Ears In The Wind

There comes a time in every blogger's life when she throws down her laptop (gently, of course) and sighs, "This is just not going to happen."  That time for me, dear readers, was last night.  I had a good topic all picked out for today's post, but I wasn't getting any traction when I sat down to write it and then I fell down the rabbit hole of the internet and all of a sudden it was way past my bedtime and I had nothing to share with you.  Nothing, that is, except for the fruits of my travels...

Have you read this Q&A about women's rights and responsibilities, specifically when it comes to voting and leadership, written by a very conservative Christian?  I simply don't understand the world this woman lives in, but I'm captivated.  Now I really want to read Rachel Held Evans' A Year Of Biblical Womanhood.

Charlie isn't actually a bad dog - in fact, he graduated from Basic Obedience a week early! - but he's figured out that he can jump the four-foot chain link fence that encircles our backyard.  Now we can't ever take him out without a leash because he loves showing off his new skill!  So I've been researching options for new fences and everything seemed to lead me to Houzz.  How did I not know about this website before?  This is going to be a dangerous new discovery, I can tell already!

My sister is coming home next week for Thanksgiving, which means I need to do a major clean-out of the bathroom we share.  There are products in there that have been hiding since we were in high school - I bet there's even a little baggie of orthodontic rubber bands in some forsaken corner - and so it's going to be quite a project.  I looked up the shelf life of beauty and bath products and am a bit dismayed because: first, it means that I'm going to have nothing left, and second, that it's a miracle I haven't gotten sick from everything I use! 

I love the show Nashville.  I mean, love.  As Sarah tweeted the other week, I dream in southern accents on Wednesday nights.  I've got Undermine and If I Didn't Know Better going round and round my head, but I've also just learned that the daughters are bona fide musicians, too.  This is the song they perform in the show, but I'm also obsessed with their covers of Sunglasses at Night and I Won't Give Up.

Betsy Transatlantically is never going to be a business or make me real money and I don't want it to - this needs to stay a labor of love, for my own sanity - but I've gotten to the point where I'm examining in what ways I might want to monetize.  This reality check is great but this is a good way to be prepared even on a small scale.  And here's a Mini-Alt Week post from vmac and cheese that gathers up a bunch of lessons on sponsorship.  I went back to an old Blog Brunch recap and am rereading all the bloggers' comments on this very topic, which is really helpful too!

My mother is totally fed up with all of the Thanksgiving recipe suggestions I keep emailing her.  I would like this pumpkin spice cake, please, and also the whipped butternut squash with red onions, but then we're going to need some cranberry port jam, too, and probably these granola-crusted nuts.  Thanks, Mom!  I promise that you can bug me when Jon and I host our first Thanksgiving - if I'm not already bombarding you hourly with "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING?" emails, that is.

Last but not least, I'll leave you with a few interactive posts from the past week:  You've only got a few more days to enter my giveaway!  A winner will be announced on Sunday.  And have you taken my survey yet?  I'd really appreciate your feedback!  If you want some fun, you can fill out the form to ask Jon a question that he'll answer here on the blog.  I'm seriously considering planting some juicy questions just because I want to know the answers!

Happy Tuesday, dear readers.  I hope you're heading into the week with gusto!