Toothwhale

BlissDom '10: What I learned

BlissDom was everything I hoped it would be. Here I'll be writing about what I took from the breakout sessions I attended on Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the people I met. I'm still giddy inside about the people, and I wasn't even one of the hundreds of blogging ladies who had a picture taken with Harry Connick, Jr. on Friday night.

There were two categories of sessions: business and writing. I stuck to the writing sessions with one exception.

 

Friday:

Connecting with Your Community of Readers:

The words of wisdom in this session for me came from Amy Allen Clark of Mom Advice who said, "Don't be afraid to let your blog grow and change as you do."

I also heard about LinkWithin in this session, which I realize is something I enjoy at other blogs. Don't be surprised if you see it here soon.

 

Striking a Balance: Peaceful Co-Existence Between Your Online and Offline Life:

Here, Megan Jordan of Velveteen Mind said things I needed to hear. When she said, "Social media is so competitive and moves so quickly," I knew it wasn't just me as a newcomer feeling this way. When she said she had "just a second-ed" her kids out of an entire day while she tried to keep up online, I knew what she meant, and knew there were times when I could remind myself of my own "she's a whale of a mom" tagline. When she said she wanted to "do a few things and do them well," I thought, "Me, too."

 

Saturday:

Blogging with the Stars: Snapshots of Four Successful Blogs:

Panelists Tsh Oxenreider of Simple Mom and Michelle Mitton of Scribbit had tips I thought I could use.

In the beginning, Tsh said, she "replied to every comment," and "ended every post with a question." That gets people talking, she said. She also did some "back scratching," reaching out to bloggers who were more, less, and as established.

Michelle said, "Don't be afraid to try new things."

Evolving into a Professional Blogger: Paths to Success:

This session is the one business-track session I attended. Here, Kim Moldofsky of Hormone-Colored Days said the thing to be if one wants to be attractive to companies is a "social media mom." "Have a footprint," she said. Have a blog, a Facebook fan page, a presence on Twitter, a Flickr photostream, and so on.

Content is Queen: Communicating Your Brilliance Through High-Quality Writing:

I don't  know about my brilliance, but this session got me jazzed to start a series. I can't remember who said it keeps people coming back, but whoever did -- thank you.

Memoir Writing: The Power and Mystery of Telling Our Stories:

Again it was Megan Jordan's words that found my ears. When she said she asks herself if the reader can find herself in her writing, I thought it was something I could stand do more, myself. "If you want people to read it, it needs to resonate with them," she said.

There was lots more said in each session, of course, but these are the notes that I highlighted with yellow crayon last night.

What did you learn this weekend?

Project 365: Week 5

Dear Jake,

Thanks for taking care of the kids while I'm at my blogging conference. You're an awesome Pop. They'll love you forever for all the things you do with them now, even if it's hitting them with snowballs. Maybe especially for that.

Love,
Rebecca

 

Click on over to my complete Flickr photostream to see the other six pictures from Week 5.

BlissDom '10: I'm on my way

I'm doing something new tomorrow and Saturday. Something big. Something I've been looking forward to since October, at least. I'm going to my first blogging conference. It's called BlissDom, and it's happening here in Nashville at the Opryland Hotel. I'll be one of about 500 women getting my bliss on.

I'll be learning lots more about blogging in the sessions, catching up with some of the women I've already met through blogging, and meeting lots of new people. To say I'm excited could be the expanding universe's biggest understatement. I hope to leave on Saturday night with all sorts of new knowledge that will help me make Toothwhale even better. I also hope to have at least a few opportunities to pay lots of compliments to women whose blogs I read regularly. Their words and photographs and the spirit that shines through their blogs inspire me, teach me, and make me laugh. It would be wonderful to be able to tell them so.

I need to cross some things off a short to-do list and pack tonight, and then help get the kids off to preschool in the morning, and I'll be on my way. I'm staying overnight tomorrow at the hotel, sharing a room with Mary from The Writer's Block. Jake will be with the kids, and I hope they'll hardly miss me. I have my Project 365: Week 5 post scheduled for the morning, and I'll be back on Sunday or Monday with lots to show and tell. Have a blissful weekend, yourself!

You say tomato, I say avocado

The kids and I had sandwiches for dinner. Jake's been working an extra hour some days, and today was one of them. I went to the store while they were at preschool and bought some things, but nothing to make hot meals. When Jake called to ask what I was thinking about dinner, I told him about the pastrami and swiss and chips and salsa and guacamole I'd bought.

Henry is a super eavesdropper and asked me about the guacamole, which he likes. "Can I have some?" he asked. "Maybe after Pop gets home," I said.

I gave the kids peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, and grapes. In the middle of eating his sandwich, Henry needed to excuse himself to go to the bathroom.

While he was in the half bath next to the kitchen, I sat down with my pastrami sandwich and some chips and salsa. He knew I was sitting down to eat, but he couldn't see what. 

"Is there rock amato out there?" he called out.

"Whaaaaat?" I asked.

"That avocado stuff," he said.

"You mean guacamole?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"No. It's not out here," I said.

The snowiest day

Even though the sunshine of the past two days has melted some of it and turned lots more of it slushy, there's still plenty of snow and ice hanging around. It snowed more in Nashville on Friday than it has since Jake and I have lived here, and because we hadn't experienced snow before here, it was the snowiest day we've ever, ever seen. We're from Florida, remember.

Preschool was canceled. Jake's office closed early. Once he was home, the four of us went out while the snow still was falling to see what all the cold, white stuff was doing to the neighborhood, and to see what fun the kids could have in it. Henry and Harper beat the snow off bushes with sticks, Jake and Henry had a snowball fight, and we made lots of tracks. When we'd all had enough, we came in, changed into dry clothes, and, yes, had hot chocolate.