Hooray for me!!

I finally did it. After, literally, years of wanting to, I added a label cloud tonight.

Go Me!

Now, I'm sleepy and going to go nigh nigh.

me? an award winner?

Blogging is really all about community. Shortly after I started blogging, I met a new friend. She's an awesome blogger and it's been so cool to watch her grow as both a writer and a incredible little techie. Coding blogs all over the place, she does! So impressive!!!

...and she awarded me with this awesome little award. I'm completely honored and will follow up promptly by completely all the rules associated with the award. For now though. I just can't wait to get it up on my site!

Thanks, Girl!!!

Revealing more than I realized

The internet has opened up so much real estate for the lives of the people of our world. I use 'real estate' rather loosely, but my intent is that the space between each of us has shrunk significantly in that we can access so much of each others lives without really knowing anyone in real life.

I recently learned a little lesson here on the interwebs that was very overdue, in reality.

I've always felt pretty safe online. I protect the kids names here and I've rarely considered my own name as threatening, since it's a pretty common name and I've never been able to find anything out about myself online. Nothing really juicey anyway. This feeling of contented safety left me the other day when I made a new friend.

I was at a pre-Gator-game party and met a bunch of people. We exchanged names and talked a bit while we were there. On the way out, we exchanged phone numbers. I really didn't think anything of it. I'm a grown up. I like people. I've often exchanged info with single serving friends and never heard from them again. Truth be told, exchanging phone numbers wasn't threatening, it was actually very helpful.

In reality, the lesson I learned here had more to do with my online presence than having given my phone number out. The person I met GoogleStalked me based only on my name and my city. I'm super glad I'd shared my number so that I could find out about the gaping hole I'd left in my online privacy.

Here's my recommendation to you. Ya know how sometimes you take pics of your kids outside of your house that you post online? Think about the fact that there may be a street sign in your shot.

Also, if you've never checked the Street View of your address on Google Maps? Give it a try. You might be surprised what you see.

Hello little blog! It's been too long...

So, hi. Sorry it's been so long. Probably you've been feeling all neglected and stuff.

Honestly, I've thought time and time again about stopping by and saying a little something here and there. Certainly much has been going on. I've not been under a rock by any stretch of the imagination. Not unless a rock would be considered one of extreme busy-ness and a renewed tiredness that was absent for about a month. When I'm not sleepy, I'm BUSY! So, then when I'm sleepy I need to sleep to catch up from all the busy-ness.

So, now I've got some time and some things to catch y'all up on. Enjoy the next few posts. Plus, I'm uploading pics to Flickr too! Yay!

WOW!

Wow!

I almost can't think of words to say to express how elated I am right now. My BFFE linked me on her blog to the pic posted just below and you know what? I had a record setting day over here in the Crazy Places...61 page hits in one single day! Damn! That's never happened. Even when I posted the video of my Sweetie singing.

My mind is blown! Completely away.

Wow!

Thanks all y'all for stopping by!

We're doing good so far...

We're almost one week into NaBloPoMo and still going strong. I'm gonna be traveling tomorrow and I'll be out of town on business for a week. I'm really hoping that I don't lose track of a day and end up missing a post.

I know that the quiz from a little while ago is kind of cheating, so I'm throwing something else up just to not feel like I cheated today.

I have noticed that I've been posting more than once a day. I can't help but wonder why I've been able to come up with so much to say during the last week. Has it been particularly interesting around here? Not as far as I can tell. We always have lots of fun around here. And I really wasn't holding out good topics for November.

Maybe I'll be able to make a habit of it over the next three weeks.

Does it own the crazy or share the crazy?

I've wondered recently a little bit about my online 'name'.

Everyone's Crazy

That's me. But what does that really mean?

It all boils down to the apostrophe. Where is the ownership?

I tend to think that I am everyone's crazy friend. I also believe that everyone is a little crazy. When things are boiled down to the barest of who we all are, I think we're all a little crazy. Somewhere, deep down inside of the places we all try to hide, there is crazy.

Embrace it! Own it! Don't let it own you!

One thing I wish I could figure out about blogging...

I wish I could figure out how to set my posts to publish in the future. Any suggestions are welcome.

NaBloPoMo - Part II

During the last year, I've learned a lot about myself. Today, I will try and pull out some specifics. I don't think I have enough energy left right now to link like I did yesterday. Which leads me to my first discovery of myself.

I sleep a lot! I love napping.

Softie seems to have nailed down why I sleep. He thinks it's mostly because of stress. When my craziness starts to take over, I nap. When I've had a hard day at work, I nap. When someone dies, I nap. When I get a day off work, I nap. More days than not, over the last year, I've napped at least once.

I've also learned that I do have feelings and can be thoughtful. Maybe not thoughtful in the ways the other women are thoughtful~like with remembering birthdays and other special events, buying gifts or calling just to check in, but in the ways that make friendships deep. In the listening and in the real impact I allow people to make in my life. That's news to me. I really don't tend to think of myself as considerate or thoughtful. Maybe I'm not considerate, but thoughtful - at least in my own heart I am thoughtful - mostly full of thought when I forget to share all that goes on inside my heart.

I've been able to more publicly embrace the parts of me that completely suck! To point out, out loud, that I'm not alone in seeking nominations for Mother-of-the-Year for dropping balls on my kiddos. I don't believe I've literally dropped any balls on my kids. I might have thrown a couple at them, but they were soft. What?!

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the people I've gotten to know over the last year. Each person is different and though most I've not met in real life, I feel a special connection to each of them through blogging.

I can't believe this happened

In the midst of my introspective view back into the history of my blog, the phone rang.

In the last year, the mention of a ringing phone here in a post hasn't been particularly good and tonight was no exception.

While no one died, my dad was on the phone. He briefly asked how my day was and then asked if I'd be willing to speak some encouraging words to my mother. It was at that point that I realized that this wasn't just a phone call from my dad. Something had happened.

She fell again. My mom. They're in the hospital, just getting out of x-ray. They're pretty sure she's broken her other arm.

I'm beside myself. I cannot believe this happened.

my Blogiversary!

Today is my blogiversary. Last year I started blogging to participate in NaBloPoMo.

I blew it last year and failed to post one day and thought all hope was gone that I would keep going with the blogging. But I've made it a year, and what a year it has been!

When I look back over my writing, I can see in myself that having a place like this has helped me to grieve out loud, learn about myself, and connect with new people.

I'm much further down the road of grief than I ever thought I'd be. Last year, I never thought I'd be able to say that. I couldn't imagine a day that I wouldn't cry about her being gone. One more year removed, I can honestly say that it's been about 4 weeks since I cried about her absence in my daily life. Writing that down feels a little callous compared to how sad I was this time last year, but I know that it's not callousness but a wholeness. It's a wholeness that I didn't even realize was possible in the middle of the lowest parts of my grief.

It's kinda cool to be able to go back and see that.

I guess I'll write more tomorrow. I'll talk about what I've learned about myself. Stay tuned. I will make it this year.

While we're on the topic...

My Sweet One has threatened, as of late, to start a new blog. She references posts on a regular basis.

"Things to post on the blog I wish my mom kept"

We always have these little moments that would so appropriately be blog-worthy material. She's always telling me, "OMG Mom! You should totally post that on your BLOG!" To this I generally reply, "Yeah, but I can never remember these things when I get ready to actually blog."

If she does actually start the blog she wishes I would keep, I'll definitely link it here. Until then, I'll try to get better about remembering all the little sillies that happen in our lives every day.

Workin' to make some changes 'round here

I'm going to be working on the originality factor of my blog layout in the coming days. I took an awesome picture today and I'm hoping it'll work as a header pic, but I'm also hoping I can do something more original with the blogger template and it's layout limitations, err...um....rules.

Cable, Phone, and Internet

While last week, I was reeling from all of the activity of moving in and seeing my stuff in our new house, this week, I've reconnected to the outside world from my home.

Just in time to catch the Premier Week on ABC!!

The cable company down here as a 3 for 1 package that includes cable, internet, and phone service. And because it's the introductory 6 months, we also have some premium channels on the cable. The internet is supposedly lightning fast, but I'm not as yet 100% convinced that they measure speed with the same ruler as the Pacific Northwest. I'm sure we'll get used to it and miss it terribly once we can't afford the package in 6 months...cuz I'm sure they'll "Jack My Price Up!" (dang it! I can't find the video to link!)

So, home is wired and fully functional once again. I'm hoping to get more time to blog now. It'll be nice to once again spill my guts and share more of my craziness here. There's plenty going on inside my head these days.

okay, WOW, it's been a while....can I be forgiven?

So yeah, I haven't posted in a WHILE! I'm so sorry about that. I have details and new funnies galore! It really will take some time to get all caught up on everything. Please be patient as I upload a few smallish posts in a row to cover some of the most wonderfullest parts of the last couple of weeks.

Oh! And I'm going to try and put up a little poll to get some help in answering a really important question. I'll go work on that now...

I need a little help.

Those 5 words are hard for me to say, but I'm going ahead and breaking the ice with them. I have a few of things that I need answers to.

1. If you have a suggestion to replace my camera that broke during the 9th grade awards this year, please leave me a comment here. Here's some things I'd like the digital camera to have. a. video with sound capability. b. SD card memory (since I already have an SD card with a GB that works just fine). c. at least 7 megapixels. d. I would like it to cost no more than $300.

2. You know those squishy poofy things that get all sudsy in the shower when you put shower gel on them? I use them to scrub off the flaky skin on my dry self. They have the little hanger thing that lets you store them in the shower, maybe on a hook to hang dry? How long to they last? Can you wash them in the washing machine to make them last longer or is that just a waste of time?

3. If you have a big decision to make, do you think you can know that it's God's will? How?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I was challenged

I was challenged yesterday during a phone call with a friend that a blog is only really functional if one POSTS on it. So, I'm trying to post today. I have sort of been planning on posting, but have found it difficult to remember a dang thing on the list of things I think about and make during the day.

Soooo....I'll dig into my experiences and thoughts over the last couple of weeks and try to come up with something important to say......

(the repeating dots~that's me thinking~it's actually happening right now~thinking~me!)

So...about that...

What's my blog's platform?

I was just reading a how-to about blogs and their platforms. It's an interesting concept. I started my blog because I was strongly encouraged to by a good friend. She's pretty much an amazing blogger and I don't in any way expect the greatness that she has experienced.

I just don't think I thought too much about my platform when I set this little thing up. It's interesting to me though, because it's mostly been about my craziness. Crazy Places In My Mind definitely seems to fit the majority of what I've written about. Certainly I've dropped an occasional - I'm a Mom - post, but overall...there's just that one overriding theme. The craziness.

There's a lot more craziness up there. I've actually been working on a post in my head about the different ways that men and women process things. It's been in my head for a while.

I think I should get it out. Soon.

Readers and Counters

I spend most of my time in my Reader to catch up on all the latest posts for the blogs that I read. I often, particularly lately, don't even go to my own blog.

Writing has been more than difficult lately, but I think it might be looking up soon.

Anyway, I just checked my own blog...and am thus posting...and I went to check the stats on my counter.

People. It's just plain sad. My visits are slowly diminishing from decent (for me) to deplorable.

But whatever. Right? It's not about the visitors. It's about the freedom to write virtually without boundaries. Right? It's about me, really. When it all boils down to it, the blogging is about being able to clear my own head.

But on that fancy little counter, I can't help but wonder who some of the people who visit are. There's a lot of IP only, some plain United States, there's several from Seattle, Bothell, Sumner?! But then there's the really cool ones, like France and Thailand, Norway, even somewhere in Louisiana.

Alright, yes, I know. Louisiana isn't that exotic. But I don't think I know anyone there, and I see multiple hits from that area of my fine country.

You know what? Thailand isn't probably that exotic when you're from there. Right? That's hard for me to wrap my brain around, but it's probably true.

The only way to know who's stopping by is to get COMMENTS. There's simply not enough commenting going on. I know, I'm the worst offender of all. Admittedly.

Maybe, I should start giving more of what I wish for. =+)

Google...are you out there??

Google's being all weird tonight. Can it really be true that of the 27 subscriptions on my Reader, no one has posted anything new in, like, 5 hours? How can it be?!

Are there not important things to mention to the world?

Are there not frivalous things to talk about?

Is it all life and death right now?

Is the world crashing around every one I KNOW??

AHH!!! The PRESSURE!!!!!!

yes, I spend too much time here.