Back in September I had every intention of blogging more often. I was feeling inspired, had some ideas of what I wanted to write about beyond the usual "Helly's monthly updates" and was only lacking in time. Before I knew it, October had flashed by, and here I sit, over a month later and nary a blog post written. Even Todd's baby diary is woefully out of date (but at least I have all the notes jotted down on a sticky, waiting to be transcribed onto electronic form!)
I realized that it had turned into a vicious cycle. A few days after I posted my last blog entry, I was teeming with ideas, and put them aside because I couldn't find a chunk of time to write. When I *did* find some time, I realized that the mood had passed, and that I would have more to make up for it, which in turn only fed my reluctance to actually *start*. And there started the cycle-- stop writing, feel guilty about it, feel overwhelmed by all the updates I want to post, postpone writing, begin cycle anew...
There is some truth to keeping the "wheels oiled" by writing everyday, or at least with frequent regularity, even if I don't think I have anything to write about. It gets (and more importantly, KEEPS) the creative juices flowing.
So, here I am, trying to start afresh. Maybe I should start some kind of "blog accountability" group with one or more folks, kind of like people do with diets and exercise-- keep each other accountable for writing regularly. Anyone interested? ;-)
And, to cap it all off, another one of my "postponed for so long it's crammed into one long rambling entry" updates:
Todd is adjusting well to first grade. He's enjoying school and even his after-school care program has so few kids that he gets pretty individualized attention. He and I visited my parents over Halloween weekend, where he dressed as a pumpkin and got to enjoy his first-ever trick-or-treat adventure, casing all the houses I used to visit when I was a kid. It was great seeing all our old neighbors again and catching up.
We took a venture into the housing market in October, working with a realtor and looking at homes. Next thing we knew, we'd put in an offer on one, but then financing didn't work out as well as we'd initially hoped. So now we're upgrading from a 1-bedroom to a 2-bedroom in the same apartment complex. Gives us room to stretch out and still save money.
Our church decided to expand from its building to a bigger venue, so right now we're meeting at a local movie theater. I don't really like it-- I think a theater (especially the one we're in) is a poor setting for something like a Sunday service-- hard to see, hard to move around in, too dark. At least it's just temporary, or so I hear, anyway. The upside to it is that this theater is much closer to our apartment! :-)
Santa Barbara is truly a small world-- a couple weekends ago we enjoyed a "Parents' Night Out" which our church sponsors every month. In October the kids enjoy a Harvest Party while the parents go out to dinner. Last year it was all church parents. This year, since we've opened a preschool, it was mainly preschool parents, the majority of which don't go to (our) church. So it was nice getting to meet some new parents... including one that works at Citrix Online, too! How about that! ;-)
Allan's uncle unfortunately passed away a couple weeks ago from complications due to the H1N1 virus. The media may overhype it (as it tends to do), but when it hits this close to home, you gotta admit that maybe all that attention is warranted. Our little family has gotten over its own bout with colds/seasonal flu last month.... just in time to get well and get free flu shots at work. So far, so good! Fingers crossed it stays that way the rest of the winter.
The remainder of this month promises to be busy. We pick up the keys to our new place on Friday, and two weeks after that we have to vacate our old place, so the next 2 weeks will be a flurry of moving (since we're moving to the building next door, it should be relatively easy to move a few boxes of stuff each day-- Todd's wagon should get plenty of use!) and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! Then comes the Thanksgiving holiday and wouldn't you know it-- the last month of the year shall soon be upon us!
Let's see how many entries I get written between now and then, eh! ;-)
Have you heard of NaBloPoMo.com? It's a challenge to write one post per day in November (and it's extended over the years to where you can sign up for any number of months with various themes). There's not a whole lot of active accountability in it, except that you can make friends with others doing it and keep each other encouraged to stick to it. I first tried it last year, and this year it's going well so far...but I'm only on Day 6. :-P
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ReplyDeleteI've seen you reference it in your Tweets and on your blog, but never really looked into it till now. Interesting! And hey, 6 days in a row beats my current record! ;-)