Change of address

Growing up I moved a lot. I am familiar with trepidation, angst, fear, and whatever else the roller coaster of moving can bring.

But, I survived and I have a feeling my moving days are not over. In fact we moved this weekend.

Except, the move wasn't filled with cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. It involved over three years worth of entries, images, and pieces of code. And as most moves go, it also involved some hand holding from a dear friend who helped me accomplish that goal.

I am giving you Crumley Blog, our new family blog. We still have to update the wallpaper, add on to the pages, and switch out three years worth of permalinks, but I think it is safe to start having visitors.

So, stop by sometime soon. Update your feed readers, your bookmarks, and whatever else you need to remember where we are now.

Our top Flickr Picture

(alternate title: This might be only interesting to me.)

I am a big flickr fan. I love it mainly as an easy way to organize and share our pictures. There is a flickr community that I really haven't spent a ton of time getting to know, but every once in a while I'll add pictures to groups or pool in an effort to share.

Yesterday the flickr blog announced the release of flickr stats. Since we have a pro account I went ahead and activated our stats.

Today my friends and I were talking about our stats and someone said she had no exciting stats to report. I replied I was happy I had no exciting stats. I was worried I would find out that someone had linked to pictures of our son in an unfavorable manner or someone else was using our photos and profiting from them somehow.

Fortunately nothing of that nature surfaced, so I was happy.

Then we started looking at the other stats, like how many views certain pictures got. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I offer to you the most viewed picture from The Crumley Family's flickr photostream (as of today):

Number One:

I find it funny that it is a diagram, not a photo, but it is a project that got picked up by various internet outlets like Make and a Squidoo Lens.

And just because I wanted you to see it again, here is

Number Two:

Glad a picture of our kid is near the top. I loved this project and might do another one someday.

Not broken

Working on something, if it looks wonky then come back later.

Epazz

When I was a working stiff, our company had the benefit of staying connected via the intranet. It was an in-house creation that needed a lot of help to be truly beneficial to employees. They were working on it, but had a ways to go.

They could have used Epazz, a intranet software that allows integration with backend systems, powerful collaboration, and improved communication. Right now they have a free 30 day trial available, when you contact them directly.

Dog tags from Quick Trophies

A while back I was given the option to review a company and receive a dog tag in return. I was interested because I like the option of dog tags for identification. We already had one dog tag we got Fuller when he was little, but I knew another one wouldn't be a bad idea.

The website, Quicktropy.com, was very easy to use. They focus on all kinds of activities, from football to ballet. They even have items for cricket. I think the programming of the site could use some work. I am used to clicking on the picture and going straight to the category instead of having to pick from a drop down list- especially if the drop down list only has one item.

I picked the football themed dog tag, which makes sense as we are football fans and grooming a tiny football player. I liked that I could put whatever I wanted on the tag (3 lines max).

However, I think it would only be worth it to buy dog tags from Quick Trophies in bulk. The reason is this one dog tag would have cost me almost $9, with shipping. The dog tag we already had was engraved in Wal-Mart, for about $2. I also think the Wal-Mart dog tag looks better, with bigger letters and a much more noticeable engraving. The Quick Trophies dog tag looks printed at first glance, but after running my fingernail over the letters I could tell it was engraved. It just looks a bit wimpy next to the other dog tag.

Overall, I would suggest using Quick Trophies if you were ordering in bulk. And they have plenty of activities to choose from, so you are not just stuck with sports only. They have academic too.

Protecting the future

Linux System... Baracuda Networks... Open Invention Network... this all used to sound like greek to me. But in the years I have been online, then working at the help desk and now I'm into blogging, well I have a better understanding of what they are.

Linux (usually symbolized by a cute Penguin) is free and open source. This operating system is often equated (by me) with people who are interested in DIY computing. Building things to make their technologically better and then giving it to the rest of the tech community to either use or build on.

Open Invention Network (OIN) is a network designed to help protect Linux. OIN collects patents and helps keep the "Linux ecosystem" thriving and growing.

Baracuda Networks (they do email, web security like a Spam Filter and firewall technology) has become a licensee of OIN. This furthers the campaign for protection of intellectual property in the open source community.

How does this affect me, the parent blogger who like to type words on the page? Well, the folks who use their minds and programming skills to better the technological community are able to help better my online world. They can create and build programs and communities that will help me teach my son in the ways of the technological future. And with Baracuda Networks using their web securities to help protect the growth coming from open source users, that technological future will be there.

I am NOT junk

Ok people... if you know me and expect to get email from me, please, please, please add my email address to your address books or check your spam filters. I know spam filters, virus and popup blockers are getting better and better these days, but email from ME is not spam.

I have had several people recently tell me they didn't get my emails and I can only guess that email from alicia AT crumley DOT org is going to spam. Please, please, please check or add me to your address books.

Thanks.

Ford Blue Oval Scholars logo contest

Growing up, my family supported the Ford Motor Company by buying Ford cars. My dad is a Ford man (he remembers his family's first new car- a 1956 Robin's Egg Blue Ford, a 312 with a 2-barrel carburetor) and drives a Ford Ranger. My father-in-law drives a Ford Expedition.

Which is why I perked up at the announcement that Ford is running a contest. The Ford Motor Company sponsors a scholarship program called the Ford Blue Oval Scholars. And a space is being carved out of the internet for the scholarship winners to network and share ideas, job offers, and help each other excel in their community programs.

The contest is a logo design contest, to replace the one to the left. Prizes for winning are a copy of Adobe Creative 3 Suite 3 Design Premium, $300 for design software of choice, and $50 music download card.

I know several designers and artistic types read this blog, so maybe you might want to try your hand at designing something? The rules and guidelines are on the website and the deadline for submission is November 1st. Let me know if you win!

ePerks

My mom is in Florida, but her house is in Ohio... waiting to sell.

I am really praying hard my parent's house sells quickly because I really don't like the idea of my mom in Ohio and my dad in Texas. I haven't bothered to ask her how the house is doing since she is busy doting on a new grandbaby and all. But I do wonder how it is going.

Maybe my parents should have signed up for a real estate agent via ePERKS.com. They could get cash back- up to 17% cash back if they use one of the realtors in the Dayton, Ohio area- when their house sells.

I just hope the house is sold quickly. Then my mom can start ruling the roost in Texas.

Skype outage

Ever since my sister moved to Georgia, we have been getting lots of use out of Skype. She decided to use it as her primary phone since she was having problems getting a land line. The added benefit of her seeing Fuller via webcam is fun too. (Damon and I joked that we could get her to babysit Fuller via Skype.)

Well, this afternoon I tried to connect to Skype and it just kept spinning and spinning. I asked some online friends if they had the same problem and my friend Julie pointed me to Tech Crunch's article. I just found Skype's heartbeat, so I plan on checking there for more information in the future.

Memory Walk Donation Page

I have been mucking around on the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk page all morning. I finally got it to where I am ok with it... so you can go and donate now if you like.

I decided since I have just over a month and I will be traveling twice during that time, I would not try to form a team, just register individually. And I am going to keep my sights at raising $500. (Anything over that is just ducky!)

Thanks in advance for any donations. And now I really must go clean the kitchen, again.

Taken by Fuller

One of the indoor activities we have embarked on today is letting Fuller take pictures. It is mainly because today is the last day to submit pictures for the A Little Perspective contest and I wanted to see if I could get Fuller to take pictures of anything other than his fingers.

The camera he gets to use is Austina's old Nikon Coolpix 2500. The lens filps in for storage and can flip around to the back so you can see yourself in the LCD screen for great self-portraits. Or in Fuller's case, pictures of his fingers.

He has been having great fun pressing the buttons and maxing out the memory.

Here are a few I am considering:

There'll be some changes made

I've been a little frustrated with our family's little corner of the internet here... one problem is that since it is hosted and set up by Chattablogs, it is stuck in retro, running Movable Type version 2.6. Because it is a free license and all licenses of MT now cost something, Terrablogs won't be upgrading anytime soon.

We own crumley.org, but it just points to here. It is hosted through the kindness of my husband's business, but managing it can be a pain or inconvenience because I can't manage it myself. I have to get Damon to remember to ask Ed or something.

I recently looked into hosting options, thinking maybe we should just pay to have crumley.org hosted somewhere else. But when you have free versus any money, well free wins out, right? (Ok, not always, but in this category of our family budget, free has always won out.)

Well, that is where free web hosting comes in. But free doesn't mean I would just go with anyone. I have my primary email through crumley.org, so I want to make sure I will have POP3 email. I want one step install, so that I don't have to get too technical. And yet, have 24/7 support for when I do need help. I want web based FTP, because I don't know how to do anything else. And I want a pretty high up time. I don't want a host that goes down a lot.

That is why it is really neat that Easy CGI is currently offering 1 year free for web hosting. They guarantee 99.9% uptime, 24/7 tech support, web traffic reports (I get addicted to those), and one step install to a lot of applications (I don't know if Wordpress is one of those, but I think it should be).

We may be thanking Damon's office for their web hospitality soon, and moving to something I can actually work. And when that happens, well, you may see some changes around here.

Dinner plans

I have a new blog crush. Her name is Ree and she writes about her life and family at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. They have a working cattle ranch and they keep wild mustangs for the government. Her daughters, ages 10 and 8, get to drive Ford f250s.

I think one of the reasons I like her blog is the photographs. She takes great pictures and I think they represent their lives very well.

Ree also has a cooking blog where she shares her recipes for feeding her family on the working ranch. Tonight we are going to have Marlboro Man's Sandwich.

Time to go chop the onions!

Your Amazon.com Order is Being Prepared for Shipping

I finished reading Harry Potter on Saturday night. Damon picked up the book on Sunday and is currently pages away from finishing. And when he gets done, I plan on sending him this link. (Warning, it inadvertently contains a spoiler.)

Dell Laptop for $499

I saw over on Lynn Terry's blog that today Dell is selling laptops for $499. That sounds pretty good to me, too bad I already have one. But I know some folks recently who said that they want one (Dad? Albert?). It is one day only, and that day would be today.

I guess with back to school only a few weeks away, the electronic companies are going to be putting everything from laptops to viewsonic monitors to Texas Instrument calculators on sale. The Best Buy and Circuit City circulars are going to be fun to look at for the next month or so.

D'oh!

We never got a family photo while we were at The Lake. So this one from the Simpsons avatar creator will have to do. Damon did this yesterday and it made me giggle. He even made one for Auburn Elvis.

There was a competition to determine which Springfield the movie premiere will be held. Springfield, TN was in the running, so we hope that they won. (I only learned about it last night on the local news, but the voting ended at 11:59 pm last night.)

Atlantis safe on earth

Julie posted this on her blog and I love watching it. Atlantis coming safely to earth gives me this feel good vibe that is on par with how emotional I get when there is a parade.

Vote Not Martha!

A few days ago, I asked for help for a friend. Well, she still needs help! Voting goes on until June 29th, so you can go back and vote for her everyday! Please help her out, she really, really wants to win.

Just go to Ben Spark's site, vote for Not Martha and that is all. Thanks!

Help a friend

My friend Retta is in the running to win an at home soda maker. To enter, she wrote an entry about why she should win. Now she is a finalist and she needs votes to win, so if you go to Ben Spark's site, you can vote for "Not Martha" to help her out! (No registration necessary, just vote for Not Martha!)

Pretty please? (She says if she wins and you are ever in Newport News, she will make you a soda.)

PPP Direct

Pay Per Post has put yet another twist in the blogging road.

The same model that PayPerPost launched last June is still in effect: bloggers log into the system and see a list of opportunities available for them to take and then write about in a certain time frame. But now PayPerPost has added another avenue that bloggers can take if they want to write sponsored content: PPP Direct.

Bloggers can add a badge or link to their site for advertisers to see (similar to the one on my sidebar). Then an advertiser visiting a blog can click the link and ask that specific blogger to write a sponsored post for their site/ company/ or product.

This might sound a little familiar if you are informed in the ways of the sponsored blogging world. The closest paid blogging models I can think of are Review Me and Sponsored Reviews, both companies that I have signed up for and earned money through.

With Review Me, I signed up and my blog became part of a list of blogs that advertisers could sift through. Advertisers would then be able to pick the blogs they wanted to review their products or sites, all from one location.

On Sponsored Reviews I still have to log into the system and then submit a bid for how much I would write a sponsored post for. Then the advertiser will accept or decline my bid.

PPP Direct requires that the advertisers somehow find you and click on the badge on your blog. Then the advertiser will fill out a form on PPP's site with the information (keywords, URL, etc) that will get emailed to me. I can accept, negotiate, or decline the request.

Three different ways to help me monetize my blog. Which leads me to the actual numbers part. With Review Me, I was told my blog was worth $60 (this is recalculated every month). They take a 50% cut, which means that I would get $30 per review. On Sponsored Reviews I tell an advertiser how they would be charged (up to $50) and SR takes 35% giving me the rest.

PPPDirect is different. I tell an advertiser I want $X to write a sponsored post and I will get $X when I complete the assignment. The advertiser then pays PPPDirect my fee plus an additional 10% (5% of that goes to PayPal fees). This is significantly less than the other models.

Why not just let advertisers approach me directly? Well, going through any of those companies has a certain amount of security attached to it. These are proven companies, who have dealt with thousands of bloggers. I would trust a request I get through them before I really trust an advertiser contacting me directly. As a bonus, PPPDirect pays immediately. The other models pay in two weeks or at the first of the month.

I have really enjoyed my time with sponsored posts and have learned a lot. The blogosphere is changing quickly and I am looking forward to the direction that PPP Direct will take me next.

And the winner is...

Sorry it took so long to get the video up. I had to leave the house and it wasn't done uploading.

Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday. The Alice in Wonderland shot won by a landslide, and I think it is through the power of suggestion that it is my favorite one too.

I hope to have more of these quick giveaways in the future.

Thursday's Theme: Spin and giveaway

Tracey at Picture This has started a new feature: Thursday's Theme. This week, the theme is spin. I took the word as the action and after digging through my shots from last week, I found quite a few.

These are my top two favorites. One is from our Sunday church picnic and the other was captured at the recent Alice in Wonderland exhibit at the Creative Discovery Museum.

Which is your favorite? Let me know and for every comment left here, you will be entered into a random drawing for a $10 iTunes certificate! Contest ends at 7 am tomorrow, Eastern Time Zone.

add the police to my life's playlist

This summer the Police are coming back together to tour the world starting on Sunday in Vancouver and ending in November in Tornoto. In between they will hit the USA, Paris, and Manchester.

To help promote the tour and bring up memories of first dates, proms, and breaking up, Universal Music Group is releasing a new 2-CD Police Set. The Police CD has 28 classic tracks and a vintage pull out poster for the fans.

This would be cool to have to add to my Police collection. Which consists of no police cds at all.

The band got together the year after I was born and took a never-ending sabbatical before I became a desirable demographic for the record companies. Yet they are so ingrained in the culture that I somehow know their songs. I find them enjoyable and think I should have some of their songs in my CD shelves.

Now in the days of MP3 players, you pick and choose your music to play in your earbuds. There isn't a great chance you are going to hear those favorite songs on the radio everyday. You decide your life's own soundtrack. If a certain song is playing while you have a special time with someone or finish that last term paper, or even while you just hang out at the mall, it is probably because you picked that song for your playlist.

Universal Music Group has teamed up with PayPerPost to give away a limited number of this Police CD. I think I would like to win one of those CDs so that I can add these songs to my life's playlist.

Here are the track listings:

Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara

VA Joe

My mom has had some visits from good friends recently. They have been assisting her in getting ready for their upcoming move to Texas. As I mentioned before, my dad got miraculously promoted to Lt. Colonel and soon after he gets back from Afghanistan they will be putting their house on the market and moving to Texas. I will also have to stop calling him Major Dad. I guess I'll still with McDad.

Anyway, my mom's friends have been helping her keep to her tasks in getting ready for the move. Which is why I will probably get into trouble when I show her this website. Because she won't be sticking to her tasks, she will hanging out at VA Joe.

VAJoe.com is a website devoted to the military community. Active, retired, and dependent- if you are in any branch of the military you will find this site useful.

There is information about the GI Bill and Veteran's Benefits. There are very active Mlitary forums, with discussion ranging from military families to the chaplains (I gotta show that to my dad), and non-military fun like pop-culture and sports. The website has a place for Military Jokes, with a comedy contest every month.

Members who join and make 12 forum posts get a free VAJoe t-shirt, which makes me want to sign up right now. (Hey, I think ex-brats are allowed too.)

I am a big supporter of the military, and I think that I can be a big supporter of the VAJoe site too.

Thunderbird are go

I ditched Outlook yesterday for Thunderbird. Very easy to set up and a clean interface. Now I need to get all my filters set up and I should be good to go.

Since I really like to have my calendar I added Lightening to the set up, so I need to move everything over.

I'm feeling a little rebellious.

Win on Tuesday

HDTV!

PayPerPost, the gang who help bloggers earn money through sponsored posts, are trying to sweeten their relationship with the posties by offering special prizes. In April, every Tuesday they gave away a thousand dollars. And this month they have passed out a Play Station, an Apple TV, and by the end of the month some lucky postie will be the owner of a new HDTV.

PayPerPost has created a blog network of talented bloggers who are willing help spread the word about products or websites that they would probably interact with anyway. This way they just get paid for it. Tomorrow, posties who are quick enough to grab the opportunities will earn Slingbox, Nintendo Wii, Yamaha Surround Sound System or a Logitech universal remote. (Personally I would like a Wii.)

Each Tuesday, the giveaways are sponosred by one of the PPP advertisers. This month, PPP teamed up with Bid4Prizes, a low bid auction site that lets members win anything from HDTVs to Starbucks $500 cards.

It sure makes Tuesday more interesting. I mean, besides the fun that Fuller offers me every second of the day. That's the best part of every day for me.

Everyone's an Expert on Something

I truly believe everyone's an expert on something - even if that something's just "your life", you're technically THE expert.

Unlike many of you, I'm an expert in lots of things. In fact, I'm always looking for something that will make me better than everyone else (I'm so vain, I probably think this blog is about me). Recently, I've found another subject I'm an expert on: the batusi.

Apparently, I'm not only AN expert on the batusi... I may well be THE expert on the batusi. How can I make this claim? One word: Wikipedia.

You see, about a month ago, I was watching ABC's Dancing with the Stars (yes, I'm the lone straight guy who watches that show) and witnessed Apolo Anton Ohno dancing a jive routine that included his version of John Travolta's dance from Pulp Fiction. A dance that incorporated the batusi move. I immediately jumped on the computer and went to add the sighting into the Wikipedia batusi entry.

You see, several times in the past, I've gone to Wikipedia with what I thought was unique information, only to find it already posted months (or even years) earlier.

Well, the batusi entry I stumbled upon had numerous omissions and very little photographic proof of alleged batusi sightings. Oh yes, another area where I could be the best at something. Sweet!

So, help feed my ego. If you should happen have a batusi sighting, please let me know so I can keep my self-proclaimed title as the world's foremost expert on the batusi.

A Mother's Day Giveaway: Who wants a Wallhog?

I am very fortunate to have an awesome mother who has raised me well and continues to be a really good friend to me. I enjoyed my time with my mother back in April, because I was able to have her take care of me a little bit. I appreciate how adventurous she is and that she doesn't give up easily.

In honor of Mother's Day, which is coming up next Sunday, I am hosting a contest.

The nice folks at Wallhogs have offered to give away a 48 inch removable vinyl wallhog to the winner of the contest. Ever since I wrote about them last month, I have been wanting to get my hands on one. But instead, someone who enters this contest will get one. Aren't you lucky?

The contest: I would like you to leave a comment on this entry with your favorite story about your mother. If you are a mother, you can opt to leave a comment on your favorite mothering moment. Please limit the comments to under 200 words.

Only comments left on this entry will qualify. Please leave a valid email address so we can contact you. If you do not have a URL, just put in http://crumley.org

All entries are due by 11:59 pm (EST), Friday, May 11th.

On Sunday, May 13th, a special judge (not me or Damon) will pick his or her favorite entry and that person will be named the winner of a Wallhog.

If you want to spread the word about this contest, feel free to host the image above or below on your own server, and point people to this entry. The comments have to be on this entry to qualify.

The perks of being a mom

There are a lot of perks that come with being a Mom, especially the ones that come up in May when the Mother of all days is here- Mother's Day. Suddenly the world is sweeter (chocolates and ice cream), shinier (jewelry), and there is less to do (please, sit back and put your feet up! Today is your day!).

And then there are contests and give aways like the one at Five Minutes for Mom. If you head on over there, you can enter to win an iPod Nano, or a Mei Tai Baby Carrier, or a book on the total Mom makeover.

I'm so thrilled to be a mom right now.

Parenting Teens... not me, but a review

Over at my Parenting Sites 411 blog I had to write a blurb for the about section. I was almost a month late getting it done because I just had a hard time with the wording. Then this morning I took a swig of coffee and my "about" spewed from my finger tips. I wish it was always that easy.

I also wonder about my topics over on that blog. Since I am the parent of a toddler, the "hot topics" of my blog are skewed toward the toddler crowd, but that isn't the intent of my blog at all. I want it to be about all aspects of parenting, from infants to teenagers.

That is why Parenting Teens is a great site for me to discover. experience I have with parenting teens is being the teenager to a parent, I rely heavily on internet sites for that kind of information.

The Parenting Teen site covers topics from teen health, teen education, parenting teen tips, and sections on troubled teens. I like that the site covers book and has articles from different perspectives of parents.

The topic of troubled teens seems to fill a lot of the content of the site, as a major focus of many parents. The forums seem a bit empty, but I am sure there are plenty of people out there looking for help that don't know they can find some support online.

Parenting Teens - Teen Help for Troubled Teens, seems to be a site that is ready for more participation and full of information.

Blogger's Choice Awards

June is the month that PayPerPost is hosting their conference on blogging (aka Postiecon). It is a conference that is open to all bloggers, not just those that are on the payperpost payroll.

As part of their festivities, they have put together the Blogger's Choice Awards. Again, it is open to all blogs, not just those that participate in PPP fun. The awards will be presented during Postiecon.

The way it works is that you register at the site and nominate any blog in the blogosphere that you want. There are many, many categories from from "Best Animal Blog" to "Worst Blog of All Time" (a category I think they could have done without). Mixed up in the middle are categories like "Hottest Mommy Blogger" (no, I am not nominated) and "Best Parenting Blog" (why yes, I have been nominated for that).

The Daily Fuller Fix has been nominated for "Best Photography Blog" which would be cool to win (and is an example of a blog that doesn't participate in payperpost, which I want to re-emphasize that any blog can be nominated and voted for).

This mommy blogger really enjoys her place in the blogging community. I hope that the competition goes well and that feelings don't get hurt. And I hope that those of you who go to Postiecon really enjoy your time there.

Oh, and you can vote for me if you want to. ;-)

The best part of a carnival is the food!

It is that time again, time for another Postie Carnival.

This time the carnival is being hosted over at Retta's Thoughts Out of My Head blog and the theme is all about food. I submitted a post about our gingerbread house at Thanksgiving.

It was a great memory and I am really glad it worked out for us. And from the comments I have received on the entry, it seems that a lot of people don't get their gingerbread houses to work. Believe me, I know that frustration. We had many failures in the gingerbread arts in my past.

Anyway, pop on over there and check out the other entries. It might make you want a midnight snack, so be careful!

Self Portrait Sunday: A Day of Rest

I declare today a good day. First we got to church before it actually started, which is a feat we haven't accomplished in a few weeks. The service was great (Ray Clark preached), Sunday School went well, lunch was declared delicious (spaghetti and meat sauce), and we all took naps. Later we are going to the church Easter pancake dinner, where I am sure I will be cleaning syrup off Fuller at some point.

I have been enjoying the Self Portrait Sunday meme and I think it is because I am actually consistent in getting it posted. And I appreciate the excuse to turn the camera on myself. Not much to say about this one, it's just me, after lunch, before my nap. It has truly been a day of rest.

Self Portrait Sunday: Playground madness

I took a sponge bath of mineral spirits this evening. It wasn't pretty. I wasn't pretty.

The last day of the playground build was all about finishing touches and shellacking every inch of exposed wood. Since Damon worked so hard the last three days, he watched Fuller while I took foam brush in hand and helped with the ginormous task of shellacking.

I am not a very neat painter. Shellacking isn't that much different than painting and I ended up with a lot of it on me. Which leads me to the sponge bath of mineral spirits and sawdust to scrub the shellac off my hands, fingers, arms, and legs.

I took this picture near the end of the day. If you look closely you can see parts of the playground in the background. You can't see all the dirt, but trust me I was dirty, sweaty, and tired. But I was (and am) so happy that this playground was built and next week we can take Fuller to burn his energy off on the big slide and swings.

This experience was amazing, and I promise to tell you more about it later. I need to go to bed.

Self Portrait Sunday: I love allergy season

It is Sunday again, so time for another self portrait. I decided to be honest in my picture, let you see how I look and hopefully you will understand how I feel.

I had an awesome day yesterday, but by the end of the day I felt awful. Stuffy nose and sore throat were my prominent symptoms, so I took a sinus pill. And the pill kept me awake.

I slept about 3 hour last night. And when Fuller got up I realized there was no way I was going to function as a Sunday School teacher. So Damon took Fuller to church and I tried to sleep some more. I didn't really get a great nap.

So, this is me. Today, on Sunday.

No, it isn't pretty.

I'll be better tomorrow. Somehow I will suck it up and deal. We don't have Kindermusik tomorrow, so that will help. But I do have company coming over in the late afternoon, so let's deal.

Anniversary

I have no idea if you have been paying attention to my blogging habits lately, but I kind of slowed down there for a little while.

Last week was my one month anniversary of being a Stay at Home Mom and I was taking some time to take stock of what is going on. To be honest, I still don't have any idea what is going on. You know, the whole working mom balancing act was just too much for me. Now that I am at home I am much more relaxed but I still don't have anything that resembles an organized life.

I realized that I had a little bit of withdrawal to get through since leaving the cubicle farm. I was so used to being connected to the internet for 8 hours a day and changing to this kind of arrangement- laptop only during breakfast, nap time, and after bedtime- has been difficult. And focusing on the other stuff that needs to be done- laundry, food, cleaning, etc- has been an adjustment.

But I really want to blog, that much I am sure of. And since I started blogging for extra money I have really been in what I think is blogging overdrive.

In the blogging arena I have this blog, the Daily Fuller Fix, Chattanooga Is Home, and Parenting Sites 411. The last two I have contractual obligations for, so I am trying my best. And then there is this blog...

I am still looking at the Pay Per Post site everyday, but I just haven't been motivated to write for them these days. I am still making money blogging, but it just isn't as much through them these days.

I mentioned a while back that they were going through growing pains. First they required all bloggers to disclose their paid posts (the ones through PPP- I have a disclosure policy on my side bar) and then they took steps to segment their bloggers. That segmentation has created some really high paying opportunities for bloggers who have high page ranks and low Alexa numbers. Someone out there with a blog that is ranked at a 6/10 by google could get $35 per post. (That's not me.) And since you can now take up to 3 opportunities per blog per day, that can add up pretty quickly.

I decided that since I am a stay at home mom, I really should be focusing on the home part and blogging less for PPP and not worrying about the money that I am not making. So I slowed down a little bit. Now that my mood is a bit lighter and I have been thinking hard about my goals and I feel a bit more organized.

This is going to work. I love being at home! (Now I need to go empty the dishwasher.)

I'm laughing a lot right now, thanks Mike

Mike, I am excited that your birthday is coming up very soon. Count those days!

But this just cracked me up.

Fred and Celeste are Proud to Announce the Birth of their Child, Alicia Sill McFarland, on November 9, 1976.

Unfortunately, Alicia Sill McFarland is the anti-christ.

Fred and Celeste are confused. So very confused..

What Did Your Birth Announcement Say? at QuizGalaxy.com

Seriously, a daughter of a PCA pastor as the anti-Christ? My mother told me I was awesome and the best baby ever! Whenever Fuller acts up, my mother tells me "Alicia, you were a good baby." I guess that means that Fuller gets his attitude from his father.

Mike, I hope you have a great birthday. I am putting it on my calendar right now!

Anyone can blog

Even a 107 year old great-great grandmother named Olive.

You should check her out.

http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/

Hi Carnies!

Today is another round of Postie Carnival and the theme is Animals, hosted by Marisa of Marisa's Dandelion Patch.

My submission is from last month, and I still wonder when Maple and Lively are going to get with the program and enjoy Fuller's existence. Today Damon, Fuller, and Maple tried to play ball, but Maple would only play with Damon. If Damon left, Maple would follow him, and Fuller would follow begging Maple to come back.

If you head over to the Carnival you can meet lots of other bloggers who had something to say on the topic of animals. Have fun!

Self Portrait Sunday: Family time

We had so much fun at the UTC Mocs basketball game last night. Before going to the game we had dinner at Pizza Hut. The pizza was good, once we got it. The first pizza that was ours was boxed up and sent to a carry out order. (Insert eye roll here.)

Once we got to the game, we were seated in the upper level. But because attendance is so low at the games, during one of the time outs they invited those of us in the upper level to come down and sit in the empty seats on the lower level.

Fuller did ok as a spectator. He really wanted to run around, which leads me to believe that when we go to the tournament we will be walking around the Georgia Dome a lot.

The game wasn't that great, but the atmosphere was fun. The band was loud and jumping, the cheeleaders were jumping and loud. Fuller got into some of the noise- yelling "ahhhhhhhhhhh" when the Mocs were on defense.

I love to people watch at the games. But it was so much fun to see my family having fun. Good times were had by all.

Remember! You can participate in Self Portrait Sunday! Just do it and leave a comment in today's entry on DigiCass.

Pain in the (_|_)

Lynn Terry has a fun post about blog spam. I keep getting spam for something called Tramadol. I thought it was another substance diet thing like Hoodia, but when I actually looked it up, it is a pain medication.

Really the pain is having to delete if from my email.

Bill Cosby has a dog

With all the celebrities entering drug rehab, alcohol rehab, personality, or even personality rehab, I thought this spoof was really funny.

Bill Cosby’s award winning Dandie Dinmont terrier, Hobergays Fineus Fogg has been on a self-destructive bender after losing the Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday night. Known just as “Harry” to close friends and everyone else who thinks Hobergays Fineus Fogg sounds like a gay porn, the little dog has been partying big throughout NYC hotspots.

I showed a picture of Harry to my dog Lively and she was definitely impressed. It looks like Harry was robbed at that show.

Design contest, $160 first prize

Home Turf Media, the blog network that manages my Chattanooga blog, has placed a contest on Sitepoint for a logo.

I am aware of many, many designers in the Chattanooga area who could really eat up some of the competition. And even my SIL, who won a contest for designing commemorative glasses for New Year's 2000, could probably do something fun for this.

The prize is $160. Worth a shot, yeah?

Digg this: Help a blogger out?

Besides Fuller's hunger pains and dirtier than normal diapers, his attitude is one of a healthy child. Yesterday we kept him home from church, away from other kids.

But I did take him out on a photo shoot yesterday. I needed to take pictures of the Walnut Street Bridge, for an entry I did over on my Chattanooga blog. The article has been dugg, and if you know what that means, do you think you could go an digg it too?

If you don't know what that means, the short of it is that there is a site (Digg.com) where people vote on if they like an article. It can help generate traffic to your site, which is something I need over at that blog. Digg users are not encouraged to digg their own stuff, but they are encouraged to ask others to digg. So, that is what I am doing.

Thanks!

Edited to add: That entry about the Walnut Street Bridge is also a part of the Carnival of Cities blog carnival! Check out the other cities and their entries. There are cities from all over the world represented, so it has a great international flair. And information on how to submit for the next carnival.

School daze

Since Fuller is only two and since we plan on homeschooling early on, I haven't really given much brain space to the whole "what school is best for my kid" issue. I know that schools have to meet certain standards and there have been issues with failing schools in my area, but I know this is something I need to learn more about.

Like in Florida, did you know that each school gets a grade letter, A to F? The best schools seem to be in Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach, and St Johns County.

There is a google maps mash up of the Florida public schools, their grades, and their locations. It looks like where my sister lives, in Martin County, have all A and B schools. Sarah-Ginny and Nat teach at a private school, so there is no grade listed for them.

It would make sense that there are people who want to live in Jacksonville homes near great schools, if education is a top priority for their family.

Here is more information:

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) February 13, 2007 -- Starting today homebuyers all across the state of Florida can display a Google Map of all of the public schools in their county and the FCAT scores for the past five years. School grades are color coded so that buyers can at a glance identify potential neighborhoods to look at for homes. This map of "A" through "F" graded schools gives buyers more information about the neighborhoods where they are looking at homes. I constantly get asked by many buyers where the best schools are located when they shop for homes. If the buyers are new to the area it's often hard for them to visualize which neighborhoods have the best schools "I constantly get asked by many buyers where the best schools are located when they shop for homes. If the buyers are new to the area it's often hard for them to visualize which neighborhoods have the best schools," says Krista Fracke, Realtor. She continues, "By using this web page buyers can see the past five years of FCAT scores and narrow down where they want to search for homes."

The web page, http://www.kristafracke.com/idxschools.php, is a mash-up of the popular Google Maps service that many people are familiar with using to see aerial pictures of cities. Once the user clicks on the Florida County they want to see, the map centers on that county. The map then displays colored markers that show the location of the schools in that county. The color of the marker indicates the school's grade from the last year. Clicking on the marker reveals the school's name and grades from the past five years. The web page may also be found from the home page, http://www.kristafracke.com, by clicking on the "Schools" link on the right hand navigation menu. Krista Fracke is a real estate agent in Northeast Florida serving Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach, and St Johns County. In 2006, Krista closed over $30,000,000 in sales. Krista is member of RE/MAX's Chairman's Club and has one the highest ranked RE/MAX teams in the state of Florida.

Outpost Earth

One of the lessons I am learning about blogging is that it is important to get people to visit your site. One of the ways to do that is to sign your sites up with internet directories.

A week ago I signed up both this blog and Chattanooga Is Home at www.Outpost-Earth.com. I have seen some traffic show up here because of adding my site there.

It is great because when I signed up, I was able to set the location of my blog (Tennessee) and the topic (Family & Children), so when people go to Outpost-Earth, they can find my blog through either channel. There is a down side because you have to create a whole new account per blog. But that is ok, I'm still out there.

It is free to anyone to join, and like I said, I have seen some traffic come to our site via Outpost-Earth. You should try it too!

Why yes, I have in fact started another blog

Because learning how to be ruler of this roost wasn't enough, I decided to accept an offer from 451 Press to write a parenting blog for them. The blog is actually a review of parenting websites around the internet, hence the name Parenting Sites 411. I did my first official review today, and I am a bit nervous.

First, I think the content is really, really long and yet I hacked out about two thirds of what I wrote last night.

Second, there is so much that I didn't review about that site! But again, it was getting really, really long.

And third, well, it is a new blog and I want it to do really well.

This takes me up to three blogs that I am currently writing for- this one, Chattanooga Is Home, and Parenting Sites 411. Both Chattanooga and Parentings Sites are for blog networks. This means that I provide content and that is all. The network is in charge of the layout, the advertising, and whatever else technical and behind the scenes is necessary.

I realize to some that this might be a bit nuts because it isn't that hard to set up your own blog and get one up an running (and not have to share ad revenue), but to me, it is hard. And really, I just want to write. And write. And write. I do plan on figuring out how to do all this stuff from scratch, which is why I have a fourth blog that is just a playground for me. Maybe I can actually play there tomorrow during Fuller's nap.

But for now, please go check out the other sites and leave comments, or something. I have to go fold laundry, because I still have to rule the roost here too.

Self Portrait Sunday: The Magic Scarf

My self portrait today was inspired by a gift given to me by my mother-in-law: a magic scarf.

We got another package this week, from Linda, with some Auburn related gear- license plates, stocking caps, and this SpiritMaker Magic Scarf. I have seen the scarves in various malls, and they are luxuriously soft, but never reached out and purchased one. Now I am really excited to have it. There are eight different drawings on the package telling me all the different ways I can wear my magic scarf. In this picture I am attempting the third arrangement.

Linda suggested that I make some, but I know that the cost of the yarn and the amount of time it would take me to actually produce would not be any cheaper than what she paid for mine. I think I will let the Koreans keep making them for now.

If you want to participate in Self Portrait Sunday, then go ahead, there is no official sign up. Just post a picture of yourself (you don't even have to have words around it like me), and then go to Cass's site and leave a comment in today's entry, letting her know you participated. It is so much fun.

And Cass looks so pretty today! Would you believe that she has 8 kids? And she knits and crochets, a lot. Maybe I could check out the Raleigh North Carolina Real Estate market and move near her and learn how to knit. Then I could take those Koreans on in the Magic Scarf market. Of course, that wouldn't be too cost effective either.

B is for better blogger

As I mentioned the other day, PayPerPost did an upgrade to Beta 3. For those of you not sure, PayPerPost is one of the companies that sets up advertisers to advertise on blogs like mine.

If you check out their forums, it looks like there have been problems with the release and they have had to re-release a bunch of features. After a few days of no answers (and one day where posties couldn't take any opportunities), they finally chimed in with what they were doing to fix it.

PPP has also introduced some hardcore segmentation that only allows certain bloggers to blog about certain opportunities. Segmentation works in a way that looks at my google page rank (I have a 4), my Alexa rating (which is so silly it isn't worth mentioning), and a tack score that I have earned during my participation with PPP (I have a 4 out of 5 tack score).

One of the reasons that PPP states segmentation is important is because they want us to become better bloggers. There are lots of ways to accomplish that goal and improve rankings. And one of those ways is to take advantage of a PPP tool they created to help out.

Every once in a while, you will see a button at the bottom of my blog posts. Some of the posts are paid posts and some are not. You can click this button, sign up with PPP, and review my post. For every post you review, you will get $7.50 (you need a paypal account to do this) and in return, I will get $7.50.

Your feedback will help me in developing this craft of mine, on my way to being a better blogger.

PayPerPost Beta 3

PayPerPost rolled out Beta 3 last night and today the site is different, the forums are jumping, and we are anxiously waiting a blog post so we can comprehend everything that changed.

There may be some different looks to some of my paid entries in the future, specifically something called a "bubble ad" but please keep in mind that right now I am only really looking into what the changes are like. If I don't like them, I may stop using PayPerPost, or exclude myself from specific opportunities.

Also there is a new feature where people can review each other's entries. The review feature is not on all paid posts, it can be placed at the bottom of any of my entries, so if you are inclined and want to make a few extra dollars (I think it is $7.50 per review) then click away!

Growing pains are not fun, but I guess getting to Beta 3 is pretty exciting.

A little bit internet 101

Ok, I have been meaning to post a little internet 101 here for some people that I know that I think could use it. Yes Daddy, Momma, I am looking at you.

First, there is social bookmarking. But wait, I don't think I have to write out a whole entry on that because look! Someone else has already done so.

My friend (who also writes Tech It Like A Man) wrote up a step by step on how to add sites to del.icio.us.

The reason I think del.icio.us is great is because I can keep all my URLs that I frequently visit in the same place. And if I go from computer to computer (like I used to), then I have one place to go find them. I don't have to write them down or list them all in a Word document and email them to myself, I just have one site to keep them on. And the nifty buttons on the toolbars help add sites to my del.icio.us very quickly. As a bonus, you can mark sites as "not shared" so the rest of the world can't see how you log into your bank.

The second internet lesson that I wanted to cover is about Google Reader. But wait! Check this out! Someone else has already done this too. Fellow Postie,Marcus, wrote about RSS feeds and Google Reader. This is useful because you can subscribe to all the sites you read, and know exactly when those sites have been updated.

I'll go a step further and say that I use a customized Google homepage and I have a module that lists the 10 most recently updated sites. When I click on it, the entry pops up to the left of the module. It really saves time and keeps me up to date.

Well then, my first class in internet 101 is over and I really didn't have to do much because other people have done it for me. Thanks to techboyardee.com for some great entries.

70 questions, so many more than 20

My friend Julie tagged me, so get ready for some information overload.

70 things:
1. Are your parents married or divorced?...Married, 36 years!

2. Are you a vegetarian?...I crave meat.

3. Do you believe in Heaven?...Yes.

4. Have you ever come close to dying?...Nope.

5. What jewelery do you wear 24/7?...My wedding ring, my four leaf clover necklace.

6. Favorite time of day?...Early morning before everyone gets up.

7. Do you eat the stems of broccoli?...Yes.

8. Do you wear makeup?...Sometimes.

9. Ever have plastic surgery?...No, but I am going to!

11. What do you wear to bed?...PJ bottoms and a t-shrt.

12. Have you ever done anything illegal?...Yes.

13. Can you roll your tongue?...Yes, both ways! And at the same time.

14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows?...Everyday.

15. What kind of sneakers?...New Balance.

16.Do you believe in Abortions?...No.

17. What is your Hair color?...Red.

18. Future child’s name?...Girl- Virginia, Boy- ask Damon.

19. Do you snore?...Only when I have a cold or sleep on my back.

20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?...The next Summer Olympics.

21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?...No, just the real ones.

22. If you won the lottery, what would you do first?...10% to God, pay off debt.

23. Gold or silver?...Gold.

24. Hamburger or hot dog?...Cheese burger.

25. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?...Pizza.

26. City, beach or country?...Beach.

27. What was the last thing you touched?...The mouse pad.

28. Where did you eat last?...Dining room table.

29. When’s the last time you cried?...This morning.

30. Do you read blogs?...Who made this list?

31. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?...Um, No.

32. Ever been involved with the police?...Yes, my best friend's husband is a cop! Our families are close.

33. What’s your favourite shampoo conditioner and soap?...I use Suave's knock off of the Frizz-Ease Blonde shampoo and conditioner.

34. Do you talk in your sleep?...Not consistently.

35. Ocean or pool?...LI like the pool a lot.

36. So, who has the original missing questions?...Fuller I guess, I can't understand a word he says.

37. Who would you take on a ménage à trois for a dirty weekend?...Never considered it, never will.

38. Window seat or aisle?...Window.

39. Ever met anyone famous?...Yes.

40. Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?...Nope, but I am working on it!

41. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?...Well, we break it when we put it in the pot. Then I twirl it on the fork.

42. Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey?..Neither.

43. Basketball or Football?...Both, but mainly football.

44. How long do your showers last?...15 minutes.

45. Automatic or do you drive a stick?...Automatic.

46. Cake or ice cream?...Ice cream.

47. Are you self-conscious?...Yes.

48. Have you ever drank so much you threw up?...Yes.

49. Have you ever given money to a beggar?...Yes.

50. Have you been in love?...Yes.

51. Where do you wish you were?...Back in bed. When is nap time?

52. Are you wearing socks?...Yes.

53. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?...Nope.

54. Can you tango?...No.

55. Last gift you received?...Boots.

56. Last sport you played?...Chase Fuller around the living room.

57. Things you spend a lot of money on?...The house.

58. Where do you live?...Chattanooga, TN

59. Where were you born?...Lexington, VA.

60. Last wedding attended?... Trippy's!

61. Spit or swallow?...Let's keep this clean now! I spit saliva and swallow drinks.

62. Favorite position?...sleeping.

63. Most hated food(s)?...Tomatoes.

64. What’s your least fav.?...Eh?

65. Can you sing?...Yes.

66. Last person you instant messaged?... Cass or was it Suni?

67. Last place you went on holiday?... New York City.

68. Favourite regular drink?... Water w/ lemon.

69. Current Song?... Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

70. Tag 3 friends: Silly, that isn't a question!

I heart the crazy

I <3 Jonathan Coulton.

I <3 Heroes.

This is perfect for me. (found via Jonathan Coulton's blog.)

Not looking now, but I was

When I was at my bleakest moments at my old job, I would turn to job search sites to find comfort. There had to be something better out there for me to do. If I couldn't just leave and come home, if I had to work then there had to be a better job available to me.

I got very familiar with Monster, Hot Jobs, Dice, Career Builder, and even Chattanooga Has Jobs. I was feeling desperate and just wanted anything other than the job that I had at the moment.

I wish I had had the guts to sign up with recruitment or headhunter firm. I know that someone out there would have wanted me. A.E. Feldman is one of those firms that specializes in finding jobs in risk management or the computer/ technology fields.

They have a reputation for being the one of the best and consistent job placement companies in the country. Their recruiters have contact all over that allow them to make the best matches for people looking for jobs in those specific fields. They even have expertise in the legal field as well.

I'm no longer looking and don't plan on looking again for quite some time, but I know if I need it, I have one more to add to my list of go to sites.

Getting educated

Today at Mom's group someone asked me how it was going and if I had any plans. I told her that we are just trying to get a routine/ schedule down and that I plan on working more on writing and blogging.

Since jumping into the blog for money game I have been getting a real education in things like SEO, keywords, monetizing, and other topics in the blogosphere. I plan on taking time during Fuller's nap to get an even better education on what I need to know to do well in becoming a blogul.

One site that has been helpful has been the Apogee Search site. They specialize in Paid Search Management, have been recently certified in Google AdWords.

But my favorite part of their site is their glossary. Since I am such a newbie to this game, it has been an invaluable resource that I return to time and time again.

I need Moe

I have a new bathing suit. Pretty funny to get one in January, I know, but this one is from Land's End Overstocks and it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. I love Land's End bathing suits.

I'm kicking myself right now because I forgot to go through my ebates account to place the order. I could have gotten 3% rebate for the $30 bathing suit. I really need to download the Moe Moneymaker to remind me to use it when I shop online.

I love ebates, we have been using that site for years. When I got my laptop from Best Buy I also used ebates to get 1% back. They have over 800 online stores that I frequent all the time. They even have rebates to the apple store. (1% at the store, 3% for apple itunes!)

Ok, I need to go download Moe now. I can't keep missing 3% rebates on music. This is rick-dick-u-lus.

Writing assignment

It has been a long time since I have attempted a writing assignment, and this post brought to you on behalf of MindComet, but it is a good one so I thought I should take it.

Assignment: If you could get hold of one email address, whose would it be and what would you send them a message about?

Since this is a post on behalf of MindComet, it probably has something to do with Email Marketing and here is my message... to my 15 year old self.

To: alli@yourpast.com
From: alli@rightthisveryminute.com

Dear Alli,

Hi! This is you, only about 15 years in the future. Please don't freak out. This is very cool.

The fact that you are reading this is pretty impressive because I know for a fact that you have no idea what email was when you were 15. I can tell you that when you were 15 you were just using a computer to write English assignments for Mrs. Agulara and maybe the occasional game of solitaire.

Well, now that I have your email address and your attention, here is the message I want to pass a long to you:

It's all going to be ok.

Your friend,
You

Gaining confidence

About a year after being in our house we applied for and got a Home Equity Loan that really helped us with financing the renovation of our house. It enabled us to get some of our projects done faster without worrying about where the money would come from at the time. And since it was done though the same bank that we got our home loan, it was really easy to do.

PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com is a site that specializes in giving resources to people wanting to learn about their home loan, refinancing, debt consolidation, and home equity loan options. There are specialized calculators and advice from experts on all the topics. If I were in the market for any of those financial options I am confident that with a little time I will be to understand how to make the best decisions for my financial outlook. Or at least understand exactly what it is that Damon is talking about when he talks about fixed rates versus adjustable rates.

A little fun and maybe some new neighbors

We had a little bit of fun over at my other blog. I just hope we don't get a visit from the abdominal snowman any time soon. I know it is very, very cold outside, but I don't think he could survive.

Self Portrait Sunday: Love my little man

This afternoon I was trying to get my self portrait and Fuller came running over to check out what I was doing. My camera has a LCD screen that flips out so it makes it a tad easier to take pictures of myself. Fuller loves looking at himself in the screen so he was delighted to look while I snapped a few of the two of us together.

Fuller had an awesome day today.

We didn't make it to 8:30 church so instead we went to Sunday School and then to 11 church. As usual we took Fuller to the first part of the service, so he can participate in the singing. I don't know if it was because he was able to play in the nursery before the service but he was almost an angel during the service.

He sat in my lap clutching his box of raisins. And when Cal started the service with the communal prayer, Fuller handed his box of raisins to Damon and then folded his hands. This is what he does at home now, when we pray before meals. For him to clue into prayer at church was a delightful shock.

We have struggled with Fuller sitting still during service. Usually he ends up kicking someone (me) and screeching a little bit. Today there was no kicking and no screeching. He even let me hold him while we sang, adding his own voice to the tunes a few times.

He did break his magnetic drawing pad (he bit the tip off the pen), but that is as naughty has he got. I have to say that this recent trend of goodness is something I hope doesn't end. I'm actually looking forward to taking him to church next Sunday.

For Dad: a link about NASCAR

We have received two emails from my dad since he left for Afghanistan. He is "stuck" in Italy because the weather at the next leg of his trip is too bad. I say "stuck" because really, is that a bad thing? My mom said that if he is still there tomorrow he and some of his new friends (he can make friends anywhere) will be going to Venice for the day.

I am glad that he is somewhere that he has access to some comforts of home- internet and movies. He went to see Happy Feet at the base theater, which is funny because we just went to see it!

Anyway, I know he will be missing lots of things while he is gone and I hope that he has appropriate access to the internet when he is settled. He assures me he will, but I still worry about that. Sure, that bin Laden character has me pretty worried, but will Daddy have the internet? Priorities people! Priorities.

I kid.

I know one of the things Daddy might miss out on will be watching NASCAR and following his favorite driver- Jeff Gordon. Well, I hope Daddy sees this entry so that he can learn about the motorsport blog. He can follow their NASCAR entries and keep up there.

And if I know Daddy, I am sure he will find friends at his base who are equally excited about NASCAR and will happily pass along the link as well.

PPP Carnival

Some of the posties at the PayPerPost forums are hosting a Postie Blog Carnival. I have decided to participate this week and pass along an entry I wrote back in December about charity.

This carnival is being hosted by Suni and the guidelines for submission are on her blog. The first guideline is that you have to be an active postie to participate. If you want to sign up for PayPerPost, you can click the badge on my sidebar (and yes I get a referral fee) to sign up.

Happy Carnival time!

PPP Update

I think it is time for a little PayPerPost update. Over Christmas my mom was asking me how much money I have made so far and really, I hadn't been keeping up. I knew that I had purchase my camera (my original goal) and then I had earned enough money to buy Daddy a Zune for Christmas, and now I am earning money to pay back the household fund for my laptop... I just had never actually totaled it all up.

Imagine my surprise when I realized I was over $1000.

Now, to some Posties this might be small potatoes... some posties have more than one blog where they can post, so they have the opportunity to take more paid opportunities than the limit of 2 per blog. I only have one blog so I can only take two PPP opportunities a day. I think getting to this point is pretty amazing. It will never put me on the leader board, but that isn't my main goal.

My main goal is to first write and second make money to help me with the extra stuff that our household budget can't really handle right now.

I'm really glad that I have this opportunity... technology is grand!

There's a new deal in town

In the quest to earn some money for blogging and pay off my laptop, I have learned there is yet another service available for bloggers to get paid to blog... LoudLaunch.com.

LoudLaunch went live a little while ago and is now available for advertisers to start campaigns for as little as $50. Of course, the more money an advertiser puts into a campaign, the more bloggers can spread the word for the websites or products an advertiser wants to promote.

As long as I have the ability to spread the word on a topic and keep it relevant to my family and life, I have no problem with this type of monetizing of my blog. I tried adsense for a while, but it was obvious that type of ad model wasn't for me. I might go back to ads on this blog in a while, but right now getting paid to post is what works for me.

Welcome to the marketplace LoudLaunch. It is starting to get busier.

Self Portrait Sunday

My online friend Cass has embarked on a new blogging venture- DigiCass! She wants to document her foray into the world of digital photography and I like it because it seems to be on the same level as me.

Cass started a new meme- Self Portrait Sunday. This is great for me because I am usually behind the camera, rarely in front of it.

I know I am cutting it close, but it is still Sunday! Enjoy.

Link love: Grunge Ogre

One of my New Year's Resolutions for this blog is to link to some blogs that I read or have noticed as worth a click or two. One blog is the GrungeOgre.com, a blog about the grumpy musings of on James Allison.

I like this blog for various reasons: 1. It made me laugh out loud in my cubicle. Considering the crappy two days I have had, laughing was a great break from the crap. 2. I like his category of gadgets. I hope it grows because anyone who will openly ridicule a gadget (instead of the usual glowing reviews) is ok with me.

It seems to be a newish blog, but with lots of room to grow. It's in my google reader right now.

Could this be picture of the year?

Speaking of cameras, almost losing pictures, and the Daily Fuller Fix... which I know I need to update... I've been digging around digital photography sites a bit more recently. Maybe because I have some extra time with the holidays and extra people to watch Fuller, I've been able to actually poke around and read more.

It's a bit overwhelming, all the information, but I want to be better at taking photos and maybe taking a jump and submitting them somewhere for something.

One site, PhotographyCorner.com, is a site that I can get into. They have forums, tips, and galleries! I can share my pictures! On top of that there is the PhotographyCorner.com 2006 Photograph of the Year Contest.

Now, I am not confident enough to actually submit something today, but hey, you can. The community of the Corner gets to vote (I'm a member of the community now!) on who wins, and there are 10 prizes that value $1400 and sponsored by folks like Bibble Labs, and istockphoto.

The rules are here. Read them carefully. (I like to read that kind of stuff.) And then submit a pic! How fun is that?

Maybe I will submit something. I'll let you know. Do you have a favorite DFF from the past year?

"A good time around every single corner"

I mentioned a while back that I was hoping to be picked as a Postie to win an HP camera so I can give it to my mom. (Hint, hint Ted! She will be alone for 6 months! While her husband is serving our country! She needs a camera!)

Ahem.

Well, PPP is really excited about their partnership with HP and to prove it, they spread the HP love by organizing a Chicago based Postie Patrol sponsored by HP.

First, I want to point out that a while back, HP had an ad campaign that featured a Kinks song, "Picture Book." I was inspired by that song for the URL of our Daily Fuller Fix.

Second, we got an HP Digital Photo Printing system for Christmas! (Ted: that does not let you off the hook for making me a winner and giving me the HP gear.)

Well, in PPP fashion, the gang organized a multimedia scavenger hunt for Postie Robyn Nykaza. It was pretty challenging (finding someone in shorts in Chicago in the cold? Thank goodness Ted helped her out!), but I loved the part where she was trying to make the snow angel. (Fuller liked it too!)

But, I can't give it all away... Does she get the HP gear? Does she win a $1000? Watch for yourself!

P.S. I would love it if PPP came to Chattanooga and did a postie patrol here. They could either make it a competition between our man Chad W. Smith and me, or Chad and I could team up together.
This post sponsored by HP.

Randi and PPP on YouTube

One of the fun things about PayPerPost is how they want to share their experiences with us, their posties (aka bloggers). From their video confessionals to their Postie Patrols, and now RockStartUp, they have given us a good idea of what it can be like behind the scenes.

To help us find all their videos they have started a YouTube channel, stocked with all the PayPerPost video you could want.

This is my favorite confessional so far (and there are several of them). Randi is the new VP of Sales. He used to work for MySpace and this was filmed his very first day at the Post Office. I think the story about his name is funny, what was his mom thinking? Well, regardless of his name, I think payperpost is lucky to have him. I hope he brings us some great advertisers.

Instead of backpacking through Europe

I traveled a bit when my family lived in Germany, but I never went very far East. But that is ok, because I have the internet at my finger tips and have found this Virtual Map of Prague. I know some people in my family will recognize many of the landmarks and panoramic shots because they did get to visit Czech.

The map has over 12000 pictures and you can "walk" through the streets to take you down memory lane. It looks pretty good and makes me sad that I didn't get to go.

I'll add this one to my list of "someday..."

The twist in the paid blogging road

Going back two posts, I mentioned that I will be paying off my laptop by using money I earned when I get paid to blog.

Since I started using PayPerPost, there has been controversy surrounding the use of bloggers promoting, reviewing, or spreading buzz about products and websites. I try to stay out of the controversy because I don't like it, but also because I pretty much have made up my mind... I'm going to keep being a "Consumer Content Creator" and trying to make some money for doing something I love.

However, there is a new twist coming down the pike. Starting Monday, all the Consumer Content Creators (aka bloggers) will be required to disclose that they write sponsored posts.

From the press release:

PayPerPost’s new Terms of Service require participating content creators to fully disclose site wide with a prominent Disclosure Policy or on a per post basis.

I already have a disclosure on our blog to indicate that I get paid for some of my posts, so I think I am within the new terms of service and look forward to many more opportunities to work with PayPerPost.

This is a sponsored entry.
Technorati tags: PayPerPost, paid blogging, Consumer Generated Marketing

Still cell free

The other day when Chad mentioned that he got a cell phone as a gift from his dad, something he has put off for years, it made me laugh out loud. Just last week I was discussing getting a cell phone.

Our family was toying with the idea of D and Fuller going down to the lake a few days earlier than me next week and while I don't mind driving myself (I kind of like it), I was thinking that having a cell phone would be a good idea. And since we would be traveling to Ohio the week after, I thought the time frame was a good one to invest in a pay-as-you go phone.

I was talking to my mom about it because if I did that I would have wanted a phone that was in the same network as my family, since that is who I call the most. But if I had seen the go phone deals at dealking.com, then I probably would have jumped the gun, purchased a Cingular go phone and received $20 back. That is actually the cost of the cheapest go phone, so that means in the end purchasing the phone would be free. That seems like a great deal to me.

We have decided to not send D and Fuller down early, so it became a moot point, but I have a feeling we won't be able to stay cell-free for much longer. Maybe I need a ticker on the sidebar "Cell free for ____ days."
Technorati tags: dealking, cingular, phone, cash back, prepaid

"It's like a big, magic surprise!"

Rockstartup has posted their third episode. It is PayPerPost's reality tv show that that have been filming since November. This episode features their big move out o Mindcomet's office space into their own.

It reminds me of when Damon's company moved from their space on Chestnut Street to their first space on Broad Street. There was excitment from the building out of the area, deciding how to set up the desks, and then the actual moving of the stuff. That happened the same weekend D and I got engaged.

Also, watching Britt try to decide where she should sit made me laugh. At work, in the cubicle farm, there is a co-worker who recently had a wall built behind her cube to force people to go to the side of her cubicle, instead of just walking up behind her. I totally get what Britt was trying to decide.

I liked getting to see some of the other Postal Workers as well. I see their names on the boards, in my emails, and mentioned in the blog. Putting faces to the names helps.

Check it out yourself.

Crossposting

I have been having fun posting over at Chattanooga is Home and have really appreciated the comments some folks have left.

CIH is a Wordpress blog (this is a movable type blog) and it is taking some getting used to. Also, I don't have control over the look of the blog but I can update the header. I want to put a new picture up there, but need some help with that.

I am trying to get a handle on the different topics I can write about and I am thinking about having some photo participation. One thing I am excited about is the Saturday Shot. On Saturdays I will post a Saturday Shot- a picture of something in Chattanooga. I am hoping to invite people to send in their own pictures so I can post them and link to their work or blogs. Still working through the details on that.

I need someone to come up a tag line for the blog. I am kind of drawing a blank there.

Home Turf Media is going to be sending me some business cards to give out when I go to events or whatever. I would have like giving at least one out when I went to the Chattanooga Market this weekend, so I know they will come in handy.

So, don't forget to visit me at my other online home, sharing my real life home.
Technorati tags: Chattanooga, Wordpress,Movable Type,blog

108 for 1000

This entry is a milestone of sorts. This entry is our 1000th post on this blog. What do you think of that?

I have nothing retrospective to really say about this except- Woo-hoo! 1000 entries. That is a lot of words. Seriously.

Instead of doing some fluffy, lala piece about blogging and whatever, I want to point out a good cause and maybe, in the spirit of celebration, the holidays, or too much egg nog, you might be inspired to give.

Colleen is a new online friend that is raising money for the 3-day walk for breast cancer in 2007. She completed the one in 2006 with some friends in October and is now gearing up for another walk later next year. I would still be tired from doing the one in October. She is already planning and raising money for 2007! I'm amazed.

She is trying to raise $2200 and she has a plan. If 108 people donate $20, then she will have met her goal. In celebration of our 1000 post I plan on donating some PPP money to her today.

If you are wondering who this Colleen is, she is a mom, a smart shopper and a geek who speaks my language. And she has become a good internet friend. Maybe someday I will meet her!

update: P.S. How come when I hit publish no confetti, streamers, and balloons came down around me? Man, someone needs to make a plug in for that!
Technorati tags: 3 day walk, fundraising,breast cancer

Who the heck?

It has been fun getting to know Chattanooga bloggers around the internet, and recently I met Chad W. Smith. He's a postie like me and he works in "Technology." His blog has lots of tips on geeky stuff that I hear about at work... and it is because of him that I keep finding myself looking at this mashup of Christmas decorations and maps...
Fun stuff!

Afterthought

As an afterthought, since I posted the affiliate program information, I thought I should pass along some more information about the world of PayPerPost.

First, one of the best ways any company can pass along information is via their blog and since PayPerPost is a company that focuses on bloggers, of course they have one!

The PPP blog gives information like downtimes, changes in service, and and inside look into their funny, funny world (that's funny "Ha ha" not funny queer). If you are sitting on the fence about looking into signing up for PayPerPost, then check out the blog and see for yourself.

Save money, help a great site

I have been having fun posting content over at Chattanooga is Home. I recently posted a short gift guide of Chattanooga related items and local merchants. I think that in addition to promoting the city itself I need to promote local businesses and unique merchandise. It all helps our city right? (At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it.)

If I found a site of online coupon codes like the codes at NC Natural, I would definitely promote it on the Chattanooga blog. To have a site where you can click through to specific merchants and help out where you live is a great way to help keep a great site active. And who doesn't want to save money online anyway?

Over at NC Natural the merchants are organized so you can find the coupons you want or need very quickly.

I spent a lot of time browsing online shops today, looking for a gift for my niece and one of my sisters. I came up with nada. But, there are 18 days left. I'll find something.

Revolutionary

When we go to visit our parents, either mine in Ohio or Damon’s in Alabama, we tend to get a little giddy about the TV that we can watch. I know, it is a little silly to be excited about watching TV, but both parents have what we call “super cable” and we can usually catch up some reality shows that we miss.

We like those reality based shows that show behind the scenes. American Choppers, Wing Nuts… those kinds of shows.

That is why it is interesting to me that PayPerPost, the site I use to make a little money blogging, has premiered two of their first episodes of their web documentary, Rockstartup.

It was announced on their forum a few months ago that they would begin filming the episodes (in HD) on November 1st, so I have been waiting eagerly for the premier announcement. Not only do I get to be a part of something “revolutionary” (as Ted says in the first episode), but now I can see the blood, sweat, and tears that go into making this all work.

I watched the first two episodes and subscribed to Rockstartup via iTunes so I can watch whenever they release the new episodes (each less than 10 minutes). I was really impressed. So far we have only met a two of the players behind the scenes- Ted Murphy, CEO of PayPerPost, and Brit the communication specialist. I saw their pain of wondering if they were placed well for the trade show, I saw the laughter as they interacted with people at the Today Show, and we saw the stress Ted must be under to lose at a relaxation game.

I look forward to the next episode.
Technorati tags:documentary, Ted Murphy,Rockstartup

Holidalies

In case you missed it, last month was was NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). Similar to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), it was an excercise in discipline for bloggers across the blogosphere- make at least one post a day for 30 days.

I found out about it on day 12. So, no NaNoWriMo for me.

But! there is still blogging fun to be had, especially since today is December 1st. It means the return of the Holidalies!

From the about page:

Holidailies is a free community writing project. All Holidailies 2006 participants promise to update their personal web sites every day from December 1 to January 1. Portal participants post summaries of their entries, which are aggregated on the front page of Holidailies 2006, newest entries listed first.

I decided to sign up as an exercise to stay vigilant, even through the hustle and bustle of this month.

Let the Holidalies begin!

The rest of the details- my new blog

I don't have much time because I spent too much time poking around but here it is, my new blog:

Chattanooga Is Home

As the first entry states, it is part of a network of blogs for Home Turf Media. The design is not permanent, they actually have a designer who will be doing the entire network. Jon, the main guy at HTM, said my blog is the first to go live so... whoo!

Add me to your blogroll, please? And I am finding out about the RSS. It needs one. And tweaking. And links. And a picture of me!

Ok, I really have to go now. But you need to go check out Chattanooga Is Home.

JPG

I would love a subscription to JPG magazine this Christmas. I think I have mentioned it in passing before, but I have been hanging out on the JPG site a lot recently, ever since they released their new site. Voting for pictures is kind of addicting.

I haven't actually submitted anything yet. With the new camera I am finally able to (they have a minimum resolution that my old camera did not meet) but I am kind of scared. BUT, my fear should not stop you. If you have pictures that you think are JPG worthy, maybe you should try for publication!

Today is the last day to submit for issue 8. There are three themes: Tourist, Intimacy, and Embrace the Blur. You might have something in your photofiles. And you don't have to upload pics for just those themes. There are lots of themes and some will come up in later issues.

Maybe by the end of the day I will overcome my fear.

Oh, and if you wanted to start voting for pictures, go check out Tracey's Embrace the Blur picture (at the bottom of the entry). I gave it a "Yeah!"

Technorati tags: photography, JPG magazine

Announcement now and more coming soon

Today I took a long walk around downtown, taking pictures of various landmarks and objects. The pictures will be used for a new project that will be launching on Friday.

I found out yesterday that I was accepted to be part of a new blogging network that will launch their pilot on Friday! This is pretty exciting for me and I am looking forward to sharing more details soon. Once I have specifics I promise I will spill all.

Woohoo for blogging!
Technorati tags: announcement, blog, Home Turf Media

Pimping Minti

I keep forgetting to pimp another site that I frequent and in order for my blog's feed to get placed over there I need to put mrscrumley.minti.com in the first few lines of a post. Done.

Minti states

Our mission is to create a "the world's largest parent to parent advice-opedia".

It is fun to hang out on Minti because you can really glean real life advice from parents (moms and dads!) on all kinds of subjects. And maybe someday soon I will win a roomba!

Clubmom has a similar area, their Mom Answers section, but I am drawn more to Minti and the interaction on that site. Maybe because it is based out of Australia it seems to have a more international flair, which I love.

If you are a parent or about to be a parent, Minti is a great place to go for advice, blogging, and interaction.

My soundtrack

I've seen this meme about the internet and yesterday at work I realized I could do it (I listen to music a lot at work). I don't have time to link everything, but you could always Blingo if you feel the need to do a search. You can play along too!

Here's what you do:

1. Open your music library
2. Set settings to “Shuffle”
3. Press play
4. For each entry, type the song that's playing
5. For new entry, press the next/forward button

opening credits: "On Ebay" by Chumbawamba
waking up: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" by Sufjan Stevens (Hark! Songs for Christmas, Vol 2)
first day at school: "Helena" by Nickel Creek (Why Should the Fire Die?)
falling in love: "Creepy Doll" by Jonathan Coulton (Thing a Week V)
breaking up: "Soft Rocked By Me" by Jonathan Coulton (Thing a Week IV)
prom: "Start the Commotion" by The Wiseguys
life's okay: "We will Rock You/ We are the Champions" by Jonathan Coulton (Thing a Week V)
mental breakdown: "Angels We Have Heard on High" by Sufjan Stevens (Hark! Songs for Christmas, Vol 2)
driving: "Podsafe Christmas Song" by Jonathan Coulton (Thing a Week II)
flashback: "03 GRNM" by Chris Lee (Coors Light Commercials)
Yes, we downloaded the Coors Light commercials and I have one of them on my shuffle.
getting back together: "Come Back Down" by Erin Echo
wedding: "Desire" by Tres Chicas (Sweetwater)
birth of child: "Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella)" by Over the Rhine
final battle: "Not Long for this World" by The Clumsy Lovers
funeral song: "America" by Bree Sharp
end credits: "Fall Away" by the Fray

I wish my boss was Antonio

When I am at work and the CEO of our company walks by, I tend to cower back or shy away from her. I don’t make eye contact, and pray she doesn’t even notice me.

Once, when I worked at the front desk of the building I am in, a VP's husband came in and asked if his wife had come through the doors yet. The problem was 1) I didn’t know who he was and 2) when he explained who his wife was, I had no idea what she looked like. He was very perturbed that I had no idea what his wife looked like. I hadn’t been there long and its not like the company provides us with a face book to give us the who’s who on the executive floor.

Anyway, so I tend to shy away from the big wigs at my office.

But, if I worked with a big wig/ CEO/ Founder guy who could transform himself into a catfish... well, then maybe I wouldn't be so eager to leave the workforce.

Really, Antonio (aka Ted Murphy of PayPerPost) must be an awesome guy to work for.

One question though: who puts their camcorder in the bathroom?

100 + reasons

Right now, there are over 100 reasons why I love PayPerPost in my paypal account. Soon there will be 100 more. And if I get going and blogging and writing and thinking, there will even more reasons.

Over on our desk there is a Canon S3 that I purchased using PayPerPost money. I started out with PayPerPost so that I could buy a new digital camera and now, I can walk into the other room and pick up that new camera.

As I mentioned last night, there are lots of sites popping up all over the internet using the word of mouth marketing business model. Paying bloggers to write what they would normally write and include links to sites that relate… well I find the idea new, refreshing, and really good for my paypal account.

I think I mentioned a while back that I didn’t know what goal I should be blogging toward and I have made my decision, but you have to wait until after Santa comes to visit.

Pick me

Ever since I started the journey to figure out how to earn money blogging I feel like I have been getting a crash course in something that could really be profitable. Suddenly there are all these sites cropping up where you can blog and make money. Regular readers know that I sometimes include links to certain sites, sometimes review websites or products, and I get paid for the effort.

One new site that offers bloggers a chance to review websites and earn money is the new ReviewMe.com. The first step is pretty easy- sign up! Their site immediately processes the information needed and approves or denies the blog. (Mine was approved.) Then the second step is to define your blog.

Defining CRUMLEYdotORG isn’t always easy. I always say it is a family blog, but that isn’t on the drop down list. I chose house and home, and added some tags like parenting, family, toddler, etc.

And then, I wait. Advertisers who use ReviewMe.com get to pick the blogs they want to review their sites or products.

One of the other pay for posting sites I use, PayPerPost, allows the bloggers to pick the opportunities they want to blog about. The process can be kind of cutthroat (only a certain number of bloggers can take opportunities) and disappointing when you blog about something and then you can’t submit the opportunity because all the slots are gone.

When the process is reversed, when an advertiser picks a blogger, it is a bit more exciting and a bit of a boost of my confidence as a blogger.

So, here I am, putting this blog out there, raising my hand and saying “Pick me! Pick me!”

This is a Sponsored Post. And I hope there will be more in the future.

Not exactly what I thought it would be

Rate my doc

Recently I have been going to doctors a lot for various checkups and what not. Nothing big, just end of the year, right before I turne 30 maintenance.

Next week I go for my yearly gyn exam. You might remember me mentioning that I want to drop my OB/GYN. I decided not to do that but to discuss with her next week my concerns with her practice and office staff. That discussion will come next week. We will then see if I am in the market for a new OB/GYN.

A while back I mentioned Vimo, a site where you can comparison shop for healthcare. You can check out doctor information and get health insurance as well. Currently they have an offer available where if you go and rate your doctor(s), you will get a free code for 5 free music downloads at e-music. 5 songs per doctor.

I think that finding this kind of information on the internet is helpful when making healthcare decisions. Even if they were not offering the free music, I would still make a review of my doctor(s). I want people to benefit from my experience.

The music is just a bonus.

Izza!

PayPerPost has this activity they do, as a way to pump up their "posties," called the Postie Patrol. Recently they visited one of the bloggers who lives pretty close to the Post Office.

A video post was entered on their blog about their visit with Guy. In following with the Postie Patrol tradition (is it a tradition if they have only done it once before?) they gave Guy three options to choose from. Guy opted for the biggest paying opp, Pizzapalooza. $400! Can Guy eat a whole large pizza before Ted throws up?

Funny thing, Fuller knows pizza. As I watched the video, Fuller stood there, kind of entranced. When the pizza came out, he kept saying “Izza! Izza!” And every time the Postal Wokers started clapping, so did Fuller.

You will have to watch the video yourself (below the cut) to see if Guy was up to the challenge.

I think that if the Postie Patrol ever made their way to Chattanooga, if it was the right time of the month, I could easily out eat Ted in a pizza contest. Unfortunately he did mention that this might be the last food challenge. But, I would happily take on a crochet challenge.

Part of the team

I've mentioned this before, but the payperpost forum is the first online community that I think I really feel a part of. I've enjoyed time with Minti, Clubmom, CrochetMe, and even iVillage, but something about the PayPerPost community has really struck a chord with me.

I spent a lot of time lately lurking and posting on the boards. The education I have been given regarding the art of blogging and earning money from the internet has been invaluable. There are quite a few posties who really know their stuff when it comes working the web.

Plus it has been fun to learn more about the PayPerPost team and their office hi-jinks. Like their Halloween costumes. Or their wives.

So, thanks to PayPerPost and the posties on the forums for making me feel like a real part of the team.

Overweight? Try asparagus!

First, a few jumps in the six degrees of separation:

A while back I was looking at some comments on the PayPerPost controversy and one internet handle jumped out at me. The guy, "Hash" called out to Ted Murphy in the comments (Ted had been bantering in the comment section) as if he knew Ted personally and had worked with Ted. When I hovered over his name, I saw the site Hash was pointing to was White African, a site that belongs to one of my college roommates' husband. So, it looks like from me to Rinnie to Eric to Ted Murphy, CEO of PayPerPost. Pretty cool, I think.

Anyway, as a way to keep things personal and open, the PayPerPost team has been working on video testimonials. We have seen the Hot Tamale dish about her stressed life, Froogle showed up in his piratey finest, and Brit was hemmed up about being in front of the camera talking about how she loves us posties.

Yesterday, Ted opened up about his history as the fat kid in middle school. Apparently he had to be under a certain weight to play football and his mom would give him asparagus for breakfast to act as a diuretic to help rid him of water weight.

He was quite candid as he explained he has been struggling lately with the work/ life balance and his pants were in "button under stress mode."

Hey Ted, I am there. The work/ life teeter totter is not a fun playground ride. It is something that jerks you up and down, causing your neck to whip back and focus your attention somewhere you don't want to be focusing. When you are at work, your thoughts can be overwhelmed with the gazillion other things you need to do- like work out or eat better. The only advice I have to you Ted is: Just do it.

Maybe that is a little lame, but I often have to just leave my desk at work just so I can walk for 10-15 minutes and get some small amount of exercise. I don't know what your walking options are a the Post Office, but I would try it.

Oh, and crying. Crying helps. At least, in the past few days for me, it has been a bit of a stress reliever.

Anyway, for those of you who aren't Ted, take a gander at the CEO's candor:

Muscle-y

Damon's dad used to race cars as a teenager. If you ever want to get a great story out of someone, ask him how he replaced his car's stock engine with a Corvette Stingray engine (i.e. he cheated). I don't quite get images of the Fast and the Furious when I hear the story, but maybe a bit more like the race car scene in Grease.

Anyway, Albert or my dad might be interested that the Muscle Car Marathon will air Nov. 24 at 9am EST on Speedtv. Not that Albert raced Muscle Cars, but still, he might have some need for speed.

This post sponsored by Speedtv.com, but the story about Albert? All true.

Netflix/ Co-op/ Library/ "Can I borrow a cup of sugar" mash up

I haven't been to the local library in quite some time. I just don't seem to have the time. But that is ok, I think.

Over on Kristen's blog I learned about PaperBackSwap, where you put your books online, and when someone requests them, you mail them out. In return you can request books and have them mailed to you. All you pay is the media mail rate.

Turns out there are other sites that do that as well. According to the titletrader site, it is pretty much the same concept, but they have other media as well... CDs, DVDs, Video Games, and more. It sounds pretty much like a Netflix/ Co-op/ Library/ "Can I borrow a cup of sugar" mash up.

And again, all you pay is the media mail postage rate. Titletrader provides the mailing label. And since I can mail things from work, it is more convenient than me than finding time to head to the library.

Payment Received

Yesterday my paypal account went into overdrive to receive several PayPerPost payments from the weekend and yesterday. It was kind of exciting to see all those emails stating I had been paid.

Just as an update I have been paid over $600 so far and I am expecting over $100 in the next few days.

There will be a bare spot in my account soon because I took a break from the major blogging for a while. I got a bit burned out and since I had reached my $500 goal, I didn't really know what I should be working so hard for. I'm not one of those people who make all my money off the internet, so it isn't quite as important for me to meet my 3 paid posts a day limit.

I want to ramp up the blogging again, but need to find that golden ring to reach for, something that will keep my eye on the prize and help keep me motivated. What should I be blogging for?

P.S. I heard about PPP by googling "paid blogger job" and landing on one of PPP's enemies' site. Then I signed up! Since you are reading this you might think about signing up too. If so, consider putting me as your referral? alicia AT crumley.org

New Policy

One of the main controversial issues about PayPerPost is many people think you must disclose that you are getting paid for writing certain entries. Some posties always disclose that they are getting paid, others think that they write enough about PPP that it seems obvious.

Personally, I have waffled a bit on the issue. You may have noticed the tag "Sponsored Post" at the bottom of some of my entries. It linked to a page to indicate that yes, I did get paid to put some of the links in the entry you just came from.

However, I struggled with the wording on that page and edited it very many times. Someone has had the foresight to go ahead and help us with our disclosure policys by creating a site just for such a purpose. With a Disclosure Policy Generator I don't have to struggle with wording, just which options do I choose.

So, now I have one.

Fuller loves HP

Yesterday I missed out on a PPP opp because I was at work. I found out about it on the forums, and went to check out the site anyway.

I had so much fun creating this and even though it has some bugs (Fuller can't speak French), I still like it. Also, it takes a little while to load. Just be patient.

Come As You Are Blog Party

I'm actually a little late to this party, but here I am! Julie tagged me and I thought it seemed like a fun meme.

This is actually the third picture I took of myself. The first one my hair was pulled back and the second one was too blurry. I think I am too red in this one, but I want to go to bed soon. The desk is covered in clutter, something that we did not clear away before the CSTV people showed up last week. The monitor is one of two flat screens (we are a dual monitor family) and what you can't see is the mug of Chai sitting in front of the keyboard.

So, the following bloggers I would love to see as they are RIGHT NOW are:

Scott (with Ethan, maybe?)
Diber (when she isn't working on her thesis)
Stephanie (if she will post in what's left of October... November is almost here!)
Austina (because she needs to do more than work and sleep)
Heather (I tried to leave a comment and it acted all wonky. I wanted to share that Fuller headbutted me in the nose instead of kissing me tonight.)

How to make Damon smile

Today I went to TheOfficeDVD.com and sent Damon two messages from Dwight. He saved one of the messages for me to hear when I got home and it was pretty funny. You can send up to five messages to one phone number. I think I need to send them to myself at work so I can hear them all.

And that reminds me, I need to show him Nobody's Watching TV when he gets home. The welcome video cracked me up.

Hugs for Tamale

One of the reasons that I enjoy PayPerPost is the air of community that surrounds being one of their "posties." Even though I get paid to blog for some of my entries, it is the first online community that I have felt a real part of. I like to hang out on the forums, talking about recent frustrations with advertisers ($4 for 300 words? Um... no.), wondering when my posts will be reviewed, and praising advertisers that I loved writing an entry for.

This week has apparently been pretty rough for the PayPerPost team. The site went down yesterday and I think some of the posties have been a bit rough on the team since they are new posties and are just learning the ropes.

As a part of communicating their goals, upcoming events, and just general PPP news, they do a great job of keeping up their blog. And as an added feature, they have decided to start posting video confessionals from the team members.

Here is a taste. Meet Hot Tamale, one of the first PPP employees and someone who needs a big hug after the week she has had. Or some vitamin water.

Sponsored Post

It's coming

If I've mentioned it once, I have mentioned it a million times. My 30th birthday is coming up. November 9th. Mark it on your calendars.

I know what one of my birthday gifts is. And I know that once I get it, I will be heading over to Lane Bryant and using a coupon code or two. I know that I need some more "business casual" attire and I might even be able to get myself something pretty from Land's End too.

Time to go thin out some of my closet.

Sponsored Post

Trivia blog

We haven’t had anyone over recently, which means we haven’t been as good about the whole hospitality thing as we had wanted. And now the season of busyness is upon us and we are coveting our down time even more.

We do have our stash of games to play when we do have folks over, mainly strategy games and a few trivia games. One game that does not sit on our game shelf is Trivial Pursuit and mainly that is because I have been told that you never want to play Trivial Pursuit against Damon.

Apparently his trivia genius is legendary and he knows a ton about pop culture, sports, and other general categories that makes him a dangerous adversary around the game board.

So, that is where the Avivia Directory comes in. It is full of random trivia information that you can read and store away in your random trivia brain space.

Take macaroni and cheese, Fuller’s favorite dish right now. Did you know that 16% of the past consumed last year was comsumed by children?

There are plenty of categories to suit your needs, like animal, astronomy, clothing, food, holidays and more. I think I need to start visiting this blog regularly just so I know something more than my husband. I don’t think he knows that there is a tree called a cabbage tree in Australia.

I would recommend you check this blog out, especially if you plan on any kind of trivia game in the near future.

Sponsored Post

Narrowing down the choices

Right now at work we are going through our benefit options to choose the proper healthcare for our family next year. Fortunately I work at my insurance company and they really take the time to explain our options. And the tools they use to show us comparisons and the probable costs of procedures are really easy to use.

But honestly, I haven’t really lived a life outside of working for my insurance company. I had the military coverage when I was in college, and then the day I graduated I lost all of that and immediately began working for a rather large company.

I don’t know what other people have to go through when it comes to getting insurance. And for those who are self employed or working somewhere that insurance isn’t available to them, I know it is a confusing and frightening experience to think about how to get health care coverage.

Vimo - Comparison Shopping for Health is a great site for those who are stumbling around trying to figure out the health care crisis in this country. It is for individuals, families, and small businesses. They have rankings on the most affordable HSAs (which I totally recommend) and information on doctors, dentists, and hospitals all over the country.

I have to turn in my option choices next week, but I am glad that even though I really don’t want to be the one working right now, I can provide this kind of security for my family.

Programming forum

I have been wanting to do a blog redesign for a while. The problem is that I don’t have a lot of experience programming CSS or HTML. CSS is the hardest for me to grasp.

As I daydream about finally getting the time and knowledge, I have been gathering an arsenal of sites that I can reference for help and inspiration. Mandarin Design is one site that shows how to do good design with simple CSS programming. And the CSS panic guide is high on my go-to list for help.

Today I have another site, a forum, to add to my links. The CodeCall Programming Forum is a free site that will let me ask any question about any programming issues I might have. They cover more than just CSS- anything from Visual Basic to C++, Flash, and database programming.

After checking out some of the threads on the boards, the users seem very knowledgeable and nice… something that I need to believe because I feel like such a ninny about my lack of programming skills.

Now, if I could find a forum that will give me more time to learn all this stuff, then I am definitely in business.

How to find a good host

There is a trend right now for bloggers to have more than one blog, usually a blog written about one subject only. I have been thinking about following this trend, possibly focusing on crochet. However, I'm kind of stumped on how to go about getting started. I could go and request another chattablog, but I think I would like my own domain and to learn more about this internets that I keep hearing about.

I have plenty of internet gurus at my disposal, one even lives in my house, but I have this kind of stubbornness that tells me I need to figure this all out on my own.

I know I need to buy a domain name. And then I have to get some hosting... which is where I look at you with that deer in the headlights look. I have read blogs where the bloggers are complaining about their internet hosting service or switching their service, but really it is all greek to me.

Fortunately, there is a ton in the internet about the internet. I know that even if I didn't have Damon to walk me through the process, there has to be a website that can line it all out for me. www.realmetrics.com fits that bill. Essentially it is a site that reviews hosting services. The site gives me information about a hosting service that includes the uptime, the messaging reliability, and support response time. (Being someone in the tech support field, I don't like bad support response.)

The site's methodology is pretty easy for me to understand and lets me know that they are really putting the metric where their mouths are.

Now I need to find a domain name. Any sugesstions?

Picking sides

I am usually one to avoid controversy and confrontation. When I watch the morning news shows, when they have two sides debating an issue I get so uncomfortable I turn the channel. I usually cave in an argument, melting down to just get past the ickiness and moving on to the next thing.

Which is why I think it is interesting that I have stuck with payperpost for so long. In case you were not aware, PPP is full of controversy. When it first launched, there were all these so-called A-list bloggers who really thought the idea was awful and made the internet know their opinion. (I guess they aren’t really A-list if I never heard of them until after I joined PPP, are they? Plus they are bloggers who blog about blogging, not something I really read a lot of.) Just reading their opinions on the topic was enough to make me uncomfortable and if it had been a morning news show, I would have turned the channel.

Yesterday PPP announced that they had secured $3 million in venture capital to continue with their blog advertising business model.

I’ve decided that since I am on the “PPP’s ok with me” side of the fence, that this $3 million is a good thing and will help this new marketplace even out sooner rather than later. The podcast over on TalkCrunch (where they discuss the controversy and the $3 mil) is pretty interesting to listen to, but again the whole controvery thing… I kept wanting to put it in the freezer. The blog entry over at TechCrunch is easier for me to read and I was able to get through all the comments, which were especially interesting to me because some advertisers actually came out in defense of PPP. Reading their comments made me feel more secure in my decision to be on this side of the fence.

We like stuff

As I have mentioned, we ordered the new digital camera last Friday. This is very exciting for me, because it ends a 3 month dream of having a new camera.

Unfortunately, I have to wait for it to get here so now I learn a small lesson in patience.

I still don't want to reveal which camera I ordered, but I can tell you that we got a 2 gig memory card for $20. It arrived today and Dave so very nicely dropped it off at our house.

We love working the internet to find good deals. When I announced last Friday that I was ready to order the camera, we started surfing and digging to find the best deal.

Several options were available to us, and we found a few good coupons that could have helped us out. Tiger Direct had a few decent deals that we found through couponchief.com.

The camera will be here in a few weeks. I will tell all then.

PPP puzzle, 1

Payperpost, the company that helps me get paid for blogging has some sort of big announcement next week.

As clues to their announcement, they have posted some images to help us figure out what the payperpost big news is.

If I analyze it correctly, this image (the first puzzle piece) contains a name, a phone number, and the words payperpost, inc.

I say it was the professor in the ballroom with the candlestick.

Ok, I think, with these pieces that I have scoured from the web, I have it figured out what payperpost's big announcement is. But, that isn't the point.

The contest will be officially announced tomorrow, but I think I need to just reassemble the pieces (I get $1000 if I do it first). I think PPP will be posting all the pieces during the next few days. We just have to scour the web to find them.

A PSA

I’ve mentioned the clubmom bloggers before, but I don’t think I ever mentioned Jennifer. A while back Jennifer opened up to the internet about her struggle with alcoholism. She wrote a series of entries describing where alcoholism took her and the journey she took to be where she is today.

I really respect Jennifer and her openness on the topic. It was scary for her and some of the aftermath of those entries really affected her family and their plans to adopt from China.

I’ve known a few recovering addicts in my short life. I recently caught up with a high school classmate who told me his story of hitting bottom and how he has been blessed by God to have the life he has now.

I know there are Alcohol Rehab or Drug Rehab centers every where and their treatment programs have changed many lives. If you know someone who is struggling with an addiction, please try to get him or her some sort of help. Treatment centers, like The Passages, help individuals uncover their problems and overcome their addictions.

Like they say on TV, the more you know…

Storming the plaza

I used to watch the Today Show all the time. I really liked the window on the plaza and seeing all the visitors looking in the windows while the show was live. Sometimes it was funny to see people who were there doing some low level marketing by just having their product or company's name get some air time. Any publicity is good publicity, right?

Damon and I got to see the Today Show plaza when we visited in 2002 for our anniversary. It was raining, but it was still packed with high schoolers there for their spring break. We didn't notice anyone trying to pimp their products, but it might have been due to the rain and fog on my glasses.

Recently, payperpost was able to do some of their own guerilla marketing and stormed the Today Show. Since I can't see the Today show because of work, I can thank the internet for providing me with this behind the scenes glimpse. (As a bouns, I like putting faces with the people who are helping me get my new camera.)

Helping myself

To say I have been stressed lately is an understatement. Non-bloggable stuff is a killer and I'm back to my chest pains, headaches, and even a recent trip to the doctor for a suspected ulcer (it wasn't).

I try to relax my taking walks on breaks and lunches, and even blowing bubbles at certain times to steady my breathing.

Recently I found the site for a Self Help Book that really focuses on thought-based technology. They have free sessions online that appear to be beneficial.

I just hope the site isn't blocked at work.

Motivation

I've recently noticed my returning visitor stats have gone up. I appreciate that and want to say, "Greetings, fellow internet surfer."

In the interest of honesty, we need to do a little housecleaning around here. Sweep up some cobwebs and move some of the furniture. I am working on a blog redesign, so if there is some difficulty in the next few weeks, please keep coming back!

Also in the vein of honesty, I would like to remind people that some of my posts are written for payperpost, a company that pays bloggers to advertise on blogs.

It isn't always easy, but I have a goal of purchasing a new digital camera, so that keeps me motivated.

Another motivator is reading their blog. If you are interested in doing payperpost, I strongly recommend checking their blog and even adding their RSS feed to your feedreader. I put the blog in my feedreader after I missed a "town hall" meeting announcement. I would have gone to get some questions answered.

If you have questions, feel free to leave them in their comment section. It really helped me.

Digital Life

I'm a little jealous of Tracey over at Picturethis. She just got to host a Nintendo Wii party that sounded absolutely awesome. Since I'm not hosting a Nintendo Wii party (that you would all be invited to!), I do have this to offer:

Free tickets to Digital Life 2006.

If you head on over to the ticketing page on Digitallife.com and use the code "INSIDER" you will not have to pay the $15 for the tickets.

The conference is in New York City from October 12-15 and focuses on home entertainment, gaming, digital cameras, and more. Exhibitors include ESPN, Popular Mechanics, Women in Technology, and XBox.

And now you have a way to get a free in to the conference!

If you go, do you think you can send me some of the free swag? A free XBox maybe?

Bag lady

I'm not a heavily accessorized gal. I wear my engagement and wedding rings, a watch, a small necklace, and earrings. That's it.

However, when I go out I have to have a purse of some sort. I have so many bags tucked away in my room that it rivals my shoe collection.

When I have the opportunity to go out sans Fuller, I want something that won't have room for that extra diaper or sippy cup.

Designer Handbags are quite the accessory and Darby Scott makes some truly unique bags that aren't just another Kate Spade or Coach bag. And her bags are neutral enough to go with anything.

Are you keeping count? How many days until my birthday?

It just doesn't make sense

The money is starting to roll into my paypal account from payperpost, and I am getting really excited.

When I first started to look around re: blogging for money, it seemed that the best solution was to run ads on the site, probably of the google variety (aka adsense). I wasn’t really sure about it because I knew that a lot of that money would come from clicks on the actual ads.

Honestly, when I see a site with adsense type ads, I don’t usually click on them. Why would I expect the 50 or so regular visitors to do the same?

Before I removed the ads the other day, I had only built up around $4.25 in my account. You don’t get a check until the amount is $100. And when I checked on the forums, I found a lot of people were complaining about having their accounts disabled, especially right before they were about to hit that $100 mark.

That scared me. I want to make money blogging. I do not want to support my family through blogging, I just want to earn extra cash for those things that our budget can’t provide right now (like my camera). I’m really glad I found payperpost. It makes sense to me, especially since adsense doesn’t.

Thanks

Thanks for all of your congratulations on reaching my $500 goal. I also appreciate the camera comments, and am taking them under serious consideration. While I originally oscillated between the Canon S3 and the Kodak P880, the cost of the Kodak made it jump ahead. In the last month the price on the Canon S3 has come down enough that I am now reconsidering the whole thing. Ack!

The way payperpost works, I get the money in my paypal account 30 days after I post. So I have about a month to get a handle on what I want.

Until I do, I will be still posting payperposts, just not as many a day. I am happy that people are seeing that this is a decent way to earn some extra money (I'm not quitting my day job just yet) and I have had a few people sign up with my email address as the referrer.

If you want to make money blogging, then when you sign up, consider putting me at your referrer (alicia AT crumley.org).

RIP Adsense

You'll notice the Google ads are gone from our blog. I didn't like the way they looked and the revenue... well, what revenue? I think there are other blog monetizing models I would like to look at, when I have more time.

And no, it isn't a coincidence that I took the ads off on the same day I read this blog entry about theThe Death of Adsense. I went ahead and downloaded the the ebook, read it, and made my decision to take them off.

Maybe someday I will find another passive way to make money from blogging (as oppossed to the overboard blogging of late).

Hello my posties!

The payperpost blog has picked me as the featured blogger this week. So, this is a special shout out to those of you surfing over here from there.

Hello my posties!

I filled out that questionarie kind of late at night, so I don't think my answers are that great. I meant to say that if the presidental position was the one that Martin Sheen held, I would take it because then I would get a summer hiatus.

But hey, the folks at ppp do know a great kid when they see him.

To those of you who have signed up up under me, I would put the ppp blog in your RSS feeder because until they get the forums up, it is a great wealth of information.

And if you aren't someone who has signed up, but wants to, go ahead and put me as your referrer! alicia AT crumley.org As of tonight I am over the $400 mark.

Whoot!

Blingo

This is not a payperpost, but I am pimping something. I have been using Blingo for the past few months and today I finally, FINALLY, won something.

I want to pass along this invitation. If you sign up under me (be my friend) and you win something then I will also get something. Since I won a movie ticket, Miss Zoot, the friend I signed up under, will also get a movie ticket.

Every day, your first ten searches are eligible to win something. I just use it as my default search engine, since it is powered by google.

Sign up, search, win. It is that easy.

Dude, I got paid!

As many of our regular visitors are aware, I have been working hard posting content that is blog advertising. The basic jist is that I write an entry that can be anything from buzz about a site, a review of the site, or just link building. I always try to work the posts into something relavant about our family or my life, like the rest of the posts, but I know that it is often that you can see through the words and know I am getting paid to write about something.

I have found some interesting sites through payperpost and have added some good blogs to my blogroll through payperpost. The opportunities are varied and I have actually filtered out some advertisers from my list because I objected to the site content, but I really like that payperpost lets me do that.

I do wonder about some of the opportunities that ask us (bloggers) to write posts that are 100 words and are only worth $2.50, but there are always enough opportunities that pay better, so I think it all evens out. I think that there should be some sort of scale, but I do want to stress that payperpost is still in beta. Maybe that will be a new improvement next upgrade.

Anyway, I got my first "paycheck" this weekend. From here on out I will be getting money in my paypal account almost everyday. I hope to have my camera before my 30th birthday (coming up fast! party planners get busy!), and every time I check my paypal account, I will be thinking about that goal.

People have been asking me how much money I need to earn and I want to get up to around $500. I have to tithe my 10% and I will be donating a portion to terrablogs. Of course there is the $50 for the Daily Fuller Fix contest, and the rest is all camera money.

I have also been paid for two people signing up for payperpost and indicating me as a referrer. If you are interesting in signing up yourself and want to give me some credit, then use the email address alicia AT crumley.org.

Searching... searching... searching...

Search engines and wikis have really changed the way we gather our information.

If you add in riddles to your search, then it sure gives a different twist to searching for the right information.

Trumalia.com rewards you for your knowledge (gift cards from various retailers). They offer a search engine with additional forums for discussion on the riddles, contemporary art, and other higher learning topics.

Googling with the chance of prizes? Sounds interesting.

Gone shopping?

I usually do some shopping on long weekends, but being at the lake all weekend kept me away from the stores, because it is such an effort to get out to an actual store.

But, we love the internet! Lake Martin got high speed internet last fall and if that shopping bug and our checking account agreed, I would definitely be able to satisfy the bug by going through the virtual checkout line.

I like shopping online because you can always find a good deal. You can usually find a coupon code somewhere that will give you even more of a discount on that perfect bag (check out the ebags deals) or new laptop ($300 off on notebooks from CompUSA).

The next big ticket item we will be purchasing will be that camera, and I know I will be checking out the Kodak coupon codes before clicking purchase.

More VoIP

My parents recently made the switch to a VoIP (voice over IP) phone so that they could bundle their internet/ cable/ phone services together and save money.

We are always looking for ways to save money and I have looked at the VoIP option. There is a Vonage-Forum has a good support site that offers news, reviews, and information about the Vonage option for VoIP. I think I'll be taking a closer look.

Digicam site

If you have been paying attention, I have been overdoing the blogging to raise money for a new digital camera. I've been doing lots of research on various digital photography sites and I recommend digital camera reviews, a site that offers reviews and price comparison tools.

I checked their review of the Kodak P880 and was impressed with the quality of the review and obvious personal touches they gave to the review- they used their own pictures of the camera, not Kodak's, and plenty of real life examples.

More thoughts on internet safety

A few days ago I mentioned introducing internet safety to kids, and I got two great comments (thanks Sarah! Thanks Jeannette!).

Well, I may hate the internet blocking software at work (I miss my blog!) but I do think in general it is a good idea. And since they are blocking new sites every single day it must be working very well!

Ok, sarcasm aside, I do think that web filters are a good idea, especially in the home where there are young kids. But because of my experience at work, I know that filters can be very annoying. So, what might be a good idea is web filtering and web tracking software.

tracking software can record email, IM, follow the web sites visited, keystrokes, files downloaded, applications launched, etc. I know we have it at work and I think that it isn’t a bad idea for the home either.

With the advent of Dateline: Online Predators Edition we are all aware that the Internet is seething with bad guys wanting to contact our children. It isn’t so much that I want to know exactly where my child is going online, but I want to know who is attempting to contact my son.

I have recently come across SpecterSoft, an award winning monitoring software that is only $100 right now. I am adding it to my list of internet protection sites for the day we decide that the time has come to let Fuller loose on the internet. And we all know that will be a momentous day.

A yard of my own (and you too!)

We always have something going on around here... renovation, crafting, lounging, diaper changing... it's always something.

Well, one of the small things we are working on is a nicer area in the back yard to put outdoor furniture. At the beginning of the summer I asked Damon to think about maybe getting some outdoor seating at the end of summer sales.

The end of summer is definitely upon us and every time we go out I take a look at clearance stuff in the garden areas.

I'm still looking, but one place I want to draw your attention to is onlinediscountmart.com. They have a grand selection of end of summer inventory, including the ever popular garden gnome!

I really like their navigation (so easy!) and how easy it is to add items to your cart. The items on their site are quality products, and according to their FAQs if something is out of stock, items are usually back in stock in 3-4 weeks. They have tips and craft ideas as well.

They need room for their Christmas stuff (ack! Christmas, so soon?), so check out their overstock

Until April 1, 2007 you can use the coupon code gnome-bloggers and get 10% off those cute gnomes or anything else. Maybe my father-in-law needs more hummingbird feeders!

Ninja Battles- I'm a Samurai

Tomorrow I will be taking a break from blogging here. However, you might find me playing Ninja Battles. It's a little ad heavy, but I've been having fun so far. Why don't play too?

NinjaBattles - Join the Battle!

Guide me, oh TV Guide

Every time we go to Sam’s I stare longingly at the plasma TVs. I know we don’t really need a new TV but the lure of technology still gets my blood pumping.

We have three TVs in our house, but we really only use two. Someday we will have to replace the big one in the living room, and I hope that we will get to look more than longingly at the TVs at Sam’s.

Just like my research on digital cameras, I know we will research the latest and greatest in TV technology. The New TV Guide is being bookmarked now as a reference for future research so we will be fully informed and intelligent shoppers.

I wonder if Santa uses the internet to research his gifts?

Promoting Family

When I go out on the internet, I prefer to find sites that are suited to my personality. I'm all about family friendly and family safe sites.

Someday Fuller will want to cruise the internet, do a little social networking, and find the answers to his science test. I plan on watching over his internet actions, trying to guide him to sites that have the information and resources to promote the family values that we have.

Right now, I am happy to have him sit in my lap and look at Teletubbies on PBS.org. He likes it when the Teletubbies say, "Hello!" because he can then say "Buh-ie!"

He's only 22 months old, but I think about these things. How do you plan on introducing the internet to your kids?

Ebay update

Damon mailed our first ebay sale today. It was the under the seat helmet thingy. Someone bought it then so it all went very quickly. There was a little hang up with Paypal, but that was more lesson for us than a problem for them. A very nice woman helped D sort it out and now we are very happy with the way things are going. We have a few bids on items, including the biggest item, so I would give the ebay experience a thumbs up and wonder why we didn't do it before.

Since things are going well, we also added the old light fixture from our living room to the site. Need a light?

Digging PayPerPost

Ok, my last PayPerPost entry was outlandish, but sometimes you need a little laughter to keep the day going.

Doing some research about this business lead me to see there are quite a few folks out there who don't like PayPerPost for various reasons... not being able to trust the blogger, selling your soul, polluting the blogosphere.

Dan Rua has a good overview of the PayPerPost model (I dugg it!), having been on both sides of the business- poster (what I do) and advertiser.

What I don't understand about all the naysayers is why they are picking only on PayPerPost? There are other sites that also allow bloggers to make money blogging in a similar fashion. I signed up for two others but this is the only one that is consistantly giving me opportunities.

I like that I can pick from several opportunities and can pick what I want to blog about. I don't think I have to stretch to include the links into my entries, and as I have stated before, I don't post falsehoods about where products fit into my life.

Dan makes a good point, the consumer generated advertising revolution has begun. I think I am happy to be a part of it.

(By the way, I have now completed 27 posts and have earned over $200 from PayPerPost.)

I'm a Ted Murphy Follower

I landed on this outrageous article about PayPerPost being an elaborate scheme to get WarEagle Willie and Colleen together in wedded bliss.

But see, what crushutah needs to realize is that Willie isn’t actually Ted Murphy. No, Willie and Colleen (and crushutah and even myself) are just pawns in Ted Murphy’s complicated desire to form his own cult.

The teaching of Father Ted is simple: “All your blogs are belong to us.” He desires that we, his followers put ads on blogs so that he can further his own message that the world is for sale and we can all own a part of it.

Part of his evangelism is to gather more drones via subliminal internet messaging. When you read a PayPerPost blog entry, there are invisible links calling you to gather in a certain spot on a certain day at a certain time so that we can hand over all our belongings and blogs for Father Ted to manage from his kingdom from a blogging portal on high somewhere.

That’s when Willie and Colleen will get married… in the mass wedding conducted by Father Ted.

At least, that’s the rumor… I need to go pick out my bridesmaid dress.

Entry level

Today was bonus check day at work. It is a nice incentive to keep me at my job, but I have to tell you, there are days when I wish I was still just a keyer. Doing data entry was kind of relaxing and not as stressful as the days I am having lately.

Getting my foot in the door of my current company wasn’t that hard, going to a temp agency and getting a part to full time position. Sometimes I do a quick entry level job search to see what is out there, just in case I ever want to chuck it all and go back to basics.

If you are wanting an entry level job (fresh out of college anyone?), then I say give CollegeRecruiter.com a try. Entry level jobs are a great way to get a foot in the door.

Argh, matey

This afternoon I was telling a friend of mine, an avid ebay shopper, about the scooter parts we put up for auction. She then told me about her brother who is now scouring yard sales and putting his purchases up for sale on ebay. Apparently he goes to the sales, finds an item, calls a friend who checks ebay for a similar item to see what they could get for it. If it seems lucrative, he buys the item and puts it up for acution later.

Well, I think they could benefit from using a tool called Pricepirates. It is a price comparison tool that looks up particular items on ebay and other online stores like Amazon. It can also be integrated with Buyertools, the ebay bidding tool.

I downloaded it and I was amazed at how easy it was and simple to use. I can put my search items in, the minimium and maximum I want to pay and it all comes up, whether on ebay or at merchants like Kohl’s, Blue Nile, or Sarraf.com. Man, is this going to make looking for Christmas presents easier!

Dealio

We have documented our love of coupons here before. Comparison shopping, searching for rebates, coupon codes, and online coupons are high on the list once we decide what kind of item we want. We hope that in the next month we can buy a new camera and I know we will be using a coupon code or rebate in order to get the best deal. I just need the rest of the money to actually make the purchase.

$6 closer to the goal!

Right now, Target has 10% off total purchase.

BestBuy.com has 10% off digital camera purchase. (Whoo!)

And Camera World gives you gift card when you purchase certain digital camera.

And now, for the rest of the story

Scott and Tiffany recently left comments regarding the amount of my posting and then Scott asked me what percentage of my posts are motivated by PayPerPost.

Well, I would say all my posts are currently motivated by PayPerPost. That is 100%. 50% of the content of my posts is inspired by what opportunities I opt to take from the PayPerPost site.

I should explain, once I write an entry that has the opportunity to be approved by PayPerPost, I have to write an entry that isn’t for PayPerPost. And the terms of being a part of PayPerPost state I can only write three paid posts a day.

This equals a lot of content on every day. As Scott said, I went on a blogging blitz.

Personally, I don’t think so much content everyday is a great way to maintain a blog, but currently I have a goal I want to reach quickly. If I was going to sell a bunch of crocheted items at a craft fair, I would be working just as much.

Also, I can’t post throughout the day, so I stick to posting after Fuller has gone to bed for the evening. This leads to a bit of overload.

As a rule I do try to keep the posts relevant to my family. I like including current information about how cute Fuller is, what we have been doing lately, and how a certain product might fit into our lives when I write the posts. I won’t put a statement on the blog about a site and how it relates to us that isn’t true… like I do have one of those infant sleep positioner mattresses that a friend gave us. I do have a friend I am co-hosting a baby shower for and the dad is a basketball coach.

Recently, Damon was reading one of my posts and suddenly he said, "Hey! This is a pay per post!" He had been pulled into the entry, and then I got him in the end with the infomation about NFL tickets. Damon said I am the Paul Harvey of the blog world. I am not trying to trick you into reading ads, but I am trying to make them blend into the fabric of our blog.

I plan on cutting back once the camera goal has been reached. Until then, I appreciate that you are still visiting our internet home often.

If you are interested in trying the payperpost opportunity, let me know so I can give you my email address and you can count me as a referrer.

Podcast review

I have only recently been introduced to listening to podcasts for information. Which I find kind of funny because part of my job is to create what I call a poor man’s podcast using our web conferencing software.

Since I am now riding the bus to work, I no longer have Morning Edition to accompany me on my morning commute. So, I started looking around at podcasts to load on to my shuffle (I call her Darla).

I found a few that are promising but I have recently subscribed to Internet Marketing Voodoo, a marketing podcast targeted to advertisers wanting to do advertising on the internet. As someone who is interested in actually making some money with her blogging, I find this kind of podcast rather interesting. I just listened to the last three podcasts while making waffles. I look forward to listening to more on my commute.

The Oprah Winfry of Sci-Fi Movies

We just ended our free Blockbuster online trial. It was nice to get those movies for free but the actual cost was not something we were willing to pay for more movies mailed to us. Damon really got the benefit of the 30 free days because he filled the queue with movies that he could watch while I was at work… so he got his fill of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy flicks that I didn’t have to watch.

Well, if we were ever in the market to add to our sci-fi DVD library (which is totally a possibility) then I would probably sign up for the William Shatner DVD Club. According to the site, the movie sent out each month is selected by Shatner (and a team of expert film critics), and the DVDs end up being $4 each.

I like the idea, the concept that the wonderful Bill Shatner, the Captain himself, is selecting movies and sending them to me specifically. But I think I would want just a little more. If William Shatner is picking out my movie, I want to know why and what it is he actually thinks about the film. And then, when I question “Why, Bill? Why?” I can post a comment on the DVD site (not his actual blog) and hopefully get an answer.
Get Your Free Sci-Fi Movie From William Shatner!

Your ad here

Your ad here
Originally uploaded by CrumleyFamily.

Easy money, explained

For most of the day I left that picture of coffee beans up on the blog, blatantly promoting http://www.payperpost.com. So far, since Monday, I have written enough posts to qualify for over $50. That may not seem like a lot, but I am easing myself into this.

I can log in, check the opportunities, find one I think I can incorporate into an entry, and then I write. I have guidelines to follow for each opportunity- number of words, specific link, and images if needed. After the entry is posted, I fill out a form for approval and wait. 30 days later, money from approved entries is put into my paypal account.

I have to write another non-paying post before I can take another opportunity. And I can only take up to three opportunities a day. Hence the recent change in my posting habits.

Using the opportunities to write and incorporate certain subjects within my posts is actually stretching my mind a bit. I don't plan on taking opportunities that are unbelievable for our blog, but if you see something that doesn't quite fit, well, it might be a payperpost.

And that's another $10.

Easy money

Easy money
Originally uploaded by CrumleyFamily.

What the blogging has come to

Damon doesn't think that you care that our A/C is currently off.

Actually, this is kind of a running joke with us right now. I will be sitting at the computer, usually with several browser tabs open, and I will stop browsing to ask D a question. The question may involve something like, "Is the A/C off?" or "Did you feed the dogs?" or "Did Fuller poop today?" and D will give me an answer. After a moment he will say, "You aren't going to blog about that are you?" And then I will laugh (ha, ha) because no, I am probably not going to blog about it.

Except now, since he said that you don't care that our A/C is off, I am blogging about it.

Goodness, this is what the blogging has come to. I could live blog the Washington vs. Cincinati football game that is on right now, but liveblogging Damon's comments may be more entertaining. (We are crossing our fingers that Jason Campbell gets some field time.) But, we are in the 2nd quarter right now, so liveblogging is out.

Actually, I have been giving more thought to how I can Get Paid For Blogging, probably more thought than necessary, and on the flip side, I am thinking about what the heck I would pay someone to do for me.

Yesterday morning I would have given someone the $10 I have earned so far to do the keep the laundry going. And then I would probably give them the $10 I will earn for this post to fold my laundry. That is the bane of the Crumley household... laundry, or not wanting to do the laundry.

But, I finished the laundry yesterday (even put it away, which would probably run me another $10 for someone to do). And now, I get to face another week. I don't have enough money to pay someone to do that for me.

Always on August 10th

... National S'mores Day. Man, that is a holiday I should be celebrating right now.

And it is Tiffany's birthday! Happy Birthday Tiffany!

And now, a word from...

Recently I began a quest to determine how I could earn money extra money with my blogging hobby. I’ve been reading several websites and Google searches helped me find some paths to investigate. A promising avenue (I think) I have found is Blogsvertise.

Essentially I signup, am asked by the powers that be to mention a certain product (positive or negative comments can be written), and then get paid for the post. Pending their approval of course.

I think of it as a throwback to the sponsors of certain radio-shows (Bing Crosby’s Kraft Music Hour comes to mind). Or maybe it is a “Powdermilk Buscuits” of the blogging world. We’ll see. If I end up with a new camera soon, you’ll know it works.

Making Make, part 3

22 slots
Originally uploaded by CrumleyFamily.

Tags: Make, DIY

Making Make, part 2

The Make Blog recently highlighted a "How to make your own geodesic dome" project. Running with that theme, I offered them Damon's entry, from March 2005. This morning, it was posted on Make Blog.

Carnival!

If you aren't familiar with a blog carnival, it is a round up of blog entries based on a certain topic. Usually it runs monthly, hosted by different blog hosts each go round. I participated in July's Mom Bloggers Carnival and decided to take part in this month's as well.

Tracey, over at ClubMom's Picture This! is the host for August. Take a gander at some of the links, you might get a new link for you blogroll!

And if you want to add your own entry for the September Carnival, then go ahead and send one in!

Making Make

My freezer paper stencil w/ bleach project made it on Make Blog! How cool is that?

Scratch that

Ok, well then. Let's look before we leap, ok?

Turns out that in Tennessee (where I live, where terrablogs resides) raffle equals lottery. Sure there are some hoops to jump through and $150 or more to the state to make to legal, but um... we need something easy, something quick, something to raise the funds that we need for terrablogs.

So, let's start, right now, brainstorming! What kind of legal, nonlotteryesque fundraising can we do on the internet?

Comment, now!

Attention Terrabloggers

If you are a terrablogger, then you all know that terrablogs needs a new server. The geniuses over at Terrablogs HQ have been collecting donations to raise money for a new server. They added advertisements to the portal pages and the money is trickling in.

I believe in the terrablog community and really like the idea of city centered blogging. The chattablogs portal page is a wide variety of blogging types- mom bloggers, political bloggers, technical bloggers, and the heniz 57 variety of blog where people just want to be heard read.

In order to help terrablogs (because I would hate to lose everything in a server related malfunction) I have decided to organize a fundraiser- specifically a raffle. I am still working on the details but I need prizes. I can donate something crocheted, but I am sure that there are other terrabloggers who have something that they could donate as a prize.

If you can donate something- art work, gift certificates, swag, or something- then leave a comment or send me an email (alicia at crumley dot org). Maybe you are a programmer and you can donate your time to "make over" someone's blog? Do you want to donate a Flickr pro account to a lucky winner?

So, in order to make this a go, I need some support. Please spread the word on your blogs as well. I hope to start the actual fundraising in early August.

Ads on blogs or How I am dealing with my recent identity crisis

This is kind of long but I beg of you to read through and give me your thoughts. That means leave a comment. Even if it says "Whatever, I just don't think ads are a good idea." Thanks.

There are lots of types of blogs out there- polictical, sports, celebrity, daddy, mommy, shopping, and whatever else. I think if you are an enthusiast of anything you can blog about it. I am an enthusiast of my family which is why I find the topic easy (most days) to blog about. D is an enthusiast of his projects, which is why he is so eager to share what he is working on and how he did it.

When I started this blog my focus was providing family and friends updates on Fuller and our family. I had been sending out monthly emails to an email list but something about posting it on the internet was more appealing. I liked being able to provide pictures and have the opportunity to write one line entries that would sound lame in an email but not so lame on a pretty webpage.

As we have been providing content for this blog something has happened- I have started to really enjoy the writing. I love writing about my family, our activities, our projects, our likes, our dislikes… it is really fun.

It has developed into a hobby that gives me some focus in my thoughts. I can be driving to work and be thinking about how I can turn Fuller’s antics into blog fodder. While working on a project I wonder what aspects can I blog about and how can I express exactly how it was completed while getting people engaged and equally excited about what we are doing.

Carrie Richmond is one of the first bloggers that I sat down and read all her archives in one sitting. That was five years ago. When she was interviewed on BloggingBaby she said that her online journal was like a “dynamic babybook… constantly changing and evolving into the story of our lives as a family.” I love to think about our family blog like that- the evolving story of our family.

I think there are some people out there who look at blogging as an odd way to spend time or even think that blogging is a waste of my time, but to them I say, “Do you play with model trains? Because I think model trains are strange and why would you waste your time with bits of plastic and electric circuits?” And then we can go our separate ways- me straight to the computer to blog about the conversation I just had with someone who thinks blogging is strange.

I hope that I have conveyed to you that I really enjoy blogging. I have decided that it is something that I want to embrace fully and give greater attention to in my free time. Which leads me to the next point.

I have been told many times (and it was recently repeated at my little sister’s graduation) that when you are deciding what to do in life that you should find something that you love and try to figure out a way to get paid for it.

I spent some time this weekend with college friends and one of them owns her own business. She was a sociology major, like me, and when she graduated she went to work for Georgia DFACs. She decided she wanted to be her own boss and began Mercy’s Chosen Children, a foster parent and adoption agency that works with the state of Georgia to place children in solid Christian homes. She has a heart for children who need love, care, and the healing power of Jesus. She loves what she does and she gets paid for it. I really admire what she is doing.

Before I get ahead of myself, I have to mention here that I am not announcing a move to professional blogging and I do not want people to think that this little site will ever support my family. I’m just trying to make a case for placing ads on a blog as a way to supplement an income or even to raise money for a cause.

I enjoy this hobby, so why can’t I turn a hobby into something I make a little extra cash with? Another example is those of you who knit or crochet or make beaded jewlery and then take your completed projects to craft shows or put up on Etsy to sell. It may not support your family’s needs but it brings in something extra. Can I equate blogging to selling stuff at my local arts and crafts fair?

All these thoughts are coming from a very recent identity crisis and total freak out over the fact that I am turning 30 in a few months and my life is nothing like I ever thought it would be. In trying to come to terms with who I am and what the heck I am doing, I have tried to focus on what makes me tick, what do I enjoy, and now that I am here where can I go?

I don’t have all the answers to those questions. I am only starting to scratch the surface of what do I enjoy (because really, sometimes I have no clue), but one of the answers is that I have this hobby, I enjoy it, and I would like it to see what I can do with it.

Menu Exchange

Jeanette has had a great idea and I am going to participate!

So, for diber, here are five menu ideas that should be quick:

1. Salad with chicken strips. This is a favorite here because it fulfills our veggie requirement and all you have to cook is the chicken. We usually do chicken breasts or tenderloins that we slice into strips after the cooking is complete.

2. Chicken tacos. Cook the chicken and cut into strips or cubes. Place chicken back in pan. Add one can of corn, one can of drained black beans, one cup rice (cooked), and taco seasoning. Maybe add some water to help move the seasoning. Pile into a tortilla with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and anything else (tomatoes, olives). Ready in 20 minutes or however long it takes to cook the rice. Or premake the rice and just add it and get it warm. (I have just been informed we are having this tonight. I am making tortillas!)

3. Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry with Peanuts. Again, a family favorite. However, I do not deep-fry the chicken in oil. I just cook the chicken after it has been marinated. I cook it in a covered skillet until it is mostly cooked through. Then I take out the chicken and start the step that says "To Stir Fry" with two tablespoons of seasame oil and go from there. Serve over rice with a side of peas or broccoli. Yum. (I once did follow the directions completely and it was too oily. Yuck.) This whole process takes me about 30 minutes. If the rice is pre-cooked, it doesn't take that long.

4. Honey-mustard Turkey Bacon Chicken Sandwiches. Cook one chicken tenderloin per sandwich. Butterfly the chicken tenderloin. Take honey and mustard, mix together. Slather on a hamburger bun. Build a sandwich with lettuce, turkey bacon, provolone cheese, tomato, and of course, the chicken. D like chips with his.

5. Frozen Pizza. It would not be a week's menu if pizza wasn't on it. D loves pizza and sometimes you just have to throw something in the oven. D likes to build up pepperoni pizzas with bell peppers and mushrooms, plus extra cheese.

Ok, there are my five really quick menu ideas. And yes, I realize they are a little heavy on the chicken, but we eat a lot of that around here.

Advertisements on blogs will be posted tomorrow. Keep commenting on that!

Why didn't you tell me you don't care what I had for lunch?

So, I still have a mild case of bloggers block. It isn't so much that I don't have content to write about, it's that I can't seem to really put it into words that I think are interesting to the 20 or so regulars we have reading around here.

And that is why I want someone to buy my this book. Mainly because I am curious about the contents. 100 things to blog about? Does it include the suggestion to record every cute thing your kid does? Oh wait.. I already do that.

Which leads me to something I want to seriously ask you about. And when I ask this question I expect comments in the comments section with you telling me your thoughts, discussing pros and cons, and offering intelligent opinions regarding the topic.

Here it is: advertisements on personal blogs. Do we hate them? Do we care about them? Do we find them so disgusting that we click off the page? Do we think its a great way for people to get a little more cash? Even if you don't care, please leave a comment to that effect.

Tell 'em mrscrumley sent you!

Ok, help me out here. I want to win a contest. The prize is a t-shirt that will probably NOT end up in the shared t-shirt bin, which isn't my goal, I just want to win.

Over at Just a Normal Day you need to go to this entry and add a comment, indicating that I sent you over. See, I can't just refer you by having you click on the link, you MUST comment AND tell Rebecca I sent you.

Hey, even though it is a mom blog, I think even the guys can comment. And then, you might just make a new blogging friend!

Please? For me?

Update 7/16/06: Rebecca emailed me and said that you don't have to leave a comment on that specific entry... so just make sure the click comes through my site to her and then leave a comment mentioning me! Also, check out some of her archives. She's pretty cool!

VOX

If you are interested in VOX, I have a few invites. Leave a comment or email me.

SKIPPINATOR ON NPR (aka Nat)

Hey! NPR RIGHT NOW has a segment on rock skipping in Maine, where my brother-in-law was a competitor. They interviewed him.
Turn it on now!

Update: Nat's interview didn't make the cut. Bummer. Oh well. Still so cool. Check out his entry.

Five things tag

Tiffany tagged me yesterday and since I don't have a lot I want to say right now, I am going to answer her tag and tell you the 5 things:

5 things in my fridge:
a smidge of salsa
a few eggs
1/4 of a turkey sausage link
diluted apple juice
hamburger relish

5 things in my closet:
Ok, here's the thing. I don't have a closet. Serious. Our bedroom has no closet. It used to have an armoir with broken drawers, but we got rid of it. Now we have a 10 foot long bar hung on the wall that we use for our hanging clothes. In this arrangement we have:
a dresser (under the shorter hanging things)
a tv (that will no longer work with a remote)
95% of my yarn stash (in plastic see through bins)
all of our shoes (including my first and only pair of Doc Martens my parents bought me in England)
our empty duffle bags that need to go in the attic

5 things in my purse:
Ok, again, here's the thing. I don't have a purse. I have a laptop bag that I throw the rest of my stuff in. Because that is the closest thing that I carry on a regular basis I will share the following:
One signed copy of The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue, purchased at the Book Basket in Wetumpka, AL where Ronlyn had been the day before signing the book.
One tube of Covergirl WetSlicks lip gloss in some wine color that I can't tell you because the label came off
A .56 ounce tube of Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Creme (with Vitamin E!).
The Tripp-Lite Traveler
An empty softcase for my sunglasses

5 things in my car:
Yes, I have a car and in it you can find
Damon's sunglasses
Fuller's mini-magnadoodle
61 cents
a parking card for my parking garage downtown
a soft multi-CD case in the passenger side floorboard

5 people I tag:
Cool Aunt Stina
Tia Sarah-Ginny
Rebecca
Karen
Pixie

Yes, that comment was legit

If you checked the Daily Fuller Fix today, you may have noticed a certain comment from a certain ladies magazine. Well, after a quick google check and a verification on our statcounter, I decided that it was probably legit and what would it hurt to make a phone call?

Well, I made that phone call and the conversation that occurred was pleasant and left me kind of tingly. Penny, the editor, was kind, interested in our little hobby here and will be getting back to me to see if we make the cut as a part of their story. I got to gush about Flickr, gush about my creative husband, and just gush about blogging in general.

If anything happens with it, all from a simple search engine and a comment on a blog, we will let you know.

Blog Crush

A while back a call went out to mom blog writers asking for applications to become paid bloggers. The main qualification was that you had to be a mom. I didn’t apply but every day that I check out the crop of mom blogs over at ClubMom, I kick myself. Hard.

After I remove the ice pack I start my daily blog surf of ClubMom bloggers. There are some really awesome writers from all over the spectrum of motherhood and I relish every word that they write (and get paid for) to enhance my personal wiki of “Motherhood How To.”

At first I started reading women I had a previous blog relationship with- Amalah (aka Amy) & Sundry (aka Linda). And then I started checking out the rest of the blogroll and found a few new favorites. Actually, more than a few, I read a lot of them.

Recently I have been looking forward to Lissa’s updates over at The Lilting House. Lissa is a mom of five, a writer, and someone who is imparting her wisdom on the scary and exciting path of homeschooling. (Remember our thoughts from last year?) She started a series of posts on homeschool curriculum (part 1, part 2, part 3) and has pointed me to some really great resources. D and I both took this quiz (D is an unschooler, I am similar to Mr. Potato Head or something kind of flexible). And today she pointed me to the homeschooling wiki.

Beyond her homeschool knowledge, she is an inspiration as a mother of five- all with their different personalities, challenges, and desires (her eight year old is learning ancient greek because she wanted too).

I guess I could say I have a blog crush on Lissa. Even though I was homeschooled for two years, the idea of teaching my our son at home is a bit daunting. But I am appreciative that I found Lissa’s blog(s) and suddenly it isn’t so scary.

Books and water don't mix

A few weeks ago, Fuller left a book of his outside. It was a board book and that night the rain fell and saturated the book. The book dried out and Fuller can still use it, but it isn't quite the same.

Last year when Hurricane Katrina came through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, bunches of libraries lost their collections of books. Those books can't be dried out and used again. Those books were shredded and strewn about the streets of Biloxi.

In years past, pamie.com has spearheaded an online book drive that helped save libraries and give children in tsunami ravaged villages school supplies. This year pamie.com turned over the effort to the newly organized Dewey Donation System.

This year's effort is for the Harrison County Library system, in Mississippi (I love typing that out). Through the power of Amazon wish lists and the love of books, many are giving to help Harrison Country libraries re-stock and rebuild.

What's your favorite book? Maybe it can find a home somewhere in Mississippi.

Simply Google

All google, all the time.

via kottke.org

Slanguistics

The other day Damon tried to use a British accent and what he said was a British slang term. Not being familiar with what he was saying, I questioned the word he was using. I thought he either misheard the word somewhere or was doing something he can be quite good at- making it up.

Well, it has been on my mind thesee last few days and this morning I finally remembered to do a google search.

Damon, I am ready to conceed that I was wrong:

tosser Noun. An idiot, a contemptible person. Also, occasionally spelt tossa.

100 steps

100 steps
Originally uploaded by sillyred.

Bruce Campbell has nothing on me

I swear, I did not have to hit refresh a million times to come up with that one. I think the first movie that D and I watched at his house while we were dating was The Army of Darkness. I think that my initial reaction was one of disgust but as the movie went on and D and Todd kept up the line quoting I realized the true gem that it is.

Hail to the King, baby.

Quiz found via syd47 and Scotimus.

Move that bus!

Ok, not quite Extreme Makeover- Home Edition, but goodness, what a change and how pretty! Man, I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

Can I give you a tour?

Well, when you first walk in, you see this a-MAZ-ing masthead. See that picture of a house? That is a plate that D painted at a paint-yer-own pottery place here in town. It is an artistic rendition of our house, which is actually blue with one door and two windows in front. The plate resides in our real house and it actually has our address on it. Through the magic of photoshop we removed the address and gave the plate image to our WON-derful designer, Miss Zoot, and said "Design me a blog around this." (You know, like that Kohler commercial for a faucet fixture.)

Now, if I could direct your attention to the right side of your screen. We have the calendar, which I think is a little retro for the blog look these days. The reason I still like the calendar is that it keeps me accountable for how much we write. If I see too many blank days piling up, I know that I have been slacking off and Austina might get sad. Oh, wait, she doesn't update that often anyway. Why should she care? (Oh, snap! I just totally called her out on my blog! Hee! I love my sister.)

Second, there is the Daily Fuller Fix (DFF) and we can't have our family blog without that. Then you would quit hanging out here. (Sidenote, make sure you check out the picture titled, "Peek-A-Boo" and actually click on it.)

Third, we have the recent comments feature, which I love to see because we love comments on this blog. (Who doesn't?) Comments make great family dinner conversation.

Fourth, we have a new innovation, which I love but you need to tell me if it is wonky or anything. The archives are neatly put away in their own matching rubbermaid storage containers- the dropdown list! On the old blog design I did not like the way that the months and the categories just accumulated in the list fashion that they did. Sure, it was orderly because it was a list and yes the categories were alphabatized, and the months were in their monthly order, but really who needed to see them? It's like the electrical wiring in my house. It is necessary, but I don't want to see it. So, I asked Zoot to do for me what she did for her own blog and place them in the dropdown lists. She so awesomely complied.

Fifth, we have the credits, which I need to edit to give credit where credit is due- DESIGN BY MISS ZOOT! (I have to ask her if she has a button or something.)

Now, scroll back up to the top of the screen. See the words, "Home," "Meet the Family," "Links," "Email Us," and "Photos?" Well, eventually they will take you to new pages with more information on them. Photos will take you to our flickr page and email us will let you send us an email if you are so inclined. And Meet the Family will give you some more information about our family. It has often bugged me that I didn't have an about page or blurb, cuase that is one of the first things I look for on a new blog, but I was too lazy to get one out there. Now that there is an actual blank page, I have to get cracking.

So, there you have it. Our newly designed blog is out there for you to see. Please let us know if there are any kinks (thanks for your input last night Scott!) and let's just hang out here for a while, ok?

It is SO PRETTY!

Linky-loo

I've been busy with the whole going to work everyday, 8 hours a day thing and when I get home I like to spend time with my son and help Damon out in small ways (emptying the dishwasher, putting away clothes, etc) and I can't post from work unless I use the Treo and that isn't good for indepth, thoughtful posts and that is a really long sentence so I just want to post some links.

First, Curious George rocks. Well, the soundtrackdoes. I haven't seen the movie and I will someday, in DVD format, but right now Jack Johnson rocks the monkey music. The song, Lullaby makes me cry, but don't worry, I will be ok.

Secondly, I have a confession. I think I have been cheating on someone. At least, that is what I feel like when I tell you that lately I have been reading a lot of daddybloggers. Sure, I am a mommyblogger, and maybe D is a daddyblogger, but this site is a family blog, so I don't know. I'm so confused. I think I am cheating on all the mommybloggers that I normally read.

Anyway, daddybloggers I think give me an insight into whatever I think or wish is going on at my house between my husband and son. So here are a few of my recent favorites:
A Family Runs Through It- stay at home dad, two kids, who live in Idaho. I think I like this blog because they live in Idaho and the pictures are gorgeous.
DadBloggers- a collaboration of different dads, sharing insights about the fatherhood. I really liked the entry yesterday on dads roles in welcoming new dads.

Oh man, I am running out of time. Last link, The BlogFathers. Another collaborative effort of a variety of dads.

Ok, time to get the rest of the family up. I know Fuller is awake, he has been singing in his crib for a few minutes.

Lay your cash down and put your trust in the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size

I'm enjoying some of the geek music by Jonathan Coulton. Check out his song, Ikea.

found via Stephanie Vander Weide, The Grub Report.