Who says you can only have Thanksgiving in November?

Today is a day of many things to be thankful for. It almost seems weird to say that, because at the beginning of the week, things were looking bleak. It would have been easy to get discouraged. But things have turned around, and I am thankful.

1. I had my surgery yesterday. It was minor, but it was still my first surgery, and therefore it was scary. We had to show up at the hospital at 5:30 a.m., and had no idea when I would be allowed to return home. When all was said and done, we were home by 11:00 a.m., the surgery went well, and I felt pretty good, all things considered.

2. We have truly fabulous friends. My friend Kaitlin showed up at our house at the ridiculous time of 4:45 a.m., and slept on our couch until Greg got home around 6:30 to get the girls ready for school. Then she was on standby, along with my friend Kristen, to pick the girls up from school. They were going to transport them over to my friend Cindy's school, where she was going to watch the girls indefinitely, even though she was in the middle of running a dress rehearsal for her high school's production of Beauty and the Beast.

If necessary, Cindy was going to then bring the girls back to our apartment and put them to bed. Ultimately, we were home in time for Greg to pick up the girls and bring them home, but I am so, so blessed to be able to call these women my friends.

3. Speaking of fabulous friends, my friend Jessica just texted me and requested that I allow her and her husband Daniel to bring us dinner tonight. She actually said "please," like I was somehow doing her the favor. And this is from a friend who has been up to her ears helping to plan our church's consignment sale all week/month (add to that the fact that the sale opened to the public today, and you have a picture of just how fortunate we are to have friends like this). This is amazingly helpful to us, since while I'm feeling pretty decent, all things considered, I'm still mostly only comfortable in a sedentary state. Cooking =/= sedentary.

4. Speaking of the consignment sale, I spent last weekend tagging all sorts of baby stuff for the sale. It cleared out some serious room in our closets, and will hopefully make us a decent amount of spending money. I'm signed up to work at the sale tomorrow at the end of the sale (assuming I feel okay...so far so good!), but I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't get to go shop during the pre-sale or early opening hours. Then Jessica - you know, the same friend who's bringing me dinner - offered to do some shopping for me. On top of working at the sale and bringing me dinner. Oh, and raising her own child. Seriously, why are my friends so awesome? I'm pretty sure I am not nearly as good a friend to them as they are to me.

5. Greg took the day off from work yesterday to take care of me, and is coming home early today so he can pick Rachel up from the bus stop and handle the kids. I was confident I could handle just Chloe on my own, but two seemed like a bit much.

6.  Chloe has been a perfect angel today, even though I can't really play or pick her up or drive her anywhere. She's kept herself occupied with toys, coloring books, a couple Strawberry Shortcake episodes, and read-to-me book apps on the iPad. Plus she's been bringing me presents and giving me kisses randomly, and asking me how I'm doing.

7. We've been talking to our insurance company, trying to get our whole health insurance fiasco sorted out. And yesterday after the surgery, Greg got the call that it is fixed! They are allowing us to move our effective coverage date, thus making all my procedures, tests, and doctor's visits covered. This lifts a huge financial burden, and we are so, so thankful. Plus, our representative at the Farm Bureau has been incredibly helpful. I can't say enough good things about her.

8. My parents sent me flowers. Again. I think these are even prettier than the last ones (love the square vase).

9. I've been using my convalescence as an excuse to have a marathon of Friday Night Lights. I started watching it based largely on the recommendation of our friend Nate, even though I don't care a lick about football (especially high school football, which is a huge part of what the show is about). Oh. My. Word. I am totally addicted to this show. The only thing that I don't like is the fact that the characters actually graduate and leave for college and you don't really see them again. You know, like in real life (but not like in most TV shows about high school students). So I guess that's also something I do like.

10. My brothers both just got new jobs that they are really excited about. I'm so proud of them.

11. I'm sure there is far more to be thankful for, but Chloe just informed me that it's time for her nap. Which is something to be thankful for in and of itself.

All I need is a cape.

We're still here. Sorry, I probably should have mentioned that a few days ago, but I forgot. The tornadoes turned out to be a complete non-event in our neck of the woods. Many of the surrounding areas had tornadoes, hail, and storms, but we didn't get much of anything. We did have 9 extra people in our apartment for a while, just in case a tornado decided to show up, but it didn't. It was actually a pretty fun and non-eventful evening.

In unrelated news, I somehow managed to rip the left contact from my last remaining pair of contacts. Which means that now I can choose between blindness (well, not really, but close), a weird one-contact experience where I can only focus with one eye, and my 10-year-old pair of glasses. It's not the most awesome choice in the world.

At least these glasses are marginally socially acceptable and not the huge wire-rims from my middle school days. You know the kind. They were inexplicably popular with nerdy kids in the early '90s, not in any way stylish, and took up half my face.

The nerdy 14-year-old in me rebels at the thought of wearing my glasses in front of people for any length of time. I think I'm still psychologically scarred from high school. After all, it wasn't until I ditched the glasses that I had any sort of social or dating life.

If you knew me in high school, stop laughing. I'm not saying I had much of a dating life post-glasses. I'm just saying that it existed. At all.

But the logical side of me realizes that my friends now are all in their 20s and 30s, and therefore are mature(ish) and probably less likely to shun me based on my appearance. And that I am married, and therefore have no need to attempt to get cute boys to notice me (and hopefully Greg will notice me anyway, because he has been well trained).

Plus, I have to allow for the possibility that the problem in high school wasn't the glasses at all, but rather my nearly crippling shyness, social awkwardness, and inability to dress myself like a normal human.

Sometimes I want to go back in time and give my high school self a makeover. Or at least a firm talking-to. I was a mess.

I need to get over to the optometrist to get a new prescription, because seriously, these glasses are 10 years old. But our vision insurance isn't effective for another month or so, and considering we're trying to save money, I can probably wait until then to go get my prescription updated. And until then...glasses.

It's okay though. I have been trained by my children to withstand harsh critiques of my appearance on a regular basis.

Case in point.

You may recall how last year I flaked out and nearly missed Rachel's dress rehearsal for her dance recital. But we did manage to show up on time for the recital itself, and for the recital, Rachel had to wear makeup.

It was moderately traumatic for me. 

Afterwards, Rachel told me that she didn't think she needed to wear makeup on a regular basis (a stance that I agreed with wholeheartedly). 

But, she reminded me urgently, I still need to wear makeup. A lot of it. All the time. Because I need it to be pretty. She is young and pretty just the way she is, but I need a lot of help. And this will probably just get worse as I get older.

The fact that she's right didn't make that any easier to hear.

She reminds me of this every time she sees me putting on makeup. She would like me to really cake it on, to squeeze out every last drop of pretty my old, haggard face can muster. And she always reminds me that I am the only one in our family who needs makeup, because she and Chloe are beautiful with no makeup at all, but I need it. Badly. 

At least I don't need to worry about her self confidence any time soon. Maybe her tact could use some work.

It's a sliding scale, though. Rachel recently told me I was the prettiest of all the moms. So I guess, in her eyes, while I am repulsive in comparison to her own staggering beauty, I am acceptable among my own kind.

And if Rachel's constant reminders that I am just not pretty on my own aren't enough, Chloe recently wandered into my bathroom to watch me apply makeup.

"Mom," she asked thoughtfully, "why are you putting on makeup?"

"To try to make myself look prettier," I said. "Do you think I look pretty  now?"
"No," she told me firmly.

I was not expecting that.

"Oh really?" I asked, "What do I need to do to look prettier?"

"I think you need longer ears. And a tail. Then you'd be pretty."

Hmm. Maybe I don't want to be a 3-year-old's definition of 'pretty.'

"Well, I don't know how to get longer ears or a tail, so I think I just have to go out like this. Would that be all right?"

"No," she repeated, "You need something else."

"What do I need?" I asked, foolishly thinking the answer would be something along the lines of 'different lipstick.'

"Hmmmm," she pondered, "Maybe a cape."

So it would seem that Chloe will not be able to settle for anything less than this:

Or maybe this:

Or the ultimate:

I'll keep working on it.

It's a twister! It's a twister!

I grew up in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is not known for its extreme weather (except for that week where we had an earthquake and a hurricane). And we knew when we moved back to Nashville, we were headed into an area that is known for its extreme weather.

So today when I found out that Nashville is at a "high risk" for tornadoes, I have to admit it. One of my first thoughts was, "figures." 

But the tornadoes aren't supposed to hit until later. And right now it looks like this outside:

...So I figure I have time to write a blog post.

I'm actually told that it's bad that it's so nice outside right now. Our gorgeous, 80-degree weather is apparently about to go all fight club with the cold weather headed our way, and it's going to result in some twisty, windy badness. Oh, and floods. Lots of floods.

But for now it's nice. Rachel was dismissed from school 3 hours early because of the seriousness of it all. It seems almost weird we're not playing outside. But I'd feel like a bad parent letting my kids play outside in a tornado warning.

And I've discovered I have weird thoughts when faced with an imminent tornado:

"I should buy bread and milk. That's what people do in imminent disaster situations."

"If a tornado hits our apartment, the bread and milk will be ruined. It will be a waste of money."

"If a tornado hits the grocery store, I'll be mad I didn't buy bread and milk."

"How many of us will actually fit in the bathtub?"

"Should I keep the blinds open, so I can see if there's a tornado coming, or closed, to protect us?"

"Why am I under the impression that vertical blinds would in any way protect us?"

"I heard that hiding in the bathtub and holding a mattress over you can keep you safe. But I don't think I can get Rachel's mattress off her bed by myself. Is hiding in a bathtub without a mattress effective?"

"I wish Chloe would nap now. It's going to be much harder to get her to sleep if there's a tornado."

"I will make soup in the crock pot. That way, if the electricity goes out, we will still have dinner."

"If the tornado throws the crock pot at me, I will wish it wasn't full of hot soup."

"I should charge the iPad so we can watch movies in the bathtub."

"I should clean the bathtub in case our friends want to hide in the bathtub. Wouldn't want to gross them out with a dirty bathtub."

"I can't believe all my comfortable socks are dirty. If I am going to lose everything but the clothes on my back,  I wish I was wearing more comfortable socks."

"I will do laundry so I can be sure to be wearing comfortable clothes if the tornado destroys our apartment."

"I wish I knew when the nice weather was going to turn into tornado weather, so that I could get the girls to go potty first."

So anyway. I'm going to go clean our apartment in case our friends seek refuge here. I've been putting it off, but really, our apartment's kind of a disaster area right now. It would be embarrassing for them to see it like this. Even if there's a tornado.

Prayers would be appreciated. Updates to follow.

So. It has come to this.

xkcd

I keep finding myself in situations where this seems to be the appropriate response. Some of them are my own fault. Some are God deciding to challenge me or the stars and planets aligning just right (or wrong) or a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world or something. I'm not sure. But the fact remains that the most appropriate response to several of life's happenings lately seems to be, "So. It has come to this." 

I noticed a light bulb in our ceiling fan in the living room burned out a couple days ago. But two were left, and I didn't think much of it. Then yesterday, a second one blew. Things were getting dire with the lighting situation, but I didn't feel a pressing need to go buy light bulbs. After all, we could still see. Then today, I came home, flipped on the light switch, and the last remaining light bulb sputtered and died. And the living room was plunged into darkness (or as much darkness as is reasonable on a semi-sunny day at 1:00 pm when you have a sliding glass door in the living room). And I don't have any replacement light bulbs. And since I don't want to go to the store and buy light bulbs today for a myriad of reasons (one of which, I'll admit, is laziness), I called maintenance to see if they replace light bulbs. 

So. It has come to this.

I have been waiting for a good deal on batteries. In the meantime, I have managed to completely run out of AA batteries. Which wouldn't be that big a deal, except for the fact that my mouse uses AA batteries. Fortunately, Greg has a supply of several backup mice (side note: even though I am fully aware that the plural of "mouse" is "mice," it still sounds weird to talk about "computer mice." I don't know why.), complete with batteries. So until I can get around to getting batteries (see above re: laziness), I just keep switching mice. 

So. It has come to this.

I've been having some medical issues. Nothing too troubling (prayers are always appreciated, though), but enough that I saw a doctor about it. And my doctor recommended a bunch of tests to find out what's wrong with me. And the results of those tests prompted more tests. And those tests prompted more tests. And those tests prompted some imminent minor surgery. All to take care of something that is, most likely, nothing. But it's the "most likely" part and the fact that "most likely" =/= "definitely" that prompts the doctors to keep recommending the next step, and me to agree. 

The problem in this whole scenario is not that there might be something wrong with me -- because let's face it. I'm young, I'm healthy, and my family history is good. Odds are I'm fine. The problem is that my first symptoms kicked in days -- literally days -- before our new Tennessee health insurance became effective. And although the first available doctor's appointment was after the coverage was effective, insurance companies (at least ours) don't go by the date of the appointment. They go by symptoms. And since I was honest with my first doctor and told her when the symptoms started (why did I have to remember the exact date? I can't even remember what day of the week it is half the time.), insurance isn't covering any of this. Not any of the 4 doctors I've seen so far, none of the 7 tests I've had, and not the most-likely-useless-but-probably-real-expensive surgery I have coming up. 

So unless we can either:

a) get the insurance company to take pity on us and pay for it anyway, or

b) get the medical centers to take pity on us and slash our bill to smithereens, 

....it looks like instead of paying off a bunch of debt this year, we'll be paying a ton of medical bills. FUN. It's making the $600 popsicle seem like a walk in the park.

So. It has come to this.

On the plus side, my parents sent me these lovely flowers, which really does make it all seem not so terrible. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Greg has figured out a magical way to deal with the girls' frequent meltdowns. He has started charging them a nickel every time they freak out for no reason. This really is a win-win for us. Either they decide that throwing a tantrum is, quite literally, "not worth it," or they throw a fit anyway and we get $0.05. 

If they freak out 20 times - not an unlikely scenario - we can split a large Sonic drink during Happy Hour!

Every time one of them starts to freak out, we just look at them and ask, "Do you want to pay me a nickel?" And you can see it flash through their little brains.

"So. It has come to this."

It's a good mantra.

Come, let us all revel in the mundane!

Man, my goal to write at least one post a week lasted for what, two weeks? Three? Pathetic.

I'd like to say I've been so very busy that I couldn't squeeze in 30 minutes to write a post, but that's not true. Mostly, I've been lacking in inspiration. I've heard various bloggers on numerous occasions say to push through it and just write about whatever crosses your mind, but I don't like the thought of spewing out drivel just for the sake of writing something.

Stop laughing. I may be long-winded, but I don't usually post drivel. At least not on purpose.

Plus, I really, really wanted the next thing I wrote to be funny. And I kept waiting for the girls to do something monumentally funny to give me some source material. But while they are always semi-amusing, nothing really story-worthy has happened. 

So, in the absence of my kids providing me with a hilarious anecdote to post, I'll just update you on what's been going on lately.

The Death of Snacktime

We've done away with snacks for the girls. Entirely. Until they eat their dinner for a week.

This may seem extreme, and perhaps it is, but our girls both had gotten into the habit of eating breakfast, lunch, and a small afternoon snack, and then patently refusing to eat their dinner. Maybe they'd try a couple bites. Maybe not even that much.

After months of dinner battles (which we lost most of the time, and which seemed like an empty victory, even when we won), we finally decided we were done with it. If they don't want to eat their dinner, fine. They can go to bed hungry. But we also decided that we're not going to let them go into dinner with their appetites sated. So we took away the snacks. 

We told the girls that after 7 nights of eating dinner, they could start having afternoon snacks again. After a few false starts, Rachel hit 7 consecutive nights a week ago, and has been enjoying snacks ever since (although she had a setback a couple nights ago, so she has to now eat dinner 2 nights in a row before gaining her snacks back). 

Chloe's proven more difficult. She will examine her dinner plate every night, and if she doesn't want to eat what's on it, she just announces, "I think I'm going to be on Day Zero. And I'm okay with that." 

And the weird thing is, she actually does seem to be okay with that. She doesn't complain (much) when I remind her that she can't have a snack. She eats a good-sized breakfast and lunch, so I'm not concerned about her nutrition (dinner has never been where either of my children receives the bulk of her nutrition). And at least we're saving money on snacks.

Discouraging Spazzing in Public

Rachel's teacher has been sending home notes from school. Notes for things like "twirling during instruction" and "jumping on her chair" and, my favorite, "repeatedly touching the wall after being told to stop."

Basically, Rachel is having issues being a spaz in school.

The notes encourage us to work on this behavior at home, although it's hard to work on that specific behavior, as we don't often have the girls line up on the wall at home. But working on letting Rachel know there's an appropriate time and place for her spazziness, and it is not when she is supposed to be listening to her teacher...we're trying our best.

It's challenging, because Rachel has a lot of energy. Rachel is one of those kids who is constantly moving, because she has problems sitting still. She sometimes gives me the rundown of her day while doing jumping jacks. Because she has to do something with all her excess energy. 

But she can also sit still to draw a picture, or watch a movie, or read a book. And sometimes she will come and cuddle with me, perfectly still, for several minutes at a time (which, in 5-year-old world, may as well be a week). So I'm not going to say that Rachel can't sit still or be quiet. I fully believe she can. She does. It's more about teaching her about the appropriate times to do so, and when it is appropriate to let out all her crazy frenetic energy.

We've had several talks with her about it, and she really wants to do better. She came home with a great note from her teacher yesterday, and she was so excited about it. Overall, when she can keep her head on straight, she does really well in school. 

She also goes to ballet once a week, which is hopefully also helping to teach her some discipline. I hear dancing is good for that (being the most uncoordinated person in the entire world, I wouldn't know firsthand). But of course, they also teach her twirling. 

I Thought There Would Be More Fanfare

On Sunday night, Chloe informed us she was going to sleep in underwear that night. Considering she has slept in a diaper and woken up wet nearly every night since birth, I wasn't convinced this was such a great idea.

But Greg reminded me we had extra sheets and blankets, and there was a waterproof cover on her mattress, so what was the worst that could happen? 

Plus, we were down to our last 2 Pull-Ups, and since diapers are ridiculously expensive and I would rather spend our money on stuff like ice cream, I caved.

We told her that she needed to remember that she wasn't wearing a diaper, so if she needed to go potty in the middle of the night, she actually had to go to the potty. And we bribed her and told her if she woke up with no accidents in the morning, there was a Starburst waiting for her on the other side.

And now it is Wednesday and she hasn't worn a diaper since Sunday, and hasn't had a single accident. Apparently it was just a matter of her deciding that it was time to be fully potty trained.

If I'd have known it was going to be that easy, I would have tried to get her to sleep in underwear ages ago. Considering how much they cost, you'd think diapers wouldn't be so gross and stinky.

You Were Expecting Something More Interesting?

Sorry. Maybe next time.

Bring it on, February.

This morning, after I roused a very groggy Rachel from her bed and she shuffled out of her room into the living room, she all of a sudden opened her eyes wide and asked in a voice tingling with excitement, "Mom, is today February?" 

And indeed, it is February.

I'm not sure why Rachel gets so excited on the first day of every month. I'm glad she does, because otherwise I would never be conscious of the date. They must spend a lot of time on it in school, even though now, as an adult, I just check the date on my phone or computer. Just like they spend a lot of time on math in school, when I now use a calculator for all but the simplest math (and if it involves anything more complicated than adding 1-digit numbers, I consider it calculator-worthy. Don't judge. I had children and lost my ability to focus on anything for more than half a second).

But I'm glad they spend time on the calendar and math. And on...you know...just learning in general. Because I aspire for better things for my children. Like not whipping out the calculator at the grocery store to figure out if they're still within budget. And not having to check their calendar every time they write a check.

I do still read. So hopefully that means my brain hasn't turned completely into mush yet. (So what if most of the books I read are "young adult" books and fall at a 9th grade reading level? They're entertaining and I like them.)

Anyway, I went off on a bit of a tangent there.

The point is that it's February. We are a full month into 2012. So I figured I'd update you on where we are on our goals for the year.

1. Debt Snowball: We hit a bit of a hiccup in paying off debt this month. Our car hit the dreaded 105,000 mileage mark (okay, that happened a couple months ago, but we finally noticed this month) and for a Honda, apparently that's when you need everything replaced. So after new brakes, a new timing belt, a new water pump, and some new gaskets and hoses and other things I don't necessarily understand, we weren't able to pile on debt this month. However, we were able to do all of that without tapping into our emergency fund, so we are still on track to be snowballing in February.
2. Greg's training for a half marathon: Greg's been running 3 or 4 days each week, 3 or 4 miles each day. He's following a training plan that will get him up to marathon readiness in April. The only problem is he's still suffering from shin splints. He has good running shoes and we're searching for his knee brace (he has 2, we can find 0). Hopefully when he finds it, it will help.
3. I want to run a 5K. I should revise this goal to say: I want to be able to run a 5K. The race itself isn't that important to me. I actually want to be running 5K (or 3.1 miles, if you don't speak metric) on a regular basis. I probably will run "a 5K" at some point this year, but by then, I will hopefully be running 5K just as part of my regular exercise. Anyway, I am currently on Week 4 of the C25K running plan, and I really like it. I actually ran 3 extra days last week, just because I felt like it. It really helps that I have a running partner - we have a schedule and keep each other accountable. I'd like to think I'd keep up with it on my own...but I don't know.
4. Greg wants to lose 30 lbs. As expected, just by increasing his physical activity, he has started losing weight. So far he has lost 9.5 lbs just by running and cutting out evening snacks (as a frustrating testament to the differences between men and women, I also started running and cut out evening snacks, and I gained 4 lbs. Grr.)
5. Read through the Bible front to back. We forgot to read for a few days in there (okay, a week), so we've been doubling up our reading each day until we catch up. The last chapter we read was Exodus 35. So far so good.

In addition to chipping away at the New Year's Resolutions, additional goals for February include:

1. Complete and file our tax return. Thankfully, this is the last year where our tax return will be complicated (at least, we hope that's the case). We moved, Greg changed jobs several times, and we both had a bunch of self employment income. Next year Greg will just have one main job with a bit of self employment on the side, I will have my income, and we live in a state with no income tax. So next year should be simple. This year...not so much. (An addendum to this goal: pay any 2011 taxes we owe. Since our employment/income situation has changed so much over the last several years, we're never sure how much to estimate in taxes. So far for 2011, TurboTax thinks we've done pretty well, but I haven't finished entering things yet. So we'll see.)

Huh. I guess it's just the one additional February goal. I probably didn't need to number it then.

One other noteworthy thing during January:

My engagement ring committed suicide.

I had noticed a small crack in one side for a while, and had been meaning to take it to a jeweler to get it fixed (if possible), but hadn't gotten around to it. Then one night after church, as I buckled myself into the car, I felt a weird scratching sensation on my finger. I looked down to discover I was only wearing half a ring. 5 minutes of frantic searching later, we located the top half underneath my seat. 

We took it to a jeweler and determined that it cannot be repaired, so we'll be replacing the diamond in a new setting. Eventually. Even when you take the diamond out of the equation, engagement ring settings are pricey. We also contacted the original jeweler who sold Greg the ring, and while they are willing to trade in the old setting as a credit towards a new setting, they can't just replace it flat-out. And I'm not sure I want to trade in my old setting, even if it is broken. 

On a plus side, we will always have this little video that Greg made last year. He was experimenting with modeling and rendering jewelry, and thought my ring would make a good subject. So while this isn't the real ring, it's a nice glamour shot of a cyber-ring to remember the glory days of my ring.

So far, we feel like 2012 is going pretty well. We still have our share of challenges and uphill battles to fight (not the least of which is how to get our children to eat dinner on a regular basis), but we feel good about our January progress.

Next week I will write something amusing about the kids. Not sure what yet, but surely by next week, they will have done something amusing. Heck, probably by the next hour.

I guess I'm not a grown-up yet.

One day, when I am a grown-up, I would like to be one of those people who is on top of everything, all the time.

There will never be a pile of dirty dishes in my sink (and it will most certainly not be so tall that it actually touches the faucet, making rinsing anything a complicated and water-splattery process).

I will never step over Chloe's socks on the floor and think to myself, "I should put those in the hamper...but that would require bending over...and I just don't wanna."

I will never glance at the pile of miscellaneous clutter on the bookshelves in my room and then purposely turn my head away in an effort to pretend it doesn't exist.

I will never just kick my shoes into the closet instead of pairing them neatly and placing them in the shoe organizer. And I will never do this so often that it creates a pile of shoes that have to be held in place with my foot to avoid the pile spilling out and preventing the door from shutting.

I will never casually toss a bill into a miscellaneous "to do" pile that I promptly forget about, only to discover two days after its due date.

I will never walk into the girls' room with the intention to restore order into their tiny lives (because let's face it, although they "clean" their room regularly as part of their chores, toddler cleaning is hardly a gold standard), only to be overwhelmed by the chaos and promptly walk out again.

I will never toss a piece of crumpled up paper at the trashcan, miss by this much, and think to myself, "eh, good enough."

And I will never read dozens of blog posts on my Google Reader, be inspired to write the world's greatest blog post, and then write....nothing.

But unfortunately, I am not there yet. I do all of those things on occasion, some more often than I would like to admit (and I probably shouldn't admit it, because then everyone I know will judge me and avoid me because they will know.)

The Google Reader thing happens every day.

I love blogs. I read lots of blogs: humor blogs, cooking blogs, family blogs, craft blogs (which is almost silly considering how decidedly un-crafty I am, but it's nice to see what kinds of things other people can do. You know, people who aren't like me), shopping blogs, inspirational blogs, entertainment blogs...the list is extensive. One of the reasons I started a blog is because I enjoy reading them so much.

Maybe someday I will have the discipline to actually sit down at the computer and type out every potential post that pops into my head throughout the day. If I did that, I could easily be an every-day blogger. But kids, and work, and friends, and errands, and cleaning, and laundry, and that terrifying pile of dishes in my kitchen sink, and -- let's face it -- my occasionally overwhelming desire to just sit on the couch and watch TV, all tend to shove blogging onto a back burner most of the time.

Last year I made an extremely short-lived resolution to write a new post every day. That lasted about a week, and I think was fueled mostly by the (also short-lived) enthusiasm I had about being able to write posts from my iPad.

Yeah, never try to make a long-term resolution based on enthusiasm over an iPad app you just downloaded. It doesn't end well.

But I really would like to post more often (and write my posts on the computer, where they belong). Every day isn't going to be sustainable for me. At least not in my current frazzled state. But maybe a weekly post isn't too much to promise.

So that's what I'm resolving now. To post something -- and it really could be anything (you've been warned) -- every week.

In the meantime, if weekly posts aren't enough to sate your appetite (and they're probably not), here's some of my favorite blogs, and most of the writers tend to post much more frequently than me.

The Pioneer Woman (cooking, family, cattle ranching, homeschooling, photography...really, just about everything)
Krazy Coupon Lady (couponing - duh)
Hyperbole and a Half (humor - Warning: Contains adult language and content)
Cake Wrecks (humor)
Sunny Tuesday (crafting)
Jon Acuff's Blog (author of Quitter and Stuff Christians Like (which you can find in book and blog form) - mostly motivational/inspirational, with some humor thrown in)

I also read a lot of my friends' blogs, but let's face it, you wouldn't be interested in those unless your friends are my friends, and if they are, you probably already know about their blogs.

And hey, look! This takes care of my post for this week! Score.