I'm Stiff But Alive

Thanks for staying with me although I haven't been much of a blogging companion. It's scary when after you stop blogging for awhile you almost forget you ever had a blog in the first place. This post is just so I don't lose touch with my inner blogging self. But sadly, I really have nothing to write about. Nothing interesting besides the everyday mundane things that a woman like me does - cook, do the laundry, play with the kids, scream at them a little, keep the hubs happy, nag at him a little and try not to lose my mind.

*SIGH*

Don't you feel a little sad after reading that? I didn't know even a written *sigh* in capital letters can be such a stress reliever.

Anyone interested in my stiff neck? No? I'm going to write about it anyway. I had such a bad stiff neck yesterday that I was turning my body like C-3PO the entire day. I think I should call it stiffness of the neck+shoulder+back. It was comical and I actually wished there was someone around to film me so that when I needed a good laugh I could watch my C-3PO self in stiff action. But sadly I only had a 2.5 year old little human by my side who knows nuts about cinematography.

Can you imagine having to drive with a stiff neck+shoulder+back? Let me just tell you, it was agonising at the cross junctions. Anyway, I'm glad that's over, not without the help of a pill of course. I'm wondering now, if this stiff neck+shoulder+back could be the result of my not blogging for so long. Hmm...... Okay, okay so I'm getting old and lacking exercise. Who isn't?!

Enough about my stiff neck+shoulder+back already. I have something to look forward to in a day's time. Something to chase the stiffness away I hope - I'm going on a CRUISE!! Yesiree! My long awaited holiday! Now isn't that something to be happy about?! I just hope they have enough lifeboats.

Anyways, if you're still reading, thank you so much for still stopping by and leaving me comments.

Best regards to all.

Taking A Step Back

It's been a week over since I wrote my last post. This blogging break has been wonderful to say the least. I have not unplugged like this since I started blogging and it feels really liberating.

And now for some shocking news.

I have made the decision to discontinue Picnesday as a linky and Tipsy Friends as a guest series. Okay, not that shocking I know, but it's still news. I blame it on the mandarin oranges,...a long break and too much time to think. I will now write only when I feel really compelled to or have something significantly nonsensical to tell you all about. I apologise for any pain caused by these changes. (let me fantasize will ya?)

Do not despair, I'll still be around for Picnesday once in a while and have a post out here and there whenever I need a little blog therapy. But I feel I can't commit to doing linkies on a regular basis anymore. I feel that it wouldn't be fair to have my friends link up with me every week when I can't commit time to doing theirs. I'm discontinuing Tipsy Friends for the same reason that it wouldn't be fair to have friends guest post here when I won't be able to reciprocate. I have a guest post over at a Canadian friend's place this Friday and I imagine that it would be my first and last guest post for the year. Of course, if you feel you'd like to be a featured Tipsy Friend, do drop me an e-mail - I welcome voluntary guest posts.

To my dear bloggy friends, I'm sorry that I won't be able to visit and comment on your blogs or link up to your memes as often as I would like to now. I'll still be lurking behind the scenes of my Google reader though and will occasionally make an appearance or two.

Mandarin oranges aside, I've made this decision to give more time to my family and get my life more organised. I want to thank YOU, my friends and family, for coming by here to read and leave me your comments. Words cannot describe how much I appreciate that.

I know some of my readers may wonder what I actually do as a blogger. Blogging is not just about writing. For me, it has been a lot about building a community of like-minded blogging friends. It has been about interacting with them through replying comments on a post I have written. It has been about visiting bloghomes of my friends to say hi and to tell them how much I appreciate what they have written. It has been about linking up with memes to make writing fun. It has been about visiting other linkers to share each other's creative writing. It has been about blogsocialising over Twitter and Facebook. It has been for me a lot of time invested into it.

It has been rather overwhelming lately.

I feel I can't keep up anymore. I'm constantly feeling guilty for not visiting or commenting, replying or linking up. And I haven't been able to balance all that and still have quality time for my family. Therefore, I'm taking a step back, friends. I'm even feeling guilty right now for making that decision. I am so sorry and I thank you so very much for the support you've given me and my blogging.

This is starting to sound like I'm quitting blogging. No, I'm not quitting just yet but I'm slowing down...before I lose my mind. What an irony - I started blogging to keep myself sane and now it's started to drive me insane.

The First 2 Months

So, the girls over at... a lot of places (I'm just going to go with Jen here. You'll meet the other fabulous 7 at her place) are hosting a linky to wrap up a whole year of your blogging journey. I thought I'd give it a go to reminisce on how I first started and how it's turned out for me in my first year of blogging.

*******

Once upon a time, there lived a mom of 2, who knew nuts about blogging....

Really?! You have a BLOG?! Oh WOW! 

My first reaction when told by my hubby's cousin that she has a blog. That conversation sparked an interest in me to have my own blog - to have something to call my own; an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. Something to keep me out of the mental asylum.

Okay this can't be too hard to do. Go to Blogger (I thought all bloggers blogged on Blogger) and sign up for an account. You have nothing to lose and it's absolutely FREE!


So began my blogging journey on 17 February 2011.

What should I call my blog? What shall I blog about? Who will read my blog? Oh yeah, me.


And for the first time I gave birth to something without the aid of the epidural - my first post: What's in a party pack?. My son was about to celebrate his 4th birthday and I was busy doing up his party packs at that time.

After that, I just went on to blog about my kids...

What I made as a gift for my son's 4th birthday,
What I teach my kids,
How they drove me crazy,
What I cook for the family.

I even wrote the shortest post EVER! Someone ought to give me an award for this. Yes, The Shortest Post Award please. Thank you.

Then, after blogging for 42 days and minding my own business.....it finally HAPPENED!

Yippee-Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah!! I got my first ever comment!! And, I didn't just get one comment! I got 3!!!

Here's the coveted post : I'm So New To Blogging That...
You can't see the comments there now because of Intense Debate, so I'm going to share the comments here:

"haha, your post made me laugh. I am new to blogging too, there is so much to know! I'll have to check out blogging for dummies. I think that might really help me! I look forward to reading more and invite you to follow along with me too." by momsaid

"Hi, found your blog searching google to see if other folks were starting up with blogging too. I did blogger a long time ago, but just getting going again. This post brought quite a smile to my face as it reminded me very much of the first few days way back, when I signed up with blogger the first time. Cheers, and happy blogging!" by cbeck

"Stick with it. You'll be amazed at where a good blog can take you on the web. And in life. :)" by Wendy Peirsal

So, they might have been spam (I'm pretty definite the first one's not) but who cares - they certainly made my whole month! I think only another blogger would understand the thrill and excitement of getting your first ever comment.

And so began a wonderful addictive love for blogging, writing and meeting virtual friends for this mom of 2 who knew nuts about blogging.

Want to play along? 

Link up with these lovely ladies! 

Linky Love

It's a public holiday today and for the next few days in Malaysia as our Muslim friends celebrate Hari Raya. So, to all my Muslim friends, "Selamat Hari Raya" and Happy Holidays!

I'm doing Tuesday Coffee Chat with Leslie of Time Out For Mom today and we were given the prompt to Rant or Rave about anything we like this week. I'm so happy to be back in my hometown this week that it's rather impossible for me to rant about anything. So, I've decided to rave about something I do almost every week in Bloggyland - linkies!

For those of you who aren't familiar with a linky or the more technical term for it, meme, it's basically a great idea that a blogger comes up with and decides to open it up to other bloggers to join in by way of a link-up with the host (usually the genius behind the idea). The host will use a link-up tool (usually Inlinz or Linky Tools) where other bloggers can add their blog post URL when the link-up is open. All you do is add your URL and visit other linkers to see what they have to share.

Linkies are a great way to get to know new bloggy friends. I have to thank Alison for introducing me to the world of linkies with my first link-up through Erica's Lovelinks. I met many wonderful friends through that first link-up alone - Jen, Natalie, Rach and Julie to name a few. And I've never looked back since.

Besides getting to meet new friends, you get prompts to help you figure out what to write for your blog. It's great when blogger's block decides to knock on your door.

Linkies have also helped me blog in a more organized way. Make a list on Monday, chat or share a favorite post on Tuesday, do Picnesday (that's my very own linky) on Wednesday, brush up on my phonics on Thursday, wrap up my week on Friday and resist the temptation to blog on weekends.

Need more traffic to your blog, well join a linky. When I participate in a linky, I will try to visit other linkers as well. My rule is 5 or more. Some hosts would specify a minimum number of visits to other linkers like Jenny's Alphabe Thursday where linkers are encouraged to visit at least 10 other linkers. I think that's great because then you don't get people who just link and leave. Besides, the whole point of a link-up is to get together and share, so it's nice to visit other linkers. I will also make sure I visit linkers who've paid me a visit. Visits = Traffic.

Here, I'd like to share some of the linkies that I like. Some I've not participated in before but I think they are great.

Monday

So much FUN to make a list
and check out other linkers' lists

Have not done this but it encourages you to share a story of
how you were able to focus on your strengths and just be happy being you.

Tuesday

To chat and share about a topic picked by Leslie

If you're a poet, this one's for you

Lovelinks
Link up a favourite post of the week, visit,
comment, vote and possibly win.

Time Travel Tuesday





Link up an old post that didn't get the attention it deserved.

Wednesday

Pick a picture(s) and have it be the main focus of your post.
Wordless or not, old or new.

For other Wordless Wednesday linkies

Well, if you need to Pour Your Heart Out

Wednesday Words of Wisdom
Have any wise word to share?

Thursday

Write a post beginning with the alphabet of the week.
This week's alphabet is 'T'

Get inspiration to write from Mama Kat's
writing prompts

Friday

Great way to wrap up your week

If you'd like to interview yourself

Read a book with your kids and
link up an activity related to that book 

There are a lot more great linkies out there and if you find the right ones that tickle your fancy, link up and have fun. Sure makes blogging a whole lot more interesting.

Do you dig linkies?

Tipsy Friend - MG of Mumsgather

YES! It's my FIRST Tipsy Friends Feature!

To help me kick off Tipsy Friends today, is a veteran Malaysian mommy blogger - MG of Mumsgather. I call her a veteran because she's been around Bloggyland since September 2004. Mumsgather is not her only site, mind you, she also blogs at Parenting Times, Mothering Times, Quotes Station and Be Health Aware. One of the reasons why she has so many blogs is so she could feed her passion for writing. She just loves to write, write, write! She's also just recently become a lensmaster at Squidoo. In her Squidoo lenses, she recommends many useful sites for children to play and learn online. As you can see, she's a very resourceful blogger. MG is a SAHM and has two children aged 7 & 9. I don't know how she does it all, you'll just have to ask her yourself.

When I first started blogging, I stumbled on her site and sent an e-mail to her to ask for some blogging advice. She was very willing to help and support a newbie like me and was never selfish with her knowledge. She's like a mother hen to me in Bloggyland. She was also my first blogger follower and I'm really honoured to have her be my first Tipsy Friend too. Welcome to my bloghome MG!

tftftftftftftftftftftftftftftft

Top 3 Blogging ‘Skills’ You Need

My not so new (now) blogger friend Germaine has started a new and very interesting feature on this blog called the Tipsy Friends Feature where she will invite her faithful readers to write a guest blog post each. What a wonderful idea. I am honoured that she has invited me to be her first guest post writer. That is a tall order! I better get to work IMMEDIATELY otherwise I will hold up all her eager guest post writers! I am sure there is a long line waiting. I thought about what to write and naturally blogging tips came to mind because that is my first love, after my family. So here it is, my top blogging ‘skills’ to make blogging fun.

Skill #1: The Most Important HTML Code

What is the most important HTML code you need to learn? You don’t need to be a HTML expert for this. Why, you don’t even need to know what HTML is. All you need to know is how to copy and paste. Most of the time you don’t even need to use HTML codes because your blog has a WYSIWYG editor but it will be useful for other times when you don’t have this editor available like in a comment box for example. The most important HTML code you need is the one to do a hyperlink. Here it is:

<a href="url">link text</a>

That's it. You can use this anywhere that accepts HTML code for example in a comment box. Lets say you want to link back to your own page because you have written a blog post in the past which you think will be useful to the blogger’s post which you are commenting on. You just key in this code and replace “url” with “your blog post url” and the link text with any text you want. Go ahead and try it in the comment box. Link to something from your page. (Just remember not to spam other people’s pages this way. Link only when you think your url will contribute to what’s being said). Just in case you want to know more about HTML which stands for HyperText Markup Language you can go to this page w3schools.com. You will get many more tips and other HTML codes which you can copy and paste.

Skill #2: Where Can I Find Fun Stuff For My Blog?

The best place to go for fun and cool stuff for your blog is The Generator Blog. I love this! You can generate and personalize just about anything here. From motivational posters to book covers, banners and more.You can use the images that you generate on your blog without worry about copyright issues. A picture says a thousand words, what more a personalized picture! I prefer to blog anonymously, so this is the place I go to for fun images for my blog because I hardly ever post up my own pictures and I do so want to have images to make my blog posts look better. When you use images from others, you must remember to give credit. 

However, there is still a worry that sometimes that image was taken from somewhere else in the first place. Here is one site which gives me peace of mind when using the images - Arthur’s Free Clipart is one of my favourite sites to go to for images.

Another fun image generator site is SignGenerator.org. You can generate just about any customized image you like and paste them on your blog. There are plenty to choose from. Most of the images are humorous but better still, you can customize them and its free!

Skill #3: CSS Fun

It would be fun to make your blog posts pretty like in a magazine wouldn’t it? You can achieve this with CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets but again, you don’t really need to know that. The only skill you require is how to copy and paste. Just out of interest though, you can go to w3schools again to learn CSS. Or you can copy and paste amazing magazine style looks and text tricks for your blog from Mandarin Design.

tftftftftftftftftftftftftftftft

Thank you MG for sharing some blogging resources with me and my readers!

Please head on over to one or all of MG's blogs. You'll find many more resources over there. Here's more About MG and you can follow her via Twitter or Facebook too.

Life's Lessons - Blogging and Russian Girl Edition

Wrapping up my week again with Rach and Sara's linky, Life's Lessons.  It's kind of fun to do this just to reflect on how life has been the past week. Recap your week and go link up with the lovely ladies. (Just with Rach this week as Sara has just lost her dad last week - my condolences and prayers goes out to her and her family during this difficult time).







1. I attended my first blog conference - #SummerBlogSocial 2011 and it was fun getting to read about what other bloggers have to share.

2. Found some great blogs to read as well along the way.

3. I won my first giveaway prize via Kerry's blog It's the Little Things and it's the first time I've actually won something (as in a thing) online.

4. I got me another blog award! This time from Leslie of Time Out For Mom. She think's I'm smokin' hot...no wait...she meant my blog's smokin' hot.

I've already revealed 7 facts about myself here.

And I'm going to pass this along to the following 6 bloggers.

Alison of Mama Wants This! 

Mama J of Mama Hear Me Roar, 

Kimberly of Mama's Monologues, 

Stasha of The Good Life, 

Pierre of Little Hungry Heart 

Barbara of Footprints in the Sand

You people are smokin' hot too! (Blog wise)

5. I've launched a new guest post series on my blog called Tipsy Friends to commemorate my blog reaching 100 followers. Send me your posts friends!

6. We've finally managed to rent out our studio apartment to a single Russian lady. I have not seen her but my hubby has.

7. Now I can't get Angelina Jolie in Salt out of my head.

That's all for this week folks!

Till Monday, take care.

Surprise, Surprise! {Summer Blog Social}

I'm attending #SummerBlogSocial 2011! It's like a blog conference you can attend in your shabbiest clothes, without wearing make up or getting your hair done. You can even attend it doing the most embarrassing thing you do at home and nobody's going to know (not that I'm doing it now).






The girls over at A Belle, A Bean and A Chicago Dog and Four Plus An Angel have come up with a fantastic linky for bloggers out there who are deprived of blog conferences (especially from where I am). It's a great way for us to get connected and share our ideas and experiences on blogging and everything related to it. They have also come up with writing prompts so that you don't have to crack your head over what to write about. So head on over there to check it out!


Here, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the following prompt: 
As you reflect back on your time blogging, tweeting and Facebooking, what has surprised you most?


Blogging
Let's see, I've been blogging for 5.5 months now. Before I started blogging I had no idea what a blog was and have never read a blog. The whole idea of having a blog was so fascinating to me that when someone told me they have a blog I'd go "WOW, you have a blog, WOW, really?!" The biggest surprise when I started blogging was knowing that there are SO MANY blogs out there. It was like I've just discovered the 10th planet in the universe called blogosphere. So, now if someone tells me that they have a blog, I'd go "Oh? Really? Good on you. I have one too". 


I've also been pleasantly surprised by the wonderful community in blogosphere. They have all been so willing to encourage, support and help you grow as a blogger. And, I've made some wonderful online friends. Friends I will cherish for as long as I blog.
Just kidding! I will cherish you wonderful bloggy friends for as long as I live.


Tweeting
That it can be so obsessive. I have been keeping a safe distance away from Twitter thus far because between writing posts, replying comments, reading other blogs, commenting, facebooking and spending quality time with my family, I don't think I have the time or energy for another obsession. But hey, if you've got time to spare, Twitter's a great way to build relationships, network, have funny chats with your tweeps and get great support for life's everyday issues.


Facebooking
I was a Facebook snob before I started my blog. Friends have been asking me to open a FB account for the longest time and I've held my nose and chin up in the air and told them that I don't need Facebook,"Pffhtt who needs Facebook! I'm happy being Facebook-less and nothing's going to make me open a Facebook account - you've all been suckered by Zuckerberg! Har Har Har!"


Now, I have to eat my words and bury my face in the ground. I opened a Facebook account to get word of my blog out there; to connect with long lost friends and to share. It has helped me stay in touch with friends I don't get to see on a regular basis.  It has also helped me share great reads with my friends with the click of the 'like' button. It's been a surprisingly wonderful experience having a Facebook account and I'm totally a sucker for it now. 


Blogging has been a wonderful experience for me so far and I look forward to interacting with my readers and bloggy friends everyday. It has changed me in a way only another blogger would understand.

THANK YOU!

I'm sending out a note of thanks here to all my bloggy friends who have given me their encouraging comment love and support for my guest post over at Bees With Honey. You know who you are and I know it was a little awkward or maybe a little daunting for some of you to comment on a new mommy blog. Words cannot describe how much I appreciate your effort. It has made my first guest posting gig such a wonderful experience. Also, thanks again to Bruna for having given me the opportunity.

You people are just such wonderful bloggy friends! I've never met any of you and would probably never have the chance to meet some of you, but I feel you have gifted me a special kind of friendship I will cherish forever. Sorry for sounding so soppy here. I'm just feeling an immense sense of gratitude now that I just have to express it or I'll get a headache today.

Love, Hugs and Wonderful Wishes

Germaine.

N is for Nonsense - Funniest Word Verifications

Warning: Nonsense overload. Kindly walk away if you don't have time to waste.

These are original word verifications that I've had to type before I could comment on some blogs. I actually find it a hassle to word verify before I comment but I've become accustomed to it. And to make the best of it I've decided to make it into a post. Don't worry, I didn't put a lot of thought in coming up with the meanings - it just came to me while I word verified. So here are some of the funniest I've encountered (with meanings)....

binap - when your biceps take a nap.

geniants - ants that can grant you 3 wishes. Just don't step on them.

apins - when you don't know your plurals from your singulars.

Traformas - Malaysian version of the Transformers.

friser - Frasier got fried.

agnes - someone I knew in school.

suckene - a nicer way to call someone who likes to suck.

whirrsep - how a China man says "worship"

flaskee - a good name for your dog

inessesh - trying to say INXS with a few teeth missing.

scrumbac - how Arnold Schwarzenegger would say "scumbag"

sioso - saying yes to Special Agent Oso in Spanish

Now you know why people have word verifications on their blogs - so that people like me have something to blog about.

Thank you for taking time to read my nonsense.

Linking up with Jenny Matlock for 

and hoping she won't give me an "F" for this.

How To Make Your Own Blog Button

I did it! I did it! I made me my very own blog button! See it's over there on my right sidebar. For someone who is technologically-challenged and know nuts about HTML codes (I have my own version here), it is a great achievement. I spent yesterday evening coming up with my own blog button just for the fun of it and I can't believe how easy it is to DIY. Well, I did hire a consultant, his name is Mr Google and he was a great help. For those of you hoping to DIY your own blog button here's how I did it:

1. Get a Photobucket account.

2. Upload your picture and play around with the image. Add in your text and beautify it with the functions there.

4. Resize your image.

5. Save as a copy.

6. Go to Musing of a Housewife to get the HTML code for your blog. The code is right at the end of the post and looks something like this.

<a href="BLOG URL"><img src="IMAGE URL" border="0" /></a><p><textarea
class="tiny" name="1" rows="3" cols="18"><br /><a href="BLOG URL"><img
src="IMAGE URL" border="0" /></a></textarea></p>

7. Back to Photobucket. Click on Direct Link box as shown by the arrow. This automatically copies the IMAGE URL that you will insert into the above code.

8. Now to your Blogger Design page, click Add a Gadget. Then add HTML/Java Script. In the box paste the HTML code from Musings of a Housewife. Type your own blog url in place of BLOG URL and the copied Direct Link code from Photobucket in place of IMAGE URL. Click Save and you're DONE! Now I have my own button up for grabs. Happy blog button making!

Common Courtesies in Bloggyland

I just read on By Word of Mouth Musings, a post she wrote about being nice when commenting on someone's blog. It has prompted me to finally write this post which I've been meaning to write for the past few days.

I'm fairly new to blogging. It's been about 4 months now since I started. I've also only recently been actively blog hopping by joining linkies and blog hops. It's sad sometimes to see that people do not extend the same kind of courtesies one would in real life.

When someone comes to your home and says Hi, don't you at least say Hi back?
Sad to say it doesn't happen in Bloggyland. I've come across blogs where I've said Hi by leaving comments a couple of times but have neither received a reply nor a courtesy visit. When I leave a comment on a blog, I do appreciate a reply. If you get hundreds of comments on your post, I can understand why you'd find it difficult to reply. Some bloggy friends I know do not reply their comments but they do visit once in awhile to say Hi by leaving a comment. That's nice. It tells me my comments are appreciated and I am a welcome guest in their bloghome. From this experience, I now do not expect anything. If I read something that's good and worth commenting on, I'd comment and leave with no expectations.

Be respectful of other people's views
I recently read on a blog of how the blogowner lost her groove to blog after receiving some negative comments on one of her posts. She had told herself she wouldn't be affected by comments because it's her blog and her space to write her thoughts but as much as she didn't want it to affect her, she was. I can understand where she's coming from. Nobody likes to be criticised and everybody will feel bad when criticised. You don't visit someone's home, hoping to pick a fight or throw garbage all over the person's house, do you? If upon opening the door, you don't like what you see, close it and leave.

When you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all.
Being respectful of other people's views would also mean when you have nothing nice to say, just leave without a comment. I believe that hurtful words should not be shared. Many people are quick to criticise but slow to praise. Human nature I guess. But, my parents have brought me up with good values and manners when communicating with people. I've been brought up to be polite and be very tactful when I needed to be critical of something. That's in real life but I do believe it can be applied to Bloggyland too, don't you think?

Let's support each other
Just like living in a community, we support each other by being friendly, encouraging and supportive.  My faith has taught me to always be nice to people and to always strive to be the light of the world. It's also taught me that what goes around comes around.

Just my two cents worth.

Ahh...glad I got these off my flat chest!

Since I haven't achieved Problogger fame, I reply to every single comment I receive. If you'd like to receive the replies via e-mail, please subscribe to Replies under the Comment Box. Thanks and have a nice week!


If you're using Blogger comment form, please read this post on how to activate your reply-by-email setting, by Rach of Life With Baby Donut


Linked up for some love at Erica's freefringes

I've Got A Question Too!

Mommy to Chumsy just posted a question on her blog; so I thought I'd post this question of mine which has been sitting at the back of my head since Day 1 of blogging.

What are your thoughts on posting pictures of your kids on the web i.e. your blog?


I did have reservations at first but I got more comfortable after seeing so many bloggers doing it. But, I also came across some comments on forums that it's inappropriate and that it might attract some unwanted attention from weirdos. I know some of you might say "If you're so afraid, don't post the pictures-la!"; but then I'd have to change the name of my blog to just "Things" or maybe "NoKidThing". It's nice to share photos of my kids because they're so cute. Also, at least my posts won't be so boring. And it's also nice to see pictures of other mommy bloggers' kids on their blogs - you feel you know them better. My Linkwithin will also have a picture to show. I'm writing out loud here.

Would love to know what you think.


My other question for Self Sagacity's Thursday Two Question...

At what age should you expect your kids to be able to read?

12 Steps of BA

1. I admit that I am powerless over blogging - that my household has become unmanageable; my kids and spouse neglected.
2. I have come to believe that a Power greater than myself can restore me to reality.
3. I have made a decision to turn my will to blog over to the care of God as only He can control my urge.
4. I have done some soul searching and believe that there are far more important things than blogging.
5. I admit to God, to myself, my kids and my hubby that I am now addicted to blogging.

Replying Comments

I love replying my readers' comments. It's how I show my appreciation to my visitors for reading my nonsense and for having something so say about my......nonsense. But I just can't stand replying the way I'm doing now - posting a comment as a reply to my readers' comments. It's getting on my nerves and I've finally decided to install Intense Debate, which I've seen on a couple of sites I've visited. I hope it works. Do let me know if it's bothering you or you're finding it difficult to comment. Thanks y'all!

And I can't believe how easy it is to install this - it's IDIOT PROOF!

What Lovelinks Have Done To Me

I recently signed up for lovelinks by Erica of free fringes,  hosted by Mama Wants This, this week. It was something I’ve never done before and I thought it’d be a great opportunity to experience something new as a blogger. It’s somewhat also changed my life these past few days.

Just sharing what has been going on behind the scenes of my lovemaking, I mean lovelinking activities...

• I’ve burnt my food twice in 2 days.

• My kids have been watching hours and hours of Barney.
• I’ve been sleeping at 2am.
• I've found a new obsession – meddling with my blog design; hence the new look - like it? If you'd like to meddle with yours, check out makin'cute blogs and my style backgrounds for free templates and tutorials.
• I've not read so much in a long long time. You see, I don't consider myself a 'reader'.
• My family hasn’t been feeling much love from me lately.
• I’ve developed a mild condition called “Blog Envy”. It’s from visiting all these amazing blogs. Don’t worry it’s not contagious.
• Best of all I've found some really great bloggers out there!

Hooray for lovelinks!

Blogger Shutdown

For the first time, since I started blogging, I didn't get to blog yesterday. I had withdrawal symptoms. I was anxious. Didn't know what was happening. I've heard that some people have lost their entire blog when it happened last year or some years back and I kept thinking what would I do if I lost everything?! My life will never be the same again! Well, when I opened Blogger this morning, I found that I lost a scheduled post, my post on 10 Things I Hate About My Kids never got published and therefore lost all the comments for that post from my lovely readers as well. Boo Hoo Hoo. Well at least I didn't lose my entire blog. Hey you people down at Blogger, can you at least give us a notice before you decide to shutdown. Not too much to ask right?

New Blogger Rush

While blog hopping lately, I've been seeing this live traffic monitor kind of thing on many of the blogs I've visited. Some of them would say 'Get a rush from live traffic'. I thought to myself how true it is to get a rush from looking at live traffic to your blog especially for a new blogger like me. I've been getting similar kinds of 'rushes' associated with blogging......

Comments - Thanks to all commentors who have graciously commented on my posts. I don't expect much from people who read my posts, except that they enjoy what I write and see some value in it as well. But getting comments........RUSH!

Visitors - I'm a wee bit obsessed over my stats....okay honestly, I'm VERY obsessed! I check in on sitemeter at least 4 times a day. Crazy-hor? In fact I would check in on it every other hour if I didn't try to control my urge to do it. But seeing the number of visitors increase everyday (eventhough by a tiny bit)..........RUSH!

Replies to my comments - I am more inclined to leave comments on blogs that will actually respond to my comments. When I first started commenting, I actually expected my comments to be replied to. How naive I was (hahaha....like kena cheated like that!). I'm a freshie, don't know much about how things work in blogosphere but, I would guess, unless you run a site that gets 1001 comments on a post, replying your commentors would be a little acknowledgment for your readers? I don't know, I'm guessing! New blogger here! To those who've replied my comments, you know who you are, thanks for the..........RUSH!

New Followers! - Now I know how Jesus must have felt. I'm no Jesus but a big Thank You to all my followers for following, you give me the.........RUSH!

*Ka-ching* $$$$ - Okay I'm still waiting for this but it would MOST certainly give me that.........RUSH!

Don't need my teh tarik ice or shoe shopping for now.....

New Terms I've Learnt In Blogging World

I've learnt a tonne of new words since I started blogging. Here are 10 of them....

1. Blogosphere - the air bloggers breathe

2. Problogger - blogger bible
3. Blog hopping - bunny hopping from one blog to another
4. Ping - what you say before 'pong'
5. Plugin - the opposite of plugout
6. Widget - gadget that witches use
7. Tweetmeme - what you say when you're desperate for someone to tweet you.
8. Blogorrhea - when you have diarrhea on your blog
9. Blogroll - blog sushi
10. HTML - Head Trauma from Making Links

Tweet Me Please?

Okay, I've given up trying to put a "tweet this post" button on my blog posts; unless somebody sends me an idiot-proof step-by-step, word-by-word, html-by-html guide on how to do it! And I just discovered that I could, with just a click, activate my share buttons at the bottom of my blog posts. (DUH!) Serves the same purpose right? So, my dear readers, if you find any of my posts twitter-worthy, there's a teeny weeny "t" button at the bottom......just click it! Go ahead and click the others too if you like. Thanks a million!

What's Tweetmeme?!

A Tweetmeme is a memetracker that tracks popular retweets in Twitter. Oh I seeee.....what's a memetracker then?

Professor Wikipedia says....
A memetracker is a tool for studying the migration of memes across a group of people. The term is typically used to describe websites that either:

1. analyze blog posts to determine what web pages are being discussed or cited most often on the World Wide Web, or
2. allow users to vote for links to web pages that they find of interest.

Sites in the latter group are often referred to as social media sites.

Huh???!!! *read definition again....and again....and again*

What's a meme now?

Professor Wikipedia says...
A meme is a unit of social information. It is a relatively newly coined term and identifies ideas or beliefs that are transmitted from one person or group of people to another. The concept comes from an analogy: as genes transmit biological information, memes can be said to transmit idea and belief information.

Mom2kiddos have come to the conclusion that a Tweetmeme is a Retweettir.