Blogolution

Look! I’ve updated my blog!

I can’t believe it’s been an entire month since I’ve posted. Let me share with you the three main reasons for my lack of internet participation.

1. Re-evaluating my blogging. I’ve been increasingly uncomfortable blogging about my kids. Now that they are getting older, there just aren’t that many cute stories to share. There’s a lot going on, of course, but it’s stuff that I don’t want to publicize, or want them to read and be embarrassed by in ten years. So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about where I want this blogging thing to go.

Let’s review the past couple years. I’ve started no less than four blogs. And when I say “started,” I mean purchased domain names, set up hosting and designed a template. That’s as far as I got. Two of the blogs (Homeschool Hacks and Blogging for Parents) actually had some posts up for awhile, but I quickly lost interest. What does this tell me? That I like to design blogs. I like to manage blogs, but not actually do the writing part.

I’m interested in blogging more about social media and blogging tips, but I don’t have enough time or desire to start a whole new blog. And so I am officially re-naming this blog: PHAT Mommy: Parenting, Homeschooling and Technology (the “T” used to stand for Thriving). I’ll be writing less about my day-to-day personal experiences with my kids, but still posting some general updates and things I want to share with family. The rest I’ll save for my family scrapbooks. I’ll still be writing a little on homeschooling, perhaps even writing a bit more about that. Who knows. And I’ll definitely be writing more about blogging and social media.

While a lot of the “tips for a successful blog” warn against diversifying your blog topics, I’m gonna take a chance that this will work for me. And if you’re a reader that is interested in parenting posts, but not social media posts, I’ve got some options for you. Over in the right column you’ll see three different RSS feeds you can subscribe to. Option one will simply subscribe you to this blog - all my posts. Option two will subscribe you to my posts on parenting and homeschooling, as well as all the items I share from around the internet on those topics. Option three will subscribe you to my posts on technology, blogging tips and social media news, and the shared items in that category.

2. Re-designing my blog template. I pulled my blog down for more than two weeks. It doesn’t take me that long to update my template, but I made some bigger changes this time. These changes also took me longer than expected due to #3 below.

• I’ve added my FriendFeed stream. If you haven’t joined FriendFeed, go check it out now. It’s a great way to see everything your friends are doing online and to stay on top of the “buzz.”
• Another change I struggled with is comment tracking. I like the idea behind Disqus. But it’s not compatible with the CommentLuv and Subscribe to Comments plugins, which I love. I installed and uninstalled Disqus twice. I think for now I’ll stick with my plugins and CoComment.
• See that big empty space next to my blog header? There will be an ad there from the BlogHer Ad Network, but I’ve been waiting almost a week for them to send me new code. So you’ll just have to see an empty space for now.

3. Life. May has also been a very busy month. I’ve been spending more time outdoors cleaning up the weeds and the pool.

My son and I went on an overnight trip with some homeschooling friends to the Great Wolf Lodge. That place rocks.

I went to a scrapbooking weekend retreat. Our sitter helped the kids create a slip-n-slide out of tarps and a hose.

And it’s Little League season. I’m proud to brag that my son is first on the coach’s depth chart for second base. L’s team finished the regular season in 4th place and they’re now in the playoffs.

This weekend my husband participated in the East Coast Rush TabCon, an event that allows “musicians and fans of the rock group Rush to perform the band’s music in a live setting.” He’s been practicing really hard, and the last couple weeks I’ve picked up some extra child-care time so he could get ready for the event. It makes me really happy to see him doing something he loves so much. I hope he gets some YouTube videos I can post for you all to see.

So that’s my story. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled blogging.