Why I Started my Blog

and

are asking the question: Why did you start your blog?  
And you know me.  I like to talk about things and link up places and promote other great blogs.  And I like to write things that make me think a little.
This one is really making me think because I'm not sure why I started this blog.  It's not the first one I started. That was a blog about Teddy growing.  I dropped away from it, getting into LJ a bit more.  Then I started a blog for my 101 in 1001 goals.  I (far too often) start things that I don't finish.  And that's what happened there.  But Sanity's Overrated.... that's a bit more difficult.
A lot of it, I think, may have been because I had started drifting away from Livejournal and connecting more with people on Facebook.  But Facebook doesn't give me the opportunity to write the way that I want to.  I needed a place to write regularly.
Around the same time, there was a Blogger swap on Swap-Bot.  I thought it would be a good time to actually start this blog.  I didn't know what it was going to be.  I knew that I'd write, but what would I write about?  The boys and my life? Probably.  The book reviews?  I hadn't expected those.  My swap-bot stuff?  Not a bad idea, especially with Blogger swaps.  But what Sanity's Overrated would actually be... well, I think I'm still trying to figure that out.  Like myself, it continues to grow and change.
It's become a living thing, and that is something I'm grateful for.

Proud to be outnumbered

As I was going through my FeedSquares this evening, I came across a post from one of my favorite Mom Bloggers, Shell at Things I Can't Say. Like me, Shell is the only female in a crowd of males and proud to be a mom of boys.  She pointed toward a blog hop going on until August 3 specifically for moms of boys who also happen to be bloggers.  It's sponsored by M.O.B. Society and is a great way to get those of us who deal with snips and snails and puppy dog tails all day long to get to know one another.  Until seeing this post, I hadn't heard of this particular blog, but it seems to be a resource I want to check out a LOT more regularly!

If you're interested in checking it out as well, you can find the Hop here, with already 108 Bloggers checking in.  I don't expect I'll get through all of the blogs linked, but I do look forward to meeting a few of the other bloggers on there.

Now, for those of you that have come over here to check me out from there, sit down, get comfy and ignore the noise.  The boys are having another Pokemon battle.  Trust me. You get used to it.

My name is Amber and I've been writing on Sanity's Overrated for close to a year.  I write a little of everything here - memes from other bloggers, stories of my life, what's going on with my boys, thoughts, fears, worries... it's just kind of a place for me to be me. I love to read, love to write, love to get to know people.  My sense of humor - as well as my writing style - goes pretty much all over the map.  Well... sort of.  I guess my writing style would be be described as "stream of consciousness".  I'm also pretty much take me as you see me.  And I'm pretty open.  So if you have a question, feel free to ask.

There are three people I talk about more than any others.

Rich or Rick (I slip back and forth between the two... it's an oddity) is the man crazy enough to marry me.  He's just my kind of geek and I count myself lucky every day.  He is the one that goes out, 5 days a week, to make the money that keeps us with all the things we want and need. He's got a fantastic sense of humor and loves the fact that, most of the time, I can see where he's going with a joke or a quote.  We really fit together pretty well.  Like me, he's a voracious reader. Like me, he's a role-playing gamer (pencil, paper and real live dice, though a good computer game now and then isn't a bad thing.)  I'm pretty sure he's where my sons get their sense of humor from.  He's the one that helps keep me sane in my insane world.

Teddy is my 5 year old, starting kindergarten in less than 2 weeks (no! Not my baby!) and has dominant geek genes as well.  He's also one of the smartest kids I know.  Sometimes I worry about him because of that.  I'm already seeing where he wants to give up if something doesn't come easy for him.  But I'm hoping he'll grow out of it.

He's a huge reader, reading somewhere around a 2nd or 3rd grade level.  He loves comics and graphic novels and has even started getting into some of the chapter books (like the Nick Zone Books).  He's a huge Pokemon fan, loves playing his GameBoy and Game Cube, watches a HUGE variety of cartoons (through Netflix Streaming, our personal DVDs or the library's DVDs) and loves to spend time on the computer.  He can be a bit of a ham sometimes.  And that's just the way I like it.

Peter is 2, going on 3 in about 2 months.  He's my mischief maker.  That boy will do ANYTHING to get a chuckle out of us.  I'm convinced he's part monkey, the way he'll climb on anything he can find footholds and handholds on.  He likes to give Mommy heart-attacks.  But he also loves to give full body hugs... you know the kind where his arms wrap around your neck and his legs wrap around your waist and he just snuggles in.  It's one of the best feelings in the world!  He also worships his big brother.  Right now, he's having a hard time understanding that just because Teddy's going to kindergarten doesn't mean that he will be going.  If Teddy likes something, it's a fair bet that Pete will be into the same thing soon.  Right now, it's Pokemon.  He's going back to his Parents Day Out program this fall (both boys have gone for the last two years, so it will be another change for him, not having big brother there).  It's going to be interesting, having just Pete around for the three days he's not in PDO.  I'm hoping it means less chaos, but somehow I doubt it.

So that's my family in a nutshell (which immediately brings to mind Austin Powers... but that's neither here nor there).  This blog is just my little corner of the world.  And I love being here.

Blog Hoppin'!

Being the first weekend of the month, The Mom Pledge is doing the monthly Mom Pledge Blog Hop.  Take a moment to check out some of the other blogs that have taken the pledge.  We're a growing group of Mom bloggers who think that bullying - in any form, especially among the blogging community - is unacceptable.  We do our best to stop bullying whenever and wherever we see it.

Elizabeth, the wonderful woman who started The Mom Pledge, also started a web store with various items to help promote The Mom Pledge.  To get the word out and get things started, she hosted a giveaway of 5 tote bags and a grand prize of a choice of apparel. Well, I won a tote bag.  So I'm going to be able to promote one of my favorite causes throughout Nashville.  Thanks, Elizabeth (and her special helper) for pulling my name.

Now to get Hoppin'!

Blog Hopping

Since it's Tuesday, it's



Hosted by The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom!, Stash Mama, Lilac City Mama, Dandy Giveaway and One + One = Four, it's a way to get to know some of your fellow bloggers.  So hop around to some of the blogs, and who knows?  You just might find a new favorite!

Time for a Blog Hop!

It's that time again - time for the weekly Mom Pledge Blog Hop!  And, being Easter Weekend, it's a perfect time for "hopping" along with that famous Bunny. :)

For those new to my blog, I'm a big believer in the Mom Pledge.  We're a group of Mom Bloggers that are doing our best to eradicate bullying in the Mom Blogging community.  We believe that it is possible to disagree without making it personal, without trying to make the blogger in question feel like shit just because we don't agree with something they say.  Our community is constantly growing, so please feel free to join.  Even if you aren't a Mom blogger (like my friend Kerri), that doesn't mean that you can't give your support if you agree with what we're trying to do.

So... take a hop on to the next blog and see who else you may discover among the Mom Pledge community!

A day full of... full, and the Saturday Blog Hop!

Today is going to be one incredibly full day.  Quite a bit of time will be spent outside the home.  We've got our usual Saturday trip to the library, along with today's being the monthly book sale there (of which this is also one of their 1/2 price sales, so I'm hoping to get lots of goodies).  This afternoon, we've got the 11th Annual Family Literacy Day sponsored by Belmont University. As I mentioned previously, this is something we've been going to for the last couple of years and we really, really enjoy it.  I think Even Pete is ready to really enjoy it this year.  I can't wait to see what books they pick out at the end of it all.  I've got a couple errands to run as well (like going to the store) so we probably won't be back until later in the evening.

I'm hoping to get quite a bit of blogging done today, as well as make a couple additions to the blog as a whole that I was hoping to make.  I was far too tired to do my A to Z Challenge post or my Feel Good Friday post yesterday, let alone the book reviews that I needed to do.  So my hope is to get those finished today so I can feel like I'm a bit caught up.

I have done one thing online already today - joined the Saturday Blog Hop through The Mom Pledge.  For any new readers that haven't already taken the Mom Pledge, this is a cause that I believe very firmly in.  It was started by Elizabeth at The Writer Revived in an effort to make people aware of Mommy Blogger Bullying - the tendency for some Mommy Bloggers to berate, stalk, or in any other way bully mom's that they don't agree with.  Being online, it gives a lot of moms a sense of powerlessness because they can't actually face their attacker.  The Mom Pledge was created for Moms to not only be made aware of this problem and spread the word, but to try to help each other out when we see bullying occurring.  I have often said that I've been very lucky when it comes to online bullying in my blog - I've had fantastic commenters who, even if they don't agree with something that I post, don't manage to sling mud here.  But I know that I'm lucky in that aspect.  Not all Mommy Bloggers are - particularly those who make non-traditional choices.  So I do my best to support not only the Mom Pledge but as many of the bloggers that have taken the pledge already.

The Saturday Blog Hop is a great chance to find new blogs.  And there area all kinds of posters on these blogs - those that post continual wit, those that are incredibly honest, those that like to post a lot of pictures, those who like to write mainly words.  There are moms who state who they and their families are openly and others that are more circumspect.  Some will post humorous tidbits, others will do daily or weekly memes, and still others will post like a traditional journal, commenting about their day.  And there are several (myself included) who do a little of everything.  So check out some of the blogs below.  As more bloggers enter their info, the blog roll will update.  So come back to the Blog Hop Page often to see what other blogs you can enjoy! (Since I haven't been able to figure out how to get the code to add the hop here.... I blame it on tiredness.)