My new reads

I've updated my "blogroll" as I like to do from time to time, and as I also like to do, here's a post highlighting some of my new additions.

I'm sure I'm the last in the bloggy world to be reading Kelly's Korner, but in my defense, I've been reading her since she had Baby Harper back in January. It's a fun blog and she seems to be a sweet Southern girl. She also has a "bow head" baby, which I enjoy. I secretly study Harper's bows and outfits when she posts new pictures. Kelly also has an amazing heart for God and for women who are struggling with infertility, have a sick child or are wanting to be married but haven't found the right guy. She also keeps a prayer blog for those that send her prayer requests.

I ran across The Chronicles of Wendy several weeks ago while looking up some stuff about the Miracle Blanket. She was one of 30 moms participating in a contest for MB, and I found her blog then. Coincedentally, she's got a little boy born the day after Evie, so I love reading about what's going on with them. She's also very real about life and she's hilarious. I don't know how many people read her blog regularly, but it should be many many more.

Finally, my dearest and oldest friend has started a blog, Memories and Meanderings. If I were 15, I'd say she's my BFF, but I'm not, so I'll just say she's pretty awesome (although, in a few more years, I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the word "awesome" either). She's got 2 precious little girls very close in age to Marc-Adam and Evie that she blogs about. I love being able to keep up with their goings-on this way since I can't be part of their daily life due to our geographical distance. My friend's also in her last year of seminary and shares a bit of her wisdom in that area....which is good, because I'm sure she's tired of me e-mailing her or calling her and saying, "What do you think about this???" I'm glad we have the opportunity to keep up with each other's blogs, because the e-mails and phone calls never seem like enough. Anyway, she's new to the whole blogging thing, so go on over and show her some love.

Do you have any blogs that I should be reading, but don't have listed in my sidebar?

Well, that was fun!!

Thanks, all, for turning out yesterday and letting me know you are here. Admittedly, I'm feeling a tiny bit embarrassed now. But, it was so much fun to "see" everyone, check out some new blogs, and hear why you're here. There were a few surprises, too. People I know in real life that read my blog (there are very few of those, outside of my family) and people that I haven't really "talked" to in several years. It truly made my day to read all the comments and I'm SO glad you're here.

By my last count, there were 14 comments. Which makes much more sense considering my site meter says I average about 25 hits a day. When I only get 2 or 3 comments on average on a regular basis, I was wondering what was going on.

This has also opened my eyes a little bit, because when I blog, I usually do it with a few people in mind--the few people, mostly family, who I know read my blog (and even some of those are lurkers). Now I know that I'm "writing" for a larger, more general audience. I'm not sure if that realization will change my blogging style (probably not), but it'll probably make me more conscious of what I put "out there". It's not that I want to be more private now that I know who's reading my blog, it's just that I realized that I really have no idea who's reading my blog from day-to-day and for what reasons. And I also will probably try to be more conscious of myself and will make more of an effort to not sound like an idiot. Even though most days lately, I've had a hard time putting words together to form sentences.

So, I know you aren't really here reading this right now to read my reflections on what Delurking Day meant for me. You're ready for a prize! And your odds were pretty good, given that there were "only" 14 comments. I did a very official drawing, wrote the number of comments on pieces of paper, put 'em in a bowl, and let Stephen draw one. If you've been reading here long enough or know me in real life, you should know that you can totally trust me with this process and know that I didn't cheat or give an unfair advantage to anyone. Dishonesty is not the way we roll at "Imperfections".

Without further ado, the winner is comment #14! Sara! Sara and I "knew" each other a few years back from the forums of a baby website that was my lifeline after Stephen was born. Her oldest child and Stephen are very close in age (same month, Sara?) and I had NO IDEA she was reading here! YAY! Sara e-mail me at alligirl1104 at gmail dot com for your address and preference for your gift card!

For everyone else, when Stephen drew the number, I realized that I really wanted to give every single one of you a prize. But if I decided to do that, I would also have to decide which of our family members doesn't get to eat next week. So. I'm not going to do that. I'm sure that you agree that every member of our family should eat. But I want you to know that I'm happy you're here, and hope from now on, you feel comfortable enough to comment once in a while or to just pop in and say "hi". Or not. No pressure. Comment (or not) as you feel comfortable.

Delurk, you lurkers!! There's something in it for you!

So I just found out from Mommy Daisy that today is National Delurking Day! I was wondering when it is and so I'm excited that it's today.

Sooooo.....are you a lurker? Do you read and run? Do I have no idea that you even read my blog?? Well! Now I want to know! I'd love to see who all reads my blog, and I know there are some mysteries out there because I check my sitemeter.

If you read here and never (or rarely) comment, come out today, just this once and leave me a comment to let me know you're here. In fact, I think I'm going to make it interesting by offering a prize! My regular readers and commenters are welcome to join in, too.

Leave me a comment by 8AM CST tomorrow morning, and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a $10 gift card of your choice (assuming that it's a place that we have here in South Texas). One comment/entry per person.

Good luck, and I can't wait to "see" you!

Happy New Year

Wow, I didn't realize it had been several days since I last blogged...this week got away from me.

So, goodbye to 2008. Unlike many, 2008 was actually a pretty great year for us. There were a few things that didn't go our way or like we had planned, but there were many many things that were just plain good. Not "over the top, never gonna happen again" good things, but life in 2008 was a bit more...comfortable. Maybe it's my age and maturity, but I found myself content in 2008. We had a lot of great times, came through a lot and most importantly, found ourselves as a family of almost 6. But above that, I've somehow stumbled upon a peace that I've never experienced before.

I'm really looking forward to 2009. Even if nothing "over the top" great happens this year (besides actually becoming a family of 6), I hope I can continue being content in each and every day. I hope I can be a blessing to my family that they may be content in their days. And I hope this peace lingers, and that I can pass it on.

In 2009, may you find joy in the little things, love in the quiet moments, and peace that you didn't have before.

Soooo...? How's it going??

Merry Christmas everyone! I know that these days life can be very busy, but I've noticed that many of my favorite bloggers aren't around much. I'm really interested in how the holiday plans are going and what your plans are for the next two days (or a week if you're the New Year's kinda partier). I'm used to getting little glimpses into your daily lives and not knowing how things are going during the holidays is making me miss you.

So. Leave a comment on my blog to let me know how your holidays are shaping up or you know, BLOG about it and leave your link in the comment section. ;)

Love all around.

Free chocolate? I'm there.

Jana's giving away chocolate, y'all. Free chocolate. Free homemade chocolate. Need I say more? Go put your name in the hat!!

I'm gonna buy me a lottery ticket!

OK, so not really, since we don't play the lottery, but seriously, I've won two bloggy giveaways in two days!! I won a Yoplait Kids giveaway from Nicole @ As Many as We're Given and a preschool Spanish DVD from Mommy Daisy. I'm so excited! I never win anything. Actually, I won something once....when Sweet Hubby and I were engaged, we won a 4day/3 night stay at a hotel in Hawaii from a bridal show. But we couldn't afford the plane tickets.

I'm going to go see what other giveaways are going on now!! :)

Just so you know

I'm at my parents right now. I'm going home today, but it looks like Ike is headed straight for us. Our little town so far from the coast could be getting hurricane force winds. We're in the process of deciding now what we're going to do--stay or leave. Whatever we do, we've already unhooked our CPU at home, so I won't be around for a few days, so I'm posting now to let you know what's going on so you don't worry or wonder where I am while this thing is hitting. I'll get back to the blog as soon as I can.

Love all around.

So happy!

A while back (oh a year or so ago, I guess) I was so disappointed when one of my favorite homeschool blogs "shut down". The author needed to do other things, I guess. I don't remember if she ever said why she was shutting it down. But then a few days ago, I happened to stumble back again and she's writing again!! YAY!

In addition to writing about homeschooling issues, she also writes a lot about politics (some, including me, would argue that homeschool issues and politics go hand in hand). And the lady knows her stuff. Here are a few of her articles that I think are can't miss when it comes to the upcoming election. I hope you find them interesting and informative, too:


Above My Pay Grade?
Obama and Infanticide
Obama on Education Reform
The Audacity of Home
The Politics of School Choice
Worth a Second Look?

That's just a few. There's still more. I love her blog!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Well, I'm so so pleased to let you know that my cousin and her husband were able to bring baby Alex home yesterday. We are all so relieved that he's better and finally where he belongs...home with his wonderful family! Thanks to all of you who kept Alex and his family in your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate it and I know his mama and daddy do, too.

New friends

I updated my blogroll to more accurately reflect where I'm spending my online time. Most of the old favorites are still there (aside from my cousins who went private), but there are some new favorites there as well. I think a few of them I started reading around the time that I last updated the list, but didn't want to commit yet to adding them to my sidebar. But I've spent some time getting to know and love them. I think you might, too.

You might remember my friend Chewymama. Well now Chewymama has a personal blog where she blogs about her family happenings (including the recent birth of baby Abram!! YAY!).

Jana blogs at Dress-Up and Diaper Changes about life with 3 young kids (I can relate!). We seem to have a lot in common and I love reading her perspective about being a mom and what goes on in her life.

I think a lot of you read Mommy Daisy already. I was late to board that train for some reason. She's a fun read and blogs about her life and happenings with her too cute son!

Blissfully Domestic and Marriage Hacks are new, too. Definitely interesting reads and both give you things to think about regarding your roles as homemaker and wife (assuming you are on one or both of those).

I also updated the link for Total Mom Haircut. I had no idea how terribly outdated it was. Sorry Beth!

I hope you enjoy reading these new additions!

Can you help?

My bloggy friend Kate is in need of some help. If you or anyone you know has had experience with depression/biploar disorder, taking medications for them and being pregnant or trying to conceive while on meds, hop over to her blog and let her know your experience. She could really use some real-life advice/encouragement. THANKS!

This girl deserves it!

My cousin Katie is pregnant with #4 and her sweet sister has nominated her for a virtual baby shower. The winner gets an amazing amount of really cool, really nice new baby stuff. Now a girl with 4 kids deserves to get the really cool, really nice baby stuff. And you can help her!! Click here and go vote! It's super easy so it won't take but a few seconds of your time. You get one vote per computer, so use any computer you have. Why are you still here? What are you waiting for? Let's help Katie win it!

Thanks

Thanks for all your kind words from this post. It really did help me feel better. Sometimes it's better just to know I'm not alone. Not that I want anyone else to feel this way, but it's comforting to know it's normal that I feel this way and it's not just because I'm crazy or because I really am inadequate. The feeling of isolation is the worst sometimes for me, so it helps that even though I still feel isolated, I'm not really alone.

It seems like I've been running on all cylinders lately. I used to go to bed at 9pm or so and get up at 7 or 8am. Recently, I'm lucky to get to sleep by 11pm or midnight. That was fine for a few days, but after a couple weeks, I really started to feel it. And it kinda feels like I'm on a hamster wheel...running and running till I'm out of breath and need some water only to look behind me and see that I've gotten nowhere--the house is still a mess, the kids are still fighting and Sweet Hubby's on his way home.

Yesterday afternoon, I had folded laundry, run to the store with the kids, read with the kids and then started dinner. I had spent a couple hours in the kitchen preparing dinner and getting ready for today. By the time dinner was finally done (and it was SO good!), I realized it was just about bedtime, so I gave the kids their sleepytime tea, cleaned up dinner quickly, got them dressed in jammies and off to bed (with an extra chapter in the book I'm reading with them and an extra snuggle since Daddy wasn't home). As soon as I was done with them, I sat down with the neighbor girl for an hour and a half to help her with her math. I was feeling good about everything I had gotten done, but I was feeling whipped. Sweet Hubby then comes home and I remember that I forgot to take his movie back to the Red Box...he wasn't happy. He then lets me know that I left his favorite jammie pants in the washing machine. I wanted to yell at him so badly, but I just calmly apologized and went back to focusing on helping the neighbor girl (I really should give her a better name than that) convert millimeters to meters. That's all I could do at the time.

So I'm trying to take it one task (or sometimes one second) at a time. I'm not sure if this is all because of my stage in life and my circumstances (which means it may get better at some point) or if it's me. I suppose it could be both.

Anyway, thanks again. I love my bloggy circle! Bloggy hugs all around.