Why do I blog?

I've been feeling a little deflated with the blog lately. Not a whole lot of bloggy love.

Where some bloggers attract hundreds or a thousand or more followers, I am lucky to have 30ish (not that I'm complaining, it's lovely to have my fellow readers/likers and followers joining me at Off to the Park).

Source: Some ecards

I have been blogging for approximately 2 1/2 years, and only setup my blog's FB page a year ago.

When I put so much of myself (and my heart) into a post and don't get any feedback or a comment on post (except for those pesky spammers who comment with embedded links to epoxy coatings!), it makes me wonder if it's worth all the effort. Apart from a couple of lovely bloggers who always seem to find the time to comment on my posts (thanks to those of you!!), I don't get many comments or feedback on here.

But then again I don't put a lot of energy into promoting my blog, or get involved with a lot of link ups, generally because I don't have a lot of time to invest in blogging.

The blog was originally, and still is for me.

It's been a great creative outlet for me, and somewhere where I can brain dump my thoughts, ideas as well as a place to share stories about my two girls.

I'm not a full-time blogger, so you won't find me publishing a post everyday. Sometimes I'm lucky to get one, (possibly two), posts published a week.

One of my New Year's resolutions for this year was to spend less time on the computer (incl. blogging) and more time with the kids, but there are days when I find I just need a little time to myself and need to escape my two girls for a little while, so I find myself booting up the computer.

I guess I need to have a rethink about whether blogging is the right thing for me to do be doing with my time, especially when I don't have much time to indulge in other passions like my art, which I rarely get time for.

Feeling grateful for attending my 25 year school reunion

What a weekend I've had. Not only did the two girls have two birthday parties to attend too (I was feeling tired just from that), but on Saturday night I went to my high school reunion.

It had been 25 years since most of us left school (we were in year 10, the class of '88), but most of us hadn't seen each other in 25 years. I had been looking forward to it all week, and on the day was feeling slightly nervous about seeing people I hadn't seen for so long, and catching up with old school friends.

At the Year 10 formal with my big hair!

As soon as I saw old faces from my year (friends, a couple of enemies and a couple of crushes), a whole lot of memories came flooding back to me. Some good, some not so good.

It's funny how at 40 years old, I felt like I was 14 and back at school again.

The good thing was I wasn't that shy 14 year old anymore. I was a confident, happy woman chatting to people I didn't know all that well (ok maybe not the guys I had a crush on!), but felt glad to be the age I was and not the young girl I was back at school.

At the school reunion on the weekend

Even though we had all grown up (ok, maybe not all of them) and no longer the pimply faced kids, it was funny seeing people hanging in the same crowds as at school. You know, the popular/"in" crowd in one corner, the nerds in another corner, the bullies in another and then the rest of us.

There were a few faces I didn't recognise at first, but most, looked the same apart from a few wrinkles, no hair or they had lost or put on weight.

It was a fantastic night, I really enjoyed catching up with old school friends I hadn't seen or spoken with in years, and reminiscing about old times.

I guess you could say I was grateful to have gone to the reunion. My friend had been to the last couple of reunions, but this was my first. I was a little nervous about going, and wasn't sure what to expect. Funnily enough not everyone recognised me at first. Some "clicked" after looking at the old year 10 school photo of us all.

But it didn't surprise me, as I wasn't one of the popular kids and had changed in appearance since school, in the end I had a great night and hoping to keep in touch with some of the people I caught up with.

Have you ever been to a school reunion? How did you feel?

Craft: Collage heart card for Valentine's day

If you haven't bought someone a Valentine's day card yet, why don't you get the kids to make this one.

Yesterday "Popette" made this cute collage heart out of coloured paper, which she then stuck onto some thick watercolour paper to make a Valentine's day card for both her Daddy and Nanna.

Then inside she drew some pictures and signed her name.

It's such a quick crafty project to make (which made us both happy), and something kids can do themselves. "Popette" did most of it herself, she just needed a little help from Mummy with the scissors!

All you need is:

Coloured paper (we chose Red & Pink of course!)
Thick white paper or cardboard for card
Glue
Scissors


Enjoy!

A part of me missing

Yesterday I had a belated Birthday BBQ bash for my 40th birthday which I celebrated in December. It was so lovely catching up with my friends and relatives, but it was missing something important, my family.

Dad, Mum and I on my 39th birthday

While I had my Husband and two sweet girls there, it was my parents and two brothers who weren't. It felt quite strange not having Mum there in particular. It just didn't feel the same celebrating the day of my birth, without her being there to enjoy it with me. I know she didn't feel up to facing many of the relatives she had last seen at my Dad's funeral, but it was like a part of me was missing.

Of course I missed my Dad, I thought of him often during the lead up to the BBQ, but it was Mum not being there which made me feel like I've lost a little bit of her when Dad died.

As you may already know, my Dad passed away in December from bladder cancer. These past couple of months have been extremely painful for Mum. She has been sorting out Dad's belongings, and getting through all the paperwork that happens when someone dies, but it has taken its toll on her.

I miss Dad dearly, but also miss Mum being happy, and seeing them together.

Last year my two brothers and their families moved. One inner-state, the other to the mid-coast of NSW, so unfortunately they couldn't join us for the BBQ. We haven't been all that close lately, but it still would have been nice to see them and their families.

While I had the love and friendship of my relatives and friends there yesterday, it just wasn't the same celebrating my birthday without my immediate family being with me.

Do you celebrate birthdays with your family and relatives, or have a small get together with just the immediate family?