Excuse

So, I got to thinking about the word "excuse". See, right there? You weren't sure if I meant "excuse" as in "I have a really good excuse for not writing on my blog this week." or "excuse" as in "excuse our dust, we're renovating". Now it doesn't even look like a real word at all, does it?

Anyway... please excuse the interruption in this blog. I do have a good excuse. You know all the house shuffling? Yeah, my PC ended up a casualty of relocation. It's okay, though, because all you would've heard about on here was how I didn't get as much done each day as I would've liked to, but we continue to chip away at projects.

Speaking of chips, I found a recipe in "The Great Book of Chocolate" while I was standing at the kitchen computer updating my iPhone -- they're called Black Bottom Cupcakes, but that name doesn't really make them sound too awesome. Instead, I'll rename them:

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes filled with Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

You heard me.

Filling:
8oz Cream Cheese (Room temp)
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
5T natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch-process)
1t baking soda
1/4t salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup veg oil
1T white or cider vinegar
1t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper (this recipe makes 12).

Make filling: beat everything except chips till smooth, stir in chips.

Make cupcake batter: sift together [flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt], mix together [water, oil, vinegar, vanilla]. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth (then stop).

Divide batter between muffin cups, Spoon a few tablespoons of filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing evenly. (Cups will be almost full, and that's OK)

Bake 25 mins or until the tops are a little golden and springy.

Good for 2-3 days unrefrigerated.

These will be made this week. Pictures forthcoming.

A Day of Doctors

Today we took Calina to get her helmet adjusted (she's doing really well), took her to a followup appointment with the neurosurgeon and the plastic surgeon, and then visited our friend Jacquie at Winnie Palmer Hospital who just had a new baby boy on Monday.

The hospital has a cool entry:

Those things pretty much took all day. We stopped by Ikea to pick up a shelf for our new office, but they were totally lame and closed up shop at 5pm (3 hours EARLY!) to train their employees on new products coming in. We would've been really, really pissed if we'd come all the way from home to get kicked out the minute we walked in. Luckily we were only a few miles up the road at the hospital before heading there.

I have a new video camera.

Board Games

Our foyer is now completely filled with nothing but games. Also, we just got a new video camera. Yay!

And also video games:

The House

Today, I spent about 7 hours in the game room.

I think I discovered that the problem with this room has always been that there was simply too much to store in not enough space -- and then whenever anybody wanted to find anything, it was too hard, and whenever anybody wanted to put away something new, they had no idea where to put it.

When we moved in, we spent 2 months tiptoeing around giant boxes of wires and games, and I was so tired of climbing over things that I took it upon myself to find a place for everything. And everything had a place, but with just barely enough room as it was. Most of it stayed where it was (because it hasn't been touched in 2.5 years), but anything that had been touched had been moved, because I think I was the only one who knew where things went. And it ended up in serious disarray.

I spent about 7 hours today with a new strategy for this incredible array of items:

1. Any games in easily-stacked cases go immediately to the designated shelf downstairs (Jess's project to organize and make look awesome).
2. Any old cartridge games get sorted properly and packaged together with their respective old-school consoles.
3. Create boxes for Ben to sort (so nothing we don't have to keep is kept, and I'm not actually making any decisions about stuff): audio/video cables & television cords; internet cables; power adaptors; power cables; older-looking computer cables (like old monitor cables); constantly useful computer cables (like USB); a stack of keyboards; a few hundred loose CDs/DVDs; a pile of unidentifyable cables; a heap of old consoles and peripherals; several shelves of programming manuals; a mountain of PC games new and old; a mile wide collection of gaming magazines, comic books, and strategy guides; and a huge bin of action figures.
4. Gather all of Colin's stuff separately (other than games in cases).
5. Throw out a gigantic collection of empty boxes (that were "decorating" the tops of every shelf all the way to the ceiling).

Other than having to run up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs a hundred times, it was actually quite fun. (I am kind of sick when it comes to organizational projects. I just don't stop until it's perfect.)

Roll over, baby.

Calina's helmet seemed to have a positive affect on her ability to flip herself over.

I noticed this morning that she was lying almost completely on her side (the farthest she'd rolled herself over from lying flat on her back). So when she woke up, I put her on her tummy, and she immediately rolled back over onto her back. Her helmet seemed to give her just that tiny bit of extra momentum or weight pulling on her head.

She's always hated being on her tummy, and now she knows she doesn't ever have to be if she doesn't want to (oy!).

Colin's Weekend

Saturday:

1. Get up with Calina for an hour from 8:30-9:30 (because Mel needed sleep)

2. Leave Calina with gramma

3. Go back to bed

4. Get up & eat peanut butter cinnamon sugar banana bagel with 4 links of maple sausage

5. Shower

6. Hold Calina sleeping on a pillow while playing classic NES game on the Wii (not sure which one)

7. Take off Calina's helmet and shampoo her head

8. Go with Mel & Calina to Astrid's house for a Rock Band Party

9. Help get baby to bed

10. Disappear someplace... to read?

Sunday:

1. Sleep in

2. Drive to Milennia to eat at CPK, walk around mall, go to Ikea.

3. Spend way too long at Ikea not getting anything good except icees.

4. Head home & eat pizza

5. Put baby to bed way early after washing her head again

6. Read more (and think about why Excel is stupid)

Starting Over

After living here for 3 years, I think we've finally decided to move in.

You know how sometimes, after living in a place for a while, you start to really get annoyed at the way things are... and just HAVE to fix them? We're totally there. So I'll probably be writing a lot over the coming weeks about the stuff we're doing to rearrange the house to make it more enjoyable for all of us to live here.

Part of the issue, of course, is that there are babies to worry about now... And the house is absolutely not baby proofed in the least. It's an outright danger zone! So, step #1 is creating a design around safer, more organized, more kid-friendly ideals. Step #2, unfortunately, is reorganizing all our s-t-u-f-f, and probably selling a ton of it. (Thank goodness for Craigslist, right?)

Today's project was the garage: we still have piles of stuff lying around from the gelato shop we just closed out (because we weren't sure what our successor would want of our stash exactly). So we finally just gave up and piled a bazillion plastic gelato cups in the recycling pile. So sad, but... There's really no one who will take them off our hands, and I'm not willing to spend money on shipping them somewhere.

Our garage is also filled with things that my gramma insists upon keeping even though there is no way in the world anyone in their right minds would want any of these things. Like a box of rocks. Literally. Or broken picture frames. Or a collection of old dental tools she might someday use to make wax moulds for casting jewelry. Or a "thing that pilots use," she told me when I held up some sort of unidentifyable mathematical tool. And about a million woven baskets of every shape and size (many with handles, so they don't even stack). And, of course, her giant collection of hundreds upon hundreds of seashells in tupperware stacked to the ceiling. And still, she really, truly, thinks that she's brutally whittled her stockpile of junk. These things are just "the essentials". And she can't understand how Colin could refuse to get rid of 2 of the 4 pieces of furniture that he owns. "But that dresser is so hideous." Hilarious. I love her, but she needs a serious intervention.

Can we get the Clean House TV show to come fix her? I don't think they'd do it. Our mess wouldn't make for good TV; her packrat-ism is too sneaky, because she's really good at hiding things. Like, filling up the entire garage, for example. Or the floor of her closet. Or filling all her dresser drawers -- rather than with clothing -- with her mother's old dolls, a "real indian papoose,"dozens of silk scarves and hankies, or a box of trilobites.

I'm not sure our house redo will actually even address a third of her stuff (it's so well hidden away I'm not sure I could even find it), and 80% of the third we find, she'll fight for. In the meantime, we can pretty easily address the mess we can see: the collection of video game boxes and action figures filling the top 2 feet of our game room; the random collection of not-particularly-attractive knick-knacks filling our foyer's bookcase, and by selling off all of the furniture that we hate (and replacing it with fewer, nicer pieces).

Nothing like it...

Sometimes she just decides that something we do is hilarious.

Hit play:

Made a Thing: a Ring Sling

I've been meaning to sew one of these up for quite a while now. This one is super luxurious: it has two padded rails and a nice squishy shoulder pad. Gramma's little antique sewing machine almost didn't make it through, but... you'd never really know unless you looked really closely at the stitching on top of the batting. Here's Jess modeling mine:

She made one, too, only royal blue & white. They're super cheerful, and an awesome alternative to the more complex Moby Wrap (which will definitely be sticking around) and the more rugged Ergo Baby Carrier (also not going anywhere). They all serve their purpose. This thing is just perfect for throwing on around the house during those times when we just can't put 'em down. And great for running errands when we don't want to deal with a real intricate setup.

This is the pattern I used, though it is really quite cryptic, and I had to spend a really long time figuring out what she was trying to say. I'm not certain I actually did what she intended, but... it all worked out all right.

Helmet Update

Grampa says she looks like a linebacker for the Orlando Cherubs. Read the full story over at Do a Thing a Day.

By Any Other Name

I'm officially Melanie Campbell, finally.

I've been Melanie Light for far too long. While I love the name itself, it has an unfortunate relationship to my adoptive father. It ties me to a family of which I have not been a part, even as long as I have had the name. I remember, as young as 4 years old, a sense of injustice when it came to my dad. And later, his absolute disregard for logic whenever any situation was emotionally-charged.

I can move beyond everything I know of him now, and everything my family has been through because of him and his brothers, his parents, and indeed everyone who ever had the name Light; because I am now creating a meaning for my own name, together with Colin and Calina Campbell -- a new namesake that will carry with it a different type of love.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Movie

My unofficial review of HP6: Parched. Sad. Empty. Way too much quidditch. Way, WAY too much of this:


This might have been my favorite book in the series (definitely in the top third) - so incredibly scary and tense. The film adaptation just fell totally flat.

I still want to see it again, though. Maybe I'll change my mind if I don't have a cranky baby to tend to for half the movie.

Colin got tickets to a preview night at the Universal Studios theaters through his work. Fun to go to, but the theater was really loud and Calina was really freaked out when the action got intense.

Helmet Day

This week will probably be pretty lame in terms of blog updates. Today's the day we got Calina's first helmet.

For those of you who don't know, because of the type of cranial surgery she had, she needs to wear a shaping band, to make sure that the shape of her head is both A) beautifully round and B) not going to go back the way it was before.

I'm so glad that we're getting it going, though, because the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done. The orthotist (that's what they call the "doctor" who manages the helmet therapy), says that he thinks we'll be done within 3 months. The longest he can imagine is 6 months, and that's only if something weird comes up or her head grows reeeealy slowly. I love this news because my craniofacial surgeon warned us that we might be looking at a year of helmet therapy.

While there's not much fun about this stuff, there is one cool thing: I get to decorate! I'm such a dork, but... I'm going to go all out. Here's my first attempt:


These are just scrapbooking stickers. If I can manage it, I might try to work out designing something for the next helmet (we'll be going through a few, no doubt, as her head grows over the coming months), and getting my design printed and punched out by an auto graphics place. If any of you talented designers out there ::cough cough:: want to come up with some designs, Calina would totally sport your awesome art.

Colin's Weekend

I kind of think this should be a weekly installment...

Saturday:

1. Sleep till noon
2. Get woken up by Mel handing baby back into bed.
3. Eat grilled banana bread
4. Watch Dead Like Me movie (not terrible)
5. Hang out
6. Go get Chick-Fil-A (with a Peach Milkshake)
7. Play with Calina
8. Have fun with friends playing Left4Dead till 2am

Sunday:

1. Sleep till 11
2. Grumble over some insurance nonsense
3. Watch South Park with Calina
4. Drive out to Mark & Jacquie's house
5. Play with Elizabeth
6. Drive home
7. Try to get Calina to stop crying
8. Eat some stir-fry (not sushi)
9. Try to get Calina to stop crying
10. Decompress doing computer stuff
11. Fun with Mel playing WoW

Oh, Martha!

Martha sure does know how to hire people who know how to make good cupcakes. I tried out the Martha Stewart Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting, in honor of Colin's love of all things Chocolate Chip. And also because I felt like baking.

We took half of the batch over to Mark & Jacquie's house (including 3 unfrosted, chocolate-chip-free cupcakes for Mark). I thought they might enjoy some sweets. Jacquie is scheduled to deliver her baby boy, Christopher, on July 24th, less than 2 weeks away, and she's already ready to burst! Their 3-year-old, Elizabeth, is the best little girl I've ever met. She's just so smart and cute and talks endlessly. She's going to be an awesome big sis.

--

I'm trying to make travel plans for the beginning of August, but things are so difficult to organize! I want to go out to Oregon, to visit with Colin's family, and coordinate a trip out with my family. The same darn week, though, my friend is having a hey-you-didn't-make-it-to-my-wedding party in Maine, which would be SO amazing to go to, too. Why, conflicts, why??

Update: I found a way to have my cupcakes and eat them, too. I'll be making the journey up to Maine from Aug 7-10 and then out to Oregon a couple weeks later! :) Yay!!!

Just Stab Me

Wow, these kidney stones are relentless. I spent the last 48 hours battling my worst ones ever. I always say this every time I get past a bad episode: I am going to drink more water. Forever. Minimal caffeine. Minimal alcohol. Minimal sodium/salt. This is not out of my control. I just... start to slack, and then pay big time for my forgetfulness.

Cheating

Okay, so while I am able to come up with something interesting to talk about every day, I can't always find the time to do so. So, you can expect (starting with this post here) to be lied to: I am going to change the timestamp on some entries to suit when I would've submitted them, instead of when they're actually written.

That said, Thursday's post would go something like this:

This morning, Jess and I drove the babies out to Winter Springs to a yoga studio. There was a mom & baby class for Calina and I that was pretty entertaining. I learned some cool stretches for her, and got some exercise for myself... without feeling selfconscious about her whining and crying in what should be a peaceful place - all the babies fussed a little. And they all ended up nursing at the same time. Totally weird nursing party!

Jess & Jho went to a mom & toddler free-for-all, with some singing, but mostly just a huge, almost baby-proofed open room with toys spread everywhere. Could've been cool if the moms weren't quite such gripey gripesters, but... they're all home with babies all the time without adult interaction - it seemed like a good way for them to unwind, rather than a cool super-interactive guided playtime.

--

I am part of a craniosynostosis support message board, something that really helped me get through Calina's surgery, and indeed helped me decide what sort of surgery to do (we went with the less invasive endoscopic surgery, opting for our misery to be spread out over a long time, with helmet therapy for as long as 12 months...). The problem with the board is that there are so many mothers on there who are very vocal about how they came to decide on the MORE invasive surgery; more often than not their doctors either don't do the endo surgery and/or convinced them somehow that the endo surgery was inferior.

The endoscopic surgery is the "new" development, and it's only good for a small percentage of cases with the same condition. There are a lot of special requirements for the kids who can take advantage of the new technique -- but we absolutely decided that if Calina were a good candidate, that we wanted the best new technology possible.

There are doctors out there, however, (without naming names) who have made a name for themselves poo-poohing the endo procedure, claiming all sorts of inferiority, and how much more reliable and safe the "open" procedure is... that is, cutting the entire scalp from one ear across to the other, and reshaping the skull all at once.

And many of the mothers on this board are very vocal about how they opted for this procedure over the endoscopic one... I think it's really sad to imagine that people who have the option for their child could be going with the endo but are scared away by horror stories -- so I have to be an advocate for it! There are new moms coming into the board every day asking the same questions I asked when I first came to it: Pros and Cons for CVR (open) vs. Endoscopic.

The hard part is not getting into it too much with these moms who've been sold on the fact that the open procedure is "better" and are adamant about it, while still advocating my decision. I could've easily been swayed the other way... and if later someone incinuated that I made the wrong choice, I would lose my mind being defensive.

They are, after all, making a slightly harder choice... endo is allegedly the "safer, more gentle" option that some of them have actually opted out of... which HAS to be a really hard choice for any mom to make -- and I am sure they will knock down, drag out, fight to defend that decision. But I really feel like it's my responsibility to help other moms through the process, like I was helped (with even more info).

Silly Baby

Generally speaking, my adorable little girl is very easygoing and fun to be around. Today, however, she did not offer up a shining representation of her wonderful character.

I'll start by saying that lately, she's been a blast to "entertain" - she finds almost anything you say absolutely hilarious, spreading a beautiful gummy grin across her face, and squishing up those chunky cheeks underneath her big baby blues. If you're particularly fabulous (and know how much she loves repetitive noises and tickles), you might even get a chuckle out of her, which honestly sounds more like a duck honking or maybe an old man hacking. Kind of a sputtering choking sound. But adorable.

Today, she was doing the most bizarre thing I've ever seen a baby do: she was happily watching me talk, cooing in response, and smiling hugely... when suddenly a huge storm cloud would pass right over her face and she'd pout so horribly I thought she'd been injured in some way, but then the smile would come right back... and then the frown! And then the smile! And then the frown! It was like I was seeing the child I knew become possessed by some demon trying to steal her happy repeatedly. Scary crap.

Any time I would stop talking to her, however, the show was over. The demons won the battle, and I was crap out of luck. If I wanted her to calm back down, I would have to pick her up (only my LEFT shoulder will do) and walk around for 5 minutes. Then, she might sit happily for a little bit (but only if being talked to), and then go back to being possessed by the grumpmeister.

Chances are good that she's started teething: she's a soaking wet drooling mess-face, constantly chewing on her hands, eating in fits and starts, and generally being a big cranky-puss. I absolutely would have attributed this sort of behavior to her surgery or convinced myself that her head hurts, except that I know it's not true. Her head is fine. It's just her attitude that's unfortunate.

Today, we went to visit her craniofacial surgeon, Dr. Ruiz. He's a funny guy. He has a lot to say, and never seems to have enough time to say it all. So he talks really quickly. Incidentally, he thinks her head looks as perfect as it can be, and gave us the green light to go ahead with the helmet therapy to finish the job. [Sarcastic tone inserted here] It's going to be awesome when she gets her helmet. She's going to love it so much. We are going to continue sleeping really well, and have a generally super cheerful kid all the time. It's all lining up so perfectly, she's starting teething anyway, so we can just make it all better by putting a big hunk of plastic on her head. She'll be so happy. [End sarcastic rant]

Apparently, the inevitable misery caused by the helmet for both the child and the parents is beyond brutal for the first several days. And then upkeep with it absolutely sucks for the remainder of the time - probably 3 months+. It's going to be a heckuva challenge, but I think it'll be worth it to see her perfectly rounded head coming out of the process. I swear, I never noticed babies' head shapes before, and now... they're all I see when I come across little ones. Very weird.

I also had a lovely conversation with the helmet office -- apparently, they failed to start the paperwork for the insurance on time, so we're going to have to fork over payment in advance and just HOPE the insurance comes through.

[One more little sarcastic rant]

Dear United Healthcare,

Thanks, once again, for the amazing service you provide. I thought it was really awesome when you refused to pay for my midwife's services that legally have to be covered, under a very clear Florida statute. It was super cool how you made us go through 3 appeals and then went back to the midwife to ask, again, for her information. But also still didn't pay up.

And now, once again, you rise to the occasion by saying that you have 30 days to review the information in our case to decide whether to pay for my daughter's helmet, but those 30 days can't start until the helmet place bills you, and they can't bill you until we get the helmet, of course. Which, naturally, someone has to pay for if we've got it already, right? Might as well be us, until you decide for sure whether we actually need it or not. Or, rather, determine if it's actually medically necessary, no matter what her surgeons say. 'Cause you're the experts.

All our love,

The Campbell Family

[End second sarcastic rant]

--

I cooked Colin and I some awesome sandwiches tonight: Chicken and marinated portabello mushrooms with goat cheese on yummy rolls, toasted up. We scarfed them down with some Fritos while Calina stayed happy with gramma for 5 minutes.

New Blog in Progress

If I start slacking here, it's probably because I'm actually going to be trying to be dilligent about working on my new and less mommy-focused blog, Do a Thing a Day. If I don't always have to come up with something to say about the baby, I'm more likely to say more. About other things.

It's still a work in progress (the template will probably change to something awesomer before long). So, without further ado, I guess, go check it out. I think it'll be fun. Probably more fun for me to write than for anybody to read, but... that's okay.

Cuter and Cuter

For those of you who haven't seen the July '09 album yet, I must say that this little girl is just getting cuter and cuter by the day. She's so gosh darn entertaining.

Her K-ma gave her a star to name and a panda that she loves. She really loves pandas. Also cows. And zebras.

Her Uncle Grampa thinks she doesn't look good in orange. I beg to differ. Her grandma Peggy (maybe now known as grammy?) got her this adorable orange outfit and everybody loves it. It has a green fishy on the front that says "cute". I must concur with the fishy.

Plus, the outfit has a skirt. Calina loves skirts, too. She likes to lift them up to her mouth. Fortunately, this one's a fake - attached to the bottom. It still reaches her mouth, but she doesn't look like a weirdo flashing everyone like with some dresses that aren't attached.

Baked Goods

Today, we visited the French bakery we'd been meaning to check out on Park Avenue. And, believe me, it was totally worth the trip down there.

Not the cheapest thing in the world, but the Chicken and Mushroom Croissant with yummy cheesy sauce and a slice of swiss melted on top.... holy cow. Heaven. It came in a combo with a drink and - get this - a pastry. :) So I took home an amazing cheese danish.

Calina slept happily in her Moby Wrap during our whole outing. Aunt Courtney was visiting, so we took her out for the afternoon. And, yes, we ALSO had yogurt at Gurtzberry. Mmmm... probiotics.

Useless

I was completely useless today. From the time I woke up, to just now when I can't seem to get to sleep... I've been battling a stupid kidney stone. And losing!

Heaven help me, I just want to get through this night.

Successfully Gained Independence

We did a bunch of party-type things today. Swept the floor, put away laundry, and cleaned up the "playpen" (AKA our living room) in anticipation of lots of company for the holiday.

Lori brought us flowers and cupcakes, and - along with the Argentinian boys, Josh, and Ryan - played many hours of games with Colin at the big white table. After Josh and Lori left to go have real 4th of July fun with, you know, booze and fireworks... everyone else moved into Smash Bros. land:

Calina, you see, had quite enough fun for the day, and slept for a good long time with Gramma, while I taught Courtney, Rich, and Karen how to play Ticket to Ride. (Which, incidentally, I LOST for the first time in ages... to Rich - a first-timer, no less. Oh, the shame.)

The bitterness of my defeat didn't, however, sully the sweet and tart deliciousness of the cherry/pineapple dump cake.

In this order, fill a pan evenly with:

A spritz of pam

1 large can cherry pie filling

1 large can pineapple

(mix them together)

1 box yellow cake mix

(flatten out and score with a fork. don't mix.)

1 stick melted butter

(drizzle as evenly over the top as possible)

1/2 bag sweetened coconut

(sprinkled on top, if you like. I don't.)

Quite possibly the perfect summer party dessert.

So, I did a few things today. Enjoyed my independence from the U.K.. And from mommyhood for a few hours. It felt weird, a little, to not attempt to find fireworks to go see, but I couldn't imagine subjecting my newborn to the booms, nor could I imagine subjecting myself to the disgusting, disgusting heat and mosquito-death by which we'd be guaranteed to suffer a horrible misery.

I was commiserating with Chris Stiles the other day over twitter, about the fun I'd had in Chicago on the 4th of July back in '05. Chicago is really fun during the summer. During the winter everyone hibernates indoors, but the city comes alive during the summer. Chairs cover every sidewalk because even the idea of going indoors for meals while the weather is so lovely would be a downright shame. Outdoor seating leads to more friendly socialization and larger get-togethers. More people are having parties and barbecues, filling tiny patios and alleyways. Drinking cold beer and listening to lots of music. And, when Independence Day rolls around, they are dragging out the explosives, and dangerously setting them off among tall buildings. I distinctly remember attempts to blow up a watermelon in an alleyway. Not me attempting this personally, but with me standing close by. I don't remember if it worked. I just remember that a neighbor wasn't happy. And it was raining.

The Beginning

Hello, and happy birthday to America. As befits the occasion, I've decided to spawn a little something new of my own. My daily pursuit of blogalicious happiness has outgrown the confines of the rigid pregnancy and mommy blog of yesterday; I now require a realm of freedom.

This page is representative of my desire to do something - anything - each and every day. Something that's significant enough to write about.

I will continue, when it is pertinent, to update the mommyblog (http://www.myeggoispreggo.net - until August 2 - then it'll move here: http://eggoispreggo.blogspot.com), but mostly, I'll be reporting my daily doings here.

But, Mel. This doesn't seem like much of a concept for a blog. To have any significance at all, you will have to pare it down. You will have to speak to a specific audience. You will have to have a clear message and purpose.

Well, naysayers. I think we'll get to that eventually. Kinda depends on what I end up doing, doesn't it?

This might end up being a crafting blog. Or a writing blog. Or a parenting blog. Or a blog about games or relationships or dreaming or weddings or gardening or art or home improvement or stupid annoying crap. Or maybe it'll be all of those things.

The important bit is having a responsibility to myself, and now to this page, that I will do a thing a day - every day.

Starting with today. Except that it's 1:30am today, and it's technically yesterday still. Guess I'll do a thing tomorrow and report on it today.

So, welcome.