Before I went to BlogHer I commented without abandon. I never considered whether or not a blogger visited my site. I never considered how they were catagorized in the hierarchy of the blogosphere. I just left a comment when what I read moved me to do so.

Many times those bloggers would come visit my site and leave a comment, many times they didn’t. I didn’t keep a tally. Certainly, I felt I had developed a community with those whose blognames were regular visitors to my inbox.

Then I went to BlogHer.

Don’t get me wrong. The conference was good. It introduced me to many terrific women whose words I would never have had the privilege to read had I not been there. And boy, if I hadn’t attended I would have missed out on pulling my turkey out of the oven each week (you know I roast one every week for Sunday dinnner-HA) with my new Butterball pot holder.

All that said, I find I’m not looking at blogging quite the same way.

There were cliques. There was a hierarchy. There were snarky comments and “once over” gazes. And I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the principal was coming down the hall.

And that was diappointing.

The beauty of blogging has been for me the opportunity to get to know writers without the filter of appearances or “neighborhoods.” In the blogosphere, I felt I could get to hear about another’s experience in a way I might never in the “real” world.

I’ve resisted writing about this for fear that people will assume I am just the bitter, “dork” in the corner (okay I was) who no one would talk to. I tried to just let it go and move on with blogging in a way that was good for me.

But I’m having a hard time.

Maybe it’s because of my feminist leanings, of my approach to the world, but I don’t think women do each other any favors by knocking each other down…by judging each other because of their decisions…by setting themselves apart to feel better about the choices they have made. We only become stronger together if we support each other.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I’m noticing whether someone has visited my blog now. I’m considering whether or not I should leave a comment. I’m thinking about cutting down my reader list. AND I HATE THAT.

I don’t know that what I have to say on this blog is really all that profound or all that important. And I don’t know if it’s worth doing if it means having to be aware of these things.

My earlier post today was not complete. There were additional moments of brilliance I didn’t share with you my sad saps who have nothing better to do than read my inane spewingfine readers.

If this conversation was thought A, allow me to continue with…

wait… wait…

are you ready for it?

Thought B!

We in the parent blogging world allude to sex from time to time on our blogs (some begging for it more than others). And while we all must have done the waterbed waltz at one time or another to become parent bloggers, I don’t read many posts that touch on the topic in a serious way. Sure there’s Lotta who’s always got our back thinking about ways to improve things, but I’m always amazed that something that so many people do (or want to do) is still so taboo. Anyway, my great thought–which doesn’t seem so great anymore–was that we should start a blog called, “Yeah, Your Parents ARE Having Sex” to discuss such matters. And we’ll all make sure not to tell our co-workers, neighbors or parents about it.

Are you still with me?

Okay, so for Thought C–and I swear my shower wasn’t that long.

I really hope that if Shakey decides to have an affair he never brings the other woman to our house. I’d be so embarrassed by the state of my house.

Yes, as I was rinsing off, I looked around my shower, and–now I KNOW this will come as a major shock to my mother–I noticed that it along with the rest of my house bathroom needed to be cleaned ASAP.

I got to stop worrying about what other people think.

Monday morning quickly trying to rid my body of a busy weekend’s grime and an aggressive knock is heard at the door.

Shakey: What are you doing on the side?

Me: [thinking to myself] What? I only use the vibrator when you’re not available.

Me: huh?

Shakey: I just went to get money from your wallet and there’s a ton of cash in there.

Me: Yeah, I was dancing. [eye roll] The Smith family paid me in cash for the fanwear (for little league, not MY fans).

Me: [again to myself] Sheesh! He of anyone should know my blow jobs cost WAY more than that.

This post made me cry harder than I ever have reading others’ blogs. It may be one of the saddest, yet most beautiful pieces of writing, because it is so clearly straight from this mother’s gut.

The sheer number of comments reminds me how wonderful the citizens of the blogosphere can be.

I am sure Liam is now a brilliant star.

There is just a little over eight weeks until BlogHer 2007. I will be going to Chicago, sans kiddos, to tear up the town. The lovely Canape and I will be sharing a room, so I’ll have a place to hide when I just can’t shake Jessica (she swears she’s going to stalk me, but we all know she won’t be able to see me over the crowds that will surround her wherever she goes).

Anyway, the reason I’m so excited to be going (besides the fact that Canape is going to do my make-up) is the opportunity I’m going to have to meet in person (I hope) many of the incredible women I’ve gotten to know over the past ten months or so of blogging. They’ve made me laugh, cry, snort, think, recoil in horror, sing a song and cheer.

I know a trip to Chicago may not be in the budget for everyone, and if this is the case with you I want you to know how much you’ll be missed. There are still others that I know would like to go but might not have a spouse that understands how important this conference is to them (shout out to Shakey for being incredibly understanding on this point). For this reason, I’m starting a petition.

See, I want to see Janet there.

Mr. Wonder Mom needs to know just how important blogging is to his wife, what an amazing network of women you are and how many of us want to meet his magnificent wife (why should he get to keep her all to himself?). So please add your name to this petition by leaving a comment to this post. And if you need us to get a petition started for you, just send me an email.

What are you waiting for? Read the statement and get commenting already!

We, the undersigned, think Janet aka Wonder Mom is indeed wonderful and we would grately appreciate the opportunity to spend time with her in Chicago at the BlogHer conference. Please find a way to make it possible for her to attend. You don’t want an army of crazy bloggers after you now, do you?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Signed,
The Women of the Blogoverse

200…two hundred…CC…double benjamins…ducent

• The amount of money you collect for passing “GO”.
• The number of years NOAA has been in existence.
• Double the number of words this gent allows for each post.
• The number of innocent people released from jail due to DNA testing.
• The number of calories in this serving of celery (Doesn’t eating it actually burn calories?).
• The number of calories in four OREOs (I don’t know how many are in one of these.).
• The number of times I’ve seen Sixteen Candles (at least).
• The number of freckles I have per square inch on the sun-exposed parts of my body.

• The number of this post (Our’s goes to 200…).

I have read plenty of complaints about Blogger. Until this week, I personally have been very happy with my service–being that it’s free and all, but now I join the ranks of the disgruntled.

For some reason, it seems folks who view my blog through certain readers cannot view any of the text. The same thing happens when I try to access specific posts through the Blogger dashboard.

I’ve tried a few things to rectify the issue, but so far nothing has worked. The particularly frustrating part is that I went to the Blogger Help group and have had no replies either.

I’m pretty sure this all started when I signed up for a feedburner account. I’ve since deactivated it and removed the code from my blog, but it is still happening. I’m hoping that publishing a new post might help. Or that some wonderful reader may know a trick to fix this.

Would you do me a favor and let me know what reader you use or how access this blog. That way I can try to rule things out.

thanks!!

Okay, can you guys just stop posting for a bit? Little league season has started and I have two playing this year (on different teams), so I can’t keep up.

When I do try I get so involved with reading blogs that I’m too tired to post here.

To be honest with you, I think I’ve run out of things to say. I feel like if I can’t make you laugh like her or cry like she does or rant like this one or give you beauty like this, well then what’s the point?

So in the meantime I’ll share with you the few thoughts/questions bumpin’ around in my brain. I had five hours in the car yesterday traveling to and from an hour and a half meeting to consider some of this.

1. I love the term attorneys general. Pluralizing the word attorney rather than general is a fun surprise.

2. One of my favorite words is efficacy. Not for it’s meaning, but because it’s fun to say. Try it. EFF-I-CA-CY. Fun huh?

3. My Blackberry Texas Hold ‘Em addiction is rearing its ugly head again. I’m such a risk-taker betting large sums of pretend money against a computer.

4. Did you know the State of Maryland has no natural lakes? All that exist are the result of river damming. Yeah, me either. (Thank you NPR)

5. I had to cros the Mason-Dixon line to get to my meeting. Why are there MORE country music stations North of the line?

6. Passed a tattoo parlor in the middle of nowhere. Wanted to stop on my way home to get me some ink, but I couldn’t decide on a design. I wanted to get something to commemorate being a mother, but not something cliche. I know, I know, getting a tattoo because you’re starting to feel old is a cliche, but I don’t care. Any designers out there want to throw me a design? I have three boys and three strong women who inspire me. I was leaning toward some sort of oak tree/acorn thing, but I could change my mind tomorrow (especially if you send me a good design–hint hint).

7. If porn stars get hemorrhoids are their careers done? You can’t airbrush them out of an entire video.

The Southern Fried Mom over at Grits and Cheese has awarded me Thinking Blogger Award. I have to admit I must have reread her post at least four times to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

I’ve watched this award weave its way throughout many of my favorite blogs, and I chalked it up as one that would never apply to this here blog. You see, as much as I had loved the idea that someone would consider me so, I’m afraid I haven’t been provding the kind of content that could be considered “thoughful.” So you could imagine my surprise when I saw I was awarded. Thank you. I am humbled.

But now? The PRESSURE. Now I feel like I need to actually say something worth saying. Oh crap!

First let me get the particulars out of the way. I want to pass this distinguished title (yeah, I don’t know if I can say that with a straight face now that I’ve been included) to the following folks.

A Citizen at Hysterical and Useless for providing such thought-provoking posts in small manageable doses.

Paige at The Avery Lane Experience and not just because she inspired me to go buy some vitamins this weekend.

There’s NOLA Notes not only for making me think of my beloved city, but also for setting an example of perserverance and not giving up on that city.

The Pissed Off Housewife and I don’t always agree politically, but I sure do love her and love being challenged by her.

And finally, Beth at Books Etc. from whom I gain so much regarding her experience raising boys and her ability to make me fall in love with words all over again.

So each of you may now pass this award on to five bloggers who have made you think. And just link back to this post. That’s it.

As for my thinking? I think all the time. It’s actually a problem. My brain is always racing. Most of the time however it’s full of random thoughts and anxieties that I can neither control or channel into multi-million dollar ideas. I often need to turn on the TV at night just so I can stop the racing thoughts long enough to fall asleep. I dream all night–vividly, and I almost always remember them in the morning. So I think I have the thinking down. What I need to master however is ability to transform those thoughts from paste to gems.

Tell me. What you’ve been thinking about lately? If you have nothing in mind, leave me a word association. Start with this word:

LEMON

The woman who first won my heart in the blogosphere nominated me?!! This silly blog where I let spew the inane thoughts clogging my brain? Shoot, I was just using it as an excuse to delay cleaning. I know, I know, Mom. I’ve been successfully doing THAT since before Al Gore invented the internet.

But check this out…

Thanks Karrie. I’m humbled that you’d even think of me. Can’t wait to lay eyes on you in Chicago!!