Meet the Parent Bloggers: Girl Con Queso

Girl Con Queso

1. When did you start blogging and why? I just started blogging last July.  I’d resisted starting one for a few years because, frankly, it seemed like too much of a commitment to me (and I’ve been known to walk 40 miles out of the way to avoid commitment).  However, over the last three years, I’ve made two of the biggest commitments of my life (marrying my husband, the HcQ, and having a now 17-month-old Hurricane), and they have been the most wonderful, fulfilling things I’ve ever been a part of.  And speaking of the Hurricane (and back to the blogging) after he arrived, I started googling everything under the sun…questions like ‘what does a one-month-old child like to do in his spare time?’; ‘when the heck will he ever sleep through the night?’; ”why does teething turn babies into the devil?’ and so on. I would actually write questions like this into the search bar. And you know what links popped up? Blogs. Blogs of real women meandering through their new lives with their new children. I got into it. And I wanted to join in on the discussion.  Plus, taking a cue from Virginia Woolf , I wanted a room of my own.  So I got a room con queso, and I committed.   Now, I should probably be committed.  It’s all connected like that.

2. What’s behind the name of your blog?  The name of my blog is silly.  Pure Tex-Mex.  Pure cheese.  Blog con Queso came about around midnight with a bottle of Cakebread.  And some cheese.  I thought long and hard on the name for about 30 seconds. And here it is still.  Blogs can be cheesey.  I can becheesey.  I like cheese.  Cheese is good. The cheese stands alone. The same goes for Queso.

3.  Favorite Posts: A few favorites for a variety of reasons.  They’re not the funniest or the most insightful, but they’re all more personal to me, I guess: Ken Lay, Chicken Is So1997, &  A Window Into Our Home.

4.  What’s it like living in Texas? Texas, like most places, is full of characters, personalities, opinions, etc.  It’s also incredibly diverse.  The reality is, Texas has gotten a bad rap over the last few years.  Whatever your political, religious/non-religious, or cultural leanings, it’s been tough for everyone to recently get dumped into a general and generic box of cartoon cutouts.  So that’s too bad. Because it’s inaccurate.  In fact, I’d say that’s the worst part about currently living in Texas, dealing with the inaccurate pigeonholing Texans have to endure/ignore.  I also wish we had seasons; although some Texans do, we don’t where we live.  I currently live in a city of  2+ million, I’ve also lived in a town of 600.  I’ve seen lots of sides to Texas, to people in Texas.  And I’d say definitely the people are my favorite thing here.  And the Tex-Mex food.  Especially the Queso.

5.  Beer, Wine, or Liquor? Yes please.  All of the above.  Beer: Shiner, because (hello!) it’s made down the street.  And because my grandfather drank it. Wine: Because it is so so good.  It is art.  Plus, of course Jesus drank it and all.  Liquor: Because you can make any fun concoction with it and a little bit of creativity.  Plus, it’s quicker.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Joy from Ginga Joy

Ginga Joy authored by Joy

1) When did you start blogging and why? I started blogging in February 2006.  I was seriously stalking Sweetney and some other big-blogs and had turned into some sort of comment junkie. You know that kid in class who has her hand wagging in the air ” oooooh ooh oooh! I know! I know!—that was me with comments.  And when my commenting started to get, uh, out of hand, I thought “hmm. Maybe I should shut up and get a blog already.” So I did, and at first it was very odd for me.  I like to be a performer and spin a yarn, but I need feedback. I need to know my audience so I can pander to them shamelessly.   When I look at my first posts I realize I had no clue who I was talking to, and it kind of shows.  I think my first commenter was called “Sherriff” and he had a (now defunct) blog which rather startled me. But with commenting comes community, I found. I started to stalk more people, and then they reciprocated. It was a massive lovefest, I tell you.   I discovered a lot about myself as a writer (and continue to do so). 

In real life I am an academic, an English Ph.D. no less (I know. I can’t believe it either).   I can honestly say that even after years of research and writing, it was when I started to blog I found a part of my “writerly” self I did not know existed.   And even though it’s not an academic blog, I’ve found that I’ve actually engaged in more academic/intellectual writing and debate through blogging than in any other medium.   The nice thing is you can post on feminism one day and how you’re constipated the next. Love it.

2) What’s behind the name “GINGA JOY?” Here’s the thing.  The “G’s are hard. As in “Get” or “Genghis Khan” (so it’s not Jinja-Joy).   Why does this matter?  Well, it really doesn’t; say it how you like, but there is a story.  In England, people with red hair (well, orange hair) are known as “Gingahs” (with the two hard Gs).   I know. It’s hilarious.  So that was my nickname when I was a young’un in Engerland. “Gingah’”   That and “Red Pig.”   I did not want to call my blog Red Pig.

3) What do you miss most about England? My family.  Now I have two boys of my own, I hanker to be closer to them all (and, ehem, not just for free babysitting). This was something I could not even fathom when I got off that plane years ago at the age of 21, and I would not change anything. But still, we often entertain fantasies about moving back there.

Less obvious answer: The weather.  I am not kidding.   I live in Michigan. I pine for temperate weather and a winter that does not make my face crack off.  And it’s always green there—even in the middle of winter.   I miss that.   I also miss the food. (Shuddup!)

4) Sexier — American or British accent and why? Ooh. You’re trying to trap me aren’t you?  Well my husband is American, so obviously I would say American. Preferably something from the Gary Indiana region (it’s the hacking iron-lung cough that does it for me)  Actually, a lot of British accents can sound a bit poncey to me. To be honest, if what’s coming out of your mouth is funny and/or intelligent, I’m going to get all hot under the collar regardless of accent.

5) Favorite Posts: In Another Life I was a Pack Mule, A Tale of Two Mommy Sites, & My Highly Subjective Diatribe Against Dr. Sears.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Karen from Troll Baby

Troll Baby authored by Karen Rani

1) Where else do you blog?

a) Troll Baby – my personal blog about whatever pops into this warped head of mine.  I started it 2 years ago while suffering with PPD.  I laughed a lot of the pain away then, but I was miserable.  The more miserable I am, the better writing I get. 
b) How2Blog - to cut down on the amount of email I get in terms of questions regular people ask me about code and design.  This is syndicated at BlogHer as well.
c) Swank Web Style is where I bring home the bacon.  Blog Design is my favorite thing to do with the blog world.  I’ve met a lot of amazing people this way, and it’s always interesting, and often a challenge.  Since I love challenge, it works for me. 
d) Motherless – a place for those of us without mothers to write about our experiences.

There are other places where I am occassionally, but these are my faves.

2) How did you get into blog design? The blog design thing happened by accident.  I had years of graphic design background, all in the print industry.  I played around with my own blog and then saw other blog design companies popping up.  I designed a bunch of blogs for free for friends and family, built myself a website, and put Troll Baby Graphics on Blog Explosion.  It caught on quickly and business has always been good.  I was asked to join Swank Web Style in January 2007 after working with them for over a year.  Since then, business has tripled.  Sometimes it’s hard to keep up, especially with kids and taking care of the house, but I love it and I wouldn’t change this situation for the world.

3) Favorite posts: Heart, Men Without Hats, Selfish, and Guilt Begat Pride

4) Who’s your favorite troll and why? Sometimes I regret my choice of blog title…obviously Thomas is no longer the Troll Baby (named so this list of reasons ).

My favorite internet trolls are the ones who Google “How to get rid of cankles” and end up here or here, then they email me and tell me I’m a horrible person for making fun of fat people.  Um hello?  Fat people are ALLOWED to make fun of other fat people.  It’s called self-depreciation, and it’s funny.  I get at least one email a month telling me how awful I am.  It’s hilarious.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Sherry from Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory authored by Sherry

How long have you been blogging and why did you start? I was actually a blogger from about 2000, back when blogs all ran off Blogger, no one used comments, and they were mostly two or three sentences pointing to some other link.  My current version of my blog doesn’t date back that far (which is good because it was probably really boring and the links are likely dead now anyway).  I’ve been blogging in my current location since 2005. I originally started because I had nothing better to do during the quiet moments at work when there was nothing to do.  Now I blog as a way of sharing, communicating, and emembering things about raising my kids that I might otherwise forget. The sense of community is the best part of blogging.

How did you come up with the name? The whole concept of a butterfly flapping its wings halfway around the world affecting the breeze or whatever over here is fascinating.  I’ve tried understanding chaos theory more in-depth but my brain fizzles out before I do. However, I do know enough that it translates well to the “chaos theory” of having kids where every little thing can affect the entire home, family, mood, etc.

Canada is known for beer, hockey… what else? Poutine!  French fries, curd cheese, and poutine sauce is a disgusting, artery-clogging mess on a plate, but damn it’s tasty.  I’m surprised my heart didn’t explode based on the fact that I ate it almost daily for a stretch of time in my last pregnancy where 1) I craved it constantly and 2) it was the only thing I didn’t have the urge to regurgitate (I think there’s some irony there). I wrote up a guide to making your own, complete with pictures, here:  http://andromeda.qc.ca/?p=551 (Also, it goes really well with our great beer.)

Worst parenting advice you’ve ever received. Just one?  How about things like babies should have a bath every morning AND every night?  Who has time for that?!  Let’s not even discuss the fact that it would be very drying to their newborn skin!

Favorite Posts: Balancing the priorities, Why the mommyblog phenomenon is so important, & Grieving Uterus

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Kara from Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo authored by Kara

1) Why did you start blogging? I opened a blogger account because I wanted to comment on a good friend’s blog.  While he and the Mrs. were expecting their first child I stumbled across Ben MacNielle’s now defunct Trixie Update (correction, as I went to check the URL I saw that after a hiatus of several months, Ben returned to blogging three days ago.  Way to go Ben!).  I thought the Dubyas would get a kick out of his diaper and sleep telemetries so I forwarded his URL to them.  Through Ben’s site, I found mr. nice guy who was, at the time, writing about his wife’s pregnancy.  I became hooked on his style of writing and even published in all lowercase letters for the first year I was writing as a sort of tribute to him.  I stay with it because of all the amazing people I’ve met through this strange little hobby.

2) Your favorite posts: Oh gosh, that’s so hard. “Not really a girlie girl” is me in a nutshell (Help! I’m in a nutshell! How did I get into this bloody great big nutshell?).  I also like a piece of fiction I wrote for one of Kristen’s blog exchanges.  It was the first creative piece I’ve done since college.  Usually I just groan when I go through my archives…I spend way too much time writing about my own stupidity. 

3) Cape Buffalo? Tell us about the name? Back to the accidental entre into the blogging world- I had just seen an IMAX movie with my daughter about African safaris.  They talked about the “ Big 5” that game hunters covet.  I learned that the cape buffalo kills more trophy hunters every year than the other 4 combined.  The idea that something so slow and stupid looking could cause such carnage against humans with laser scopes and high powered rifles just cracked me up (I also think that trophy hunters are particularly despicable). I don’t think I had ever heard of the cape buffalo before that movie but, aside from my cat, they’re my new favorite animal.

4) A lot of people like to eat buffalo instead of beef — have you ever tried it? No. I’m actually a fairly picky eater.  Goat is the most exotic meat I’ve tried.  I think the goat I got was an old, arthritic goat.  Blech.

5) Best parenting advice you’ve ever received. Everybody wants to give you advice before the baby comes.  After the baby comes, people just try to compare their obviously superior children to yours so I haven’t gotten any good parenting advice in a while.  Got any for me? 

Seriously, though, I got two really good pieces of advice that I tried very hard to follow.  The first was to not turn on lights, talk, or make those middle of the night change and feed times any fun so that the baby knows that when it’s dark they eat, burp, and go back to sleep.  The second was to not let anyone into your house after the baby comes unless they’re bringing food or an offer to help. 

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Liz from Buildermama

 Buildermama authored by Liz

1) Why did you start blogging? When I started the blog, I had just gone through a period of huge transition in my personal life – I had just lost a significant amount of weight, had just finished a project that will probably be the highlight of my career, and had just gone through a rough patch in my marriage.  I really needed somewhere that I could just get it all out there – the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The other thing is that women that work in construction are such a rarity in these parts that I thought it would be fun to share that part of my life.

2) Your favorite posts (of your own). The chair & Bad day clothes

3) Worst construction job story ever? Well, this story is not for the faint of heart!  This happened about 10 years ago on my first project with my current company. We were working on a two-story gourmet grocery store project and the project was about 40% complete – the building walls were up, windows were going in, the electrical and plumbing rough-in was about halfway done, and the roof was being put on. My boss and I were standing on the first floor discussing some changes with the owner when suddenly a shower of liquid came flying out of a pipe that descended from the roof and went all over my boss. What was it, you ask?  One of the roofers, who was too lazy to get off the roof and use the porta-john, had relieved himself in one of the plumbing chases which just happened to be right over my boss’ head.  My boss almost killed the guy, and I went home and wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into!

4) You grew up in NJ but have acclimated to the south, but what still annoys the daylights out of you? Well, having parents that were born and raised in the South doesn’t make me a true Jerseyite, but I lived there for 17 years and even though I’ve been down here for 20 years that makes me a “Yankee” in a lot of circles!  I think the thing that annoys me the most is how some people just don’t get it that the Civil War is over and has been for years.  People, it’s over!  We lost!  Move on!  On the other hand, a major pet peeve of mine is how people from other parts of the country immediately assume that because you speak with a Southern accent you are an idiot.  This can play to my advantage sometimes, especially when dealing with some of my tougher clients and subcontractors – I play the Southern Belle card to the hilt before I stick it to them.

5) Best parenting advice you’ve ever received. To continue being your own individual person, beyond being a mother and wife and employee.  So many times, women get so caught up in juggling their roles in life that they lose their true selves in a lot of ways.  It’s important for every mom to do things for herself, even if it’s reading a good book for 15 minutes a day, slipping out for a manicure, or whatever makes you feel good.  Taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually helps you do a better job at everything you do in life!

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Gretchen from Bananas & Toddlers

Bananas & Toddlers authored by Gretchen

1) Why did you start blogging? As an outlet. I’d been home for a little over a year with three kids under five. I just wanted a place that I could put some of my thoughts down.  I didn’t think I’d ever last this long!

2) Your favorite posts: Losing my boy in walmart, Packing for Disney, and Kids Growing Up.

3) Do you really throw bananas at your toddlers? No.  Not anymore.  The inspiration came one day while loading the dishwasher and tossing diced banana to my then one year old daughter.  It kind of struck me as funny “Throwing Bananas at Toddlers” – now shortened to “Bananas and Toddlers.”

4) I know the past few years have been a major rollercoaster ride – leaving your job to stay home, baby #3, packing up and moving – how do you cope so well? Some days I wonder how I’m coping at all.  For me, the biggest transition was going from a nice, tidy 40 hour work week with child care on-site to leaving for maternity #3 and not coming back.   I was home with a four year old, a two year old, and a newborn and was wondering what I’d just done.  As for the move, I was hesitant at first.   My husband and I had been in the same community for nearly 10 years.  I think was more scared of trying to make new friends than the actual move!   Before we moved, my husband commuted Monday through Friday (meaning he’d leave Monday morning and come home Friday night, sometimes Thursday and telecommute Friday) for six months to make sure the job was a good fit.   We’ve been here almost a year, and I don’t know if it could have turned out much better.  I think the most important thing to remember is that it’s only temporary.   This fall, I’ll have a second grader, kindergartener, and my ‘baby’ will go to preschool two mornings a week – a far cry from the four, two and newborn!

5) Best parenting advice you’ve ever received. It’s a toss up: life happens one day at a time or this too shall pass.  Or, no kid ever went to kindergarten in diapers.   Or, someday you’ll look back on these as ‘the good old days.’  Or, teaching friendship starts at home.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Amy from Binkytown

Binkytown authored by Amy

Favorite post: My very favorite was My Name Is Not Julia- the writing prompt I did back in September for the blog exchange. It was spontaneous and I sat down and wrote freely, almost effortlessly, start to finish in a matter of minutes and I loved it. I wish writing always felt like that.

Why did you start blogging? I came for the outlet and stayed for the camaraderie.
When I started I thought it would just be my own place to capture and make sense of a new chapter in my life. I never imagined I would actually have people stopping by to visit. It’s very powerful, knowing there are others out in the world who think and feel about things in a way similar to how you do.

Are you still in binkytown or have you transitioned to somewhere else these days? I’m still here but I’ve got my eyes open looking for a new town to move to.

What’s the best binky out there? AVENT. Hands down. They come with snap on binky covers for travelling and they glow in the dark so you can spot them in the crib or on the floor at three AM.

Whose side are you on and why — The Donald or Rosie (or do you care?): ROSIE! A)She’s awesome. She really does so many great charitable things for children that it makes me very upset to see her portrayed so badly by the media. B) Donald Trump should be getting WAY more flack for calling her “fat” and “ugly” and clearly used her for publicity. I’d like to see Heidi Klum kick his butt, tell him he’s “Out” and take over his lame-o show.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Bobita from Blooming Yaya

Blooming Yaya  co-authored by Bobita 

How’d you get the name “Bobita?” When I was in Fifth grade my family moved to a very small mountain town in Arizona.  The school that I attended had an enrollment of 13 children.  Yes, 13 children in the entire school; which included 1st – 8th grade.  I attended this school for a grand total of 3 months.  While there, the only other fifth grader befriended me (what choice did she have??).  Almost daily, we pretended that we were movie stars, hiding from all of our many, many fans.  We would pass notes all day long discussing where we were going to hide out, who we would invite to our secret hideout and which male movie stars we would invite to join us.  My movie star name was Bobita, because it sounded romantic and would surely lure Scott Baio to my secret lair!
 
Favorite posts: The Cost of Safety, The Day my Life Stood Still, & Pineapple Wisdom

Why did you start blogging? My mentor told me about her blog and recommended that I visit the blog of a mother in Seattle.  After reading the entire contents of both blogs, I immediately developed my own.  I knew that blogging was for me because: 1) I love to tell stories, 2) I process my thoughts and feelings through writing and 3) suddenly I wasn’t alone in my dichotomous experience of motherhood!!
 
What’s the best and worst part of graduate school? The best part is that I am constantly learning something new; my grey matter is never at rest.  Right now, the challenge of writing my dissertation is particularly invigorating because I have recently fallen “out of love” with the mundane, previously all-consuming tasks of motherhood and housewifery.  The tasks that beg my return include: washing dishes, doing the laundry and cleaning wax from my children’s ears.

The worst part is that although I am occupied by researching and writing, I can’t avoid the stack of dirty dishes in my sink for more than a few days, eventually the reserves of clean underwear are depleted and very quickly my children have accumulated stores of ear wax enough to start a candle-making business.  Or perhaps, a handlebar-mustache servicing trade?
 
Who would be better in the sack — Jung or Freud and why? Although Freud was exceptionally preoccupied by the powers of the penis, I have to go with Jung.  It seems to me that Freud spent too much time reveling in the magnificence of the appended beast, and too little time perfecting its use.  Whereas Jung was a bit more existential, philosophical, somewhat poetic and thought and pontificated about deeply fascinating concepts related to how we are all connected.  Jung strikes me as more original and creative; as having the patience and interest in making a woman very happy that she was at the receiving end of his…attention.

Meet the Parent Bloggers: Binky from 24-7

24-7 authored by Binky

What’s your blogaversary? I was coming out of my fourth trimester in October of 2005 when I began blogging. I could not have done it any sooner. Only when three months had elapsed since the birth of my daughter could I even begin to navigate the fog of my new life in a way that was responsive to landmarks that weren’t breast based and diaper dependent.

Why did you start blogging?A friend of mine brought the blogosphere to my attention before the idea of becoming a “mommy blogger” was even a gleam in my eye. She thought that my writing skills–coupled with my constant, yet unfulfilled search for discipline–made me the perfect candidate for the structure of blogging. Like everything else, that morsel of inspiration was tucked deeply into my subconscious, not to reappear until I was good and ready for it. I now consider the leap I took when I searched the Blogger templates for the first incarnation of my three blogs to be one of the most important factors in solidifying my identity as a writer and, far more surprisingly, as a mother.

Favorite books (top 5 will do): I was in middle school when I read–and read, and read again–Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. I was looking for love and I found it in Cilla and Johnny, whose romance fueled my pre-teen fantasies. In college, at an all-women’s school in Virginia, I was assigned Isabel Allende’s The Stories of Eva Luna. The writing was so perfectly pure that I found it hard to believe I was reading a translation. Her words in English me want to learn Spanish (though I never did). That summer, back home, I read Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books on lower bunk of my old bed. The guttural hum of the air conditioner couldn’t drown out my laughter as I woke up my parents in the next room. Then summer was over, and school was over, and work began, and I didn’t read much. Five years passed. I was in my early second trimester with The Boss when I discovered The Red Tent by Anita Diamant as I sat in an outdoor hot tub of stone. I knew that pregnancy rendered verboten such extremes of temperature, but the air at that Canadian ski resort was so clarifying, the water so warm, and the book so inviting that it took many chapters before I was able pull myself away. Everything turned out fine. I haven’t stopped reading since.

Other than your daughter, any other favorite bosses? I’m a direct report to only one person, and that’s the 18-month old I call The Boss. They don’t come any better than that. Admitting it is no small feat, either, because I’ve never been the type to willingly submit to other people’s ideas of the way things should be. I remember being four, and standing at the top of the stairs with my arms bent out from my hips. “I’m NOT your service,” I would scream down to my mother whenever she asked me to do something. Isn’t it funny how things come full circle?

P.S. I’m sorry if anyone was hoping for an ode to Springsteen…

Favorite Posts: Remembrance & Penicillin for the Soul