we all want.)

I'm actually trying to type up a really fast post, so I can bring something useful to you. But there's much to do this morning, so time is scarce. Therefore, I bring you a new category: Follow Fridays. Those of you on Twitter will recognize the phrase. Twitterers have been using follow Fridays to recommend users to follow for months; however, there really isn't a lot of space to tell your readers why to follow someone in 140 characters. So, I'm going to do it here. Plus, some weeks I'll bring you Follow Fridays for Facebook or blogs.

Today's follow Friday is @hownottowrite. Jamie Groves is an aspiring novelist who discusses writing and his personal journey towards publication in his blog, How Not to Write. On twitter, he is known to link to good articles on writing and publishing, posts quotes, witty banter, and his adventures with his two young boys.

Follow Friday

Sorry for the lapse, readers. I've been distracted by housework and doubling up on workouts to recoup last week's lack of them in the mornings, and Hubby's new books came earlier in the week, so he's been wanting the "office" to work on lesson plans. (Writing them now means we see him more during the school year, which we all want.)

I'm actually trying to type up a really fast post, so I can bring something useful to you. But there are still lots of chores to tend and a grocery run to make. Therefore, I bring you a new category: Follow Fridays. Those of you on Twitter will recognize the phrase. Twitterers have been using follow Fridays to recommend users to follow for months; however, there really isn't a lot of space to tell your readers why to follow someone in 140 characters. So, I'm going to do it here. Plus, some weeks I'll bring you Follow Fridays for Facebook or blogs.

Today's follow Friday is @HisBoysCanSwim. Jane is a first time mother-to-be. She and her husband, Tarzan, are documenting the pregnancy and their thoughts regarding it and looming parenthood in the blog His Boys Can Swim. (Tarzan and Jane are pen names. They wished to keep the blog anonymous and personal at the same time.) Posts range from hilarious to touching, and the community is thriving and helpful.