Five things I learned from Blogging

Laura of Catholic Teacher Musings tagged me for this meme months ago. I'm just that tardy in getting around to things. I'm sure on her mental blogger report card I'm receiving a failing grade for not turning in my assignments. I may be out of school, but I still have a healthy fear of teachers and bad marks on my permanent record, so here goes.

1. I am free here. Writing is available to me. I am not constrained by format, length, tone, or deadline. I will not receive a red pen mark for putting that comma before the "or" in the previous sentence. As someone who has spent professional years writing correspondence and trip reports, I find this liberation intoxicating. The lesson I have learned from this freedom is that writing can actually be fun.
   
2. My words have value to me. This blog has, from the beginning, been primarily designed as a way for me to record family moments both large and trivial. My photo albums are bursting, but only tell part of the story. These words for my future self are as insignificant as a moment, but add up to tell another part of the story of our days.
3. I am not alone. I wont lie - going from a full-time career to being a stay-at-home mom was an enormously difficult transition for me. But by wandering through the blogs of other moms, and reading the comments people leave for me, I have gained self-assurance and a sense of place. I can still find intelligent conversation; it just isn't at the latte machine at work any more (oh do I miss that machine!).
4. Days fly by faster than I ever realized. I now notice the cycle of weeks as I prepare a vintage thing for every Thursday and finish something for every Friday. I post on How Do You Do It? every other Monday, and those sometimes feel as if they are only a day or two apart. Blogging gives me a different perspective on my calendar, and makes me appreciate each day.
5. You can get something for nothing. This amazes me. I have only entered a few blog giveaways, but I've won an astounding percentage of them. I feel blessed to receive packages full of goodies from total strangers. And this reminds me that I should do my own again soon.

So that is my list. I'm supposed to tag a few more, but I'm so lost and confused about who I've tagged for what that I'm going to pass this along to anybody who wants it. If you choose to do this meme, leave a note in the comments and I'll give your blog a shoutout on StumbleUpon. Consider it a little bloggy giveaway straight from me to you.

What has the elf been up to?

Our tree is up, and the house smells like Christmas now. Duncan the elf seems to have been playing in the box of ornaments.