Wades In Water

Monday, August 31, 2009

It's In My Blood

Lately, my blog has turned into a quick posting of a picture of Stella and/or Charlotte with maybe 1-2 sentences describing the situation. Yes, I started the blog to keep the relatives in touch with our quickly growing girls. And yes, it is accomplishing that task. However, I was hoping to blog more about my own thoughts and opinions of topics around motherhood and working and all things in-between. Not because I think my thoughts are that great or that I'm a superb writer…not true on either account. However, I like to share ideas and connect with others thinking about the same topics. Speaking of, I have a long list of topics, but no time to sit down and hammer out the words at the computer. (I find myself choosing sleep more and more over other tasks since I never know who is going to be up in the middle of the night and for how long.) I have found a few minutes today and have decided to start writing…about blogs in general and this great phenomenon that they have caused.

What is with all of the blogs? And more importantly, why do so many people follow them? I have discovered that there is a huge network of mommy-bloggers out there. And I am fascinated by it. I think it drives Andy absolutely crazy. I know that every time he sees me at the computer, he is thinking "Whose blog is she reading now? Why is she sucked in to the lives of strangers? And why is she wasting the time???" I begin to ask myself the same questions. Along with "Why do I choose to blog? Why must I share pictures and stories with others? Why does it give me such satisfaction to read other people's comments on my own blog? Why must I document everything?" And then I discovered the answer:

It's in my blood…thanks to my grandmothers.

I am a scrapbooker/journal keeper/historian/story teller by nature. I have always kept a journal in some fashion over the years. I have way too many old photo albums and scrapbooks detailing every aspect of my childhood, school years, and college life. Technology made it easier with sites like Shutterfly and Snapfish to create photo books and I am glad for that. But I still prefer to sit down and write a little note here and there in the journals I keep for Stella and Charlotte marking their important milestones and funny stories. When your kid does something funny and you think, "I should write that down to tell them later." I am the one that really does do that. When our extended family went to the zoo yesterday…I am the one that organized it AND found the picture of us at the zoo 20+ years earlier to show everyone.

Both of my grandmothers were into photographs. My Grandma Bucher used to document every trip she and my grandpa took (and they have traveled around the world on hundreds of trips). I believe their office is still filled with all of those photo albums. My Grandma Gleason had lots of scrapbooks. And she kept journals. I loved to hear her go through the photo albums and tell me the stories behind the pictures. Peoples' stories, connecting with others, trying to learn from their adventures, sharing of experiences, getting a different perspective on life…that is what intrigues me.

So, it's in my blood. That's why I browse http://www.blogher.com/ every now and then to see who is on it and what the hot topic happens to be. That's why I keep up on my girlfriends' blogs and comment on them. That's why I read about Kelly and Harper http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ in Arkansas although chances are I'll never meet them.

I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to share my family with the world like the above. Nor am I ready to put advertisements on my blog or do give-aways. I don't think I could keep up with 100+ comments a day. I appreciate my small audience and hope you'll come back for more. If you have a topic you want me to write about...let me know!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

4 Weeks and 2 Days

That's exactly how long it took Stella to fall down and hurt herself with her glasses. She fell down some steps today at daycare while playing. Luckily, it wasn't a bad fall and she only got one scrape on her face. Her glasses did NOT break, but did need some adjusting. Special thanks goes out to Tyrone (the glasses guy) who stayed 10 minutes late when Andy and Stella arrived just as they closed at 6 PM tonight.