Better than a BLINDY

Today is the third day of the Blog Indiana conference. I had to miss yesterday because of a 6-hour meeting at work (which should be totally illegal, by the way -- 6-hour meetings, not work). But I'm here today for a day of panel discussions, some of which interest me more than others.

At the end of the conference, they'll be announcing the winners of the BLINDY awards. You may remember that I am up for a BLINDY for "Best Family Blog." (Of course you remember, I told you all about it on The Best Day Ever post; you read the post then went right over to the BLINDY ballot and voted for me; and now you are waiting on pins and needles to see if The 4th Frog can pull off an underdog win.)

Now, I don't really have any expectation of winning. I'm just happy to be recognized with a nomination. I always thought those people who were up for Oscars, but who didn't win, were full of it when they chirped "it's an honor to be nominated." But maybe losers in Hollywood aren't so full of crap after all.

Anyway, last night at the back-to-school ice cream social, something happened to me that was way better than winning a BLINDY and I just had to share it with you.

There I was at the PTO table, trying to figure out how to slip away without having to sign up to chair the teacher luncheon, the Monster Mash, the school auction or anything else, when Janice came up to me and absolutely made my day.

I like Janice, which is pretty remarkable because she is cute and skinny and I tend to avoid those types. But Janice and I have worked on a couple of committees together and she's fun to be around.

I found out Janice reads my blog when one day last spring she came to me in the pick-up line after school and said, "I had my mammogram on Tuesday too!" After looking down to see if my breasts still looked like smashed chicken, I realized that she must have read about my mammogram experience on my blog.

Ok, back to last night. Janice rescued me from the PTO table and said, "Amy, I have to show you this. I had my husband put an icon for your blog on my iPhone. I even had to move some stuff to the second page to make room for it."

Are you FREAKING kidding me?! Janice iconized my blog on her iPhone?! Totally way better than a BLINDY!

(And Janice, if the PTO was able to suck you in last night, I will happily work on your committee.)

Progress

Last year I attended Blog Indiana and was prompted to write the confession that I was a technofraud. I'm happy to report that I've come a long way, baby, in just one short year.

• Far from my reliance on AOL, I'm rockin' the gmail account -- I've even figured out how to create and use filters to better manage my e-mail
  
  
• I have a Twitter account -- two, as a matter of fact (@4thfrog and @allthingsaging) -- and thanks to Tweetdeck, I use them and use them well. I even know how to unfollow and block tweeps I find repulsive or annoying.
  
  
• When my birthday rolls around later this month, I WILL have a smart phone ($99 iPhone, thank you very much) so I can text, tweet and roll with the best of them
  

• I can blog on two different platforms, Blogger and Wordpress (even though I don't love Wordpress)

Oh, there are things I need to work on. I still fumble around Flickr. I can use an RSS feed, even if I don't know exactly what I'm doing. And Mike still uploads songs to my iPod but I don't necessarily see that as a negative thing. It makes him feel needed (ok, maybe used) and me feel loved.

But all in all, I'd say I've made remarkable progress in my technological prowess over the past year. I wish I could say the same thing for the state of my house.

The best day ever

Aside from the day I got married and the days that my children were born, today just might be the BEST DAY EVER!

After an almost year-long search during that tested his emotional fortitude, my patience and at times the "for better or for worse" part of our marriage vows, Mike signed an offer for a new job this afternoon. He worked his tail off to get this offer. He starts in less than 2 weeks!

That would have been quite enough to earn the playing of the Spongebob "best day ever" song. But tonight, we came home from a party at my boss' house and I found out that I'm one of the five nominees for "Best Family Blog" to be given at the Blindy Awards at next week's Blog Indiana conference.

I'm not familiar with three of the blogs: 4tunate, MomAdvice.com, and dadsinc.org. I'll have to check them out.

But the fourth one is the blog to beat. Mooshinindy is written by Casey Mullins. She's a very funny and gifted writer and a fabulous photographer. She's a goddess in social networking spheres. If you don't believe me, note that she's also in the running for the Social Media Superstar Blindy.

So, the chances that I'll come out bearing the Blindy title of "Best Family Blog" are slim. (You can vote for me here.) But I'll worry about that next Saturday when the winners are announced. Today, Mike is the winner of a new job and I've been nominated along with some terrific Indiana blogs. It really might be the best day ever.

Overwhelmed

This was the status update I posted on my Facebook page yesterday:

The convergence of a zillion deadlines at work and the start of school for the kids just might push me over the edge.

I have three -- wait, four -- big projects at work that have drop dead August deadlines. The kids go back to school in less than two weeks.

I feel like there is so much we didn't do this summer and I am finding it hard to find a day to take off to do something fun so that when they sit down in their classrooms to write the inevitable "What I did on my summer vacation" essay, they'll say something more than "I did chores and watched television."

(To be fair to myself, they did swim a lot and we did a few, small "staycation" activities. But I'm having a moment, so just let me go with it, will ya?)

Ok. I realize that wallowing in a moment of whining and self-pity only goes so far.
Someone replied to my Facebook post: "Take a deep breath....or have a cocktail!"

Since it's only 7:45am and I have no champagne or OJ in the house, I'm going with the deep breath route and trying to count my blessings. So here's my list of 10 good things that, overwhelmed or not, make me smile:

1. My nephew is being baptized on Sunday and we'll be together with all my siblings, their spouses and their children.
2. Back-to-school means back to Friday morning "therapy" with girlfriends at Panera.
3. I parked my car in the garage last night, which is significant because two days ago that wouldn't have been possible. But Mike busted his hump and cleaned it out.
4. Next week, I'll be attending Blog Indiana and get to spend 2 whole days with other blog-lovin' nerds.
5. McDonald's large drinks are still only $1.
6. Dairy Queen chocolate dipped cones are less than $2.
7. All these crazy deadlines mean that I have a job at a time when many do not.
8. I got on the scale yesterday for the first time in a long time and I didn't weigh any more than I had previously. Again, a huge accomplishment, especially given #6 above.
9. My cleaning lady will be back on August 31. We'd loaned her out for the summer to some friends b/c I couldn't afford to pay babysitters and Jane.
10. Our good friend Mary came to visit last night. Her visits always leave me laughing.

Think I might need to print out this list and tape it up in a few strategic places, so when I'm wigging out of the next couple of weeks I can have some perspective. And if that doesn't work, I'll probably go with the cocktail.

A teensy weensy (shameless) favor

There is a great conference happening in Indianapolis is August. I attended the first Blog Indiana last year and learned so much and met some great people, even if I was a little overwhelmed.

Well, this year at Blog Indiana they'll be giving out the Blindy Awards (think that's bl-IN-dee as opposed to bl-eye-ndee) for the best blogs and social media sites in Indiana.

So, if you think the 4th Frog might be worthy, would you please click this link and nominate me for Best Hoosier Blogger. Or nominate me for a new category: Best Hoosier Family Life Blog.

Of course, I don't actually expect to win. There are lots of awesome Hoosier blogs -- Gabi's World, Bargain Briana, Lynn's Addiction, Eternal Lizdom to name a few (check out their links to the right). Not to mention the heavy hitters like Moosh in Indy and Pasta Queen. Still, I'd love to see if the 4th Frog can hang with those peeps a bit.

And if you are a Hoosier blogger, check out Blog Indiana. Maybe I'll see you there!