Raising a boy: what I didn't expect. (So far.)

I didn't expect it to be so very different from raising a girl.

I didn't expect him to have so much trouble learning to speak. I didn't expect to worry about the autism spectrum and where on it some of his behaviors may lie. I didn't expect him to ignore me so much of the time. I didn't expect him to refuse to kiss, but present his cheek instead.

I didn't expect that boy poopy diapers would be so much easier to deal with than girl poopy diapers. I didn't expect him to learn his letters and numbers all in one shot, before learning to speak or even sing the alphabet.  I didn't expect him to have a happy-naked-run that cracked me up this much. I didn't expect to have to learn the tongue-twister, "Wonder Pets Underpants."

I didn't expect that he would need me as much as he does when he does, or as little as he does when he doesn't. I didn't expect to become a mind-reader. I didn't expect that he would have fears of swings and riding toys. I didn't expect that breastfeeding would be so hard for the two of us.

I didn't expect him to look so much like me. I didn't expect to love his little facial expressions that remind me of my little brother at that age. I didn't expect him to love his cousins and friends so much that he feels the need to tackle-hug them on sight.

I didn't expect him to have a need to rub people's earlobes. I didn't expect him to still need to snuggle to sleep at this age.

I think I did expect, though I didn't fully comprehend, how much I would love him and love being his mom.

Christmas presents, part 2: Who wants an awesome scarf?

So scarves are nice to make, partly because they tend to be fast, and partly because they tend to be mindless. Which is a good thing when you're also trying to keep toddlers from inadvertently maiming themselves.

My first crochet project "back" this fall was this scarf here:

Photo credit: Me via Fotofriend

I told myself if I was going to start crocheting again, gosh darn it my first project would be for me. And I finished it, and it is glorious. It reminds me of a candy cane. I made up the pattern; it's stitched end-to-end in single crochet in the back loop only, alternating colors every two rows with 8 rows of cream in the middle. Stitching in the back loop only gave it a nice ribbed texture and a bit more bulk.

Later on, after I'd finished an afghan or two, I decided to use up a little scrap yarn, so I made two of these gaiters, I guess they are called. It's a loop that makes the neck part of the scarf, but you just throw it around your neck and don't have to tie anything. These I just made up as I went, stitching them the short way and single crocheting a seam in the back. Then I fold it in half--it's actually twice as tall as in the picture, so there are two layers there. The first one was red and black, and I gave it to Steph. The second one in pink and linen is pictured below:

Photo credit: Me via Fotofriend

It reminds me a little too much of those foam medical braces for people with neck injuries. If I make any more like this, they will be in darker colors. It doesn't look too bad with my black coat, though.

So for gift-giving, I am thinking I ought to follow a pattern. I welcome feedback on styles and colors here. If you're reading this, I will probably be willing to make you one, so just ask! This is my sanity-saving project to work on between afghans. Here is a cowl I'm thinking of making one of my scarf-loving, fashionable sister in laws:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

OMG you guys, giraffe print turtleneck. That's taking yarn modeling to a whole new level. ><

OK, I will try to quit picking on the models. They are modeling for old ladies, so what do I expect? It's not like my pictures are high fashion, either. Seriously, though, I like that pattern and think in a different color, it might be lovely. It makes me think of an infinity scarf, which I suppose it is.

Then there is this, which I also love the look of:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

Maybe in a different color as well. I don't really know. Sometimes I think I should go neutral, so it goes with anything, but other times I think a scarf is an opportunity to make an outfit pop, so I should go bold. If it's a gift, though, going bold can be dangerous--I'm not great at figuring out exactly what colors people would like to wear. So, if any of the lovely ladies in my life want to weigh in, make any requests, I will be happy to whip something up especially for you! And if you hate both of the scarves above, let me know what you'd like. Wide and chunky? Narrow and funky? Thin and lacy? I'll do whatever. Want a hat instead? No problem. In fact, I might dedicate another post to hats, since I need to make myself a new one.


Note: All pictures in this post are taken from Lionbrand.com unless otherwise noted. Yarn and other notions are available for purchase at their website, as well as many free patterns such as those linked above. The red in the first scarf pictured above is Vanna's Choice in cranberry. The second scarf pictured is Vanna's Choice in linen and pink with two strands held together. Both are my own pattern.

Standards of Beauty

My freshman year at Concordia College I wrote a research paper on Standards of Beauty and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It contained a lot of high-minded ideals about sexism, racism, and internalized self-hatred. Lots of criticism of the media and barbie dolls and everything else. At the time I knew racism=bad, but I knew nothing about the concept and reality of white privilege, partly because that's inherent in it: If you have it, you are probably unaware that not everyone has it.

The perspective of the paper was, "Shame on the media for making non-white non-blonde non-blue-eyed people feel bad, and shame on those people for not loving themselves as they are!" I got an A. My professor was, as I later found out, a total bigot. Feminist, yes, but also bigoted. A student walked out of one class I had with her two years later, after a fierce debate about whether students should be forced to say "under God" during the pledge of allegiance. Point is, I was a fair-haired, light-skinned, blue-eyed moron and got rewarded for it. Anyhow, back on topic.

At that time I lived down the hall from a very pretty girl who did "prom hair" every freaking morning. Even I rarely left my dorm without at least mascara. I colored my hair frequently over the next 3 years or so, until my scalp became so damaged I had to stop. In high school I had bleached my hair to be a lighter blonde than it really was, which my mom loved. In college, I went carrot red and fire-engine red and fuchsia and almost purple. What a rebellion. I was still burning my head with chemicals once a month.

Who was I then versus who I am now? I married a man who hates the look of lipstick, which is convenient because it dries out my lips. I prefer regular Chapstick or Burt's Bees. I didn't color my hair often for several years after my marriage, but recently I started using a demi-permanent ammonia-free color, partly due to boredom with my darkening mousy brown hair, partly because I started to see gray hairs in front. That's actually my barometer for when I ought to do it again: when I can see gray. (Let's not talk about ageism and double standards for women, at least not today, OK?) I rarely blow-dry and have never flat ironed my hair, and I very rarely curl it. Brushed out and parted or pulled back in a pony-tail or bun is pretty much my repertoire. Maybe I'll use a barrette on occasion. As for makeup, I've stopped using "base" altogether, though that's mostly just because I tend to sweat it all off anyway (and the sweat proof kind ruins my skin). I recently have been buying eye makeup with the intent to use it, but I basically never do. I think the last time was Halloween, and it's now late November. The frazzled mom look has sort of taken over my life, and I'm starting to feel a bit bad about it, and then a bit bad that I feel bad about it.

Where is the line between looking neat and presentable, i.e. caring for oneself, and attempting to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty? I don't have long dark eyelashes. My hair is thinning and starting to go gray. I get stress acne. I'm obese. Should that stop me from taking any pictures of myself, or should I try to hide these things in pictures? This blog post suggests I should record myself as I am, which is how my son will remember me. Every time I try, though, I hate the way I look. I don't hate the way I look in my mirror, just the way I look in pictures without makeup and where you can see my scalp. Like this:

Photo credit: Butch Gerde on Facebook

Totally cute picture of Sam. But my hair is a mess, you can see my chins, my acne is showing since I'm all sweaty, bleagh. I may actually be wearing mascara there, though. I'm not wearing a bit of makeup in this next shot, though.

Photo credit: Jill Book on Facebook

I actually like this one. Someone needs to hand me a newborn baby every time I need to have my picture taken. I think that's part of it. In the second picture, I'm relaxed, I'm excited, and I'm feeling this joy over holding Emma for the first time. Of course, Jill has a very fancy camera and the lighting was better. Also, in the first picture I was completely worn out and overheated after chasing Sam around the community center almost half the time we were there. (The other more than half was graciously done by Dan and some of my cousins.)

To me, though, that's what beauty should be. Capturing a moment of utter glee. You're not going to catch it on film every day, but if you don't try, you won't get anything at all. Digital cameras have saved us a lot of money on film and developing fees, but they've also allowed us to hit delete, delete, delete, until there is no proof of our existence at all. So I'm not perfect. No one is, unless you count absurd amounts of retouching. But I can be beautiful, and I don't have to work as hard at it as I think. I just have to feel joy, and be in the presence of a friend with an amazing camera. :P

And here is me, late Sunday night, just as I am, sick as a dog, staring at the computer screen. Crummy webcam and all. I took this right before I got ambitious and started taking crummy webcam pictures of myself in scarves. But that'll be another post.

New contributor! Sort of.

I figured out how to post as me, not as my former business account, and still keep the same blog. It's much easier than logging in and out of Blogger, Google+ and Google Reader every time I want to compose a post. So from now on, I'll be posting as myself and not as Auntie Mel. Sounds good?

I also wanted to make a note that I'm not going to be restricting myself to post mostly about crafting, which should be obvious from the last week or so of posts. There will still be lots about crafting, but it's not the blog's main focus anymore. I think using my own name and my own Google account will make more sense than using my Auntie Mel account because of that.

Then I want to thank everyone who's been reading so far. When I blogged before, I had pretty much zero readers. Maybe my mom. And according to Blogger, this blog had 98 page views last Thursday. This blog has only had 320 page views, ever, and 285 of them have been in the last week. So, thank you. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to continue to say.

Since this is a rather boring post, here is a picture of my first holiday ornament of the season. Normally I do these on plastic canvas, but that's sort of impossible with the littles around. It's a good way to use up some of my scrap yarn, though.

It's a pink poinsettia. The rest of them will probably be red, but I thought the light green yarn would work better with pink petals.

Christmas Presents, Part 1: Afghans

So, not to spill the beans too much, but here are the patterns I've been working on for friends and family. These are basically TV-watching lap-ghans. The colors I'm working with are different, to fit each gift recipient. Here's the first one:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

I've finished two of these so far, and then I got a little bored. It works up really fast and easy, over my free-time in a couple of days, although making the fringe can be a little putzy. For my next project, I decided to try to make this pretty thing:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

If you clicked through to the title of the pattern, you will have noticed that it's called "Super Fast & Easy Throw". It's totally not, but I finally finished it last night after about 2 or 3 weeks of spare-time work. It's gorgeous though, and I'm glad to have made it. The yarn is super comfy. It was nice to have in my lap as I worked on it--I already miss snuggling up to it!

I'm currently scouting yarn for this one:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

I think it will go pretty fast, since it's stitched with a speed hook. I also love working with the really thick chunky yarns. It's just going to be a matter of making sure that no one in the recipient's household has a wool allergy, and finding the yarn on some sort of sale. Worst case, I will probably make another of the top throw, maybe without the fringe this time.

Uh-oh. I found another one that I sort of like:

Photo credit: Lionbrand.com, pattern via link above

You know, minus the seductive turtleneck and mom-jeans wearing lady. Aw yeah. Bangs and a ponytail, you know yarn models know how to party. ;)

So, that's part of what I've been up to and planning as far as Christmas gift crafting. I've experimented a bit with cowls with my leftover yarn, but I haven't really come up with a pattern I love. I'll have to save scarves and cowls for another post.


Note: All pictures in this post are taken from Lionbrand.com. Yarn and other notions are available for purchase at their website, as well as many free patterns such as those linked above.

Thrifty Lady, Target Addict

OK, I will admit it. I spend way too much money at Target. That makes it impossible to track what I'm spending on food, clothing, toys, electronics, household goods, medicines and personal care items, and all kinds of other things because I buy it all there. Most of the time, though, I don't pay full price. I've got a few tricks. Some of these apply to shopping at Rainbow and Cub for groceries, as well.

1. I subscribe to the local paper and save the coupon sections each week, keeping them in neat little file folders and labeling them with the date. I don't clip anything until I'm about to use it. I also hang onto the weekly ads for stores I use frequently, but only for that week. When I get a new paper, I throw out the expired ads. Here's Maggie helping me dig through my stash of coupon inserts.

2. I check Carrie's list. She and her team match sales with store coupons and manufacturer's coupons to get the best possible deal. She also keeps track of online printable coupons, which brings me to:

3. If it's not on Pocket Your Dollars and I need it urgently, I check Target.com's printable coupon section before I leave home. I tend to go through everything they have available when I make my shopping list, and keep an eye out for coupons I regularly use. There are frequently coupons for Target's store brands, so even if you're an "I buy generic to save money" type, you can get an even better deal with a minimal amount of planning. The same is true for the grocery stores' weekly ads. Generic butter and milk are good examples of things that are almost always cheaper with the grocery store's coupon.

4. Also, if it's not on one of Carrie's lists and I need it urgently, I check her coupon database. This tells me if there is a coupon in my filing box for something that's not on sale, and if there is an online printable. If I'm not picky about brands, I can usually get a better deal than paying full price.

5. I receive mobile coupons from Target via text message. These are usually similar to what's on their printable coupon site, but without the hassle of printing. Save a tree!

6. Rainbow has a double coupon day each Wednesday and some Saturdays. They will double the value of up to 5 coupons with values up to $1, with a $25 pre-coupon purchase total, so you can save $10. They also have a lot of store coupons and weekly specials, especially in the meat department. I usually try to put my list together early enough in the week that I know whether or not it will be "worth it" to do double coupon day. When I do, I typically save around 50%. Cub doesn't double coupons, but they accept manufacturer's coupons up to 30 days after their expiration date. Cub also has online printables.

7. I try to use what I have first, and wait for a good deal on something before I buy it, unless it's a rock bottom price. I also don't buy things I don't think we'll use, just because they are cheap or free. For things we've run out of, I use the Cozi app on my phone to keep a running grocery and shopping list. When I'm shopping with Dan and he wants to make an impulse purchase, you will often hear me say, "I think I have a coupon for that at home. Put it in Cozi and I'll buy it next time."

8. Last but not least, we broke down and got RedCard debit cards from Target. They save us an additional 5% on top of whatever I've already saved us with coupons, and we never pay interest because it comes right out of our joint checking account.

Dan has a variety of tips for buying electronics, DVDs/Blu-Rays and video games, but I don't really keep up on them. I just sort of nod and smile, and if I'm wanting to get something, I ask him to keep an eye out for a good deal. If you are ever in the market for a new computer, laptop, wireless router, TV, etc. you are welcome to ask him for advice. He also does freelance home tech support for way cheaper than Geek Squad, and he gets the job done right. Just sayin'.

What do you and your family do to save money?

Thankful

So, what exactly am I thankful for?

I'm thankful for my job. It's not often that you can find fulfilling work that lets you spend all day with your kid, and make enough money to live comfortably. I'm thankful that my husband has a career he loves, which provides us most of our income and pays the bills. We still try not to waste money, but we don't have to worry about whether or not we can afford groceries, gas, and clothes for Sam, plus some extras. I'm thankful for Pocket Your Dollars and Cheap Ass Gamer, with which we have saved tons of money by shopping strategically. I am thankful that we can afford to be somewhat generous around the holidays, too.

I'm thankful for my home. Last year at this time I was struggling to pack up what felt like a huge apartment when the two of us moved in, but felt so cramped and tiny by the time we moved out. Renting a townhome in Lakeville has to be one of the better decisions we've made over the years. Sam has so much room to run around and play, and I've lost weight going up and down the stairs with laundry. Someday we'll own our own house, but for now, this is home. It's even big enough that we were able to help a friend down on her luck for a couple of months this fall, by having her and her daughter sleep in my office, the third bedroom, on a futon. It was cramped and a bit stressful for everyone involved, but I am so glad we were able to do it.

(OK, I suck. I don't have any pictures with friends handy. If you have one, post it on FB and tag me and I'll add it!)

I'm thankful for my friends. Even though I don't see most of them often, when we do get together, we have a great time. The old friends who are still in my life at 30+ are generally responsible enough to have their own %^&* sorted, are good parents if they have children, and are kind to my kid even if they don't. The friends who have scattered across the country and around the world, or who I just haven't managed to make enough time to see recently, are quite supportive on Facebook. My online community means a lot to me when I'm stuck in the house with little kids for days at a time.

I'm thankful for my extended family. (We have to get a more current family picture, guys! I don't have one with everyone!) I have some of the coolest nieces in the world. Ryan and Ella are growing up way too fast--they are going to be 7 this spring, can you believe it?! They have all kinds of interesting thoughts bouncing around their brains and are both curious and kind. Reese is growing up right alongside Sam, but she is Jena all over again the way Sam is Dan all over again. She knows and will sing "Call Me Maybe", and I just die laughing. My brother and siblings-in-law are great, too. It is fascinating to watch them parent, and watch their careers take off. I am so proud and thankful for my brother's new career as a paramedic.

I'm thankful for my parents. I know a lot of people my age have already lost one or both parents. I love the way they take care of Sam, and always want what's best for him, me, and Dan. We've all been busy lately, but when I really need them they are there, just like they are there for my brother and his family, my grandparents, and so many others in their lives. I am thankful that however hard it was to raise kids in the '80s and '90s, they stuck together and continued to grow in their relationship with one another. I am thrilled that they're picking up new shared hobbies in their fifties. I am thankful that my mom's holiday gig in retail last season turned into a long term thing, because it seems to fit her well and give her some fulfillment.

I'm thankful for my son. Three years ago at about this time I had just found out I was pregnant, and had no idea what was in store for me. My brother asked, while Christmas shopping, whether it was a boy or a girl. I replied, "It's a brine shrimp right now, dummy." He picked out some great onesies, anyway. Sam has been my 24 hour a day, breakfast lunch and dinner, practically all the time thing for the last 2 1/2 years, so much that he still doesn't say my name because he doesn't have to. At least once I day I just stare at him and have to give him kisses and tell him how beautiful he is, and how much I love him. He's recently started saying, "I yah yoo!" back. I am thankful for all the progress he's made in learning new things, I am thankful for his good health (no ear infections, ever!), and I am thankful that he's mine. Ours. Whatever.

I'm thankful for my husband. How we found each other through the magic of the internet, the randomness of dating websites, I'll never know. I am thankful that we did. I am thankful for everything he's done over the years to be a great boyfriend, fiance, husband, and father. I don't know many women who have husbands who do nearly as much day to day childcare even while working a full time job. I have probably given Sam a total of 4 baths in the last year, no joke. It's Daddy time for Sam. All the little things he does and thinks and says, add up to my closest friend and my soul mate. We make each other better. Even when we disagree, we rarely argue, and when frustration builds up and we finally have to have an argument, we take time to cool off and then talk about it and sort things out before any damage is done. He can be brutally honest, but he's not ever deliberately hurtful, and he admits it when he's wrong. I can't imagine my life without him.

All my blessings, and I know there are more that I could have gone into more detail about, add up to a pretty wonderful life. Yes, I get stressed out and sick of picking up after my tornado of a kid, and tired of doing dishes and changing diapers, but all in all, I'm happier than I've ever been. When I started this blog, I was a bit lost and just trying to figure out what to do with my life. If nothing else, I could make blankets and coasters that would warm a baby or brighten someone's day. I still want to do that, but my life is pretty full at the moment, and I like it that way.

Turkey Thursday!

So, today is the day that people in my culture typically stop and give thanks for the blessings of the year. Not because of some silly story about pilgrims and natives, but because a common thread in agricultural societies is to give thanks and feast at harvest time. If anything can be learned from the historical tale of the first American Thanksgiving, it might be that we ought to give aid to those immigrants who seek relief from religious persecution and economic hardship.

But Americans also eat a lot of turkey, and then make plans to go buy tons of stuff the next day, or rather that evening or at midnight. One year Dan and I were attempting to enter a Circuit City on Black Friday, and nearly got run down in the crosswalk. Ever seen pedestrian road rage? Midnight Cowboy, anyone? It wasn't that bad, but I think he kicked and possibly dented the woman's car. Anyway, we decided to never again leave the house on Black Friday, and do all of our shopping of Black Friday deals online instead. Instead of making this post all about Christmas shopping, I'll get back to the turkey.

Most years Dan and Sam and I have celebrated Turkey Day at my mom and dad's house, with whichever members of our extended family can make it. There are usually a few "extra" folks, either Dan's sister and her family, grandparents, cousins, friends, etc. We don't have a lot of commitments that day, and don't have to argue about which side of the family to visit since Dan's dad is no longer with us and his mom hasn't been on speaking terms with us for more than 6 years. Not that she ever would have hosted, anyway.

Unfortunately, this year we're all in the midst of the cold that would not take no for an answer. So my poor mom is making this gigantic 22-lb bird that not as many people will be there to eat.  She just made a hilarious plea on Facebook to ask people to ditch their plans and join her. Luckily for me, we made the call not to attend yesterday morning, in time to thaw a small chicken to roast for the three of us. I'd already bought crescent rolls to take to my mom's, and had gotten an inexpensive frozen pie "just because" a week or two ago. Dan worked a half day on Wednesday, so he was able to stop and pick up the few other things to round out the meal.

At this point I started typing a list of things I am thankful for, and realized I needed to split it into two posts. I'm thankful for all of my blessings, to be detailed in a later post!

Special Needs Kid

One of my earlier posts about Sam talked a bit about Poland Sequence and Sam's upper limb differences. I can proudly report that he has had two successful surgeries on his hand, and has fully normal use of all of his short little fingers. The first surgery was in the summer of 2011 when he was just over 1 year old, and the second was later that winter when he was about 18 months old.

The first time, the surgeon took skin from the inside of his left elbow (the same side as his hand) to graft onto the sides of his fingers where there wasn't quite enough skin when they were separated. This was the same elbow with the contracture, and I felt that messing with it any further would be a bad idea. So, the second time around, we had them take skin from the opposite side.

Side note: when babies and toddlers have surgeries on their hands or arms, they typically need to have casts over their entire bent (so it doesn't slide off) arm to keep them from chewing on and pulling out their stitches. I call it the "cone of shame", human style.

For Sam's first surgery, all stitches were covered on his left arm under the cast. The next time, since the wound from the skin graft collection site would only need a couple of weeks to heal, they just bandaged his right elbow. Well...that was a mistake. Long story short, his stitches loosened to the point that he had a gaping hole inside his elbow, and he had to be put back under general anesthesia to clean out the wound, stitch it back up and get shot up with an antibiotic just in case. So, for most of last December, Sam had bent elbow casts on both of his arms. He was also on heavy painkillers for a couple of weeks.

After all of that was over, and his casts were removed, I contacted the school district to see if they might be able to help with some of his occupational therapy for his elbow. We moved into a townhome shortly before Sam's second surgery, and we were in a new school district. Early Intervention services evaluated Sam for fine and gross motor skills, as well as a range of other developmental milestones. Even with Sam's sticky elbow, he passed gross and fine motor with flying colors. However, they discovered that he has a speech/language delay.

So, for some months, Sam was seen every other week in our home for speech therapy, and once weekly at his usual private clinic for occupational therapy. I was also taking him to Early Childhood Family Education once a week in the evening.  We weren't happy with his speech therapist after a couple of months, so this fall his therapy moved to Early Childhood Special Education during ECFE class, on Thursday mornings. He's doing well and will be re-evaluated by the school district next month.

He hasn't been in OT for his elbow quite awhile, mainly due to insurance changes and the fact that he wasn't making any progress, so we couldn't justify the cost. We tried pool therapy last spring, but it didn't seem to get much better results. Our insurance changes again after the first of the year, so we plan to try OT again then, or at least have him re-evaluated at the private clinic.

With all of that, you can see how for the first two years of Sam's life, he was more than enough of a full time job for me. Now that he's two and a half, and I'm in class with parents of other kids with some special needs, I can relax a bit and count my blessings.

WAHM (Work-at-home Mom)

As of last June, I officially became a full time WAHM. I work 41 hours a week caring for a young lady who just turned 1 year old. Her name is Maggie, and she and Sam have been getting along OK so far. She is this close to beginning to walk. I probably won't post many pictures of her here, since I don't have her mom's OK to do that, and I will try not to complain too much about work. It's not what I want to do forever, but since I'm already mommy-ing full time for Sam, adding one more kid and a little income is what works for us at the moment.

I LOVE being self-employed. I HATE having to get up so dang early, but I LOVE not having a commute. I borrowed a second carseat and bought a double stroller on craigslist, so we go on adventures sometimes. It is exhausting work, but ultimately very rewarding.

Just in the last couple of weeks, I've managed to carve out enough time to work on a few crochet projects for the holidays. I'm not going to want to post pictures of them until after they are given away, but I'll save shots to show off the work. As long as the pattern is mindless enough, and as long as the kids aren't climbing me, I can watch them play while I work on a project. I'm not making anything for sale any time soon, but it does feel good to get back into crafting. It relaxes me.

Years go by and still I think of you...

Two years have gone by and it's time for this blog to reboot, for two reasons.
1. I started crocheting again! Yay!
2. I have decided that FaceBook can go eat a +#&%. However, I still want a way to share the awesomeness of my day-to-day life and opinions on stuff with people, and have them write back.

 Anyway, more to come.