On Blogging (and Other Stuff) // Part 2

Before I begin chatting about blogging again, I must first say thank you to so many of you who took the time to join in the discussion! 

I read each answer...several times. (I am still responding to your answers via email or blog comment when possible. I am behind as I was away from the computer a good bit last week. This week promises much of the same.) I have read Vee's recent musings about blogging and the many reader comments furthering the discussion. I have prayed about the role of blogging in my life. I have pondered and mused and considered. 

I love blogging and I am not contemplating leaving. 

I enjoy having a creative outlet, a place to share my musings. I love the interchange of ideas, sharing my own projects and thoughts, and learning from yours. I find inspiration. I love the friendships that have formed, and the sense of community. I enjoy learning about other parts of the world: rural Texas, south Florida, British Columbia, Lake Gitche Gumee, Maine, Lancaster County, Seattle, New Zealand. Not because I have been there, but because I know someone who lives and shops and eats and explores those places. I am often encouraged by your blogs, and I hope to do the same for you.  

Yes, I will continue to blog. 

But I am going to make a couple of changes. 

The first change involves time. 

If you read and follow a lot of blogs, then you know how much time it takes to make thoughtful comments. And so, although I will continue to make comments on the blogs that I read, it just won't be as frequently (as in not on every post). I am absolving myself of the obligation to always say something. I keep thinking of the wise words from Karen Andreola when a reader apologized for "lurking" without commenting. Karen said, 

"I think it is fine to peruse a public post like people used to relax with the newspaper - without necessarily sending a letter to the editor. The 20th century term "lurk" which I am most familiar with, makes the new 21st century blog definition seem a bit harsh and ill-fitting to me." 

I love that analogy! I will still be reading as I have time ("relaxing with the newspaper"), but I won't be sending quite as many "letters to the editor."

The second change concerns the purpose of my blog.

Not a big change really. I will continue to talk about my home and my family and celebrations and hospitality...and how I serve the Lord by serving in my home.

A part of my purpose when I began my blog was to offer encouragement to homeschoolers and to young mothers. When I started blogging five years ago, I had recently completed my second two-year term as editor of our local homeschool newsletter. I had enjoyed writing articles for the newsletter, and I wanted to continue to offer experience and encouragement to homeschool moms, and I planned to include these things in my blog. 

Now I know that many of my readers are fellow grandmothers! And the grandmothers may not be excited about homeschool talk. But over the last several months, I have felt an urging to share some rudimentary principles, some very basic tips that I have found vital to a successful homeschool. I may even chat about some of the nuts and bolts. So if you're a "grandmother," feel free to click away on those days and come back another day when I'm sharing a recipe or talking about a party or a house project or just plain musing! 

Now for the "other stuff"...

Four years ago, we had just ended the summer birthday season and the calendar had just barely turned over to the next month, when this little girl came and made our world more precious. Today, Alaine is four!

Yesterday, we gathered at Kristin and Brian's house to celebrate Alaine! Pink was the theme and happy was the mood. (And hot was the weather...but not as hot as the day she was born!)

Bekah took this picture of the birthday girl and loves it. She asked me to crop it in order to zoom in on that pretty little face. She was especially smitten with the lips. 

A few peeks at the party...

Ron is off this week and it is a get-things-done kind of vacation week. Our main project is a makeover of the computer cabinet. 

It is a cabinet that we designed together and that Ron made to house our desktop computer. But we rarely use aged, s-l-o-w Henry (the desktop) any more and so we're converting the cabinet into a china closet! I am so excited! I'll be storing The Grandmother Dishes there, as well as various and sundry dishes, mugs, and trays that are all over my house. Hopefully, this will eliminate the treks (Ron's treks) up and down the attic stairs with heavy boxes of seasonal dishes. There may still be a need for culling the collection, but we're hoping to make some sense of it all. The goal is to keep our house tidy, rid it of excess, but make room for the things we really love. 

Feel free to continue the conversation in the comments...OR just "relax with the newspaper" (see above) and leave a "letter to the editor" some other time! :)

There is still time for you to Gather the Moments of August. The link will stay up through Saturday.