Someone, please, make me post. I have a strange type of writer's block where I have ideas, but then when I sit down to write, my brain runs away - exhausted from the rest of the day. Anyone else have this problem?
I need an accountibili-buddy. These are the things I'd like to write about in the coming weeks. Someone please yell at me when you don't see them popping up...
Ginny's Pinkalicious Birthday Party (ya know, from March)
Charlie's Art Birthday Party (even worse...from October)
The fact that we recently moved to a temporary apartment, half the size, and what that looks like. Deciding what to take, what to toss, and what to pack was enlightening.
Toddler/Preschooler chores and how we clean as a family.
My continuously evolving thoughts on raising a child with autism.
Our endeavor into a gluten free diet.
A few product reviews and maybe even a giveaway!
The running and conditioning plan I have for the summer, as well as upcoming races.
Our upcoming (and probably hilarious) attempt at taking the kids camping.
The woefully poor job I did on my 30th birthday bucket list.
How I still can't find adult piano lessons and that sucks.
Summer activities that don't cost anything.
A sewing project here and there.
And hopefully many more. It's been so long since I've consistently updated and I want to fix that. I just need help!
When I logged back in this past weekend, I created a new post, typed it up, and submitted it. Once you submit a post, you get a view of your overall post dashboard. There were a lot of drafts; ideas in various states of fulfillment. Some were a paragraph, some just titles with a few bullet points I wanted to cover. There are posts about crafts, kids, DIY, running....the whole nine. I'll delete a few, write a few, and create more I'm sure.
I guess my question is, what do you want to read? What do you want to know? Help me get out of this writing funk!
For your contribution, here is a cute kid picture. Enjoy.
Wow, worst post and run ever. I didn't mean to go missing for over three months, but here we are. The truth is, I just didn't feel like writing. I started this post over and over, but had no motivation to actually write. Call it a blogging depression. Wait, I think that's called writer's block? I don't know. With so much going on around here, I guess I've done a lot more thinking than writing, but I think it was for the best.
So where have I been?
Since Charlie's diagnosis in December, we've had his IEP meeting and gotten services started at daycare. He receives speech once a week and specialized instruction and occupational therapy each twice a month on alternating weeks. While helpful, these services focus on school goals, not home/life goals, so it's a little...spotty. Because of this, we feel like we are floating in an awkward purgatory of knowing there is more we can do for him, but being completely unequipped to do anything about it. As educated and well meaning parents, this has made Jeff and me feel really crappy.
Thankfully, in this awful settling stage, we've made connections with other parents who find themselves in a similar situation and though we obviously wish this club on no one, it's comforting to know we're not alone.
Once Charlie is set up with medical assistance, we'll be able to get him additional services and maybe even a TSS to help get us on track at home. Otherwise, he's doing wonderfully. He has been healthy all winter, has developed a slight obsession with Legos and space, and starts soccer in a few weeks.
Ginny is doing well, just turned two! I'll recap her birthday soon (seen as I never did a post for Charlie's last October). She is talking up a storm and has been developing such a fun imagination, mostly surrounding her love of baby dolls and taking care of them. Unfortunately, she's scheduled for surgery in a few weeks, but more on that in another post after her pre-op appointments.
Jeff and I are doing great. In January, Jeff got a job managing a new sporting goods store in the area and we've both been doing a lot more running - even ran a race together! We're planning another Disney trip for the fall, working on some heavy spring cleaning, and finding time to be together amongst the madness. The less great news is that I haven't had much time to do any kind of craft or project, which has me feeling pretty blah. Hopefully, with summer coming, I will find time to make something.
So that is the brief update. I'm hoping to fill in the gaps and catch up over the next...however long. This time without three months radio silence. I promise.
I'm sitting at my kitchen table having gotten home from work on time for the first night in weeks. Working in the education realm, August is by far our busiest month with all of the training and prepping before the students return. This makes for a crappy blog turn out every single year. No really, if I pull up my stats for the past few years, my blog takes a dive for about 3 weeks every single August. I really need to hire a late summer ghost writer...
Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love this time of year - it's what I live for! BUT it also means that I've hardly seen my family, am most likely eating too much junk food on the go, and haven't had time to blog about, well, anything.
August 1st was a big day for me; a big shitty day. It was the 15th anniversary of my Mother's death. Since I was 15 years old when she passed away, it meant that on August 2nd, I had officially lived longer without her than with her. Talk about a heavy realization. A lot happens in the first 15 years of your life, but so, so much more happens after that; all things I haven't been able to share with her. I read this Huff Po article a few years ago, knowing this day would come. Well, it came and went.
Death is such a horrible thing. Just when you think you're at peace with it, you get a slap of reality that reminds you that you'll never be at peace with it. There's no possible way to be. I knew this time of my life would come, but it's such a strange realization to have none the less.
Luckily for me, August kept rolling whether I liked it or not and was a welcomed distraction. While I was out working my tail off, Jeff has been home with the kids trying desperately to find a job. Unfortunately, he's also in education and there are zero jobs in this area right now. The ones that have opened up have been met with hundreds (not an exaggeration) of applications. Other jobs in the area either retail (pay too little to pay for full time daycare), require significant additional education, or are driving a tractor trailer, which would take him away from home too much for my work schedule. For now, he's going to be a SAHD with the kids, but thankfully we'll still be able to afford to send Charlie to preschool.
Speaking of preschool, Charlie starts on Monday! How is this possible?! All next week I'll be posting about how we've been preparing, his first day, and a whole bunch of good educational type stuff.
I also have a ridiculous number of amazing reviews coming up as a result of Blogger Bash that I can't wait to share. So, consider this an apology; an annual apology. August stole my blog once again this year. Stay tuned - I promise I'm not disappearing again.....at least until next August.
A few months ago, I mentioned that I was planning on going to my first blogging conference - Blogger Bash NYC. Between the trip to NYC, the fun events, and free swag, I was pumped to go. Little did I know how much I would actually get out of this two day event.
Blogger Bash is the brainchild of six brilliant women who know what it takes to network and use social media to the max. With the recognition that parent bloggers are some of the most influential forces in media, the Blogger Bash team built a two day conferencing opportunity for bloggers from around the country to gather, learn, and network with some of the biggest brands around. A combination of lectures, round tables, and expo settings provided a huge opportunity, to even small time bloggers like me, to make once in a life time connections with companies I would otherwise have no access to like Lego, LeapFrog, Disney, Crayola, Fisher Price, and more.
Let me tell you, after two days I had a fist full of business cards, about 15 miles put on my shoes, and a powerful need to take a nap. After I recovered from my networking hangover, I took a little time to go through all of the material I'd gathered up and realized that not only did I have a list of brand reps I was super excited to contact, but I had connected with a ton of other women; about blogging, about parenting, about working....so many things. Some we just chatted about our kids and whether our husbands were surviving being at home with them, others gave me a pep talk that it's "not all about numbers." Either way, it was the first time I was around that many women, that many Moms, and didn't feel like it was a competition. There was smiling, there was sharing, there was kindness.
Now that I'm getting all misty, onto the rest of the event!
One of the larger events during the conference was called Sweet Suite. What a blast! Sweets, treats, and toys galore. I absolutely loved seeing all of the fun, new products and toys brought by the various brands and representatives! There was SO much to see! The people representing each brand were a ton of fun to talk to and I was so impressed at their ability to talk to nine billion eager bloggers and not lose their minds!
But seriously, how often do you get to play without the kids around (and without getting funny looks from strangers....) There was video games, board games, coloring, stuffed animals....the works.
In addition to Sweet Suite, there were several other events including BabyPalooza, a brand "speed dating" session, meeting Anne Geddes (!!!), lots and lots of delicious treats, a Back to School Party hosted by KizVuz, and more. I can't even begin to describe it all. Not to mention more tweeting, instagramming, and facebooking than I've ever done in my life!
Check out the BabyPalooza interview with Anne Geddes below!
Credit: Justin Lee of Josh Strauss Studios
I can't say thank you enough to the women who worked, what had to have been hundreds of hours, to make this happen. For me, this was so much more than the business cards and free stuff. For the first time, I was immersed in the blogging community in a real way; not staring at avatars on a screen. I cannot wait to continue my contacts with everyone I met and truly see what I am capable of achieving.
Want to see more post recaps and pictures from Blogger Bash and Sweet Suite, BabyPalooza, and KizVuz? Check out the link up at A Grande Life!
