TMI

Hello everyone. My name is Cindy and I like to blog. Really, I do. I also love to read other blogs, but not the ones where they write stuff just to get endorsements from companies or try to sell me on some new and wonderful product. Actually I didn't realize that there were bloggers out there that specifically blogged just so they could get attention from advertisers or big name companies (I'm a bit naive you see). Yes I do know about those sleazy celebrity bloggers who seem to have nothing better to do with their time than stalking innocent people and gossiping about them just so they can feel important. I can honestly say I have read very few of those blogs, although I will occasionally read a blog about a TV show or upcoming movie. In my spare time I also like to read the MSN and CNN pages on the Internet. Sometimes it is from one of these sites that I can catch a blog that seems interesting but mainly I read for the different news stories.

You might be wondering where I'm going with this particular piece of literature and I do have a point. Back to the whole blog thing....

I started this blog last year partly at the request of friends who loved getting my oh so informative e-mails about the latest crisis going on at home and as a way of journaling thoughts and feelings. I hate hate hate writing things in a real journal or diary but typing is a different thing. Maybe it's because I can write something and then delete it if I don't like what I've written or maybe it's because I can use spellchecker to catch a lot of mistakes, I don't really know. There is something satisfying about getting an idea and writing about it and then posting the finished product for all to see. I've even been known to go back and re-read my posts from time to time just because I could. That being said I decided when I first started blogging I would follow a few simple rules that would remain unbroken.
1. Never post anything negative or derogatory about myself, my family, in-laws, or friends.
2. Never exaggerate or falsify facts because it sounds better or garners greater sympathy.
3. Always remember that anything I put out into cyberspace can and will be read by complete and total strangers.

Following these few rules hasn't been hard. In fact, several months after I started blogging I was contacted by someone from Children's Care Hospital and School. The VP of marketing had found my blog ( I think with help from TWITTER) and read a Thanksgiving post I had done concerning the therapy Matthew was receiving and how helpful it had been. He wanted to show my blog post to members of the board at the next meeting. It was and remains a reminder to me that I never know who reads my writings. I also decided to not flood my blog with photos of my children. Don't get me wrong, I love them dearly and I love to write about them. I have a bit of a paranoid streak in me. I have this very weird fear that someone is going to use my personal information against me. I do remember reading a story not too long ago about a mother who found out someone took a photo of her son off the blog and used it in an adoption scam. There have also been stories about scammers using information from Facebook accounts and sending fake help e-mails. I will still write about my life and that of my children and I will post the occasional photo now and then. And if by some strange chance you get an e-mail from me saying that I'm on vacation and have been robbed and in desperate need of money for a plane ticket.....DON'T DO IT!!!!!!