Wherin Blue makes up her mind

Ok, so I'm having a bad day / week / life.

I'm still reeling from the recent changes to my income stream (that'd be changes of the much, much LESS income variety), which launched me into a desparate scramble all summer to try to re-group.

Well Summer is a time of rest and relaxation and free time, right? Erm, I guess for other people it is.

Anyway, to cut out the whinging, the short story is that I was just as busy all summer; raising 5 kids; washing clothes, dishes, faces; wrangling with farm problems; enacting whatever repairs I could around house (can you say TWO toilet problems?); dealing with broken appliances (oven), broken equipment (tractor, lawn mower, weed eater, chain saw ... shall I go on?), and broken house (roof) and scrounging for the money to pay for it all.

Then came mid August and the school paper work, school meetings/orientations, school FEES, school supplies ($$$)...

Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda.

So I've spent the last several months in a guy-wire taut state of (dis?)stress, incredibly busy, and all the while trying to play catch-up with, and apply bandaids to, my business. It seemed like that every time I got started on a solution, another change or obstacle would come up and I'd get farther behind.

What I desparately need is time. A time machine would be lovely, really. Doesn't even have to look like a Tardis or anything - although that'd be awesome.

But nobody has a time machine and I realised that I needed to shake it off, buck up, and get working.

To that end, I decided to cull some of my blogs, combining ones that could be, dropping others. If I've very little time to blog then fewer blogs means more chances of more of them actually getting a post. And we all know that search engines love fresh content.

Then I got to thinking about my blogs and blogging and how many of them (this one in particular) had degenerated into occasional forums for my venting. Whilst I always reserve the right to vent on my blogs, that's pretty effing boring to read all the time. I mean, really.  I'm looking a right bitch and I'm really NOT. srsly.

My blogs used to be about me, my family, my life, all augmented by my thrifty thoughts and parenting opinions (in the case of this one) or healthy lifestyle and fitness tips (my diet blog) etc, etc. What happened to that?

I think I know.

The problem is the new idea that everyone has to get rich overnight with social media. Seems like every mommmy blogger, every fitness blogger, every whatever-your-niche blogger is out to write as much STUFF, and sell as much STUFF, and get as many comments, and as much traffic as possible. Then they all get on Twitter and retweet their blog URL obnoxiously a half a dozen times and greedily look for more followers.

Everybody is obsessed with making money. Everybody does interviews and goes to conventions and makes You Tube vids and podcasts and writes mediocre books ... and nobody is actually talking to each other.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am intensely interested in making money as well. My kids eat a LOT of expensive whole foods. My drafty old house runs power/gas bills into the $300-$400 range. Heck, I desparately need a blow torch - an Evil Genius without a blowtorch? Pathetic!  And I AM in business for myself. On teh internetz.

But that's not why I started blogging. And that's not how I enjoy blogging. And that's not how I want to be known, damnit.

I've no problem with dropping the ocasional link in if it has to do with what I'm blogging about, or even if I'm particularly proud of a new design. But my blogs will always be primarily for me to chat, cry, vent, or try to make you laugh. Even my one blog that will be devoted to my business, my art, and my t-shirts will be full of ME and my foibles.  I'll resume posting pics of my kids and stories about me and my life and my tinfoil hat opinions.

I'm gonna post pics of partially nekkid blokes, lolcats (they'll be naked too); and sometimes write about things that might be controversial. I'll also keep throwing out the random link or t-shirt (or etsy stuffs if I can ever get started!)  But most of all I want to talk to YOU.  I wanna hear about what you think about what I think. I want you to agree or disagree, and say so. I might learn something.

If you wanny buy a funny t-shirt from me, thank you in advance; if you just want to read some crazy stressed-out chick's weird opinions and weirder life, then that's fine, too.

Cool?