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Jul 22, 2009

And Knowing Is Half The Battle

July 22, 2009 By

Since tomorrow is the big day where I’m getting behind the wheel and making the drive to Chicago, I thought I’d do a small post to let those who I may be meeting in the next 24-48 hours know what to expect when they meet me.

I will stare at your name badge. Even if I’ve known you for four years. I’m lousy with faces and when people change their hair or gain/lose weight, it’s like they’re new people to me. So know that I’m just trying to jog my memory and not staring at your bewbs. Unless you want me to.

Want me to love you forever? Yell my name across the lobby (it makes me feel an eensy-weensie bit important), or come up to me and tell me you read my blog. You’ll see me blush, and know that you just paid me one of the biggest compliments of my life by admitting you read what I write. (This probably goes for many bloggers.)

I suffer from an as-yet-undiscovered condition called BlogHer ADD. It means that in a large crowd of bloggers I get distracted rather easily, and if the room is extremely loud I’m known to zone out and not notice someone right in front of me. If I’m walking past you and don’t notice you if you say hi, grab my arm or something – I’m probably zoned out and need something to focus on.

Speaking of grabbing my arm – I don’t mind people touching me. Some like it, some don’t, but I’m totally a hugger. If you’re not, that’s fine, and I won’t be offended.

I’m a very casual person, so forgive me for any breaches of etiquette.

The dark circles under my eyes don’t necessarily mean I’m tired. I’ve had them all my life – even pics of me at five years old show a kid who looks like she’s been up all night. Pale skin and unfortunate cheekbone structure equals dark circles under the eyes. No amount of concealer can cover it up. However, if you assume I’m tired and offer me a coffee, I’ll still take you up on it.

I’m dressing up for the cocktail parties, and feel free to get a good laugh at me in a dress. I dress up roughly twice a year, which makes me look all kinds of awkward in a dress and heels. The truth is, I LIKE dresses, I just think they’re horribly impractical for everyday life. BlogHer gives me an excuse to be girly, although my hair and makeup will still be style impaired.

Of course everyone will tell you they’re geeky (it is a blogging conference, right?), but I am truly geeky. Ever watched the TV show The Big Bang Theory? I’m Sheldon. OK, maybe I’m not quite Sheldon, but I’m close at times. I’ll admit I’m not very funny, and my wit has a five minute delay. (You know – you think of the perfect witty response to something five minutes after it was said.)

I will talk your ears off given the right topic. Just ask Stimey – WhyMommy introduced us last year and I immediately held her hostage at the cocktail party for nearly an hour talking about our kids.

I’m not too proud to admit I LOVE swag. Free stuff is awesome. I love to try out new products, and all of the other little goodies make great gifts for my family.

I’ve never been in a limo before. It’s true. And I just found out I get to ride in one at some point during BlogHer. I’m far too excited than I should probably be about this.

I graduated nursing school in June, and as soon as I take my license exam I’ll be a registered nurse. No, I can’t diagnose that pain in your side, but if you sprain an ankle in your high heels I can help you elevate it and apply ice.

My astrological sign is Gemini/Cancer – I was born on the cusp, leaning towards the Cancer side. Which means I’m normally a fairly quiet person who likes to stay at home, but deep inside I want to be a party girl. BlogHer is satisfying my Gemini desires.

Those of you who have met me before are free to add anything I’ve forgotten, or may not even realize about myself. We should be arriving tomorrow in Chicago mid-afternoon, barring any travel issues. Looking forward to meeting many of you!

Filed Under: BlogHer09, me me me


Jul 10, 2009

Haiku Friday: Life vs. E-mail

July 10, 2009 By
The messages pile
up in my Inbox. Do I
owe you an e-mail?

If so, I’m sorry.
Life gets in the way at the
worst times, doesn’t it?

Cordy’s tooth, job hunts
and summer chores have taken
over my brain now.

I’ve stopped starring all of the messages I want to reply to in my Gmail inbox, because it was simply too many. I’m spending the next 24 hours playing catch-up, hoping to make a small dent in the flood of correspondence I need to respond to. And then once I’ve tackled part of that mess, I can turn my attention back to everything else taking up my time at the moment. Why must the summer months always be the busiest?

But on the bright side, I’m glad it’s all e-mail and not paper mail. Just think of what a mess that would be.

(And oh! my lame haiku today! Next week will be better!)

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your main blog URL). DON’T sign unless you have a haiku this week. If you need help with this, please let me know.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button at the top.

REMEMBER: Do not post your link unless you have a haiku this week! I will delete any links without haiku!

Filed Under: daily life, me me me


Jun 25, 2009

Mid-Blog Crisis

June 25, 2009 By

Last weekend I attended PodCampOhio, a free conference for bloggers, vloggers, podcasting, and other types of social media. Overall, it was a great experience, and I feel like I learned a lot, while also meeting some new local bloggers, including those I already knew in name if not in person.

But one unexpected side effect of the event was an enhanced feeling of uneasiness with my blog. I’ve already been feeling as if I’m adrift lately, either due to a lack of focus or the possibility that my life has become so boring that I can’t find anything interesting to blog about. Don’t worry, I’m not pulling one of those I’m shutting down my blog 4-ever c-ya!!! dramatic moments, because that’s not what I want at all. I’m simply trying to refine and make this a better place for me and for everyone who stops by and cares for what I write.

One session I attended at PodCampOhio had me convinced I needed to “rebrand” my blog. I mean, after all, just look at my blog name: A Mommy Story. What in the world does that tell the reader about me? It says I’m a mom, and this is likely a mom blog. Well, that wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t 163,946,037 OTHER mom blogs out there.

A Mommy Story is a somewhat dull name, created after the first three tries were already taken on Blogger back in 2005. Instead of taking the time to ponder and wait for inspiration to gift me with a creative name, I kept typing out new names desperately, because I had to have my blog now! now! now!

This session talked about setting yourself apart from your “competition” – offering unique value, being specific and remarkable, finding something to stand for, etc. Honestly, it was a lot of good information, even if it did send this blogger into a panic. I’ve screwed it all up from the beginning! I thought.

And then another session discussed good storytelling, and I realized I couldn’t tell you all about my blog in one sentence. Hmmm…maybe I’m not focused enough?

Finally, Dawn advised me that what I really needed to do was keep my blog name, but get my lazy butt off of Blogger and make the jump to WordPress, since Blogger isn’t always playing nice with some computers/browsers of late, which could be affecting my traffic.

So…yeah. I’m more confused than ever. Do I try to focus my scope more? Do I try to find an angle that works? Do I find a new blog name and rebrand? Do I switch to my own domain and WordPress? (OK, that last one really does need to happen. I am lazy, and I like the look of WordPress.)

Or do I just say to hell with all of that branding and narrative advice and keep on doing what I’m doing? I know some people will tell me that I shouldn’t worry about all of the superficial stuff like branding and contrived storyline focus. Writing should be organic, right? But I’m not one of those bloggers who can weave words with ease into artful essays, or come up with a story that is outrageously funny and over-the-top.

I’ll also admit: I do care about my stats, and I know I’m not supposed to care. I don’t like seeing that I’ve lost 1/4 of my traffic in the past year. Comments are down, making me wonder if I’m actually connecting with readers in a meaningful way or if my posts are still interesting. I still love every one of my readers like I love my chocolate cake – maybe even more so now that there are fewer of you.

(Side note: Wow, talk about rambling. This post counts as everything that might be wrong with my blog. All over the place without an editor. All I need for a truly dreadful post would be several different fonts, font sizes and colors throughout. Bear with me – I’m working through this as I type.)

So after writing all of this out, where does it leave me? Neurotic and in desperate need of a Xanax? Probably.

I’m not making any decision at the moment. I’m going to think on the topic at least until after BlogHer, then decide if I want to make any changes. Well, aside from the move to WordPress – I’m pretty certain on that one, once I learn CSS or save up for a good theme design. Maybe I’m just thinking too hard about this – after all, my birthday was also this weekend, and birthdays always make me susceptible to overthinking about what I’m doing with my life.

Feel free to add your thoughts to my one-person argument. I’d love to know what you want to see from me. Or how you solved a blogging crisis you’ve had. I know I’m really opening myself up to criticism here, and my flame-proof jacket is standing by. Just know that any comment of UR CRAZY = not helpful.

(Oh, I’m going to regret hitting publish on this one…)

Filed Under: me me me Tagged With:


Jun 21, 2009

Dueling Special Occasions

June 21, 2009 By

So when your birthday falls on the same day as Father’s Day, which one gets the day off? Or do they cancel themselves out entirely? I’m not really sure.

Of course, birthdays aren’t nearly as cool as an adult as they were when we were younger. I no longer wait with excited anticipation for the big day. Now I just hope to sleep in and get through the day without a meltdown from a child. And maybe an adult beverage in the evening.

Happy Father’s Day, Aaron. And happy 33rd to me. Hopefully double 3’s works out better than 32, with fewer new wrinkles and grey hairs.

Filed Under: me me me


Jun 5, 2009

Haiku Friday: DONE!

June 5, 2009 By
A great day has come
My final exam is done, now
I can graduate

This journey started
here three years ago and now
you’ll see it end, too.

I should be telling you that next week I’ll be walking across the stage in an elaborate graduation ceremony, but the truth is, I’m counting today as my graduation. I did the graduation walk when I received my BA in History, so I really don’t feel the need to sit through another one of those again. There is a pinning ceremony next week that I will attend, and I’ll try to have someone remember a camera.

It was here on this little blog that I decided to switch careers and try nursing, back in 2006. Cordy was 15 months old, Mira wasn’t even a thought yet. I wasn’t sure at the time if I would actually follow-thru with my bright new idea – after all, I’ve got credits for two Master’s degrees sitting around that I only half finished.

There were several days I considered quitting. The work was overwhelming at times. After pre-requisites, I started my actual nursing classes with a three month old baby at home. More than once I had to remind myself that not only was this an interest of mine, but that I was doing this for my family, too. I had to finish this because they needed me to finish.

I really disliked several of my clinical locations, and realized quickly that I was never going to be a happy nurse in med-surg. My two favorite clinicals were our mother/infant clinical and the rotation through pediatrics at Children’s Hospital.

But with the support of my family (especially Aaron, who had to deal with me stressed out every single day sometimes) and friends who provided both online and in-person cheering sections, I made it. The last exam was completed at 2:10pm today. I have my grade for the class. I will be graduating with honors (Cum Laude). And after I take our state license exam at the end of the month, I’ll officially be a Registered Nurse.

(WOO-HOO!)

What will I do with all my free time now? (Message from my practical side: look for a job!)

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your main blog URL). DON’T sign unless you have a haiku this week. If you need help with this, please let me know.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button at the top.

REMEMBER: Do not post your link unless you have a haiku this week! I will delete any links without haiku!

Filed Under: me me me, school