Guest Blogging Today

My post, "Teen Drinking, Sex, Curfews, and Partying. (What We Do)," which I wrote last year, is a featured post at On the Flipside today. Head on over there and comment away!

Two Year Anniversary

Last week, I hit my two-year blogging anniversary. I've now been blogging for 739 days and I've amassed 870 posts. Obviously, I posted more than twice a day in my more prolific past because I'm barely managing once or twice a week since beginning this job last February! It's kind of sad, actually -- I was really on a roll there for a while, "meeting" other bloggers (mostly virtual, but once or twice for real), writing constantly, gaining more readers weekly, and really focusing on (and soooo enjoying!) the blogging life.

Then I started a very demanding, very full-time job and the blogginess I loved so much was sucked right out of me. Not that it's my job's fault; I know that if I were truly committed I'd still blog at least once a day and I'd still be able to form a cohesive sentence after working with The Big Software Company in Redmond all day and online with Mumbai "all" night.

Sigh.

Just for fun, I thought I'd re-post a few of my favorite posts of the past:

I Like Slutty Words
I Met a Man without a Wedding Ring for Lunch
Dinner for Two. Make that 4. Or 6... Actually, EIGHT!
Peter Jaffe Never Kissed Me (Even if I Told My Diary That He Did)
Varied Voluble Vociferous Verbosities
An Open Letter to My Internal Clock and Biorhythm
A Five-Senses Tour of Seattle
Pondering "Pretty"

Ya know, I just realized that almost all those posts were written when I was unemployed and panicking about finding "real" work. I wonder whether, had I cultivated and nurtured my writing and blogging a bit more, I could have made a decent income with...

Ah, never mind!

Sigh again.

Where I've Been...

On July 2nd, my dad's four kids and their kids (and some significant others) and Lou, Dad's POSLQ ("person-of-the-opposite-sex-sharing-living-quarters") and her three sons and their SOs gathered at Howard Prairie Lake Resort in Oregon for five days for the second annual family reunion. (Actually, last year it was called a "pre-union" since we hadn't all yet met.)



I haven't blogged in over a week. That's the longest absence since I started this blog almost exactly two years ago. Where have I been? Working. Morning, noon and night -- pretty much 24/7. Why? Because it's the only way to keep the 38 or so balls in the air, flying all around, without allowing a single one to drop, ever. If I stop for a second, one might drop -- and that ripple effect would be no fun.

But if I keep going like this... also not good.

I miss blogging! I miss writing. I miss comments. I miss my blogging friends (and their blogs). I miss this whole world. Don't desert me y'all, OK?

Blogging, Friendship, and the Internet

Once upon a time, not so very long ago (July of '06, to be exact), I started this blog. Within just a few days of my first post, I discovered Jen's blog, called Heisse Sheisse ("hot shit" in German). Jen, a Bay Area girl (like me) who'd married a German boy (like I almost had) and moved to Germany, immediately drew me in with her wit, her honesty and her (shall we say) unique perspective on life. I felt an immediate kinship with Jen, prompted by the Germany connection and the Bay Area connection and the blogging connection and -- well, she just seemed like someone I'd love to meet someday.

And meet, we did! Boy, did we ever! In September, 2007 Jen and ten of my favorite German/American bloggers came together in Frankfurt, Germany on the last day of my month-long trip to Germany with Tom and Elisabeth (though Tom had flown home a week previous). Although I knew that online friendships could run deep, it wasn't until that day that I realized just how real, how genuine and how deep those friendships could be. We partied long into the night and when the wee hours of the morning arrived, we knew we had to say goodbye. I'd grown close to people like Jen and Geoffrey before my trip, but spending time with them in Germany just made me feel closer to them, and flying home the next day was difficult.

Blogging Buddies at the Blogger Meet-Up in Frankfurt, Germany

Jen and I stayed in touch, though our lives got busy and each of us blogged less frequently. Still, I looked forward to chatting with her again on Skype because, with Jen, so much of her appeal is in her energy and her feisty spirit. It comes through on her blog -- but it REALLY comes through in person!

I hadn't talked to or heard from Jen in months when, at 1:30 in the morning on the night of our anniversary, while we were still celebrating with the kids and no one had even thought to get to bed (and it was a school/work night!), I got e-mail from her. Jen, who had been trying hard to get pregnant for a long time wrote me to tell me... that she was pregnant!

Jen and Sparky

But wait. What was this?

"What in god’s name am I doing having a kid?"

The she freaked out (her words) a little and added, "Is this freak-out normal, Carol? It happened just like I wanted it too and now I’m so not ready. Any advice because I could sure use it. I know you are super busy with work so get back to me when you can." I read her letter to Elisabeth, who loves her as much as I do, and we both knew we had to reach her. I wrote her back immediately, knowing that chances were good that she was still online since it was 10:30 AM in Germany, saying "Let's talk. Skype!"

Jen and Elisabeth

Within three minutes Jen and I were on the phone. (Or rather, on the Internet headphones.) I have no idea what I said to her because I just said what was in my heart, but it had something to do with my own frequent hormonally-driven freak-outs when I was pregnant, and with the very normal fear of the unknown, and the very typical fear of parenting, and with the absolute confidence that she and Sparky would be amazingly wonderful parents. Jen went all "what have I done?" on me, and I went all "this is normal, I promise!" on her.

I wished I could give Jen a hug, wished we could spend the day together sipping coffee, going for a long walk, or hell -- shopping till dropping... wished it wasn't 2 AM on a work night. But it was and our conversation lasted nowhere near long enough. I miss Jen and if she and Sparky lived in Seattle, they'd totally be part of our family!

A few days later I got another e-mail from Jen. The subject line was "I'm better," which made me feel good. But a few lines into the e-mail, I saw the words "I miscarried." It brought tears to my eyes. Then Jen thanked me for chatting with her, saying "I get all veklempt when I think about it and if you were here, I’d squeeze your arm." Just like Jen.

I didn't give it a second thought, really. I was happy to talk with Jen and calm her fears and wrap my Internet arms around her.

And then I read Jen's blog entry today. And I realized that we really don't know when or how or how much we impact people around us. About our late night conversation Jen said, "Carol talked me off that ledge. I really honestly do not know what I would have done without Carol. I had no idea that those could be normal feelings. I didn’t even think about hormones. She helped me get perspective. And look at her kids. How do I make sure I have kids like that..."

I had no idea. And that made me wonder how often we say or do things that have an impact on people that's far more significant than we realize -- both good and bad. Did I say something off-the-cuff last week that offended someone? Did I offend someone yesterday by not doing or saying something?

If a stranger can ruin my day by flipping me off on the freeway or make my day by paying me a compliment, then how big an impact can we have on people we know? Huge. It's both humbling and empowering to realize that.

Sleep-Wake-Dream-Nightmare

I work morning, all day and all evening (and into the night), then dream/torment/agonize about work all night in a bizarre state somewhere between awake and asleep. Combine that with the fitful sleep, night sweats and insomnia of menopause and you have... my life right now.

Last night I was jolted awake repeatedly by phrases like "InfoPath," "MSTP compliance," "content migration," as well as some Microsoft-specific acronyms that I probably shouldn't post here. Each item was accompanied by a sleepy mental to-do list and, to make things crazier, a very pointed and specific list of contingencies, dependencies and ramifications.

After this gets done, then I must do this. What if I can't get enough information to complete that, then -- oh-my-god -- that other thing might happen! Don't forget to request this from them and pass it on to her to get approved by him.

Carol? Wake up!

Because it's 5:30 AM and e-mail has been flowing into your in-box all night from India, where they've been working since you ended your conversation with them at midnight, and look! -- there's cool new stuff for you to work on today... and questions that need answering, action items that need attending to, and people who need to be contacted.

I am determined to continue to blog, but gone are the days when I have time to write long, thoughtful posts. And that just makes me very sad.

Downright Neighborly!

I was treated to a bright spot in the middle of an otherwise absolutely insane day today: I finally had a chance to visit with my blogging buddy Susan! Susan and I have been meaning to get together for about a year now, but for one reason or another we've never been able to coordinate our schedules.

In most circumstances that's pretty understandable. I mean, we're all busy and it's sometimes hard to coordinate schedules and travel to meet people we've met in the blogosphere, even if they're local. But for Susan and I there's really no excuse because -- well, put it this way: if I were to call my kids for dinner or call for my pets to come inside at night, Susan could very likely hear me! It turns out she's my neighbor!

We discovered that we were neighbors quite by accident, actually. Last summer I posted a little ditty about a garage sale we'd just had, along with a photo of our driveway with all kinds of junk in it. Within a day, I got an e-mail saying, Oh my goodness, I think we might be neighbors!" And sure enough, we are!

Now if that isn't a small world story...

Susan was one of the recipients of my Pay-It-Forward post, and I absolutely wanted to deliver her gift (homemade earrings) in person, so finally today we met for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Baja Fresh -- which just happens to be very close to my office. I wish we could have had hours to visit -- and I'm sure we could have filled the time with chatter -- but unfortunately I only had an hour before I had to get back for a conference call that I'd been. But oh, what an hour it was! Susan is gracious and sweet and funny and kind -- exactly as she is on her blog. We talked about raising teens, about our pets, about our hubbies and our parents, about blogging and scrapbooking, and about living in Seattle.

Our time together ended far too soon, but no worries -- all I'd need to do is open my back door and call out "Suuuuuusaaaaaan" and we can meet again for a walk around the block!

"We, the People of Anonymous Proxy..."

Readers from 99 countries have visited my blog. I keep waiting for someone from a hundredth country to show up, but for weeks now my Neocounter has hovered right at 99.

(Which begs this contest: if you're my first reader from country #100, and you're willing to give me your address, I'll send you a prize from America! And I promise it won't have anything to do with George Bush.)

Today I noticed that I've had a visitor from the illustrious country of "Anonymous Proxy"! Which makes me wonder all kinds of things.

Like -- do Anonymous Proxians really wear eye patches?

And what if one of them happens to be the attention-getting sort? Does he or she get extradited?

And if someone from Anonymous Proxy signs a legal document for another citizen, is it considered "by-proxy-in-Proxy"?

And do the citizens of Anonymous Proxy have identifying numbers like a social security number, or does that go against their Constitution of Anonymity?

And hey -- do people even have names in Anonymous Proxy, or is everyone... anonymous?

I wonder if Alaska Airlines flies to Anonymous Proxy because, you know, I have $50 ticket to anywhere they fly and I'm ready for a vacation. But I have a feeling I'd be stuck there, because how could I board a plane to come back if... if I don't have a name?!

Ah, the things that tickle my mind before my morning cup of coffee hits my brain cells...

Guilt and Apologies

I used to begin my morning with a leisurely cup of coffee, my warm fuzzy robe and slippers, my kitty in my lap and my personalized Google Reader list of blog posts on my laptop. I'd read every single new post and respond to many of them. Then I'd ponder my own post, write it, finesse it and eventually post it.*

That was then.

This morning Google Reader told me that I had 536 unread blog posts. Granted, well over 150 were from BlogHer, but many of them were my favorite blogs, like Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Nothing But Bonfires, LifeAfter, Metro Dad, A2EatWrite, All & Sundry, Sandiegomomma, and a whole long list of my favorite Expat blogs.

This simply cannot go on. I am enduring a severe case of blogging withdrawals (reading and writing -- or at least good writing). When I open Google Reader during the day, just for a fix, just to see it on my Mozilla tabs, just to know it's theeeeere, and I see a number in the hundreds, I begin to visibly shake. (Well, my new office is freezing too, so that might have something to do with it.) I vow to catch up on reading soon. Very, very soon.

And this weekend I will keep my promise. If I work constantly, as I'm doing now, from early morning (at home) to all day (in the office), to while I'm swimming and working out (mentally) to in the evening (with India), to all weekend (mentally/in my home office) I will absolutely burn out. I NEED that mental "ahhhhh" that I used to have with my favorite blogs in the morning! This bolting out of bed and running through a mental task list, then running to my computer to implement it can't be sustained forever.

So I'm gonna breathe and relax, starting this weekend (no, not tonight; I met with a client this afternoon and there's much implementation to be done tonight!) and I'm gonna dedicate some time every day to reading your blogs. Because I MISS you! And I'm sorry I've been such a crappy blogging buddy.


*Then I'd panic about being unemployed and spend hours applying for jobs and making calls -- but I've already conveniently forgotten THAT piece of it!

I'm a Little Behind in Paying It Forward

Remember way back in February when I posted about the Pay-It-Forward phenomenon that was going around the blogosphere, and that I was lucky enough to take part in, thanks to Tense Teacher? Well, I'm finally getting around to announcing the winners!

(Sorry... did I mention that my life has gone from calm to crazed?!)

The winners are, in no particular order:
Maria
Juanita
Susan

Congratulations! Now I get to send each of you a little something -- which means that you need to e-mail me your snail mail address. Annnnnd... you must promise to make a similar post on your own blog, offering to pay it forward to 3 more bloggers who comment on your site. What happens is you will write a post, much as I did here, but in your own words, of course. Within your post mention “Pay It Forward,” and specify which comments will be involved, or make it random if you prefer.

It's fun -- and heck, we can all use a fun little pick-me-up these days, can't we? No go forth and pay it forward! (And pssssst -- you can always start your own Pay-It-Forward thread, even if you didn't "win" here... because this is so NOT about "winning.")

I Miss Blogging!

I haven't been a good blogger lately. That goes for both reading others' blogs and writing my own.

During the ten months since I'd been laid off, I blogged more and more regularly and I really tried to focus on writing something of substance every day. I had plenty of time during those months and I not only blogged here, but I found a few paid writing jobs as well. It was a very writing-focused time for me and I hoped that I could somehow put three kids through college on the very small amount of money I'd been making from my writing.

I was clearly delusional.

Last month I found a good full-time job with good people, good benefits and incentives, interesting and challenging work, and a schedule (10 - 4 and 8 - 10 daily) that I hoped would allow me to continue to write thoughtful, considered posts on a daily basis.

I was clearly delusional.

Have you noticed that for, oh about a month, I have written very few thoughtful, original posts? My readership, which has dwindled considerably, shows it -- but I promised myself a while ago that it's not really about readership; it's about writing. I miss my both my readers (please, don't gooooo!) and the opportunity to write (not just post) daily!

I hope to be back. Really, I do! But for now, my new job is all-encompassing, with little time for anything else. My days have become quite predictable, with a schedule that looks very much like this every day:

7:00: Up, clean, work.
9:00: Stop working at home and get in the car to drive to work.
9:30: Work. At work.
12:00: Eat lunch. While working.
4:00: Leave work. Drive to gym.
4:30: Swim/work-out. Mentally work while working out.
6:30: Home. Cook. Work. Clean. Work. Think about work.
7:00 Dinner with family (from one to seven other people). NOT working or thinking about work!
8:00: Work on phone with Mumbia. Or work alone in my home office.
10:00: Space out in front of the TV until...
10:02: Fall asleep while thinking about work.

Do you see blogging in there? Neither do I.

Any new job is demanding, and project management tends to be especially demanding because the details and organization of the project is dependent on the PM -- and I have four separate projects that are focused on a technology that I am still very much learning. This should eventually calm down and I should be able to eventually relax, not feeling that I need to be "on" my projects every minute of every day.

But at this company someone IS working every minute of every day, because we have a presence in both India and the US. So when I pass off a task to our (wonderful!) people in India at night, I wake up to a finished task when I check my in-box first thing in the morning! It's a bit like the Elves and the Shoemaker! I love that... and our clients REALLY love it because it means that we can literally do the job overnight!

And now I really need to... work.

Paid Blogging!

No, not here.

I don't have any plans to put ads on this blog in the foreseeable future. It's not that I don't want money for blogging; believe me, I'd love to make money from blogging! But not here, not on this personal, all-over-the-board, no-one-theme, write-whatever-I-want blog. I don't want to feel beholden to any one audience, any specific topic, or any particular theme, and somehow it seems to me that a lot of paid blogging is just that.

(Unless you're everyone's blogging idol, Pioneer Woman. She is the Queen of Everything and I have a feeling she gets paid for uttering the word "blog." Or maybe even just for breathing. Have I mentioned before that I adore her? Oh yeah, I have.)

Actually, I LIKE the idea of contributing to other blogs and being paid for my themed writing. And lately I've been approached by a few professional bloggers who have asked me to contribute to their professional sites. For a few months now, I've been contributing to simpletuition.com's "tuition tales." You can read those entries here.

Yesterday I was asked to contribute to parentingsquad.com as their "parent of young adults" blogger. I'm still looking into that one, but I have a feeling I'll accept their invitation -- especially because 1.) I have plenty to say on that topic and 2.) their revenue/payment model is interesting and potentially lucrative. (I'd get 100% of the ad revenue made on "my" pages.)

But this l'il down-home blog shall remain in its own friendly, unpaid corner of the blogosphere, chatting up benign, inane, frivolous and otherwise mind-boggling and earth-shattering tidbits for you, my faithful readers.

And I'm not making a dime off you; I just love your company. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

In Which I Come Clean about Blogging

I love Google Reader because it updates me in real time about the blogs and websites I've asked it to monitor. Many of these are blogs like my own, written by people who find blogging to be an effective outlet for their thoughts and a good place to find an online community of like-minded people. Most of these are blogs that don't advertise because, like me, their authors created their blogs as an outlet for expression rather than for generation of income.

Also on my Google Reader list are blogs that are focused solely on making money, directly or indirectly, from blogging. These include sites that are hugely helpful in finding freelance work, including freelance blogging work, and those blogs tend to (understandably) be very income-focused, which means that they constantly feature income-generating content such as a list of hints (lists are apparently big traffic magnets) on how to effectively drive traffic to your site and how to create posts that invite lots of readers and therefore (at least presumably) lots of income. So, while this personal blog is intentionally not one of those sites, I'm constantly wondering if maybe, given my employment situation (that is, lack thereof), maybe it should be.

But if I did that, everything about this blog would change. I'd write posts in order to fulfill some business requirement -- or worse, to beg for some business -- instead of being motivated by, well, simply by life. And a second blog? Nope -- it just ain't gonna happen... unless it's a paid gig and a completely different animal than this blog.

So what am I coming clean about, you ask? I've decided that I spend way too much energy worrying about things like how to most effectively drive traffic, and page visits in relation to page views, and entry and exit pages. I don't have ads so I'm not in this for the money (what money?!), so who the hell cares? Anyway, the way I figure it, the really great blogs (like this one) never became great by focusing on statistics or readership; they became great by focusing on real, honest, meaningful content. I used to do that; I used to write and write and write because I had stuff in my head that had to get out, no matter who -- if anyone -- was listening.

Then I started to see "my numbers" increase and it felt good and I wanted more numbers. And at the same time I began to realize that potential employers were reading my blog, so I became careful about writing about my job search. And then I realized that old friends and extended family were reading my blog so I began to chose topics hoping they'd find value in what I wrote. Then I got scared to just write, for fear of (gasp!) declining numbers or offending someone or giving away too much information about myself or alienating this group or that group.

And then, around the time that I stopped feeling ownership of my blog and stopped just writing what was on my mind and started wondering whether I should count visitors and potential dollars, I stopped feeling excited about blogging. I'd write safe posts or, worse, I'd find something kinda cool on some other website and post that. And then I'd look at my stats and see if it "worked." How pathetic can I be? What happened to the blog that I started simply because I wanted to write and I had stuff to say and I liked the idea of maybe a few people finding value in what I had to say?

(Did my decision to finally learn to type, thus going from lightning-speed 2-finger typing to dismally slow 10-finger typing play a role in shorter, more boring posts too? Probably! Do I have to learn this 10-finger crap?!)

So here's me coming clean: I'm gonna get back to just plain expressing myself here. I'm gonna stop worrying about driving traffic and stats, and instead I'm just gonna get back to expressing what's on my mind. I might still not be completely forthcoming at all times about my quest for the perfect job though, because... well, because I do believe that some decorum and confidentiality will still be necessary in that department. But I'll let you know generally how things are going.

So why, after all this, did I change the title of this post from In Which I Come Clean to In Which I Come Clean about Blogging, thinking that the latter would bring in more traffic? I mean if I were really blog-smart, I'd title this post In Which I Come Clean about Why I Blog (which I almost did) because, you know, those last three words, "why I blog" are surely searched more often than "about blogging" and that title might... (oh, crap, here it comes...) drive traffic.

Pathetic, I tell you.

Shameless Promotion

Every so often I come across a product that I just really like, and in those cases it's not beyond me to gush and brown-nose and sing praises from the mountain tops.

Smilebox is my latest product crush because it appeals to so many aspects of who I am: scrapbooker, photographer, momdaughtersisterwifefriendetc., geek-ette and Web 2.0 enthusiast, and lover of all things that promote warm fuzzies and world peace. (Dramatic?! Didn't someone call me dramatic on this blog, just yesterday?!)

I'll find just about any excuse to send a Smilebox -- and fortunately, there's a Smilebox for just about any excuse occasion. The coolest thing -- other than the huge variety of designs, of course -- is the ability to embed video into a personal online greeting (which is why this one takes just a bit longer to load). The designs are hugely open-ended and personalizable, which just adds to the fun. This western theme (which is also available as an FBI theme) is perfect for calling my extended family together for our annual reunion this coming summer. (Names have been changed to protect the -- pffffft ... quote, unquote-- "innocent.")

What d'ya think?

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

(And yes, I would love to work there... and yes, I AM working on it! Be patient, my friends! )

A Hot, Healthy Breakfast on a Cold Pacific Northwest Winter Day

I'm enjoying this breakfast, as I do every day, while I work on a post that -- unlike this one -- actually has some substance to it.



(This post, however, contains more fiber.)

Prompt Me!

Help me!

I've been sucked into the black hole of blogging: I have come to the end of the universe of blogging topics.

That's right -- I'm completely devoid of ideas.

Spent.

Empty.

Barren.

Please -- rescue me! Throw me an idea (or three) and help me escape from this writer's hell! I'd be (ahem) eternally grateful...

Here -- I'll help you: "Carol, you should write about..."

The Answers

You asked! You really asked!

And so, I answer:

Becky asks: What is your favorite Christmas tradition and what tradition do you wish you had started long ago when your kids were small?

I just love the whole Bavarian Christmas eve. My mom had a cassette tape (now mine), with almost more scratches than music (just horrible quality) that absolutely captures the essence of Christmas for me. She told me that it was actually recorded in the snow outside a Bavarian church on Christmas Eve. It begins with cannons, and I swear I can hear (even amid all the scratches) the muffling effect of the snow. There's a clavier and a boys' choir, and to me it is absolute magic! If only I could find a new recording of this music, but I'm not even sure what it's called because the tape just contains Mom's handwriting: "X-mas cannons, Bavarian X-mas."

Goofball asks: On which song do you feet start to dance without stopping? On which music can nobody drag you off the dance floor?

Oh, I love this question! But I can't choose just one answer! Mika gets me bee-boppin', and Stray Cats, and some of the Shins' music. Oh, and I love Gomez's How We Operate. And KT Tunstall's Hold On and Suddenly I See. And the Dixie Chicks. And Mark Knofler & EmmyLou Harris' collaborative music. And hell, even Bach has gotten me to my feet!

And now you have me going through each of my gazillion iTunes songs, just when I have meetings to go to! (No, not interviews -- though I have an all day interview tomorrow! Cross your fingers for me; I want this one!)

Now ask me which music gets me pensive and holding back tears...

Dixie asks: If you would be allowed the gift of one luxury item, regardless of price, what would you choose?

Do love and health and time count as luxury items? They seem to me to be the ULTIMATE luxury items! I choose them! (OK, fine -- and a little red Audi TT sports car...)

Emily asks: What do you love most about living in the Northwest?

Brace yourself! I'd have to say the weather! And not because it's so great because I really don't care for incessant drizzle. But it's the weather that ultimately makes the Pacific Northwest so green and beautiful. You need only drive 20 minutes from the city (or take a walk in the forest behind our house) to be surrounded by beauty. And if you haven't experienced August in Seattle, you ain't lived!

Jen asks: What do you enjoy most about writing? Would you write full time if you could, or is that too solitary an occupation for you?

I can't NOT write. It's just part of me and always has been. My favorite writing is INSPIRED writing -- when words just flow out of me, faster than I can type them (which isn't saying much because I am a slow, two-finger typist!), and somehow they just seem to settle perfectly, with very little effort from me. It's very rare that I can write like that, but when it happens I'm grateful and in awe.

I would absolutely write full-time if I could support the family and send three kids to college on it!

You know, it's weird -- when I was young, I hated being alone, and the word "solitary" panicked me. Now I welcome it.

Anonymous asks: If you were offered a job in Germany, with a salary to allow you and Tom to live comfortably *and* pay for all college tuitions, would you take it even though it would mean living apart from your family?

Yes, assuming I loved the work. The kids would just have to come visit me! (Why? Are you offering me a job?!)

Another (I assume) Anonymous asks: If you had to choose one meal, that you had to eat at every mealtime for the rest of your life, calories no object in this hypothetical, what would you choose?

Mashed potatoes and a great salad, made by my sister-in-law, Suzie!

Another (yeah!) Anonymous asks: What advice would you give to moms of young children, coming from the wisdom of one who has brought 4 to over 18?

Oh, there's so much to say here, but the essence would be: Love them always, even when you find it difficult. Trust them as your "default setting." Let them know that, unless they prove otherwise, you trust them explicitly and that it's up to them to keep (or change) that trust. Keep the rules simple and impactful -- especially when they're teens.

(Oh wait -- YOUNG kids? Oh man, sorry, missed that! Love them, hold them, play with them, let them know how you feel about the world and encourage them to express themselves, and hold on to every single second because your -- and my -- mother-in-law was right; their childhood really does go by in the blink of an eye!)

Thanks for playing. You guys rock!

Ask Me Anything

Some of my favorite bloggers, like MetroDad, Nothing But Bonfires and, of course, Pioneer Woman, have a regular feature that I've always assumed is reserved for the really famous, really popular, really cool bloggers. They sometimes take "questions from the audience" and answer them in a post. (SFX: Ooooohs and aaaaahs...)

So even though I'm anything but famous, and probably only have enough readers for a moderate-length interview (and that's if you ALL contribute!), I thought it would be fun to PRETEND that I'm one of those oh-so-cool, oh-so-famous bloggers who I admire from afar. It'd be kind of akin to pretending that my stuffed animals were alive and all adored me, "throwing" themselves on me like wild fans at a celebrity movie opening, or posing like a model in front of the mirror, making those "who me.... aww shucks!" faces.

(You did those things too, right? We're both perfectly normal, right?)

Aw hell, who am I trying to fool? So forget the silly illusions of gradeuer and take me for who I am. But take me... and ask me... anything. Anything at all. (And if you're shy or a devout lurker, just use the anonymous button; unless you sign your name like my dear friend Lynn, I'll have no clue who you are...)

Hello? Is there anybody out there?

Is this thing ON?

Hello?

Tap, tap...

I've Been Roared!

Swenglishexpat, of Fruits of My Mind, has been kind enough to bestow upon me the "Roar for Powerful Words" award. I'm honored!

I wish I were truly an accomplished writer, but all I can say is that I must write; when I don't, I feel like I'm suffocating! Of course, that doesn't mean that my writing is great by any means, only that I love it. And really, I think that's the one ingredient that all great writers have had at some point, so there's always hope.

In the movie Amadeus, Salieri is an aspiring musician with a passion for composition and music, but without the raw, natural talent that Mozart possesses. That's how I feel about my writing: I recognize and appreciate great writing and I aspire to it, but it's hard work and often a struggle and I'm so envious of those to whom great writing comes naturally. So when someone recognizes my writing as worthwhile, it more than makes my day!

So here are the rules:

List three things you believe are necessary for good, powerful writing and then pass the award on to the five bloggers you want to honor, who in turn should pass it on to five others, etc. Let's send a roar through the blogosphere! (The image above can be copied and pasted onto other blogs.)

Three qualities I believe are important for good, powerful writing:

1. A sincere voice. Don't try to be who you're not; it will only be glaringly obvious in your writing.
   
2. IMs and casual e-mails do not exemplify good writing. (IOW, u shud pay att'n to spelling & grammar.)
3. Make your blog your own, with your own words and your own personality, instead of just copying stuff from others' blogs or posting one-sentence drive-by entries. (And my own admitted pet peeve -- don't plaster your blog with obtrusive ads!)
   

Here are the bloggers I think deserve the "Roar for Powerful Words" award:

1. Jonathan, of Flailing My Arms. Jonathan is an accomplished, published writer who contributes to a variety of parenting blogs. But my favorite blog is his own personal blog in which he writes about his own adorable and hilarious daughter.
2. Susan, of A Slice of Life. Susan and I "met" in a totally bizarre way! I had posted about a garage sale we had and, in reading my random "northwest blog," she recognized our house! It turns out she lives just a few houses away from me! Susan is a wonderful writer because she follows my rule #1 beautifully: she has a very honest, casual, engaging voice to her writing. We keep meaning to get together; one day we will! (How about next week, Susan?!)
3. Richard of German Diary. I adore Richard's very powerful writing and his stories about his son who he calls "His Highness." His writing is filled with beautiful imagery and deep, beautifully expressed emotion.
4. Jen of A2EatWrite. Jen is another sincere blogger with a wonderful voice to her writing. I'm always happy to see her blog name bolded on my Google Reader because it's always a treat to read her entries. And she is an absolutely dedicated commenter, so of course I adore her!
5. Jen of HeisseSheisse. Unfortunately Jen isn't posting as much as she once did because she had to go out and get a demanding job, but I absolutely adore her writing! I met Jen in Frankfurt last summer at the mini-blogger meet-up and I can honestly say that she is in real life just as she is on her blog: witty, friendly, feisty and fun! I love Jen's writing because it's filled with all those qualities.

Blog-doration

Jennifer McNary was the most popular girl in my 5th grade class.

I admired her. I adored her. I wanted to BE her.

Jennifer was just shy enough -- not painfully introverted nor obnoxiously extroverted. I closely observed -- and often tried to emulate -- Jennifer's way of demurely tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the left and smiling sweetly, looking sincerely and directly at you as she caressed the bottom button of her perfectly white cardigan sweater. That's how Jennifer interacted with everyone. And everyone with whom Jennifer interacted loved her. She was, to this slightly awkward freckled, red-headed teeny-bopper, perfection.

I admired her. I adored her. I wanted to BE her.

Ree, of Confessions of a Poineer Woman is the Jennifer McNary of the blogging world. Her blog is amazing -- addictive, informative, hilarious, and just downright fun. She can write about anything or nothing, and either way, it's perfection.

I admire her. I adore her. I want to BE her.

No wait -- I don't want to BE her!

As much as I love reading about her life on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere, as much as I LOVE reading her ongoing missive (called Black Heels to Tractor Wheels) about how she met and married her studly hubbly, "Marlboro Man," as much as I adore her photography and Photoshop lessons, and as much as I'm in awe over her Food Channel-quality posts on how to cook a huge variety of delicious recipes, I don't actually want to BE her.

I'm OK (now that I'm 50 and no longer in 5th grade) with simply admiring Pioneer Woman from afar. I'm really OK with that. I'm a big girl now, I'm my own person, and I know that my blog is special in its own way. And really, if Pioneer Woman jumped off a bridge, I'd... I'd...

I'll bet there ARE no bridges on her ranch.

I'm Blushing All Pink!

Ambra, over at Quasi Italiana has bequeathed upon me the Nice Matters Award, saying " I hope it is not the hundredth one you've received..."

HA! Are you kidding? Me? I never win awards (or contests, or the lottery, for that matter)!

I am honored to accept this award and to pass the love on to some other really nice (and inspirational, positive, interesting, friendly) blogging friends. My nominees for the next "Nice Matters Award" are:

Michelle at smoochdog.com, who has been really helpful to me with some job search issues lately. Thanks Michelle!

Dixie at Dixie Peach, who is the nicest wife and friend anyone could hope for! People in her life are lucky to have her around.

Jen at A2EatWrite, who is my most faithful commenter, always so nice and supportive -- and who is also a wonderful writer.

Ree at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, who is so wildly popular-bordering-on-famous that she'll probably never know I even nominated her, but I absolutely LOVE her blog, filled with Photoshop tips and great recipes (how nice is that?!), and I am completely addicted to reading about life on her ranch!

Holly at Nothing But Bonfires who cracks me up constantly with her (incredibly well-written) stories. When I see that she's posted, I'm so ON it. Need my Bonfire fix! Holly's one of those people who you know would just be a blast to hang out with.

So thanks again, Ambra. You made my day! And to those I've tagged (and, heck, to anyone else who wants to play... since I'm apparently so nice), go spread the love!