GETTING OVER MYSELF (or at least a tiny bit of my paranoia)

Okay. So I've made a decision. I set up my blog to be a private one. I adjusted all my settings to super-safe mode. My blog can't show up on search engines. I'm the only author or person with access to editing the blog. Etc, etc, etc. I'm still keeping the blog private and I'm not going to post our address, phone number, last name, birth dates, or social security numbers. Maybe bank account numbers and credit card information, but not that other stuff.

Point of this whole posting is, I really don't think it's necessary to (or want to take the time to) assign every freaking person that I write about a pseudo-name. And all of my friends' and family members' names appear as they really are when they post comments anyway. So I am going to use real names from now on (still no last names). My husband is Max and I am Suzie (really?!). I may still refer to Claire as Super Girl from time to time and Hudson may still be called Sonny. These names actually have some meaning behind them for us...maybe I'll do a post on that sometime.

Anyway, thanks for allowing me to indulge my paranoid side for at least a few days. Not that you had a choice.

AMAZING BLOG SAFETY (HOPEFULLY)

For those of you who plan to follow my blog, I've made a list of some things you'll need to know:

• I'm trying to make this an ultra safe blog.
• This is an invite-only blog.
• If you know someone who wants to read my blog, you can drop me an e-mail with their name and e-mail address or have them drop me an e-mail so I can invite them.
• I won't be posting the real names - full or partial - of myself, my husband, or my kids.
• My daughter's name will be Super Girl.
• My son's name will be Sonny.
• My husband's name will be Husband (brilliantly original - I know).
• I'm going to try to avoid using the real names of any friends or extended family as well so if you have a preference on what I call you, please let me know sooner than later or you might get an awesome name like Daisy or Bertram.
• If you place comments on my blog, please don't use the names of my family members or give up any other personal information about us (i.e. address, last name, general whereabouts, birthdays, etc.).

I know this may all sound a wee bit paranoid but we saw a special on the local news a while back about blogging. Even with the invite-only deal that I'm doing, no-so-nice people can still do their darndest to find out who bloggers are, who their families are, where they live, etc. I'm keeping my account information as limited as possible but in today's world, there are just too many creeps out there and I'm just trying to protect my family.

I know that some of you are in the same boat with me. Thanks for understanding.

AND SO IT BEGINS...

I enjoy reading blogs. IMMENSELY. One might even say that I’ve developed an addiction to blogs. I could sit and read blogs all day long. Or all evening. Or all night. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is…I just find it extremely easy to whittle away the minutes (or hours) reading blogs. Family blogs, traumatic or un-traumatic life experience blogs, cooking blogs, crazy blogs, run-of-the-mill blogs, mommy blogs, funny blogs. Blogs that belong to friends, strangers, relatives, and those that belong to people who fall somewhere in between. Simply put, I think blogs rock. Big time.

Now, I’ve gone through a reasonably long stint of asking everyone else for their blog addresses. Of commenting on how much I love reading and looking at everyone else’s blogs. Of making up lame excuses for why I don’t have a blog. Well, kiddies, that stint is officially over.

I'M STARTING A BLOG.

It’s going to be about my life and all the little things that go on in it. A life just as ORDINARY as everyone else’s, AMAZING in so many ways, full of the UNEXPECTED twists and turns that LIFE likes to dish out. I don’t know what genre this blog will fall into or if it will fall into one at all. Some days it may be a run-of-the-mill blog or a cooking blog. Other days it might be a health condition blog. Or a crazy-cooking-mommy blog.

I enjoy writing...always have and probably always will. I tend to get carried away at times, going on too long, including bits and pieces of entirely useless information, repeating things that really don't need to be repeated, and so forth. I'm sorry if you get bored or overwhelmed by my yammerings. It's just the way I am and therefore the way that I will blog.

And so it begins...