Potpourri

I was overcome with the strangest of sensations just now: the desire to blog even though I have nothing to say.


I do so much writing now that the idea of blogging just because doesn't really appeal to me anymore. Gotta have a point or I don't want to do it. Write, write, write. It won't be long now before I snap, get committed, recover, rejoin my family, and then have chronic PTSD flashbacks every time I hear the click of laptop keys.


Blogging has changed a lot, hasn't it? But I don't want to talk about that because I kind of zone out on other people's blogs when they talk about it.


So how about an update? I haven't really kept in touch often enough for you guys to know what's going on. 


Um . . . so everything. And not much.


My books seem to be selling well. I'll know how the  new one is doing in a couple of weeks. My ward has finally figured out that I'm a "real" author and it trips me out that they're so tripped out to get catalogs selling books with my name on them. 


I've lost 17 pounds from my peak. I feel good. Probably could stand to lose 5-8 more so I'm tackling that this month. 3 of them, anyway. Then maybe 3 more the month after that.


I feel emotionally grown up this year. I think I've been doing a better job of putting things in perspective. There's just some stuff that I'm letting go because it doesn't matter and it's not even something I'm telling myself so I'll feel better. I really just figured it out: it doesn't matter.


I've been having tooth issues again. I've got a nub right now and will for two  more weeks. At least. And also, for some reason after the most recent (re)root canal, my tongue on that half of my mouth doesn't feel/work right. It's that feeling you get after you burn it on something super hot and you haven't gotten sensation back yet. It's not all the way numb. It's just not all the way working. Weird.


I recently renewed my love of farmer's markets. Picking out their produce makes the little ones want to eat it. I've gotten SO MUCH fruit down them this week.


I'm on deadline again. So far I'm ahead of pace on meeting two of the deadlines and behind the pace on a third. But it'll all come together.


And that's it. Now I'm going to go think of writery stuff, but it's new story idea stuff so I like that.

A potpourri. Kind of the cheapy, discount kind. But a potpourri.

Lately blogging goes like this for me: "Haha, that was funny. I'm going to blog it."


Then I clean up another mess, make a meal, or two, write (or most likely revise something), read a painfully average book (by assignment, unfortunately), referee a couple of spats, think of four different activities for Grant to do, and then  . . . 


I sit down to blog. An I stare at the screen. And I go, "Wait, what was that funny thing I was going to write?"


So . . .  sorry.


The more I blog, the more ideas I have to blog about. Now that I'm a tad out of practice, the idea well has dried up. I feel like I should make a breast-feeding analogy here.


Hm. No. Let's not get breasts and blogging all tied up, and yes, you're welcome.


My toddler is riding a toy pony and pushing a toy stroller. At the same time. A couple of months ago, BAM, that would have been its own blog post somehow. Now, it's just kind of funny and also a good reminder that we need to go visit somewhere with horses so she understands the fundamentals because right now . . . she doesn't have it down yet.


But it's okay. I'll do a better job of making mental notes when something funny happens. Or interesting. Or otherwise blog worthy. But I'm also not going to stress it. Because why? I've never used this blog to make money. I don't use it as a family bulletin. I don't have any obligations to blog. I'm definitely at I-blog-because-I-want-to now, and that feels good.


And now for some randomness. I have lost six pounds now. And my BMI is officially in normal range. I am apparently no longer overweight. Thank you, raw almonds, green smoothies, and protein shakes.


Downtown Abbey totally lives up to the hype.


I still really love fairy tales.


My husband makes a mean mango and sticky rice dessert.


The board game Pandemic is fun.


I need my upcoming girls' weekend desperately.


I can't remember the last time I read a book just for pleasure. Four more books to read in the contest I'm judging and I can read whatever I want again. That's not to say that within that category there aren't some really fun books. But I have about six to-read-just-because books on my nightstand and I'm itchy to get to them.


I am craving chocolate far more than normal lately.


Grant just told me I could be Strongbad because I'm writing an email. 


The children are shooting each other with giant pipe cleaners. I just said, "Quit hitting. You can only shoot each other." I find myself making a lot of equally absurd parenting comments. And now I'm going to make more of them because the kids want to play. And I kind of want to, too. So . . . progress.

Thankful Thursday

Dear bloggers,

I'm grateful for all of you who still come around when I'm serving up everything I blog drenched in lame sauce--if I serve it up at all.

Now that this author thing is a semi-steady gig, I'm trying to that hokey-pokey voodoo dance where I have time to write, revise, review manuscripts for others, blog, comment on blogs, and oh, yeah . . .

THE HOUSE.

And THE CHILDREN.

Them, too. I'm trying to mother and housewife and maintain a Zen thing where the incessant screaming rolls off my back because it only stops when I play with them and I JUST CAN'T DO THAT THE SIXTEEN HOURS THEY'RE AWAKE every day. I wouldn't even if I didn't have other demands on my time because I'm not that mom, the get on the floor mom.

Did you know, and I have empirical proof of this after two boys in a row, that if you play Hot Wheels with a three-year-old that he is the only one who knows the rules for winning and that no matter what, he's always going to win? And also pitch a fit when you break the unspoken rules of Hot Wheels? The first of which (and of course I can only guess here) seems to be that you must never, ever do anything with your Hot Wheel that is cooler, faster, or higher than what he does with his Hot Wheel or he will scream and turn purple.

But I do try to play with them during the day. We do floor time. This usually happens when the two smallest ones start draping themselves over my laptop. I think that's a hint. And I get them out of the house at least once every day, and no, I don't mean we walk to the mailbox. We actually go somewhere. It's best for all our sanity that way.

It's hard, though. The balance thing.

So thanks for dropping off nice words or LOLs in the ever-dwindling comment box on days I don't rant about why Grease is not good clean family fun, etc.

I appreciate you. And I solemnly avow that when my Nigerian friend sends me the Timeturner I ordered, I will do a far better job of getting to your blogs from now on.

Love,

Melanie

Cut off

Last night I unsubscribed from a few blogs I follow and I admit that in a few cases, I did so gleefully.


I am petty. 


Right now, in this moment regarding this situation, I DON'T CARE.


One of these blogs was from someone fairly well-established in one community of bloggers I hang around who has every so often sent out blanket "Read my blog" email invites. So I go. I follow. I comment from time to time in an effort to build a relationship. She never reciprocates. 


Bye bye.


I don't think that everyone whose blog I like has to in turn like mine and come back and comment. But I do think it takes a lot of gall to invite someone to read your blog merely so you can be worshipped and petted.


So that was a fun one to click "Unfollow."


For sure, blogging has made my life richer. But it is 90% a reciprocal relationship for me. I read very few blogs where I don't have some type of connection to the blogger. If I don't comment on your blog, I don't expect the same from you. Sometimes commenters drop by here and I'll swing by their blog a few times but I find I don't have much in common with them and so I can't think of anything to say. That's okay. It's okay if people do the same to me.


But heaven knows I wouldn't be harrassing someone to come read me if I had no intention of ever trying to be their friend, too. And I HATE the idea of blogging just for business. I have zero problem with monetizing a blog, but the idea that the whole purpose behind someone starting a blog, ESPECIALLY A RANDOM MUSINGS personal blog, to make money is off-putting somehow. That's someone who doesn't understand the social side of blogging. If you're a craft blogger and trying to parlay it into fame and moola, this makes perfect sense to me. But a personal blog that doesn't grow from an authentic place of participating in both sides of the "sharing" equation" rubs me the wrong way.


All right. I've taken a deep breath and I'm done now.


I'm off to visit blogs of people I like and want to hear from. Because that's why I blog. 


P.S. I'm sure many of you are dying to hang out with me EVEN MORE after this, so that being the case, if you're Twitter, click in the sidebar to be my friend. I want to Tweet with more people I know but I can't figure out how to find all of you. Oh, and I'll give away a copy of The List if I get to a 100 followers by Friday. 78 is embarrassing when 62-ish are those creepy web-bot spammer things.

Happy Sigh

There's something incredibly liberating about blogging only when I feel like it.

Check it out, yo.

Lately, I've gotten some linky-love for this post I did about a small tender mercy. Karen even made me her blog of the week. So cool.

I'm going to pay the linky love forward today. There are some blogs I enjoy so much, and I think you should know about them.

But first, a giggle. My husband sent this to me yesterday and if you're nerds like us, you'll find it funny. If you're not a nerd, just keep scrolling to find the linky love.

Europe According to the United States of America (click to enlarge)

On to the links!


First up, my friend Susan. Susan and I have known each other since our freshman year at BYU and have several very good friends in common. Back in the day, she and I were mainly just social friends, but a while back we stumbled across each other on Facebook and discovered we have a love of writing in common. I've read two of her manuscripts and people, you should know: she's dang good. Anyway, she did a post the other day that I thought was hilarious about how she met her husband. Per her challenge, maybe I'll tell my "How we met story" later this week. Anyway, check out Susan's post. It's an entertaining read.


Next up, a guilty pleasure. Please tell me you've heard of The Mormon Bachelorette. I LOVE THE FACT OF ITS EXISTENCE. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of the regular show; I'm pretty sure you'll love this. There's a sweetness and sincerity to this project. It's all done via blog with embedded video clips. These are Huntington Beach Mormons which are a different breed than what you're used to. Possibly I'm becoming obsessed with it since I just moved from HB a few months ago and all, but I don't know these people, so I think I like it just because it's charming. To get started, you can meet Aubrey  and watch the Interview with The Mormon Bachelorette. Once you're done with that, you can watch the auditions from her suitors or just skip to this clip and  watch the first date. But make sure you read the recaps, too!


For a change of pace, I have a couple of more for you. I admit, I tend to be a fan of blogs that skew funny or entertaining. Heavy blogs don't do it for me. I think they provide an invaluable service for the people who write and read them, but they just aren't for me. But there are a few blogs I read that are thoughtful and deep without being "heavy." Check these out: Kazzy delivers a small but polished gem every single day at  Kazzy's Ponderings.  Becca Wilhite is just a delight. It's a lot about writing. It's a lot about other stuff. You'll want to hang out with her. I did, so I did. She's exactly the same way in person. I really, really like her blog and I like her in person even more. Lisa at  Away From It All often blogs about her kids and motherhood and it never, ever bores me. Such a good head on her shoulders. I like hanging out with her, too.


 Steph at Diapers and Divinity is who I want to be when I grow up. She uplifts me and inspires me to do better and more in growing my testimony and understanding of the gospel. But she's not all preachy. She's super smart and totally knows stuff. Lots of gospel stuff. 


Two blogs I'm fairly new to but whose tone I dig are: I just can't get enough of myself and Memories for Later. They're both slice of life but with an underlying sense of humor. It's not so much that they're humor blogs as they are ladies I would totally hang out with who I know would make me laugh.


Now, if I didn't name your blog, ask yourself this: have I mentioned your blog before? Then that's probably why you don't see yourself here. And if the answer is no, then it's probably because I mean to feature you in the future.


I hope your Wednesday is as deliciously rainy as mine.

Pleased to meet you

I got the best compliment EVER on my writing a month or so ago. I was meeting with my newly formed critique group (there are three of us and the other two are awesome) and we were still feeling out each other's writing styles. I was going through a new chapter in my manuscript, reading aloud, when Rachel stopped me and asked, "Do you watch Gilmore Girls?" 

I laughed.

Um, yes. In response to one of Karen's posts on the first blog post I ever did, I dug mine up to discover that it was about the Gilmore Girls and how it influences my writing. I kind of love that show. And own all the seasons on DVD. And watched it every day for two years. 

So, yeah . . . it's reflected in my writing. I try for a lot of sharp, clever banter. Banter is just kind of what spews out when I write dialogue. It's fun. I guess when my first book comes out in March you can see whether I hit the mark or not. Anyway, Rachel (my critique partner) says, "Your stuff totally sounds like Gilmore Girls."

I thought that was pretty cool but Kristine, the other part of our trio, jumped in. "Yeah, I can see that. But the difference is that Gilmore Girls was on at the salon the other day and if you can't see it, you can't tell who's talking. They all sound the same. With your stuff, I can totally tell who's talking even if you don't identify them."

How COOL IS THAT?

It's an overstatement, sure. But I sure liked hearing it.

Anyway, part one of my post today is that compliment because it totally made me happy and I was thinking about it again today.

Part two is that Karen commented that she thought it was funny that my very first blog post just dives right in. No introduction, no this is who I am, no small talk.

I'm sure doing it that way made sense in my head at the time. Like maybe I figured I had just filled out my profile for Blogger so I didn't need to put it in the post. I don't know.

But I guess I better rectify the oversight now. Allow me to introduce myself:

Hi. My name is Melanie Jacobson. I'm a wife, mother, and writer, in that order. This blog is a slice of my brain. I thought I was going to write about writing and review books I read, but I only do that a little. I get kind of bored if that's all I talk about. Mainly, I ramble. I talk about my kids and my husband. I talk about my friends and my philosophies. I don't talk about crafts unless it's to whine because I'm craftarded. I blog to hang out with grownups. I do that less now because I have one more kid than when I started and she's little and likes to be held and loved. It's just a change of seasons and they'll change again. I love my life. I hope I reflect that even when I'm complaining about poop diapers or grocery shopping. I'll be around your blogs often. Thanks for coming around to mine.

Kicking back

I got 8 comments on my last post.


It's odd for me. I'm used to double digit comments, usually starting with a 2.


I should probably care more than I do. I should probably care more that I checked Google Analytics out for the first time in forever and my numbers are down by half. There are reasons for it, like not having time right now to swing by a hundred blogs a day because Eden is usually on my lap. Babies are needy like that. So my numbers fall.


I should probably care more. But I don't.


I guess that's part of growing up, right? Right now I'm not blogging to make money. I'm not blogging because I need people to see what I say. I'm not blogging because I have a particular platform. I'm not blogging to chronicle my family's life for posterity.


All of these are good reasons to blog.  But they're not my reasons for blogging.


Right now, I'm blogging because in the few leftover minutes I have in each day, I like to hang out with my friends. So I swing by whenever I can. And there's that handful of friends that come by and I expect them and I'm happy to see them show up, just like I thought they would. 


And it's good.


Maybe my reasons for blogging will change in the future. Probably they will. I don't know.


But for right now, I'm happy. Thanks for hanging out with me.


*Um, I just read Mommy Snark today and she says it way better HERE.

Wasssssssup????

I have been gone so long, it's like I barely remember this place.

Have you ever dug really far back in your closet and found a shirt or skirt you used to love but had long-forgotten? And then you put it on and you're all, "I'll never forget about you again!" and then you wear it out?

That's how I feel about my blog.

It's been so fun today to snatch moments where I could drop in on blogs I haven't been able to read for a few weeks. I needed the blog hiatus so I could stay focused on remodeling the new house, packing and moving, but we've moved and I'M BACK, BABY!

To answer the fifty million questions I've gotten on the subject of "How do you like the new house?" let me just say:

LOVE IT. With all my whole heart, from head to toe, including ligaments, tendons, bone marrow, and fast twitch muscle fibers.

I will definitely post pictures but they are currently being held hostage in my husband's camera which is currently under detainment in an undisclosed location, most likely a box labeled "Kids' Underwear" or "Nursing Pads" because these are perfectly logical places to pack a camera.

It's made for a great family activity every evening, this guessing where things may have been packed. Actually, we've given that sport up because it was too advanced. We play a more beginner level where we unpack a box and try to figure why on earth it got the label it did based on the contents. For example, I pulled my white noise machine (I use it to sleep and since my husband doesn't like me to say he snores, let's just say the machine drowns out our astonishingly loud air conditioner and simultaneously saves our marriage nightly) out of a basket of winter sweaters. Why was it there? There are a few possibilities. The first and most obvious is that the sweaters invited the noise machine over for a party. The second reason isn't nearly as interesting as the first so I won't even bother with it. And so the game goes.

Anyway, we're unpacked enough for me to feel perfectly at home. We have a dining room table now and no longer have to eat off of the coffee table or off of plates balanced on our knees. And I no longer have to base my area rug color choices off of what kind of food we spill most often.

It's the little things, people.

Anyway, I'm returning (for better and more likely far, far worse) to my regular schedule of blogging and I'll be coming around to your places far more often. You've been warned. This should give you just enough time to go private if you're quick.


I am now going to go indulge my new summer past time of helping James invent and sample new popsicle flavors. (Why doesn't the spell checker recognize popsicle as a word? It's not because I'm spelling it wrong, surely.) Today we've tried pineapple chunk mango, pineapple mango smoothie, rootbeer float, and Kool-Aid. So far Kool-Aid is winning, which is sad because I had high hopes for rootbeer float. Anyway, it's important that I go do this because when James was six, he told me he wanted to be a popsicle man, so this is me trying to encourage his dream. Also, when I asked him if I would get free popsicles from him, he said, "Maybe, if you're not dead." So this is also me trying to get in good with him and score free popsicles for my golden years.

We interrupt this blog . . .

So the midwife was all like, "Breathe deep and . . . PUSH!" And then a baby came out.

Then she was like, "Okay, breathe deep and push again!" So I did and then my blogging mojo came out and got incinerated as medical waste.

And that is the only way I can explain the last six weeks.

Occasionally, my blogging cells will rally and try to fight their way to the internet. But then Eden decides to eat (so we're talking every 45 minutes or so here) and she latches her cute little rosebud mouth on and nurses away and then the slight little pool of mojo that had accumulated is drained out with the milk.

So yes, I'm saying Eden has stolen my blogging mojo. And I don't begrudge her one bit. I mean, really:

I'm going to have a problem with that little face? Hardly.

Truthfully, we are still working the nursing thing out and that takes time and logistically makes typing impossible. I still read tons and tons of blogs but this is a little girl who loves her mommy and wants to always be held so that makes it really hard to comment. And the few times she does let me put her down for a short period of time are spent doing things like feeding my family. They are looking all wraith-like. If any one of them lingers in front of the grocery store just a little too long, people try to give them money to buy food. James especially. Between his natural skinniness and the desperate, desperate state of his hair, I think he's developing a reputation as "that homeless kid who rides a scooter everywhere."

Anyway, things have been especially busy this weekend. I went to the fabulous LDS Storymakers conference which was far less stressful than last year because I have a contract now. Oh, but far MORE stressful because Eden came with me which was interesting, plus I had to solve a wardrobe challenge. How do you dress a six week post baby body in something that is flattering and still functional for nursing? Answer: wear dresses that button in the front and have very forgiving A-line skirts and ties in the front that hide your belly. And wear awesome shoes so nobody looks at the rest of your outfit.

I spent the weekend in great workshops and critique groups which was fun. But the MOST fun was meeting/hanging out with all my bloggy/writery friends.

Take this photo for instance:

I'm going to crib my own comment from Crash's comment trail. If you read Crash, DeNae and I, you're probably really worried to discover that we simultaneously occupied the same physical point in the space-time continuum UNSUPERVISED. You are right to be worried.

I also met Kazzy who is lovely. And I hung out with Sue, the One True Sue, the Navel Gazing Sue, who is also my critique partner and WHO HAS PROMISED TO GIVE ME SOMETHING TO READ SOON. Ahem. Not that she's busy or anything.

And I saw our other partner, Aubrey, and we exchanged gifts of the spirit, only mine was shaped like a book and hers was shaped like a one pound box of See's chocolate which made it back home with me already half eaten which is Not Good but Very Delicious.

I saw my college friend Susan (I forgot to get a picture) and my blog friend LT (ditto forgetting the picture). I saw writer friends Annette Lyon and Josi Kilpack and Julie Wright. And I almost don't want to name any more people because the more people I name, it will make me feel worse about anyone I forget.

Anyway, when Eden settles down to something resembling a schedule (and our rule with the kids is: free ride until age 3 months and then you choose a schedule or we make one for you), blogging will even out. The tentative plan is: blog regularly and also have it be. . .um, good.

Just know, I'm still reading even though my comments have slowed down but seriously, blame it on Eden. Not my total inability to do twelve-teen things at once.

P.S. I didn't forget you, Eliza. I just looked hideous in the picture of us together and I refuse to put it up which is too bad because it's a cute one of you.

P.P.S. Does anyone else think that Crash is way pretty?

Hello, mellow.

Clarification: I'll still be posting. Just not so . . .longly. (See? I'm already struggling to come up with real words. We don't need pages-long posts from me at this stage in the pregnancy. We also don't need 8000 posts on my pregnancy which is pretty much all that's on my mind.)

I am looking at a living room that is in the very vortex where chaos and panic intersect. It's drowning in pink tulle and daisy spangled rompers with a dash of whatever food Grant threw down from his high chair when he was done. 

I'm trying to reorganize all the lovely bags of goodies people gave us for baby Eden into categories and piles that make sense, but preparing for a little girl is definitely different than getting ready for a boy. There's pink. SO much pink. I kind of love it, but it's foreign.

Anyway, in light of the billion details that still need tending to before this baby girl gets here (washing car seat covers and bouncy chair cushions and piles and PILES of new clothes), I think I'm not going to knock myself out over any blog posts if they aren't just coming to me magically. Today, one is not.

Life is good and full. At the moment, I'm just living in it and enjoying it and going with it--but not so much thinking about it. This is an excellent way to live, for me, but it's not so good for blogging since I recently pointed out that I'm a slice of brain blogger and lately I'm not thinking about much. When I get to thinking, I get to writing. Mainly, I'm just chillaxin' (as Crash might say). 

I'll be commenting as much as ever at your blogs, but unless something (or someone) really ticks me off or amuses me over the next while, I may not have much more to say than, "Hi. Still here. Mkay. Catch you later."

And here's how I know I've grown as a blogger: I realize that that's totally okay.

Eat with fava beans and chianti

Every blogger (or nearly so) seems to go through these periodic reflective spells where they do this meta-musing on what their blog is all about. Am I a lifestyle blogger? A humor blogger? Do I specialize in snarking? (Yes, I made up my own word. Is there a problem?)

It's normal. We do this same kind of reflecting about everything, probably. I went through this mini-blog identity crisis when I first started. You can kind of see it in the domain name of my blog. "Read and Write Stuff." Of course, mostly I just focus on the writing stuff part.

In the beginning, I thought I would blog about my writing journey and review books that I read. That lasted for a couple of months but I discovered quickly that as much I love both reading and writing, I can say only so much about writing and then I'm ready to move on. It's just not something I can talk about all the time. Sometimes, yes. But not for a year-and-a-half. Reading I could talk about forever, but I have a book group and Goodreads for that.

I got to thinking about this whole identity thing a couple of weeks ago when I think some of you wandering by thought I was having one of these blog identity crises. It was due to a post I did about how I feel guilty that I'm too shallow to spend much time on some of the deeper, richer blogs out there. Several commenters seemed to think that meant that I was thinking I felt I needed to get deeper and . . . stuff. A lot of you were like, "No! Please, continue to be shallow! We need more shallow in the world!"

Never fear. If you fall into deep waters around here, consider it a cosmic accident. Swimming in deep water is neither typical nor intentional on my part in my blog or life. I DO spend quite a bit of time in deep doo doo, but that's typical (although also not intentional). It's also literal more often than I'd like.

Anyway, I know my category and I know it well. I'm not a lifestyle blogger (and we'd be in a lot of trouble of I was. I'll post pictures of my house some time so you can see how much this would be a BAD idea) or a mommy blogger in the sense that I don't really focus on my kids (IN MY BLOG!). And I'm not a reviewer although I'll tell you when I love something. For example, I could tell you where to find some great lifestyle, mommy, and review blogs that I LOVE and read daily. And maybe I will later this week.

Maybe the closest is to say I'm a slice of life blogger. But I thought about that label and realized it didn't fit either so I found exactly the right one: I'm a slice of brain blogger. I just pluck out a cross section of my brain and plunk it down and it is what it is. This blog is my place to spew all the things that I had a talent for writing but no forum to write it in. And the comment box is my personal network of kindred spirits who stop by and confess to being equally crazy.

I love that I can find whatever I want in Blogland. I daily visit slice of lifers, funny ladies, deep thinkers, diligent mothers and reviewers. But for me, it's enough to have a space to dump out the random thoughts that regularly dart across my mental television screen like snippets of the sitcom that is my life or a sound bite from the arguments that occur when my multiple personalities gather in their own version of The View to bicker about . . . whatever.

Thanks for hanging in my neighborhood.

Stupid answers, cont'd

Kazzy wants to know what kind of toothpaste I use. I kick it very, very old school. I use the Crest paste that does not whiten or remove tartar or do anything more than baking soda and water would. That's what my dentist told me to use. It's surprisingly hard to find a toothpaste without all the bells and whistles. My second favorite after that is that kind that Emeril advertises. I don't remember the name but I liked the vanilla mint kind.

Terressa wants to know my favorite brand of chocolate. Great question! I really like the Trader Joe's milk chocolate bar right now but I always have a pound of See's chocolates on hand as a writing incentive. I fill it with all my favorite pieces and I never share. No one else is allowed to touch it and even I can only touch it if I've written at least a thousand words in a day. Needless to say, I've thrown some really bad crud down on paper some days in order to get my chocolate. And I don't mean that literally because I do all my writing on my laptop but that doesn't have the same ring to it and I'm a writer so I had to make the image work, see?

I will answer both Kelly O's and Aunt Linda's question the same way: I think you both know the answer to those questions. Let's let any of my other relatives who read my blog continue to live their dreams by not revealing the answer here, shall we?

Sarah wants to know the plus and minus of being a CODA. Sarah is a very, very cool girl who is deaf with hearing kids. CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults. If you're new-ish around here, she's asking me this because both of my parents were deaf. By far the biggest minus was that it affected my relationship with my mom. This was for a lot of reasons but some of the simplest ones were things like how I couldn't pick up the phone when things got tough at college and talk to her about them. It just wasn't the same going through a relay operator to discuss stuff like that. Maybe it would be different now with all the technology advancements like videophones but this was when email was still like, "What's that?" Instead, I would pick up the phone and call Pawpaw (my grandfather). So I always had someone to talk to; it just wasn't my mom. Variations of this played out in many, many ways over the years. The best part of being a CODA (although it takes getting older to appreciate it) is that it teaches you great communication skills, especially because of all the interpreting you do for your parents where you have to figure out what people are really saying. Also, I learned to be independent at a very early age and most of my CODA friends did, too. At first, it totally bugged me but now I really appreciate it. Also a bonus: people think I'm cool for knowing sign language.

Luisa wants to know when I decided that I knew the writing life was for me. Tricky question. I've always been a storyteller and come from a long line of storytellers. Before I even knew how to write, I would stand by the side of my father's typewriter and dictate poems that he would type out for me. I still have some of those and for age six? They're pretty dang good. I remember writing a scary haunted house story in eighth grade that got passed around during earth science every day in a spiral bound notebook and everyone waiting for the next installment each day. I remember writing a very Poe-esque short story as a junior that was published in our school literary magazine. I quit writing any kind of fiction in college and didn't have much to do with creative writing again until I began teaching it. It was a question of time. I taught eighth grade creative writing for five years and I kept thinking, "I ought to write a book." Actually, I thought that all throughout college too, but again...no time. It wasn't until I stayed home full time that I felt like I would be wasting a God-given talent if I didn't take a stab at it and so I did. I've never had literary ambitions. I just want to tell good stories that people enjoy. I write with a lot of humor and I write characters that I understand very, very well. I have no designs on the great American novel. I just want to entertain.

Ambrosia wants to know how I keep my house clean on bed rest. The answer is, I don't. It's a mess. And I'm not actually on bed rest so that's even worse because I don't have an excuse. I'd say my husband actually cleans almost as often as I do and he definitely does the dishes more. But I cook a lot and I DO clean. There just tends to be a day or two a week where I don't get to it and I don't care. My house is clean about 70% of the time and I'm fine with that as long as I know it's not bothering my husband AND as long as I don't have company coming. But I figure if they find me in a messy house and judge me, Oh well. They're probably dead right most of the time anyway. I accept that as a consequence of putting other things first sometimes.

CaJoh wants to know if I feel I've grown as a writer over the years and whether or not blogging has helped or hindered my writing style. First, I've grown as a writer FOR SURE. My voice as a writer is much more authentic now. I don't read my stuff and think, "Wow. That sounds impressive." I read it and think, "Yeah, that sounds like me," and it's hard 1) to write that way and 2) to recognize when you are and aren't doing that. So it makes me happy that I can. I'm sure blogging has had some effect on my fiction, but I'm not sure what. I can't point to a direct correlation so I don't know if it's helped or not. I can say that my blogging has improved tremendously in the 18 months I've been at it because I found my voice here, too. My first three months of posts are especially cringeworthy but I like to see that I've grown. What I express is ME now, not a persona I was trying to define, like it was sometimes at first.

Kimberly asked if having two books accepted for publication changed the way I see myself. I love this question. The short answer is no. The longer answer is that I definitely feel validated and I guess there's been a change in the sense that I feel like a Writer now, not someone who writes. I should do a post about that some time because it's a very key distinction for me. However, the reason I'd say mainly no is...

Well, this all going to sound very arrogant, but I've answered all these questions truthfully so far and to keep that up here is going to preclude false modesty. Here's the thing. I have a lot of personal fears about whether people will like and accept me but if you were trying to figure out whether to hire for me a job, I'd be able to break down for you with astonishing accuracy exactly what my assets are and how to best use me. I don't have many doubts about anything I tackle professionally because I know I'll do whatever it takes to master it and I'm a total sponge. I love learning new things. To be fair, I don't tackle things that I don't have an affinity for. Hence, I am not and will never be a rocket scientist, fashion designer or preschool teacher. I would totally suck.

Writing was a little unnerving at first but I was pretty sure I had the talent for it; I just worked very, very hard to soak up enough knowledge to make sure I also had the skill. I KNOW how to learn. I read, I went to workshops and conferences, I listened, I asked questions and I applied. Each of my manuscripts has shown me how much I'm learning and growing. Each of them shows me how much I still have left to learn. But I DO see progress and that's what I expect from myself. I'm following the same M.O. I've always had when it comes to professional goals.

I know, that's incredibly boorish, right? But you asked. I feel a real sense of accomplishment and pride in being a published author, but not really any surprise. It wouldn't occur to me that I wouldn't achieve a professional goal I set for myself. That's why the inevitable setbacks in my writing career are probably going to hit me harder than they will most people, but I just truck along worrying about what I can control, not what I can't. I'm sure I'm in for some kind of breakdown when things don't go right in my writing career, but I don't know when that will happen and I can't expend emotional energy worrying about it. In the meantime, just know that the moment I got my acceptance from my publisher, it was truly magical. It's a blessing to occupy a space in time where you are feeling your dream come true.

Migillicutty wants to know what kind of shampoo I use. I use Pantene. Sometimes I use Head and Shoulders when my scalp won't cooperate. And I use a fantastic Bumble and Bumble conditioner that actually helps with my incredibly dry hair.

And oh, my goodness, I have BLATHERED again. I'll save the last few questions for my next post. Tomorrow (or whenever Christmas Eve is for you when you read this) is my birthday and I'm going to be soooo self-indulgent. I'm not exactly sure how this is different from say, your average Tuesday, but I will say that I will consider each comment tomorrow as a birthday present from you to me and I thank you in advance. Merry Christmas, all!

I have a million ideas percolating for blog posts. And by a million I mean two. But they're pretty good. In my head, they're pretty much written. But my butt and fingers, which are two main components of blogging, aren't cooperating in getting those out. Like the one about family history MGM musical-style. Or the one about how I need to be adopted.

But I don't want to sit still (butt) and type (fingers) long enough to make those posts happen right now. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak. Well, it's strong enough to get up and get ice cream. And also Swedish fish. But it's too weak to do the dishes or blog.

It's because NaNoWriMo (where you write 50,000 words in a month) is sucking up every spare energy cell I have. As my word count waxes, my blogging shall wane.

Maybe I'll drop in here later today with something fantastic. Or maybe I'll eat ice cream.

Hey, don't judge. We artists have to suffer for our work.

Breakin' it down.

When I started blogging a year ago, I didn't have the faintest clue about blogs. I didn't know what the unspoken rules were or how to get a custom template, or. . . well, anything. But I know the blogging neighborhood now. I have my favorite walks and stops and vistas. I've told you about many of them before.

And although it's Friday, and I often do my favorites here, I declare today Opposite Day, probably because I'm slightly peevish after wading through too many blogs this morning while dealing with a nagging crick in my neck. I'm going to list from worst to least in descending order the things that bug me about blogs.

Aren't you glad you stopped by today?

(Oh, and if you're, uh...familiar...with any of these [guilty is such a strong word], if I'm still coming around and commenting from time to time, assume I like you anyway.)

1. I don't like it when people don't return the favor of commenting, but I REALLY HATE it when they're the ones begging for/extorting/bargaining for comments in their sidebar. It's like saying, "Hey, validate ME because I'm fantastic but I clearly don't owe you the return favor."

I could probably go on at length on this point alone, but I won't. I'm going to limit myself to only a hundred paragraphs. Here's the thing: several times I've noticed bloggers who hang out on the same blogs that I do. I think their comments are funny and I'm led to believe that we may have some things in common. At the very least I'm sure we share a sense of humor (which, I'll be honest, should worry them). So I go find their blogs and I begin to read and comment. Sometimes they comment back. We become friends. And I feel happy. (Hi, InkMom and Mommy J!)

But sometimes they don't. And it hurts my feelings. I'm seeking them out because I want to be blog friends and I have to accept their rejection at some level. Something about what I do/how I write just doesn't appeal to them. I'm learning to be okay with that. THIS scenario is not one that makes me mad so much as it bums me out slightly.

The ones that specifically make me mad are the ones who go on and on about COMMENT ON MY BLOG! and then don't return the favor. Capische?

Side note, I don't comment on every blog every day and I don't expect others to comment on everything I write. I like it, but it's not necessary. So I'm not talking about occasional commenters. I'm talking about the meanie (and yes, hypocritical) No Commenters.

And now you can see why that made number one. That issue makes me mad. The rest of my list is just stuff that's slightly to barely annoying.

2. Anonymous commenters who say mean/judgmental things. I've never personally dealt with anything mean that an anonymous commenter has said to me, but I've seen it happen to others and I think those anonymous folks are SUPER lame. I don't think they understand that their comments/judgments/chastisements have zero effect in changing whatever it is they disagree with. Other people have said it better, so I'll let the issue go, but either slap your name on your words or don't say them.

And here's where we descend to the merely annoying...

3. People who set their RSS feeds so that their whole post won't pull up in a feed reader, just the beginning. I get why people do it, but I'm lazy and I save those blogs for very last. And if the beginning doesn't grab me, I won't read the rest of it. If the whole thing pulls up, the whole thing gets read and I'm far more likely to comment. Just sayin'. (And yeah, I know I just offended over half of the bloggers that comment here. Not my intention: remember, if I still come around, I still love you. Mwah!)

4. Black backgrounds. Or really dark or busy backgrounds. But especially black ones. It feels like such hard work to read them.

5. Three column blogs. There are a few exceptions to this (Hi, Crash!) but most of them feel too busy and visually overwhelming to me.

6. Don't love the word verification security check. I took mine off three months after I started blogging, and you know how many spam emails/comment trolls I've had in over a year? Two. I can't say I hate this feature, but see the thing above about being lazy. It's just another layer that gets old if I'm doing it twenty times a day.

To end on a more positive note, I want to share a couple of random things about blogging that I love that kind of popped into my mind this week.

1. I had a dream about Crash Test Dummy the other night. Actually, I had it right before I woke up for the day. The whole dream was pretty much her trying to come up with a phone number that also spelled something out. She'd be like, "(801) COOL GIRL. Wait, that's eight digits. I need seven." And she went on and on. For some reason when I woke up, it made me happy that I blog.

2. I've been thinking about Charrette a lot this week and hoping that she's having an amazing time at her painting workshop. And I was happy that blogging has given me a reason to care. Same thing when I kept wondering how DeNae was doing after her recent loss, or when I was worried about why LT Elliot wasn't around for a while. Totally makes up for meanie No Commenters a million-fold.

You know what? I love you guys. All you guys. Even if you restrict your RSS feed.

Do you want to be friends? Circle Yes or Yes.

Uh, I should be editing the last fifteen pages of my manuscript right now, so I decided to do a blog post instead.

I don't care for editing. Even though I'm SO CLOSE. Okay, I'll make this a fast blog post then. The sooner I edit, the sooner I get my writing chocolate.

Anyway, Kimberly at Temporary? Insanity put up an interesting post today where the last line finishes something like, "Reality never was found in front of a computer monitor."

But...

I kind of wonder.

Barring one, my dearest friendships are the ones I have through blogland right now. Is that sad? Or artificial?

I guess it could be considered pathetic that my closest connections are with people I don't really know, but it's the truth. As much as I enjoy my ward, and participate in just about every activity it offers, I haven't had a bonding experience with these women like I have with many of my blog friends. We connect socially, enjoy movies or frozen yogurt together, and I think they like me well enough. But there's no mental connection, or even very many shared interests. It took me almost 18 months to figure out why and the reasons are varied and mundane but the main thing I needed to figure out is: there's nothing wrong with me. It's gotten me to a place where I go to activities when I'm invited but I don't stress when I'm not, which I did all the time before. The truth is, if I was hosting a dinner party for some of my favorite blog friends, I wouldn't invite any of my social/ward friends. It's just not a great match. My friends in my ward are friends of circumstance where my blog friends are friends of choice.

Um, I kind of think that's better.

Is it less or more real? Hm.

Well, none of you guys can watch my kids for me while I run to the doctor, or bring me brownies if I'm sad, or go to the movies with me. BUT. . .you would if you could. I know that. I'd do it for you. Except for not watch your kids, because I don't care WHO you are, your kids will take a lonnnnnnng time to grow on me. Don't take it personally. But I would definitely do the brownie thing. Double chocolate Ghirardelli mix. Or maybe make you chocolate cookies from scratch. So I think that's real. I guess then the question is, Would we want to hang out with each other a lot if it were an option and I wasn't the only Mormon mommy blogger in HB, CA.? That's a little harder.

There are some of you I'm sure I'd want to hang with. And there are others of you that I'd want to spend occasional time with drinking deeply from your mind and spirit (in a non-Edward Cullen kind of way) and then let some time go by before doing it again. That's okay because I represent both things to other people, too. For some people I'm the laugh-a-minute girl and for others I'm the dig-deep-and-philosophize girl. I like the variety in my friendships. But I don't spend much time on the blogs of folks that I wouldn't want to hang around in real life. It's not a conscious choice but neither is it a startling realization.

Anyway, I've reached a decision. I do think reality CAN be found in front of a computer monitor. However, to Kimberly's point, everything in moderation. Real doesn't equal good if taken to an extreme.

Nonetheless, I consider you an extremely good friend. And you. Oh, and you. You, though? I think we're more just chat buddies, 'kay?

I should have said his "breadbasket."

Man, I love it when one of my posts is met with the sound of one hand clapping.

Sigh.

Well, here's a truly outstanding post from InkMom that I've been meaning to link to for a while. Go check it out. You won't be sorry. She's is SUCH a good writer.

http://imnotcrazymommy.blogspot.com/2009/07/hidden-potential.html

Happy Thursday.

Life is like a box of chocolates.

I write for a lot of reasons. Usually I have about twenty and they come in a box that looks like this.
Some people have stories burning inside of them to get out. Some people need a creative outlet for their flood of ideas.

I just really like chocolate and I can't have my daily piece until I write a thousand words. So I write.

This is my grand prize give away today: a one pound box of See's Chocolates. It kind of goes with my Friday Favorites I like to do sometimes, because you'll be getting the mix of my favorite pieces that I stock up on when I meet my writing goal approximately every three weeks. When that happens and I've eaten my last piece of writing chocolate, I march myself to the nearest See's (or sometimes the farther one because there's a Nordstrom in that mall and the siren call of their shoe department lures me to wreck my budget) and I fill a new box with the good stuff.

So I GUESS since this is the last day of give aways, if you want to be entered, leave a comment and somewhere in there add what your favorite kind of chocolate bon bon is. I MIGHT see that one makes its way into your box if you win. I might. And if you don't say anything about the chocolate (we are pronouncing it chock-oh-la-tay today), then you're not entered and I'll know you're just leaving a comment out of pure love.

One of my criqtique partners, Aubrey Mace, knows my love of See's well. She rewards herself with it whenever she puts in treadmill time. I mean, I guess some people would say virtue is its own reward, but virtue alone would never get ME on a treadmill. Anyway, we got to hang out at a writing conference in April and I was all excited to give her a box of See's. And she was all excited to pull out her present for me, which was. . . the exact same thing. So we were both very happy.

Since it's kind of Friday Favorites around here, let's turn to some blog spotlights. Or don't. It's not like I'll know you clicked away. But you'll be sad because it's all about bringing the funny today.

These are the blogs that I never, ever miss. Ever. Never.

A couple of these I'll slap with the following rating: Don't Go If You're Easily Offended, or DGIYEO.

That looks like "Diego," which always causes me great sadness. I want to have a boy named Diego but my husband says "Diego Jacobson" sounds stupid and I'm mad at him for not being Hispanic so that it wouldn't matter if he was named Diego. But we try to work through these things.

Navel Gazing At Its Finest. Really, do I need to say anything? Did you know she posted yesterday? Turns out her sofa didn't swallow her, she didn't move to a cabin in Montana to write anti-technology treatises, and she's not finding herself in an Indian Ashram. She's been hanging out at the pool.

The Lawsons Did Dallas: DGIYEO. I lurk. She never comments back on my blog. I don't care. She's funny enough that I will totally set aside my own narcissism and need for reciprocation so I can read her. She lives in Maine. Weird, right? I thought we sold that lot to Canada FOREVER ago.

Pulsipher Predilections: DGIYEO. It's the weirdest thing. Kristina posts, and then in twenty seconds she has over ten thousand comments. People LOVE her. With good reason. Stinking hilarious and she will go there. You know, there. You still don't know? There is anywhere that will make you say, "Oh no, she didn't." Like you're an "In Living Color" cast member. But oh, yes. She did. She really, really did.

Crast Test Dummy Diaries: Something's wrong with her. Wandering through her blog is a strange and winding trip full of invisible red thread and people named Wolfgang. That's why I go back and back and then I go back. And after that? I go back.

Suburb Sanity: I seriously love this woman. Snark with equal measures of wisdom. Great writer. Do NOT mess with her grocery store.

Finslippy: DGIYEO. Hysterical.

No Botox Allowed: I fell in love with this blog for the title alone. Then it turned out that Wendy is stinking hilarious. She makes fun of herself in a way that invites you to laugh with her.

My Real Life Was Backordered: This is the only blog I read aloud to my husband. I can't get enough. I want every heroine in every book I write to be just like DeNae. I want to help her help people off of bridges and just kind of follow her everywhere, waiting for sarcastic, lovely pearls to drop from her mouth. Then I want to string them into a necklace and wear them as a good luck charm to see if they make me funnier. And since there's something distinctly Hannibal Lecter-ish about that, I'll settle for openly and fervently stalking her blog.

All righty, then. (Don't say that Jim Carrey style. He's not that funny.) Don't forget to name your favorite bon bon for the shot at the See's chocolate box.

And now for yesterday's winners.

The Philosophy Raspberry Sorbet shower gel goes to. . . Annette Lyon! Woot!

And the character naming privileges go to. . .

Oh, dear heaven and all its angels.

DeNae.

Save me from Slappy Hooper!

This is the notebook I scribble in right now:

It has one page of notes I took on a trip to New York when I was pretending to be all writerly in the city and observing the natives. Then I lost it for it year. Then there's about twenty pages of notes and to do do lists for that stupid family night fundraiser I corralled.

This is the notebook I bought from Staples the other day to give away:

Cute, right? Oops. I forgot to take pictures of the purple pens. Whatever. Anyway, guess who won this notebook? Erin from If You Give a Mom a Moment!

This is the notebook I bought at Target yesterday because I wasn't kidding about having a problem. Then a whole bunch of you enablers showed up in my comment box yesterday and shared your deep and abiding love of notebooks too and I couldn't resist giving out another one. And guess who won that? Nancy!!!!

So what am I giving away today? Well, if your name is Slappy Hooper, you're going to be super excited. I'm giving away the chance to name a character in my current manuscript. And it might get published, too. Maybe even probably? I don't know. I think so! Anyway, I thought someone might like seeing their name as a character in a book, kind of like how Janette Rallison put James Dashner in My Fair Godmother (LOVED it). When I mentioned that's what I was giving away next, my husband said, "I'm going to enter that one and name the character Slappy Hooper!" which is his eBay i.d.

Uh, so please, a lot of you enter and decrease the odds that my smart, sassy Ashley ends up making out holding hands with Slappy Hooper. You have until midnight and you just need to drop a comment down below.

But wait....that's not all! I've had themes (sort of) for each give away this week but I have something else to give away that doesn't fit anywhere really, so I'm giving it away today. I love shower gels and smelly lotions and by far my favorite is Philosophy stuff. Soooo good. Especially Cinnamon Bun. Heaven! They even put the recipe on the bottle. But today I'm going to give away a shower gel scent from Philosophy called Raspberry Sorbet. Check it out:

Tomorrow I'm giving away my reason for writing, so stay tuned for that.

Speaking of, I think I do stuff besides give away things on my blog all day.

Where was I?

Uh....

Yeah, writing. Yesterday I told you about why I deep down for REALS blog now. It's about the love and neurotic need I have to be validated. And also talk to grown ups. But I did start out looking to connect with other writers and I've found some wonderful blogs in that vein. Early on someone pointed me toward LDS Publisher and reading that is one of the smartest things I ever started doing as a writer. That eventually lead me to Six Writers and a Frog and Writing on the Wall, two blogs that look at different aspects of writing. But then those are kind of the business, not fun, blogs I go to. When I want to hang out with like-minded writers who make me laugh smile and think, I go here:

Annette Lyon at The Lyon's Tale. You know her, you love her. She talks about writing all the time, like in her Writer's Journey which I find fascinating. But she talks about lots of other things that I love, like grammar and linguistics and Finland. Well, I don't know if I love Finalnd, but I love hearing about it. I'd love it if I went there, I bet. Want to take me, Annette? Anyway, she's so articulate that no matter how long her posts are, I NEVER get bored reading them and I have the attention span of gnat when it comes to blog posts sometimes. That's not to say hers are long. I just mean that she's one of the few people who can truly hold my attention for any length of time. Her personality and voice just shine through and she is in person exactly like I thought she'd be from her blog. And she has helped me soooo much, even though I ask some seriously stupid questions. She always, always helps me.

Lexicon Luvr: One of the nicest people EVER. Ever. I love reading her blog because it shines with such sincerity and she's soooo passionate about writing. You can tell she just loves it with every fiber of her being.

Becca Loves Books: I'm really new to this blog but man, she speaks my language. She's so down to earth and committed to her craft, but not all like super serious. She finds the fun in writing and I really like that.

There are a couple of other writer's blogs I like dropping in on a regular basis but the focus of their blogs isn't really about writing which is the only reason they aren't showing up in this list. Don't be sad!

Oh, AND. . . I forgot to anounce the winner yesterday for the recipes. It was Jessica G. Yay!

And don't forget to actually look at my new blogl ook if you haven't seen it yet.

Okay, enter away!

I'm one!

Check out today's give away and yesterday's winners at the bottom of this post! Go!

Today's the day! The actual birthday of my blog! I got it a new outfit, so if you're checking me out through a reader, you need to click over and tell me what you think. I lurrrrrrves it. Thank you, Mom Babe!

So this is where I tell you what I've learned in the last year, right?

Uh....basic HTML. Thank you, blogging.

Just kidding. The truth is, I started my blog because I read all these articles on writing that said you MUST have an internet presence and if you don't THEN YOU'LL NEVER GET PUBLISHED and the munchkins who run Kristina P.'s blog commenting sweatshop will mock you because you don't have a blog, you BIG DUMMY.

I freaked out and started a blog even though as of the first day I had mine, I had never even read one. I was just scared. I was peer pressured into blogging, stupid how-to articles.

I didn't even know what my blog would be about. I had this vague notion I'd write about my writing journey and hobnob with other people taking the same trip. I didn't really have fun writing those posts. Then I thought I'd use this as a place to develop my voice as a writer, experiment with different styles. But I'm too needy for that.

Because as I started wandering around other people's blogs and making friends, blogging evolved into a whole new thing for me. Let me tell you a little story. It's like one paragraph little.

There was this pretty princess named Melanie (okay, it was me) and she married her handsome prince and moved to a condo, er, castle by the ocean and she was so excited to stay at home with their babies and make lots of new friends. The princess always had lots and lots of friends, mainly because she talked a lot and got it into her head to go do fun stuff all the time and bewitched people into doing them with her, so she was excited for the new friends she would make in this new kingdom. And a year went by and she was losing heart because she wasn't making friends. She accepted every invitation she got, mourned the ones she didn't, kept a cheerful face and showed up at every activity. But the other princesses already had their princess friends and sort of overlooked our princess. A lot. And it made her sad. Then one day, our princess discovered a magic key to a magic room, that when turned, transported her to a place full of other princesses who were funny and smart and talented and liked it when our princess babbled. And she began to hang out with them and get to know them and look forward to seeing them each day. The big old hole where her missing friends used to be was filled and she was happy and her husband was relieved.

So blogging became something totally different than what it started as for me. This has become the place I go to hang out with like-minded people, to take a break from my cares, to be a part of a sisterhood, to laugh, and to think.

And for that, I owe so many of you a huge thank you. I could pick ten blogs a day for weeks that resonate with me for one reason or another, but that might get a little old for all of us, so I'm going to pick a few today and just know that I love YOU, okay? The blogs I want to highlight today are just happy places for me, for very different reasons from each other. But these are all smart, insightful ladies that I would call up to go get manis and pedis any time. (There are some of you who are going to be surprised you're not in today's list but that's because I'm putting you in Friday's spotlight of blogs that make me hurt myself laughing).

Heather of the EO really needs no introduction. Most of you read her and I'm not going to tell you anything you didn't already know when I say that she is smart, and compassionate, and generous and so relateable. And that word never looks right to me. Anyway, she's a heck of a writer and I often find a little bit of peace when I visit her blog. So go.

Lisa at Away From It All is one of the very first blogs I found and that found me. She has fascinating insights about life outside of the U.S. She's thoughtful, sure of her beliefs, has a great sense of humor, and is a great cheerleader. She hasn't been blogging nearly enough for my tastes lately, but it turns out she has a REALLY good excuse, so I'm going to give her a pass on that. Anyway, she's just such a level headed, cool girl and I might get to meet her this month. (Right, Lisa?)

Charrette at Divergent Pathways is simply amazing. She doesn't write often, but everything she produces is this perfectly polished gem, rich and colorful and life affirming. I always feel like a slightly better person after reading one of her posts. I can't do her justice with my own words; you'll have to read her yourself.

Stephanie at Diapers and Divinity inspires me with how incredibly well she stays on message. Her blog name is perfect. She seeks to find the goodness in motherhood and studies diligently in the scriptures and words of modern revelation for direction and clarity. She really does inspire me. It's that simple. I also like her humility in admitting that she struggles too, but she always tries to find a sense of humor about it.

Kimberly at Temporary? Insanity is another blogger I found early on. She's a fellow writer, so I relate to her that way, but her complete transparency about her triumphs and failings is so familiar to me. Sometimes her honesty makes me wince, but I can only respect someone who is so determined to peel back the layers in search of her best self. She's also incredibly generous with her blog knowledge and has helped me out many times.

I'll stop right there although I could go on. I'm always sad when I'm not on other people's lists because I'm a raving ego maniac, but I follow about 150 different feeds and I can't just pick everybody. I mean, I guess I could, but remember what I said about having to go on for days? Yeah...

I'll point out some more blogs I've found along the way tomorrow and Friday, but these were just some I've been hanging around for almost the whole year I've been blogging and they're part of the fabric of my everyday life.

Now, that the suck up section of this blog is over, it's time to move to the bribery section. Just kidding. But it's give away time!

You'll notice I kept the notebook in my template. It's very me. I love a fresh, clean notebook. You may even remember my ode to office supplies and the famous comment from the American Folder Company Troll. I collect notebooks. It's unintentional. I just see a cute one I love, buy it with every intention of filling it up, and then I desert it within a couple of months for a fresher, tartier upstart. So I have lots of partially filled cute notebooks at my house.

In honor of my new blog template and as a shout out to the original intent of this blog to be about me as a writer (oh, HA HA! It's about Me the Princess now!), I'm giving away a super cute notebook I bought yesterday at Staples (because I love Staples and want to marry it) and a package of my favorite pens and THEY ARE PURPLE and I don't care if that's cheesy. I like them. I can't find my camera for the moment so I have no picture for you. But it's 9.5" x 6" with a yellow cover and gray flowers and it sounds hideous but I love it. It even says "Fashion Notebook" on it in case you aren't sure if it's trendy or not.

Anyway, you can enter with just a comment as usual. I think my blog wouldn't mind if you wished it Happy Blog Birthday if you can't think of what else to say. Tell it you like it's new outfit, if you like.

And lastly but not leastly (Annette is readying her wet noodle for the whupping on that one), yesterday's winners!

Hershey's Chocolate Pretzel bars: Stephanie from Everyone's Excited and Confused (they're only 100 calories!)
Pecan praline fudge: Stephanie from Diapers and Divinity
Mint chocolate fudge: Aubrey (and no, I didn't rig it!)
Tony Chachere's seasoning: Caroly V.