Thirsty for Comments Thursday

As this is the first time I have participated in this hop, I'm going to re-iterate the purposes and methods verbatim from the host site.

What is Thirsty for Comments?

This is a blog hop dedicated to giving good comment - please, when you are visiting, actually READ the post that is linked and make a thoughtful comment!

This is NOT a hop for "I'm here from the hop, follow me back" comments!

Link up your own SPECIFIC POST that you'd like comments on - remember - no giveaways!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!  

We are looking to add one or two new Co-Hosts to Thirsty For Comments!  All of the HTML is written and shared each week, so all you have to do is post... and participate!!!

If you're interested, please email Heather!

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The rules are simple -

1. Link up a SPECIFIC POST (NOT just your blog URL) that you'd like to have more comments on - NO  GIVEAWAYS or OTHER BLOG HOPS - they will be deleted

2. Visit AT LEAST THREE other blogs and READ the posts and then comment thoughtfully on the post.

Extras (nice but not required):

• Add the Thirsty for Comments button to your post
• Blog about Thirsty for Comments
• Add Thirsty for Comments to your Meme List!
• Leave a comment here on how we can improve Thirsty for Comments :)

This is a cause near and dear to my heart. I know quality commenting takes time and effort.  I've spent days just making comments on dozens of hop entries.  But if you're going to make the effort, and want reader-followers and repeat visits, not just to see that little # of followers go up by "1", it's SO worth it. We all have our good days and our bad days.  We all have "stuff" come up in our lives that needs dealing with - right now.  I deal with depression and some days it's all I can do to read posts, let alone make a comment.  On "those days" for me, I give my self credit for doing what I can, because I know that when I feel better, I will also do better. Like Shakespeare's Juliet said, "...the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite".  She was talking about love.  I'm talking about blog love.  It's a cosmic balance issue.  It's a golden rule issue. OK.  I'll step off my soapbox now. Two last things:

• Felicia Pratt started a group "Valuable Blog Commenting"  on the BloggyMoms.com site.  If you are not already a member, and you believe in giving and receiving valuable comments on your blog, I urge you to check it out.
• If I haven't worn y'all out already, check out my "Nobility of Motherhood" post available from the list on the right.  I feel like it is my best writing in a while.

Blog Dare 7 - Daily Needs

There are several things I "need" every day:

Coffee - My sleep is rather irregular, so I need that little extra jolt of caffeine to get my motor running.

Cigarettes - I did not start smoking until about 5 years ago. I was working at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD (mental retardation and developmental disabilities). Yes, dealing with the residents could sometimes be stressful. I went to the hospital at least once every 6 months or so, and was injured twice in 2010, resulting in 15 months total of Workers' Compensation time off work. But the real issue was the administration, obscenely ridiculous working demands and conditions, and double standards. It was either start smoking or put my fist through a wall. And this comes from a woman who dislikes violence. I am partially using e-cigarettes now, which come flavored and have nicotine but not tar. My hope for this year is to stop smoking altogether...for my health.

Cymbalta - This is my anti-depressant medication. I have had depression since my teens (at least) and I am now 50. I have been on (at different times) Zoloft and Effexor. I don't like having to take medication for something that I've been told just needs an attitude adjustment (yeah, that's what I think too), but without it I'm bitchy and just want to lie in bed all day with the covers over my head. Not good for a homeschooling mother. At first, I was worried about what people at my work (then) would think, but then I found out that most of the staff was on anti-depression or -anxiety meds anyway. Somewhere along the line, I stopped being ashamed of it. Everybody's got some kind of problem ... and some kinds of strengths.

And it's coincidence that they all begin with the letter "C".

Blog Dare 6 - My Happy Place

Ok, so actually the prompt was: "My "special" place. {Where do you go for quiet/alone or regrouping time}". But the last time I heard "special place" was in reference to a porn movie and I really didn't want to attract an audience who might make that mistake about my blog.

So, my happy place, my refuge is now our front porch. It's got more character than the back porch/patio, which has, on occasion served as a carport. And it does have the problem of putting me on display for the drivers-by. Especially at night. And it looks like a tornado picked up a sandstorm, and a major metropolitan newspaper printer, ripped it to shreds and dumped it all on my front porch.

When DS1 (dear son), age 15, approaches me with the 15th rendition of "guess what I just read in a fan faction", or when DD (dear daughter), age 8, adds that last "hmph" of tween indignation when things don't go head out to the front porch.

Don't give me too much grief, please, about the cigarettes. I know it's unhealthy. I could go into a whole story about how and why I started, but ... that's a post for another day. And semi-often, I take the e-cig that DH (dear husband) got for me, that has nicotine, but no tar, and comes in different strengths.

You can see my tendency to veer off-topic, and I've always said of myself, I'll never say in 10 words what I can say in 100.

I'm hoping to get some plants, maybe a small herb garden out there in spring/summer, maybe one of those wicker chair with ridiculously huge cushions and a wicker and/or glass table to put my books, papers, drinks, etc, etc, etc on. Of course, there is a chance that we could be looking at buying a house later in the year, so then I'll make sure to stake out a comfort zone from the get go!

So where do you go for you?

Blog Dare First Five Days

Yeah, I know, I'm playing catch-up. Whatever.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

My social media goals for 2012.

My numbers are still relatively small, making a bold statement such as "double the number of followers I have on GFC and FB" is not really that huge of an achievevement. Doubling the number would put me in the 250 range.

I would like to engage in hosting and writing more guest posts. Maybe guest-writing a post one month, then having a guest post on my blog the next, and so on.

Monday, January 2, 2012

A look back at 2011.

I blogged and wrote more in 2011 than I have before, but was still not very disciplined in my practice. I started NaNoWriMo, but did not finish...but that's better than in years past.

My mother passed away in late March at the age of 87. We bought a 2nd vehicle, because it was getting harder and harder to stuff two teenage boys and their tween sister into the back seat of a 2-door Ford Escort. My oldest child turned 15. I turned 50. And now that I got my hair cut from waist-length to shoulder-length, my gray hairs really show through. About the only other thing of note was having an operation on my left knee after getting kicked in the knee at work in 2010.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Bucket List Update

I don't think I've accomplished anything on my list yet, so I'll just recap a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

1. Visit Scotland.

2. Act in a Shakespeare play.

3. Drive a Jaguar XJ-S (owning one would be nice, but I could dine out on driving a friend's Jag one time. )

4. Own a home for my family.

5. Read every major religious text.

Wednesday, January4, 2012

What I should have bought this holiday season.

A new laptop would have been nice. The keyboard on this one is possessed. I can't count the pages of material I've lost because the cursor jumps and all of a sudden 5 lines are gone. This post has taken me at least an hour, two drafts saved (I remember only 1) and an accidental posting of partially-finished writing. Ugh.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Something lost...

I'd like to say my sanity...but that is hardly news. Unfortunately, I have the dubious talent of being able to have things disappear 5 seconds after I put them down. But it gives me an idea for a book..."14,000 Things I Have Lost".

I Guess I Chose "Truth"

Sorry, just my little attempt at being punny. I joined Bloggy Moms' Blog Dare group around the middle of the month and posted about a week ago. They have a prompt for each day of the month and all I managed was one entry. But I'm counting this round as a win because it ended one of the longer dry blog spells for me of recent memory.

I find the daily prompts extremely valuable for a couple of reasons. Everybody has dry spells. And with my recent surgery, etc, sometimes my motivation lags more than usual. I am also looking forward to February and more consistent blogging.

As for my knee, there is more soreness than pain now, and rather limited range of motion. I can neither completely straighten nor bend my knee very far. But I start pt tomorrow, 3x per week for 4 weeks.

Blog Dare - How I Use Social Media

So the bloggy dare for today, January 22, 2011, is "How do you use social media?"

I use social media mostly for social reasons. I've done some outreach to other mom bloggers, but have not really made a "business" use of it...yet. Maybe if I reversed the percentages of time I spend playing FarmVille et al and the time I spend blogging and developing business, that would change. *lol*

My main reason for looking to change blogging to more of a business is that in the past year, I have been on medical leave from my job at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD. The first time was 1/24/10 to June 2010 for an elbow/shoulder injury (that is still hurting) and the 2nd time was/is from 9/28/2010 to the present for a knee injury. In fact, I just had surgery on my knee on Monday. I still don't know what the outcome will be. I doubt I will be able to return to similar work. Right now, just standing up for more than 15 minutes is a challenge. (Oh yes, I have consulted an attorney, who tells me that while related medical bills can be covered for as long as the condition exists, there is little hope of any other monetary outcome. I'd like to think I'm not greedy, but my family has lost our health insurance due to the length of time I've been on medical leave.

Any tips, etc, would be welcome. Thanks for visiting and reading! "O)