The Overhaul, A New Beginning
Wahoo! Time to celebrate. (Photo credit: tsuacctnt on Flickr)
Ta-da! The bandages are off, and Wonder, Friend has a new face. Welcome!
{Before I get too far, I want to thank Jen from Blue Yonder Design for this new look. Jen’s a saint. A very patient saint.}
I go into some detail about the impetus behind this face lift, and my goals for the blog, on an all-new About the Blog page. I hope you’ll snoop around today and check out the two, new About pages. I also hope you’ll apply to write a guest post, but more on that in a bit.
If, however, you don’t have a lot of time to hang out on Wonder, Friend today, here’s some of what I have to say in About the Blog:
I took time off in late 2011 and thought about why I blog. I’m not going to give you the I do it for me, and don’t care if anyone is reading or not line. I probably would write even if nobody was reading, but it would not be very stimulating.
So the real deal? I blog because I think in written words.
I’m not a talker, or at least not a good one. Oh, to be a funny talker, as Mel Brooks says. But that’s not me. Words get stuck between my brain and my mouth, yet they have a relatively smooth path from brain to fingers. So I blog in order to share my thoughts, to ask questions, to connect.
I’ve always agonized over having a rhyme and reason to my posts, and since I rarely achieve consistent rhyme or reason, you can imagine the turmoil. During what I’ve come to call (sound effects, please: bum, bum, bum) Blogging Hiatus of 2011, I arrived at this (it’s so obvious and why didn’t I accept this before) conclusion: Wonder, Friend is my blog, and I can write anything, everything, or nothing of consequence. The only common thread needed here? Me.
Oh, and wondering. That’s a key element I try to always incorporate (it is in the blog’s name, after all). A lot of life leaves me thinking I wonder… how that works or why that happens or can I recover from this? Therefore, most – not all, but most – of my posts close with a question for readers. I want to open up a dialogue in the comments, so stop by and share your thoughts, your advice, your funny or sad stories.
About those guest-posts I mentioned earlier…
For me, the best part of the blogosphere is exposure to ideas and people we would otherwise never consider, never know. I want to share some of those brilliant, funny, thoughtful people on Wonder, Friend. Starting next week, Wednesdays* are reserved for guest bloggers. If you’re interested – and you are, I hope – I’m not too proud to beg, but please don’t make me resort to that – click here and fill out the form. I’ll be in touch about dates.
Thanks for sticking with me through (bum, bum, bum) Blog Hiatus 2011. I’m thrilled to be back in this familiar space, refreshed with a new look. And a new perspective. I look forward to wondering with you!
Speaking of that, I wonder…
:: When did you last overhaul something, whether your blog space, your living or work space, yourself? What was the impetus for that overhaul?
*Some Wednesdays, such as busy holiday weeks and Spring Break, will not feature a guest blogger.
read moreIt’s Alive! It’s Alive!
Barely.
The blog, that is. Me? I am very much all the way alive.
You may or may not have noticed that there hasn’t been a post here since November 1. Frankly, I got really sick of myself and the blah, blah, blah posts. I decided to take a break (sorry I didn’t do a better job of letting you all in on my plans… it’s just that I didn’t actually plan it, so much as stumble around in it).
And what a break it was. Here are some of the things I’ve learned since November 1, presented along with low-quality photos (as in photo quality, not subject matter):
:: There is nothing sweeter than living in real time with real, three-dimensional people.
These are my two favorite 3-D people, making gingerbread men for Santa.
:: I can go a whole day, a whole week, and nearly an entire month without tweeting. Guess what? Twitter is still there. And I am still here.
And still being here is particularly nice at Christmas, I think.
:: I can make cake balls. But not with any sort of skill. Or without testing half a dozen or so in the process. I may have cured my desire for cake, at least in its ball form.
I made 12 dozen of these babies.
:: If you plan ahead and assemble small bicycles, configure new computers, and put the batteries in remote control cars during the week of December 19, Christmas Eve is a lot more fun.
A note from Santa explained that this is a family gift, but a certain 5-year-old still kind of thinks it's his...
:: I like to cook. I know, right? Crazy talk. I’m particularly fond of recipes from this woman.
How gorgeous is this brine? You should have seen the turkey it made, but you can't because I forgot to take a picture...
:: Some Pinterest projects work out.
I found this centerpiece idea on Pinterest, and tried to pass it off as my own idea. Everyone who knows me knows better than that, though.
:: Some don’t.
As they say on Pinterest: Nailed It.
:: I’m a Haiku Master. Or, more accurately: I Wrote One Haiku and Now It’s A Christmas Tradition (prepare yourselves, family).
For my family's Tacky Christmas Attire exchange.
:: Say what you will, but I love our Elf on The Shelf. A little creepy? Yes. But we had fun with him this year.
The kids didn't want to drink green milk...
:: Getting mugged is not so bad after all. In fact, it’s downright tasty.
Thanks, Meg, for my @Members_Lounge mug (and candy and hot chocolate!) #MugSwap2011
:: And finally, I learned that yes, real life comes first, always. But writing this blog still makes my heart sing. I have a soft spot for my blogging friends, for everyone who drops by to read, and for the free therapy that comes with writing it all down.
So. Happy New Year to you all. I am – finally, really, honestly – working with the fabulous Jen on a face lift for Wonder, Friend. Some minor changes in content are coming, too. It took me some time to figure out how to move forward with this blog, but I think I have it settled. For now. I look forward to sharing it all with you soon.
I also look forward to catching up with you. Let’s start here…
I wonder…
:: What did you learn in 2011?
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The Bag Lady Flies, an #iPPP Post
I like to have a title before I start writing. I rarely use my first title, but it helps me get started to have something, anything, at the top of the page. A throwback to elementary school, I guess, when our names went in the upper right corner, title centered on the first line, no exceptions or lose 10 points.
So this post all started when I decided to clean out and organize my bag before getting on a plane tomorrow (more on that in a moment). The first idea that popped into my head was Flight Time and Big Easy. Two guys from the Harlem Globetrotters (and The Amazing Race). And for some reason that made me think of 30 Rock, although I have no idea why, and I spent about 10 minutes working through 30 Rock-related titles before realizing I was wasting my time. I am going to New York, though, so I guess there’s some rhyme to that reason. Somewhere.
That little story has nothing to do with anything; I just thought I’d share some of the process with you. Riveting stuff.
As for the impetus behind cleaning out my bag, it’s a trip to New York for BlogHer Writers ’11, presented by Penguin. I get two days devoted almost entirely to talking about, thinking about, and learning about writing and publishing. Luxury. Sure, variety is a good thing, but it’s also exhilarating to be in a room full of people with a shared passion. Like ComicCon without the costumes.
So in less than 24 hours, I’ll be on a plane, and that means there’s a lot to do between now and then. I am determined to travel light (it never works out that way; I’ll end up with the giant suitcase, filled with clothes and shoes I won’t even wear), so logic says I need to take the superfluous junk out of my purse. Why logic decided I should do this clean-out at 5:30 this morning is beyond me.
I switch purses and bags often, so it’s not unusual to have three or four bags in rotation. And in various states of full-of-crapness. I reached Threat Level: Red on the crapness about a week and a half ago, resulting in a complete clean out and reorganization. In the end, I was down to a gym bag and a purse, both clean and carrying only the necessities.
Ten days later, this bag looked innocent enough on the outside, but going in required riot gear.
Be afraid.
Inside, there was not only all manner of trash and paper, but three smaller, purse-like items. Each filled with more very important things crap.
Score! $11.
An incomplete list: two HEB receipts, two Target receipts, three receipts from two different coffee shops, another purse, a wallet containing three more receipts, a brag book from last year’s family pictures, two tubes of VeriPur hand sanitizer, a power cord to a computer I no longer use, a bracelet, a pair of sunglasses I never wear. Why?
After throwing out the kids’ snack wrappers and the other trash – all mothers know that trash receptacle is part of the job description – followed by filing away the few pieces of paper that I need to save, and then sorting through all the small purses that were inside my big purse, I got it down to this:
Ahhh. Much better.
Yes, I’m still carrying around smaller bags and purses inside the big purse, but it’s all stuff I need. Honest. Plus I made space for my business cards and iPad. I also switched out photo books for the new one. Organized and current. It’s a miracle.
Except in typing this, I realized that I forgot to throw in my notebook and the sunglasses I do wear. And my conference tickets. And space to bring home the stuff I can’t resist buying from New York street vendors. Time to break out the giant suitcase.
P.S. – Since I’m going out of town, I may not post again this week. No guarantees, either way (let’s keep the mystery alive!), but it’s probable you won’t hear from me again until next week.
Why I Love Angry Birds
Paralysis over.
I’m so glad it’s over. Glad the idea of putting pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – doesn’t leave me clammy and nauseated.
Now onto super important things, like, uh, well… I do have a ton of important things on my mind, of course. I only think important things. I never numbly play Angry Birds, avoiding reality. Never.
What kind of loser would do that?
Okay, me.
By the way, I rock at Angry Birds. I’m thinking of taking my talent all the way to the bank. Who wants to pay me to play Angry Birds? Anyone?
As for that reality avoidance, it used to fill me with guilt. I am also a professional at guilt. If only I could take that to the bank, as well. I’d be Richard Branson rich. My bird-launching finger would be numb, and I’d have a big, guilty pit in my stomach at all times, but dang if I wouldn’t be rolling in the dough. Or at least gainfully employed.
So far, in nearly four decades of life, I’ve found only a handful of things at which I excel. And none of them lend themselves to a career. Yet. It’s looking like I’m onto something with this guilt-ridden Angry Birds champ thing. I never could parlay professional Law and Order watcher into a full time gig.
Obviously, I’m kidding. Sort of. I know I have skills, or as my two-year-old says, “I got skillzzz.” {We claim to have no idea where he picked that up.} I know I have talents and I’m grateful for them all. I am not only aware of the talents I was blessed with, but I’m also finally okay with not being completely productive at all times.
Let me explain.
I believe that, like Peter Parker’s grandmother says on her death bed, with great power comes great responsibility. I believe that we are not to squander our gifts. But I also believe that our lives have an ebb and flow. There are seasons for being industrious. And there are seasons for transition.
This season, this one of transitioning to a new school schedule and making sure my kids are happy and healthy, is/was a relatively short season. During this time, though, instead of giving myself some grace, I have been beating the crap out of myself. There’s been mostly negative talk. I have always talked to myself, almost always silently, inside my head. Anyway, lately when I chatter with me, it’s all been mean. Lots of talk about being lazy, ineffective, ungrateful.
And then it clicked – I don’t know why or how, just that it did. My brain needed a break. There was a lot of emotional energy required for this new phase of our lives.
As beautiful as it is, there is heartbreak in watching my firstborn start to detach. He may still look like all backpack, with a head and skinny legs, as he walks down the hall to his kindergarten class, but he’s so much more than that. He’s a big kid, with big plans, and although he still needs me it’s not the same. It’s the beginning of some enormous changes.
I don’t like to get all sentimental and sappy, because it hurts. It makes me cry. Which makes it really hard to focus on smashing tiny pigs with tiny birds. So even though I hold a lot of my emotion inside, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It doesn’t mean I’m not feeling the weight. Feeling some bizarre combo of exhilaration and exhaustion that comes from watching a child grow.
So I realized that this is going to happen periodically in my life. I’m going to have seasons of transition, and I may not always be 100% productive during those seasons. I may put aside some of my goals to help foster the talents of the people I love.
And when it’s all said and done? I’m putting all my money on this: there will be more to write, more to say, and more to dream about, because I will have lived. I will have felt thrilled and depressed and excited and overwhelmed. And I probably will have checked out to spend time blowing up obnoxious, Wilford Brimley-esque pigs.
I hope this made some sense. I feel like I’ve rambled, but this is a blog and not a school essay, so I’m allowing myself some lack of structure. Cool? The English major in me wants to summarize, though. She wants to wrap this up in a bow. So here goes:
- I was kind of busy, completely overwhelmed, and very unproductive all at once.
- I didn’t write or work a lot during that time.
- I felt really guilty and played too much Angry Birds.
- I now believe that it was okay to be unproductive in my work for a couple weeks, and have let go of the guilt.
- I now believe that periodically checking out is extremely beneficial.
Oh, I do love a bulleted list.
I wonder…
:: Do you ever check out of certain parts of your life?
:: What kinds of results do you have when you allow yourself some down time?
P.S. - I have almost 400 unread emails and heaven only knows how many posts in my reader. I am deleting them all. So if there’s something important or funny or beautiful that you want me to read, please email me a link. Or tweet it to me. I look forward to catching up on blogs next week!
read moreWill You Still Love Me?
If I never post again? (Is it presumptuous to assume you love me in the first place?)
Now don’t panic (again with the presumptions), I’m not quitting.
But I have not had ample time in the last week to turn any thoughts into posts. I haven’t had all that many thoughts, either, to be honest. I start, stop, start, delete. It’s awful.
And that book? I had one good thought in regard to the book, resulting in scrapping the bulk of my drivel. While I’m glad I realized that a lot of what I’d written was all wrong, I’m now facing a whole bunch of blank pages. My blank brain + blank pages = a wee bit of panic.
Granted, I had some time over the weekend, but I chose to recharge and hang out with my family (I know. Crazy talk.).
The thing is, we’re only half back to school here. I have one little friend at home for another week. Our preschool always starts after Labor Day, meaning we have two and a half weeks between the start of big kid school and the start of preschool. Today, I’m launching a campaign to change that.
Because I have almost zero free time until preschool starts, making an organized phone, email, Twitter, Facebook, and petition-signing campaign impractical, I just have to hope our Preschool Powers That Be happen to read this post. In the event you are reading, Preschool Powers That Be, I offer the following super compelling reasons to start school sooner:
- My youngest child misses his older brother terribly. Going to preschool a few days a week would take his mind off his troubles, so why wait until after Labor Day? Let’s start preschool when the big kids go back to school.
- I am the world’s lousiest
playaplay-er, as in I am not great at getting down on the floor and playing cars or trains or cowboy-pirate-robot wars for hours. Some play time every day? You got it. Six hours a day, five days a week while we wait for big brother to get home from school? Uh, no. - And finally, the reason I know our preschool will find the most compelling… I don’t have time to blog. Or write. Or think. I used to work some in the morning, but now I’ve lost more than half of that time (we leave to walk to school around 7:15 and before that there’s the whole please eat your breakfast and brush your teeth and put on your clothes what are you doing in your room if you’re not getting dressed and why haven’t you brushed your teeth and no, I don’t think an underwear hat is a great idea deal; not a ton of peaceful working time after about 6:15 a.m.), and then I used to squeeze in some work at nap time. But now nap time is fractured and crazy due to the after school routine. We have not found our rhythm. Why bother getting a routine now, when it’s all going to change as soon as preschool starts again?
Therefore, I believe, Preschool Powers That Be, that your open arms and open doors should welcome our youngest school-goers as soon as their older siblings return to their own hallowed halls.
I have good intentions to not only write, but also read and comment on other blogs. You know what they say about the road to hell, though. I am paving the heck out of that thing this week. I’ll be back, though, I promise.
But first, there’s a miniature pirate in pajamas who needs a snack.
I wonder…
:: How long does it take you to get in the groove once school starts? How long until you’ve found your rhythm?
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