following and inspiring

The bigger Bella gets the less time I have to sit at a computer...even though I sit at one 75% of the day at work. (idea: start blogging while at work. at least I would be more consistent, which is a future goal or resolution this new year.) So, Matt promised an hour of Bella-free blogging time, however, she's sitting next to me screaming that she wants to read a book while Daddy attends to the laundry...so I'm not going to complain even though I gave him hours of Bella-free time earlier in the day because then the laundry won't get done. Ugh. Ignoring her is working this time. On with the purpose of this post. I use my blackberry phone more than I thought I ever would. It's my connection to the world and my escape from my world. I spend early morning or late evening hours when I'm too tired to do anything else with the 2 inch screen 4 inches away from my face reading all that I can about whatever I can. (I am getting very good and discerning words from the 'shape' of the word, meaning I can't really see all the letters, but I can see that the word had a tall letter at the beginning and a vowel (o or a) at the end. Using my context clues too, I figured out the word was "bravo.")

I am sharing my list, in the order of discovery, so you know what I'm reading when I don't have time or energy to be writing.

Urban Grace
I read for house ideas. They live somewhere in the Carolina's I think so it's not very applicable to Houston...or to anything that Matt likes.
Gun Blog
I read to laugh. A coworker's husband writes this blog for the Chronicle.
Fly Through Our Window
I read this for fun. The author is the sister of Urban Grace. The mom has 3 kids and I love to see her crafts. I made honey cinnamon butter from her blog last year as Christmas gifts to all my coworkers.
Life in Graz
I read this to see what life is like as an expat. Carolyn also spiffed up my blog so I like to check back on what she has done for others.
Mommy Said What?
I love this and read it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday when she updates. I'm going to try to do what she does and write consistently...we'll see if it happens.
Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone
I read this to give me an idea of what it would be like to renovate Matt's house. I'm now completely disillusioned.
Young House Love
I just recently found this and I like it. I'm insanely jealous that this family lives off of the blog and gets to work together to renovate their small house. They have good simple ideas that I think I could do...if I had the time and money.
SciGuy
I read this for interesting science facts to share with Matt.
Green and Natural Parenting
I read this for a few ideas about gifts for kids.
Amazon
I search for ideas and reviews of items that I have seen on other blogs. Sometimes I'm successful. My current search is for Twilight Turtle.
Swamplot
I read this for all the Houston happenings.
Becoming Minimalist
Matt likes to profess that he's a minimalist. I read this to remind him that minimalists don't keep every receipt for gasoline from 2007. It's ok to throw things away or to recycle or to give to those who need it more than we do.