A Bit Of Housekeeping

Happy Sunday night!  I hope the weekend was smashingly wonderful for you.

I wanted to take just a couple of minutes to address a few bloggy things.

First of all, you've probably noticed my new commenting system, powered by Disqus.  I debated back and forth about switching to a new platform for awhile and ultimately decided to give it a go.  Some things I love about Disqus:

1.  If you look you'll see that the comments are threaded now.  I can comment directly back to you and it will appear under your comment.  For that matter, YOU can reply to any comment yourself in the same manner.  I love that this really facilitates discussion and community.  So feel free to comment and reply as often as you like!  You can also "Like" someone's comment, very similar to Facebook.

2.  You can log in with several different ID's. If you have a Facebook account, you can use that.  Or Twitter.  You can even use your Google/Blogger acct. (That's Open ID, which I didn't know until I started using Disqus - learn something new every day!).

3.  If you subscribe to the comment thread via email, you can respond via email and it will go straight to the comment section on my blog.  Very helpful, particularly if you are involved in a conversation.

Now for some bummers about Disqus:

1.  It's an extra log in step, particularly for those that don't have accounts anywhere (plus you have that creepy silhouette as your profile pic - working on changing that!).  I appreciate the extra effort, so I promise to give alot of extra bloggy love in return for any inconvenience (picture me batting my eyelashes here).

2.  The biggie is that when making the switch, I lost all my old comments that were made via the old system (*sobbing*).  According to Disqus, you CAN import old comments from Blogger, but I keep running into errors.  I have a support ticket open on it and hopefully it will be resolved soon.  So I have to say that although I love many things, if you are thinking about switching to Disqus, please be wary of my experience.

OK.  On to other things.  My pen name.  Since the beginning of this blog I've kept a certain level of anonymity.  I've loosened up some (ie, the pictures), but I've still refrained from sharing our names, location, etc.  From the beginning I've referred to myself as Your Majesty.  But it wasn't quite working for me.  It conjured up images of some regal Queen sitting high on her throne with a bemused look on her face as she oversees her subjects.  And while I AM often bemused, very rarely to I just get to sit and oversee.  So, my dear friend Melissa at Another Lunch proposed the name "Queenie".  And I think it fits just fine.  So, there ya go.

Networking - The blogging world is a big, big place.  I've found there are nearly as many communities and forums dedicated to discussing blogging as there are actual blogs!  I've had to pick and choose, because it's extremely overwhelming, not to mention time consuming.  So, if you're into the networking "thing", here are a few places out in virtual world you can find me:

1.  BlogFrog:  You can find me via my name (Queenie) or my blog address.  I do not have my own blog community, but I enjoy participating in discussions on several others.  I'm currently most active at Ingenue Mom's Community where I'm doing my part (via incessant chatting) to help get Cameron's community hopping.  If you're a BlogFrog member or are interested in joining, pop on over and say hi!

2.  Mom Blogger's Club:  You can find me here by searching for The Planet Pink.  I find this format to be set up much like Facebook, so find my profile and send me a friend request!  I've met alot of wonderful bloggers through this group.  I'm not as active on the forums there, but maybe at some point.  Have to prioritize right now!

3.  Twitter:  Let it be known that I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing.  But I'm there.  You can follow me at theplanetpink.


Finally, I just wanted to say thanks, for taking the time to visit my little corner of the blogosphere.  I know there are alot of different blogs out there to read, and I appreciate you stopping by (wow, did that sound like a knock off of the airlines pitch or what?).  Seriously though, thank you!

And that's the end of my boring housekeeping post.  On to bigger and better things tomorrow!

My friends, anything you'd like to add?  If I'm not following you on a networking site, please let me know so I can find you!

Coupon Confessions

It's time I came out of the closet.  The coupon closet.

I know what you're thinking.  She's got four kids!  That's six mouths to feed!  Six hiney's to wipe!  Six times the laundry!  Of course she uses coupons!  She has to!

Let me just get it all out there now:

I HATE COUPONING!!

Wow, that was therapeutic.

Now, before you all start throwing your neatly organized by alpha, type, expiration date and store coupon booklet thingys at me, hear me out.

I grew up with a couponer (is that what it's called?).  Every Sunday afternoon my mom would sit down with the Sunday circular and weed through pages and pages of coupons.  Back then they were worth it.  No "buy 20 and THEN we'll give you $0.50 off".  No reason to scour ebay and purchase multiples off the internet.  No communities of women (and men too I suppose, I'm equal opportunity) connected virtually through message boards for the sole purpose of swapping the best deals and scoring Buy 1 Get 1 Free's.  Just my mom and her Sunday paper.  And she did just fine.

I think couponing for my family back in the olden days 70's & 80's would have been manageable.  In one afternoon and in one place my mom could figure out the best way to get the best deal in the least amount of time.  In no time at all she'd have her list made and her little stack of coupons and be ready to head out to the local grocery store.  No store hopping was necessary (Wally World didn't even exist then, let alone Super Target, Walgreens, CVS, etc, etc, etc.).  Just in and out and under budget.  Simple.

I think that's where I get hung up.  Couponing just isn't simple anymore.  I mean, I guess it could be.  I could subscribe to the Sunday paper, clip the measly 2 coupons that are even in remote possibility of being used, make my list, head out to the store and save a whopping $0.75.  And I'm not knocking saving.  I know every penny counts.  But right now, I think my sanity counts more.

I've already got so many irons in the fire running this Planet Pink, just the sheer mention of couponing is enough to make me break out in hives.  The thought of collecting the coupons (it's not just the paper anymore folks), combing websites for how to get the best deals (and figuring out exactly how the heck to do it), compiling a shopping list that somehow incorporates all those great deals (what if I don't NEED 5 tubes of toothpaste and 2 bags of Werther's Original?) while staying within the budget and buying healthy food (there's the tricky part), then hopping between 2, 3 or even 4 stores to get it all done while most likely towing my crew of princesses around with me?  Sheer horror.

I have nothing against those who coupon.  More power to you.  I have nothing against coupons that happen to appear in my mailbox (hear that Super Target?).  But I do have everything against giving myself an anxiety attack while I try to keep Princess #4 from catapulting herself out of the cart, return the cheap plastic toy that Princess #2 swiped from the checkout lane, say "no" for the 50th time to buying candy, empty the contents of my shopping cart out onto the conveyor belt while simultaneously picking up full bags to put back in the cart AND fish through my purse for two measly coupons to save myself $0.75, only to discover that they are in fact not in my purse and instead sitting neatly on my kitchen counter right where I left them (probably next to my sunglasses).  It just ain't worth it.

My friends, are you a closet coupon-hater?  Or does the thrill of the chase have you feeling the coupon love?

A Blackberry Summer

I've always wanted to go pick berries with the girls.  It seems like such a "Norman Rockwell" thing to do.

It was hot.  Skin-melting, humidity hot.

It's the end of the season.  We had to really dig around for ripe berries that hadn't been consumed by wasps (who were flying about quite liberally).

The vines were prickly and stuck in our gloves as though they were pincushions.

Princess #4 ran amok and kept trying to sneak unripe red berries.  I would think the bitterness would have taught her to not eat them after the first one, but then again, she is the one that keeps going back to eat the dog's food.

We had to stop so Princess #3 could have a potty break, and a meltdown after we told her she'd eaten her quota of berries.

We ended up only collecting 2(ish) pounds of berries and had to spend extra $$ to purchase some pre-picked ones to round out our loot.

But a morning spent together.  Under the great big blue sky.  Unplugged.  No iPhones.  No TV.  We actually entertained them for nearly 2 hours without any sort of electronic equipment.  We made memories - like the one where we caught Princess #4 with about 6 unripe red berries stuck in her cheeks, like she was storing them for winter.  Oh, we had the whining, the temper tantrums, the potty emergencies, but that's all part of the package.  

And we loved every minute of it!


PS.  I'm having formatting issues for some reason.  Please disregard the change in font size, etc.  I guess I won't be sending Blogger any of my homemade Blackberry jam!  So there!


My friends, what are some of your favorite summer activities to do with your family?

Simple Words

It's been a rough week.  Circumstances beyond my control, unruly children, a general overall feeling of discontent.  I realize over time that life casually cycles through these seasons (as evidenced by the last post I linked - written in Dec. 2007).  I suppose the next step is to get to the point that I can recognize when we are in such a season and learn to deal.

Typically, when I find myself in such a place, I tend to withdraw.  I don't feel like writing.  I don't feel like doing anything.  The laundry sits, the dishes stack up.  Depression maybe?  Possibly.  I think a certain amount is fairly normal.  Once I process through the initial influx of emotions, and I finally start to not feel numb, then I'm able move forward.

And that's where I am now.  Moving forward.  I know not everyone who reads this blog is a Christ-follower or even believes in God.  And that's fine.  But on a post like this, I would be remiss if I didn't give credit where credit is due.  Because reliance on God during all seasons in life isn't a part of who I am, it is who I am.  So you'll need to bear with me for a minute or two.

I love reading Oswald Chambers.  He had such a unique and intimate way of painting God's character and His desires for our lives.  The resurgence of the popularity of his devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, occurred when I was in college.  First published in 1927, the tattered, worn pages full of underlined and circled text have walked me through many valleys over the years.  And this week I turned to it once again, hoping to glean some wisdom from one who had come before, and some peace from the One who knows and understands it all.

It's not really profound.  Nothing in there that couldn't be discovered on one's own, eventually.  But the simple words speak to my soul, and I find in them reassurance that we do not walk this journey alone.  Like water for a parched throat, I am refreshed and am ready to face the world once again.

My friends, where do you turn when you feel like life is running in circles?

Mama Said There'll Be Days Like This

Yesterday morning was one of Those Days.

After redirecting and reprimanding for the bazillionth time, I cried out in desperation:

"Good lord, isn't ANYONE listening to me today??"

To which Princess #3 happily replied,

"Not me!"

Sigh.