I know it might be a bit of a cop out, making my glorious return (you know you missed me) to blogging by participating in a link up.

But I just can't resist Cari's linkups!

Back in April or May or sometime around there, I stopped blogging because my computer hard drive failed.  Then my husband came to my rescue and gave me an iPad for my birthday.  Sadly I didn't get right back in the swing of things so my brother stepped in and replaced my computer hard drive.

That's right, no more excuses.  I have been away far too long.

Is that enough self shaming for you?

How about a little finger pointing?
Yup, went to all the trouble of getting creative like with the frame and everything but didn't bother to make her change out of her pajamas.  What?  You didn't realize those were pajamas?  Nevermind...

Oh, and speaking of shaming...

Welcome to the 3rd annual No Housework Party blog hop hosted by   the Coolest Non-Domestic Mamas on the Block … Jenn   and   Rachael !



*This post may contain affiliate ads.  Read my full disclosure here.

I should be doing the dishes.  They have piled up again.  Instead I stare at the massive crusty pile and wish them away. But they stubbornly refuse to clean themselves.

I should be cleaning the living room.  It has been overrun with all the things that belong somewhere else but somehow creep back in when I'm not looking.  Then I turn around and am greeted with a scene from a horror movie.  I should be putting all the things back where they belong.  I should be scolding my children and making them put the things back where they belong.  But I lack the energy to follow them around pointing out each item and explaining in detail how and where it should be.  Instead I watch and listen to my children blissfully playing. Totally unaware of the chaos that surrounds them.

I should be writing a blog post.  Something insightful, or eventful, or charming, or witty.  Instead I stare at a blank screen as the words refuse to form themselves.  My head swirls with tiny snippets of thought that flee like butterflies from my net.

Yesterday I attended a blogger party at T-Hee Greetings & Gifts.  Right when I walked in the door I knew it was my kind of store.

I don't know if you have noticed this at all (because my blog design is so subtle) but I love color.  Bright c o l o r s !   Yup, my kind of store!

So, now I will try to whittle down my list of favorite things in the store, and try to tell you about just a few of them.  Because I could probably go on and on and on.  Instead, I will try to keep it to my 5 favorites.  As in 5 of the things that have been dancing around in my head since last night, pretty much taunting me with their awesomeness.

1. Every year I host Thanksgiving at my house.  Every year I inevitably hear the following question.  "Where do you keep your dish towels?   DISH Towels?  Does that sound like something I would own??

Then I saw these!

How perfect are these?  Thanksgiving Dish Towels!!!  Adorable!!!

2. As noted above, I like color.  Just a little.  I also love little notepads.  They are such handy little things to have.  As a blogger I have found it quite convenient to keep a little note pad in my purse just in case inspiration strikes.  If I am going to have a notepad it might as well be pretty.  Right?

1.  People tell me all the time that I am a patient person.  I don't feel that way.  Things get on my nerves and I feel very impatient.  I think the confusion comes from the fact that I tend to be to shy and probably too lazy to actually say or do anything about the things that frustrate me.  Unless they make me really crazy.  Then, watch out.

Right now Blogger is starting to test my patience.  I haven't been able to edit any of my gadgets for almost a week now.  Can't add or change any buttons.  Can't move them around.  This is causing me problems because there are groups I want to join or links I want to add and I can't.  Making me all sad and frustrated.  I know, switch to Wordpress.  But I don't wanna!!!!  I'm stubborn too.  I love Blogger.  When it works!  I think the thing that frustrates me most is the lack of feedback from Blogger.  I understand things happen.  Glitches can't always be avoided.  At least tell me how to fix it, or that you are working on it, or are at least aware of the problem.  Something!  The closest to an answer I have gotten is to try another browser.  I use Chrome.  If Google can't make one of their products work with one of their other products then what hope do I have for it to work with anything?  Google friend connect seems to be down today also and I can't help thinking it's related.

In honor of my Blogiversary today I broke my blog.

Ok, I didn't really break it.  I actually improved it.  It's just going to be broken for the day apparently.  Had I realized this I would probably have waited until this evening or even the weekend.

Regardless I thought I would let you know that something very exciting is coming.  For all those out there who are tired of googling NonDomestic Mama to find my blog because you have forgotten the address (don't feel bad I have done it myself a time or two when I first started a whole year ago!) I have done something that will make your lives so much easier.

I bought my domain name!!!!

Huh?

Sorry.  English.  You can now find me at www.NonDomesticMama.com!  Cool right?  Don't worry.  http://nondomestic.blogspot.com/ will still work too.  It will automatically redirect you to the new site.  Of course that is after a day or two of being broken.  Which means none of my links work and my comments seem to be broken as well.  Sigh.  What's that saying?  Can't make a cake without breaking some dishes?

Why did I wait until today to get my own domain name?

See when I first started blogging I didn't have all that much faith in myself to you know actually keep up with something I started.  Unfinished projects are kind of my thing.  So, I made a pact with myself.  I would not spend any money on my blog until I had been keeping up with it for a whole year.

Guess what today is?

On Friday I took a big step forward out of the shadows into the . . . you know . . . less dark shadows.  Let's not get carried away here.

Lil bro

I told my brother about my blog.

Gulp.

My decision to tell him was based on two things.

One: We have a pretty close relationship anyway.  I figured there really isn't much of anything I would be posting that he doesn't already know about.  Also sometimes there is a bit of a communication breakdown in our family. Something along the lines of . . . "You didn't know that?  I really thought mom/dad/sister would have told you."  You would think we would have learned our lesson by now.  If something happens call each individual family member directly.  Otherwise someone will be left out of the loop.  Now that he can read my blog he will be kept informed of all the ever so exciting events and happenings round here.

Well folks, it's been 31 days.  Today is the last day of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.  This challenge has been amazing and I have learned so much.  I hate to see it end!


When the idea of starting a blog first popped into my head it had one drawback.  Someone might read it.  I had to really push past my comfort zone in order to put myself out there.  I knew I needed an outlet but fear held me back.  The only thing that finally allowed me to convince myself to take the risk was knowing that it would be unlikely for anyone to ever read my blog anyway.  I certainly wasn't going to tell anyone about it.

Today I am taking The Mom Pledge.  For me it's just an obvious decision.  I want to always be respectful not just of other moms but of everyone.  I enjoy hearing differing points of view.  I want to know why someone who has a different opinion thinks the way they do.  I think it's possible to have debates and discussions without being hateful.

Now I am human too.  There are times I say something without thinking.  I try really really hard not to but sometimes it happens.  I get angry.  The important thing for me is to take a step back and put myself in the shoes of the other person.  It is very rare that I can not at least imagine myself in their situation.  Would I really do things differently?  How can I know that for sure unless I have experienced that?

It was with great enthusiasm and anticipation that I started the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.
After completing the first 10 days I am filled with even more excitement.  21 days still left to go and look how far I have come!

It should be abundantly clear by now that I am no superhero.  I do however have one important quality of a superhero.

No, I don't wear brightly colored spandex tights . . . though I do love to wear very bright colors.

I have a secret identity.

You might be thinking it's a security thing.  You are right but probably not the way you are thinking.

While I do agree internet safety is important and believe me my husband is constantly reminding me.  "You have a blog?!  You are not publishing our names and addresses and vacation schedule on that blog are you?!"  Yes, honey.  Right along with our social security numbers.  I also promised to leave the key under the mat . . .

My secret identity is actually carefully constructed to keep my real life friends and family from finding my blog.

Today is day 4 of the SITS 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.
I didn't want to leave out day 3 & 4 even though the tasks are not post topics.  I thought I would include a summary of my progress by posting the questions and answers from my SITS 31DBBB forum post and then elaborate a little here.

Today is day two of the SITS 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.

This month I am participating in the SITS 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.
Day #1: Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog
" An elevator pitch is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The name 'elevator pitch' reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes." - Wikipedia

Today I got a lot accomplished.  I did some more organizing in the kitchen.  Washed the dishes.  Worked on my blog.  Signed up for a Twitter account for my blog.  Wrote a new post for my blog . . . ok so I spent most of the day on the computer but the point is . . . I was feeling pretty good about my accomplishments.  I even washed two loads of laundry.  One regular load and one load of my daughters training pants.  Because along with everything else, I am trying to potty train my daughter.

I spent this morning making my blog pretty.

I found some great free backgrounds at the cutest blog on the block.  They have so many cute backgrounds I had a really hard time deciding on just one.  I might have to change it out from time to time!  I love bright colors and green is my favorite so I decided to go with bright blue and green.  I also really like the 3 column look with left and right sidebars so I changed my 2 column layout to three with the help of this simple tutorial.  I was able to follow it pretty easily so that says a lot.  Thank you!  I created the header myself using Paint.net which is a free image and photo editing software.  I have a lot more to learn about editing and using the program but I am pretty happy with the outcome.  I found the background element for the header on bittbox.  I also found some useful information on customizing blogger templates.