Look! Questions! And Answers, To Boot!

I’m going to take a little bloggy hiatus during the holidays, and while I’ll probably be posting some-ish, I’m giving myself the gift of taking at least a week off, because really, nobody in my family wants to spend the Christmas season with someone who says, “OH! GOOD POINT ABOUT BABY JESUS! HOLD THAT THOUGHT WHILE I BLOG ABOUT IT!”

So I believe a bit of a break is in order.

But before I go, I thought I’d answer a few of the questions that have made their way to my inbox over the last few days.

Clearly this is going to be the most fun thing you have ever experienced in your WHOLE LIFE EVER.

Do you really read all of your comments?

I do. I read every single comment and every single email. I even read emails sent from made-up people like Goran Czuelaske that say, “Many moons have shone to your heart lit candle one millions. I friend to you! I bank account money send for trouble!”

Oh, Goran. You do amuse me.

But unfortunately, I have come to grips with the fact that I can’t answer all my comments and emails. I try – but the email alone can get a little overwhelming. Actually, one of my favorite things in the world is to go to a coffee shop with my computer and do nothing but answer email and respond to comments for a couple of hours.

The problem is that I get to do that approximately once a month, and it’s just not enough to keep me up-to-speed. So many thanks to you sweet people who email me and don’t say mean things when I don’t answer you for, like, two months. You are very gracious and kind.

I want to start a blog. How do I do that?

Until you know you’re going to stick with the blogging thing, I’d start off with one of the free blogging services. Originally my blog was on Blogger, and it was a great way to get my bloggy feet wet.

When I changed my domain to boomama.net, I switched to WordPress, and I am a huge fan.

Of WordPress. Not of BooMama. Because that would be tacky.

Anyway, there is lots of great information about starting a blog right here. My biggest piece of advice is that once you settle on a blogging platform, you also need to settle on how much of your real life you’re going to share on your blog…because once you publish that info (last name, kids’ names, information about where you live, etc.), you can never, ever take it back.

Which is why I never blog about all the trillions of dollars we keep stored underneath the flower pot by our garage. Because I would hate for a Ring of Thieves^TM to steal that small portion of our vast fortune.

Ahem.

How do you get so much traffic on your blog?

I probably get this question more than any other, and the truth of the matter is that it makes me terribly uncomfortable, so much so that every single time I see it I want to cover my eyes and run away from the computer and crouch down in a corner and rock back and forth and shout “LALALANOIDEAWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUTLALALA.”

I am very mature.

But the bottom line is that traffic takes time. And also: traffic is TOTALLY RELATIVE. I may have a good bit of traffic for this little corner of the interweb, but the tech blogs that my husband reads get more traffic in an hour than I get in a whole day.

And honestly? Some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life was when I had less than 100 page views a day, my friends from college were talking back and forth in the comments, and I had absolutely no idea that anyone other than those sweet friends would ever read. It was a blast.

In conclusion comma I really do think that if you focus more on building relationships than on building traffic, you’ll be a much happier blogger.

The end.

What does your Christmas Card Tree look like when you have lots of cards on it?

Okay. I totally made up this question. But we’ve gotten a ton of cards (Don’t worry. I am not being literal. That is what the writer-people refer to as hyperbole. If we had gotten a literal ton of cards, they would not all fit on the tree. Needless to say.) over the last two days, and OH, the fun that is the Christmas Card Tree right now.

If you happen to be at a day-after-Christmas sale and see an inexpensive Christmas tree, you should absolutely buy it for this very reason. You will heart it deeply.

Do you have any ideas for a kid-friendly Christmas breakfast?

Well, I don’t know how kid-friendly it is, but I can most definitely tell you what I’ll be cooking for Christmas breakfast. I did ask the little man for his input, but seeing as how his reply was, “CHRISTMAS BACON, MAMA!,” I figured I’d better add a couple of extra items to the menu.

So, here’s what we’re having:

Granite Steps Coffee Cake
Breakfast Casserole (made with sausage and no crescent rolls since the coffee cake has biscuit dough in it)
CHRISTMAS BACON, MAMA (known in culinary circles as, well, bacon)
Fresh Fruit

And nobody asked, but since I tend to overshare, here’s what I’m cooking for Christmas supper:

Asian Pork Tenderloin
Big Mama’s Dressing
Squash Supreme
Sweet Potato Casserole (Except I use butter. Go big or go home.)
Asparagus Casserole
Baby Lima Beans
Strawberry Pretzel Salad (Except I use real cream cheese and real Cool Whip. Go big or go home.)
Rolls
Pumpkin Rum Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
Slap Yo Mama Chocolate Pudding Pie (Make the pudding. Put it in a pre-baked pie crust. Make merengue. Put in oven until merengue browns. Find yo mama. But don’t you dare slap her. Just hug her real big.)

So.

I have a little cooking to do.

I hope each one of you sweet internets spends Christmas surrounded by the people you love the most. And more than anything, I pray you experience the joy of the One who loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Merry Christmas, everybody!