Mom + SEO Junkie = Burnt Toast

This poor blog suffers from chronic neglect! Between work, kids, traveling and the husband - i feel like I just cant take on one more thing - but I have to stay focused and put my blog into the mix.

I sat here trying to think of things I can do to help myself write in this blog. I thought I’d share the list and ask my readers (er - thanks mom) to throw in any more ideas in the comments. Let me know what you think!

1. Leave sticky notes on computer - this only works if you read them - and i tend to buy the cheap ones so they dont stay sticky for long

2. Add it to your calendar - this one only works if you dont aleady have 50 other reminders that pop up with every reboot to remind you how behind you are

3. Write a reminder on the mirror - unfortunately with kids - the water splats and toothpase may obscure the message

4. Reward yourself with a treat if you blog regularly - of course - I’d want that reward to be food and I’m dieting - figures……

5. put your RSS feed into your Google homepage so the same damn 3 posts stare at you until you feel guilty enough to update your content.

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A little holiday humor seemed to be in order as I am getting ready to do holiday stuff and not search stuff..I found this article on “How to Design a “Terrible” Website” that just cracked me up. These are the best practices for low-converting, visitor-scaring websites.

And because I’m from northern Minnesota and I love the Mackenzie’s – here’s the 12 days of Christmas, Bob & Doug Style.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

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Got this from my boss - I dont know where it originated and I’m probably copying something but I couldnt help but save it here for posterity - this is good stuff

QUOTING:

 Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife’s grandfather.  While my wife’s brother and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It’s not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking. I thumbed through it quickly and found my next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:

  (Read the article)

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So i was inspired by Rand Fishkin’s post (and more recently Rebecca Kelly’s) over at SEOMoz.org to put together a day in the life of a SEM addict w/ 2 small kids - 2 dogs a cat and a husband - - - I know I’m insane - who has time to write this stuff down?

• 3am - wake up thinking about SEO crap and get up to look something up online
• 3:30am - go back to sleep
• 5:30 am - alarm rings so I can take dogs for a walk - yeah right
• 6am - pound alarm with fist and yell at dog #1 to get off bed
• 6:15am - pound alarm again and yell at dog#2 to get off bed
• 6:20am - get up - stumble around upstairs and roust Kid #1 (10 yo girl who insists on an hr to get ready every morning) and Kid #2 (6yo boy and it takes me a full hour to get him out of bed.)
• 6:30am - shower, hair and makeup
• 6:45am - throw dogs out to do their thing - yell up stairs so kids are moving and getting dressed
• 6:50am - make lunches for 3 kids and feed dogs
• 7am, 7:05am, 7:10am - yell upstairs again and threaten death or baked beans for dinner if they dont get moving
• 7:15am - check email and answer quick ones - delete junk mail and glance at calendar for the day
• 7:20 - kid 1 makes an appearance whining cuz there is nothing to wear - i point to pile of unfolded clean laundry on the couch and chug coffee
• 7:30 - run upstairs and drag kid #2 out of bed and dress him - push them out the door to run to the bus stop - as usual nice bus driver guy waits for them
• 7:35am - load up dog #2 and head for work
• 8:05 am arrive at work - boot up puter and find more coffee
• 8:15-9am - answer more email and call a few east coast clients
• 9am: prepare for daily meetings - arrange portfolios and make sure I’m ready to go
• 9:30 - R&D meeting
• 10:30 back at desk for more email and some tasks - call a few more clients - crank out some optimization and do some PPC maintenance
• 11:30 - wander around office looking for food
• 11:45 - drag some unsuspecting co-worker to lunch w/ me
• 12:30 back at desk for more tasks - meet w/ various people to discuss upcoming trainings and do some one on one training
• 2:30 - find more food and coffee - maybe even a diet coke
• 2:45 - answer even more emails - read my feeds and blog some -
• 3:45 - call west coast clients and check in or work on some projects that never seem to get done
• 4:30pm head home
• 5:00 pm walk in house and get accosted by 2 kids, husband, 2 dogs and a cat
• 5:30 pm find some food to feed this damn army of people
• 6:30 pm laundry, dishes, baths & such
• 8pm - bed time - this takes at least 45 minutes because of “oh i forgots” and “can i have a glass of water”
• 9pm - back online - work on personal projects, read feeds and blog - answer some late emails from clients and/or friends
• 11pm - bed time
• 11:30 - kick the damn dogs off the bed again

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I am a hockey widow. We have a bigscreen TV and NHL Center ice - so Mr. Carrie is parked in front of the thing from September through June. I will admit, I LOVE to watch a good Avalance game (GO AVS) but by about January I’m done. Hockey season is so longgggggg. The best part is the occasional trip over the mountains to see a live game. Even from the nosebleed seats hockey is best seen at the rink.

Any other hockey fans out there? What’s your fave team?

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So I saw this today in my Gmail - it was an Adsense ad that was stuck in there. I was reading an email Disney.com because I’m trying to take the kids to the “Magical Kingdom” for Christmas. Not sure what kind of relevance that had to this - but okay:

Walmartopia - the Off-Broadway musical Wal-mart doesnt want you to see

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Okay - part of me really disapproves of this - that’s the good mom part and it’s voice is soft and often buried by my sick sense of humor.  Baby Pearl has captured the blogosphere with her foul mouth and manhandling of Will Ferrell. 

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So Matt Cutts started talking about his cats Emmie and Ozzie - then I saw Danny Sullivan talking about his really cute dog, Daisy. I saw a post by Vanessa Fox today about her cats also.

So now I’m inspired - Meet Dolly (or Hannah) our new puppy! She cant come home yet, very soon though and she’s freaking adorable!

And this is Hunter - he’s 7 and finally calming down - the first 6.75 years were hell!

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So i was inspired by my friend mary’s “at her desk” lunch today to start a list of foods that bloggers and other computer addicts like due to their ease of consumption. Keep in mind - keyboard snackers always need a can of air and a few q-tips around to clean things out - my spacebar sticks - a LOT!

Here’s my start - add yours in the comments!

1. beef jerkey
2. corndogs
3. chips
4. veggies snacks
5. pizza pockets
6. Blogger Breakfast Burrito - pancake w/ a maple-flavored sausage stuffed inside
7. icecream on a stick
8. kebabs
9. anything on a stick
10. beer can hat w/ long straw (also good for soda, slimfast or ensure - depending upon your preference)
11. chips
12. Crackers of any shape sort or flavor

Okay you keep going and I’ll keep adding after I go find something that I can eat while I blog and then clean out of my keyboard

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Dabbling in a bit of copyright infringement - but I had to share this:

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