A Lesson in Blogging

I spent all day yesterday putting together my previous post, "The Case of the Baby Hog". In addition to food shopping, it's the one and only thing I accomplished on a lazy Sunday.

I wrote/read/edited/previewed. I downloaded pictures. I left my house to go to the local coffee shop so the videos would download faster. I got out my good old Random House College Dictionary to check the usage of "lay" versus "lie". Red dictionary open on my lap, I also checked the definition of "absconded" and decided it didn't quite fit since the baby was not being hogged "in a secretive manner".

No one asked me to do these things, or expected me to do them. I'm not trying to win any awards or sell my blog (yet). I did them because I enjoy writing, thought I had a clever idea in my head and went with it. Write. Edit. Post. Share. Sit back and see if anyone will read or respond to said idea. Smile if they do, don't think twice if they don't (after I've shared it again, just in case they missed it).



I'm not in the habit of blogging regularly. I really only enjoy the process when I'm inspired. That last post got me excited for a few reasons:

1. An obvious excuse to post multiple pictures of Emmaline. (see below)
2. My siblings and I tease each other about who gets the most baby time, each denying the role of hog. Come on, who's not going to take advantage of a chance to spell it all out and implicate a sibling?
3. It's recorded family history. I imagine Emmaline one day hogging a baby cousin. We aunts and uncles will look at each other and say, "Just like her Aunt RoRo." Then of course I'll refer her back to this blog and Emma will know exactly what we're talking about and see what a cute babe she was and how much Aunt Roxanne loved her. How cool is that?

There's just one problem. Caught up in my idea and the process of writing, I did not think for even one second what Roxanne might think being the central figure in "The Case of the Baby Hog". 

It was suggested I take the blog down. (But all my clever, hard work, a whole Sunday gone to waste!) I declared that I'll just never write a blog post again. (But I'm just getting started with this blog and I want to write again so there's not an ounce of truth in that declaration.) I'll never write about people I know again. (Also not true, people inspire me.) I'll tiptoe around controversial subjects. (Eh, I'm not writing about politics or religion here, people. How am I supposed to know what could be controversial? Today baby hogs, tomorrow yoga poses!)

Lesson learned. Be careful what you blog about or be ready to explain. Aunt RoRo is not a liar, though I twisted the evidence in "The Case of the Baby Hog" to make it appear so. Aunt RoRo does hog the baby, but so do I when given the chance. So do we all.

If you don't know my sister Roxanne, know this: One day, when I was working at the local Borders bookstore, one of Roxanne's coaches walked up to my register. Making small talk, she said how much she enjoyed my sister. "I know, she's beautiful, isn't she?" I said. The coach agreed, but explained that she wasn't just talking about her looks, she meant her personality as well; she's so genuine and fun to be around. I nodded in agreement. That's exactly what I meant. Beautiful, inside and out.