It's All About Meme

I'm relatively new to blogging, and thought a "meme" was a french grandmother (pronounced "maymay")! Turns out it's a "meem" and it refers to an idea passing from one person to another by imitation. And I got tagged with a meme by The Inept Aspirant. Here's how it works:

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively
2. link back to the person who tagged you (that's her, above)
3. link back to the parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

So here goes!

1. Moments that, in the past, would have been considered embarrassing, are now BLOG MOMENTS. For instance, that time that I spilled an entire gallon of blue paint on the floor in the middle of Walmart, Flutterbug and I looked at each other and shrieked, "Blog!"

2. I don't know how people feel about reading all about my life's minutiae, but I LOVE reading about others', like The Queen B's urge to go to the bathroom every time she enters a bookstore (with you there, sister, only for me it's Garden Ridge), or my friend Kim's crazy life raising (and homeschooling) nine, count 'em, nine kiddos. And who knows, maybe there's someone out there in cyberspace who gets a kick out of reading about the many misadventures of my feet (and saying, like Flutterbug, "Ewww, gross!").

3. It's thrilling to have something distracting to do during "Hannity & Colmes." It allows me to be in the same room with my hubby and kid, who love a good debate and don't cringe when a conflict arises. Me, I'm a Cheshire Cat, who does her best to fade out as soon as things get the least bit uncomfortable. Otherwise, I tend to wince and shudder, and sometimes even cover my ears and go "blah, blah, blah" until the arguing is over, which, evidently, is a distraction to my husband. So now, instead, I hunker down in my chair, plotting my next post. By the way, I'm way below my "falling down" quota. I may have to stage a fall soon if something doesn't happen. Or one of you could trip me. Hey, I'm willing to sacrifice for the blog.

4. A big negative: I have to force myself to ignore the pull of the computer in the mornings, when I need to focus exclusively on God. I had to not allow myself to get on it at all on Sundays, and limit my time during the week. The pull can be tremendous! And now that I have that "Live Feed" on there, I wonder who may have been on my blog since the last time I checked (an hour before). And who are these people? I don't know, since it just shows cities or states, but it's fun to guess. I'm thinking Murrysville, PA, might be a smooshy-faced cat breeder. Just a hunch....
Oh! Not the person, the cats. You know, like Buddy's face. Persian. Or the word that starts with "H" that I'm not able to spell at 11:30 at night. Sorry.

5. Blogging has been a wonderful outlet for me - what a pleasure I find in writing about little observations, big events, and everything in between. I've never been much of a talker, but blogging is slower and allows me to formulate and edit my thoughts. And while the scrapbooks sit half-empty in the bureau, I have a record of the lovely life that God has blessed me with, and I get to share glimpses of His grace with others. Which leads me to a question: Anyone know how to back up a blog?

I shall tag:

Kim because I love to read anything she writes and she's so busy with all her responsibilities right now that maybe a simple 5-answer question will give her the opportunity to blog, without having to take a lot of time.

Melissa because even though she was tagged recently, this is DIFFERENT, and I think she'll like it.

Flutterbug because she got me started blogging and she has several blogs and lots of followers and I know I'll enjoy reading her answers.

Good night for now, oh rats, I can't go to sleep without looking up that word...

Aha: H.i.m.a.l.a.y.a.n.