As a child, I was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Hawaii when I was 4ish.  After that we went to Texas.

Stupid Army.  (And I don’t mean anything against the Army.  I know they support and serve in wars and stuff so that I can write what I want on my blog, but at the time, they were moving me all over the place and I wasn’t such a big fan.  Now?  HUGE fan.)

Anywho.

By the time we got to Texas, my brother was in Kindergarten and had never seen snow that he rememebered, so my parents decided to drive us to Pennsylvania to see snow.

And because my father is also a direct descendant of Murphy?  No snow.

However, upon return to San Antonio, we drove into 13″ of snow.

IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

My father asked several neighbors if they had a snow shovel and they didn’t know what they were.  He told them to shovel their roofs and they couldn’t understand why….

well, because snow can get heavy and YOUR ROOF WASN’T BUILT FOR SNOW.  That’s why.

Duh.

I hear of people who travel all the time to see snow.

Typically though?  It’s not to ROANOKE, VIRGINIA.

As I type this, I’m looking out the kitchen window to snow that is coming down faster than I’ve seen in awhile 3 days.

At noon?

We were at 6 inches.

It’s not stopping and we’re to get 14″ this go around before the next storm on TUESDAY.

I expect this kind of weather in Vancouver.  That’s where I would go to see snow.

You do know that the Winter Olympics are in Vancouver this year, right?

They’re starting in like… eight days.

Do you want to know what the weather is like in Vancouver today?  Right now? As I type?

FORTY-FREAKING-EIGHT DEGREES.

Do you know that in January they experienced April-May like weather and had NO SNOW?  (Their norms are 6ish inches or so.)

Dear Olympic Committee:

I know of a great place to host your next Olympic event.  It’s a great little town nestled in the heart of Southwest Virginia called Roanoke.  I’m sure you never heard of it (at least not in a positive way because we’ve been on the map in the past few years due to some people that were messed up in the head) but I can assure you, we have snow.  We’re nearing 40 inches for the season with more expected.

And while I have your attention, could you please add snowball throwing to the list of events?  I’m not sure how this one escaped you because I bet if you look at all the people in the world and ask them what they do in the winter weather, they will tell you that they throw snowballs.  Or make snowmen.  Personally, I’ve skied a few times, but I’ve never luged…but I must admit, it looks like alot of fun.  And ice skating?  Yeah, not so much.  When I fall, which is alot, I inevitably fall right on the pointy part of the skate and that hurts.

But snow ball throwing?  Why, as I look out my back window, I can see all the competitions that are going on now.

And it’s one of the games on the Wii Fit Plus.  We play it all the time.  So clearly, Nintendo thinks it’s a sport.  I think you should as well.

Thanks and let me know if I can put you up when you come to scope out the area for the next Olympics.

Respectfully,

Heather Jacobson

(So I write this and then wonder if someone on the Olympic Committee has “Olympic committee” set as a google alert and will come across this.  Heh.)

But seriously?

Vancouver, the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics is having the winter that I am supposed to be having. (Don’t worry.  Wherever they are going to ski has snow.  So the games are still on.)

But…that little bit about the snowball throwing?

What do you think?

Did you know that there’s an International Snowball Throwing Federation?  Did you also know that there is a petition to sign to get snowball throwing included in the Roanoke Vancouver Winter Olympics?

There is!

Now, it’s more of a spoof… an ingenious one at that, but Coca-Cola, a sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics in warm, sunny Vancouver, created the International Snowball Throwing Federation as a creative, parody campaign to create excitement about the Olympics and is built around their global television commercial called “Snowball” which features representatives from different countries participating in a spontaneous snowball fight.

And, because the folks at Coca Cola are really cool people… (praying they didn’t see my post about Thing 2 with the Pepsi bottle at the Coca-Cola Museum! Klassy with a K!)

They want me to invite you to join…

And want to give a few of you International Snowball Throwing Federation T-shirts.

To enter to win a t-shirt:

Watch the videos that the “president” has created and tell me which is your favorite and why…. AND

Sign the petition to add snowball throwing as an Olympic event.

I’ll randomly select 5 winners for a t-shirt on Tuesday (when I’ll be snowed in again and have time)….

Plus… one lucky winner will receive a set of Olympic Collectible bottles!

So go watch… meanwhile, I’m going outside to practice my snowball skills.  I might need them.  But first?  I’m going to make sure I know the rules.

**Disclaimer:  I was contacted about doing a giveaway on my blog for the ISTF by Coca-Cola and am not receiving cash for this post. I might get lucky and score some Coca-Cola SWAG tho… which would be cool, but would’ve posted this anyway.  Because it’s funny.  And because I like to do giveaways.  And it seemed to fit since I’m snowed in.**

Until next time…

{ 8 comments }

It all started three years ago with this post.

(You don’t need to go and read it.  It’s not really that spectacular. It’s just about me going out with a bunch of people that I used to work with.  But of you do go and read it?  And see the pictures?  I still own that shirt.  I wore it yesterday.)

Of course, my blog didn’t look like this way back then.

I was going to show you how my blog has evolved over time but the Way Back Machine is broken.   They suggest that I try again later.  Maybe I will.  If I remember.

I probably won’t.

But my blog has evolved and it’s been with the help of Lisa B.  She was here in the beginning and quite honestly?  I think she’s the only founding reader that I still have hanging around.  You might say it’s because she’s just enamored with my charming, funny personality, but let me assure you… she’s just worried about me and she likes to make sure that I’m staying on the right path.

She knows what really happened that night.  She also knows how following that night, I went to church for the first time, and my life changed.

So she likes to make sure that she knows I’m ok.

And I’m glad.

But over the past few years, I’ve met some other wonderful people in person via my blog.

Heather, Soliloquy, Kathy, Jo-Lynne and Lisa B. are those that come to mind immediately.  But I went to BlogHer in 2008 and I fell in love with San Francisco and was able to meet even more bloggers there.

When I started blogging, it was an outlet.  Lisa said I should write.  I wanted to write but I’m just not keen on pen and paper.  The name came easily, the blog went up fast and I hit the ground running.

And I was digging it.

There were very few comments, but that was okay.  This blog was for me not for anyone else.

Then the Ultimate Blog Party came around in March and blogging went from just for me to “omg. i might actually be able to make money with this.”

And it was then that I would imagine the days where businesses would contact me to offer giveaways on my blog.  I knew they wouldn’t do that if I didn’t have a decent sized readership, and my shift in focus went to trying to drive traffic, and comments to my blog.

It was stressful.  Looking back, it wasn’t as much fun as  I thought I was having.  My theme had to be just perfect.  My plugins all had to be up to date and I was always trying to add something cool to my diggs here.

And write.  I posted almost every day at least once… sometimes more.

People were fueling my fire.

And the offers started to come by way of reviews and the like.  But adding reviews and giveaways to the mix?

Just another responsiblity for me and one that I couldn’t handle well.

And then sometime around October 2008, the boy came along.

And my bloggy life changed a bit.

I was busy spending time with him and his family.  There wasn’t as much time to blog.  Suddenly, I realized that there was more to life than just my blog and it didn’t matter how many people were reading.

Due to some personal issues over the last year, my blogging tapered off.

I missed it, but I had other things that I had to focus on and I couldn’t write what I wanted to write.

And then sometime around November, I decided that I was going to blog every day, and I’ve been pretty regular ever since.

Yes, my shift in focus changed, but my love for this blog has not.

I still love the name of my blog.  I still love to get your comments.  I still love to look at my dashboard and see that I have 940 posts invested into this space of mine, and I say that not to brag that I’m working on 1000 posts, but rather, as an accomplishment.  Of those 940 posts, a great deal of them were posted because I needed to work through something; because I needed to get something out there.  I can go back and read various posts and see how much I’ve grown as a mother, a person, an employee, and a Christian.

The changes are documented right here.

There are stories that my kids will want to pass on to their kids right here.

I’ve chronicled my life, my faith, not with the intent to make sure others hear it but so that I can look back and see where I was and where I am now.

And it’s nice that my bloggy birthday is today because I’ve been in a little funk and in looking back over the past three years, I’ve been able to see the way things have shifted in my life.

So, it’s my birthday.

And I’m seeking PRESENCE not presents!

YOUR presence.

Just today…just this once.

If you’re still around, I would love for you to delurk, just for today, and say hello. I know there are some of you reading that I’ve not gotten the chance to know.  There are my old faithfuls.  I’m greatful for you whatever category you happen to fall in.

I’m looking forward to another 940 posts and a whole lot more years.

And I hope you’ll continue this quest for sanity with me.

Until next time…

{ 10 comments }

So, some of you who read my posts notice that the boy comments…on almost every single one.

And some of you comment on his comments more than on my content.

Which is fine. Really. I’m not hurt by this.

I keep a lot of the boy to myself so when he “shows up” people get a little excited. For awhile I was convinced that you guys thought that maybe I was just making him up.

But I’m not. He’s real.

Anywho, I love that he comments. He would be the type of guy that if he tweeted or facebooked, would drop by my wall just to say I love you publically.

Go ahead. Gag. I have to hold it back a lot too. It’s just so stinkin’ sweet.

He’s just that way.

And I love it.

So, commenting on my blog? And being all sweet and stuff? I totally dig it. Even if I have to stiffle the little bit of vomit that collects in my throat.

(Yes, I am the only person than can make your stomach turn when talking about a good relationship. I’m insanely talented that way. Don’t be jealous.)

But to catch the boy’s comments you have to read a little later in the game because his alerts to my posts comes via email and its normally 24-48 hours before he reads what I’ve written.

Not complaining. He’s the only man I’ve ever dated that has taken a genuine interest in my blog. Genuine is the key word there.

He knows how huge of an outlet this is for me. He knows of the friendships I’ve made through this portal to the world wide web. He’s even met a few of my bloggy friends. (Who called him the boy. They didn’t know what else to call him.)

He understood the frustrations I had when I couldn’t write. He cheered me on when the urge to write hit and often times he would try to “make time” for me to write.
(Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand that when the moment hits, I must write or I’ll lose the essence of what I was trying to get across. Well I shouldn’t say he doesn’t understand…if I say I have to write or if he sees me writing, he knows that its important. But it throws him off because I’m a planner and I don’t plan on writing. Ever.)

But on the whole, he has supported all of my online efforts which is huge for him.

That is until now.

Yesterday, I discovered the wordpress app for my blackberry and I was stoked. I could blog whenever because I always have my phone with me.

I? Was excited.

The boy?

Not so much.

In fact, whereas almost every comment he leaves involves a smiley face? This one had a frown.

“You can blog from your berry? Oy. I’ll never get your attention again ”

Or something to that effect. I know the last sentance was verbatim.

And so I did a quick check to inventory the time I spend in my virtual world. Yesterday?

Over the top – way too much. But I worked from home and the transition from work/computer to home doesn’t come easy for me.

But on the whole, I’m not on the computer much in the evening.

In fact, most of my blog posts are crafted in the morning or while I’m at work.

Twitter? That’s a different story. Had I blogged that I could tweet from my phone then I would expect that comment. But blogging?

So I feel as if I need to publically tell the boy that he has nothing to worry about with my new found app.

The reality is…

If the urge struck to write from 5-10pm I’d just get on the computer. Which I hardly ever do. The berry app? Really just for night time when I often find my mind reeling with thoughts that would be nice to throw up so that I can have it off my mind…or work thru things.

It’s not something that I will use as an excuse to ignore the chaos that surrounds us. (Not that it’s not tempting sometimes! Hey. Just keepin’ it real.)

so don’t worry, Hun. I’ll still be running the joint. But if ever you’re curious about what’s going on in my mind and feel as if I’m ignoring you?

You can just come read my blog.

But get here as early as possible because I’m a girl and your 24 hour lag might mean that my mood/attitude/thoughts have changed since posting.

For the rest of you…tell him that if blogging is my worst addiction, he can join YOUR husbands to commiserate.

Until next time…

{ 5 comments }

So, I don’t need to wait to see what anyone else says. While I appreciate the comments from those who would read to support me, that’s not what I wanted to do.

I wanted to be lazy.

Instead, I created more work for myself because when I went over to hj.com?

Well, I’m the WP guru. I thought I would upgrade and instead I BROKE the site. I had to email Cathy with a frantic SOS.

But she fixed it. So now? I can work on cleaning that up and possibly work on dumping my marketing/techie/blogging stuff over there. And should you want to read it, I welcome you to. If not, no hurt feelings.
My issue really was having time to blog in multiple places. Blogging doesn’t consume me any more. I’m not tinkering with stats, ads, themes, etc any more. I got lost in the hype of the “mommy blog” world. I’m not knocking any of you who use your blog as a way to earn money but when that became my focus, I lost my outlet.

I feel as if now I’m offering more by way of quality and not quantity.

But that’s just me.

So blogging. Do you know how many times I think of a post but I’m not near a computer?

More times than I care to count.

At night? At my house. No internet. Lots of ideas.

I feel as if there are times that I need to get something out and can’t.

But not anymore!!

Know what I found?

A wordpress app for my blackberry!

I’m so stoked!

Like stoked beyond measure because I can blog from anywhere now!

Meaning the posts that I craft in my head while I’m laying here at night won’t go to waste because I forget them.

You’re probably wondering about my wordiness and typing on the berry, right?

As long as I have nails, then I can fly on this! (Random useless fact – I text the most in our household. I shouldn’t text as much but its so easy and then I don’t get tied up on the phone.)

Anywho, I’m really happy. I’m not sure I can do things like link to other sites, but I’ll be playing around with it over time.

I know I can insert pics.

But what more do I need to know other than I can now blog from my phone? When I’m in the car (shotgun of course), in the kid pickup line, when one of the kids is online, from my bed…

its the little things…

Until next time…

{ 3 comments }