Hey. That Momalom thing.
You know. Two babes. Writers. Sisters. A little… um… wacky. Because who reads and comments on more than 100 blogs over the course of 10 days, each day?
Who is so inspiring (or nuts) they entice 100 others to do the same?
And I don’t mean Blah-g Blah-g Blah-g, either. I mean real stuff. The good stuff. Funny F-bomb family stuff. Topics of interest for reading, for ruminating, for remembering.
Read. Write. Grow community.
Why would anyone – much less so many readers and writers who are busy parenting – be crazy enough to do such a thing?
Ah yes – the beauty and bounty of blogging. Writing community. Reading, learning, thinking. Growing. Discovering. Amazing new places, new minds, new ways to string together words. The privilege of virtual vision – and visions. Even those pesky and poignant bad mommy moments.
Post-it posts? Read write cycle?
But ten days?
That’s a lot of writing, reading, commenting. Then posting. Then more reading, commenting, writing. About essentials in each life. Courage of the everyday sort. Memories of departure.
Happiness, lust, and the many types of YES. Yes to everything. The power of YES. Yes to NO to achieve yes. Yes, to fairy tales. To our stories. To ourselves.
YES to the writer’s mammoth task of musing and mining.
Blog burnout.
And now? Now that it’s over – until next time?
Words wander, a little hungover. The eyes glaze. Kids walk by their parents and shake their heads. A little bewildered. A little miffed. Moms mutter about deserted islands, palm trees, coconut milk spiked with something. Anything. Even if it’s just a tiny paper umbrella. Or a swizzle stick.
YES indeed. Dinners are requested. YES to the ten handed over to a teen to take the car and make a junk food run, though The Kitch Witch may offer luscious alternatives.
YES to no cooking, as a tapped-out maternal finger points silently to the freezer, then the microwave. Writing is hard work. Marathon writing? Brain cells falter. The body slumps. Burnout. Kind of like ten all-nighters. But cooler.
No (wo)man is an island?
What’s next? To recover?
There’s that island thing. You know, the benefits of a break. Beaches, without Bette Midler. Tropical sun, with proper SPF. Silenced keyboards, even if only for a few hours. Eye drops for the burning and squinting. Rest, for the calloused heels of palms and weary fingers.
For Sarah and Jen? Kisses. Thanks. Hopes for sleep.
Though more than likely, not. More than likely, parenting. More parenting. And for all of us, working and parenting. And then, more writing more writing more writing. More reading. More finger pointing – to the lists, the homework, the briefcase, the school lunches. And yes, the microwave. Maybe one more night. TGIF.
May I say that again?
YES, to TGIF.
Kisses to Sarah and Jen and Five-for-Ten Again.
I’m with you, BLW! Hugs and kisses and HUGE thank yous to Jen and Sarah!!!
Exactly, Nicki. They’ve earned a little time off, don’t you think? (Maybe the dads will take the reins for the weekend.)
That boggles my mind. Congratulations and a symbolic olive wreath to everyone who participated.
I loved Five for Ten! And now, I love that it’s done and we can all take a (short) breather. I’m just so excited to have met so many new, talented blog friends. Those Momalom sisters are amazing.
Yes! Many, many thanks to Jen and Sarah for hosting Five for Ten. It came at the perfect time for me. It got me out of a funk and back into writing, and it brought me many new blog friends.
Thank you!!!
OK, I’m so behind the times. I didn’t even know you were doing this! To me, you always write well and consistently. It’s weird, though, because just last night, I was thinking about you and how much I admire your abilities to be thoughtful, creative, and inspiring every single day!
@Elizabeth – It’s been a whirlwind! (Any olives on that branch? Green and black both welcome here.)
@Eva – Aren’t they amazing? And all the wonderful writers who joined in. Quite the party-of-posting it has been!
@Andrea – And those sisters are great hosts-of-posts, aren’t they. The good part in all this is they didn’t have sink loads of dishes to do when the party was over…
@April – Always glad you read! (And thank you. Writing daily is helpful discipline, but I’ll admit – I’m a little beat after the past 10 days. As for tomorrow? Will I be thoughtful, creative, and inspiring? Hmmm. I’ll sleep on it. 🙂 Here’s hoping at least one of those three comes to me…)
I occasionally get blog burnout, where I barely post, and I barely visit others. THis week was a week just like that.
Eloquently stated as always! I expected a !!! post it note on that bottom photo. 😉
You are so right, Kelly!
!!!
😉
It really was amazing and overwhelming all at the same time. I found myself saying more than once to my husband “it won’t be long and this will be all done.” Every night we put the kids to bed and I checked out, or rather IN to my laptop. (And what I did at work will remain forever sealed 🙂 It was so rich, amazing. I’m a better blogger and person for having done it. Now, what to do about a reader that was already out of control.
I know what you mean Christine. My teens rolled their eyes just a little more than usual these past days.
Do you think Big Boy might have been telling me something today when he removed one of the letters from my laptop keyboard? A symbolic gesture no doubt. 🙂
Only if it was the letter Y.
Hey BLW, this really has been something, hasn’t it? I’m right with you in gratitude for Sarah & Jen, and for all who jumped in. And I’m with you on feeling a bit blurry-eyed and fatigue, but it was well worth it. Our sense of community seems to further strengthen, and our courage to write our truths I think have been only further emboldened.
Bon Weekend
And bon weekend to you, too, Bruce.