No, really.  I’m not dragging because I didn’t finish Nablopomo.  I’m happy with how I did.  I didn’t fall apart until last weekend during the girlfriend getaway. Then the new puppy arrived, followed quickly by Thanksgiving weekend, where there was a lot of family in town.  Before all that craziness, I was going at a steady pace.  I might just try to do this again here as well as here during the month of December. 

I’m also thrilled to get back into a routine.  While I love taking time off, I feel better having everything all organized and time allotted for all the things I need to do.  So even today, after a long long weekend, Happy Monday!   

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I had every intention on getting home relatively early yesterday and sharing the secret.  But clearly that didn’t happen.  I hit rain on the way home.  A lot of rain.  And I don’t necessarily do well with rain, so I didn’t get in until 8pm and by the time the truck was unpacked and we had some dinner and hung out with our “secret”, I passed out.  Only to be woken up again at 3:30am by the same “secret” and again at 7:30am.  However, the “secret” is totally worth it.

So here he is!  All 4 pounds of him.  He’s a Miniature Australian Shepherd, like the Dew. They call him a Red Tri, whereas Dew is a Black Tri.  He doesn’t have a name yet.  I really have no idea what to name him.  We’ve been tossing around a few ideas but nothing that makes me happy.  Sean would love to name him Sunny but I refuse.  I.hate.that.name.  So, right now we are calling him puppy.  He is 4 months old and twice the size of Dew when we brought him home last year.  So far he seems very outgoing and bouncy. And Dew is slowly warming up to him.  The puppy just wants to play and play and Dew is a bit skittish but its very possible they’ll be BFF’s before we know it.

Go on, call us crazy.  We’ve heard it already. 

I am sitting at the kitchen table in the cutest little cabin waiting for my friends to arrive.  They got a late start and probably won’t be here until midnight. 

I left around 11am and thought I would be here at 4pm.  I would have been if it weren’t for that little 120 mile detour that I took.  I totally meant to do that! It was just so much fun making a 5 hour trip into 8.  Good stuff. 

After I arrived, I unloaded the truck and then made all the beds.  Apparently they leave you clean sheets and blankets, which is fine.  At least I know everything is clean.  Then I spent the next 3 hours looking for the internet.  I checked every wall and behind the entertainment center.  I looked in the closets and even in the bathrooms.  Turns out, the router was in the cabinet above the fridge.  I don’t know why it took me 3 hours to figure that out. 

So the internet has been keeping me company while I wait.  It’s so quiet without all kids and the husband.  When Sean called he told me the house seemed 5 sizes larger without me there. Do I really take up that much space? 

I think I’m gonna go grab a shower and start the relaxing.  I love it here!

This weekend is my girlfriend getaway weekend and I leave tomorrow. 

So far I have packed my camera, blender, rum, vodka, jack daniels and some fleece pants. 

I believe I’m all set! 

And no, I’m not pregnant.  And don’t you hate when people post they have a secret and they don’t share?

Well, Monday I’ll be sharing, if all goes according to plan.  Until then, hate me I guess

I’ve never been a fabulous writer.  I blog, yeah, but that doesn’t make me a great writer.  I blog about my life.  That’s a pretty straight forward blog voice.  People either like it and want to read about my pumpkin fetish and weight loss struggles or they don’t.  That’s fine with me.  As cliche as it sounds, this blog is for fun.  It is after all just a blog.

But, I’ve been trying to think about my “blog voice” for the business.  We have a blog but there isn’t much going on over there.  I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately and how I intend to change that.  I want to be more active and contribute to “the community” but I’m not exactly sure what to blog about.  That sounds silly to even say, but it’s true. 

I’ve checked out other web design blogs to get a feel for what’s going on out there.  I’ve read, I’ve listened, I’ve taken it all in.  And what I found is that a lot of them focus on the design, branding, social media or consulting communities.  But are they really my audience?  Do my clients want to read about how to convert a PSD to XHTML or that Motrin pulled their babywearing ad due to the Twitterstorm from mommy bloggers?  I don’t think so.  But maybe I’m wrong.

Perhaps I shouldn’t worry so much and just start with something and over time I’ll narrow in and find my business blog voice. 

Well the kitten, Twister, has taken to nursing on Mama Misty lately.  I noticed it the other day.  And he just did it again moments ago. 

Let’s back up here.  Twister was born June 14th, so he’s 5 months old.  His mother weaned him all by herself months ago.  He’s remained here in the house with her the entire time.  I’ve read a little about some kittens nursing later in life if they were removed from their mother too soon.  This is not the case.

What concerns me most is that Misty isn’t stopping it.  She’ll just lay there and allow him to suckle.  It’s really weird seeing a cat nursing on another cat that is almost the same size. 

I don’t want to punish him by yelling or swatting him away but I’m not sure how healthy it is for either of them.  Anyone have any experience with this?  I’d love to hear your story.

Weight Watchers has worked for me in the past and I’ve considered signing up again.  But, I don’t really use the online tools that they offer, other than the food journal (or whatever they are calling it now).  I like logging in and adding my food and watching my points decrease and knowing how many I have left for the day.  But I’m thinking I really don’t need to pay to do that, so I’m looking into alternative. 

Sparkle People looks promising.  Anyone ever use it?  Have another recommendation?  Let me hear it!