Gone for Bit

So I know I've been absent the last few days.  Unfortunately I got sick early Friday, and I've been spending most of the last few days in bed sleeping and feeling like a general slug.  Luckily today I've been feeling much better. 

Unfortunately, I just found out this morning that tomorrow (Monday) I'm leaving for a week-long trip to visit my grandparents in Idaho.  My grandparents are really anti-technology, and they live in a rural part of town where there isn't a wi-fi connection to be found for miles.  So although I'm bringing my computer, it's doubtful how often I'll be able to get on and check things. 

So everyone behave while I'm gone, and I'll try to answer emails as best as I can when I manage to steal some time on the internet. 

Back next week!

Stuff Boiling in the Background

Hey everyone,

I know that I've been absent for a few days, since announcing the voting for the book battle.  The main reason is because I've been working on lots of behind the scenes stuff (organization, new features, and some other miscellaneous) projects in the meantime. 

Oh, and it was my birthday on Sunday.  So I wasn't on the computer much yesterday.  : )

Anyway, my main focus of the moment is getting the battle at least initially organized.  So expect the first call for volunteers to go out in a couple days.  Those of you who want to and/or have emailed to be judges, calls for that should go out as soon as I know the theme, since the theme will change the organization and therefore the number of volunteers needed. 

Speaking of which, if you haven't voted on your favorite theme yet, make sure you do.  I didn't get any new votes submitted yesterday, so if the voting has slacked off, I think I'll close the poll early. 

Keep your eye out.  There's a lot going on, even if you can't tell yet!

Gone for a bit

Hey everyone. My internet suddenly quit on me yesterday so I'm borrowing a few minutes on a public wi-fi connection to let everyone know I'll be gone the next few days until it's fixed. It really sucks it had to break over the weekend. :( Anyway, if you email me and I don't respond right away, now you know what happened.

Back when I can!

Back... Sort Of

Okay, I'm offically moved into my new Florida home and ready to blog again. Unfortunately my internet's being a little grumpy, so I'm going to have to work on the posts I've been planning in stages. But I will blog when I can! I know I'm really behind on posting results from Round 1 (for those of you who haven't seen the judges own posts yet) and I will try to get those up ASAP, as well as getting to know a few more of our judges again before Round 2 ends.

More later when I can!

Stay Calm, Stay Calm... On Second Thought, PANIC!

All right, I know I'm behind on the Battle winner roundup. But I leave for Florida on Sunday (What? That's it? That's all the time I have?!?!) and things are taking a little longer to get straightened out than I originally thought. I'm busy packing, doing last minute preparations (and panicking), but if I have a spare moment before I leave I will try to get them up.

Otherwise I will see you sometime next week, hopefully Monday if I can get my internet access up right away. *cross fingers*

Wish me luck!

Ahem...

Well, I have an announcement to make. I hadn't decided when I was going to post this, but seeing as my brother spilled the beans in his blog post on Sunday** I guess it's time for me to share the news.

The reason I've been gone so much of the past few weeks is I've been working on a job application. This job application:


That's right. I'm going back to work at Walt Disney World this summer. Readers who have been with this blog since 2008 (and before) now that I started by Disney-related blog, Disney World Girl, to chronicle my adventures during my experiences of The Disney College Program. Well, now I've been invited back to participate in an alumni program from May to August this summer.

So what does this mean for you? Well, this will have a big impact on my blogging schedule, although I don't know how much. Last time I pretty much only did Disney blogging, and that took a lot of time. But I will try to keep up the book blogs this time too, because I did A LOT of reading last time around. So we'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm starting a new feature on that other blog to celebrate the countdown of my departure for Florida. It's called Ask a Cast Member, where you can ask me any Disney-related question you can think of. Head over to the introduction post to learn more, or you can jump straight to the form too.

Anyway, now you know what's going on. More news about this as it comes, although most of it will be on the other blog, so make sure you follow that one if you're interested.

**Incidentally if you visit my brother's blog, make sure you ooh and ah at the header. I made it myself using only Paint and I am very proud of it. :)

Thank You

I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind wishes on my blogging hiatus post. You have no idea how much your support has meant to me. I keep going back and reading the comments every time I need a pick-me-up.

For those who are wondering, the cat has stabilized a little, but he isn't getting better yet, so we're still on pins and needles. I will post as I can, but again, I'm not sure when I'll be in exactly.

So again, thank you for bearing with me during this difficult time.

I'm On Hold...

*Please note: This is a future-dated post so it will remain at the top of the blog for a few days. Scroll down for new content*

I've tried to keep up with the blog this week, but have failed miserably. Why, you ask? Well, it's the Olympics. I love watching the Olympics and due to the fact that I missed the 2008 games and this is the first chance I've had to watch a lot of the events (thanks to the miracle of DVR), I'm spending a lot of my time catching up on that. Which means I'm not blogging.

So I may be scarce these next few days until the games are done. In the meantime, you should go watch them too!

I'd like to leave you with this quote from the CEO John Furlong’s speech at opening ceremonies:

The Olympic Flame has touched many millions and prompted spontaneous, peaceful celebration. Reminding us all that those values that unite and inspire the best in us we must never abandon. As the Olympic Cauldron is lit, the unique magic of the Olympic Games will be released upon us.

Magic so rare that it cannot be controlled by borders. The kind of magic that invades the human heart touching people of all cultures and beliefs. Magic that calls for the best that human beings have to offer. Magic that causes the athletes of the world to soar and the rest of us to dream. (Emphasis mine)

Where am I?

Don't worry, I'm still around. I just have a few things that have been keeping me from the blog lately. First of all, our family is currently hosting an Australian exchange student for the next two weeks, so lots of my evenings are busy with that. Secondly, my dad happened to pass on his latest cold, so I've been spending a lot of time trying to rid myself of migraine headaches caused by sinus pressure. Yuck.

And lastly, I'm kind of tired out by all the action lately. First the Cybils, then A Shady Glade Christmas, and then the 12 Blogs of Christmas was a lot of work. And I think it's time to rest for a little bit.

I'm not going to disappear completely, but I may be posting a little less for the next week or so. I'm going to try and catch up on my reading too, so hopefully I'll have some new reviews for you coming soon.

In the meantime, here's wishing all of you happy reading adventures.

Sorry!

I know, I know I disappeared for two whole days. Did you miss me? Those posts from earlier were scheduled, so I really haven't posted anything since Monday. I had a really huge deadline at work that was due today, and I barely made it. I cut it really close. In fact, in the last 48 hours I probably have a total of 8 hours of sleep. Between the two days.

Anyway, the Christmas fun will be back tomorrow. First off we'll have another great contest from the 12 Blogs of Christmas. Are you having fun entering those? And for the next two days I have some really great guest posts going up from some international bloggers. So be sure to come back for those. And of course I might throw in a holiday surprise or two myself. You'll just have to wait and see.

In other news, we're about ready to start the first round of the Shady Glade Virtual Swap. Look for the post on that Friday if you signed up for that. Those of you who didn't sign up, you can still jump in anytime. Just read over to the rule page (linked above) to sign up.

That's all I have for updates as of now. Come back tomorrow for more Yuletide cheer!

I'm Back

Well, I'm back and thoroughly exhausted from the funeral and surrounding travel/family mingling. Things might still be a little slow around here as I catch up on things.

Also, my email program apparently decided to quit on me. So if you sent me an email recently, I will get back to you as soon as my stupid email program decides to let me view my messages.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone else is having a pleasant day...

Unexpected Absense

Once again, I'm posting to let everyone know things might be a little slow around here for the next few days.

My grandmother passed away yesterday. As you can imagine, things have been pretty busy trying to make arrangements so we can attend the funeral on Monday. I'll be driving down there soon and we'll be there for a few days. I may have time to blog, but maybe not. At this point I'm going to play it by ear.

In the meantime, sign ups are still coming along for the virtual swap. We've got a few participants, so it looks like it's going to be lots of fun. Anyone who has signed up/will sign up, I haven't forgotten about you, but I'll be taking a break from it for a few days. So go ahead and fill out the form and I'll get back to you when I get back into town. And don't forget to enter for a chance to win Yesterday's Magic too.

I'll be back when I can. Until then, go read something fun for me.

Notice of Absense

I'm off to San Fransisco today to go see Wicked, so I'll be gone. Be back tomorrow with more stuff. Don't forget to check out episode 3 of Royal Rebels.