Overhaul

It took conjuring up all my best and greatest obsessive tendencies, bringing to bear the entire Google Photos arsenal, and employing a shameful willingness to ignore my family and all that I love most, but the old blog has gotten a new face.

You might not see it so much from here on the individual post page, but if you click on over to All. The. Posts. (it’s at the top, too), you’ll get to my landing page, and here’s where the bulk of the whole embarrassing production took place.

Go ahead… check it out. I’ll wait for you…

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Kinda’ nice, eh?

It began innocently enough, this all-consuming time-suck…

I found myself browsing themes one day; you know the rabbit hole. I was looking for something that might allow me (and you) to see all my posts together in one place. Preferably with pictures, because pictures make pretty, right?

I nabbed one. Apostrophe 2. A kind of compact (and graphic!) table of contents. I liked it.

Happy days.

Where I went off the rails: Turns out I didn’t start throwing images into my posts until relatively recently. This spring-ish. So the first few inches of my new baby were perfect, stunning, not to be rivaled. But things rapidly spiraled into an endless table of boring gray boxes… on and on..

And on…

Three-and-a-half years and over 200 posts, all lacking any visual appeal whatosever.

Well, this just was not going to work.

Initially, I thought I’d putter away at those naked posts, adorning two or three every few days. Adding a few tags here and there. In between all the writing. I’d beautify at a nice, sustainable pace.

Um. No.

It seems, as with most things, I am utterly incapable of being patient. This is fairly brainless work, really; it doesn’t require too much of me. Unlike actual writing.

The goal was in sight. I could taste it. The game was on.

A week later, I’m done. I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t know if anyone else will stand back and admire my painstakingly updated home on the interwebs on a daily basis, but I know I will. So we’ll call that one a win.

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I haven’t totally abandoned my life. Let’s face it; there ain’t no way I could spend all my time on the screen (don’t ask my kids how long I’ve been staring into the blue light abyss).

All this futzing with pictures got me really admiring pictures again. So much so that I started to actually POST to my Instagram account, which is a new endeavor. That’s been fun. Near the bottom of the sidebar to your right you can see my latest additions.

And to get all those beautiful shots for Instagram, well, I had to live a little life. I’ve been getting back into my daily walking routine. Thank God.

You would think it would be easier to walk in the summer, but every danged summer every danged one of my routines take a screaming nosedive. There are often flames. The daily walk is never spared.

But we’re solidly into autumn again, and it is time to grab back onto the reins. I’m walking. I’m reading. I’m cooking. I’m drinking more than 12 oz. of water. The spiritual practices are coming back online. And if it weren’t for the aforementioned neurotic penchant, I’d be writing.

Wait. I am writing.

Things aren’t so bad.

Here’s to those who understand that sometimes you just have to get the damned thing done if ever you’re going to move forward.

There’s a manuscript calling my name…
KJ