Blog Neglect

Looking over my blog the last few days, I have realized how sadly neglected it has become.  There are always a million excuses.  I could point at the fact that I am just really busy with taking care of the kids, working, taking care of the house, church, and spending a little time with friends.  Sometimes I think that nothing too exciting has been going on, so I have nothing to say.  However, when I get together with friends or acquaintances, I managed to talk a lot (as in running my mouth too much).  Perhaps, I get too much quiet downtime and I need a little bit of an outlet. 

In light of that, I have decided to give this blog a lot more attention over the next month or so.  Hopefully, posting will become more of a habit.  Here is to at least a month of more posting, whether my rambling thoughts are boring or not.  

Zillions of Distractions

I think it is no secret, especially to anyone who has read my blog for several years, that I simply ♥LOVE♥ holidays.  Remember the old days when I used to re-design my blog for each one?  Pretty crazy!  My blog got too much attention in those days and now sadly has been quite neglected.  These last six weeks it is mainly because of Pinterest.  Who doesn't love looking at, pinning and getting zillions of great ideas about everything and anything?   Of course, I have been looking at lots of holiday ideas.  It is just too tempting for me.  If you are into it or looking for a new addiction, check it out.  I think you can follow me using frecklefacegirl01@hotmail.com or my facebook connection.  The more connections we make, the more stuff there is to look at...  shiny, interesting, crafty, fashionable, dreamy, silly stuff.

Tonight, I have been looking at faces that are painted up for day of the dead.  I have been interested in doing that to my face for Halloween for several years.  I even watched a tutorial.  I don't think it will happen this year, but definitely a motivation for next Halloween.   

Just Posting

This year, my blog has clearly been neglected. Too bad this isn't one of those situations where I can blame it on someone else. Not that I am into that, but knowing I could would be cool. Unfortunately, I have simply lost interest for the most part and for no tangible reasons. However, this month has been different. Some of you may be wondering if I joined the NaBloPoMo (http://www.nablopomo.com/). Well, I haven't.

For years, I have seen other blogs, which I follow, join and I have enjoyed their frequent posts. I always thought that there wasn't any way I could produce that many topics in one month. I also wondered if I would even have the motivation to try. Besides, I am not a blogger that comes up with a fascinating topic and adds lots of creative/humorous insight. I wish I could be like that. My posts are basically about a bunch of drivel on this and that. Sometimes, I don't even like my blog because I feel like I am much more pessimistic or negative on here than I really am. Perhaps, I just get inspired by negativity, which frankly sucks.

Anyway, see... blah, blah, blah about this and that. I guess this proves my point. If I keep up with my little quest of posting almost every day this month, you can be sure that there will be more randomness chatter about this and that. - Don't say you haven't been warned.

Halloweenie Time

Remember back when I used to have a new design for every holiday?  Well, I still LOVE holidays, but I'm in a horrible funk when it comes to my blog.  Whenever I sit down, I seem to forget the topics I've come up with.  So... for now, I'll say that we're doing well.  We're out doing lots of fun things.  We have our Halloween costumes and are excited to wear them.  I am still trying to balance working at home and entertaining kids.  I am still NOT dating, but I'm trying to remember why people think it is fun to date.  More and more, I am realizing that being a single mom has quite a few advantages.  There really isn't anything new to report, but soon I'll try to get to one of the topics swirling around in my head.

Inspired by a Comment

This morning, I got a comment from an Anonymous Source.  It was back on a post from January (It's Not You, It's Me), but it sounds like the comment was about several posts.  I typed my response and realized I should probably make it a post too.

Anonymous said...


Just want a guy friend to hang out with and talk to? Are you serious? Do you understand anything about men? Apparently not, given the one track mind comment. You only care about jewelry, purses, and shopping correct? What could you possibly offer a man in terms of an exclusively platonic relationship?

Children need their fathers in their lives. Especially male children. This entire argument re nine months of pregnancy, bonding, etc? What a bunch of crap. Do you know why children, if asked if they would prefer their moms to their fathers, would choose the mom? It's because the fathers are the ones that enforce the rules and the discipline. The moms happily leave all that heavy lifting to the dads so they can be the refuge and provide the succor.

Guh.


My Reply:

Thank you for your comments. I actually find differing opinions refreshing. I found it interesting that assume that I am only into shopping, jewelry, and purses. I like sports, hiking, camping, and lots of guy stuff. I happen to have lots of guy friends (including my ex), just not here in California.  I guess they would have to come up with things I have to offer in a platonic relationship. 

As for the fathering comments (which I am guessing were inspired by a post titled Fighting for Moms), I realize that I failed to make it clear in that post that I was mainly upset about situations when custody is given exclusively to the father when their mother was the main one that had been taking care of them.  This happened to my cousin because California believes it should be 50/50.  Also, stay-at-home moms who can't afford an attorney have a HUGE disadvantage.  Her and her ex-husband were moving to different states so custody was going to be with one or the other.  The one with all the money despite STRONG evidence of abuse won in the end.  Yes - I am still very angry about it.   

Further, I have seen lots of moms go way out of their way to put their kids first in life. However, I haven't seen many dads make their kids their TOP priority, but there are some. I strongly believe that those moms who do an amazing job with their kids should get primary custody, even if the kids have a great dad. This wasn't about cutting dads or men out of their lives. It was about who is going to be the primary caregiver for kids that have to suffer through divorce. Obviously, I am pro-mom (of course excluding those who don't want it or have issues).

I don't agree with your comments on discipline, at least not in every family.  When I was a kid, even though my parents were married, my mom did everything for us including discipline.  My father was heavy handed when he did enforce rules.  I don't expect anyone else to discipline my kids.  I am happy to say that people often comment about how well behaved they are, so I know that I am doing something right - all by myself.

Blogger Love

For the past year or so, I have almost fell completely out of the blogging world.  I cut back on the number of blogs that I keep up with and have lost most of my readers in turn.  Fortunately, those who are left are all gems. 

To my surprise, a few minutes ago, I actually got a blogging award.  I swear it has been a decade since that has happened, so I am more than thrilled!  THANKS Dayngrous Discourse!  I am especially honored given the fact that you truly are the queen of social media. 

The award looks amazingly mouth-watering, right?  It is my turn to pass it on to five great blogs (avoiding a few that I like that Dayngrous picked):

1. Aerin's Cranberry Blog
2. The Diva's Thoughts
3. Relish, My Relish
4. Crazy Bloggin' Canuk
5. Gluten-Free Girl

Please check out the blogs above and if you own one of the ones I picked, go ahead and pass on the award.

Funny Music Video

Twilight What Have You Done to My Wife?

Flash Back

For my long time blog readers, you might remember the heading above. I had it a little over 3 years ago. It was resurected tonight when I realized that the comments problem I noticed a few days ago wasn't going to go away on its own. Apparently, HaloScan wants to charge now. While I am sad to lose all those comments, I am not too sad about switching back to blogger. There are a few advantages to blogger comments. Mainly, that they work more often. Since I had also dealt with problems uploading graphics, I realized that the easiest solution would be to just use blogger's templates & just upload a header. That works for me. At least for now. I know I need to do some cleaning up and add links, but this will have to do for now.

The thing that make this switch HORRIBLE was that I didn't save the old template. I thought I had a copy of it or at least the links to blogs I read. I don't though. Please leave a comment, so I can find your blog and add it to my sidebar.

Remembering the Blogging Days

As a result of the graphics disappearing, I designated a little time to figuring out where I could host new ones. I found something that was OK. This whole experience reminded me of the old blog days back when I used to change the design to be festive every month. Was that a pain or what? I guess it was also back when I updated regularly and kept up with other blogs. In a way, I miss it. I am not sure I can fit it into my life right now, but maybe I'll try a little harder to be a real blogger.

Disappearing Graphics

As you’ve probably noticed, my graphics have disappeared. I used to use Geocities to upload the pictures for the blog design. I found out a few weeks ago that Yahoo was going to close it. I could have started researching other options then, but I didn’t. Does anyone have suggestions? Perhaps there is even a way to upload them to blogger directly. I haven’t tried that.

My Body Talks Using Freckles

Last Friday, I went to the doctor for a sinus infection. As he was writing the prescription, we had this conversation:

Doctor: "Do you know what freckles are?"

Me: "A horrible family curse."

Doctor: "No, it is your body's way of saying you are getting too much sun."

At that point, I wanted to ask how I could get my body to shut up while I enjoy my life outdoors. I just decided to politely smile because I know my answer was right.

Proximidade Award

Del from My Relish Blog has kindly selected my blog for an award, which kind of makes me feel guilty since I have been neglecting it lately. Maybe this is the motivation I needed.

The Proximidade Award is described as:
‘This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!’

This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

As you know, it is not easy picking eight blogs for an award. All of the blogs I read tend to draw me in because they are charming and/or candid. I guess I'll select some of them that I can imagine being friends with in the real world and I am going to list them in random order:

Tropic of Mom: Her blog contains beautiful pictures of Florida, fun stories, and she is pregnant. What mom doesn't like reading posts about pregnancy?

Brand New Tatoo: There is a lot that has happened to her in life and she writes openly about it all. I love her honesty.

Crazy Bloggin Canuck: She is a popular blogger who writes very creatively and really pulls people in. Who doesn't love her?

Amyeliz: She is witty, funny, candid, and a million other great things.

Aimee-Enchalada: She is kind hearted, yet makes me laugh with her sometimes snarky comments. Plus, she organized a whole Valentines exchange, which is super fun.

Aerin's Cranberry Blog: She always has interesting and well-thought-out topics. We've even exchanged a few wondeful e-mails. She is a very understanding person.

Now, for 2 recently discovered blogs by people I know in real life, but don't know about this blog and will only discover it if people click over there & they track it.

Pixie Chick: She is a free spirit who is extremely creative and kind. I knew her in high school, when people thought she belonged in the 1960s because of the way she dressed, played guitar, and loved the Beatles. I always liked her. She lives in SLC and started having kids at a fairly young age. Now, she is going to the University there and is about to have a book published.

Mortensens: I also knew the writer of this blog in high school. She has one of those cute little family blogs and has become quite the cake decorator.

Here I am at the end of the list with a few more blogs that I had intended on awarding. I don't read a whole lot of blogs anymore. If I read yours and/or your blog is listed on my side bar, please know that you are worthy of the Proximade Award in my eyes.

Social Networking

A few years ago I had a conversation with a friend about blogs, MySpace, and Facebook. I had a blog and she had joined MySpace. She told me that blogs seemed like too much effort. She also mentioned that very few people our age were on MySpace. After that, I have never really thought about social networking sites again. Since there was nobody for us to network with, what was the point?

That changed about 2 months ago when a friend of a friend sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I was quite surprised that she had my e-mail address, so I joined mainly to be nice. Oh yeah, I was also a little curious. I was immediately surprised by how many of the people I knew that had accounts. I had no idea what the next few months had in store for me.

As I have mentioned here before, I have moved A LOT in my life. I have made and lost touch with so many friends that I can’t even begin to count (or come up with names for the searches). I have really enjoyed finding and being found by friends. I have been able to reconnect with friends I had while living in Qatar 11-12 years ago. Just this week, two friends from different high schools and different states found me. I haven’t talked to either of them in over 17 years. I feel like I am just seeing the tip of the iceberg here and I am a bit sad that I didn’t know this before.

I am guessing that everyone who is into blogging and is reading this is thinking - duh! Over ten years ago, I was very frustrated that so many of my friends hadn’t jumped on the e-mail bandwagon. Now, I am very late in joining this movement.

A few friends have told me that they are afraid of losing their privacy. For that, I must say that you pick and choose your “friends.” I currently have two requests from people I don’t know and who will not be gaining access into my profile. On top of that, like a blog, you are responsible for the content in your own profile. Don’t share anything that you feel iffy about (perhaps your home address). I honestly feel like I put more of my personality and opinions into this blog.

If more people my age (mid-thirties) and older would just admit that it was great, then the rest of us would have joined sooner. Here I am admitting, actually declaring that I am on Facebook and there are LOTS of people (who are much older than high school or college kids) to network and reconnect with. To be honest, the older you are the more friends that you have and want to keep in touch with. It should be more for us (the over 30 crowd).

Lucky Number Seven

Lucky for me, Del of My Relish Blog kindly decided to give me an “I LOVE THIS BLOG” award. I was very surprised & flattered, especially since she has such an interesting blog herself. For the past few days, I have been trying to come up with a mental list while I have been working on a huge project for work. My mind flips back and forth between the blog list and all the work things I need to do. You can easily guess which one I’d rather work on.

Unfortunately, it was not easy only picking seven. I had to leave out several of my favorites. I did follow the rules though. So, here it goes in alphabetical order:

Aerin’s Cranberry Blog
Aerin is always thought provoking, witty, and somehow manages working full time, taking care of her twins and dealing with her crazy large family.

Amyeliz
Amy simply cracks me up with her adventures in Miami, Utah, New York and other places.

Crazy Blogging Canuk
Amber is a talented writer who can make hiking, traveling, and the everyday adventures of a mom quite hilarious.

Death Chic
Stephanie is one of those people who just aren’t easy to sum up. She has so many diverse interests and talents including mortuary school, photography, running, and many other things.

Diva Tee’s Thoughts
The Diva is a working single chic with lots of fascinating experiences, people in her life, and thoughts.

The Princess and Johnsy
The Princess has two adorable daughters that I absolutely love and I know quite a few of the family members that she mentions from time to time. I’ve been able to meet up with her in person a few times. Did I mention that she is my husband’s cousin? I'm sure I would love reading her blog even if we weren't related.

Reformatting My Brain
RFM is a mom with two cute boys who runs a daycare out of her home, works part time, and still finds time to post.

There you have it ~ seven GREAT blogs.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

Nothing to Say

Every once in a while, I come to a point where I am tired of my blog. I don't have anything interesting to say (ok, so that hasn't stopped me before). TOO MUCH WORK and entertaining kids keeps me busy. I guess mainly I should admit that this week I am distracted by the newest book in the Twilight Series "Breaking Dawn." I have admitted on this blog that I am not an avid reader. I just don't make time for it. However, I started reading the first Twilight book soon after Jordan was born & certainly had to read the other two. Now, the newest one came out & is over 700 pages. It is sucking up (**it is a vampire book) all the extra energy & seconds of down time I once had. It will soon be over though and then life & blogging will resume.

That is So Nice

The ever so kind Princess of The Princess and Johnsy Blog has graciously selected me for the Nice Matters Award. She even posted a picture of the two of us. Her award has inspired me to stop complaining and start being nice again, because really that is more like my usual self (most of the time).

Given the fact that I am basically a nice person, I prefer to read blogs of people that I consider nice too, which means selecting 5 will be difficult. Here is my list in alphabetical order:

Aerin from A Cranberry Blog: She is a mother to twin toddlers, a full time (plus) working woman, deep thinker, great writer, avid reader, and still finds time to pop by my blog. She is also very down to earth and kind.

Annie: I really do not want to like someone that only gained 10 pounds during her pregnancy. On top of that, she came home like a week ago has lost the 10 pounds as well as an additional 15. However, I must give her the award. She is such a nice person. If you click on the link you can also see pictures of her little baby and that is always nice.

JAG from Nothing to Show But This Brand New Tattoo: She has been through a lot, but keeps her head up and always encourages others.

PageWize (my sister): Although her scary Halloween themed blog seems like it would be from some monstrous weirdo, she is nice. Actually, the blog theme is my fault. I have decided to award her this honor because she was kind enough to be Lexi’s nanny two summers ago. Then, last summer she was kind enough to fly to Miami to help me entertain Lexi on our long drive/move out here. …and she is going to spend her winter school break here helping me with Lexi and the new baby. What other college kid would put up with a demanding sister like me? That means she is pretty nice.

Sofi from A New Blog, A New Day: I bumped into her several times around Miami when I was looking my absolute worst and she always said Hi. She is just nice like that. I also like her blog. Her writing is always entertaining and edgy enough to keep me coming back.

There you have it. Bloggers who are very nice and deserve attention for it.

Last Day in Miami

Today is an exciting day, not only is it my last day of work, but it is my last day in Miami. We are heading out tomorrow morning. At this point, I just feel like I am going on a strange vacation. The reality will probably set in within a week or two. Yipee!!!

I have been so busy lately, but I have wanted to say THANKS to one of my favorite bloggers, Lemon Blossom. Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about craving cinnamon bears and not finding them in Miami. I mentioned that I had ordered some online. After reading my post, she bought some, asked me for my address and shipped them to me all while juggling school, family, and summer fun. I was so touched. Beyond that, I was thrilled because the ones I got from Amazon.com were horrible. Apparently, Jelly Belly makes little cinnamon bears called "unbearably hot." They are tiny, have a sugar coating, and are hard-ish. Nothing like the larger gooey yummy ones that I was craving and that Lemon Blossom so kindly sent. THANK YOU LEMON BLOSSOM! Your kindness has made me whole again.

Anyway, I am wrapping things up in Miami and will probably not be back to the blogging world until we’ve unpacked and set up the internet in our new place. Considering the fact that I am a computer junkie, I’m guessing that will not take long. I already set up the service, but I have to pick up the modem once I get there. So...TA TA for now.

Bunny Irony

You have probably noticed that I finally got rid of the Easter Bunny theme on my blog. Besides the fact that Easter has been over for a while, the irony of the theme was just killing me. As you probably know, Easter was originally a pagan holiday celebrating fertility. That is why one of the symbols is the bunny. The fact that I am now pregnant after torturing all of you with the theme for so long teases the conspiring/superstitious side of me. Now, I’ll just stick with the pregnancy theme for a while.

Out for a Week

We had a great weekend with my friend and her baby. It is so fun to hold a little one (my girl is already a wild and crazy toddler). The only problem about the weekend is that it flew by too quickly. There was so much more for us to say and do. That is always the story, right?

My fun isn't ending though. I'll be out of touch with the blog world this week, because my mom is in town. Actually, her husband is attending a convention and she tagged along. I took a few days off, so we’ll be entertaining Lexi together.

Missing This

Thank you for all your wonderful comments. I have to admit that I am really missing the blogging world. I have peaked in a few times, but plan to devote some time to catching up on blogs tomorrow. TGIF!

This has been an expensive week for us. First, I ordered a new super duper computer from Dell. I happen to use a lot of graphic programs and my current computer just isn't keeping up. I'm excited to set it up tomorrow and get cracking.

Secondly (and really much more expensively), we went in with my brother on buying a house in Montana. It is a cute little 3/2 than needs a new roof and some cosmetic work. He is going to fix it up and flip it. We hope to have it on the market by Spring thaw, when the Californian's flood the real estate market in their quaint little town.

Anyway, I only have time for a very quick update. I’ll try harder tomorrow. HAPPY FRIDAY!