Blogging; or more specifically, the Lack Thereof

Is it just me, or does quite a bit of the blogosphere seem a bit tired of it all?

Is blogging going to go the way of dot.coms?

My reason for the slowdown is that I am so involved with the boys' school. And also, rlfs - real-life friends.
I also called a halt to visiting any sites where the writers wrote endlessly about dire life circumstances, whether caused by fate, choice or desire. The fact that I could never help was depressing. So, why add to the world's woes and wring my hands on the sidelines? I've heard some sites referred to as 'train wrecks' - you know it's always going to be awful, yet you keep returning for another look. It was surprisingly hard to break off.
Another thing that happened was my hard drive died. While I was wrestling with that and the subsequent free fix from Dell (the only time we've purchased an extended warranty, and with 20 days left on the thing, it paid off in spades), I lost my bookmarks--the thread to so many. And as luck would have it, in the same period of time; friends from my past, people I've worked with or neighborhood friends took up the space. Coincidence? I don't know. But we're all benefitting from the renewed contact. Since Ken is out of town half of every month, the boys need more friends and outings to fill the void. And now we've filled up the empty slots quite nicely.

Along with the severe cut down on visiting blogs, I've taken it a step further. I'm slowing down on agressive driving, as two boys are watching my every move. If someone cuts me off, instead of yelling "HEY! Douchebag!" I now just give them extra room. I'm trying to listen more. For someone like me, who always has something to say, it's difficult. Especially since I'm 10 and sometimes 20 years older than my peer group with children. Sometimes I want to yelp "Oh for fuck's sake! You aren't even going to care about that in 10 years!" But the fact of the matter is they do care about that now. And it is important to them. So I listen and *gasp* sometimes don't even offer quick, off-the-cuff fixes! I know! Unbelievable. I have always believed in child rearing by benign neglect. My children can entertain themselves, anywhere, beautifully. But now that they're almost 7 and 8, they are funner. I want to read with them more, play more board games, go more places with them. Ryan's so much easier to take places so outings don't end with a cut-and-run scenario. These boys are FUN!

We've also had a run-in with some neighbors. But after much internal work, and some counsel from the police, my parents and the psychiatrist neighbors, I have Let It Go. The rest of the neighborhood is so irate at the other people that I am astonished and touched deeply by the outpouring of care. So what could have been a gotta-move situation has morphed into an explosion of care and concern from the neighborhood. People I have never met are patting my back at the supermarket, expressing their long distaste for the 'trailer trash' next door.

So, it's mostly Good around here, but I've lost the need to blog for right now. I will be back! I will keep reading the blogs I visit, either often or occasionally. And, by the way, if I haven't been visiting you lately, it's not necessarily that YOU were one of those 'train wrecks'. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOUR blog is fascinating and more uplifting than Church! Honestly!

Later, Gator.