Ohmystinkinheck

Morning has broken…

…like the first morning.

On lazy mornings (read: mornings when Jeff takes the kids to school), I wake up and roll to Jeff’s side of the bed to watch the sun flood through our uncovered bathroom window. Jeff and Kenny have showered and I can see the condensation melting away on the window panes.

Like the crooked picture? That is the result of children who slam, not close, doors. I didn’t feel like getting out of bed to straighten it for the photo.

On mornings like this, I revel in the guilty pleasure of starting the day with Claire and Jamie. I’m going to be so sad when I get through Diana Gabaldon’s books and have to wait for the next novel in the series.

Sigh.

Karen, this has been one of my favorite reads of all time. Thanks for sending the first one in the Shades of Red CMHS Swap. Unlike my initial thought, this is NOT TRASH ROMANCE. This is the way I wind down my day and this is the way I started this morning.

What happened to the ads?

I’ve had a few emails asking me why I removed the advertising from my blog. Well, that has two answers.

1. I had a number of emails a couple of months ago asking me if I supported a program they found through a “work at home” text link on my site. Honestly, I hadn’t paid attention to it. And even more honestly, once I clicked through I was upset I even let it on my blog. NOT because there was anything raunchy or even wrong, but because I do not agree with most of the “make money online” programs that stay at home moms get sucked into pretty regularly.

So, I started considering all ads. Could I support each and every one? How much control did I have over the ads? Did you guys feel like I only posted here to drive traffic to generate income. IS that what I was doing? I had to truly get dirty with myself. I realized the only way to solve the ad problem was to remove the ads. And so I did.

2. THIS is my personal journal. I don’t write every little bit in it (and you can thank my hairy winter legs for that one), but when I do write I want it to be trusted. I KNOW, I KNOW that most of you disregard the ads and don’t give a rip about them, but they were bugging me; especially the ones that moved (enter nausea).

So, you now know that if I put it in a post, I’m ga-ga over it. And the buttons in the far right sidebar are FREE to work-at-home crafty moms trying to sell some wares. And if a banner is in the top right hand corner, it’s probably a new swap over at CMHS (Color Me Happy Swaparooni).

And just for those who might feel a bit defensive about their own ads - I don’t think ads are bad. I don’t. I think Blogher Ads give you the best bang for your buck, and then, Text Link Ads. I do think they clutter up a site and I do think you surrender a certain level of control of your content when you allow for ads, but outside of that…it’s a matter of personal choice.

Good?
Great!

22 Responses to “Guilty Pleasures”

1. Mrs. Wilson

   Good choice! I cover my hosting fees with my BlogHer ads, so they’re staying. I had allowed a google flash ad once though and one day is said something about Jesus not being real - a book by his uncle or something - that’s when those got deleted.

   Is it just me that kind of likes flash ads (that aren’t blasphemous)?

   hee hee

2. Loralee

   I have zero pity for you. I have been reading the Outland series since NINTEEN NINTY FIVE.

   Thirteen years of waiting and agonizing and Scottish wonderfulness (Did I mention I went to Culloden this year?)

   I have had that book since it came out and I cannot bring myself to read it yet.

   And?

   Jamie Frasier is my boyfriend.

   Swoon.

3. Loralee

   It just occurred to me that (Duh)you may have been reading these books all along.

   If that is the case, I have plenty of empathy.

   Waiting is torture, but then…I don’t want it to end. (

   I only read “Rilla of Ingallside” two years ago for the very same reason. It was just too hard to end that magical books and say goodbye to Anne)

4. Gracie

   I can not tell you now much I LOVE the Outlander series. I have only ever ready one other book that I like as much as ALL of this series (Lightning by Dean Koontz if you’re curious).

   It’s a great read over and over again.

5. Melissa

   I’ve been hanging onto that book for over a year… not wanting to finish it.

   I saw that another Lord John Grey book is out, but its just not the same.

6. Angie

   I read you because I respect your integrity. Your decision regarding your ads solidifies that. You continue to impress me.
   KEEP BELIEVING

7. Angella

   Good for you for taking them down. I like the fact that mine is paying for camera stuff and my trip to BlogHer, but other than that, I ignore them and write what and when I want.

   You do what works, and if you feel better with them down, then I am happy that you are happy.

   xoxo

8. carmen

   Ohhh, I ADORE that entire series. I’ve been reading and rereading it for 8 years. Seriously, the only set of books I’d keep no matter what.

9. ie

   I’m another HUGE fan of the Outlander series. The Lord John books are ok, but don’t hold water next to that series. I just want it to keep going and going and …

10. ukrainiac

    I’ve never heard of these books, but it sure sounds like I’m missing out on something good! Is there a list of them in order somewhere?

11. OMSH

    In order:

    Outlander
    Dragonfly in Amber
    Voyager
    Drums of Autumn
    The Fiery Cross
    A Breath of Snow and Ashes

    I believe there will be one more book involving the main characters, Jamie, Claire, Brianna and Roger after this one.

    I read here that, “Diana has indicated that the Outlander series will end in 1800 ….. and that yes, there WILL be a happy ending.

    A prequel, covering the story of Jamie’s parents, is under contract with no publication date set. Diana has said that the prequel will be covered in three short novellas.”

    I’ll be going through them all over again after I finish the one I’m on now. And I want The Outlandish Companion, just because I am a NUT for these books.

    Loralee - I only started reading these books since the swap I mentioned before. In other words, I’ve read all 6 of these since the end of November when I finally picked it up.

12. Andrea

    Almsot all 9if not all) ad schemes I;ve been trying allow you to not run new ads if you disapprove of them. BlogAds is a really good one for that; owners are under no obligation to run the ad if they don’t want to.
    You have to have an invite to get in though.
    (if you *did* ever want one, let me know, because I’d have to ask them to give me one to invite someone.)

    I really disliked Google Ads for that reason - you really don’t have any control over those.

    I adblock all of ‘em anyway. :D

13. cc

    Hee-hee. Japanese game shows crack me up. I don’t understand why they d what they do, but it sure is funny to watch.

14. Moose

    I’m so antsy for the next Outlander installment. Almost to the point where I email Diana Gabaldon with the subject line: WHERE IS IT??

    I haven’t. But it’s been close.

15. carmen

    Actually, according to the Ladies of Lallybroch site, there are at least two more books - a triple trilogy is possible, with Herself saying that the last book may need to be split.

    I’m a DG junkie and on the boards all the time. Sigh. I LOVE me some Jamie and Claire, Roger and Bree.

16. Victoria

    Oh Jamie. Ohhhhhhh Jamie.

    *happy sigh*

17. karen

    I’m so glad you like the series - I love sharing favorite books! Chris refers to the Outlander series as “literary crack” and is smart enough to not to discuss things more serious than how one might make pizza, if starting with a wheat field, a tomato garden, and a goat when I’m rereading them. I wonder if Martha Stewart likes the series?

18. chocolatechic

    Claire and Jamie…..I ABSOLUTELY LOVE her books. This story has remained with me for the last 7 years. No other book, aside from the bible, has affected me so.

19. Gliding through Motherhood

    The Outlander series is definitely my favourite series, but the Into the Wilderness series comes pretty close for me too - I highly recommend it: http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wilderness-Sara-Donati/dp/0553578529

20. Liz C.

    I’ll tell you what you do when you join the rest of us Waiting For Diana…

    You end up yelling at librarians three days before Christmas.

    When “Drums of Autumn” publication was announced, I got on the library wait-list That Very Day… and was #20.

    At 10am.

    So obviously, other people are obsessed, too.

    Fall whittled away, and I crept up in position on the list. A week before Christmas, I was #2. Four days before Christmas, I was #1, next in line. Three days before Christmas, I checked, and was not on the list, so I trotted my ecstatic little self down to the library to pick up my book, all the while planning how to convince my husband that yes, pizza makes an excellent Christmas feast, because I need to READ.

    And then the very nice librarian told me that there had been some sort of problem, and I had actually been dropped from the list.

    Yeah.

    Long story short, I Explained With Great Enthusiasm exactly how long I’d been waiting to read this book, thanks, and that he’d jolly well better figure out how to get me back ON the list, and in my former position.

    Then I went home and called my husband to gripe.

    Dear Man kept telling me I really ought to be more understanding, shouldn’t yell at the nice librarian who looks like Rowan Atkinson, etc… and I got suspicious.

    Turns out, DH had bought me my own copy, but knew I was getting close to the library copy (probably from my excited hooting every day), and he didn’t want me to read it before he gave me a copy at Christmas.

    So, first you wait, then you yell at librarians, and then you apologize and make them cookies. Then you put the turkey in the oven, and THEN you get to sit down and lose yourself in the book for 24 hours straight.

    BLISS.

21. Liz C.

    Dang–no edit button. But yes, DH pulled all sorts of strings to get that very same librarian to drop me from the list, so I wouldn’t read the book before Christmas.

    DH and I did have a short chat about how dangerous it can be to keep a book addict from her favorite fix.

22. Jules

    I love the Outlander series although I’m only on Drums of Autumn. I was actually introduced to them quite a few years ago (I’m a slow reader) and even met Diana Gabaldon at a book signing for Drums of Autumn. I also got my best friend hooked on this series.