Welcome Back, Me! (or is it, Welcome Me Back!?)

Here's something that sounds like a joke, but definitely is not. Q. How do you know when you've been away from your blog  too long? A. You can't remember your password. AND the donuts in your header have been eaten. Seriously, did you notice they're gone?! What kind of a world do we live in when people can steal donuts from a blog header?! 
(Update: Donuts are back; looking no worse for the vacay. And yes, children, I did just type vacay. I told you I was cool!)
 

But I'm smart. So I figured out my password (I use the same two all the time. Please don't tell the blog thieves.) It's not like I've been vegetating while not blogging. I've been learning stuff. Plus, doing stuff. And helping other people do plenty of stuff, too. (But no vocab stuff, obviously.) And I'll get some more donuts. Geesh.

I'm sick of hearing my excuses for not blogging, so I'm sure you are. But here's the thing (...you knew I was going to give an excuse, didn't you?), I stopped because I started doing some Blog Introspection, which led to some Blog Discouragement.  Not because I read a lot of discouraging blogs; quite the contrary. There are so many great ones. And there are plenty of great blogs that are also willing to tell me how to have my own great blog. 

For awhile there it seemed to me like there was no need for me to blog if I wasn't going to attempt to have a Great Blog....with lots of readers (although I did break 100 followers .... while I wasn't blogging....Go Figure.) .... with advertising...and guest posting...and other people linking to me world-wide. 

I get tired just reading that last sentence. Too much pressure. (Too much work.)

Two things worked together to rouse me from my Blog Slump.  (1) Reading my two daughters' blog updates. See my sidebar for the addresses since I don't know how to link to both of them at once. Granted, they are both amazing girls who could totally have World Wide Blog Popularity if they wanted. But they are simply blogging through life...and I'm so happy they are.  I love reading about their lives - and I honestly think their children are going to look back one day and know their moms in a deeper way because they took the time to chronicle their lives this way. 

Sure wish my mom had had a blog. What books would've been on her sidebar? Which of her friends would she have linked to? Would she have put cute pictures of me on her blog? Pictures of me with a tight perm, that I would have later tried to delete?

It'd be like looking through a scrapbook, with digital running commentary.

(2) The longer you don't blog, the harder it is to get back to it. This is true of anything. Exercise. Bible study. Getting dressed :)   And then the project takes on gargantuan proportions so that one might feel like one would never have time enough to accomplish said project. But recently I came across a time management technique (which I am using this very minute to accomplish this long-procrastinated goal of blogging) called the Pomodoro Technique. 

And I'll tell you about it  next time I blog. Because my pomodoro is up.

But in the meantime, the blog experts say I will never have a successful (by their def.) blog without pictures. But when there are grandchildren, there are pictures :)    Top: GrandMama and Sophie at Christmas. Don't you love her 'camera smile'? Bottom: Newest granddaughter, Eleanor (10 days old today :)

Expectations

I get a little glimpse of my immaturity when I hear my favorite man's truck pull up in my driveway. In fact, my heart starts to race the moment he pulls on to my street! Over the years the excitement has not waned even a tiny bit. If anything....it's gotten more intense.

My love for him is hardly unconditional, though - since my first thoughts are always of what he might be bringing me.

Like today. First, I heard his truck. Then his footsteps. I tried to act nonchalant by not flinging the door open while he was still in the driveway. And I'm savvy enough not to peek (anymore) through the curtains to see if there's a package in his big, strong hands.

And of course, I'm talking about the UPS guy.

Why I still have so much affection for him when he so often disappoints me is a mystery.

Even though I know I'm not the only consumer in this household of 9. And even though I couldn't recall ordering anything (recently). I was still downcast when I opened his package today and found it was not a cool, new, monogrammed tote (which it felt like...in the few moments when I was trying not to open it), nor some cool "bonus" from Land's End for being their Customer With The Most Returns last month.

In fact, most of the time - the packages delivered to our house are not for me. They are uniforms. Or parts my frugal husband has ordered for some appliance that lesser men would have just replaced. Or, worst of all - something for the previous owners of our house!

I deal with this same manic problem with the mailbox. Every time I go out there I expect something amazing might be in there. And my expectations usually have to do with money. As in checks. Preferably made out to me.

I was thinking about this today - in the aftermath of opening the UPS package and finding my husband had ordered himself some much-needed navy blue trousers for work - and realizing that the reason I have this "issue" is because occasionally...maybe, even rarely....I do get unexpected packages in the mail. Just last week my daughter sent me an adorable hand-made pillow and some cute bookmarks she had stamped. Now THAT is worth the walk out to the mailbox.

And once in a blue moon, someone really has sent our family a check for "no reason". One time an elderly lady from our church sent us $250 with a note that said "I was eating cereal this morning and I thought about all the cereal it must take to feed those boys of yours. Use this to buy some." And another time some friends got a small inheritance and decided to tithe on it - - - to us! That was the month every single child got new athletic shoes (and not from Goodwill!)

I bet you wonder if I'm going to end this post with supplying you with my address, don't you? LOL

No, oddly enough - I'm going to tie it into parenting. The past few weeks I have had trouble getting a couple of my children to go to bed and stay there (remember...my youngest two are ELEVEN! So this is not a new rule for them. It's been about 10 years since the rule was established.) 95% of the times they get up, I send them back to bed with an "admonition" or a privilege taken away. The point being....there's rarely any reward for getting up.

But occasionally.....Maybe 5% of the time, I see their cute little brown face; their sweet-smelling, pj-clad body; I hear their lovey-dovey, sleepy voice......and I invite them to sit and snuggle with me for a few minutes. (Sometimes I even give them some of my hot tea....or ice cream!) Sometimes it turns into a delightful, rare, one-on-one mommy/child, no-agenda time.

Sort of like going to the mailbox and finding a card with a sweet, encouraging note (and a gift card.)

I'm not saying they're right to break the 'house rule' and get up. I'm just saying that today when I heard the UPS truck drive up, even though I knew I would probably go back inside being disappointed - It was still worth flinging open the door in excitement. For that itty-bitty slim chance that it was a monogrammed tote.

I hope I remember this tonight when my quiet, solitary tea-time gets disrupted by a child hoping I've got something amazing for him.

6 Uninteresting Things that make me Happy

I saw a list like this on another blog so I figured I'd steal it. But I'm a benevolent thief, with a conscience, so I won't actually steal her 6 Things...Just her title, and her idea.

Although I really liked her title, I have to confess I've been a tad apathetic this week (thus the dearth of blog posts) so it would've been a ton easier for me to think of 6 Uninteresting Things that make me UN-Happy. In fact, without much effort I was up to about 18 UNHappy, Uninteresting Things before I realized a post like that would only send me spiraling down the mood pole.

And by reading it, I might just have dragged you down it with me.

So, I'll try to stick with 6 Uninteresting Things That Make Me Happy (but if you find them interesting, it's not my problem.)


(1) Hearing my 3 yo grandson's voice on his mom's cell phone voice message. "This is Mommy's phone. Leave a message." Honestly, it makes me giggle every time I hear it. (And it makes me mad when I'm anticipating hearing him, and she actually answers the phone! Whoops.....I'm spiraling down again.....)

(2) Propped up in bed at night with a cup of hot tea, the fan swirling above me, and a good book on my lap. (Current good book is Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters...Great writing, no-brain reading, slightly funny, perfect for filling that void between tired and drowsy.)

(3) An empty laundry room. A short-lived, albeit elated, feeling of accomplishment.

(4) The UPS man stopping in front of my house. Or the UPS woman. I'm not picky. (If I was writing about things that make me UN-Happy, which of course I'm absolutely NOT, I could add the UPS guy/gal stopping, walking up to the door, and handing me a book-sized box which turns out to contain........some kind of replacement part for something my husband is trying to fix. I am Not in My Happy Place after that ....although I do appreciate my Fix-It-Himself husband. It's the UPS person I have issues with.)

(5) Sitting out by my pool, mesmerized by the clean, sparkly blue water, closing my eyes and feeling the sun on my (heavily lotioned) face - especially when there are no kids yelling "watch me, Mom, watch me!" (I do enjoy watching them....just not when I'm trying to be mesmerized.)

(6) Coming home from a successful trip to Goodwill, where I got two cute plates, a great wallet, and 2 pairs of nice summer shoes (hope that doesn't gross anyone out...But you'd have been tempted to buy some stranger's shoes, too, if you had seen these sandals!).

(6a) If I was telling you about things that make me UN-Happy (which I totally an not), I might say something hypothetical like this:
Coming home from a trip to Goodwill where I spent over an hour looking at the titles of Every Book In The Store because the sign said "Books, Videos, DVDs 50% off", only to narrow it down to 8 books that rang up full-price at the register because someone forgot to take the sign down from yesterday.

Maybe I'll use reverse psychology on myself tomorrow, and will attempt a list of 6 Uninteresting things that Really Tick Me Off. Perhaps only happy, little grateful thoughts will ebb out of my keyboard, (and I'll realize I am indeed as gullible as the Goodwill guy thinks I am.)

To blank with it!

When you do something because it's delightful and fun and enriching, and you're fairly good at it, - and then you notice one day (when you're sleep-deprived and over-scheduled and trying to break your Coke-A-Day habit) that it's the opposite of delightful, feels like a chore, non-enriching, and you don't even care if you're good at it, then it might be time for some rethinking.

No, I'm not quitting my blog. I've lived long enough to know that I'll probably wake up tomorrow with a renewed excitement about Blogging Every Day (except the weekends...and an occasional Friday) in May - and I'll have some great idea that I can't wait to share. I'll blog about it, then I'll check in every 5-10 minutes to see if I have any comments (yeah....I still do that .....occasionally.)

But I woke up today and felt Blog Pressure - and my immediate thought was, "You're not the boss of me!" (speaking to my blog....or my readers...or even my pride)

So for today you can read my post on balancing Beauty and Simplicity over at Chic Critique (where they are also not the Boss of Me!)


And if I piqued your interest when I posted last night (after midnight) about my book club pick for this month, Sacred Influence - then hop over to my friend Lea's blog and read what she had to say about it. Because even though I told you I was going to do a review today....I've decided not to.

And I can do that.

Because you're not the boss of me. (sorry if I'm overusing that phrase but i do so like the sound of it.)

I do however plan on continuing to read my issue of Women's Health, and anything else I darn well please, and will post about it when and if I feel like it.

So there.

(and just so you know I still love you and this little blog rebellion is only temporary, you can go here and try to win a Land's End bathing suit.... I did!)