The Original 1st Post aka What Am I Doing Here?!

Hello Internet,

I'd like to say I'm here to rock your world, but in actuality, I'm pretty much terrified out of my mind about starting up a blog. Me? A blogger? A blogger on Blogger? 6 months ago I would have scoffed at the idea, and probably even made fun of people who did, in fact, blog. So how did I come to be here, sitting in the food court at the mall, banging furiously on the keys while my daughter is playing in the background? Well you see, it all started with Google Reader...

I guess now that I think about it, it actually started before Google Reader. Once upon a time, I worked a really intense job. A job with far more work in one day than there were hours to complete it all. Even after I left work, I would regularly check my Blackberry. I would bring work home with me to clutter up my couch after the kids went to bed. Sometimes, I regret to say, I even went in to the office on Saturdays. It was a rigorous pace that I, somehow, managed to keep up for 18 months. Looking back now, I don't know how I did it, in addition to having 4 kids, a husband, and a dog at home.

The one day, the strangest thing happened... one of our biggest customers decided to "go a different direction", thereby cutting my workload basically in half. IN HALF. Under the previous workload, I had, by necessity, become a productivity machine. I could do three and four and sometimes even five things at the same time. I had "multitasker" mastered, but the pace left me with never a down moment. Now, there I was, the same number of hours in a day, but only half the amount of work to do. Dare I say it, I got... bored. "Bored? What is that?" I remember in the early days of my career, I had a sign on my desk that said "Being Busy Beats Being Bored" and while at that time, it was basically just an indirect attempt at a little ass-kissing, now I was living the blaring reminder of just how true that really was. I was so good at getting things done expediently, that I could now complete my work in just over four hours. I had absolutely no idea what to do with the other hours in my work day.

I did all the things that I am sure other bored people do... I sent a few emails, I checked MSN and Google News for the latest haps. I found and played around on Free Rice (which by the way, if you aren't familiar with, is a great way to pass the time while testing/increasing your knowledge, and contributing to the World Food Programme all at the same time. What could be better?!). And then, inevitably, I was bored again. Painfully bored, for several days. I even emptied my gmail inbox completely, which almost never happens. Usually I leave behind a few e-coupons I'd like to use before they expire, the church newsletter for the week, etc. but I was so bored, I had even filed all that stuff away. In folders. With proper labels. Oh yes, time passed so slow it was mind-numbing. And then, I noticed something strange left behind in the void that was now my inbox. It wasn't an email, but a snarky note from the clever Google programmers. "No new mail! Want to read updates from your favorite sites? Try Google Reader!"

"What the heck is Google Reader?" I remember thinking, as I clicked the link. It brought up a list of "suggested sites" that it thought I might like. Of course, it didn't know me at all... yet. I perused through, intrigued. "There's a lot of really interesting/funny/bizarre/creative stuff in here!" I thought. I checked out the staff recommended feeds and from there, it steamrolled out of control. I started adding sites I already knew, like Engrish, lolcats, and Texts from Last Night. The more sites I added, the more appealing Reader's recommended items became, and I found even more feeds I wanted to subscribe to (I'm over 40 as of this post). As the days and weeks went on, I started opening my Reader at the same time I opened my gmail, and at some point, leaving it open all day and checking back a few times a day to see what new posts had trickled in. One day, I had exhausted all of the items in my feed, and had skipped over to the recommended items. The first thing I was drawn to was a post by Melissa from Operation Nice; her mission is to "to remind you that a little NICE goes a long way." I was utterly drawn to this concept, and it was the first blog I ever subscribed to. Her semi-weekly posts shared stories of kindness, friendship, hope, and love. They were inspiring; they spoke to me, loudly. I was even motiviated to participate in one of her Nice Assignments.

A few days later, Melissa featured RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness) from a lady that I have grown to absolutely adore, named Michelle of So Wonderful, So Marvelous. Michelle had devoted her 34th birthday to doing 34 RAOKs for people. I was awestruck (and quickly added her to my Reader). I'm addicted and I greatly look forward to her posts.

Fast forward a month or two, there I was bored again, and I remembered that Michelle had a link on her blog called Peeps You Should Read, so I wondered what things this awesome blog-lady would recommend to help pass the time. There I found Blogging Dangerously, who I adore because she says all the things most of us women are far too intimidated to say outloud (warning: some posts are NSFW and be careful before you ask "who" Carmen Electra is) and Enjoying the Small Things, a fantastic blog (with lots and lots of photos), written by a gorgeous woman named Kelle who has 2 daughters, one of whom has Downs Syndrome. The story of the birth of her daughter Nella moved me to tears. Literal tears. At my desk, surrounded by coworkers. It is gut-wrenchingly yet refreshingly honest to the core and I was not surprised when I noticed in a later post that it had been published in a magazine.

At this point, I was (and still am) beyond addicted to my 4 blog-ladies, who by the way, have no idea I even exist, nor how much I absolutely admire them each for who they are and what they do. Once I thought to myself, "I would love to write a guest blog for one of these!" which turned into, "Why couldn't I just write them all myself?" which turned into, "You never stick with any of your wild ideas, fughettaboutit!" which, over the course of 4-6 weeks, turned into jotting down blog post ideas almost every chance I got, which turned into pestering two of my closest friends, John and Lanine, almost ENDLESSLY with questions like, "IF I had a blog, what would it be called? How would I set up the layout? What kind of host should I use?" Thankfully, they are two of the awesomest people in the world and were really supportive, and only rolled their eyes when I wasn't looking. :)

I struggled endlessly on what to name this blog. The name was the most important thing to me, second only to a great layout. I wanted something direct, maybe a little snarky, fun, but that was true to what I planned to write about which was, well... a little bit of everything. I read a few "How To Start A Blog" articles... not helpful at all, and mostly confusing, by the way - I don't recommend it. I wrote down and scratched out at least 20 different names or versions of previous names. Then all of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, like a bolt of lightning creativity, I mumbled outloud to myself, "It's like... thought sorting!" and voila! Here we are.

I have really high hopes for this blog. Aspirations of being as awesome (and let's be honest, as followed) as Melissa. Michelle, Kit. & Kelle. I really do think I have interesting things to share... will you join me?