Delete.....

I deleted someone from my life the other day......to be honest, I deleted several someones. The relationships just weren't working for my anymore.

When I first got into 'blogging', I was on a roll. I went skipping from blog to blog looking for something interesting. I would read the blog of a friend, then the blogs belonging to friends-of-that-friend. I was insatiable. I collected blogs of interest: cooking blogs, quilting blogs, preparedness blogs, crafts-for-kids blogs.....well, you get the idea. I was a blog-a-holic. I even blogged about my budding blog addiction here.

I realized that I had a problem when I had to check my blog list every day. I would get mad at the kids for wanting to get on the computer, wanting dinner, wanting to be driven to school. Selfish children.....couldn't I have a few minutes peace to check my blogs!! I was spending more than 30 minutes of my time every day checking the blogs of people I don't even know!!

Granted, I do feel like some of these people have become my friends. I comment on their blogs, they comment on mine. We're friends on Facebook now, and even e-mail once in a while. But many of the blogs I read, too many, were just time wasters. I realized that with all the millions of blogs out there, no matter how interesting and informative they may be, they were still just time wasters.

So, it was time for them to go. Most of them, I couldn't remember why I started reading them in the first place. They'll never know they've been deleted from my life. There will be no hurt feelings. I've kept the ones that I find most interesting, and the ones where I feel like we've developed a friendship. But the list is much shorter now.

If only it were that easy in the real world. Delete the relationships that don't work (with no hurt feelings!) Free ourselves of obligatory relationships. And only keep the ones that bring us joy.

I feel better having cleaned out my blog list. And maybe now, my kids will get to school on time!

(No.....this is NOT about you....I love you, and hope that we are friends forever!!)

When I Want Your Advice.......

Okay, I'm asking....this is to all my blog buddies (yes, all 3 of you), I have a blog question:

When I am creating a new post, not unlike this one, I get it just the way I want it and then when I post it my spacing messes up. For instance, I might be doing double spaces between my paragraphs, then when I post, it goes to single spacing. No matter what I do I can't fix it how I want it. Any ideas??

To all the rest of you, sorry for the boring post....I'll try to do better next time.

Thanks for your help!!

Help Wanted....

I was reprimanded today for not blogging enough. Who, Me??? I try to blog twice a week, but it's been busy lately. (I was told that I may NOT give out excuses!) So, in an effort to meet the needs of my public (all two of you) I am petitioning for ideas.

I have some friends who have 'theme days' on their blogs. One friend does 'missionary monday', where she gives updates on her boy who recently left for his mission. I love it, the only problem is, I don't currently have a child serving a mission. This same friend does 'Shoesday' (on Tuesday), but I only have 3 pairs of shoes, so that won't work. There's 'Fashion Friday', but since blue jeans and t-shirts make up 90% of my wardrobe it really wouldn't be that interesting.

Another friend does 'weekly updates' at the end of every week to kind of give an overview of how her week went. I love these, too. All of these are fabulous ideas, but the only one that might work for me would be the weekly update.

So, for those of you who would like me to update more frequently, help me out! Give me some ideas! Maybe 'Manic Mondays'??, 'Weally wild Wednesdays'??, or how about 'Frantic Fridays'? If you want me to post more often, I think it's only fair that you give me some input. So, how about it? What have you got? All ideas will be considered (though I reserve the right to edit content. Karl has a wild side!)

Confessions of a Lurker.....

I've addressed in past posts my current addiction to blogs. Well, I'm here today to 'come out of the closet' (so to speak!) I am a blog lurker. There...I've said it. I'm no longer content to enjoy/view just the blogs of people that I actually know. No, now I've branched out to the blogs of complete strangers! Some of them I come by through the blogs of people that I do know, and others I just 'come across' in my desperate search to feed my addiction. I bring this up in an attempt to drag others down to my pitiful level by sharing these interesting blogs. My hope is that you will become as pitiful as I, because you know what they say: Misery loves company! Actually, I'm not miserable, I'm quite content in my blog addiction. I mean, it could be worse. I could be addicted to soap operas, or celebrity gossip, or trashy magazines, or any number of terrible vices. Comparatively speaking, my addiction is pretty tame. (And in case my Bishop ever reads this: "Hi, Bishop, you realize that I'm just kidding about the whole 'addiction' thing, right?? I don't really HAVE to read blogs, I just enjoy it. I can quit anytime I want, really."

So here are some of my current 'lurking sites': one of my favorites is this one . This woman is absolutely hilarious, posts often enough to feed my addiction, and I guess she's not a perfect stranger, because, as they say on Facebook, we have at least 1 friend in common! From her blog, I've now started going to this one. This is my newest 'lurk' spot. I've only just discovered it, but so far, I'm really enjoying it. One that I've been watching for a while is this one. A stay at home dad of 22 month old triplets. I don't know how he finds time to post, but he does a great job.

So, there you have it. I'm not sure what the next step is the the blogaholic 12 step program, but I've competed step 1...I've confessed to my addiction. So to all of you who share this addiction...keep reading, and have fun! It could be so much worse!

To all my friends in the 'blogosphere'......

A message to all my blog friends, those who read my blog and those whose blogs I read:

You need to blog more often!

And if you're not blogging yet, get blogging!

I mentioned before that I have an addiction to BLOGS. I write them, I read them, I simply can't get enough of them. The problem is, I don't have enough. So either more people need to start blogs for me to read, or those whose blogs I read need to write more often. Twice a week is a good start. Three or Four is better. And if you could get together and alternate who updates when, then I could have something new to read every day!! You people are leaving me with entirely too much time with nothing to do but laundry, dishes, sweep, mop, make beds, pick up after kids, and other mundane responsibilities. And if you're not going to make a lunch date with me and get me out of the house, then I need more blogs to read. (Yes, I realize you are enabling me, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!) So "Doctor Anonymous" either needs to start up his 'Blogaholics Anonymous' group again, or you people need to get on the ball, ignore your children and your chores, and start blogging!

Either one works for me : )

Family Blog????

So I had this idea sometime in the middle of the night, and like most ideas that come to me when I'm half asleep, I'm not sure yet if it's a great idea, or a ridiculous, inconceivable one. So, I decided that I would just 'blog' it, and see what kind of a response I get. (this could also be either a brilliant idea or a really bad idea depending on the responses!)

So, here goes....we all love to read blogs. I know I do. In fact, I may have an addiction. I may need to join some therapy group (Bloggers anonymous??) I read several blogs a day (I know....get a life!) and get a little miffed when one that I am particularly interested in hasn't updated for a while. I especially enjoy reading 'family' blogs. I love to read Mary's blog, for example, even though we live in the same house, her blog gives me new insight's into her ideas and convictions. I love to read Marcie's blog, because I get to feel a little more like we're 'keeping in touch', and I get to see her awesome quilts and get some ideas for projects that I would like to do 'someday'. I love to read Kati's blog (sorry, no link) but she hasn't updated since November!! (hint, hint!) And lately, I have been enjoying Polly's blog. I feel like I have gotten to know her family a little better, and have loved all the pics that she posts. So....on to the idea. Being that it's hard to blog often enough to keep everyone happy, and being that we really do want to keep in touch, but we're busy, busy, busy, I propose a Patch Family Blog. One that we could all post to, add pics to, have a list of birthdays, whatever. That way, we could keep in touch without having to blog all the time. There would be plenty to read, we could still keep our own personal blogs, but we would be able to bond more. So, good idea? Bad idea? Yes, I would participate! No, you'll never catch me blogging!! Please let me know what you think. I think it would be fun. I will set it up (hopefully Becky would help since she's SO much better at this than I am!) I just need to know what everyone thinks. Last one in is a rotten egg!!!

confused??

This blogging stuff is confusing. I'm trying to figure out which layout I want, but the one I really wanted is too narrow to have stuff on the side-bar, so I had to pick a different one. Then I had to figure out how to download the music player, (and here I have to say, I am NOT computer savvy!) and that took forever. But I think I like the results. If not, I'll just keep playing with it until I do. (Or, I'll give up and leave blogging to the 'younger' generation!) Just typing that made me feel old! Either way, for those of you who may bother to read this.....be patient with me. I may figure this out yet!