What's going on?

I don't think I fully realized what all goes into being a good and faithful blogger. I've been slacking lately. First with the camera issue and now it's just finding the time to actually write about my crafting efforts and life in general. I've been doing a fair bit of domestic pursuits lately though. It's just I can't seem to find the time to photograph and write about them since I'm so busy doing. I've finished E's quilt and a ton of quilt blocks for swaps. I'm hard at work on my Glam Garden project for TMQG. I also started on M.'s quilt which is a super fun and punchy pattern from the people over at FunQuilts called "Plain Spoken". I started off using Amish colors, but added a few colors that might have strayed away from that but still work really well with this solid colored quilt. There's some really stunning examples on flickr and I think M. is going to love the finished product. I'm having fun piecing it on my Singer Featherweight 221. Such a perfect stitch and oh so cute!
I have a lunch bag cut out for myself out of some Amy Butler laminated cottons. I also need to decide on a pattern and search my stash for the fabric to make a dress or skirt to wear to a wedding I'm attending next month. Hopefully I'll finish up M's quilt and then I can start on the dress. I don't want to have too many UFO's going at once.
Anyway, I guess I'm still trying to adjust to my new schedule and trying to find a good balance. Just know I'm still here.

Follow Me

This isn't meant to offend anyone at all and believe me I feel honored and flattered by those of you who enjoy checking out my blog. However, recently I've been feeling pretty troubled by one of the elements of blogger. I was just discussing with a couple of my bloggy friends the newish Blogger feature of "Followers" and how I was a bit uncomfortable with the whole concept. First, I don't like the name they've given it...followers. It makes me think of a cult or worse, it harkens back to high school and the pursuit of popularity. Ironically I was part of the "in" crowd at my tiny Texas school (not sure how or why) and I do recall vividly the pressure to have the right clothes, right shoes and be at the right parties. I don't ever want to live that life again. Number one, I'm not in high school anymore and I don't want to feel like I'm in a popularity contest to see how many followers I have (or don't have). I don't blog for the masses, I blog to have an additional creative outlet and to share with my family and friends far and wide. I enjoy folks stopping by, but I don't want to be influenced or censored by who just might be following me. I want to feel free to say what I'd like. I don't want to feel like my blog isn't cool enough, witty enough or hip enough. I don't want to wonder, "hey ten people stopped by and didn't comment on my newest creation" or think yesterday I had five followers and now I only have four...who did I piss off? Am I not follower worthy? I don't want blogging to become work or something I become neurotic about; where I begin to agonize countless hours on the look of my blog or what I should post next, or if my pictures are nice enough. I mean this is just something fun I do and a natural progression for that ten year old girl that first started keeping a diary. Lastly, it's sort of the same reason I haven't joined the facebook revolution and don't twitter. This is enough for me. This is just me being me. As much as I love knowing there are people that want to keep up with my blog and I'm happy that you've chosen to be a subscriber ( a much less offensive term in my opinion) I'm going to disable the followers feature. In the end it may seem like it's about semantics, but it's just something I feel I have to do. I hope you'll add me to your blogroll. Please know that I love your comments and emails, I hope you'll continue to leave them. I read every one of them and I'm so glad to hear from you, and by all means stop by regularly...I just won't be thinking of you as a follower.

Bloggy Love!!

I got an award! It's a "Thank You" award. I was thanked and now I am supposed to thank 10 other bloggers. They in turn thank ten others and link back to me!

Thanks Courtney of the uber awesome blog Sister to Sister. I just love your blog! It's so flattering to be honored by such a talented woman. You inspire me!

Now to thank 10 others. I am passing this along to you because I love your blogs too!

1. Dawn of Olabelhe
2. ChiChi of Where there's a will there's a way
3. Heather of Photography by HeatherK
4. Victoria of Sew Inspired
5. Melissa of Susie-Homemaker (or so I think)
6. BGIM of BlackgirlinMaine
7. Jennifer of Moving Hands
8. Jen of Jen-Knits
9. Kat of That darn Kat

Ok, so far I've only come up with nine...but I'll work on finding one more and adding those.

Ten Thousand

Several months ago I decided to put a counter on my blog. I was curious...was I talking to myself? I didn't mind if I was but I thought there was a chance I might have a few folks that popped in from time to time to see how I was getting on. Well...I've had over 10,000 hits. In the world of blogging that's nothing, there are sites that get that in a day I know...but if you're little old me sitting at home in the wilds of Carolina (ok...not so wild, but you get my point) it seems amazing. I love the world of blogging. I've met so many incredible people through it. I've learned so much and had my thinking challenged for the better. Anyway, just thought I'd share my milestone. Oh and...ya'll come back now, ya hear.

Blogging Responsibly

Blogging is all the rage. I mean everyone I know has a blog. We give out our URLs the way you used to give out your email or phone number. However, as much as I enjoy blogging apparently I'm not blogging enough, as my dear friend B. pointed out to me. According to her I'm on her favs and she checks daily and often to her great disappointment I haven't posted a new entry. Ahhh, the horrors! I do try to keep up, honestly. I make a point to post at least a couple times/week. I'm so much better about taking and posting pictures too so you don't just have to listen to my blah, blah, yada, yada. But, still...I could be better. I must not be taking this blogging thing serious enough. I mean between my being a wife, mother, employee, volunteer, cooking, cleaning,crafting...oh and sleeping I have let some things slip. I make you a solemn promise my friends, from this point on I'm going to be better. I'm going to make this a priority and realize what a responsibility it is to blog. I swear it!

Under construction

I decided to change up my blog a bit. I have really contemplated switching to wordpress or typepad, but I'm going to see if I can figure out how to get closer to what I want using blogger for now. It's a lot of work, especially if you're severely technology challenged like I am. I have several more tweaks I need to make to it, but I had to take a break for now since my eyes were beginning to cross.
Along the same vain...I'm also under construction. I joined a real gym today. By real I mean as opposed to the community weight room that I belong to that I find very difficult to go to since there is no childcare or classes. After much research and several club tours I decided on the YMCA. It just seemed to make the most sense even though I have to admit I was swayed by the glitz and glamor of Lifetime Fitness. But, in the end I was still my pragmatic self and it just didn't make sense to drive further and pay twice as much for what boiled down to a nice restaurant and coffee bar that I probably wouldn't have ever used. Anyway, I had lots of errands to run today so I didn't go work out, but I'm going tomorrow to take a Muscle building class. I'm really excited and S. gets to go too since he's officially a teen and they're allowed to work out there after attending a class. So...I'm on my way. Hopefully by the time summer is in full swing I will be in the grove working out and approaching my next weight loss milestone. Wish me luck!

Not again

I changed my blog name. I think it's cause all the cool ones are taken. I actually liked the zoo one, but then I thought, this blog is really a slice of the pie that is my life. The little morsels that make it the confection that it is. So...I changed the name. Hey, I'm just trying to capture the true nature of what I'm trying to do, what this blog represents. Lol! We'll talk again, next time I change the name.

A blog by any other name

It's so hard to think of a cool all encompassing name for your blog. I've changed my blogs name...again. It's pretty funny how hard it is to settle on one name. What does it matter really. But, since my life is crazy and sometimes I really do feel like I am just hanging out at the zoo. I thought it was fitting.

What was lost is found or Narcissim will not be denied!

So for a week I lost my blog. I couldn't find, or rather I could as a viewer but not as the blogger. The change over w/blogger caused it to merge w/A.'s blogger account and somehow I couldn't log into it. Weird! Anyhow I decided to start over today with a fresh new blog, but being a creature of habit I apparently used the same user name and bingo bango...here's my blog! A. says that it's so obnoxious to think that someone wants to read about your life. I don't know, I'm not doing it for that. I orginally thought I'd just post my crafting stuff...and I probably will, but it's fun too in a surreal kind of way.