"It's Friday & I'm in Love" The importance of a blog

I asked Jill yesterday that if she had a Favorite to please blog it on Friday. I had nothing. No products that I can't live without. No songs that I haven't already shared. I was all favorited out. But then last night, it happened! A favorite popped up & had to be blog. I discovered why I like having a blog. There are good reasons to blog & I'll share them.

The number one reason is pretty obvious, but it isn't my favorite today.  Sure, having a blog is great for your voice. It's a great way to make faraway family member feel like they live an inch closer. You can ramble & ramble until your fingers ache from typing. It's like having the best conversation ever because it's only what you want to say (deep down we're all a little selfish). No interruptions from kids which means you don't have to backtrack to your point. Backtracking always lessens the importance. You don't have to watch boredom develop on your friends' faces. Nothing. You get to rant or rave with wild dance moves & no one tells you to stop. Don't like what you're reading? Click off the page. Fire off a nasty comment. Fine. Blogging is good for your voice, but it still isn't my favorite reason for this blog.  I'm sure this will change on any given day, but archiving is my favorite reason today.

I'd say most blog for the voice, but archiving is sorely overlooked. Have a favorite song?  Post it. There will come a day when dinner prep needs a good soundtrack.  Have a favorite shop? Share it & then you can find it easily when it's gift giving season. Recipe that needs to go into the rotation? Type it up! It's irritating when you can't remember why your favorite Quinoa recipes is. I spent two days ago typing a variety of phrases into google: quinoa recipes, quinoa lemon, quinoa 1/4t cayene pepper, easy quinoa salad, quinoae, ugh where the fuck is that yummy quinoa recipe. I finally found it under Lemony Quinoa.  See?  I'll never have to search again.

And I'm using the archiving benefits of blogging today.  Once a year, I screw up two things.  It's a habit I can't break.  Two things that I've been doing for about 14 years.  Two things that drive me so insane because I know it's coming & I also know that I'll forgot about it.    They both occur at the OBGYN which makes the irritation extra icky.  The slap of forgetfulness stings a little more than wondering when daylight savings starts or ends (I forget that too).  The first thing I forget to do every year is to sit close enough to the edge of the table.  And then I have to squirm closer to the edge which can never be done gracefully in a paper robe.  If men had to do that wiggle just once they'd figure out a way to make periods disappear.  And the second thing I forget is to remember the date of my last period.  I could blame this forgetting on my edge-sitting squirm.  Maybe it's being nervous about having your inside scraped with a stick.  I hate that sound.  Maybe it's the freezing jelly that can never be warmed enough.   Really, who loves to visit their OB?  But the date of my last period should be painless.  Every year when they ask me, I look as confused as the first time I put that robe on backwards.  Actually calling it a robe is silly, but no one has ever called it a "paper vest".  I still have no idea why it went on backwards.  But the OB asks rain or shine, "What was the date of your last period?"  And I start to stammer.  I stumble to find the date & ask for a calendar.  Trying desperately to remember.  I never do.  It's a test I really don't want to fail.  Clearly the calendar is a stall tactic.  If I could see my chart, I'm sure that "She's a Guesser" is written in big red letters next to the "Last Period" section.  So today, I'm using my blog for good.  Today is the date of my last period.

And that's why every woman should have a blog.

-Erika