2008 January 26 — slackermama . com

I know. I said I wouldn’t be changing the design again for a long, long time. What can I say? I lied. Plus, as I mentioned the other day, I’ve been seeing these themes around that have been tickling my fancy (design wise, you sickos). I’m rather proud of myself because it took me a while to find an existing theme that was anywhere close to what I wanted. Even then, I had to make some significant changes and additions to get things “just so”. Of course, this makes it sound like I worked and slaved for weeks on end when it really only took about two days. But… whatever.

I found I had a hard time giving up the three column thing. And no one was more surprised than I was that I didn’t have to give it up. Yippee! This way, I can have my ads and goofy stuff in the righthand column and the more site-specific stuff on the left. And let’s not forget the bottom columns. Yep, that was something I definitely wanted to implement (that I have actually had before in the past): a bottom sidebarish sort of thing. Down there you can find the recent comments, the list of dedicated commenters and popular posts. Wee!

Also loving: the random flicker banner up under the title graphic. I still have my regular flickr feed down in the footer, but this way we get a good sampling of some of the pics that might be a little long in the tooth.

Also (wanting to toot my own horn here), I’m totally enamored with widgets and I widgetized EVERYTHING. The theme came with the sidebars widgetized (though backwards for some reason… huh? the left was the right and the right was the left. gah) but as there was no footer sidebar section, I had to add that in and then widgetize it all myself. I did it and no one got hurt in the process. So, pats on the back for me!

I know a lot of this is probably technical gobblety gook to a great many of you, but regardless, I hope you enjoy the end product. I’m worried it’s taking a while to load, so let me know if you have any problems with that. There are probably some things I need to fiddle with yet, so if you see something I may have missed, let me know. But most of all, you gotta tell me: Do you love it? Cuz I think I kinda do.

Get the word out:

Has another week passed already? I’m caught somewhere between feeling as if the weeks are just flying by to wondering why it feels like I’ve been 29 weeks pregnant FOREVER. I’m sure the restless nights don’t help. Still, it feels as if it was just a day or two ago that I was sitting here compiling yet another YNTR list. But, so be it. Besides, you all seem to enjoy these link lists quite a bit. That does my heart good, to see someone else enjoying something that I enjoy coming up with. Plus, I enjoy spreading some well-deserved linklove around the blogosphere. So if you enjoy reading it and I enjoy writing it, then why don’t I just get on with it, eh? Good question.

“So THAT’S How She Does It” from Lag Liv. This is an absolutely fascinating topic. I’ve often wondered just what the women within these polygamous marriages are thinking and now I think I have a little glimpse. And I agree, I feel a little bad for her that she actually thinks this is a good deal she has going.
“The Tutorial Bossy Hopes You Never Need.” from i am bossy. I sure do hope I never need it, but it’s good to know these things. I for one wouldn’t have considered the plastic bag within the bag of ice thing. I am still amazed that she was able to keep her head during all of that. You do what you must, right?
“Please tell me I’m not the only one who occasionally refers to Jack as ‘Charlie’” from What’re you lookin’ at? Yep, we “LOST” fans have claimed another “victim”! Though I will admit to being more than a little horrified that Frema has yet to watch “Dawson’s Creek”. For shame!
“Life is a Highway…That I’ll apparently now be driving…” from LOST A SOCK. I feel a lot of connection with her, seeing as how I also became unexpectedly pregnant after suffering from infertility. I love her bumper sticker idea (I want one too!), even if I can’t entirely agree with her chicken and sour cream fetish.
“This one hits home.” from misszoot. Heath Ledger died. Zoot has much the same reaction that I did when I found out.
“Oasis on the maternity floor” from mothergoosemouse. Having a private room vs a semi-private room at the hospital is a huge issue for me. It just drives me nuts that there are hospitals which still do the whole semi-private thing. The initial post-partum period is perhaps one of the most delicate moments in a woman’s life and I believe she deserves to have her own room during that time. It seems MGM might now agree with me, having “seen the other side”.
“Pushover Parenting” from Suburban Turmoil. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine and something I see more and more every day it seems. Parents who give in to their children for all the wrong reasons. I’m a big believer that our kids need us to give them boundaries and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one.
“It’s the End of the World As We Know It?” from Surrender, Dorothy. Definitely not a subject I particularly care to dwell on, but it is an interesting thought. She had me thinking about this one for days afterward.
“Skip This One if You’ve Got an Elephant Bumper Sticker…” from Mom-101. As far as political posts go (and I don’t generally care or them), this one was excellent. Because the message here is a very, very important one and as parents we should care about very deeply.
“The Princess, The Cowboy and The Narrative of Footprints” from Her Bad Mother. Perhaps the best post on the death of Heath Ledger that I’ve seen. She sums up the loss perfectly. It *is* about a man and his daughter, at the end of the day. What a terrible loss to that little girl.
“Now with grand ambitions!” from moosh in indy. Here’s another “from the heart” post about having the feeling that you are letting yourself down and letting your dreams die and just wishing that you had ONE THING that you were the best at. It’s easy, as a SAHM, to feel as if you have nothing to offer. I know that one well.
“L&D Q&A numero tres (aka: The one about breastfeeding)” from Parental Discretion Advised. I really appreciated the honesty with which Bree discussed what has to be a painful subject for her. And a sensitive one. But the fact of the matter is that sometimes these things happen and no one should be made to feel guilty for the decisions they make about feeding their child. Way to go, Bree!
“Payback is a… ahem…Female Dog.” from Dad Gone Mad. This was just silly, this was. Plus, I cannot imagine living somewhere where one might encounter an entire convoy of rainbow colored Lamborghinis. And, for what it’s worth, I think my reaction would have been much the same as Danny’s.