I'll Be Joining The Bloggiesta Party!

Yay! Bloggiesta is back for the second time this year! Now everyone knows what I will be doing the weekend of Sept 28 to 30!  I first participated in the event in January 2011 and again in March of this year.  Both times I had a fun and productive blogging weekend and I'm always excited when it returns. In past Bloggiestas, I wrote posts related to the event on my professional blog.  This time I'll write my updates on this blog to keep my other blog focussed on management topics.

What is Bloggiesta, you ask?  From There's A Book blog (one of this year's hosts): it’s a blogging marathon devoted to ticking off items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.   Started by Natasha of Maw Books Blog, I discovered it when WordPress featured a blog about the event on the Freshly Pressed page.  Even though the event is open to all bloggers, many of the participants are book bloggers who I discovered are a wonderful community to learn and share ideas about writing and blogging.   The event even has it's own mascot, Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize).  Mexican-themed food and drinks are optional but can be an added bonus to the event :)

Mini-challenges are part of the event and a great way to building your blogging know-how.

If you want to join in the fun, you can sign up here.

I have already started thinking about my to-do list for the weekend.  There are quite a number of improvements to my professional blog that need to be done and I have to decide what I want to do with this blog.  Stay tuned!

The funny thing about Christmas...

As my life turned upside down, my only thoughts about Christmas were about how to avoid it while not being totally alone. In the past few years, the weeks leading up to Christmas were often stressful for a variety of reasons, some of it self-imposed. This year I certainly didn't feel like having anything to do with Christmas. The funny thing is, though, that it managed to find me anyway.

I took the train to Toronto to spend the long weekend with friends - just hang out, talk, relax. That's pretty much what we did, but Christmas was still there with us. Instead of a tree, we had a Christmas ivy on the fire place mantel, surrounded with candles. Instead of children, we had three little black kittens running around the apartment and chewing on the ribbons. On Christmas Eve, we had guests, gifts were exchanged, followed by a couple of rounds of Cranium (even more fun with a couple of drinks). We spent Christmas day in our pajamas, watching Ratatouille, part of a Crossing Jordan marathon, and Horton Hears a Who. During a brief internet fix, I found the Santa Claus blog. It's wonderful and hilarious, so I put the link on this blog. It will be interesting to read what happens at North Pole, Inc. in 2008. We even had a Christmas ham, technically, though that dinner was the night before Christmas Eve. As with all Christmas hams, it was enjoyed in various forms throughout the weekend (sandwiches, snack platter, quiche... there will be a ham and pea/bean soup at some point in the future).

All in all, it was the best way to spend Christmas. I feel really blessed to have such good friends here and around the world. Everyone has been so supportive. I really appreciate it.