Blog on hold until further notice.

Too busy to blog

Real life is fun too.  Who knew?

Be back soon … maybe.

**All haiku’s around here are inspired by Leslie … one of the cool kids.

Today begins the second running of the incredibly addictive Haiku Buckaroo contest hosted by Leslie at My Mommy’s Place.  Take a moment to do a little happy dance if you’d like, I’ll wait… or maybe I’ll dance with you. :)  Besides the opportunity to achieve Haiku Buckaroo-dom there are great prizes to be won including a copy of Me, Myself & Bob from yours truly.  Will and I just finished reading this outstanding book and I want to tell you all about it but Monday evening is date night at the Simple household so I must spend the bulk of the day chasing dust bunnies and turning our somewhat eclectic home into something more suburbia…. something that won’t frighten away the sitter.

spit, polish, scrub, clean

tidy children and the house

See?  We are normal.

I’m doing some house blogkeeping around here.  So if you were on my blogroll and now you are not, please know that I still like you and I am interested in what you have to say ‘cept I don’t have time to read it anymore and seeing your sweet little blog go unread day after day was just giving me more guilt that I need right now.  I know you’ll understand.

This is not a post.  It is simply a little note to let you know I’m still alive.  No one is sick.  I am not too busy to write.  I don’t have writer’s block.  Bloggable things are happening every day.

After several days of considering putting limits on the kids’ screen time, I have come to the conclusion that in fact I spend more time in front of a screen than either of them and  that actually most of their screen time is simply a response to my, “Uhm, just a minute.  Mommy will play with you right after she finishes this paragraph.”

This silence… it’s an experiment of sorts.  A reminder, if you will, that life exists even if there is no one blogging about it.

While I was out moving Julie over at Learning & Laughter gave me the sweetest compliment.  See?

The Nice Matters award was introduced to blogland by Bella-Enchanted and is meant to honor “those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration.”  I’d like to pass this award to Mary at Owlhaven for the way her open heart inspires me.  I’m also passing it on to Leslie at My Mommy’s Place because she was my first bloggy friend and I appreciate her encouraging comments. 

Speaking of Leslie - many, many, many moons ago she gave me this.

 (explained here)

I’m tagging Julie with this one because she’s been tackling some hard “new mommy” issues, among other things, and reaching insightful conclusions that well … make me think.

These two awards really make me smile.  Thanks, ladies!

*****************

On a different note, Mo’Coffee wants to know a couple of things.  1) If I were batting at a baseball game what would be my intro theme music?  And 2) If I played baseball, what position would I play?

Hmm, theme music?  Maybe, Louie’s “What a Wonderful World” and it would have to be Louie.

Knowing nothing about baseball, I had to refer to Mo’Coffee’s explanations of the various position.  This one seems to fit best.

Catcher: The field general. This person seems quiet and behind the scene, but in reality is controlling everything, including what pitches are thrown when and to whom (fastball, curve, slider…etc.), and positioning of the defense. Also has the responsibility of throwing out runners trying to steal, as well as being the last line of defense against would-be scorers.

Doesn’t every mom feel this way? :)  Thanks to Mo’Coffee for the fun questions!  How would you answer his query?

I am in complete blog withdrawal.  I know sometimes I don’t post.  I know that sometimes I go several days without posting but that’s just because I’m out there reading and reflecting on your wisdom.  ‘Member how I said yesterday that I might not be around for a while.  Well, I didn’t mean to be.  I spent the whole day packing and I’d be completely done if I hadn’t ran out of boxes.  So that’s where I am now…. out looking for boxes.  I thought the library might have some… not.  Okay, I admit it.  I came here for an internet fix.  I am pathetic.

Actually, this using a public computer is quite an interesting experience for me.  First I had to login with ye old library card. Then low and behold a “Session Information” box appeared.  It floats above my open browser [not Firefox, btw :(] and taunts me with its blinking message.  “You have 59 minutes remaining.”  What!?  59 minutes!?  I can’t visit and respond to all of blogland (or even just my favorite haunts) in 59 minutes!  I generally do my blog hopping in snippets all day long.  59 minutes?  This just will not do. … Or maybe it will.  There is something to be said for the pressure of a deadline.  I have already decided what I have time to read and what will have to wait.  I am focused.  There is no clicking willy-nilly.  I am a woman with a mission, albeit a silent mission.  Silent because I am in a library surround by other library patrons deep in their own thoughts.  It simply will not do to LOL or ROTFL.  Sad but true.  Anyway this silence thing is starting to get to me in other ways too.  I am down to 35 minutes and I’ve not spoken a word out loud in all that time.  Perhaps that sounds normal to you but let me assure you it is not.  I am a talking typist.  Re-reading out loud what I have written helps me to clarify my thoughts.  Saying the words out loud as I am typing helps me to avoid typos.  I apologize in advance for lack of coherency and errors of all sorts.

I am also unaccustomed to the lack of interruptions.  At this point (36 minutes in) I should have been asked to “get a glass of milk, please”; “fix mine train tracks”; “read a story” and “play Uno”.  There should have been at least one spilled drink and at least one munchkin should have had their feelings (or their body) hurt by the other.  My brain doesn’t quite know how to function in this very constant way.  I have been a stop n go thinker for almost 6 years now.  It’s hard to go back.  But only 20 minutes remain so I must press on.

Tomorrow we finally move in.  We will, however; not have internet access (except for library escapes) until Thursday afternoon.  We will not have a fridge or washer/dryer until Friday.  We will have furniture.  We will have food.  We will have each other and we will have more than one room to occupy so we don’t drive each other crazy … anymore.

Life is good.

… with 13 minutes to spare.

For the last two hours (… or so…) I have not been packing.  The movers come on Wednesday and nothing is packed.  Nothing.  Nada.  But I’ve sure been having fun with my blog.  See all the fun little changes I made to the sidebar?!  I will probably continue to add to it and make changes over the next few weeks - now that I’ve learned how to use widgets.  Unfortunately, as I said the movers come on Wednesday and since my telepathic packing abilities are not yet fully developed I will need to leave my computer be for a day or so.  On the upside, that should not be too hard since a miscommunication with the cable company means I may (or may not) have internet access for the next week.  I guess I’ll see you on the flipside.

Bye, bye blogland.

 Have you seen the carnival MamaBlogga is hosting?  No?  Well, go look here.  I’ll wait. 

… la, la, do, de, do …

See doesn’t that look fun.   What a great way to discover new blogs and develop community.  I’ll be keeping track of my progress here so you may see this post pop up more than once in your feed reader depending on how ambitious I get.

To get a gold button one must complete one event each from the bronze, silver and gold lists.  (copied here for your convenience.)

Bronze

• Comment on up to 5 new blogs
• Subscribe to a new blog (instructions on subscribing)
• Submit or vote for a post you like on someone else’s blog on a social networking or bookmarking site
• Add a blog to your blogroll
• Overwrite old draft posts that you’re no longer going to use

Silver

• Comment on 6 to 15 new blogs
• Participate in a blog carnival
• Participate in a group writing project
• Subscribe to 3 new blogs (instructions on subscribing)
• Submit or vote for a post you like on someone else’s blog on a social networking or bookmarking site three times
• Contact a blogger about guest blogging on their blog
• Add three blogs to your blogroll

Gold

• Comment on 16 to 25 new blogs (and over)
• Sign up to host a blog carnival
• Host a group writing project (or plan one)
• Subscribe to 5 new blogs (instructions on subscribing)
• Submit or vote for a post you like on someone else’s blog on a social networking or bookmarking site five times
• Review someone else’s blog on your blog
• Interview another blogger
• Send a completed guest post to another blogger
• Write two “pillar articles” or pieces of “flagship content“
• Come up with a system to keep track of your blog drafts

So far I’ve subscribed to:

BloggyGiveaways (the name says it all - hosted by Rocks In My Dryer)

ChrisG.com (to get the free e-book on “flagship content”)

BlogInMyEye (I’ve been reading this one for a couple of weeks now and feel as if I’ve found a kindred spirit.)

Conscious, and Occasionally Organized, Ramblings (a delightful mix of serious and funny, extremely well-written)

Polliwog Creek (because her beautiful patch of earth is what I dream of for my family)

Yea!! I have enough of these now to complete my “gold” event.

And I’ve commented on these new blogs:

BloggyGiveaways

NavelGazing Midwife

Conscious, and Occasionally Organized, Ramblings

——-These by way of the PhotoHunt

The Burnett Clan in CO

Farmer’s Friends

Getting My Kicks

change.I.am (Isn’t that a great blog title?)

Me and the Other Three

Carver’s Sight

Purple4Me

Cats-Goats-Quotes

I’m Sorry What?

A View from Ivry

Yea!! I have more than enough of these now to complete my “bronze” event.

Carnivals I’m participating in:

Works-For-Me-Wednesday and the Photo Hunt. 

Yea!! These two complete my “silver” event.

Hooray! I’ve completed at least one event from each category!  So that means I get one of these! 

Still I’m having so much fun I’ll probably see if I can complete some more events.  You should too.  The deadline isn’t until the 24th.