Getting Organized... Sorta

** Deep breath ** Ooookay! And I'm back!


I have been gone too long. I really have meant for days to say something... and I've had lots to say.


But as with many absences, sometimes there's so much that's gone on, that it's hard to tell where to re-start!


I've been working on a pet project and been absolutely immersed in that, coming up for air only for my (paying) day job. And after all that? Housework has been a nightmare. Due to water restrictions as a result of the ongoing drought, and complicated by a series of ridiculous plumbing issues one after the other, I haven't had a regular water supply in over 3 weeks.


Three weeks people.


Do you have any idea what three weeks without a steady water supply can do when you have three active children living in a tropical climate. You so don't even want to know. Trust me.


My house looks like a whirlwind went thru it. And I need order to function properly.


Because disorder breeds. And piles of laundry somehow procreate to produce books, toys, paper spilling onto floors, in defiance of the daily roundup I attempt to squeeze in. I guess from the kids' point of view, what's a little more mess, right?


So I've decided to stop and take stock, and totally re-organize. From the house, to tools to help me manage my time. And of course I have to them with you.


So I've been checking out some stuff from CSN Stores. I'm eyeing their tv stands, and maybe a bunk bed for the boys, and definitely some living room accessory-type catch-all stuff. Then of course comes training the little men (and the Big Man, come to think of it) how to use it all to keep Mommy from going insane.


Speaking of CSN stores, check out my girl Dumb Mom over at her blog where she has a giveaway for a Gift Certificate from CSN Stores going on. Don't let her name fool you, my girl is Pure Awesomeness. 


But even before the house is in order, I have a trick to help me manage my bloggy time.


If you're like me, when you miss a few days of blog-round-up, it really catches up with you. So starts the debate - do I catch up Alphabetically by Blog Name, or Chronologically by Post Date? And then, it becomes a pain to read the feed in your reader, and then open the blog in another window so you can comment.


I've never understood why Google Reader doesn't let you just comment right there in the feed window...


And then I found NetVibes which does just that. I mean, it does more than just feed reader stuff. It is basically a Social Media Dashboard. You can monitor Facebook, Twitter, Email and your favourite blogs all in one place. And you can have another tab dedicated to say News, Weather, Stocks... whatever you like.


But the best part for me was being able to group my fave blogs, and while reading through them, click a button to have the feed window show the blog web page right in it, allowing me to leave a comment real quick, and then moving on to the next blog.


I am absolutely sold. Well. It's FREE, so you know... not literally sold. But you get where I'm coming from.


I think I may have also come up with a weekly blogging format, but I'm still working out the details on that. Look out for some upcoming changes, and hopefully, back to a regular blogging schedule again. :-)


(There's another big secret coming but I can't tell you about that yet! Shhh. Just stay tuned, 'k?)


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