SnOMG! 2010

When that turns to this in less than 24 hours



it's SnOMG!

Through Her Eyes . . . and of Her Eyes

A Break from the Usual as I Share Our Foreclosure "Secrets"

I have been hesitant to write about the new house as I've been fully expecting it to come crashing down any second now. It's been six months since we moved, and it all still seems a little too good to be true. There's a catch somewhere, and I'm not talking about the water leaking in the basement. There HAS to be a catch and it HAS to be worse than that little aquatic drama.

I say that because, as a lot of people know, we bought this house for well under it's actual value. It was a foreclosure. We paid in excess of $100,000 less than an identical house in a different development sold for around the same time we closed. And, no, that's not a typo. Six figures, baby.

Of course, by "identical" I mean it was identical when it was built three years ago. By the time we went to buy the house, it was in significantly different condition than the other one. SIGNIFICANTLY.

Anyway, this all adds up to people asking us a lot of questions about buying a foreclosure. So, here are some lessons we learned. They may or may not apply to all situations:

1. There is a myth that there are all kinds of super-cheap houses in great condition sitting around. First of all, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. There might be in some regions, but it's not the norm. Houses end up foreclosed because people can't afford to live in them. That means they also can't afford to maintain them.

Our house had all kinds of broken stuff and that is why we got it for the price we did. The appraiser happened to show up on the day that it was raining in the family room (because of leaks in the master bath plumbing one story above the family room . . . a LOT of leaks). She also took note of the badly damaged wood floor, the significant amounts of mold in the basement, the dangerous front stairs, the deck to nowhere, scary paint jobs, and all of the holes in the walls. She knocked $100,000 off the value because of all the problems she found.

While we made the repairs for far less than $100,000, we were taking one hell of a risk when we agreed to buy the place. For example, while we were able to clean up the mold with a couple of days work and for less than $200, an estimate put permanent repairs to the problem up over $15,000. It could have worked out that way if the mold had been behind the drywall. We got lucky; it wasn't.

Nearly all foreclosures have the same sorts of issues. It's a risk and all you can do is hire a really good inspector and prepare yourself for the worst.

2. Another lesson I learned through the process is that there is no reason to subscribe to a website that reports to list foreclosures. I tried a few, and never found anything that I couldn't have found on a regular (read: FREE) real estate website (Howard Hanna is my favorite).

The "catch" is that if you are brave enough to be looking at pre-foreclosures, those sites can be very helpful. A "pre-foreclosure" is a house that has a foreclosure pending--one way out of the situation is for the homeowner to sell the house for enough money to cover the outstanding loan. We weren't willing to deal directly with a homeowner and preferred to let a real estate company make a little profit.

Basically, foreclosures are included in MLS listings just like any other house. A Realtor can see that a house is bank (or company)-owned, but it really doesn't matter. I just searched based on price, with a special eye out for houses that seemed like they might be priced a little aggressively.

FYI--foreclosures frequently have very little information available online. I *think* Realtors who specialize in representing banks make less on those bank-owned properties than they do privately-owned ones because they clearly spend less time marketing the houses. There are fewer photos (if any) and information is usually incomplete online. For example, there were only three photos of this house online, and two of them were really bad photos of the kitchen. Nearly every description field in the listing was blank. We looked at the house anyway (because of the price and our familiarity with the neighborhood) and were FLOORED when we saw the place. If the bank's Realtor had tried even a little to market the place, there would have been a bidding war and the house would have sold for a lot more money.

3. If it can go wrong, it will because the bank really doesn't care if they sell the place. We seriously didn't know if we were going to have a house two days before we closed. There were some issues with the bank lying on a disclosure. We knew they had lied, they admitted they had lied, everybody knew it was illegal, but we were left to either ignore it or find another house. The bank wasn't going to budge on price at that point because they really didn't care if they sold the place or not. If it had been privately owned, we would have been looking at a Royal Flush and would have been able to make some demands. But, we weren't dealing with a family who was at risk of losing everything if they didn't make that deal. Banks are willing to start over and they will break a contract in a heartbeat. They already have a bunch of lawyers working for them, so it's really not a big deal.

I could list a ton more stuff, but this is already WAY too long. Another day, perhaps. Hopefully I don't find the catch before then.

File Under: Once in a While, I Just Need to Brag

I'm not really sure why I like to torture myself, but three years running, that's exactly what I've done.

2nd birthday:



3rd birthday:



Alexis has always picked what kind of cupcakes she wanted to take to school to share with all of her friends (we're talking about around 40 kids, btw). The flowers were an excellent pick. They turned out very cute, but weren't terribly hard to put together. A little time consuming, sure, but not hard.

We don't talk about the panda bears. They might not have been quite as filled with warm fuzzy memories for me. The kids liked them, though, and we'll pretend that is all that matters EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT.

This year Alexis set her heart on High School Musical cupcakes. More specifically, she wanted Mr. Danforth cupcakes. First of all, um, EWWWW! Second of all, um, HOW? I had no idea, so I consulted Dr. Google. He was a tiny bit helpful, but really didn't solve my issue. I found some of the plastic little picks with HSM photos on them, but at $2.50 a package, I wasn't really feeling the love. If I wanted to spend a fortune on this whole cupcake plot, I would trudge down to the grocery store and let somebody else do all the work.

I'm WAY too cheap for that.

Eventually I figured out to ask Alexis to pick out bits and pieces for making the cupcakes. She approved some sprinkles. She approved the concept of star-shaped cookies. She thought glittery gold frosting was pretty. She was committed to pink cake batter. A little WHAM! Some BAM! and VOILA!



Some lessons were learned. They may be boring lessons, but I don't care because next year I need to come back here and heed my own wise words.

1. This stuff? IS FREAKIN MAGICAL!



I was muy dubious, especially because of the $4 per can price tag. I'm too cheap to be paying $4 for something that is $2 if it comes in a regular old plastic tub. In fact, I only bought one can, knowing it wouldn't go far, but refusing to commit to breaking the bank. Then I used the stuff and learned that it is $4 for a can of time. Glorious time! I zipped through that first dozen cupcakes in no time flat.

(Psst . . . if you put frosting in a bag/tip thingy, it's much faster than spreading it with a knife. And purdier. You just go around in a circlish spiralish thing, starting at the outside. Once you finish the first layer, you do another circlish spiralish thing on top of the first one, covering the seams. PURDY! Or, let someone else take the time to shove that frosting in the tube by buying the can. Time! In a can!)

2. The recipe that's on the back of the box of cake mix sucks. Alter that sucker and the cupcakes will be moister and firmer, making them easier to decorate.

1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
whatever cake mix

Mix and bake according to the direction on the box. So. much. better.

3. Put the batter in a storage bag, cut a corner, and squeeze it into the cupcake holders instead of filling them with a spoon. Faster. Cleaner. Easier.

And now to start speculating on what next year's theme of choice will be . . . it just better not be Jonas Brothers because, um, EWWWWW!

P.S. Not a sponsored post, but there is an Amazon Affiliate link up there somewhere.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Tweet

It started with a tweet:



When Ginny first said she needed help, that she needed everybody who could see her message to start reaching out, I knew she would accomplish her mission. I knew she would find a way to get a plane to Haiti and that she would get the kids to safety.

And, of course, she did.

What happened between that first tweet and the arrival of the 53 orphans in Pittsburgh this morning is a story that I suspect will never fully be told. Party lines had to be crossed. Egos had to be checked. Miracles had to happen. I've previously worked with a few of the players who were involved in the final effort, so I have a tiny glimpse of how challenging it had to have been for all of the people involved to coordinate efforts. I have a tiny glimpse, and yet I'm sure I have no idea.

She'll never admit it, but Ginny did an amazing thing, and it all started with that first tweet.

****************************************

A HUGE thank you to each of you who wrote your elected officials, tweeted support, and contacted anybody you thought might be able to help. I am hugely humbled by how fantastic some of the people in "my circle" are. You know who you are. :-)

You Caption It

If You Wait Long Enough, H&M Clothes Shred Themselves

I've been the store employee instructed to discard of unsold and damaged goods. Fortunately, though, I've never stood in the back room of an H&M and destroyed perfectly good clothing, clothing that could have been donated to a local shelter, the Salvation Army, or directly to needy families.

If you haven't by now read the NY Times article revealing that a New York H&M store routinely cut up and then threw away unsold clothing, you should. I'll wait.

I first came across the story on twitter (via @KshrGirl). After initially being angry about the report, I set out to see if there was another side to the story. I found a lot of information from H&M saying that it was an isolated incident and that corporate policy was not to destroy unsold clothes.

Then twitter told me otherwise.

I heard from a former department manager who worked there from 2006 through 2008. She worked at several stores in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They did the same thing at every store she went to.

And what about now?

Another twitter friend sent me a direct message to say that she works at one of the Pittsburgh stores now. She was instructed by a manager to destroy items as recently as a week ago. The items weren't returns that had obviously been worn. They weren't stained. They weren't damaged. They were articles that had been in the store several months and just plain hadn't sold. There was nothing wrong with them until she took scissors to them and cut them up.

I get the business side of this whole thing. It's important to make sure that the items on the sales floor live up to the quality standards and reputation of the company. I was a manager at Stein Mart for four years and was frequently tasked with deciding what to do with items that had been damaged, returned, or hadn't sold. We worked very hard to salvage what we could. If an item was damaged but still salable, it was marked down and sold. If an item was stained, our seamstress would pull out some magical cleaner, a little elbow grease, and get the item back to new condition. If an item was beyond hope, it was destroyed. If it just plain wouldn't sell, it was sent to a different store and given another chance. (Ever been to a brand new store and wondered how they had clearance items? That's how.) If the item wasn't worth shipping elsewhere, it was donated locally. Sure, it took time, but so does destruction and waste.

I'm breaking up with H&M. I can't support a company that I know cares more about reputation than they do about giving back to the community.

Now I'm just wondering what other companies need to be added to my black list.

Spoiler Alert: The Princess and the Frog

I long ago grew accustomed to uncomfortable questions about death. It's rare that a week goes by without Alexis asking about our pup Jasmine. While it's been well over a year since she unexpectedly died, Alexis is still trying to figure it all out. Her questions have, over time, become more complicated and more worldly, a reflection of her advancing age and maturity.

I try to answer her honestly (there is no other answer for, "Why did she die?" than I DON'T KNOW--that's the simple truth of the matter). I do not dodge the questions. I figure that's what we get for naming our dog after a Disney Princess; Alexis is immersed in a world with constant reminders that, for her, there are "two Jasmines--purple Jasmine and white Jasmine" and "white Jasmine" is no longer with us.

(Note to self: Quit naming things after Disney characters.)

Anyway, I pretty much assumed that there would be a death in The Princess and the Frog. That's how Disney rolls. A movie can't sport the mark of the Mouse unless somebody bites the big one. As we sat watching the movie with Alexis, a movie she had been waiting MONTHS to see, I thought we were home free when Tiana's dad died. It was sort of a passing moment, not really a major part of the plot. No questions, no fuss, no muss. (More like the Aladdin Has No Mommy kind of dead and less like the Lion King Buh-Bye Daddy of death.)

In fact, I really liked the movie at that point (and still do, but . . .). The main theme is that you can wish on the evening star all you want, but only hard work will make your dreams come true. Forget the usual reliance on good looks or standing around waiting for Prince Charming to come along to make everything all right. Finally! My kind of Disney Princess movie!

And then the damn lightening bug got squished. Frickin' frackin' Disney and their need to kill off characters led to a chorus of kids asking, "Why did he do that?" as they watched the villain murder a loved character. All through the theater you could hear parents struggling to answer the questions or change the subject.

Just when it seemed that it was going to be one of those, "Oh, yeah, he died but we're going to just move on" kind of moments, the damn lightening bug showed back up and then finished off his little dying routine on screen.

Thanks, Disney! That was a fantastic little moment right there.

That fantastic little moment was made better by the funeral that followed.

The good news is that the squished bug ended up going where he was meant to be, so to speak.

So, good on Disney for giving us a talking point to talk about death and respect and funerals and heaven and all that jazz, but WHY DIDN'T THEY WARN ME? Why can't Disney flicks come with some sort of rating about whether or not a movie is going to make my kid question the meaning of life? Kind of like, "Rated E for This One Will be Easy to Explain" to "Rated F for You Are So Effed if You Think You Can Just Blow this One Off."

I just wish Disney would figure out that the primary audience for princess flicks is little girls who like sparkles, shiny things, pretty dresses, and who ask way too many questions.

Straight Out of the Camera and Looking Fine

7 Layers of Fun

It's been nearly two years since it dawned on me that some of my most favoritest bloggers (who also happened to be parents) lived close enough for me to stalk in person. A few comments and emails later, 17 of us had a dinner date.

Chaos ensued.

The chaos was so spectacular that we decided to make that dinner date a regular thing. Pretty much every month since, a group of us has gotten together. Some people have joined in on the fun only to fade away soon after, but others have come along to take their places. At any given Burgh Moms and Dads get-together, you'll find twenty or so people.

And then there is our annual cookie swap. When you throw cookies into the mix, amazing things happen. Mostly, you know, cookies, but also HOLY LOT OF PEOPLE. At our house. Because I love love love love love that we finally have a house big enough to entertain, so bring it on!

I don't know how many people were here Saturday, but I know that there are ten dozen cookies in our freezer. Actually, hold on . . . make that nine dozen. I was hungry and there were Buckeyes to destroy.

There were kids EVERYWHERE. You couldn't walk five feet without having to make sure you weren't stepping on tiny, adorable, chubby little fingers. You couldn't see the carpet in the playroom because the toys were strewn about. And then you couldn't walk through the dining room without eating a cookie or ten.

Heaven. That's what it was. Heaven.

I would have photographic evidence of the heaven, but it seems I can't figure out how to use my camera lately. Apparently while Mr. Husband and Alexis were battling the flu a few weeks ago, I came down with an epic case of ForgotHowToTakePictures-itis. Please send a cure.

In exchange for a cure to my disease, here is the recipe for the Seven Layer Bars that I made. Easy and kind of generic, but we've already established that I can't be trusted to finish anything. I had to go that route.

4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a 9x13" pan (I use glass). Smother the melted butter with the graham crackers and even it all out. Add the remaining ingredients in layers, making sure to evenly spread the sweetened condensed milk over the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the coconut is lightly browned.

Make sure to score the sides of the pan once the bars have cooled a little bit, unless you want to have to eat all of the ones on the edge. They kinda suck to get out of the pan if you forget to score them and the edge ones will fall apart, turning way too ugly to be given to other people. Ahem.

Does that Sweater Come in My Size? Because it Needs To.

Another Way to Spread the Crazy

In case you hadn't noticed, there are a bunch of really amazing people who have bought ad space in support of Christmas Crazy. They have pretty little badges way over there --------------------->

You should go check them out because every single one of them is worth your time. For reals.

Also falling under the category "amazing" is Amie Powell. Amie is an fantastic photographer based in Pittsburgh and she has offered a little sumpin sumpin. She emailed me asking that I share this:

"I would like to have a session with one of YOU - and donate the money to Christmas Crazy. It will be awesome to be able to help out such a great cause, also give a family some fun photographs before the holidays. If there is more than one family interested, I will donate $50 of every session."

So if you're looking to get some great photographs (perhaps family portraits for Christmas cards), check her out. Make sure that you tell her I sent you.

P.S. for Mr. or Mrs. FTC law enforcer--No compensation here. Zero. Zip. Zilch. You may now carry on.

"Thank You" Doesn't Quite Do It Justice

Can we talk about Christmas Crazy for Kids for a minute? Please?

YOU GUYS!

After watching donation after donation roll in and after reading amazing email after amazing tweet after amazing email, I'm beginning to wonder a little something. If I ask y'all for some help curing the common cold, are you going to manage to cure cancer? I set a goal, y'all smash it, again and again and again. Words can't even express my gratitude.

All I have is "thank you." So, thank you.

We (and I do mean "WE"--none of this happens without each of you) are currently sitting at just over $2100. Already Alle Kiski HOPE Center is looking to have a better Christmas than they expected as $750 worth of gift cards are headed their way tomorrow. And, yes, I said gift cards. You see, they are a short-term domestic violence shelter, meaning their residents are limited to a 30 day stay. They do get help from various groups to provide Christmas magic, but it requires that they provide the information about residents now. The people who are in the shelter now will not be the ones there next month. Y'all saved them from their usual annual scramble to try to pull something together for kids who they may not even know about yet. Gift cards will allow them to shop for specific items for those kids, and may give some parents a chance to select gifts for their kids at a time when they are mostly focused on survival.

You did good.

Additionally, because the original goal was smashed in such magnificent fashion, I did a little digging around regarding another domestic violence shelter in Pittsburgh. The Women's Center and Shelter of Great Pittsburgh is another agency that does amazing work, and we're going to be adopting two families for Christmas this year.

The holidays are often a time of year when domestic violence agencies provide the most support, so your help is about as perfectly timed as it gets.

(Slightly off topic--I know so much about what these agencies do because I used to work for a company that sold software to them. I spent mucho time in shelters nation-wide providing support and training, so I've seen firsthand how needed their services are. If you are outside of Pittsburgh and interested in starting a little Christmas Crazy fund for your local shelter, send me an email. I am more than happy to help however I can.)

That brings us to the rest of the money. HOLY SMOKES! TOYS! LOTS OF TOYS! I'm going to be delivering a mega-truckload of toys to Toys for Tots on November 30th. I can't wait. More information about that bit of fun (including lots of pics) is headed your way in the days to come.

So. I was going to close up the PayPal account tomorrow and declare a job well done. However, a few people have emailed and asked to be able to help beyond tomorrow. I think there is enough time to make it all work, so I'm extending it by a week. If you've got a buck or two sitting around, you've got until November 20th to toss it in the Christmas Crazy pot. Can we make it to $3000? I think we can.

P.S.
I'm not above making you all weepy again, so compliance is probably your best option. Just sayin'.

I Bet You're Jealous of Our Super Sexy Deck

Christmas Crazy for Kids

If you've been reading for any length of time, you know that I have a . . . uh . . . "thing" for Christmas. As in, I like it. A lot. I especially like the decorating and stringing lights and giving presents and decorating and did I mention that I really like the decorating? Well, I do. A lot.

This year I wanted to spread a little Christmas cheer to some kids in need. Things didn't exactly go as I had hoped, but enough people said, "We can dooooo this," that I figured I better not let it drop.

So.

Christmas Crazy for Kids.

The mission: To raise $1000 and hook up a whole lot of kids with some really fantastic toys for Christmas. The deadline: November 15th. After that, I'll be taking every penny that winds up in the PayPal account, doing a little shopping, and delivering as many toys as possible to Toys for Tots (via Stuff-a-Bus) and the kids at a local domestic violence shelter (specifically HOPE Center).

There are two ways you can help.

Donate: There's a handy-dandy Give Christmas Crazy button over in the far right column. Click that and it'll take you to a PayPal page where you can make a monetary donation.

Advertise: Revenue from all advertising sold on this site between now and November 15th will be added to the Christmas Crazy for Kids monies. Email me at burghbaby (at) gmail.com to reserve your space.

Image Links--$50 per month: Your image linked to a site of your choosing over in the far right column. It will be the same size as the Give Christmas Crazy image (150 x 150). Images will be placed in the order in which they are received.

Text Links--$20 per month: Your text linked to the site of your choosing over in the far right column. Text links will be placed at the bottom of the column.

Let's spread some Christmas Crazy!

Pooh Can Keep His Squishy Cute Halloween. BOO!

There is no doubt that our decision to buy a new house in July was a very good one. There are a million reasons why it has been fantabulous, but the neighbor upgrade is a pretty significant one. We have gone from having a neighbor complain to the home owners' association about the swing we had tucked under our deck to having a free swingset walk its way into our yard.

Definitely a neighbor upgrade.

Another clear indication that we are in a good place is that there are Halloween decorations in probably half of the yards in our neighborhood. In fact, despite my love of all things tacky and holiday, we don't have the most yard decorations around. Next year, it's game on. This year, however, here's what we have on display:

But I Did Have to Walk Uphill Both Ways to School

I should know better than to trust him.

He has tried to control me.

He has worked to trick me.

He has lied to me soooo many times before.

And yet, I brought TomTom with me on this trip. I depended on him to get me from the airport to the hotel. FAIL.

As I pulled out of the airport parking garage, the GPS advised me to stay left. And again. And again. Ten minutes later, I realized I had driven in a full circle. The TomTom wanted me to go back inside the parking garage.

I don't know what that says about how TomTom feels about Atlanta, but I'm thinking it's not good.

As I went all crazy and defiant and veered right to avoid the parking garage, I remembered that TomTom hates me. It's either that, or TomTom really thinks I'm cute when I'm mad.

When the TomTom told me to turn left down a one-way street? I bet I was REAL cute. Having smoke pouring out of your ears always has that effect. When TomTom told me that my hotel was in a mall parking lot? SO ADORABLE!

Way back in time, I traveled for work all the time. I would leave on Sunday night and run around to three or four cities before returning Friday night. I relied heavily on maps, internet directions, and signs. Never once did I wind up driving the wrong way down a one-way street, driving into a parking garage when I didn't want to park, or navigating straight towards a pier.

As I sat in the mall parking lot trying to figure out which way to go, I thought back to the days of yore, looked up, and realized I had been in that mall parking lot before. In fact, I had stayed on that very street for nearly six months early in my consulting career. I'm blaming the fact that every street in Atlanta is named Peachtree something or other for me not realizing that I was headed towards familiar territory. I blame TomTom for making me take THE REALLY FREAKING long way there.

Life was simpler back in the good ol' days of maps and internet directions.

I Might Have Passed Out Laughing as I Made This

A HUUUUUGE Thank You!

There is no way that I can possibly thank you all enough for all of your votes that helped Burgh Baby to WIN the Best Local Blog poll at The Bump! You are AMAZING! And a little scary, if we're being honest. Let's just say that I would be very afraid of crossing y'all because you have clicky fingers, and you know how to use them.

Anyway, in thinking about ways I could repay you all for your awesomeness, it dawned on me that the best way to thank you was to pay it forward. So that's what I hope to do. The voting that took place this past week over at The Bump was for category winners. There is a Grand Prize round which pits all of the category winners against each other. Initially, I had planned on ignoring that round for a lot of reasons, chief among them that there are several people who I adore and who I consider friends in that round. I prefer to support friends, not go head-to-head with them.

But.

But then I started thinking about what I could do with $1000 cash. I could have a hell of a lot of fun with $1000. Like, WOAH! Brain explosion! And you know what would be the absolute most fun a person can possibly have? Bringing Christmas crazy to some kids in need.

$1000 buys a lot of Christmas crazy.

So, here's the plan. If Burgh Baby wins the voting over here, I'm taking that money to Toys 'R Us and loading up on a truckload of toys. I'll deliver half of that fun to Mikey and Big Bob of 96.1 KISS for their annual Stuff-a-Bus promotion supporting Toys for Tots. The other half will go to a local domestic violence shelter so that kids at risk can have the kind of Christmas they wouldn't otherwise have. (I know the name of the shelter I have in mind, but need to confirm with them that the gift is appropriate for them. If it's not, I'll pick another shelter. It's all about bringing Christmas crazy to kids, yo.)

Voting ends at 11:59 Eastern Daylight Time on October 26th. It will not be easy to win at all because WOW! are there some big time fantastic bloggers in that list, but it can't hurt to try, right?

GO (link deleted)!

And (link deleted).

And (link deleted).

And (link deleted).

If You Are Looking for Cute Kid Stuff, Come Back Later

I went into Podcamp Pittsburgh expecting to learn a lot. I was not disappointed. In a matter of minutes I learned:

* Pittsburgh's social media community truly is the best in the world. I actually already knew that, but I saw "the machine" in action on a grand scale, and it's amazing. There is no other group of people who are as supportive of one another. When you can stick tech experts, beer podcasters, sports bloggers, GLBT podcasters, newspaper reporters, radio rock stars, masters of mayhem, CNN.com cover girls, and a mommy blogger in the same room and have everybody come out laughing hysterically? You know you have a good thing going.

* Creative Commons licenses are the shizznet.

* There are a heck of a lot of people who are interested in learning how to keep their blog going, especially when it comes to finding things to write about.


(Photo source)

It just so happens that I was the one presenting about that last thing. I am by no means a blogging expert, but I guess I have to admit to knowing a little bit about "finding fodder." I base that solely on the fact that I've blogged almost daily for over four years (you can try hunting for the early stuff, but you won't find it unless you break into my house and find the exact cabinet where I've stuffed the printouts from blogs long destroyed). There is video of the presentation coming to the Podcamp Pittsburgh site, but basically I think the trick to keeping a blog going for any extended amount of time comes down to exactly one word: Why?

I've stood on the sidelines as hundreds of blogs within my circle have come and gone. Every once in a while I run through my blogrolls and delete sites that haven't updated in the past three or four months. Every time I do it, I say goodbye to at least five or six sites. The writers cite varying reasons for closing up shop, but I think there tends to be a common thread: the writer was never clear on their "Why?" Why blog? No, really. WHY?

Look, if you're blogging to make money or you are blogging because you want attention, you're going to end up in trouble before you even get started. I'm able to keep going because I know that I'm doing it for Alexis. I want her to have this history of her childhood. It's like having a baby book, only better. Much better.

Any time I start to wonder if a story is appropriate for this space, I ask myself, "Why?" If the story isn't in line with my overall goals, it doesn't get posted.

Any time I question if a photo should be posted here, I ask myself, "Why?" It only takes a second to figure out what to do once I'm focused on my motives.

And when it comes to figuring out what I should put in this space, I almost always fall back on my go-to fodder finding question, "What about today made it different from every other day?" It could be something good, something bad, or something ugly, but it's always followed up by, "Why?" Why did that event stand out? Why did it make me laugh? Why did it bother me?

I'll link to the video once it has been posted. In the meantime, how do those of you who maintain blogs find things to write about? Have any tips you care to share with the class?