August 20, 2010

Apparently I am the only other person on the planet besides Maureen Turner that doesn’t cringe when asked to respond to those “friend” quizzes that get emailed around ad nauseum…in fact I love them so much I am likely to drop everything I am doing and complete them on the spot. The only thing I love more is reading everyone’s answers. So imagine my delight when I saw that PartyMummy started a “That’s How She Blogs” quiz! Like Moe, Sharon, Candace and Annabel, I am happy to join in on the fun and provide a peek into how I blog...

1. Did you attend Blogher10?
NO :( But I am living vicariously through my favourite Yummy Mummy bloggers who did…and they have great stories to tell!

2. Are you attending BlissdomCanada this fall?
Would it make me a bad blogger to say I hadn’t heard about it until I read Sharon’s Inside Scoop? Once I did, I of course had to know more, and now that I’ve discovered it is in Toronto and starts with a Kick Off Party on MY BIRTHDAY…I’m thinking I should figure out a way to get myself there…

3. When are you at your blogging best – a.m. or p.m.?
I have a bit of a split personality on this one…during the week - P.M., on weekends or holidays A.M. Truth be told it would be A.M. all the time if I didn’t have to go to my J.O.B. every day. This working thing really gets in the way of my blogging!

4. How many blogs do you have? (Include the links)
In the words of MJ (The King of Pop) – This Is It!

5. What technical skill would you like to learn to improve your blog?
Two things:
1) Time management…I would blog every day if I could (‘cause it’s way more fun than my real job), but I seem to always be scrambling to get a new blog posted…which is funny really, because I think about what I’m going to write in my blog every single day (and I feel really guilty when I see how many blogs per week other YMC bloggers are posting …[ahem] thanks Moe!)
2) I need to be a better twitterer – the fabulous UnDaddy has offered his wisdom for a tutorial on effective tweeting, but that was back in January and here it is August and I still haven’t taken him up on it…which brings me back to1)…and with the release of his new book coming soon, UnDaddy has way more important things to do than teach me better tweeting skills!

6. Do you prefer the sound of silence or does action abound while you blog?
Does the sound of a mitre saw count as action? What about my husband swearing that he forgot something at the hardware store? Pounding of nails as he installs hardwood? The noise a crane makes when loading a boat onto a flatbed trailer? Wait, wait I know…ripping down of walls because it’s easier to start over than fix the one we have…that’s gotta count as action!

Did I mention we have been renovating our house for the last 2 ½ years? Definitely action.

7. Do you include the names of your family in your blog?
Just the ones that currently exist…for our son and daughter that we keep hoping will arrive someday, I’m keeping those names a secret…(and yes we have names selected for the children we don’t have yet – I know, I know…pathetic…what am I 15?)

8. Do you post pictures or videos of your children?
Um… well, see...here's the thing...I am a little bit of an anomaly at the Yummy Mummy Club because…(nervous laugh) I actually don’t have any children….. shhhh don’t tell Erica!!!!

9. What’s the grossest thing you’ve spilled on your keyboard?
I was scarred for life when at the tender age of 9 I spilled pop on my Dad’s brand new fancy hi-tech calculator (which in the day cost a bomb)…and it made the buttons on the key pad crunch when you pressed them…and I tried to lie pretend that I had nothing to do with the new crunchy keys…

Bottom line is, I got nothing...since I know first-hand the damage spilling on a keyboard can cause, I strive to avoid spillage at all cost…unless you count tears, my keyboard has been subject to lots of those this year, but I don’t think they actually count as “gross”.

10. Ever posted something you wrote while intoxicated?
Look, in my twenties I made a career of drinking and dialing so I learned my lesson long ago…keep my drunken ideas away from any sort of technological device…

11. Do you go back and edit old posts just because you can?
Only if I screwed up a hyperlink or I notice a spelling error, because I’m super a bit anal about spelling…in fact Alex jokes that without spell check he wouldn’t have stood a chance with me…especially since our whole relationship started online, where spelling actually is noticeable on emails and stuff (didn’t want you thinking I ran my own spelling bees to test potential suitors).

But through the confessions of the blog quiz it seems my spelling errors have been the handiwork of Sharon wielding her editorial power for her own amusement…so take note readers – if there’s a typo in any of my future blogs, you now know it’s Sharon’s fault!

12. Have you ever suspected somebody took something you wrote and pawned it off as their own?
This question made me LAUGH.  Out loud. Can’t imagine this ever happening…but now it will be what I shoot for!

13. Does your spouse read your blog? What do they say about it?
Absolutely. Although often he "hears" my blog as I read it out loud to him with hand motions for brackets, quotations, strikeouts and dot, dot, dots...

Reality is I have two editors and Alex is much tougher on me than Sharon would ever dream of being. In the beginning I had him read all my blogs because I was paranoid about making sure they were interesting/ entertaining enough. Now the paranoia has shifted…I think he likes to read them first to make sure I haven’t divulged too much interesting/ entertaining information about HIM :)

Oh, and he says it’s like living in a glass house with nothing but his underwear on for everyone to see…

14. What’s something cool/positive/unexpected for you, that has resulted directly from blogging?
My circle of friends has expanded to include the fantastic group of women and men who make up the Yummy Mummy Club family.

15. Link to a post (or two) which demonstrate your writing style:

Because This Time Was Going To Be Different

To Adopt or Not-A Selfish Decision?

Wannabe Sacrifices

16. Name a blog(s) that makes you exclaim, "Damn! I wish I'd written that!"

Sharon DeVellis – The Inside Scoop

Shannon McKarney – Three Seven

Scott Stratten - UnMarketing

That folks, is blogging...Wannabe style!  If you have a blog, why not join in the fun too:
a) Cut and paste the quiz onto your blog.
b) Delete my answers
c) Answer the questions
d) Tweet a few of the bloggers you’d love to get to know better and invite them to play along.
e) In the comment section below, leave a link to your blog where you've answered the quiz questions.
 

Labels/Tags: leslie crowell, yummy mummy wannabe, blogging style, friend quizzes, unmarketing, threeseven, the inside scoop, partymummy, see mummy juggle, meditating mummy, undaddy, we are family, erica ehm

Posted by LeslieC at 00:03:50 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

August 10, 2010

When I am alone with my thoughts, in my quietest moments, there is one question that haunts me…what would my life be like without children?

It began as a fleeting thought after my first miscarriage…an innocent pondering that I viewed as a natural reaction to the loss of a pregnancy. I didn’t waste too much energy on it at the time, because the optimist in me wouldn’t allow it. I was focused on being positive – of course we are going to have children! I was determined to not worry about ever having to answer the question I feared most.

With my status as a Wannabe entering year three and my peers watching their children graduate from school, I have to face the fact that I may not ever become a mother. As I lie awake in the middle of the night, during my morning shower, on the commute to work and at many other times during the day, I contemplate how not having children may affect my life. It’s a difficult concept to grasp for someone who has always wanted to be a parent. Even when I was still single in my late thirties I was determined to not let the fact that I did not have a significant other stop me…I just assumed that I would have a child on my own.

In the same way I prepared myself for the possibility of having children, I now find myself in the position of having to prepare for the exact opposite. Although no one has definitively said we are “done” yet, at times I do have the capacity to be a realist…and the planner in me needs to visualize what life may look like without children.

Naturally it would be easy to think about all the things Alex and I will miss out on if we are not parents – the miracle of creating life, the joy of watching your children grow and (hopefully) succeed, even the comfort of having children provide support as you age - and let’s not forget the life lessons learned along the way. No wonder I get the blues every now and then…

But on the flip side, there’s a lot of freedom that comes with not being a parent…isn’t that why all parents count down the years ‘til their kids leave home? More disposable income, ability to travel and sleeping in on the weekends seem to rank as the top bonuses of not being a Mom, so how bad can it really be? If I look around at the people in my life who for various reasons (choice or circumstance) never had children…the reality is they have pretty damn good lives! What I find most interesting is that although some may have at one time wished for children, in the end few have regrets that they didn’t. More impressively there is not a bitter one in the bunch! These friends and family have become my role models for a childless existence- they made the most of their lives, and are living examples that you can be happy without children.

So although I still hold out hope for becoming a mother, if it doesn’t happen I hope that I will be able to embrace all life has to offer the way other non-moms close to me (Judy, Melda, Mary, Jean, Kelly and Gloria just to name a few) have.

And fingers crossed I won’t be bitter either…
 

Labels/Tags: leslie crowell, yummy mummy wannabe, childless, role models

Posted by LeslieC at 21:55:05 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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