Remember Me?

No need to adjust your screen, and your eyes aren’t tricking you — this really is a new blog post. As my almost two months of absence can attest, I’ve been struggling with the blog lately. The entire thought process surrounding this is long, fairly dull, and might lead to concerns for my overall mental stability. (“You spend time thinking about that, really?”)

But, lest you think I am pretending in order to excuse a too-long absence, here are just some of the questions I’ve been pondering: Who is the blog for? (Me? Readers? Both?) What is the blog about, other than me? Does it have a theme, a purpose? Does it need one? Are Facebook and/or Twitter working better for me to keep in touch with people? Should I be using the blog differently now that I’m using FB & Twitter more? Would I want to do more with the blog if it had a less-stupid name? And, of course, once I get those questions answered, there’s the usual, mundane stuff about finding the time to write and all that. (And all I can say about that is it’s amazing what a mere 30-minute change in work hours can do to complicate things.)

But anyway, I’m happy to report that the time I spent on my blog hiatus certainly wasn’t dull. I’m never going to manage to recap it in any comprehensive way, but here’s a quick overview. Since last you heard from me, I:

• had house guests, twice (Marlene & Chris in October, Shannon & Wendy in November);
• went to Nashville for the National Preservation Conference and, among other things, ate more barbecue than would probably be considered appropriate;
• took a trip to Mexico (Akumal, on the Riviera Maya), had a blast, and discovered that tequila doesn’t kill the H1N1 virus;
• had the swine flu and an ear infection — at the same time;
• got to see nearly my entire family (Mom, the Minnesota cousins, the Pennsylvania cousins, my uncle, and — of course — Brian, Jen, and the boys) for an early Thanksgiving/family hockey night extravaganza;
• did a bunch of planning for my trip to Egypt and made a website for the friend whose wedding I’ll be attending there;
• went to several Caps games, a Redskins game, and a couple of concerts (Andrew Bird & Bruce Springsteen), and — this is the biggie —
• got a new nephew – at least for now, one who I’m excited to be meeting for the first time this upcoming weekend.

I don’ t know if this post marks my return to regular blogging or just a drive-by visit to the blogosphere, but given that it’s a new month, I thought I’d kick it off with a post.  We’ll see where it goes from here. And by all means, if you have any opinions about the questions I raised or advice on getting my blogging mojo back, by all means, have at it in the comments.

Ten on Thursday: Things that Happened During My Three (Nearly) Blog-Free Weeks

Somehow, I’ve only written three blog posts in the last three weeks — my mojo has been almost entirely gone. But, as of today, it’s a whole new month, so I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. And, since it’s Tuesday, it seems that the best way to recap the past few weeks and move on is with a list of ten things I’ve been doing while not blogging.

[Yes, I know it's now Thursday -- thankfully, the alliterative title still works. I started writing this on Monday, intending it to be posted on Tuesday. See #10 to find out why it wasn't.]

1. I went to my 20th high school reunion. It was neither the most fun nor the least fun I’ve ever had.The best part, hands down, was having a chance to catch up with Dana, my high school best friend. The biggest bummer was that a bunch of people who I really would’ve liked to have seen only made it to the Friday night mixer, which I missed.

2. My first round of Arabic lessons came to an end. We liked our second instructor even more than we disliked the first one (which is saying something), so once our schedules calm down again — November-ish, I think — we’re hoping to retain him for more classes.

3. I’ve watched the first three episodes of the third season of Mad Men, and still find it to be one of the best things on television. I have a feeling there will, at some point, be a post or two on some of the issues it raises; in addition to being well-acted and beautifully designed, it also never ceases to be thought-provoking.

4. I helped my mom buy and set up her new iPhone. I think she loves it.

5. I saw a terrible movie, The Time Traveler’s Wife, with Joanne. Our evening was, however, redeemed by the tasty noodle dinner we had at one of Chinatown’s few remaining Chinese restaurants.

6. I ducked out of work a little bit early on a beautiful Monday afternoon and took in a Nationals game with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. The highlight was the Presidents’ Race at the midpoint of the fourth inning, because in this instance, George, Tom, Abe, and, Teddy raced against faux sausages, challenging the  Brewers to bring their famous mascots along next time.

7. My friends Julia & Michael had a bowling party to celebrate their 45th birthdays. It was a ton of fun, but I was dismayed to discover that all my Wii bowling has done nothing to improve my real-life skills.

8. I had another fun day at Bethany Beach, this time guest-starring my nephews. When the riptides caused by Hurricane Bill forced sprite, Rudi, and I to push our day trip back a week, we ended up there at the same time as Brian, Jen, and the boys, so we decided to meet up for some quality time in the sand.

9. My friends’ families expanded — babies Hazel and Angela arrived to Jessica & Bennett and Rachel & Don, respectively. Both are, by all accounts, lovely and perfect.

10. I ruined my plan for a post every day in September when I woke up with vertigo on Tuesday which turned out to be the warning sign of a migraine. (Silly me; I didn’t realize that Monday’s headache was a warm-up, so my body had to kick it up a notch.) I spent all of Tuesday in bed, and have been suffering residual pain since, though today’s headache seems to be mostly sinus-oriented. Yeah, a migraine-allergy double-whammy — fun!

This-n-That

Well, it’s another one of those weeks where I am being a very bad blogger, partially because of work (too much time in front of the computer at the office = lack of enthusiasm for it at home), but also because I’ve just been feeling lazy about writing. A few of the ideas percolating around in my brain are going to require serious effort, and I am resisting. So instead, here are a few random tidbits, some about the blog, some not.

Blog-related:

1. Yeah, I know — I am really late on getting last week’s Project 365 photos posted. I do have them and am hoping to post them tonight. But then, I was planning to post them last night, so no promises.

2. I also know I’ve been terrible about doing my three beautiful things posts of late and promise to improve on that, as well. I may shift it to another day of the week, since I am not always as smart or motivated on Mondays as I might be.

3. Eileen and I are beginning discussions about having her become my official co-blogger, instead of just a now-and-then guest writer (and also instead of her possibly starting her own blog). Any thoughts on this? Does the current template make it easy enough for you to tell who has written what? Or do we need to think of a new design along with a new name?

Not blog-related:

4. My dishwasher isn’t broken! I’ve thought it was for months, but (as if by magic) it is now working again. I don’t have enough words to say how happy this makes me. Had I written a 3BT post any time in the last few weeks, this would have been on it.

5. I’ve been hearing these really weird ads on NPR for a production of Pirates of Penzance at Wolf Trap. The ad begins normally, but then end with “including the song ‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.’” I don’t know why this needs to be spelled out — it’s one of the songs in the show; why would it not be included?

6. I’m loving the fact that the DC Sports Bog is covering the National Spelling Bee finals. When one of the participants questioned why she was being interviewed by a sportswriter, blogger Dan Steinberg told her “once it’s on ESPN, it’s a sport.” Her reply is classic:

“Sports is, like, athletics,” she noted. “This isn’t athletic at all.”

7. Speaking of sports, I’m finding this still-developing  news story very depressing and want it to not be true. (And I have to say, the complete vagueness of the accusations gives me some hope that it isn’t.) I’ve never thought of hockey as being a steroid-driven sport, so would find the Caps’ involvement very surprising, and, well, if the Nats are taking steroids, they need better ones.

8. I’m starting Arabic lessons on Tuesday with a couple of the girls I went to Jordan with. I’m very nervous, as I’ve never exhibited much of an aptitude for languages. (See: my almost complete inability to communicate effectively in either German or Spanish despite years of classes.) We’re hoping to make another trip to the Middle East next year, and thought having at least some ability to communicate in Arabic might help.

9. This is cute. (Hat tip to Rudi for sharing.)

Well, I thought I might make it all the way to ten, but alas… I think that’s all I’ve got for now.

***

Updated to add numbers 8 and 9. I guess I had more than I thought.