Good Golly It's Molly!

ever heard of planking and owling?  Tiffany said today that it's the new, cool thing to do. so we tried it.  what do you think?

Damian Buchman was on our show today -- he is the only known 2-time survivor of the cancer he had as a kid.  He has two huge scars on his knees from metal plates -- an oncology surgery.  He's the founder and executive director of a group called, The Ability Center.

Today he was on The Morning Blend because his group has an oppotunity to win a car to help people with disabilities.  All it takes to help is just one vote!

The Ability Center’s program, Adaptive Scholastic Athletic Programming (ASAP) is one of 500 finalists in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program, which will award vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public in a 1 day, 1 vote campaign through Facebook.  This is the only Milwaukee group competing for this prize -- and 1 of jut 2 in the entire state.  Tt's easy - just "like" the group on Facebook!

Damian spent almost 10 years managing a 50,000 square foot athletic facility, He decided to take that experience and translate it into an opportunity for people with disABILITIES.  He's a great guy and he has a great cause - I hope you'll support him and his mission tomorrow with a vote! 

 

Cast members with Jersey Boys visited The Morning Blend on Tuesday this week.  They raved about the show they're in (playing now at the Marcus in downtown Milwaukee).  I figured that's pretty standard -- I mean, what are they going to say, that it's terrible?

Honestly - it's fantastic!  I think it's the best production I've ever seen.  This is coming from someone who thinks all musicals and plays are twice as long as they need to be.  The show's pacing is so good it's unbelievable!  If you see it, let me know if you agree!

Tickets for “Jersey Boys” are available at the Marcus Center Box Office at 929 N. Water Street Downtown Milwaukee, by calling 414-273-7206, online at Ticketmaster.com or at MarcusCenter.org. Performance schedule, prices and cast are subject to chance without notice. For more information, please visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com or www.MarcusCenter.org

Today on The Morning Blend we asked our viewers, "What's the best punishment your parents ever gave you?"  And, "Did it work"?  We got some great responses on Facebook.  We also heard some really good ones from a few of our guests.  Here are two of my favorites and why:

1.  Our Hunger Task Force guest said when she was a kid, her dad would make her or her siblings do -- or "perform" -- the misbehavior in front of him.  When her brother got in trouble for smoking he made the boy smoke a Lucky Strike cigarette without a filter at the dinner table!   None of the kids in her family ended up being smokers.  That punishment worked because it forced the child to examine the misbehavior in a very "sobering" place and time. 

2.  Our guest from Aurora said her best friend growing up had a father with an unusual idea for discipline.  Whenever his kids would misbehave, he would cut their hair!  When they were in high school it really worked.  His philosophy was that if you're going to embarrass me as your parent -- I will embarrass you right back!  Why does that punishment work?  Because it's so hard core!

We also had a viewer who wrote in about not cleaning the litter box.  Her mother took both of the family's cats to the Humane Society and left them there!  She picked them up the next day, but I imagine there were a lot of tears before that -- and they probably never forgot to clean the box again

My mom washed my mouth out with soap for being extra sassy one day when I was a kid.  If you've never tasted it, let me tell you that soap tastes bad.  That type of punishment is effective because it's memorable.  It's pretty hard core, too.  I don't advocate cruel and unusual forms of punishment.  There are too many parents who abuse their children.  However, in my opinion, effective and firm disciplining starts with unusual ideas, swift and decisive parenting --- and a punishment that fits the crime.  What do you think?

A few years ago Tiffany talked me into singing with her at the Bayshore Tree Lighting.  It was a bad idea, mostly because I can't sing.  But, I learned a very important lesson that night.  If you're going to pull off something like that -- something you're not comfortable with --- especially while other people are watching -- you've gotta be all in.  You've gotta lean into it.  What do I mean?

I mean that if you're going to take a risk and put your dignity in jeopardy, you've got to give it your all.  If you don't, you'll embarrass yourself (even more).  If you lean into it, at least you give it your best shot.  You can laugh at yourself and maybe other people will, too.

Today on The Morning Blend, Tiffany proved the merrits of this very important lesson.  She played air guitar with a professional air guitarist (yes, there is such a thing).  It wasn't a half-heartened attempt either.  In fact she went so far in that she did just about everything except drop to her knees and head bang.  In the end, it was a perfect performance.  You can see Tiffany's first ever air guitar debut on The Morning Blend's website.  Tiffany knows that to pull off a perfect air guitar performance, you've gotta be all in.

On Tuesday Tiffany and I attended a luncheon and the keynote speaker talked about girlfriends and choosing wisely.  She said sometimes it's okay to let go of a friendship -- but how do you know when to do that?

I liked her advice.  She said you should ask yourself this question -- how do you feel after spending time with that friend or talking to her on the phone?  Do you feel "lifted up"?  Do you feel positive energy, a sense of well-being?  Do you feel supported?  Do you feel like she really listened?  Do you feel good about yourself?

On the other hand, do you feel like your energy has been drained?  Do you feel a sense of negativity?  How do you feel about seeing that person again or talking to them again?  Are you okay with the idea that you might not see them or talk to them again soon?   Did your friend do all the talking?  Do they gossip and complain?  Do you feel bad about yourself?

The author at our luncheon said you should trust your gut.  If you're getting a nagging, negative feeling -- it might be time to consider letting this friendship go.  Maybe you just need to give it distance or space.  She said that's okay and you don't need to feel bad about it, even if it's a family member.  She says you should not invite negativity into your life -- especially because you probably have so many friends who make you feel positive.  Hang on to those.  Let the other ones go. 

80% of women admit they feel judged by other women when they're wearing a bathing suit and 48% say they'd only feel comfortable wearing a bikini if they lost 20 pounds or more. What do you think? How much money would someone have to pay you to sport a bikini at the beach or pool? Tiffany and I will chat about it at 9 today!

have you ever tried chocolate covered bacon?  love it or hate it?  it's the great debate here at The Morning Blend.  what's funny about it to me is that people either really love the taste of it or they absolutely can not wrap their brains around the whole concept and hate the salty sweet treat.

nobody says, "It's okay".  people either love it or hate it.

there's a gray area with most things in life, but when it comes to chocolate and bacon -- together -- people are on one side of the fence --- or the other!

Every year salary.com does a survey just in time for Mother's Day.  It determines the 10 top "mom jobs" and then calculates mom's earning power based on the national base salary of those jobs.

The results show stay-at-home moms work an average of 96.6 hours per week while working moms do "mom jobs" -- like van driving, cooking and cleaning -- about 60 hours a week.  Stay-at-home moms could expect $115,431 a year while working moms would earn $63,471.

What do you think your time is worth?  Would that be fair pay for all you do?  Keep in mind - it's also a mom's job to be a psychologist (think kid self esteem), a CEO (think of all the schedules) and janitor (think pet stains).

Tiffany just had to go there today on the show.  First, she asked this question on Facebook, "Do you like your belly button"?  Then, during our chat, she shared this tidbit -- most belly buttons smell like dirty socks.  Yuck!

Any new mom will probably say dealing with the umbilical cord is one of the most distressing things about bringing home a new baby.   Most of our viewers said either they don't think much about their belly buttons or they don't like them (the most common responses said it was because of too much belly fat around them).  Tiffany promised me she wouldn't bring up any questions about hygiene but then she went there on the show -- and said most people don't wash their belly buttons.  Yuck again!
 

As it turns out, it's not necessary to scrub belly buttons - just taking a shower is good enough.  And now... as Forrest Gump would say, "that's all I have to say about that".