Piper Promotion

I gotta do a little Piper promotion because I know some of you haven't seen the last post on Piper's blog or I would have heard from you. Go watch the video. It will make you laugh.

Semi-Brief Thoughts on Lots of Things

My New Facebook Profile Pic

At least once a day, I think "I should write about that on my blog." Then I think I don't have enough time to sit down and do it justice, so I don't do it. Sometimes I'd just rather do other things and then sometimes lose the idea. I have lots to say about a lot of things, but I think this will be a good practice in being concise. I am breaking it up by topic to help organize my thoughts.

Facebook
I never thought I would be "one of those people" that was into the whole social networking thing. Never say never. I am officially a Facebook addict. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it does soak up a lot of my time. Yet, I can see two very obvious benefits from my time there.

1 - I am now actually taking pictures of myself. I hate to have my picture taken, but I don't want to have a huge block of my life where I am absent from all of the family pictures. This is my baby step. I've realized headshots aren't nearly as uncomfortable as full-body pictures. You can also take pictures over and over and over until you are satisfied. It really is an exercise in self-acceptance because you almost get a detached feeling of it being you in the picture because you're just looking for the best shot. You can even get all artsy with props to hide flaws you just don't want to deal with. I'm still not totally comfortable, but I am comfortable enough to put it out there for all those former classmates to see.

2 - It's nice knowing there are other people out there that actually wondered what became of me. It's nice having brief tidbits of adult interaction, even if it is just this, throughout my day. It's nice seeing what other people are up (I'm more nosy than I like to admit).

One thing I don't get about Facebook is someone requesting to be your friend when you maybe had one or two conversations with the person when you were in middle school. I have a couple of people in my "Friends" (obvious loose usage) list because I didn't want to hurt their feelings or give them a complex. How silly is that?

Hormones
I am over the swings, already. Just when I thought I was over the effects of birth control, PMS comes along. Albeit, these swings have been a learning experience. I have seen how emotions thrown upon me by the pill taught me certain behaviors (summed up as a general bitchiness). Over time, these behaviors just became habit. Post-pill, I am still exhibiting those behaviors at times, but now I catch myself because I am reacting more out of habit, than out of emotion behind it. I still get irritated about somethings (who doesn't?), but I don't have nearly the same reaction. It's kinda hard to articulate, it's almost like I had a shift in perspective and I am seeing things a bit differently, maybe with a little more awareness. It's interesting in retrospect to see how much the birth control played with my head. I have never had an experience quite like that.

Over-Ambitious Moms
I recently started taking Piper to a weekly playgroup. Last week when we were there, the same little boy that kissed Piper came up and said something to me in complete gibbersish (or so I thought). I just nodded and say "ooh" in that exagerated tone you use with toddlers. The mom was quick to point out that he was actually saying hello to me in Chinese and that he had already master his numbers, letters, and colors, so he just needed to move on to something else to keep it fun. Yes, she said fun. I suddenly became aware of how far from that mom I am and I was thankful for that. More power to her, but the kid is barely 2. I am proud of myself for being in a place that I didn't feel inadequate as a mom because I wasn't like that mom.

Weather

It's freaking cold here. It was 18 below when I woke up this morning. My thermometer said it got up to 0 degrees today, but that was only because it was in the direct sun. I am so thankful for my woood-burning stove because I can make it as toasty as I want in here without worrying about the gas bill. I am also thankful for not having to go anywhere today and staying inside my toasty house.

Another random 11 connection
I don't know why it took me so long to catch this one. There are 11 Piper's piping. LOL


OK. I think that sums up what I want to spew about for now. Thanks for your time and your attention.

Notepad Chaos


That could be a good name for a blog, but it's actually the name of my new blog template. This one was converted from WordPress. Evidently, WordPress has much more detailed and creative templates as opposed to Blogger.

Some might think I am a bit schizo for changing my layout once again, but I was tired of all of my photos showing up as semi-transparent using the old layout. I would REALLY like a cool 3 column layout, but I haven't fell in love with any I have found. I also changed my blog title. "Getting out of my own way" served it's purpose. I think "Watch Erin Evolve" is a more positive way for me to describe my process here. You may not get it, may think I'm weird (more weird?), but that's OK. Part of my evolution is to be OK with that.

So here's to my new layout. We'll see how long this one lasts me.