Seattle Mom Blogs

celebrate

We’re having a quiet New Year’s Eve tonight. We have one pregnant woman in the house (me), a grown man and a three-year-old. Let’s all hope we can just stay awake until the fireworks go off.

What are you doing to bring in the new year?

This is posted on behalf of JennyOnTheSpot.

the kiddos

Alright ladies. This one is for the children… and the teachers… therefore… the future! As usual, I am keeping things very non-dramatic. Look… the children…

Have I pulled your tender mommy heart-strings?

I was contacted by BlogHer a few weeks back. I was asked to be part of selecting local projects for their DonorsChoose Social Media Challenge…

DonorsChoose is an online charity that makes it easy for everyone to help fund educational projects around the country. During the Social Media Challenge bloggers, Tweeters, Facebookers, (and BlogHers) will come together to raise money that goes straight to the place it’s needed the most – the classroom.

Last year, bloggers raised more than $275,000 and helped fund projects in 65,000 public schools.

Here’s the deal – we need to spread the word! There are 4 Seattle-area projects highlighted in this challenge! All in high- poverty level schools:

• A listening center for first graders
• Books for a third grade classroom library
• Dry erase boards for a fifth grade classroom
• 15 piano keyboards for a high school music class

Friends. Women. Moms… Former students… Would you mind spreading the word? Would you mind making a donation yourself? I know times are tight… but there are several ways to help!

• Share this project on your blogs!
• Tweet it!
• Facebook it!
• Might you put the widget on your own blog?
• Donate!

There are projects from across the country highlighted in BlogHer’s effort. The really neat thing here is projects from our own local schools are included! Let’s make a showing here – for the kids, for Seattle! Go grab a widget for our local Seattle giving page and put it in your side bar or feature it in a post! Pretty please? I’ll make it easy on you – click here for the widget page.

I’ll even spray you with glitter if you need that extra “umph”. On your mark. Get set…. GO!

A small group of Seattle mom bloggers were granted a behind-the-scenes tour of the QFC grocery store in Seattle’s University Village for QFC’s Very Important Blogger Event (V.I.B.E). I work nearby so I have frequented the aisles of this particular store, buying hot clam chowder for lunch or taking home a bag of oranges as big as baboon hearts (though much more delicious, I’d imagine).

I had never really thought about what goes into the business of a grocery store. I make my decisions with my wallet, choosing where I can satisfy my cheapskate brain while making my growing pregnant belly happy. There have been many nights where I’ve taken credit for the mushroom meatloaf I’ve picked up at the QFC meat department, so when my husband asks how I was able to make such a “special dinner” after working all day, I say, “Oh it’s nothing! Just something I put together because I AM SELFLESS.” So I had been very thankful to QFC for letting me feign real work while making a deposit in my SUPERIOR TO MY HUSBAND account.

We were led through the store’s different sections and learned that QFC offers flowers from local wholesalers and there are no mega-cryogenic-sized freezers in the back of the store, so all product is turned out quickly. Everything is fresh and updated daily, providing customers with a constantly new selection. We were given a glimpse into the meat selection and the Chef’s Express section, a line of affordable prepared dishes such as mushroom meatloaf, stuffed pork chops, and kalbi marinated flank steak.

For those families conscious of allergies and cross-contamination, QFC makes it easy to choose foods right for their home. We learned that for those people concerned about ingredients, labels can be easily printed out on request without purchasing an item.

QFC President Donna Gjordano

After a tour through other sections like the vast wine department and the Wellness center (which featured a brand new touch-screen computer that finds vitamins, recipes, and more) we were led upstairs for a tasting from the areas we had just visited. We also spoke with some of the QFC execs who are all moms themselves and were interested to find out about what makes bloggers tick and to answer our questions about QFC.

Lew, the meat genius

Here is Lew talking about the layers in meat, the marbling, and fat content that makes it extremely delicious. He was a veritable fount of flank steak wisdom, sharing carving techniques and different ways to prepare the meat. Unfortunately, I captured him in a moment that looks more like he’s explaining that this is the church, here is the steeple, open up the doors and there’s all the people!

Some pictures of the dishes we tasted, or in my case, devoured until I was tempted to lick the plate clean:

chicken parmesan with marinara sauce

chicken florentine

fruit flan

kalbi flank steak with garlic mashed potatoes and valencia green beans

My favorite dish was by far the kalbi marinated flank steak, prepared with garlic mashed potatoes and Valencia green beans. The sweet, savory juicy “meat candy” was incredibly rich without being heavy. I loved every bite and when I was offered seconds, I just shot a look that repeated what was already going through my head, “YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! I GOT LOVE IN MY TUMMY”

All of these dishes are available in the deli section, meat department, and bakery which means that I can again pretend that I slaved over a hot stove for chicken florentine, poured my blood, sweat and tears into a pesto and pea salad and worked until my bony fingers gave out over fruit flan. Who needs to know that I didn’t exactly make this macadamia nut flan with white chocolate shavings?

white chocolate macadamia nut flan

The dinner was so delicious, it was like I had forgotten that there was life outside those meeting doors, like when you walk into a casino and can’t see the clocks, so you’re thinking, what’s a few dollars at this slot machine and then you’re calling the benefits office at your work trying to find out if they can wire what’s left in your retirement account to the casino. It was like I entered a food trance and I still can’t believe that I can make a food lineup like this on my own. All I have to do is visit QFC and I can replicate this entire smorgasbord and keep my nest egg in tact.

the ladies

I was so glad to spend an evening with Stacey, Carrie, Alexis, Kim, Shannon and Angie. We are busy, budget-minded and demand quality without hassle. And we love food. It was great to know how QFC appeals to our varied needs, and not just for frazzled moms, anyone needing convenient and mouth-watering meals can enjoy. I wish I had known what they offered back when I was in college and survived on frozen pizzas and dinners I had to pull out of the microwave half-way and stir. Never again!

In addition to the free dinner, we received a gift bag of various Kroger brand items, coupons and a $25 gift card. AND SUPER BONUS! We have a $25 gift card to QFC to give away to a lucky Seattle Mom Blogs reader! All you have to do is leave one comment by October 30, 2009 by 5 PM PST. The cold, unfeeling random integer generator will choose and we will contact the winner. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or we will choose another person. Good luck!

This weekend, my small family and I headed south for a mini-vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. You might remember that several other Seattle Mom Bloggers stayed at this water park resort when it first opened but I couldn’t join in because I had to work that weekend. NOT THAT I HOLD GRUDGES!

I was eager to spend some time in the company of Shannon, Alexis and Shera, all of whom had boys in tow and were equally giddy to explore Great Wolf Lodge.

After driving over three hours thanks to traffic, we finally arrived. We had a family suite, two queen sized beds with a partition and a pull out couch in the other area. It was perfect for our three-person family. I was immediately impressed that there was a recycling bin inside the room and literature throughout emphasizing their commitment to Project Green Wolf. They are the first and only hotel chain in the U.S. to have all of its properties a Green Seal Silver certification.

The Great Wolf Lodge Water Park from mona on Vimeo.

We suited up and immediately hit the water park, which my three-year-old exclaimed, “WOW!” And I had to agree. Oh mercy, I can understand why people would drive hours through heat and stubborn I-5 traffic to visit this water park mecca. It is stunning. It was a sprawling lush indoor oasis, complete with towering slides, a wave pool, Jacuzzis, and my favorite—a toddler area. Twenty-four lifeguards are constantly on patrol. They stood in the wet trenches with the other parents, ready to blow their whistles.

My husband and I took turns watching Nathan while one of us ventured to the big slides. Because I was alone, I had to find a group who would take in this 26-year-old mother as one of their slide mates. I found a dad with his two tween girls and tapped on his shoulder and asked sheepishly if I could join them on the Howling Tornado.

He said, “Yeah! The more white the better! No offense of course!”

I smiled at him, but I had no idea what he meant because how could I be offended? I’m not white, I’m Pacific Islander. It wasn’t until we were ready to board the four-seater tube that I realized he didn’t mean the more white the better, he meant the more weight the better. And by the time my rickety brain processed that, I was glad I didn’t open my big fat mouth because that would have been awkward.

We slowly bobbed in the dark tunnel then were catapulted into a huge red and yellow dome and I thought I was in a scene from Willy Wonka. We zoomed up on the curves, from one side to the other, all of us screaming and laughing and “Wooing” until we zipped out the end. The weight certainly did help, which has been the only time that my junk in the trunk has come in handy!

I want to go to there!

My son paid no attention while my husband and I ducked out for our own turns at the slides. The toddler area gave him enough to climb, slide and wade through and with each time down the slide, I knew he was adding to his nap account.

With all the guests milling about, it still didn’t feel crowded. There was enough space for everyone. And the water wasn’t harsh with chlorine. I learned that all the chemicals are computer monitored and there is a very elaborate and scientific system that keeps my eyes from feeling like they had been poke with an open flame. There were life jackets stationed for the little kids, tubes ready for us to schlep up the stairs, a shop with swim suits and swim diapers and a snack shop that fills your tummy so you never. have. to. leave.

But what do you do when you’re water logged and need to be on dry ground? Great Wolf Lodge provides a plethora of on-site activities so guests of all ages can be entertained.

high ceilings and spacious floor plan

The Cub Club was a quaint and quiet little spot on the second floor that had books and tables for crafts. My husband and son decorated a t-shirt and then my son found some Great Wolf Lodge real estate he was interested in purchasing.

Another big draw was the Magic Quest game. For 14.99 for a wand and 9.99 for a game (including an Ancient Book of Wisdom [printed in 2008!]), five floors of the hotel are instantly transformed into a mystical journey for gems and other puzzles. I was amongst travelers of all ages and was especially aware of this fact when early in my game an eight-year-old told me that I was holding the wand THE WRONG WAY. After I figured out what I was doing, I had so much fun finding the colored crystals and also seeing what exactly I could do with the wand. There are statues, sculptures and paintings all over the hotel that activate when you flick your wand towards it.

The only downside for me was that Magic Quest was not an all-night game (it runs from 9AM to 9PM), because I’m sure that I would have won if I didn’t have to compete against kids! Still, I loved seeing dads reading from the guidebook while pushing strollers and whole families walking along, trying to figure out where to go next. And if you’re like me, you could always ask a kid where they found the blue crystal; they seemed to like helping out bumbling adults.

trying to activate the elevator

There’s also an ice cream shop, restaurants, STARBUCKS, Crocs and stuffed animal kiosks, a spa for adults and another one for kids and your own hotel room to collapse in after you’ve visited all those places.

The customer service was phenomenal. When Nathan tripped and sent a filled cup of orange juice across a busy area, leaving a huge orange puddle on the ground, one of the ladies working the ice cream scoop shop swooped in with rags and a big yellow wet floor sign, and on top of that, she gave us a whole new bottle of orange juice even though we had purchased the orange juice elsewhere and we gave her a mess to clean up on a busy Saturday night. We thanked her profusely and she smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, it happens.” I COULD HUG THAT WOMAN FOR HER KINDNESS. I would have, but she quickly took her role behind the counter and I couldn’t reach that far. And again, it would be awkward!

I think the biggest drawback for families is the price of the rooms, which is not cheap. However, I will say that the total cost of our vacation was much cheaper than our recent visits out of state to theme parks. Great Wolf Lodge makes huge efforts to accommodate budget-minded folks. There is a refrigerator and you can bring in your own food and well-stocked cooler if you’re so inclined. There are other restaurants and grocery stores outside the park as well, so you can visit those for more options. Also, the use of the water park is very generous. Check-in time is 4PM but you can begin to use the pool at 1PM and after you check out at 11 AM, you’re free to roam the water park until it closes at 9PM.

nathan had a howling time

Our stay at Great Wolf Lodge was so incredible, my husband and I were already discussing when we could have a follow-up visit. I think that’s the mark of a successful vacation—you’re already planning the next one before you’re even home.

For more pictures please visit my flickr page and also check out some of what my fellow lady bloggers have to say.

*disclaimer: We paid for our own rooms, although we received a discounted media rate for our stay. We received the Cub Pass for free, which allowed us to experience the various activities reviewed above. Many thanks to the staff of Great Wolf Lodge for being incredible and generous hosts!

nathan being cooperative as always

Mona is a blogger, mom and bona fide cheapskate living in Seattle with her toddler and husband. She is rarely smarter than fifth graders. You can find her rambling on her blog, Kirida.

Father’s Day is one of these quid pro quo holidays that I only celebrate based on the level and intensity that Mother’s Day was celebrated. Only I don’t really remember Mother’s Day. I know I received a card and I think there was a Chinese buffet involved. In fact, I do remember the Chinese buffet because it was crab legs day and the restaurant patrons vultured around the crab station and I did not get any crab legs!

Thankfully, there won’t be any buffets in our agenda today. I have a “World’s Greatest Dad” waiting for my husband, and a card written in crayon. Spoiler: I helped with the crayon message since the three-year-old still has difficulty following my yelling, “What ever it is you’re doing, STOP IT!”

And if you haven’t picked up a gift yet, may I suggest heading to the grocery store and picking up any of the gift cards in stock. It’ll be better than what Tracy Jordan received from his kids.

While we’re at the park today, eating a small picnic and yelling at our son to not stick rocks in his mouth, Seattle Mom Bloggers like Kathy from Priceless Parenting have other plans: “My husband loves going out for brunch so our family’s tradition is to splurge once a year and enjoy the buffet brunch at Salty’s on Alki. He can pretty much expect the traditional gift too…a Family Four Pack of tickets to a Mariner’s game on a Wednesday night! ”

So what are you doing today to celebrate Father’s Day?

On Wednesday night, some Seattle-area bloggers, moms and mom bloggers were invited to a night of pampering courtesy of 5 Minutes for Mom and Pledge.  It was held at the aptly-named Swoon Boutique Spa in Capitol Hill, where the guests were treated to free manicures, pedicures and massages.  I don’t have enough exclamation points to describe how luxurious it was to even be offered such a beauty-trio, and on top of that, all of our laptops were given some pampering, too, thanks to Pledge Multi-Surface.

swooning

I was very happy to meet some local bloggers, some of whom I have only met twice or only seen on the internet. Who knew that these were very real (and really photogenic) women existed outside of their internet spaces? I love meeting bloggers, especially female bloggers, because it’s nice to have a conversation with people who “get” it; people to whom you don’t have to explain what twitter is, who Dooce is, and how weird it is when your elementary school classmate super pokes you on Facebook.

pedis

I signed up first for the pedicure because I knew it was my most urgent of the beauty procedures.  The last pedicure I had was in 2006, shortly before I gave birth to my son and my boss at the time mentioned that fire-engine red toe nails would be a good touch since everyone would be looking at my feet.  Though I can assure you, my feet were not the focal point in any of those 12 hours. The beautician did wonders to my huge Shrek-like feet. What’s it like to have feet like Shrek? Imagine leaving footprints that would make a dinosaur crater seem tiny.

maggie isn't hiding at all

It was also a first pedicure for Maggie from Mighty Maggie, whom I have coerced into being my best friend.  Don’t you see how she loves that I’m sticking a huge camera lens in her face and telling her to act natural!  Like I’m not even there! I’m so stealth!

ellen snaps a shot

susan tweets

It’s just like bloggers to immediately broadcast their experiences on twitter. What did we do before twitter? I think I just stuck my head out the window and yelled, “HEY, MY KID JUST POOPED AGAIN!” or hollered in the grocery aisles, “O-M-G BACON! NOM NOM NOM!”

good times

stacia and wendi

shannon!

rawr!

It was a great night even though we had to pour out a little lavender lemonade on the ground–gangsta style–to remember our sick homie, Leslie who could not make it.

swooning for pledge

We also left a with a goodie bag with Pledge Multi-Surface cleaning tools, plus a Pledge flash drive which hosted product info and a survey to find out what kind of cleaner are you. You can also take this quiz on their website. I’m more of a follow-the-leader cleaner, which means, I wait until my very spic-and-span husband walks through the house bellowing, “THERE’S A TRAIL OF MONA HERE!”  or waves his hands over my various piles and says, “What are we going to do about this?” Hopefully, with Pledge, I won’t have to wait until my husband is giving me dirty looks before I work on making my house sparkle.

Check out more photos of our debauchery (okay, debauchery with a small “d”) here in my Flickr gallery.

You can read Mona’s personal blog Kirida, which means “favorite child” in her native language, Chamorro. She doesn’t mind explaining this to people because she’s just keeping it real, yo. She also hopes to have another manicure in the future, perhaps before her three-year-old graduates from high school.

SEATTLE-Ethiopia is the cradle of mankind, the birthplace of coffee, the purported resting place of the Ark of the Covenant-and home to legions of Bob Marley fans. Discover five million years of this country’s diverse history and culture in the world premiere exhibition Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia, on display at Pacific Science Center from Oct. 4, 2008 – March 8, 2009.

As always, the Pacific Science Center in Seattle has made a well-rounded anthropological exhibit. It begins with a historical tour through Ethiopia’s ancient history. Visitors are taken through a study of the cultural and religious aspects that have shaped this ancient civilization. Photos and artifacts are brought to life with an audio wand that acts as your personal docent. See ancient Korans and beautiful diptych paintings. Learn more about the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon’s lineage and brush up on your Rastafarian knowledge.

Next you’ll find a hands-on area that transitions the historical area into the archaeological area. It gives visitors a chance to search for fossils and piece together a skeleton. You have many opportunities to bring out your inner Indiana Jones. From here you will see replicas of hominid fossil skulls representing our evolutionary changes throughout time.

The culmination of the exhibit is a beautiful evolutionary mural that is a backdrop to Lucy. �Dr. Donald C. Johanson discovered this 3.18 million year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil. His 1974 expedition at Hadar, Ethiopia was a breakthrough. Johanson’s discovery filled in a missing link in the evolutionary scale. Lucy’s skeleton gave evidence of a previously unknown species of hominid.

Give your family at least three hours for this exhibit. You can end your tour with a viewing of Mysteries of the Nile in the Eames IMAX� Theater. Mystery of the Nile is a breathtaking cinematic adventure that takes audiences on an expedition down the world’s greatest and most deadly river, the Blue Nile. For 114 days, a team of explorers led by Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown face seemingly insurmountable challenges-class VI rapids, dangerous crocodiles and hippos, gunfire from bandits, malaria, sand storms and the fierce desert sun-as they make their way along all 3,250 miles of the river to became the first in history to complete a full descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea. Throughout the journey crossing Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, the beauty and wonder of the magnificent Nile region are revealed as never before.

Images and Information used with permission, courtesy of pacificsciencecenter.org

Pacific Science Center (http://pacificsciencecenter.org) is an independent, not-for-profit educational institution that inspires lifelong interest in science, math and technology by engaging diverse communities through interactive and innovative exhibits and programs in every county of Washington state and beyond.

IMAX� is a registered trademark of the IMAX Corporation

Astacia Carter is also known as mamikaze. Read her blog Life On the Run .

With our weather outside beginning its turn to the wet side, why not go get wet on purpose inside and have fun doing it?

The hubs, Kid and I spent the weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA.� And what a great time we had.� In case you hadn’t heard, the west coast now has one of these lodge/indoor waterpark destinations.� Four Seattle Mom Bloggers wrote about its grand opening this spring, so check out their photos and opinions, too.

After a long summer with lots of work trips for my husband, our family really needed a getaway, and this one magically managed to make everyone happy.� Since we’ve been home, I’ve gotten a lot of questions from friends about this lodge.� If you’re wondering if this place would work for you, here’s the lowdown:

Getting there took three hours in Friday afternoon traffic from Bainbridge Island, driving across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (”extortion bridge” as the hubs says now that there’s a toll), but the same route took only two hours coming back on Sunday afternoon.

The indoor waterpark has attractions for all ages, from a little toddler pool (6″ deep or less) to two giant slides that yours truly chickened out on and never saw the insides of.� But the hubs liked them.� Maybe if they make an elevator to the top, rather than five flights of stairs, I’ll think about it. That and a liquid frozen strawberry Xanax beverage….� I heard they’re adding an outdoor pool area for next summer, too.

They have lots of inner tubes for all to use and lots of life vests in three sizes for the littler swimmers, so don’t bring your own water wings.� We thoroughly enjoyed the wave pool which reminded me never to fall overboard in the ocean.� I’d never make it.

We enjoyed getting hit by the water, and I mean “HIT”, when a giant bucket three stories up dumped I don’t know how many gallons down.� Everyone was lying down on the floor and getting pelted, so naturally, Kid and I did, too.� (see the photo below)� Let’s just say, remember to plug your nose.

If we got a little chilly, which we did a few times, we just headed over to the indoor/outdoor hot tub.� Sweet.

The room we had was quite spacious.� Each room or suite has a small fridge, microwave, coffee maker and hair dryer.� And a TV with on-demand games, movies and tv shows.� Each room does not have its own swimsuit spinner, so use the one downstairs at the park.� And do what we did: bring two suits per person, so when you head back to the water later that same day, you have a dry suit to wear.

The food from the two restaurants was good, and boy, talk about complete kids menus!� All the basics were covered:� hot dogs, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, spaghetti and meatballs, carrots and dip, and applesauce.� One restaurant was an all-you-can-eat buffet style, and the other a sit-down restaurant with menu (which made more sense if you’re not going to eat a lot).� They lost money at the buffet the night the hubs found the mussels and crayfish.� They even surprised us by having an Erath pinot noir.� Yum.� Given the fridges in the rooms, you can bring a lot of your own food and/or drinks to keep in your room, too, and spend your money on more fun things….

This brings me to the other activities.� Oh, sure you go for the waterpark, but you will be thoroughly entertained by the other games.� These GWL people know what they’re doing, in a Disneyland kind of way.� Not only is there an arcade with all those Chuck E. Cheese type games, and ticket, and toys.� There’s also a “cubs club” room for crafts for littler kids, and a teens room with I don’t even know what.� They even have a nightly “musical show” in the lobby with singing animals and storytime afterwards.� If all that is just too much for mom or dad, you can purchase a giant beer or margarita and stroll the property with your glass.� Like a college dorm party, only some of the partygoers happen to be kindergarteners.

In case the swimming scene isn’t your thing, the lodge offers a spa with massages, facials, pedicures, all the fun stuff, for the biggest kids.

But most fun of all, in a totally addictive way, was the Magi Quest.� This game involved us buying a magic wand which activated tons of magical treasure chests, paintings, and crystals throughout the hotel.� You pick a quest to earn a rune and have a 21st century scavenger hunt.� Over and over again.� On five floors of the hotel.� Everywhere you went kids, big and small, were waving these wands.� (The lodge also provides “birthday packages” if your kids need some way to blow everyone else’s birthday parties out of the water, so to speak.)

Of course, you could buy additional decorations for your wands.� I think Kid’s wand now has a street value of $50, easy.� And when we go back, the wand will remember where we left off on the adventures.� Cool, eh? Let’s hope the dog doesn’t enjoy the wand in the meantime….

All in all, we had a blast.� This lodge is a great addition to our area of the country, especially for this Northwest climate.� Move over Mouse; here comes the Wolf!

Thanks, GWL!!

Wendy can be found drying off at Let the dog in!� You can reach her at wendy(at)letthedogin(dot)com.

So you’ve been nominated for a contest and you really, really want to win.

You know you probably won’t win on your own merit, because let’s face it, you’re really not all that good.

But why should how deserving you are have ANYTHING to do with winning?

What’s an unethical blogger to do?

HOW NOT TO WIN A CONTEST:

1. Email people that you haven’t talked to in 6+ months and ask them to vote for you.�
2. Email people who you don’t really know but you happen to have their email address and ask them to vote for you.
3. If people don’t vote for you after the first email, keep emailing them until they do. Fill up their inbox! �THAT will make them want to vote for you.
4. Email everyone you know and all the people you hardly know and ask them to make up fake accounts in order to vote for you.
5. Ask people to forward your email to all the people they know (and even the ones they hardly know) asking THOSE people to vote for you.
6. Email all the bloggers who have more traffic than you do and ask them to dedicate a post on their blog to you and your contest. They owe it to you, after all, because they have traffic and you don’t.�
7. If you email bloggers and ask them to post about you, and then they don’t, keep emailing them. �If you email them enough times they’ll probably change their mind.
8. Set up a Facebook account called “VOTE FOR ME” and invite all your Facebook friends to join it.
9. The last day of the contest, start a contest countdown. Email everyone hourly reminders about voting and faking voting and forwarding the email to their friends. �You don’t have anything better to do, so they probably don’t either.

Did I forget anything?

(You realize that this is sarcastic, right? �RIGHT?)

� Jenny Blackburn. All Rights Reserved.

Subscribe to �On Blogging� | Subscribe to Seattle Mom Blogs

Catch more of Jenny Blackburn�s humorous anecdotes on being a mom, a woman, and a whole lot crazy at Absolutely Bananas. If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for �On Blogging,� email jenny[@]seattlemomblogs[dot]com.

This is step 3 in The Bloggy Chiropractor 3-step program, in which we work on correcting our blog/life balance.

In this session, we’re going to focus on analyzing our blogging.� Then we’ll use this self-analysis to make positive change.�

Ready?

Good.

Analyze it

Pull out a clean sheet of paper and a good pen.� Put on some jazzy music and pour yourself a glass of wine.� It’s time for some introspection, baby!

Think about these questions.

1) Why do I blog?

2) What about blogging stresses me out?

3) What do I do under the guise of “blogging” purely because of habit, or because I think I should?

4) What do I truly enjoy about blogging?

5) What are my goals from blogging?

These are tough questions, so don’t expect that you’ll get them answered all pat with your t’s crossed and i’s dotted the first go-round.� Take a stab and then let it simmer for a few days.� Revisit your answers and make edits.� When you feel good about your list, move on to the next step.

Refocus

Pull out the brainstorming you did.� I’m going to walk you through how to use that information to refocus your blogging efforts.

1) Why do you blog

Look at the reasons that you wrote down.� Evaluate each reason for the following:

- is this healthy?
- is this realistic?
- is this maintainable?
- is blogging the best way to accomplish this goal?

This isn’t easy.� These questions require a lot of self-reflection and honesty.� But it’s worth it.

2) What about blogging stresses me out?

3) What do I do under the guise of “blogging” purely because of habit, or because I think I should?

The next part is easy.� I want you to look at what you wrote down for #2 and #3.�

Now stop doing every single one of them.� Seriously, STOP.� Don’t do those things until you feel like you want to again. No matter how important you think they are.�

You know what?� You�probably won’t�miss them.

4) What do I truly enjoy about blogging?

Now that you’ve cut out a whole lot of stuff from #2 and #3, you have more time.� Give yourself permission to spend MORE time doing the things that you enjoy.

Every time you feel drawn to do something under #2 or #3, consult this list and choose something here instead.

5) What are my goals for blogging?

Look at your blog as it is today.� Is this blog in line with your goals?� If not, how can you bring it in line with your goals?

Create an action plan of at least three concrete things you can do to move your blogging activities more in line with your long-term goals.

To infinity and beyond

I wish I could say “goodbye and you’re healed.”

But the truth is, this is a process.�

The next time you feel like you’re getting in over your head, do a bloggy detox and take a 2-week vacation.� Or re-read step 2.� Or go through the answers for step 3.� Or redo the whole process.

It’s your turn

Now I want to hear from you… your thoughts on the process.� Where are you at?� What are you excited about?� Let’s motivate and inspire each other, shall we?

� Jenny Blackburn. All Rights Reserved.

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Catch more of Jenny Blackburn�s humorous anecdotes on being a mom, a woman, and a whole lot crazy at Absolutely Bananas. If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for �On Blogging,� email jenny[@]seattlemomblogs[dot]com.