Moving...

That new blog I mentioned? It's mostly up. It's probably not going to be as anonymous, so I haven't decided if I'm going to link from this one to the new one. If you'd like the address, just send me an email (reneec73 at gmail) and I'll share the new site. I have no current plans to delete this blog, just don't know that I'll be updating it.

So Successful

At this blogging every day thing I mean. I lasted less than a week. Gah.

So it's Sunday and that means FOOTBALL. In addition to watching the Colts play, I plan to make lasagna and tollhouse pie. Yummm. We'll see how that goes because the baby does not always cooperate with my plans. He's snoozing now, which gives me the chance to get a post up and then get myself some lunch.

NaBlPoMo, Again

I did it in 2007 (more or less, but the effort was there). So I'm trying again.

And this counts as a post, as far as I'm concerned. I spent the day baking and cooking and cleaning. Oh, and taking care of a almost-four-month-old. Now it's late & my bed is calling me...

Time Management

During a discussion at lunch today, I came to a sad realization. I can't do it all. Earth-shattering, I know.

I want to be able to do more. But it really hit me this afternoon that no matter how much I want it, I can't manage to do everything I'd like. I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time accepting this, but there you have it.

Outside of the "have-to's" that I'd be happy not doing (house cleaning, grocery shopping, bill paying, etc.) there are four big areas where I choose to spend my time: pleasure reading, baking, blogging, and watching tv. I can do two of them easily. I can generally manage three of them when things aren't completely crazy on the home front (say, with a new baby or a husband disabled by a bad back and unable to do ANYTHING. It's been exhausting.) All four just doesn't happen.

My preference would be to drop tv. Other than Colts games and Top Chef I could skip it all and not miss it. But L really prefers me to watch some with him in the evenings, and so I do. This month it's pretty obviously been blogging that's been ignored. Actually, it's been baking too but that's due to L's injury requiring so much more time from me.

I'm debating how to handle it. So far I'm leaning towards lumping reading & blogging and alternating them; one day I do one and then next day the other. Or more likely, two days reading, one day blogging. That should hopefully keep my reading needs satisfied and still keep me writing (because I don't want to stop).

What I really need to do is stop the aimless internet surfing which I find myself doing at times. Why do I do that?

Blog Personality Type

I found a website that claimed it would analyze the personality type of my blog. Of course I had to try it. It says that my blog is:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

This is especially funny to me because in real life, I'm an INTJ. So apparently I blog exactly the opposite of how I am in person?

November!

November, which is the start of another NaBlPoMo. I'm not sure I'm up to trying it again, but I did find it useful last year so maybe I will give it another shot.

So, today I volunteered in the library as I usually do on the first Saturday of the month. Then L and I ran some errands and I spent the rest of the day and evening on the couch. We watched a lot of football interspersed with recorded TV.

At some point I'll need to try and come up with a menu for the week, but at best it'll be tomorrow morning before I tackle that.

Messin' with Blogger

I'm playing around with my blog settings & widgets & stuff. I wish I knew more to tweak the look of the blog; I know it's boring but I don't know how to make it more interesting and so far I'm too cheap to pay someone to do anything.

Update: I think I found someone whose work I like and whose prices I can afford! Off to email her to see if she's available!

Writer's Block?

I've got several post ideas rattling around in my brain, but when I sit down at the computer to write I can't think of anything, or else it seems really silly and banal. Even more so than my usual posts I mean.

I need a way to record ideas when I'm in the shower, since that's when I seem to come up with a bunch of them. By the time I'm out and dry they've all vanished.

There's a definite correspondence between my interest in/enthusiasm for/ideas for blogging and my energy level, as in, how I'm feeling. I've not been sleeping well lately due to bad allergies and I definitely think that's contributing to my mental block when I try to write.

L told me that there might be rain in the forecast which usually helps with my allergies so I'm hoping for a soaker.

Guess What Learned?

How to remove the navigation bar at the top of my blog.

That's right, in case you didn't notice already, it's gone. Woo-hoo to that!

One of these days I'll figure out how to customize my blog more. That day just won't be today. ;)

Thanks to Blogging Basics 101 for the easy-to-follow instructions!

Real Life

I recently told a real-life friend about my blog.

Let me clarify, she knew I had the blog. I only now gave her the address.

This makes two friends in real-life who know about the blog. Telling the first one was hard enough - this one was even harder because she sees me regularly!

I still don't write anything assuming that I'm anonymous - I stumbled across a blog some time ago and figured out that I knew of the blogger - not her specifically, but we have some mutual acquaintances and I could have gotten her name in about 1 email. Since she blogged believing that she was completely anonymous and would probably have been horrified to know that wasn't exactly the case, I try to keep that in mind - maybe some lurker has already identified me and I need to never post anything that would be devastating if I was identified.

So why did I tell my friends about the blog if I'm sort-of trying to be anonymous? Well, because I wanted some accountability for what I write and both friends are Christians who will tell me if they see some problems or issues with my blogging.

And you know what? It feels good knowing that they're reading, even if it's infrequent. I'm so bad at emailing or calling so I like to think my friend who no longer lives around here is somewhat up-to-date on what's going on in my life this way. Since she sure won't stay that way if she's counting on me to write or call her to let her know.

Fun with Google

I've seen other bloggers post about searches that led to their blogs, but I've only recently discovered how to see that on my own blog. I never really looked before because I never really expected people to find my blog through Google. How wrong I was.

One search was for: "dealing with paper piles".

I am so sorry that you clicked through to my site. I don't suppose my post lamenting my paper issues was much help, unless you were merely looking for solace that you're not alone in having piles of papers. In which case, my post should have at the very least made you feel somewhat better about your own paper piles.

Another searcher was looking for "thought provoking questions about self for relationships"

Again, I'm not really that sure that my post was really on target. I've got the thought-provoking questions all right, but they don't really touch on relationships.

That post also tricked someone who was looking for "good thought provoking questions for a girl". That probably wasn't what you were hoping for, now was it?

At least that post should have fit the bill for the individual searching for "thought provoking questions spirituality", as well as the one looking for "christian thought provoking questions". I think that's pretty much on target.

Another search was for the "joy of discipline" which led to my new scheme. Wonder if it was what they were wanting? Since they immediately left the site after arriving, I'm guessing no.

Someone (a parent, I'm guessing) searched for "teaching memory verse on thankfulness", which led to this. It's a verse at least. And it talks about teaching. Two out of three?

And finally, another memory verse searcher looked for "memory verse joy" and found me. I guess it's too bad the search didn't lead to this page, which might have been more appreciated, although I still don't have any verses listed specifically on joy. Just the reference to one in my blog title.

I'm kind of disappointed that I don't have any of the crazy searches that I've read on other blogs. Maybe someday.

Why I Blog

I've recently read some posts on why people blog and it's helping me to think through my thoughts and reasons for blogging, which were very fuzzy when I began this blog last year (after stopping and starting another one a couple of times).

I thought this was a great post and agreed with Zach quite a bit on some of the reasons why he blogs.

Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in.

I can't say that I ever really think of writing being a foundational facet of our civilization, but I absolutely agree that I'm using it to improve my writing. I was completely out of the habit of writing and having the discipline to write at least *something* most days surely is helping me to improve. I hope anyway.

A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don't know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand

I sort-of try to do this sometimes, although I find I'm still somewhat hesitant about putting some things out there. I think I should be doing this more, and need to stop being so chicken about stating an opinion on things.

A place to document other people's thoughts that I can easily access to in the future.

I haven't so far, but am thinking about doing this more as I can see it being really convenient. (And hence, this post build around Zach's post).

A context for community.

This is a big "maybe" for me - some of my efforts at "meeting" people via blog comments hasn't worked so well, but there's at least one blogger I met through comments who I do consider a blog friend (Hi Di!) I'd like to do better with this, and I know a lot of it (if not all of it) is on me - even knowing how much I enjoy getting comments, I'm still slow to comment oftentimes on other blogs.

Often I feel like any comments I have are silly or superficial or don't really add to a discussion, and it makes me hold back. And yes, I do know how ridiculous that sounds, especially when I just said how it makes my day when I get a comment, (any comment). Why do I imagine that other people will be criticizing my comments so much?

Entertainment.

Yup, it is definitely fun for me; I would have given up long ago if it weren't, but this is definitely not one of the biggest reasons. Reading a book is more fun for me, but doesn't give the other benefits that blogging does.

I would add to his list a bit:

Motivation. BooMama's Before and After is a perfect example - I've had a house project that I've had on my list to do for years (yes, years). Signing up for her event has definitely been a kick-in-the-pants for me to get moving on it. It's a self-imposed deadline, yes, but with the possibility for some embarrassment attached to it if I don't have something to report. It worked for decorating my house for Christmas too.

Memory. Not just documenting my thoughts as Zach mentioned, but more of a basic "we did this and then that and took a vacation where we did this." I have a terrible memory for events. No joke, it's really really bad. If I read it in a book, I'll remember it, but if I did it or talked about it or visited it, not so much. Both the time spent writing it (and reading the words as they appear on the screen) and then having it to read again later help.

Not Very Addicted (Apparently)

62%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Does 2 = a Streak?

I think it should, because that means I've started a new blogging streak. Woo-hoo! Two days in a row!

Dinner tonight was a bit of a bust. I originally planned to make stovetop meatloaf (by which I mean, meatloaf cooked on top of the stove, not meatloaf made with stovetop stuffing), but I just was very uninterested in it when it came time to fix it.

Instead I tried a new recipe, for beef and gnocchi pie. While the theory is good, and it certainly was an easy way to have a meat-and-potato dish, it just was a little bland for my taste. L thought it was really good though so I guess it was just me. I'm trying to restrain myself from heading back into the kitchen and making some brownies or apple dumplings or something sweet. I try to limit that sort of baking to the weekend.

My laundry is now calling me to move it along if I want to have clean pants to wear to work tomorrow. And that would probably be a good thing so I'll leave it at that and plan to post again tomorrow.

Let's Just Repeat My Last Title, Ok?

Because I really am still here, again.

What have I been doing, since I obviously haven't been blogging? Well, I've read a stack of books. Seriously, a huge stack. Mysteries and biographies and general non-fiction and a couple of young adult books. The evening time I'd been spending blogging I've instead been reading and reading and reading. I'm not always so good with the balance thing - when I'm reading I'm READING and everything else falls to the side. I need to get better at evening it out more - some time reading, some time blogging, some time cleaning (yeah, that gets ignored too), some time playing piano, well, you get the picture.

I also celebrated a birthday in that blogging break I just enjoyed. I did not celebrate it in my usual fashion of taking the day off from work and spending it at home doing whatever I want (which usually means reading 2 or 3 books I've been hoarding for that day). Instead I spent the day at work and instead took the next day off and spent it in my usual manner. :) My boss brought in cupcakes on my birthday and the coconut cream ones were fantastic, to the point where I've found a recipe so I can try and recreate the taste. She actually brought in an assortment of cupcakes and I made my friend split some with me so I could sample more of them - besides the coconut, we had strawberry, black bottom, and "ho-ho." So, yes, that would be two cupcakes each that we finished.

Apparently the cupcakes really did inspire me however because over Memorial Day I spent a lot of time in the kitchen and baked a number of new recipes. I was most proud of the bread I made - first time for me to tackle a yeast bread! I was unbelievably proud of myself for managing that. I'm almost ready to try a pie crust, because yes, I've always been intimidated by that as well.

One thing I have not been doing well recently is planning meals. It's now getting close to time to start fixing dinner and I have no idea at all what to fix. We had pasta last night, burgers on the grill over the weekend, and L had pizza recently at a friend's house so those are all out. I need some inspiration in a hurry so I think I'll go surf some food blogs...

Blogging Break

L and I leave tomorrow morning for a vacation/visit with family. We had sort of planned on leaving today, but the snow in the area made us think that tomorrow would be a better departure day. :) Yes, we're driving.

Today has been laundry and clean-out-the-fridge day. I've picked out the books I'll bring with me, but that's been the extent of my trip preparations so far. I always have trouble getting motivated to pack for trips, and even more so when it's a road trip.

I won't be posting anything until Christmas at least, and probably not until the end of that week. I do have a post (with pictures!) that I'm finishing up and will post tonight or tomorrow before we leave. It's of the decorations we have up for Christmas. I was inspired by the Christmas Home Tour to get out the camera and (more importantly) figure out how to resize them to be able to post them.

So Much for Posting Daily

I think I did fairly well with my attempt to post daily. Ok, so many of the posts were really lame, and I missed the last two days of the month. I was really disappointed in myself for not posting, but I just wasn't feeling well and I couldn't manage to get online with a brain engaged enough to come up with anything. I'm going to try and continue posting daily to keep up the habit. I guess today I'll just start a new streak.

Blogs I Love

(semi-)regularly updated and expanded...

Biblical Womanhood
Of course I love this one, I link back to it just about every Monday.

A Chelsea Morning
She makes me wish I was crafty and could sew/create like she does. Or that she'd adopt me.

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
Another great one for photographs, and her posts are wonderful - funny, touching, appalling or some combination.

Cookie Baker Lynn
Great writing, great photographs, and great recipes. What's not to love?

Making Home
Thought-provoking and inspiring.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Great photography, and some luscious sounding recipes. Especially those cinnamon rolls.

Pleasant View Schoolhouse
The photographs by her son which she regularly posts are fantastic.

BooMama
I started reading her regularly when she went to Uganda, and couldn't leave. She's fantastic.

Where'd I Go?

I started this new blog with such good plans of posting semi-regularly (3 to 4 times a week) & that lasted for less than a month. But why is that? Well, in part because September involved family in town & visiting and then October involved me doing a lot of traveling - both for vacation & for work.

This is on top of work being more crazy right now because of a big huge project with a deadline of next week. And I really do mean deadline - this isn't something where it can possibly be pushed back or anything. I'm not even that involved with it like some are, but the effect has trickled down to me, as urgent things get handed off & such. I think it's just also caused a lot of mental stress being around so many people who are heavily involved with it who are really stressing out. I think things should improve after next week. Well, until the next deadline looms anyway. ;)

NaBloPoMo

Since I've done such a terrible job with posting lately, I'm jumping on the National Blog Posting Month bandwagon as a motivation to get in the habit of blogging over here. We'll see how it works.