I just received this email accusing me of violating Google Adsense policies by posting mature, adult, lewd, or sexual content on my blog and they specifically referenced my post, “7 Topics Boring People Talk About“.

Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself whether my advice not to talk about your kids ad nauseam or your last game of golf, is really that offensive.

Either someone at Google fell asleep at the wheel or they got a pretty good beating with the stupid stick.

~tcb

***

Hello,

While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently displaying Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as http://www.thatcoolbroad.com/2008/10/13/7- topics-boring-people-talk-bbout/. Please note that this URL is an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of your website.

As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages with adult or mature content. In addition to photos and videos which contain nudity or sexual activities, below are some other examples of unacceptable content:

* Lewd or provocative images
* Crude or indecent language, including adult stories
* Sexual tips or advice
* Sexual fetish sites (e.g. foot fetish content)
* Adult toys or products
* Ads or links to external sites containing adult content
* Adult links and/or adult keywords within the meta data in the source code of your site

Please make any necessary changes to your webpages in the next 72 hours.

We also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies (https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=48182&stc=aspe-1pp-en) to ensure that all of your other pages are in compliance.

Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and ad serving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes to your account within the next three days, your account will remain active but you will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note, however, that we may disable your account if further violations are found in the future.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Issue ID# 1490632
—————-
For more information regarding this warning email, please visit our Help
Center: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113058&stc=aspe-ai4-en.

It’s long overdue, but I finally got around to setting up a fan page for that cool broad on Facebook. Considering it’s what I do for a living, it’s kind of sad it’s taken so long. You can access my twitter page and blog feed on Facebook so whatever method works best to stay in touch…go for it!

Let’s have some fun!

~tcb

It’s been a little over 3 three months since I began my going-back-to-work adventure after 9 years at home with kids and I have to say, I miss spending time with my Cool Broads!

I’m home with a sick 5 year-old this morning and as I attempt to do a little “work” and put out a few fires remotely, I find myself wanting to catch up on a little bloggin’ instead.

It’s so quiet in the house right now…I’m kind of missing my old SAHM days.

All in all, the job is going pretty well. We’ve fallen into a routine that so far seems workable, the fact that I’m employed in a struggling economy makes me thankful, and the longest the dog has gone without food is 48 hours (not too bad).

I am, however, working on carving out a little extra time in my workday to post my observations regarding Cool Broadism in the workplace, and believe you me, I’ve got plenty of fodder.

But one thing I’ve learned, the Cool Broad work ethic isn’t gender specific. Both men and women can exhibit qualities associated with being a Cool Broad. And both men and women can seriously lack those qualities as well.

For instance, there’s the 24 year-old who loves to bemoan the fact that she’s “getting soooo old” whenever she’s around me.

There’s the CEO who, once I’d completed a branding strategy presentation that took 4 weeks to put together, looked at my boss and said, “Is she kidding?”

And then there’s the co-worker, who decided to tell the CFO, a VP, and various other high level managers that I’d seriously screwed up a major piece of data, without considering that a quick phone call to discuss the issue with me before making a public declaration that the sky is falling, might have been a better way to go.

Oh, and by the way, the data was perfect.

So, as you can see, our work is never done.

That Cool Broad must never die.

Until next time…or until I get Dooced, whichever comes first!

~tcb

The beginning of a New Year is always exciting. For me, there’s a magical sense that anything is possible; whether it’s learning how to play that instrument you’ve always wanted to play or it’s striving for a better job or a healthier self.

At the same time, the act of bidding farewell to the old year is an effective and symbolic way to shed the old, crusty baggage we’ve accumulated over the past twelve months and make ourselves new again.

And if you’re lucky enough to have a few days off at the end of the year, it’s a great time to relax, recharge, and reorganize and then come Monday, hit the ground running with a renewed sense of optimism for the future.

This time last year, my husband had just given me a MacBook for Christmas and within a week I’d decided to launch a blog. I can still feel the excitement as the possibilities swirled in my head and I feverishly designed my new website. And even though I temporarily morphed into an obsessed techie and my personal hygiene took a hit, the ability to create something and immediately expose it to thousands of people made the temporary lapse worth it.

That Cool Broad has been a wonderfully creative outlet for me and it also allowed me to (hopefully) provide value and humor to people who somehow found their way to my blog and then decided it was worth sticking around.

My articles were regularly featured on Yahoo’s Shine website and in June, I was selected by Skirt! Magazine to be their featured Muse of the Month. One of my posts even made it to the front page of iVillage.com! Needless to say, it’s been an exciting ride and I can’t express how much I appreciate every single comment you’ve left in response to my posts and all of the kind words of support you’ve pitched my way.

I can honestly say that I’ve learned so much about myself as a person, a woman, and a writer this past year and I hope that I’ve inspired the same in you. There aren’t many things more satisfying than the feeling you get when someone tells you that one of your articles spoke to them (or at least made them laugh). There’s a real sense of connection when that happens, and that feeling can sometimes be hard to attain in the “real world”.

And though I fully intend to continue to chronicle my quest to become “that cool broad”, my posts will probably be a bit scarcer. Why? Well, this old broad has decided to go back to work.

That’s right…after 9 years at home with two Legos-obsessed, sometimes smelly, always dear little boys, I’ve decided to plunge back into the working world. The transition from a stay-at-home-mom to a mom-working-full-time will no doubt be a challenging one (for me, for my boys, and for my husband). But for now, my excitement is eclipsing any hesitations.

So, in order to focus on making this new opportunity work, I’ll have to let That Cool Broad simmer on the back burner for now.

But rest assured, I’m POSITIVE that my experiences in corporate America will provide plenty of fodder for future articles as I’ll no doubt attempt to transform myself into the Coolest Working Broad out there (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated).

Have a wonderful New Year!

~tcb

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

I hope you’re finding (a little) time to relax and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the holidays. This time of year is so magical and I always look forward to taking time to hunker down, light a fire, read a book, and recharge.

If you’re like many people and have more than one holiday party to attend this year, take a look at this Holiday Guest Behavior Guide on RealSimple.com.

“What’s the code of behavior for an open house, a weekend at your in-laws’, or a New Year’s Eve bash? What should you bring? How should you dress? What should you do? In the case of an open house, skip flowers and give your hostess a potted plant instead. Make sure you RSVP to even the most casual affair. And dress in layers—as more people crowd into a room, it can rapidly overheat. Find more tips (when to arrive, when to leave, how to follow up, and more) for these and other holiday scenarios by clicking here.”

I found this article to be a great refresher because as Cool Broads, we really already know this stuff…right?

Enjoy!

~tcb

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Kim Sisto Robinson.

All right gals, here’s the dilemma. Half of us are wearing the wrong size bra. That’s right. We’re sauntering around town with sagging, wobbling, drooping boobies and let me tell you…it’s not a pretty sight. Women in America are swinging their ta-tas from side to side like old elephant trunks and it has officially become a crisis situation.

On a recent (repeated) Oprah episode, bra expert, Susan Nethero stated that 8 out of 10 women are wearing the wrong bra size.

What?

“Not only can the right bra eliminate sagging, it can make you appear slimmer and take years off your look,” Nethero says.

One can imagine, after this particular episode, bra stores were swamped with women desperately trying to elevate their shortcomings. Just the words “slimmer” and “years off” will do it for most women (i.e., me). (more…)

When he finally acquiesced, we plopped down the money and picked out the one with the built in sunshades for the baby, the back windows that rolled down and a killer DVD player (which the kids can be watching with headphones in the back while my husband and I jam to tunes in the front – how great is that?).

Later that day, I drove my new, shiny, silver Odyssey into the driveway for the first time (take note that we lived in a neighborhood that prided itself on being hip). As we pulled in, one of our neighbors happened to be jogging by. Upon seeing us, he let out a throaty “Boooooooooo”, and then continued to run down the street. I got a similar response from one of my friends who when told we had just purchased a minivan, responded incredulously, “You did not.” (more…)

Growing up, when my Mother would get stressed about money (or lack thereof) my Dad would try to reassure her by saying, “If we run out of money, we’ll just go out and make some more.”

Apparently that little bit of wisdom was actually my Grandfather’s, and even though it didn’t seem to make my Mother feel better, I always felt that there was real truth in his statement. After all, it IS just money.

So I try to keep that in mind as I watch our 401K shrink and my eldest son’s college fund cave (at least he has one…my youngest, apparently, isn’t even going).

I also try not to freak out about the What ifs, especially when I hear of yet another company laying off a chunk of their workforce.

This is without a doubt a very stressful time for everyone. We’re all feeling the effects of this economic recession and make no mistake; we’re all paying for it. And it’s easy (and understandable) to let stress and fear ooze into the tiny breaks in our confidence and hold us hostage.

Then I read this article over at the Positivity Blog about the “So What?” mentality. In a nutshell, it dictates that instead of participating in a world that is self-defeating, you help create a world that is uplifting…by being positive.

So What if my husband gets the ax? He’ll get another job. It might take a while and we may miss a mortgage payment or two and my kids may have to eat erasers for lunch, and I may have to get a job at Chic-Fil-A…but it’ll work out. We’ll come out of it, and we’ll be stronger than before (with free chicken sandwiches to boot).

Life truly is an adventure and sometimes the most challenging of times can be the most pivotal. Maybe after being laid off, you decide to move your career in a different direction, maybe a more satisfying direction, or maybe you strike out onto your own. Whatever cards you’re dealt, you can handle it…if you stay strong and if you stay positive.

So if you need a little pick-me-up today, read this post, reset your attitude, and count your blessings this holiday season. Because chances are, if you look around, you’ll see that you’ve got lots.

~tcb

At a recent neighborhood meeting, several people expressed frustration at having to scoop up poop, especially since they didn’t own a dog, and they wanted to see if there was anything that could be done about getting dog-walkers to clean up after their pets.

Well, since my neighbors don’t know that I author a blog, I couldn’t refer them the Cool Broads don’t poop in other people’s yards rule. So instead, I mentioned that I had, in fact, spoken to one repeat offender about cleaning up after her dogs and even gave her a bag to do so when she was “caught off guard” one day as her dogs pooped on my tulips.

“Yeah”, my neighbor said, “she never walks with a bag…but she’s really nice.”

I found that statement odd, so I asked her, “How can you call someone who doesn’t respect your property ‘really nice’?”

“Well,” she said, “I guess it just doesn’t really bother me.”

“It bothers me,” her husband barked (no doggie pun intended).

“Do you think it’ll bother you when your 3 year-old steps in a pile of dog poop and tracks it in your house?” I asked.

“Maybe, but I think it’s more important to maintain a friendly relationship with your neighbors than to risk offending someone and possibly create an awkward situation.”

I was aghast. I immediately wanted to tell this women that there was a word for people like her…doormat. (more…)

“There’s this football hold — it’s a lot harder than it looks in the books,” she said in the interview. “You think, ‘Ah, if anybody can do that, I can do that.’”

Funny…that’s EXACTLY what I thought. I mean, how hard could it be?? And as the oldest of four kids, I remember watching my mother breastfeeding my younger brother and sister, so there was never a question that I would breastfeed my children…I just always knew that I would. And I also knew that I’d do it for at least a year (I mean, come on, if the American Academy of Pediatrics says that’s how long you do it for…hell, that’s how long I was going to do it for…I’m nothing if not a rule follower).

Unfortunately, it didn’t work quite out like that for me.

Here’s a somewhat brief synopsis of my breastfeeding experience:

• Baby hospitalized at one week old for “failure to thrive” because apparently, my milk hadn’t come in and he was STARVING; Doctor prescribed some drug (can’t remember the name) to jumpstart my milk production; Rented heavy duty pumping machine from the hospital to get those mammaries a goin’.
• Drug turned my boobs into hot lava boulders hanging precariously from my body by…oh, that’s right…SKIN! If anyone touches me…I scream.
• Milk finally comes in.
• Baby is still starving. Visit lactation consultant at hospital. She weighs baby before and after I feed him. It appears after nursing him for 20 minutes on each breast he only consumed one oz. of milk. She’s confused. Looks at my breasts…good nipples. Checks baby’s sucking reflex…good strong suck. Sends me home with some feeding contraption with a long thin tube that I fill with breast milk or formula and then tape to my boob so that both the baby and my breasts think they’re breastfeeding and “won’t get lazy”.
• Breastfeed with feeding contraption. Major hassle…have to clean tube thorougly after each use, so in addition to giving the baby supplemental breastmilk or formula AND pumping after each feeding, I have morphed into a human cow. Haven’t washed my hair in a week.
• Despite following every breastfeeding book I could get my hands on, the constant pumping (which on a really good day yielded only a couple of ounces of breastmilk), the feeding contraption, and not giving the baby a pacifier or a regular bottle so he wouldn’t get “nipple confusion”, I’m still unable to exclusively breastfeed my son. Something I always expected (and wanted) to do. I feel like a failure.

Now that my rugrat is almost 10 years old (and the healthiest kid I know despite being fed, dare I say it…FORMULA), I can almost think back to those painful months without crying. My breastfeeding experience wasn’t what I’d hoped for and to be honest, I feel jipped.

But despite the major beating I inflicted on myself, I still suffered from judgemental looks and comments from friends and other new moms when they found out that I’d weaned my son after only 6 months (which to be honest, I view now as a major accomplishment). These women should have been my biggest support. Instead, they were the biggest reminders of what I’d deemed at the time to be my biggest failure.

So, as I read about Angelina and her breastfeeding struggles and the subsequent comments and criticisms from bloggers, I find myself wishing they’d just lay off. True, maybe she opened herself up to the grief after making her breastfeeding a public affair (see picture above). And I, for one, HATE celebrities that put out this life-is-totally-perfect-and-wonderful image when in reality they’re dealing with the same crap we all have to deal with.

But I give her credit for being honest about the difficulties she experienced. Why? Because when you’re struggling with something that so many well-meaning moms take for granted as “natural”, or something that some people have a tendency to pass judgement on if you decide not to do (or for whatever reason, cannot do), there’s no lonelier place. And sometimes it’s a little comforting to know that you’re really not alone.

~tcb

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