What's that chirping sound?

As I make my way toward this whole working thing, I'm still trying to figure out how this blog will fit into that new life of mine, or how that new life of mine will fit into my blog. My silence about the new gig -- which does not start until late August -- is definitely intentional.

I have privacy issues to consider -- both my family's as well as myself since it's a more public job. I'm used to public jobs, but I haven't had one in a while. Not that any of you would sabotage my career! I'm thinking more on a local level.

So, one of my thoughts is to move to the Twitter medium. I've been practicing and I'd like you to join me. I will be focused a lot on the mental anguish over everything from picking out something to wear to work (always dreadful) to leaving the girls at the door of day care and crying about it.

I'll still blog, of course, but it will not be as frequently, I'm sure.

If you haven't checked out Twitter, it's the new best thing and it's growing on me. But, I need followers or I feel like I'm talking to myself out there.

Before you get on your soap box, consider these facts: Twitter takes five minutes tops to update, less time than that to read what your favorite mom bloggers or friends are talking about and makes responding and commenting easier than ever. There are some downsides as well but you'll figure those out for yourselves.

So, sign up and start following my random thoughts of the day here.

Better yet, start tweeting yourself and let me know so I can follow you, too.

EDITED TO ADD: If you need a quick lesson in brevity in your writing, Twitter is the bomb for that. It teaches you to say volumes in just 140 characters -- that includes spaces, punctuation and words, of course. It's a great writer's lesson every time you Tweet.


Thank you for visiting today.

Did you like this blog post? Please consider subscribing here:

Subscribe in a reader

Kick starting the week with comedy

I'm working on another project and I need some help and inspiration. One regret I have about my first year as a mother was not starting this blog sooner. Truly, it is the most substantial mistake I made not for any other reason than I wish I had something to go back to and read about what I was thinking or feeling. I want to read about how happy I was at least ONCE.

Instead, I have a lot of memories about how hard it was, about how tired I was, and, unfortunately, how miserable and lonely I was without any extra hands to juggle it all.

So, I need you to cheer me up. I'd like those of you who had a blog when your baby was an infant -- or invite your blog roll to participate -- to share a link of a post you wrote that shared something meaningful about that first year whether it be funny, sad or blissfully happy. Leave a comment and link in the comments to either your current post or a previous post and I'll link to you in a post later this week or next week.

Oh, and for those of you who hadn't started your blog then, do you wish you did? And, if so, what do you wish you could go back and read about right now?

Or, have you written about something you wish you hadn't? Any mistakes learned along the way when writing about the kiddos?

Happy Monday!


Thank you for visiting today.

Did you like this blog post? Please consider subscribing here:

Subscribe in a reader

I'm just a mom ... 200th post!

Oddly enough, my 200th post, which is this one right here, coincides almost perfectly with the fact that I've been a stay-at-home Mama for one year.

Odd because a year ago, I didn't have a blog. A year ago I was mentoring teen mothers while trying to stay afloat as a new mother myself.

A year ago, I didn't know anything about HTML, blogging or social networking and marketing.

One might even say that a year ago -- which was two years after I quit full-time journalism -- I was a little behind the times, technologically speaking, anyway. If it couldn't be done in a Word document, I wasn't doing it.

My life is different because of blogging.

In the past year, I went from writing one blog post a month to one post or more a day. I've mastered the blogosphere enough to build an audience without, I feel, compromising my beliefs as a writer and a mother.

A year ago, I didn't know how to find free gadgets to upload onto a Web page let alone upload a site meter to track where my blog readers live and how much time they spend on my site.

Yet, I've learned all of this as a stay-at-home Mama. I didn't learn it while working 12-hour days covering and writing about homicides, government misuse of power or institutional racism. I didn't learn it while working two years as a program director at a non-profit.

No, I learned it by just being a mom.

Just a mom.

Now, I write this blog, and another one or two, for fun, as well as a third that actually brings a little grocery money into the house. And, the daily writing practice that it's become has helped me become a disciplined freelance writer for various publications, which bring in even more grocery money.

Let's face it: I'm running to the computer to see what people are talking about today, not because I want to write that business article. But, while I'm there ...

Not just that.

I've found purpose in what some mothers might consider the doldrums of motherhood. I can slip into my chair and write about my day -- good or bad, sad or happy, scary or peaceful, and find purpose to really pay attention (Zen) to the happenings in my day.

It helps me get up in the morning. It keeps me up way too late at night. It brings smiles to my face on days I might not have much else to smile about.

Plus, my blog is a place I can brag about my beautiful twin daughters. And since it's hard to do that in my real life, I love that I can show them off all over the world.

I couldn't be more thankful for discovering the blogosphere, and realizing that even I -- who is just a mom -- could be a part of it.

How about you? Has blogging changed your life?




Thank you for visiting today.

Did you like this blog post? Please consider subscribing here:

Subscribe in a reader