What's your special mom superpower?

Every mom has that one amazing gift that makes them unique and special. Actually, we have many (!) but there are usually a few that are almost superhuman-like. Are you insanely patient? A serious multi-tasker? Can you whip up a gourmet meal in minutes? Are you good at calming kids when they are scared?

Mine is being creative and getting into that playful space. I once dressed up in a chicken suit to greet guests at a kid's party. One time, while waiting for my 11 year old to get stitches in the ER, I made a doll out of tongue depressors, gauze, and cotton balls and acted out scenes. I throw an ornament party every holiday and teach kids how to make people out of clothespins. Where that talent came from I'll never know. Recognize the people above? If you guessed Michael Phelps, Barack Obama and Harry Potter - you have a good eye for what celebrities might look like if they were made out of wood, beads and felt. I am also a workhorse. Being a single-parent for 10 years will do that to you. I couldn't get thru level one on Mario Bros if my life depended on it and I'm at a loss for how to make a birthday cake from scratch, but I've given up on trying to be perfect at everything when it comes to parenting. I've learned to be proud of the few things I do well and just try my best at the rest.

What is your super power? You know you have one. Only you can recognize when something so hard for the rest of us comes gracefully easy to you. What is that one thing?

I'm trying to introduce readers to my community forum and motivate discussions there so readers of this blog can get to know each other. Please reply to this post in the discussion forum (regular comments are welcome, too!). Just click "visit the breadcrumz community" at the bottom of the pink BlogFrog widget (on the left) and reply there!

Also, did you know you can have links to your blog posts automatically show up on my blog so people can click over and read them? Just click the "become a member" link on the community widget (same widget on upper left), enter your blog URL, and you're done! When you publish a new post on your blog, a link to it will show up. This means more visitors for you!

So much fabulousness in one room

If you could imagine thirty of the smartest, wittiest, blog-posting, crown-wearing divas within a hundred mile radius and put them all in one room and then fed them espresso cookies and lattes, you'd be at the Pre-Blogher meet-up held in Boulder on Saturday afternoon.

I met bloggers in real life (IRL) I'd been following on twitter for months, like @casualperfect, @crunchygoddess, @eatplaylove, and @banteringblonde and many current friends like @crazycanuckblog and . And got introduced to new blogging friends, like fabulous foodie bloggers @userealbutter, @amnichols, @indianfoodrocks, @thekitchwitch, and @markettomouth. Gals like @crazycanuckblog, @mediamum, @tarable, @kuvy and @corichavez who are dedicated to making sure they pass on the latest technology, marketing news news and blogging tips. @jolenepark, @bestlight and @julieannstorr are experts at wellness and living in balance (I swear they glowed). @talesofrachel, @gracekboyle, @humanbeingblog, and were an honor to meet and special thanks to @gwenbell for pulling us all together.

It was inspiring to meet such talented and enterprising women and I look forward to meeting even more at Blogher 09 in July.

What I love about start-ups

Today reminded me of why I love start-ups so much. Rusty (my partner and the creator/CEO of TheBlogFrog) and I spent the day holed up in the Boulder Public Library working on arguably the most important presentation we'll ever make. There are just two of us (for now). No fancy office, no corporate salaries, no entertainment or travel budget. Just two people fighting hard to turn a great idea into a reality that will change the status quo.

I absolutely LOVE the early phase of a start-up. Almost to a fault. To me, there is no other stage at which the realm of possibility is so huge. If you are starting with nothing, all that exists ahead is pure potential and YOU GET TO DECIDE WHAT IS POSSIBLE. We get to sit in a library cubicle, on a park bench, or at a Starbucks and decide what we will build, what it will look like, and how we will solve our customers' problems. No one can tell us its not possible because frankly, they don't know. Nobody knows. If you live in a world of unknowns, all there is left to do is create.

My first job out of college was with a big telecommunications company marketing high speed data networks. At the time, they had 80,000 employees. I had a nice salary, a matching 401K, a cafeteria in the building, and an excruciating 4-year wait from product conception to market launch. I just thought that was the norm. Then I moved to Boulder and discovered the tech start-up scene where entrepreneurs were turning passionate ideas into real companies within months. For me there was no turning back. Six start-ups later and the early stage is still my favorite.

If you are the type of person who likes lots of constants in your formulas and the variables make you nervous, a start-up might not be for you. But if you thrive on the adrenalin and sense of freedom that comes with creating something from nothing, you might want to give it a try :)