The indefatigable Gretchen and I are nearing the end of our preparations for the Big Blog Switcheroo… just a few loose ends to tie up today, then we’ll be skyping our way through the transfer tomorrow and on Monday when you come a’visiting, you’ll be automatically bustled right along to the new site! I’m having a blog-warming party and guess who’s invited?

So the chicks have all grown, settled down and are making their best albeit futile, attempt at repopulating the earth… behold, the darling little egg Louisa brought me! And behold further at its lovely pale blue-y green-y shade!

In other news, my bloggy move chore of the day is refining my category labels and descriptions, and writing introductory sentences for same. The good news is that I can work on these chores away from the computer, say for example while I am waiting for the children at piano lessons. The bad news is that Mr. And Mrs Mayne are very charming folk and very interesting conversationalists, and I being the highly distractable sort of gal such as I am, am quite likely to choose to engage in pleasant conversation rather than the aforementioned bloggy chore of the day. Oh my.

But first, I must finish up yesterday’s bloggy chore, which sadly, but not unexpectedly, didn’t get finished yesterday. Oh my, indeed!

Well girls, we’re planning a move! This upcoming weekend as a matter of fact… and I’ve barely even begun to pack.

Well, packing isn’t really necessary I don’t think- not for this kind of move. I won’t be moving house, but I will be moving blog. Yep, one week from today Tomato Soup Cake will be at its own little bright spanking new digs with a fresh new coat of paint. Everything’s going to be all just-moved-in organized, and spic’n'span. Why, we’ll even have new spaces for the kids and… well, I don’t want to give too much away, now do I?

Thankfully I have a new BFF, Gretchen of From the Little Pink House who is doing most of the heavy-blog-moving lifting, which is a very good thing since I don’t know Apache from an Applet or HTML from a hotlink. Strictly a point and click gal, that’s what I yam. yup.

Anyhoo, the daring and intrepid Gretchen has given me my own list of things I need to do, snippets I need to write, posts I need to tag and sort into label categories, graphics I need to find or make or choose. Frankly, it’s all gotten a bit overwhelming for me and I admit I’ve done what any other sensible, diligent woman of mature years would do… specifically, waste my online minutes watching cute baby videos on Youtube and eating chocolate to assuage my guilt.

So yeah… no more of that for me! This week this gal’s gonna be all business! Every day I am gonna polish off at least one task from that list. No more cute baby videos, and only small amounts of chocolate until I’m done. Every morning I’ll be posting my task or list du jour, and I’ll check into the comments at the end of the day, to let you know how I did.Yep, it’s nose to the grindstone time for me.

Today’s task is to tackle my mountain of untagged and uncategorized posts… get them all sorted and labelled, and basically take care of four years worth of lazy-bloggy-housekeeping. Today. O my.

For my other Relevant Conference related posts go here, and here, and here… and if you’re really a glutton for punishment, you can finish up here.

One of the very best things about the Relevant Conference was all of the great stuff I came home with: books, keychains, totebags, jewelry, homeschool resources… I have yet to mine the depths of it all. Oh my goodness, I’m savoring every last little scrappy thing! My fave so far has been our complimentary download of Laura Booz’ fantastic ebook, Blogger Behave. This little book has taken the renewed vision I have for my blog and given it feet… and typing fingers!

Laura took this a step further with her recent series, Social Media Behave at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. In this series, she shared her thoughts on all of this intoxicatingly fun social media stuff, facebook, twitter, tumblr, and a bazillion other platforms I’ve never even heard of, which now that I think of it is probably a good thing. yeah. She shared her mindset for keeping it all in its neat little place and balancing it with.. well, with the rest of life! She ended up by challenging us to write our own manifesto; a public statement of our philosophy and goals regarding blogging/social media. Speaking publicly gives us accountability, she said. Mainly because it’s just plain embarrassing to break one’s own rules, especially when you’ve made such a big honkin’ deal about ‘em.

So here goes! My rules, my manifesto, my personal social media guard rails -so to speak:

1. God gets first place.
Practically, this means that Bible reading, prayer and study/meditation is the first thing I do every morning after prepping my coffee, that is. Let’s be realistic, okay? I’ll pray before I start writing and pray again before I hit PUBLISH.

2. Family and home are next in line.
All of the following must be taken care of before the computer gets turned on in the morning:
~Quiet time (see above,)
~Breakfast lined up (not completely prepared, but organized and well on the way to completion.)
~Children’s schoolwork organized for the day (assignments written down, worksheets printed out, books and materials located and placed in school area.)
~All posts for the following week must be set up by the end of my online day on Saturday. If only two posts are written, only two posts go up!

3. I will not allow blogging/social media to take more than its fair share of my time.
Specifically, this means I will schedule my online time.
~Weekdays, 6-7:30 AM, 1/2 hour after lunch and an additional 1/2 hour (to be divided up as desired throughout the afternoon and evening.
~Friday evening and Saturday mornings, as much as desired, but computer must be off once the children come home from daddy’s.

4. I will use my online time efficiently.
Before turning on the computer I will make a prioritized list of my tasks du jour -and then pray like the dickens I can stick to it.

5. I will ask for accountability.
The kids know my schedule and have been given permission to nag me mercilessly should I transgress. And now you know my schedule and I’m hoping you’ll hold me accountable as well. If you see me on Facebook in the middle of the morning, go ahead, call me out! If you see me hanging out on message boards responding to thread after thread and having a jolly ole time, feel free to bring up that prioritized list I was talking about in point number 4. OH MY.

So yeah, consider this your license to nag.

Start at the very beginning… it’s a very good place to start! Post number one in this series is HERE, number two is HERE, and number three is HERE.

Tsh Oxenreider always wanted to live abroad. She and her husband planned for it and dreamed about it before they were even married. It was no surprise to anyone when the young couple made it their goal to serve overseas and, when their young family settled into their new home on the other side of the world, it was just what everyone expected. Tsh expected to be in her element… and so it was a bit of a surprise when she found herself becoming depressed. And as the months went on, she became increasingly weary and sad. Now, Tsh is a sensible sort of gal, one can see that within a second or two of meeting her, so she and her husband sought help. They spent some time away and she got some counseling and when she came back to that home on the other side of the world, she decided to do something different. Something creative. She started a blog called Simple Mom.

She loved it. And she was, quite obviously, very good at it. Tsh was in her element.

If you’re lucky, or you’re blessed, at some point you’ll stumble across or be guided to that place where your skills and passions intersect. You’ll find that activity that brings out the very best you have to offer. You’ll find just what it is that makes your heart sing and gives you that I-was-made-for-this feeling. Some people find their element in grand and glorious things like writing symphonies and creating vaccines that save millions of children from certain death. Lots of folks find theirs in worthy and honorable things like changing diapers or fixing cars or growing vegetables. Some of us find ours in silly little things, unimportant things, things that might sometimes seem like a waste of time… things like blogging.

If you’re lucky, if you’re blessed, you’ll find your sweet spot. Tsh found hers in blogging, and as I listened to her I realized that blogging was my sweet spot too. And I began to think that maybe this blog isn’t just a little bit of nothing I do for myself. Maybe it’s a not-so-little bit of something I do.. well yeah, for myself, but also for you, my dear readers. Maybe it’s a little bit of something He can use. Maybe.

When I went to Relevant, I expected to feel pressured to grow my blog, increase my stats, broaden my influence. But a funny thing happened once I got there… in every session and in every interaction, I was gently encouraged to be content. Content with a small blog, in a small niche with a small readership. I was encouraged to make my small thing the very best I can, and put out the best I have to offer. Encouraged to feed those who come to my table, and to trust that He will bring folks here who can benefit from what I have to share.

So instead of coming away from Relevant fired up, full of new ideas and firm with resolve, I came home cooled down. Calmed down. And firm with resolve to simply…