Yesterday was International Women’s Day. I loved waking up to all the awesome news stories recognizing women who are doing great things for other women. My son and I “celebrated” by going to the soup kitchen downtown (a regular event for us) where he gave flowers hand picked from our garden, to all the women we fed. I spent a portion of my day helping out two women I know, one who had to leave town for a family death and asked me to look after her dog and another young woman wanting to get into writing (who lives in a women’s shelter) who I have been mentoring for free, with the notion that what goes around comes around, although sometimes I question whether or not that is true which I will explain shortly.

I was also loving all the beautiful supportive messages being passed around on twitter and facebook, women acknowledging all their “sisters”, tagging them in uplifting quotes about the power, strength and beauty of running with this wonderful “pack” we call womanhood.

Then came the ugliness. A facebook message from a woman I have never met, never hurt, never done a single thing to. A woman called Natacha Popovic who hails from Blacktown, Sydney, Australia
This is it:

omg i just saw your story in womans day you are so young and so huge the food u inhale on a daily basis is a disgrace your a walking heart attack waiting to happen.…

So Lance Armstrong doped and has now admitted it. People are taking sides everywhere and I keep hearing, “But he saved so many lives and did so much good with his charity.” Yes, sure he did. And he made millions and millions and millions from every single yellow jersey he stole from all those who didn’t win it.

And the next most common answer to all of that seems to be, “But everyone does it so, in his own words, he was leveling the playing field.”

Hmmm. Okay so you can’t give the jerseys, medals and prize money to the next ten or fifteen people who came next but somewhere along that very tainted blood line are people who categorically have not, will not or perhaps even could not afford to dope. Somewhere in that long line of “losers” are people who have real jobs and families to support who love the sport of cycling but who can’t afford what would no doubt be an expensive “habit” to support.

What about those people whose lives could have been significantly changed by cleanly and fairly winning their sport? Who is to say what good those people would have done or what charities they may have funded or brought publicity to?…

I have a friend who is a Sexologist which is very different to a sex therapist. She is so incredibly inspiring that she has opened a whole new world up to me. She is open, frank, witty and charming and talks about sex all the time and yet always comes across as classy and well educated. She has taught me many valuable lessons I won’t share here but guarantee have een extremely helpful when single (as I am now) but she recently visited a Sexpo Conference in LA and inspired me to take on a guest blogger on the very touchy feely subject of sexual wellness and happiness. I like to think I am open minded enough to share “the love” and info on ALL facets of health and wellness so here goes:

Living a happy and healthy lifestyle goes much deeper than the eating and exercise side of things. We have to factor in our social life, our mental health and our sex life. Happiness is not rooted in a size 2 and a salad for every meal. Rather it encompasses a full and balanced life and each of these components play an important part and can’t be left by the wayside.…

I am so happy to announce that my book Like Me As I Am is out now. It is a small book designed to help others understand Aspergers from the inside out, taking away the stigma of the misunderstood behavior and getting to know the person behind the condition in the hope that those who deal with our children can then come from a place of love versus ignorance dominating their responses. I have listed hundreds of different traits my son has shown over the years and in some instances have shared personal accounts of what we did to make the most of, overcome and/or simply cope with them.

Here are just a few…….

• Mood swings. Sometimes I am over excited about something that may not interest you, other times I am completely uninterested in things you might think would make me happy. Sometimes I am happy but I just look moody. I just haven’t learnt to show everything on my face. This would be an excellent trait for a poker player or politician. It’s funny how something unusual can give you an edge somewhere else.

• Sometimes I’m happy but I just don’t look or act like it. Sometimes I just don’t have anything to say.…

Bill Gates recently gave a Commencement speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes; learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.…