Unintentional Break

I’ve been wordless… almost as if I had taken a break from blogging – but it wasn’t conscious.  I was overwhelmed by all the love and support I received after this post – and it reminded me why I love this community.  But, I didn’t feel like following it up with another negative post – and then days slipped by, and now, here we are over two weeks later.   I’ve been around, trying to keep caught up with my reading and commenting, though how well I’m doing with that might be evidenced by the fact that my G-Reader is boasting 123 unread entries. 

And, then I got sick.  Which was just lovely, since this week, yesterday to be precise, was our 3-year wedding anniversary.  Usually are anniversaries follow a particular pattern: we go away for the weekend before our anniversary, exchange presents somewhere along there, exchange cards on our anniversary, and go to dinner on our actual anniversary.  This year, we did none of those.  We decided to save our going away till the summer.  We exchanged presents over a month ago.  And, yesterday, no dinner out because I’m sick with a chest infection.  We didn’t even give each other cards – I haven’t even written mine.  As I whined last night, we’re not doing our anniversary ‘right’ this year.  But, we’re going out for dinner tonight because poor AMP has been dying for us to go out.  So, that shall be amazing and wonderful.  :)

And, now, I’m off to get my 123 unread entries down to 0… I may be back later.

Buying time

Wouldn’t that be great?  Go to the grocery store and pick up some extra time, sold in half-hour and hour increments.  You could pick up that extra hour to go to the gym, or a half-hour in the bath, or maybe, a few hours to escape into a book…

But, life doesn’t work that way. 

We all have the same 24 hours in a day… And everyday we either spend them wisely, or waste them.  Sometimes it’s unavoidable.. Other times the choices are up to us.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I spend my time.  Do I spend it wisely?

To be honest, probably not.  Like now… I could be cleaning.  I could be putting another load of laundry in.  I could be putting away the groceries from earlier.  I could be planning the Superbowl party that is only a week away.  But I’m not doing any of those things, am I?

I’m sitting on the couch, taking advantage of AMP’s work computer to blog and read blogs.  And generally being unproductive.

But, who is to say that this is unwise use of time? 

For me blogging is therapy.  It’s enjoyable.  It’s almost as good as reading a book.  So, if I enjoy it that much, then spending time doing it isn’t wasteful.  Right?  That’s what I’m choosing to believe.

Nevertheless if I’m going to accomplish any of my goals, I need to have a schedule.  I need to spend my time more efficiently.. going to the gym in the morning, instead of sleeping in…cleaning instead of checking Facebook for the umpteenth time.  And, maybe when I do that, I’ll find that I have more time for the fun stuff — like blogging and learning to Twitter properly, and reading all the awesome blogs that are sitting in my Google Reader each day waiting for me…

my phone is too dumb

Image via CrunchBase

I signed up for Twitter…
I know, I know… I clearly didn’t need much convincing – plus I was incredibly curious.  I haven’t quite figured out what I’m doing but MSWasteland at Snuggle Wasteland informed me that A Kludgy Mom has a free e-book about twittering on her blog, so I should probably go read that. 

But, in case you want to follow me, my Twitter account is UndomesticMe.  Or you can just click through my sidebar.

I really should be cleaning right now, or taking a shower, or going to Ikea like I said I was, but I’m feeling unmotivated.  I really just want to sit here and read blogs, and figure out how to Twitter, and be generally lazy.

I think I need a smartphone, haha.  I think it would make all this blogging, twittering, facebooking a whole of a hell lot easier – but then maybe it saves me from becoming completely addicted?  Who knows.  In my area data plans are ridiculous, which is what has been keeping me from getting a smartphone, but I really, really want one. 

Anyways, I really should get going – especially since company is showing up tonight.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. :)

  

 

media-ing

Image via CrunchBase

I haven’t jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.  In reality, the only social media vices I have are: my personal Facebook account, and well, this blog. 

I spent a lot of time fighting the Facebook thing.  And, then one day I just gave in.  It seemed like a good way to keep in touch with friends and relatives far away – and then a good way to catch up with high school, even elementary school friends – and then a good way to stalk people’s lives and always know what’s going on. 

And, then there was blogging.  I used to have a Windows Live Space, back when I was a teenager.  And, then I started another blog a few years ago, which a few friends had access to.  Then, I decided on anonymity and ditched that blog and started The Undomestic Housewife.  

And, that’s not why I started this… I started this to have an outlet.  And, somewhere along the way I was blessed with finding a few friends – people who care enough to read my ramblings, and to post a comment, a thought of encouragement.  I love that I have a place where I can be me – freely, without censoring.  

And, last night, as I was rattling on to AMP about buttons and stats and ads and popularity and comments – I realized, I may be getting addicted to this blog. 

I love the chance of writing my thoughts… but I’ve begun to spend a little more time each day obsessing about stats, my lack of brilliant post ideas, genius post titles, my hunger for popularity and recognition… 

And, yes, it would be pretty cool to be as popular as Mama Kat or Kris @ Pretty All True… but, that’s not why I started this… And I need to remember that when I start obsessing about whether I should start a Twitter account to attract more visitors to my blog…

Inspired by prompt no. 5 at Mama Kat’s – How has social media changed you?

P.s. About the Twitter thing – anyone have any opinions on whether its worth me trying…?

Buttoned up!

Wanting to be like all the cool kids bloggers, I decided I’d attempt to make my own button.

As you can see, it’s pretty simple, seeing as I have no creative skills to create my own original drawings, and well, copyright infringment worries kept me from using any pretty images I liked from off the web.  But, I kind of like the end result, and I can always change and edit it later on if I grow bored of it.

So, after creating my button, I realized I had no idea how to get the code for it – which led me to googling “how to make a blog button in wordpress”, which led me to this lovely fellow blogger’s post. 

She linked me to this awesome site, which is where I got the code for my button – which should be showing in the sidebar now.  I’m not sure how to check if it works, but if anyone has any problems with it please let me now!  

And, now I’m off to try to figure out how to grab buttons from some of my favorite bloggers.. :)

Rule no. 1

I have a rule – no ‘real life’ people are allowed to read my blog.  That includes my family, friends and acquaintances.  In fact, if anyone accuses me of being ‘The Undomestic Housewife’ I’ll deny it vehemently.  The only person who knows about this blog (hopefully) is my husband AMP.  And, I don’t think he reads it…. which, when I think about it, is probably for the best. 

There are many reasons for this ‘secrecy’.  One is that I love the anonymity of blogging, of being able to express myself freely without fear of hurting someone’s feelings or of recriminations.   I love that I can whine and rant, and then forget about it – in a way that’s impossible to do when you’re with real life people.

I’ve pondered this question: Would my blog be the same if it was open for viewing to all my friends and family?  The answer is unequivocably, no.  Because most of what I spill here is things I wouldn’t tell them – for fear of hurting feelings, or having awkward situations.  Could you imagine how awkward it would be for my sister-in-law to read about my sex life with her brother?!?!  Not that I talk about those sort of things, but this way I have that option, haha.

And that, my dear readers, is why I won’t invite my mother (or anyone else I see face-to-face) to read my blog.

:)

Inspired by prompt no. 3 at Mama Kat‘s..

And then I blogged…

Image from Wikipedia

I’ve always loved to write.  My adolescence can be tracked through various poems and pieces and half-finished short stories.  It has always been my escape.  Give me a book or a notepad and pencil and I’m the happiest girl alive. 

But, I never really considered blogging.  I posted some pieces I wrote online, but I didn’t have a space where I would go and write on a regular basis.  It seemed too intimate, and I wasn’t ready for the world to discover the real me.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine started a blog and she convinced me to start one too.  It’s a testament to what was going on in my life at the time – my frustration with moving, etc.  But I still felt restricted.  I had a few readers, real-life friends, and I wasn’t ready to spill all my secrets.  They know me, yes, but I don’t feel we are close enough for them to see the inner workings of my mind and the musings of my heart.  In trying to keep things casual, I found it difficult to find new ideas for posts…

After watching Julie & Julia, I decided to start a new blog, one that chronicled my journey to domestication… The Undomestic Housewife was my own private journal, where I was free to be me, with no readers…

Which soon got depressing.  But, I didn’t know how to change it, so it went on and on for about 7 months…

And then I came across Writing Workshop… First I stumbled into Sleep is for the Weak’s… which led me to Mama Kat’s Losing It, and I was hooked.  Every week new prompts?  The option to link up and have others read my work? Anonymous others, who don’t live near me, who don’t have a clue who I am?  It seemed too good to be true.

And that’s when The Undomestic Housewife really came to life.  That’s when it was transformed from a sad little blog to one with actual readers, and even a few subscribers. 

This month, on the 29^th is The Undomestic Housewife’s one-year anniversary.  In this time I’ve written 70 posts, most of which are more honest than anything I’ve ever written.  It has helped me to work through my grief after the miscarriage, to problem solve, to express myself honestly and not fearing judgment.  And it has helped me rediscover my love of writing, the relief I get when words spill on the page and stop jumbling up in my head.

When I first started, I just wanted a space to be me.  Now, I feel like I’ve joined a world of people who understand me, of mommy bloggers who don’t judge me or my opinions just because I’m not a mom.  I’ve met other bloggers, who though only friends in blog world, I feel for… I’ve cried for them when they are having tough times, and rejoiced for them when they are being blessed.

I may have started solo, but I’ feel like I’ve joined a community, one I appreciate exceedingly.  It’s not about the number of people who stop by my blog; it’s about the people who take a moment and leave a comment, who show me I’m not alone in my feelings… That is why I blog.