a different kind of year end post
So. I just can’t bring myself to do one of those year end wrap up posts linking you to all of the so-called interesting things I wrote this past year. Yeah right.
First of all, I’m almost a full week late now. I’ve been planning to write this for two weeks but I have like 3,000 work deadlines this month and we all know this blog is the first thing to suffer the consequences of me having to earn actual money. (The second is housework. Or is it the other way around? Seeing as I’m sitting here writing in a very dirty little house. Ahem.)
Honestly though, nothing in my 2011 archives was all that entertaining and well, I just didn’t write nearly often enough to bother. Bad, bad, blogger I am. Lucky for me I’d rather read blog posts than write them! There are gazillions of good bloggers out there writing fabulous stuff every day. Lucky for you I’m going to tell you about a few of my favorites. 
These are women who write about anything and everything; work, relationships, kids, funny stories, heartache, whatever the topic, if they’re writing about it, I want to read it. Some of them you’ve surely heard of and others you might not have. Popularity doesn’t matter to me, good writing does. These are the blogs that when I spy a new post in my Google reader, I skip over everyone else to read them first!
I’m kind of a terrible commenter, so this is my way of saying thank you to them for being awesome. In random order here are some of my favorite bloggers of 2011:
- Stimeyland
- Dutch Blitz
- Magpie Musing
- An Amiracan Story
- The Bloggess
- Swistle
- The Spohrs are Multiplying
- Wendi Aarons
- Fairly Odd Mother
- Writing as Joe
- Sizzle Says
- In Pursuit of Happiness
So seriously, if there is ANYONE on this list you’ve never read before, GO RIGHT NOW!!
BUT WAIT! Before you go, tell me your favorite blogs? I’d love to find some new good reads.
just give me something to blog about
(Disclaimer; If you aren’t blogger, most of this won’t make any sense to you. So don’t even bother!)
Somehow it’s been two weeks since I last blogged. As so kindly pointed out not only by the lovely folks behind the BlogHer ads, and by a real life friend who I didn’t even know was reading here but apparently is tired of looking at my last soup post. ~ahem~ So this one is for you Jen, such as it is. 
Anyway, two weeks. There was a time, for a long time, when I couldn’t go two days without writing, much less two weeks. Heck, there were days when I posted twice! I know! What happened that I no longer feel like posting the exciting events minutiae of my day, every day??
Those were the days when I obsessively checked my stats, hoping for more than a handful of hits. I lived and died by how many comments I got in a day. I pimped my posts on twitter and commented like crazy on every blog in my expansive feed reader.
I got my own domain, and a unique design. I thought hard about branding, and niches. I got ads!! (A year and a half and $45 later…) I even started a second blog! Because one was not enough?!!
I envied those going to all the conferences and meeting each other in person. So I went to a conference, and I hugged people I never thought I would meet. I made real-life completely awesome friends. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,* and I loved every minute of it.
But my life got busier in so many ways, and twitter got boring and celebri-fied. I stopped checking Feedburner, and forgot my password to Google Analytics. I stopped using Stumble or Digg, forgot about Technorati, and I haven’t looked at my Page Rank in forever. Heck, I even forgot how to check my Page Rank. And Alexa, wha?
It’s the typical evolution of a blogger. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. (And don’t we all just love these posts?) I know I have, but I never thought it would happen to me! D’oh. and? Duh.
My kid is growing up, and doesn’t really want me telling stories about him here. Posting family pictures in public is getting awkward. One can only blog about a cat so often. (Unless I become the Crazy Cat Lady, and frankly there are too many doing it better.) Weight loss? Heh. Only if it was happening! I have no idea what to blog about. Or even if I want to bother figuring it out. Meh.
And yet, I’m not thinking about shutting it down. I haven’t lost the will to write, just the impetus; that driving force that can turn the smallest moment of the day into a great post. I’d like to be able to do that again.
* Yes, once-in-a-lifetime. I’m not going to BlogHer ’10. As much as I would love to go, I just can’t justify the expense. Sorry peeps. 
Filed Under blogging, writing Tagged blogging, blogging about blogging, meta
dregs
Dudes. My blog is depressing. Maybe that’s why I don’t come here so often anymore.
I seem to go to a lot of funerals. Another one of my Aunts died this week, another of my father’s siblings. And another funeral to attend this coming Tuesday.
I’ve seen so many people do this great “best of 2009″ round up posts so to cheer myself up I thought I would take a look at my archives and see what I could link to as my “best of.” Except all I can find are “not the worst of 2009″ posts.
I wrote far too much about trying to lose weight. I posted far too many pictures of my cat. I became a quintessential mommyblogger, (even though I hate that term.)
My one shining moment of true hilarity was cause I was doped up on pain meds. Honestly, I haven’t written anything humorous since them because I just can’t compete with myself. Ooooo, I last saw my funny at the hospital!! Maybe it’s at the lost and found! ~sigh~
See? My best posts are the pathetic dregs of the blogosphere.
Dear 2010,
Bring back the funny.
xo
Annette
ps. Rest in peace Aunt Lee.
Filed Under blogging Tagged blerg, blogging, blogging about blogging, death, life
ditching catnip
Just a note on comments – my own comments that is. I’ll be changing from commenting as Catnip or Catnip35 to AnnetteK on everyone’s blogs. (Although I’ve already slipped up today!)
I’ve wanted to ditch the Catnip alias for some time now, and have the same commenting name as my twitter account. Having different names has been confusing to everyone – including me! I’m crazy enough as it is, I don’t need to make this harder for myself.
Hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo
The continuing saga of Batman in Vegas
(See part one of the saga here.)
So Josh and I are surviving Damon’s absence but it sure hasn’t helped that the weather is really cruddy this week.
The only things entertaining us are Josh’s extremely loose tooth, and the random photos of mini-Batman that Damon’s been taking all over Las Vegas the conference hotel. Note to hubby – more actual VEGAS please. Ahem. I’m trying to live vicariously here.
So apparently Batman really can fly:
Oh wait, he’s just stuck the window with gum. Nevermind.
Batman prefers Macs. So do I, I just can’t afford one!
Are all photographers generally messy or just the ones I know? Not that I’m judging mind you, after all, they are my kind of people.
I think Batman is a bit anti-social, turning his back on our friends and all.
Hey Russ, long time no see!
Batman is tired and needs a nap. Ooooo, let’s ride the escalators first!
Good night Batman, I’m sure we’ll see more of you soon. Especially since I have nothing better to blog about.
PS. to Damon, Happy Birthday babe. Love you, miss you, and hate that you’re gone on your birthday. We might have to have cake in your honor. Heh.
for Maddie
There is something about this blog community that makes us feel like we really know each other. Even though I’ve never met Heather in person I feel like I’ve known her for some time, especially since we’ve both been Blog Nosh editors.
I also felt like I knew her sweet 17 month old daughter Maddie with the blonde curls and big blue eyes and beautiful smile. You couldn’t see a photo of her without loving her and I’ve always looked forward to reading Heather’s posts about her.
Maddie passed away at the hospital last night. This is unfathomable to me. 17 months old.
Heather has asked that in lieu of other gifts or flowers that a donation be made to the March of Dimes in Maddie’s name.
Heather’s site The Spohrs are Multiplying is still down from all the many new vistors but her wonderful friends are working to get it back up. In the meantime you can find updates at A Mom Two Boys.
Maddie, you will be missed. Heather and Mike, words cannot express how sad I am for you.
hello out there
Is anyone there? Hellllooooooo. Tap tap. Is this thing on?
Are you a lurker? Lurkers are blog readers who don’t comment, so we never know who’s out there.* I was a lurker for a long time. I was reading blogs for a good two years before I started my own, and I always lurked.
I thought that the blog writer didn’t really want to hear what I had to say. That my comment wasn’t that important. Oh, how wrong I was!
What I didn’t understand, because I wasn’t writing myself, is that bloggers live and die by their comments section. I never imagined that bloggers might desperately check their email a thousand times a day, just to see if a comment notification has miraculously appeared. (Uh, well, that might only be me, not all bloggers…ahem.)
Now I write comments on blogs far and wide. I figure if it makes my day, it will probably make their day too! Although I’ve commented on some enough to qualify as a stalker, I swear I’m not, I just can’t shut up!
Anyway, all this is to say, somehow I missed that this was National Delurking Week, and today is the last day! So delurk won’t you, and make my day? (Unlike yesterday, which was a very very sad day, because no one, no one, commented on what I thought was a pretty dang good post! ~sniff~ Can someone hand me a tissue? Updated to add: Okay well there are comments now, but only because I guilted my twitter peeps into it! Just like I’m guilting you! Ha!)
* I really love my lurkers, because I can see that someone (!) is reading, but I sure would love for you to say hi!
not much today
I don’t wanna! I don’t wanna! I don’t wanna write today!
</end whine>
I’m in Maine. ~happy sigh~ My mom cooked dinner and it was lovely. My boy painted with my father. We chatted and chatted. Now we’re about to have a scrabble game. All is well in my world. Tomorrow will be even better.
See ya then.
xoxo
kitty linky love
Well, we’re on sick day #2. He coughed all night long so I let him sleep in, and now he’s upstairs tucked into my bed watching Sprout. It’s the longest I’ve ever seen him be still.
This post is just for my cat lover friends. You know my cat is like my other kid, and my kid loves cats as much as I do. We love to get online together and look at all the cute cat sites out there. Some of them you probably already know, I mean, who doesn’t know Lolcats?? But there are lots of other cute cat blogs that I love and I wanted to share with you.
- Itty Bitty Kitty Committee – some of the best cat photography on the web, and all for a good cause.
- Phyllis and the Aliens – Phyllis is a sweetie putting up with the aliens – kittens adopted from the IBKC.
- Agnes and Henry – love love love the kittens, who were also IBKC kitties.
- Dudley’s Diary – from the perspective of Dudley the kitten and his big kitty housemates.
- The Adventures of Robin and Finchy – orange tabbies on leashes? I’m hooked!
- Daisy the curly cat – also from the kitty’s perspective. Just started reading this one and I love it.
- Cat lovers site – not only cute pics but lots of good cat information too.
- Blogging Cat – great site – and check out the blogroll there for a whole bunch more!
Okay, now you know my secret blog lurking habit – it’s all about the cats. Got any other good ones for me?
Filed Under blogging, the cat Tagged blogging, blogs, cats, link sharing
6 word memoir
When Mrs. Chicken sets a challenge, well who am I to say no?!
Without further ado, here’s my 6 word memoir:
Is loved and loves in return.
Who else is up for the challenge?