The thing about blogging is...

it's unbelievably rewarding...yet time-consuming. When I first started blogging, this was just like a photo-blog because I didn't know what the hell I would write about and was baffled at who in the world would read it. Over time, I noticed that we develop a relationship with our blog and those who do read it and comment...we see what each is thinking, what's going on their lives, what we can learn and what can amuse us. IT becomes us.

Like all relationships...this one too, requires maintenance. It's not difficult, but sometimes you don't know how to keep your momentum going. Sometimes I run out of things to say, I mean I'm a stay-at-home-mom with no job, not many "extracurriculars", I'm not going to write real personal stuff about my family or my friends - so unless I gush about my adorable child each and every day - sometimes I REALLY don't have anything to say.


But inside someone who's in as much of a static place as I am, there are still inward struggles, mental and emotional adventures that I share here; like my weight loss journey, things I'm learning as a person, topics inspired by other bloggers...but like anyone, I don't have an ON day every day.

The blogosphere, especially the mom snippet of it, has become my community. Women (some men), some in the same position as me as a SAHM, some out in the world past the baby now....just amazing people who are incredible writers, kindred spirits who I will probably never get to meet in real life. That is the sad thing...I find around me people who are not on the same level as me anymore...I've had a baby, I've become a wife and mom before others I know (who are enjoying their single 20's life)...this has singled me out as the black sheep. I've found cover in the blog, in the cyber "friendships" I've developed as we share with each other the stories we post on our blogs.

We are not celebrities and don't have overly fabulous lives...we talk about saving on groceries, babies growing up, birthday parties, movies we watched...everyday life. You would be amazed how simple, everyday life can be so interesting through someone else's perspective...I'm grinning here to think about how all my blog friends were excited for me getting a king-sized bed.

Through my hopping in the ether, I've found three kinds of blogs:

• Blogs solely trying to make money...mostly on advertising and reviewing products
• Help/advice/resource blogs on a bajillion topics
• and blogs about life, that just simply share on everyday stuff - this is us, mommies

Of course, I most adore the third category. I see them working so much on their blogs, their layouts, spending lots of time prettifying their cyber babies...god and how amazingly creative these people are. There are real connections where both parties enjoy each other's blogs and have reciprocal commenting. There are blogs that WANT to be "read" and there are those that just act as a release for the author, and don't care if anyone reads. Those who want to connect with others out there have to go around, take time to read, and comment on others' blogs...and after a while you have 20, 30 blogs to read to maintain these "blog" friendships and as much as I LOVE each and everyone's story, there is just not enough time in the day. But by "maintain" I don't want it to sound like it's a job...I truly like to go and read what he/she is up to!!!

Currently I have 570 unread posts in my Google Reader. Sometimes I stop reading some blogs whose author doesn't update often or never acknowledges my constant involvement in their blog's readership. I think it's absolutely important to take time and reply to comments and participate...because just like me, readers are spending precious time to read what you're writing. I mean sometimes I feel like I'm neglecting my daughter because of blogging...but she's having a good time watching Telly Tubbies, so it calms me somewhat. So, I do want to see that what I respond to someone's post means something to them. I mean, really, if they don't care who reads it or what they think...then just keep a paper diary or close all comments right?

Ok I'll stop rambling...I just wanted to reflect on what I've been thinking about this whole BLOG phenomenon I've attached myself to, sorry if the post is all "blotchy" :)

And of course, I would LOVE to hear what blogging has done for you and why you do it in the first place?

Hail the KING!

Let's NOT talk about just how sore I am...everything hurts!!! But, man I feel good..it's the kind of pain where you KNOW you worked that SH$% out, you know? But it's only been two days so far in the 6-week experiment, so let me not speak too soon.

I have lots of things to do around the house, we have been rearranging all the furniture around the house to accomadate the KING sized bed we're getting next week. HuGE YAYA! I suppose this is frowned upon by some parents, but so far everyone I know has told me that their baby hates the crib and so they have no choice but to co-sleep if ANYONE wants any sleep.

Yes, we co-sleep also. This is the story behind that >>> When LC was born in August last year, her dad still had one semester left to finish up his I.T. master's. He spent a week with us after she was born and then he was off to hit the books and write one himself in the form of his thesis. See, we spent most of our pre-baby relationship long distance...but that's a story for another time.

My mom was here to help me with the baby but at nighttime, mostly it was me and my little precious. I'm pretty sure you all know that babies at that age wake up about every 2 hours, if that. Man, was I getting burned out. Then when I just started letting her sleep with me, she slept through the night. It was glorious...and too easy.

I guess I may be to blame for this dependency but I don't really care. Except that she's getting older now and this is how we have to sleep (excuse my bad free-hand drawing):So as you see, getting kicked in the face repeatedly has become a way of life. We caved in and now getting a king-sized bed...I cannot wait and the hubby is ecstatic. Poor guy is always getting the short end of the stick...insert evil laughter here! So there you go, I must go fight the dust bunnies around this joint :) Later, gator!

I'm BACK - said Ahnold style :)

Wow, so being sick really sucks! I've been away from BuddhaBelle for a while now, just taking a break getting well because not only was I sick, but my daughter hasn't been feeling well either. I'm still coughing up a lung and excreting nasty things from my nasal passages...poor LC has a constant runny nose and her little nose is all red :(

All the old"er" people I know have always said that the most important in life is health...well, let me tell ya they KNOW what they're talking about. When you or your child is sick, nothing else matters. Whoever gave us this nasty virus is gonna get it! TOO BAD I KNOW WHO EXACTLY THAT IS hehehe!

I've missed everyone in the blogosphere, haven't been able to visit or comment lately, sorry, I will definitely catch up. Also, the nursing school has SO MANY demands. I have to get an FBI clearance, the state's clearance where the school is, and child abuse clearance...geez makes me feel like a criminal. Then, I have to get regular student health insurance, malpractice insurance, CPR certification, and other such things which add up to a lot of money. I have to run around getting all this paperwork ready AND find an apartment there...oy. If I only knew.

You know, I registered for all my fall classes and they are all freaky early in the morning...couple years back I would've moaned and bitched and probably got an alarm clock that shook my whole bed...yes, they do exist for deep sleepers. But now, that I'm a mom, getting up early has become quite natural actually - very ironic indeed - and then sometimes, I AUTOMATICALLY wake up early even when the babe hasn't. Cra..zy!

Feedburner has thankfully stopped malfunctioning and I've been checking - thanks for everyone who kept coming back here! It makes me feel good that ya'll are waiting for my posts...oh warm fuzzy feeling creeping up in my sick soul :) I definitely have some stuff I want to write about so look for it. Hope everyone had a nice long Memorial Day weekend, we definitely enjoyed ours with our friends coming to visit and everything...also I won a ping pong tournament against my husband and had him take me shopping!!!!!! HA! Tell ya about that later and the best thing about last week was that hub and I both got iPhones (well he got us) and IT IS AWESOME, it's definitely the best gadget I've had but AT&T service is patchy in areas.

Tweeting has become MUCH easier now with the iPhone, so go ahead, join the cool kids and FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!

I'm sick :(

The weekend was SORTA fun...I enjoyed seeing my friends, the hub played bball with the guys and we ate at my favorite Korean restaurant - Bulgogi and kimchi warm my soul! The tournament was great, except.....it literally took all day and there weren't enough seats. Anyway, the team with my girlfriends on it WON!!! Congrats ladies!

The SORTA part comes in where I got a TERRIBLE cold, sore throat, or STREP throat? I don't know, whatever it is, it is killing me. I can't hear out of one ear, can't breath, and can't talk. I really wanted to write a fun post but man, I really can't. Sorry...I can't even keep my running schedule this week and the 5K is drawing near. Poor baby, LC has a runny nose and I'm sure she'll get sick too :(

Madness Hamsters :)

Happy Friday everyone, I have no letter for today, thus this is the closing of the TMYS series...Thanks for everyone who participated and I hope for a better turn-out next time around. You can read all of the letters HERE.

"No wise man ever wished to be younger."
I think this is the perfect quote to sum up our experiences...we have learned our life lessons and we wouldn't be who we are today if we hadn't lived through them - now we gotta live in the present and look forward to our future.

This week was full of sleepless nights, itchy skin, and allergies...all I gotta say is I'm looking forward to the weekend - we're visiting friends in Chicago and watching some friends play in the Chicago Mongolian basketball tournament. So I probably won't be around blogoland, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Grassy weekend

Sunday people should just R&R. That should become a law...I understand during the workweek there are many things that there's no time for to complete...so you do it on the weekends. HEllo? What is Saturday for? Not for hang-overs from Friday night's shenanigans as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know what it is about suburbia but people are WAY too obsessed over their damn grass, and not the smoking kind. Seriously, it's about 4:30 pm right now and only NOW am I hearing the peace of QUIET. Since early this morning, EVERYBODY in this damn neighborhood has been mowing their lawns, doing something in their yards, NO not with just their hands, but with some kind of NOISY machinery. I don't understand why it would take someone over 8 hours to do their lawn, unless all the neighbors signed up on a time-sheet to make noise in turns and sometimes simultaneously. I haven't noticed any mansions here with serious acreage, so...yea.

This weekend hasn't been that exciting if you don't count the BBQ ribs I stuffed myself with. LC is becoming a fast crawler day-by-day and she's all over the living room carpet. The shabby thing is dirty and spotty so we've taken upon ourselves to clean it. Rug Doctor here he comes! Oh, at $21.99 per day! It worked out pretty nicely.

I ran 1.5 miles on a rainy Saturday morning with my running partner...let me tell you, inclines are not fun. Running on a trail vs. running on the treadmill is SOOO different...I'm kind of nervous now of the coming 5K, I really have to make better time in this one.

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Reminder: I hope everyone who visits BuddhaBelle will participate in To My Younger Self event, you can find details HERE. Mother's Day is approaching and so is the deadline, I really am looking forward to reading your letters....and I better get finished with my own, yikes!