Going underground

 

When I started this blog, it was with the sole purpose of documenting our lives so family and friends could keep up with us AND allow me to make up for not processing the thousands of pictures stored in our digital cameras.  Each year, I turn the blog into a book for our children to hopefully one day read when they get a hankering, get a better idea of what raising them was like and hopefully, just hopefully, enjoy.

And I did that.  And I love it!  And I LOVE getting feedback and comments from people reading about our crazy lives.  This little blog gets anywhere from 12-45 hits/day with steady readers in CA, PA & NC.  In true Joey-from-the-TV-show-Blossom form, WHOA!

But one thing is troubling... I'm not quite sure who all is reading the blog.

I divulge personal information about us.  Enough for a stranger to track us down.

That, frankly, is kinda scary.

Back in August, I even tried to get a good idea of who was reading the blog so I could keep tabs on our 'life-viewers', but only 2 people responded.  And those 2 readers weren't the unknown visitors I was hoping would unveil themselves, they were more the people I wouldn't mind watching my kids so I could go grocery shopping for an afternoon.

I wasn't so concerned about unknown visitors reading about our lives almost 3 years ago when I started this.  The idea of creating a blog that others would enjoy seemed to outweigh any danger there might be to my family. But, I gotta be honest.  This isn't the dreamy high traffic blog I envisioned turning into a side job or possibly even a little notoriety.

Side bar:  I have to explain that last part.  My friend, Amy and I, went to go see the movie Julie & Julia when it came out in 2009, right about the time I was thinking about starting or had just started the blog.  To fill you in on the movie, just in case you didn't see it, the plot synopsis is this: "In 2002, Julie Powell is a young writer with an unpleasant job. To do something she enjoys, she decides to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) and blogs to motivate herself and document her progress.  Woven into the story of Powell's time in Queens in the early 2000s is the story of Julia Child's time in Paris throughout the 1950s, where she attends Le Cordon Bleu to learn French cooking and begins collaborating on a book. The plot highlights similarities in the challenges encountered by both of them.  Eventually, Powell's blog is featured in a story published in The New York Times, after which her project begins to receive the attention of journalists, literary agents and publishers."

So long story short, I left that movie not feeling motivated to cook (phsbst, are you kidding me?), but motivated to follow this passion I had about writing and see where it took me.  I know, I've got quite the imagination.  My husband tells me allllll the time.

Dreamy high traffic blog that exposes my secret writing prowess and leads to a book deal --> fantasy

Little, occasionally boring, picture-riddled blog that sounds like a stressed-out and overworked mom looking for an outlet --> reality

I get it.  I GET it.

So, there I go again, off on a tangent.

My family's safety is more important than a thriving blog.  Today, a security system salesman scared the bejesus out of me, enough to make me call the Police department and report him for being slightly aggressive and prying too much into our personal lives.  The Edward Jones dude had to talk to me through the locked glass door and the Jehovah's Witness people don't get me answering the door anymore, just a 3-year-old looking through the glass side window shouting, "Mommy, deh's people outside!"

The dealio is this, I'm going to add a password protect to the blog.  I would still LOVE for friends, family, friends of family and family of friends to read it and enjoy it.  Just not unknown visitors.  I might like you, but I just haven't met you yet.

I'll give it a week or so before I add the password, and the plan is: just email me and I'll send you the password.  For those of you who know me, it will be super easy to remember.

I really enjoy doing this (because comments from you all make my day, really) but something the last couple of days has caused me to hunker down, really take notice and I must trust my gut.

My love to all 6 readers!  It used to be 8 but I have to keep re-sending my parents the website because they've "lost" it.

Blogging Haiku

Blogging frees the mind

Expression on E-paper

Writing time longed for

Maybe one day...

I'd love to know who are you...

This post has been on my mind for quite some time now. So bear with me and cooperate, if you would.

If you scroll down the blog and look on the right side, you'll see two companies that offer tracking blog visitors (Sitemeter and Map Loco). Through those, I am able to view the locations of people who look at this blog. Fascinating, I tell you, absolutely fascinating where some people are viewing this blog from. And most of the time, I can see how they arrived at this blog. Some people go straight to the website, i.e. it is bookmarked, and some people arrive at this blog by happenstance, either by visiting someone else's blog that is following me, or by keyword entries in search engines that pick up on the text in this blog.

Nonetheless, my feeble attempt at being technical regarding this blog isn't what's important.

Most of the visitors are a mystery to me and I'd love to know: How did you stumble upon this blog (Charlotte, NC)? Why do you keep coming back (Mountain View, CA)? Do I know who you are and just don't remember mentioning the blog to you (Scranton, PA)?

Here's where I'd like some cooperation. I would love to know who is visiting this blog. Who am I reaching (Dunellon, FL)? Who's my audience (Pensacola, FL)? I started this because frankly, I don't develop pictures and turning this into a book each year was my solution. I do have minor concerns about posting pictures and personal info about our family on the www for the world to see, so I have considered putting a password protect on the blog.

Do this if you would, email me or leave a comment with your name and location (and any other comments you might have). I'm very interested to see who responds and see how the first 2 years of blogging have gone.

New look

So I bit the bullet and decided to update our look & name. Not sure I like the name so don't be surprised if I change it again.

This time it took me much less time than the first. I think I might be getting the hang of this.

Day One

My first blog!

I've run across so many interesting blogs out there and have become a huge fan, so I decided it was my turn. This is the place where I will share our highs and lows of raising two adorable kids (as seen below, courtesy of Amber), being married and just life in general.

For instance: My little man, who is all of 7.5 months old, has decided that waking up when the clock starts with a 5 is okay. I think not. A serious battle of the wills is brewing in our household and the pre-walker is putting up a good fight.

My precious, and I do mean precious, little girl is really starting to show her reasoning abilities, and it usually pops up when I've told her she can or can't do something. All of a sudden, the little brain starts churning and she's found a way to try and convince me otherwise. She's really turning into a little person I can have real conversations with.

They are, by far, the funnest creatures ever brought into my life. Don't get me wrong, they're certainly hard to deal with sometimes, as I'm sure I was mom and dad, but they bring so much joy into my life.
















Stay tuned. I'm sure there will be lots of interesting, insightful and humorous stories on these pages.