Now I’m no quantum physicist, but I have a penchant for the geeky things in life: blogs, extra large vocabularies, flannel plaid pants, whiteboards as decor, and awkward social situations. I’m glad someone out there appreciates these things enough to write a TV show about them!

P. S. I wore my first maternity shirt today. Consensus? I’m cute. But does anyone in their right mind ever tell a pregnant woman she isn’t cute?

Hear me out. I’m not saying that I am a blogging expert. I’m not saying that I have nothing more to learn about blogging ever again. And I’m not saying that I’m ill-equipped to teach this course. What I am saying is that I converted to blogging in 2006, which is a long time in the cyber-verse, and my reasons for blogging are not the same reason I’m preaching to my students tomorrow night. And truth be told, I feel a little silly that my burgeoning company has not put our blog online yet. (It is on our to-do list, but let’s wrap up July and the insanity that has ensued first.)

But I do know that blogging has value for my company. That’s why I have plans for it. That’s why I am tucking away little lessons as they cross my mind because I know that they’ll make good blog posts. I know how to blog. I know what makes a blog sink or swim. I’ve had a my share of blogging successes and failures. I get it. I just hope that I can convince my students tomorrow night. (And not scare them with my enthusiasm for blogging.)

Wish me luck!

Mini Austin is set to arrive in November, and while Chris and I have had a few baby names at the top of our list since, well, since we were dating, we decided to go back to the drawing board when it comes to choosing a Mini Moniker. All week long, we’ve been tossing names on the table with, “That’s interesting,” “I could get behind that,” and “Maybe–if it’s paired with the right middle name.”

After a trip of baby name book browsing on Saturday night, my brain was absolutely reeling: How were we ever going to pick a name? We had a long list of possibilities, but Chris’s name requirements didn’t necessarily match my requirements, and there was just too much information to process with one little iPhone Notes list. Enter the Mini Moniker Matrix.

You can see a mock-up (read: those names are out of left field and are NOT in considerations) in the picture above. The columns?

• Name in contention + meaning
• Meaningful? Yes or no? That is, do we like the meaning of the name? Chris and I both want names that the child can aspire to, so to speak. For example, Christopher Michael means “bearer of Christ” + “who is like God.” Sarah Jo means “princess” + “God is gracious.”
• Original? Yes or no? That is, what is the current popularity of the name in the United States. If the number is > 20, it gets a yes. Why? Well, Chris and I both have very common names, and that drove me crazy growing up. At the same time, we don’t want to choose a name that’s so uncommon or strange or exotic that Mini gets beat up on the playground.
• Rhythm? Yes or no? I like some degree of pentameter to names, and with Austin (two syllables) as a last name, we need an odd-syllabled first name + an even-syllabled middle name. This matrix is for first names, so to get a yes, it must have an odd number of syllables.
• Sentiment? Yes or no? Do Chris or I have any emotional attachment to this name?
• Nicknames? List them. Chris grew up with a number of nicknames at his beck and call, but I did not. We included this column just so we can be informed.
• Ethnicity? List it. Again, this is for our information, though any names with Scottish heritage will not be turned down by Chris.

We put every name on our list in the matrix, measured them, and then broke out the whiteboard. Names with three or four X’s went to the board + a handful of two X’ers (for middle naming). The result? We have three names in strong contention for Mini’s first name and five or six other names that we like for a middle name. Plus we have one combination that we both really like.

What is it? That, and all names that are in contention, will be kept a secret until we announce Mini’s name when he arrives. Certainly, if you have suggestions or guesses, you are welcome to share them. (Great) Grandma Irene thinks she has already named her first great grandson: Christopher Wayne Austin.

Here’s a shot of the pineapple oatmeal cookies–Dad’s favorite–I made for him. A double batch, of course. And yes, strange as pineapple oatmeal cookies sound, they’re quite delicious.

And this jar is supposed to be savings for fancy date nights. Oh, the sacrifices I make for the man I love and his Dr. Pepper vice.

Next week, I am teaching Twitter for Small Business I and II for the Community Enrichment Center at OTC, and the week after that, I’m teaching Blogging for Small Business.

Next week, Linden and I are attending the Missouri Distance Learning Association conference here in Springfield, and we are helping the administrators “blow up” Twitter by live tweeting the sessions we attend.

And the week after that, Linden and I are attending Online Edge: Internet Marketing Workshop hosted by Brett Curry and Chris Brewer. We are helping promote the event on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and we’ll be live-tweeting the event.

And the week after that, we’re wide open, aside from wrapping up the summer semester. But certainly, if you need someone to “blow up” your event on Twitter (or anywhere else), we are available!

P.S. The greatest thing about all this: Yes, I am so busy, I can barely get my to-do list in order, but I’m having a ton of crazy fun!!

Corujice

Originally uploaded by Planeta Amigurumi

No, I didn’t make him, but it sure makes me want to put him in my pocket and take him home! Sadly, even if I DID want to make him, my embroidery skills would need to improve ten-fold to make him look like an actual owl. No kidding.