tag, you're it

I started this blog as an overdue medium to reach out to family and friends that were never going to live next door. I quickly realized how much fun it could be, but I still didn't post to it very often. Mainly because we had dial-up. Yes, it still exists, and in our little corner of Aviano in teeny-tiny San Martino di Campagna, it was our only option.

I knew there were blogs out there, of course, but I really had no notion of what a Big Blog World it was: dial-up is not real conducive to surfing, and that was my internet world for three years. And it was during that time, so far as I can tell, that the blogging world really took off.

After we moved back to the States a couple of months ago I started getting into this blogging thing a lot more. It really is a happy medium and it has been a great distraction during this move and going from being too busy, really, with outside commitments, and back to being a literal stay-at-home mom, whatever that means. And the more I get out there and peek at other blogs, the more I realize what a learning curve I am on: there are some fantastic blogs out there. No matter what your druthers, there's a blog for it. And then some.

I worry a little bit about the addictive nature of this whole Blog Thing. I mean, just because I just moved here and don't have a life doesn't mean that I don't have a life. There are these kids here, after all, that need some tending, meals and all that. And a husband, even, who wants a little attention now and then when he comes up for air from his Life With SOS. Oh, and there is the part about us moving. All those boxes.

All of this is trying to lead into my first blogging experience of getting tagged. But I've droned on and on too much now so I'm just going to give it to you and you can figure it out for yourself, these "Seven Random Things About Me" that blogger buddy Karen tagged me with. These things are kind of fun, I think. But then, I almost always responded to the "Questions About You" emails that went around, too, so what do I know.

Seven Random Things About Me

1. I can't whistle.

2. I write with my left hand.

3. But I throw with my right.

4. I've given birth in three countries.

5. The doctor told my mom that I was a boy, and she believed him.

6. After I start a book and get familiar with the characters, I skip to the end to find out how it all turns out.

7. I often don't ever get around to finishing the rest of the book in between.

And with that being said, I just visited Karen's site to get her address to link to, since it's so complicated and all, and she had posted a poem she wrote about why she blogs that I thought was really beautiful. And it's her birthday! So isn't that nice. How about a shout out to Karen -- "Happy Birthday!"