Fill the Gap Friday #2

Do you catch yourself finishing other people's sentences in your head?

Well, now is the time to do it loud and proud. Every Monday, I will give you the start of a sentence that can cover various topics you come across when you are a parent. On Friday, I will then open a Linky for you to share your finished sentences, blog posts, pictures, poems or anything else that fills the gap (for you). 

This week's sentence stars with "Before having a baby, I wish I had known...".

There are no limits - so let your creativity flow and fill those gaps. If you could pass the info about this new Linky on to everyone that might fancy joining in, that would be great. The more the merrier and if you want to share on Twitter too - why not use the hashtag #fillthegap to let everyone else know that you have updated your blog?

I'm looking forward to see you all on Friday!

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A future mummy blogger?

I have discovered that there is a Facebook version of a game that my sister and I used to play until the computer started smoking: The Sims. And guess what, my sim is writing a blog. Ok, she isn't a pro yet and she certainly doesn't rank in the Tots 100 or leads the Wikio Parenting Ranking but hey, she might get there...

Have you ever played the Sims? And what careers did you give them?

5 top tips on how to make money online

If you have recently had a baby or have decided to be a stay at home mum, you will notice that it can be a little tough to live on maternity pay or solely to rely on your partner's income. But don't bury your head in the sand because there are a number of ways to make money online - from the comfort of your home and fitting around your busy schedule as a mum.

1. Get paid for answering surveys online

Surveys are a great way of making money online. You sign up to one or more of the many survey panels out there and get regular emails inviting you to participate in a survey that suits your profile. It is free to join survey websites and you can instantly start earning money. The good thing about being paid for surveys is that you are under no obligation at all. If you don't want to answer certain questions or find you are not interested in the overall topic, you can simply skip the survey and wait for a topic that suits you better. Most paid survey websites either pay you via PayPal or in vouchers for high street or online shops. I have currently bought my little girl a Leap Frog Learn and Groove Activity Station with Amazon vouchers that I have earned by sharing my views on beauty products, cereals & Co - my favourite survey website is Valued Opinions.

2. Shop via Cashback Websites

Do you do most of your shopping via the Internet? Then cashback websites can be a brilliant way of making money online. With every purchase on the Internet that you make through the website, you can get cashback paid into your your account via PayPal. Websites such as Top CashBack are free to join and allow you to save big amounts of money whenever you make a transaction on the Internet, change providers for gas and electrics and much more. 

3. Affiliate programs for your website or blog

If you have your own website then joining affiliate programs can be an easy and uncomplicated way to make money online. The idea behind affiliate programs is really simple: you link to an online shop via your website or blog and any purchases that are made through your affiliate link will earn you a certain amount of commission. The usual rates vary between 5 and 20% and often depend on your relationship with the affiliate website. There are many different affiliate programs out there, so you can be sure you will find programs that really suit you and your website or blog.

4.  Write reviews

Websites such a Ciao are a brilliant way to earn money online if you like writing and expressing your opinion. Ok, they won't make you a millionaire but if you regularly post reviews on products you have bought, then you can easily save up a decent amount of money. You also don't have to write a ten page essay. Simply upload a review of a product that's in the website's database, get people to read it and the pennies will start coming in.

5. Become a seller on Ebay

If you are thinking of throwing your unwanted belongings into the skip, then stop and re-think, because in the world of Ebay, your rubbish might be someone else's dream. You will be surprised what people spend their hard earned money on: old mobiles, newspaper clippers or toys and many other items change hands every day. So when you are next de-cluttering your home, make a list of all items you haven't used for a while and put them on Ebay. You have to pay a little commission depending on the price you sell your goods for but some people get so caught up in the idea of winning the bid that they actually pay more than the item is worth. Crazy, but I've seen it before.

I'm nominated for the MAD Awards 2011 - will you vote for me?

Can you believe it? I have been nominated for an amazing six categories in this year's MAD Awards.

I have only started blogging mid January, mainly because all the other mummy blogs out there inspired me and because I wanted to keep a record of my way from young and freedom loving woman to mummy. But seeing that you are enjoy reading my ramblings as much as I do enjoy writing them feels absolutely amazing. I feel honoured that you take the time to read about my pregnancy ups and downs and I absolutely love reading your comments on the different topics I am writing about. They are cheering me up, make me laugh and some of them do even make me think about things in a completely different way. So being nominated for a whopping 6 categories on top of all your support feels absolutely overwhelming. Winning one of them would be even better so if you want to make it happen, why not vote for me in the MAD Awards 2011?

I am nominated in the following categories and would love to gather as many votes as possible. So get clicking, everyone:

Best MAD Baby Blog

Best MAD Blog Writer

Best New MAD Blog

Most Inspiring MAD Blogger

Best Pregnancy Blog

MAD Blogger of the Year

To vote simply click here and copy http://mummyalarm.blogspot.com into the fields that name the categories above. Please, do not forget to copy the domain. If you just write Mummy Alarm into the field, your vote won't be counted and Mummy Alarm won't be going anywhere. Wouldn't that be a shame?

The colourful Me: a meme

Yippie, I've been tagged in another meme. This time it was Catherine from Baby Genie who asked me to get thinking about myself or more precisely about what certain colours mean to me. But on to the meme now: Copy the following five colours to your blog post and add what they mean to you. It could be a word, it could be a more detailed description. The important thing is not to think too hard about it.

White

On a positive note there are snow and big fluffy clouds, on a not so nice note there is white food. You know about my dislike for it if you have read my last meme. If you haven't, it's simple: I do not like white food: no milk, no rice pudding, no egg white and and and...

Brown

My hair is brown, dark brown to be precise. Some people do even try to tell me it's black but I tend to end up in endless discussions about it because I think it's simply not right. But back to brown: My leather sofa is brown and comfy, freshly baked bread is yummy and both together make the best combination in the world, no stop, the second best combination. I forgot about my big passion for chocolate.

Purple

Our new pram for our baby girl is purple and I can't wait to use it and purple is also the colour of my bedroom wall. And yepp, there are Deep, Deep Purple. I do not particularly like or dislike them. They just came to my mind when I read the word purple.

Orange

To be honest orange is always a tad too bright for me to fully like it. I wouldn't paint my walls orange nor would I wear anything orange. It makes me look pale and it's just too much for me. It's my boyfriend's favourite colour though.

Yellow

Tennis balls, the sun and bananas – I like the first two (Well, wait a minute liking tennis balls is a bit odd, isn't it? Let's say I don't mind them as they make my boyfriend, who is a keen tennis player, happy.) but I can't stand bananas. They make me gag and I don't like their smell either. But hey, baby chicks are yellow, aren't they? They are cute...

But now it's on to you, ladies. I tag Carol from New Mummy's Tips, Karin from Café Bébé and Jenny from Mummy Mishaps. Can't wait to read about your colourful confessions.

Seven Secrets

As you might see from the number of posts on my blog, I am relatively new to the world of mummy blogs, however New Mummy has tagged my blog on her website so that all my readers will get to know me a bit better by reading seven of my well-kept secrets.

1. Lots of people think I am quite tough. Well, usually that is right but as soon as I watch a film that has only the slightest element of sadness in it I turn into the biggest crybaby ever seen. My worst moment so far was watching "Evita" - I started crying during the intro just because I found the music really emotional.

2. I can handle spiders and all other creepy crawlies but as soon as I see a snake (be it on telly or in a zoo or any other situation) I freak out big time. And if I say big time I actually mean humongously - sweaty hands, shaking, panic and night mares that scare the living daylight out of my better half.

3. I hate white food: egg white, milk, rice pudding and fish are only a few of the white things I wouldn't even want close to my mouth. I find them that disgusting that I sometimes even refuse washing sauce pans that had these things in them, because I don't want to touch them. Breast feeding is going to be fun!

4. I'm singing everywhere and always. I used to sing in a choir for more than 13 years and sang many solos in front of hundreds of people, but I get stage fright when friends and family want me to sing to them. Weird, I know.

5. I'm rather cold than too hot. That's why I don't like to have the heating running when I am driving and I never blow dry my hair.

6. I can cope really well with pain but as soon as I get a local anaesthetic my body goes all funny and I faint although actually feeling absolutely fine.

7. When I was about 15 I had the biggest crush ever on a boy that went to my school. So far not really unusual, but when I saw him walking on the other side of the road and noticed I was wearing really unsexy tracksuit buttoms, I put my magazine up and pretended I was reading. Massive fail: Just that moment I  noticed that I held my magazine the wrong way round and got so embarrassed that I tripped over the kerb and pulled a ligament.

To make this whole thing even more fun I am tagging 15 of the blogs that I am reading regularly hoping they'll join the game and share some of their secrets. Here they are: Mediocre Mum, All Baby Advice Blog, Mummy loves, Scottish Mum Blog, Baby Baby, New Mummy, All about the Boys, Baby Budgeting, Mummy Mishaps, Something Blue, Mostly Yummy Mummy, Mummy's Shoes, Rosie Scribble, Plus 2.4 and last but not least My funny Bunny.