Category Archives: National Blog Posting Month

Music, National Blog Posting Month

We’ve come to the multimedia updates

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NaBloPoMo 2010Every year it comes to this. National Blog Posting Month drives me to listing the songs my iPod is currently playing. (See: Nov. 18, 2009). I’m just pleased that we made it this far without resorting to it. Anyway, here you are. Ten songs my iPod played this morning.

  1. Dancing Queen, Abba.
  2. California Girls, The Beach Boys.
  3. Spilt Needles, The Shins.
  4. I Saw You in the Wild, Great Lake Swimmers.
  5. Masochist, Ingrid Michaelson
  6. Pig Island, Scott Bakula
  7. Catch that Train, Dan Zanes and Friends
  8. Wolves, Iron & Wine
  9. See the Sky about to Rain, Neil Young
  10. A Man Needs a Maid, Neil Young

Tomorrow: 15 ways to butter a slice of bread! (Not really. I can only think of three.)

Bandwagons, National Blog Posting Month

How writing keeps me sane

NaBloPoMo 2010I wasn’t the most meticulous note-taker in college – that was Rockford – but I did make an effort to take notes. Before a test, I would transcribe all of my handwritten notes. Not so I could more easily refer to them again, but to help the ideas stick in my head. I don’t find myself needing to take notes on lectures very often anymore (although maybe I should take notes on the nightly news to help me stay abreast on current events. Or maybe I could just start watching the nightly news), but I do still write a lot.

Works-for-Me WednesdayCommitting words to paper (or the internet) helps me to remember things more easily, whether they’re Funny Things the Kids Have Said or Things I’d Like to Own or Laundry: How to Do It.

OK, so I don’t really have a How to Do Laundry cheat sheet. I do, however, keep lists of:

Books I’ve Read.
I have a very nice reading journal just for this purpose. If I don’t keep a record of what I’ve read, I am 98 percent sure to forget. And I have been known to reread a book without realizing it until halfway through. Which isn’t a tragedy, of course, but it’s annoying.

Chores
Not just for kids! I have a list of things that need to be done in every room of the house. I try to tackle one room every day, and when I actually accomplish that I flip to the next day. I will readily admit that cleaning toilets aren’t the first thing on my mind every day. Having a list helps me stay on top of things that I know wouldn’t get done if I didn’t have it written down.

Meals We Like
What I said about having a remarkably bad memory? I usually make our meal plan and grocery list on Friday night or Saturday morning — it’s a wild, wild life – and there have been many, many times when I’ve been unable to think of any meal I’ve ever made. Sad but true. This is why I started doing Menu Plan Monday – so I’d have an ongoing record of things we’ve had.

What I’ve Eaten
I haven’t actually done this in awhile, but I need to start again. I first started a food journal when I did Weight Watchers several years ago. I’m certain it would help again in my ongoing (and, for the last few years, fruitless) effort to lose weight. The primary reason I need to start again, though, is so I can figure out what’s causing me to feel so rotten a good bit of the time.

So clearly that stuff isn’t writing in the Hemingway sense of the word. (And neither, if we’re being honest, is any of the other stuff I write.) But beyond making lists and keeping records, writing keeps me connected. I spend the majority of my time with the under-6 set. They have their charms, but it’s nice to have an adult conversation sometimes. And right now, the best place for me to do that on a daily basis is here and through various social media outlets. There are so many people with whom I would not be in contact were it not for the internet and, of course, writing therein. (Three cheers for you, internet!)

Writing helps keep my mind, my house and my body* in order. It doesn’t just work for me; I don’t think I could function without it.

*Well, it helps my body when I make an effort. Let’s go with that.

Flotsam / Jetsam, National Blog Posting Month

In search of a Christmas-shopping elf

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NaBloPoMo 2010It’s been years and years since I went to my dad’s family’s annual Christmas party. I think Rockford and I have been there once since we’ve been married. (And the time I’m remembering might have been before we were married.) My dad has three brothers, and when they and my cousins all show up it’s a big group of people. When I was a kid, it was noisy and chaotic, and there was always a lot of food. Noisy and chaotic has never been My Kind of Thing, even when I was a kid. Even so, it was maybe my favorite day of the year growing up, and I’m very much looking forward to being there this year.

"Presents" by Alice Harold
Alice Harold photo

What with it being a largish family, it would be tough to buy presents for everyone. They used to draw names for gift-giving, but a few years ago they decided to do a Yankee Swap sort of thing instead. Everyone brings a gift, then they draw numbers to determine who picks the first present from the pile. When the next person’s turn comes, they can “steal” the first person’s gift or pick something from the remaining wrapped presents.

The little kids don’t participate — they’ll have something specifically for them under the tree — so I need to come up with two gift ideas for the exchange. I have an idea for one present, but I’m having trouble coming up with a second. And what do I do when I’m having trouble deciding on a thing? I ask the internet. The first gift will be food-related, so I’d like to come up with something else that isn’t.

So, people of the internet, what’s a $25-or-less-present for which you’d gently shove your grandma? (Note: I don’t think it’ll come to that. But that’s just because Grandma won’t be there.)