I Dyed My Hair and No One Noticed, So I'll Be Doggone If No One Notices My New Blog Design!

OK, there's a teeny tiny little white lie in that title; my husband noticed (my hair, immediately, because the "white streaks" were gone. "White streaks" he claimed not to have really noticed before. Yep). Ladies, there's a lesson in this somewhere. But, I veer off to the left a little...

Where was I?

Oh yes! HAVE YOU SEEN MY NEW BLOG DESIGN?! (I know a few of you have.) But for those who only see the blog in a reader, or email, or Triberr (or wherever - other than on the actual blog), or maybe you only stop by when the headline is particularly juicy for a pet blog (hair dye, anyone?), YOU'VE GOTTA SEE MY NEW BLOG DESIGN, STAT!

Note: Link goes to Glogirly Design, where the talented Debbie G. (aka Glogirly) hones her craft. And, to whom I owe all the credit for my blog's terrific new "do." What a pleasurable experience that was - working with "Glogirly"! And (I kid you not), the entire process - from my first email to the final product - only took a week!

Here's the header, because I like you (even if you're still looking at this post from inside a reader, etc.). But you've gotta click to the blog to see the whole thing!

OK, I see it and it's fab (omg, isn't it?!), but why the heck did you do this, Elizabeth? 

Well, I'll tell you: It's been forever over two years since I updated the design (all by myself, I might add), and since then, I'd outgrown a few things: like my column widths, and the space allotted for my page tabs, and my three little ole social icons (when I really needed twice that many). And frankly, because of my inexperience in designing blog pages (namely my previous header, which I made at the now defunct Picnic.com, and will always treasure, by the way), I simply didn't have the tech nor design skills to do what needed to be done (while keeping the previous design in tact).

♫♪ Make new blog header, but save the old (in a digital scrapbook). Some are silver and the others, gold.♫♪
(Gone, but to be forever treasured.☺)

That, and I've evolved as a writer (aka oft-ridiculous, pet-centric weblog article engineer?) and I really, really needed the design scheme (header/colors/tagline) to reflect where I draw inspiration today - and in the foreseeable future.

What the heck does that mean, Elizabeth?

Oh frell, I don't know! I was just trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about up there! But if you're wondering whether I'm about to change up what I do here, NOPE! Not gonna do that. But dang it, I have a bunch* of cats (*six one way, half-a-dozen the other, really), and if I wanna let people know about their fuzzy butts right off the bat, then I will! And if the mood strikes, I'll write about 'em, too. (Just the way it's always been. humph.)

Oh, and you haven't expressly asked me this, but I'm gonna tell you: Here's what I told the brilliant Debbie G. at Glogirly Design that I wanted my blog to "look like": "Retro" I Love Lucy with warm, Panera (or coffee house) colors. And the vintage TV (from my previous background) had to remain prominent. And a kitty (Maddox) MUST be somewhere where people can see him. And, doggone it, DIDN'T SHE DO A KNOCK-OUT JOB?! But wait! She even worked in some design/mood elements that I was thinking, but never told her (how did she do that?), like: Veggie Tales (yes, really!) and Bewitched (graphics) with a dash of The Benny Hill Show thrown in to taste! Yum! (Uh, never mind about Benny Hill. I might have imagined that part. Or, secretly wished it. ;)

And, most importantly, MY NEW DIGS MAKE ME SMILE AND WANT TO WRITE EVEN MORE OFT-RIDICULOUS, PET-CENTRIC WEBLOG ARTICLES! Yay!

So, there you go. Class dismissed. Thanks for attending.

Oh, next time? I'm gonna get a critter (or two, three...) to teach, which means absolutely NO food or drinks allowed in the classroom. No exceptions. ☺

Have you recently updated your blog design, or are you thinking about it? If you don't have a blog, is design/layout a factor in whether you choose to regularly visit a blog or not? Do you like me? Yes or no. ;)

**Psst. Even if it's true (for the sake of my emotional stability), please refrain from telling me you never noticed my previous blog design, and therefore, have no idea why I made a big deal about people coming over here to "notice" the new.  Also, I'm too young at heart to have "white streaks." (Which is why hair dye was invented. duh.)

I Dropped the 'blogspot' from My Blogger Domain Name and You Can Too! (plus a BONUS Corgi Short)

I am not affiliated with nor have I been compensated in any way by the brands mentioned herein. I share because "sharing is caring." I learned that in Kindergarten.

Down below, after the technical stuff: Bonus Corgi Pictorial Short Story "Frosty Doesn't Look Good, Mama"!
DON'T MISS IT!

Okay, so you probably haven't noticed, but a few weeks ago I switched my blog's URL (domain name) from www.chroniclesofcardigan.blogspot.com to www.chroniclesofcardigan.com.

That does not mean that I left Blogger and/or became self-hosted on some other blogging platform, for example WordPress. Nope, I'm still using Blogger (for free*), it's just that I followed the Blogger on-screen directions to add my own custom (previously purchased and "parked" at GoDaddy.com**) domain name.  

I will explain why I did this in a bit.

But first, let me tell you why - about a year ago - I went to GoDaddy.com and bought the custom domain:

SO NO ONE ELSE WOULD

Yes, friends. I was afraid someone else would. Why? Well why wouldn't they? ;) Okay, that and because the custom name is easier for people to remember and it looks a lot better (than the blogspot URL) on business cards, and everywhere else on the Internet. But mostly it was so no one else could take it and lure unsuspecting peeps over to some fake Chronicles of Cardigan page with spammy links to window washing and tree removal services, for example.

The trouble is, after I bought the domain name, I was afraid to actually use it. (what if my blog disappeared? no one could find it anymore? I screwed something up beyond repair?) So I did the next best thing and forwarded my new custom domain to my blogspot address:

If someone typed chroniclesofcardigan.com (in the URL address field),

they'd be automatically directed to chroniclesofcardigan.blogspot.com.

Forwarding is easy and (at least with GoDaddy) can be accomplished with just a couple clicks from the Domain Details (Domain Information > Forwarding) page. (Hint: Go to your domain provider's Help section and search for "forwarding.")

Okay, so fast forward 13 months and on this one random day, I just decided it was time to go for it. And I read a bunch of blog articles about why I should go for it***. And looked for user feedback on whether or not their blogs were obliterated after having gone for it. And decided that I could live with a couple months (if that) of not being as searchable in search engines.

To edit your domain name in Blogger, get to this screen and click Edit in the Publishing box.

And here I am. And here's the ugly:

Things that Broke after the Switch: 

My blog roll (Blogger gadget) went blank. (But because I had read that the same thing happened to other users, and that it was a known Blogger bug, and that I would just need to add the blog links again, I was not alarmed when I noticed it.)

That was the only thing that broke.

According to my stats, I'm still getting views from search engines. In fact, I haven't noticed much of a change there, if any.

And in case you're curious, Blogger is redirecting all traffic from my previous "blogspot" domain name to the new one. That means any and all existing hyperlinks to that old address will redirect here (for as long as I keep the custom domain name). Additionally, the old blog feed (for those who have subscribed/followed my RSS) redirects, too. That means YOU SHOULD NOT RESUBSCRIBE (unless you want see my blog twice in your reader, and you will; I tested it)!

And if at any time I decide I don't want to associate the custom domain name with this blog anymore, I can just go into my Blogger blog settings and switch back to the original "blogspot" name. Too easy.

So have you been contemplating making a domain name switch yourself?

If yes and you have a Blogger blog, and use GoDaddy.com to obtain your new custom domain, there is a SUPER EASY tool at GoDaddy.com that will do almost all the work for you:

Note: You must be logged into your GoDaddy account before using the tool.

In fact, the folks at Blogger think this tool is so awesome, they've written an entire blog post about it at Blogger Buzz (hint: GO THERE!), including step-by-step instructions for switching your blog to your new domain (once you've updated your DNS records at GoDaddy using this tool). (By the way, don't ask me what DNS records are; I have no flocking idea. Just trust me; you will need to update them using this tool.)

And that's all there is to it, friends! I hope this has been helpful!

* I use Blogger (vs. self-hosting on another platform) for a variety of reasons, mostly because I am lazy. It is a personal preference, and I believe personal preferences are okay. :) I pay nothing to use Blogger; however, there is a limit to free image storage space, which I plowed through in under a year. Therefore, I pay $4.99 per year for the lowest available increment of extra image storage space through Google. When my hard drive crashed a few months ago and I lost thousands of stored images, that $4.99 annual fee seemed like a really small price to pay for back-up.

** GoDaddy.com is NOT the only domain name provider. I chose them because they were the only provider I had ever heard of, thanks to their (horrible) Super Bowl commercials. As of this writing, it costs $12.99 annually for me to have my .com custom domain (with absolute basic service). I've set it to renew automatically (highly recommended).

*** You should read the article at the other end of this link @ Spice Up Your Blog (a trusted source of mine) if you are still undecided (or even if you're not). In easy-to-follow Q&A format, it thoroughly covers some of the things I've mentioned in this post, plus several others. Also, because there is great user feedback in the comments, it really helped to put my mind at ease.

*****

And now, your BONUS CORGI SHORT (story):

Frosty Doesn't Look Good, Mama!

In the front yard on Tuesday...

Hey, Dewi, something's wrong with Frosty!

Frosty? You okay, man??

Hey, Mama? What happened to Frosty?

"Blah blah blah...went bye-bye...blah...all gone...blah blah...dead"

Oh, Frost-ayyyyyyyyy!!!

The End

Double-Bonus Outtakes:

Dude, where's the catering service around this set?

The "Catering Service" does not recommend the yellow snow.

;-)

Dear @NikonUSA : You've Had My Camera for 2+ Months; Return It (or call me), Maybe?

With humble apologies to my regular readers.

To whom it may concern at Nikon USA:

I regretfully write this letter because I have received no response from your customer service department after multiple calls and two weeks (as of this writing) of waiting (and I am emotionally exhausted).

On June 4, I approved repairs to my Nikon COOLPIX s9100, a camera, about which I have publicly raved, on this very blog, on many occasions. (Click link for the full list of posts.)  

Unsolicited advertising in my blog's sidebar
(I'd really love to remove the part about it being in repair.)

I am well aware that your company has never heard of me, and with my modest blog readership, would never have asked me to advertise your product, but as a serious blogger, who publishes hundreds of photos of her (and others') pets, having a good camera with which to take them enhances the quality of my work. In short: I share the brand of camera I use as a courtesy to my readers - because the photos (of which I am proud) make them smile.

This past May, at a public sporting event, where I photographed several spectators' dogs, there was an unfortunate accident that resulted in damage to my camera lens. After determining that the cost for Nikon to repair it versus me purchasing a replacement (even though I could have purchased a new s9100 - which is now discontinued - on closeout for less than half of the suggested retail price), I elected to go with the repair. I was even prepared for the possibility of having to wait several weeks (in the event parts would have to be ordered from Japan). (And incidentally, discovering a "Parts Hold" on my account, several weeks ago after inquiring online, satiated my need to call your company for several weeks.)

On August 1, however (after waiting nearly two months), I called your customer service department at 1-800-645-6687 to inquire about the lingering hold. The associate, unfortunately (after placing me on hold to check on it), could not provide any information. He then offered to send "an e-mail" to the service area and, upon their reply, would send me an e-mail (within 24-48 hrs. of my initial call) with their response.

Having heard nothing back from this associate, I made a follow-up call, to the same toll-free number, last Friday, August 3. The associate who took my call, although empathetic, explained (after putting me on hold to locate the associate who took my first call), that the service department had never responded. She then assured me that she would "take over" my case, but that regretfully (just as I was told during my first call), she would have to send an e-mail (marked "urgent") to the service department, and that I should expect an e-mail response within 24-48 business hours. I wanted badly to trust her since she had sounded so genuinely concerned.

Today, one week later, without having received that promised e-mail, and with "Parts Hold" still showing up as my repair status online, I am writing this letter.

Please know that I understand that things happen, and that just as the Parts Hold status indicates, my camera might simply still be in the queue for a (seemingly back-ordered part from Japan). What I do not understand, however, is how Nikon can be okay with ignoring its customers. I know that my point-and-shoot COOLPIX is relatively inferior to your more expensive SLR cameras (and that possibly this has somehow made me less of a repair priority), but it is the camera I purchased (after doing hours of research) and it makes my picture-taking a joy.

All I ask is for someone at Nikon to afford me the courtesy of a response, including an honest estimate about when I can expect my camera to be repaired and returned to me.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth K.
Creator/Author/Amateur Photographer
The Chronicles of Cardigan

P.S. I will provide my service order number and/or customer service reference number (from my call to Nikon on 8/3) upon request.

Pinterest Pin It Button 101 (plus a guided pinning tour)

Preface: By adding a Pinterest Pin It button to your blog post(s), you are essentially telling your readers that you are "pin-friendly." In other words, if you don't want your images to be pinned, don't tease people with a button. In fact, you can prohibit pins to your site by following these simple instructions (on Pinterest).

***

Four score and seven years Several weeks ago I promised to share how I added the Pinterest Pin It button down at the bottom of each of my posts (where the other social sharing buttons are).

Note: Pinterest provides - on their Goodies page - some code for adding a similar Pin It button; however, their code must be added to each individual post, as it is being composed, and will appear in the post itself. In other words, if you want your button to automatically display in the footer of each of your blog posts, like mine, the code that Pinterest provides will not work.

So that you can see the difference in the two buttons, I added Pinterest's Pin It button (using code I got right off the Goodies page) below the following image. 

Image Source

Now, GO AHEAD AND CLICK THE BUTTON to see what happens.
(Note: If you don't have a Pinterest account, you'll be taken to a log-in screen.)

Did you see? Good, I'll come back to this in a minute.

Add a Pin It Button to Your Post Footer

Okay, so I don't know about you, but I don't have the time, patience or memory to go over to Pinterest and get the code to add to each post (or even each image) that I publish. So I scoured the web and found some good instructions for getting the button to display in my post footer, near my other sharing buttons.

Interestingly, it was at this exact time that I decided I needed to get my own Pinterest account, and here's why:

I wanted to bookmark those instructions so I could *come back later* and add the button to my blog.

So I did (join Pinterest and bookmark/pin those instructions).

And if you'd like to get them (the instructions), you'll need to go straight to my COOL BLOG STUFF Pinterest board - where they're waiting for the taking. ;)

(Note: You do not need to be a member of Pinterest to look at my board and simply access the instructions.)

Okay, so if you haven't already, GO TO my Cool Blog Stuff board.

Hint: The instructions I followed to add *my* Pin It button are here. However, since then, I came across another set of instructions (for Blogger and WordPress users), which seem to be simpler and more intuitive. (Just know that I have not tested them.)

So What's the Difference in the Two Pin It Buttons?

Remember what happened when you clicked on the Pin It button (below the above image) earlier? Good.

Now scroll to the bottom of this post and CLICK THE PIN IT BUTTON IN MY FOOTER.

Did you see?

So here's the difference: If you use Pinterest's code, you can link the button to a specific image/URL and you can even pre-fill a description of the image (so the pinner doesn't have to).

The footer version of the Pin It button, however, is more generic (although the page URL will always get pinned along with the image selected by the pinner).

I'm not sure I'm a fan of all this pinning business. I don't like needles.

So there you have it! All of this is simple, right?

:)

P.S. If you look at all my boards, you'll notice that I don't have a whole lot of pins in Pinterest, other than "cool blog stuff." That's because I like it that way. My point is, Pinterest has lots of great uses, and doesn't need to be terribly time consuming. 

How Facebook Made Me Stupid (and some cute pictures)

Note: Random photos of Jon Farleigh appear throughout this post.

Hi, whatchu doin?

I am not a great big Facebook user (in my non-blogging life); therefore, I reluctantly created a fan page for this blog, after weeks of rebellion against all the social media experts who insisted that all "successful" blogs must have one.

Fast forward a year and I still rarely use my personal Facebook page, but have come to rely on (and even <gasp> enjoy) my fan page for connecting with many wonderful blog readers.

And that is why, when it (my fan page) suddenly left me this weekend (for a better blogger perhaps?) - without so much as a note or an envelope stuffed full of cash, I lost my ever-loving mind. Really.

Shortness of breath.

Sweaty palms.

Racing heart.

Hysterical googling of the words "my facebook page disappeared."

Twitter begging of @Facebook to "please put my page back, lest I might die." (except I left out the dying part)

Strongly worded pleas to the mysterious bureau known as Facebook Help.

I did all of that just this morning!

Shut the front door! She did what?!

Then at precisely 1:50 p.m. my time today (as I peeked at the clock through a squinted eye), it slowly loaded. My wayward little fan page. 

And I felt a little nauseated from the adrenaline release. 

So tell me: If I can find a bright side to a day of scrubbing dog poop off interior surfaces and my dog's butt, ill-fitting clothes and burning my dinner to a block of ash, but can't get it together for temporary Facebook maintenance*, do you think I might be in deep doo doo?

What about you? How would you react if your Facebook (or any other well-used social media) page suddenly disappeared? 

I like to roll in deer pee. Do you?

*I'm assuming that my page was down due to temporary maintenance (vs. a glitch, hack, etc.). Whatever the case, I'm so relieved it's back! ;-) 

P.S. If you're a Facebook fan and it goes missing again, please check the blog (or look at my Twitter feed) for updates!

Got Dust Mites on Your Blog Archives? There's a Widget for That.

Disclosure: I haven't been compensated in any way to write this post; I do so because you are awesome and I want to help you. :)

If your blog is more than a few weeks old and updated frequently, I'm sure you can relate to this thought scenario:

"I've just spent the better part of a day/morning/evening putting this post together...that I think just might be some of my best work...and dang-it, after a few days, when it rolls off the front page, nobody's gonna remember it, or know how to find it, and MAN <insert wincing>, I wish there was a way to keep this stuff fresh...."

Depressing, huh?

I used to think so, too. 

But then I found and installed the LinkWithin widget. 

A virtual blog archive tour guide

If you don't already have this widget (or one that functions similarly) on your blog, 

why are you depriving your readers of all your great stuff?

Seriously.

Help people find your stuff. 

Since I installed it (with about 10 weeks worth of archives saved up), 

(according to Blogger stats) my blog has had 2,500+ page views referred by LinkWithin.

That's 2,500+ times that my ARCHIVED POSTS have been viewed (via LinkWithin alone).

2,500+ confirmed times that someone ON PURPOSE decided to read more than one post in one visit. 

2,500+ times that all that hard work didn't get left behind (under a virtual pile of mite-infested dust). Ick.

Installing the widget is easy and there is NO sign-up or advertising.

Just visit LinkWithin and follow the simple directions.

No HTML knowledge needed.

You won't be sorry.

***

Oh, and if your blog is on Blogger, there's a customizable "popular post" widget that you can install in your sidebar, header or footer. I just recently added one; it looks like this:

This widget will always fill with my 10 most viewed posts, in descending order. 

If I visited your blog today, could I easily find your most popular posts? Or are they gathering dust?

***

I am happy to answer any questions.

Hope this has been helpful!

How to Add a Row of Social Media Icons in Blogger (and possibly other platforms)

Last week I promised I'd share how I added those coffee (or hot beverage for the non-coffee drinkers) cup social icons to my sidebar. No one should have to spend the amount of time I did (searching for directions and subsequently screwing them up a hundred times) to do this on her own blog. It sucked.

So anyway, before I get started, I need to let you know some basic things I'm assuming:

• You aren't terrified of HTML. You don't have to know how to write code, but if you need a muscle relaxer and a brown paper bag to breathe into just looking at code, you should probably avoid this like the plague take a pass.
• You've found and downloaded to your computer the social icons that you'll be using. If you haven't, I'd start by googling "social media icons". There are hundreds of free ones out there, in every shape, size and design. They're simply image files that you'll later be adding links to. I got my coffee cups here.
• You know the URLs of the social media accounts you'll be linking to. (Hover over my coffee cups and you'll see example URLs.) If you don't have an RSS URL for your blog feed, you'll need to go to feedburner.com and create (burn) one.
• You know how to add a gadget to your blog.
• You have room on your blog to add a row of social icons. Hint: My coffee cups would be too large in a more narrow sidebar.

Before you start, open (in two separate windows):

Note: This procedure is written for Blogger; however, the basic mechanics might be adaptable to other blogging platforms.

• A new post in Blogger (the screen where you type your post). Open the Compose (not HTML) editor. 
• The Layout editor in Blogger (the screen where you can add gadgets and move things around). (Design > Layout)

In a nutshell: You will be creating a "dummy" post in Blogger, in which you'll insert your icon images and then link them to their corresponding URLs. Once that's done, you'll copy and paste all the HTML into a blog gadget, and then you'll have social icons on your blog. Yay! 

Unfortunately, it took me several hours to get my images to line up correctly. Don't be like me. 

From the New Post editor:

1. Insert your first icon image (original size, left justified*, make sure the "open link in new window" box is checked).
   Note: Use left if you're adding icons to a right sidebar (like mine). Use right if your sidebar is on the left.
2. Highlight the image and add a link. (You might need to click the Link button twice to trigger the add link pop-up box.)
3. Add the URL that matches the icon. (Ex: If the icon is for Facebook, add your Facebook URL.)
4. Without spacing, insert your next icon image.
5. Repeat Steps 2-3.
6. Repeat Steps 4-5 for each additional icon you are adding in the same row.
   Result: You should see all your icons (however, they will most likely not be lined up correctly - don't worry about this yet!).
7. Switch to the HTML editor. (You will need to move/delete some code to get the icons to line up in a flush horizontal line.)
   
   You need to get your code to look like this (click to enlarge):
   
   
   
   
   There should only be one set of justification tags (the code circled in blue) around all three images. Your top and bottom tags should look exactly like my example here. (To make the code easier to see, I inserted white space around the three different image examples.)
   Reminder: In the top tag, "left" can be changed to "right" or "center," depending on how you want the row justified.
   
   DELETE ALL THE EXTRA JUSTIFICATION TAGS (in between individual image code). Hint: Use Ctrl + F keys to search for the extra code. (Copy the code below when searching, if needed.)
   
   <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
   
   YOUR IMAGE CODE GOES HERE
   
   </div>
   
   The only code (hyperlink tags) that should enclose each of your images is highlighted in yellow in the screen shot above. 
8. Switch out of the HTML editor (back to Compose) to check your image spacing.
   Result: Your icons should be flush horizontally, like this.
   
   
   
   
   If they are not, go back to Step 7 and recheck your code against my example.
9. Switch back to the HTML editor and copy all of the code.
10. Paste the code into a new HTML/JavaScript gadget window (click Add a Gadget from the Layout screen).
    Note: You can add a title if you like.
    
    
    
    
    Click SAVE.
    Click Preview, and hopefully, your new icons will show up beautifully on your blog!
    Drag your gadget to where you want it (hopefully, at the top of the sidebar).
    Click Save arrangement and you're all done!

~~~~~

This process really isn't complicated, but until you've had practice getting images to line up in a row using an HTML editor, the trial and error can make you want to pull your hair out!

For those who've stuck around to the end, I hope this helps! And if you wind up adding icons to your own blog once you leave here, please come back and say so in the comments so I can go look!

~~~~~

Coming soon (because this post is quite long enough): How to add a Pin it button to individual posts in Blogger and why I decided to join Pinterest!

This Is Where I Talk About the Big Honking Ad on My Blog

To monetize or not to monetize the blog. That was the agonizing question.

So you might have noticed that I recently got a big shiny ad in my sidebar. Well, actually, it's a series of rotating ads, including some of a non-paid, public service nature, like Petfinder.

Yes, I have monetized the blog. I am one of many pet bloggers who are now part of the newly launched BlogPaws | BlogHer publishing network. Bloggers in the network earn a small commission per page load (or ad view), whether the ad is clicked or not. It takes lots of page loads to even earn a penny. I knew this up front.

The thing is, I never wanted ads on my blog. I dislike clutter. I need colors to match. I hate waiting for pages to load. And pop-ups getting in my way. I was okay with having a no-income blog. Then, out of the blue, I got an invitation.

An invitation - as an existing BlogPaws member - to apply for membership in the publishing network. My heart went all aflutter. Since I knew my blog met all the joining criteria, my mind was already celebrating the potential income. Something - as a stay-at-home mom - that I hadn't received in over four years. 

And yet, I still hated the idea of seeing an ad on my blog. 

So I did some research and talked it over and decided that being associated with the BlogHer organization might not be so bad. It certainly couldn't hurt to try.

Two days later my blog was approved. The next move was up to me. I'd have to accept or [politely] decline.

To monetize or not to monetize the blog. That was the agonizing question.

Thank goodness I only got 48 hours to make up my mind. I tossed a lot those nights, worrying about things. Like what if:

• people think I'm a money-grubber
• people get mad and stop visiting
• the ad colors clash with my blog background
• people think I'm a shallow money-grubber
• people talk about me being a shallow money-grubber and stop visiting.
  (I might be a worry-wart. :)

And then I remembered that I don't have a paying job. And I accepted the offer.

I was relieved that the network permits bloggers to opt out of certain ad categories, and I promptly did so - except for candy and non-R-rated TV and films. In my mind, those were the least likely to offend anyone. :)

In the first week after I installed my ad code, I was served nothing but public service ads (PSAs). That was great. I earned nothing from them, but it would give me and my readers time to adjust to the prominent new space on my blog.

Another no-paid-ad week and a chat with the BlogHer Help Desk later, I opted back into a few things. And slowly, but surely, they arrived. Paid ads I had once vowed not to place on my site. And I was filled with regret.

Then - in a stroke of perfect timing - there appeared on my blog, a camera ad in an eye-catching sea glass-green and red design. A good, reputable camera, too. An ad like you might see on a site with WAY more readers than mine, or even in a popular ladies' magazine. And all that regret I had felt began to slip away.

What the heck was I thinking?! I thought. I might only earn $25 in a year,* but that's $25 more than I've earned in the last four! Bring it on!

You do realize you have to split that $25 three ways, right?

*To date, I've earned just over $3 (includes two weeks with nothing but PSAs). 

Since that epiphanic moment, I've grown more and more comfortable with the ads. To be honest, they've started to grow on me in unexpected ways. For instance:

• The color schemes are harmonious interesting, mostly.
• Every time I load my page I get a surprise. 
• They can make me feel immature little again (Shrek, anyone?).
• I sometimes yearn to eat cook (with butter and large kitchen appliances).
• Or have an Irish coffee (Irish cream, please). (My favorite brand, too! How did they know?) ;)

Who knows? One day an ad might even inspire a blog post (it could happen).

*****

And that, friends, is the story behind the ad. 

The elephant in the room made me tell it.

Thank you for listening.

Feel free to ask questions.

Have a happy weekend!

Many thanks for your feedback! Now see what I did. :)

First off, SurveyMonkey rocks for making gathering your valuable feedback on the blog colors so easy. Go there if you ever decide to add a survey to your own blog. :) (Note: If I had asked you to vote for your favorite out of a group of color schemes, I would have used PollDaddy.com.) Both of these sites offer useful FREE services for bloggers.

Okay, now for the big reveal, but first, THANK YOU for taking the time to help me with my dilemma...and yes, for the sometimes "brutal" honesty. :) To be frank, although more than a handful of responders have been complimentary about the "golden-dotted" framework, quite a few more than that think it detracts from the blog (think Jon Farleigh and Dewi covered in spicy brown mustard). Not good.

One survey participant even shared a web site with dozens of color palettes (including ever-so-important HTML color codes) from which I might draw inspiration. But alas, after trying 974,268 different combinations that I hated, I said screw it this is for the birds and decided that THIS LOOK makes me happy:

In case you can't tell, there's a vintage TV set in the background. (Because dropping the blog in front of an old TV makes perfect sense, don't you think? :)
(This is a stock Blogger background, by the way.)

Honestly, because it's warm, quirky and makes no sense, I think it makes perfect sense (for my style and this blog). Well, that and the colors don't clash (too badly). :)

Thanks again, everyone!

Jon Farleigh and Dewi return tomorrow! Stay tuned!
(See, I can even make a pun about my new background. :) 

The finished product? What say you?

[cue Charlie Brown voice-over]  Uuuuuugggghhhhhh!

Okay, I feel a little better. :)

Do you like the new (Blogger Simple) template? I hope so, because I do. I have lots more freedom with column widths, a wider area for posts (which means you get larger photos - yay!), a cleaner layout and endless color scheme opportunities.

Speaking of blog colors: I'm not completely sold on what you see here (read: I'm obsessively worried that you all hate it), and I REALLY need to put it to rest (so I can rest). Soooooo, I was wondering:
Will you help me??

It's simple. If you have 30 seconds to spare for a friend (me), would you take this one-question survey? I promise it's anonymous. Did I mention it's only one question? Pleeeez? Thank you!!!!

(Brutal honesty, okay?)

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.
Note: If you don't see the embedded survey, click here.

Thank you, friends! I'll share the results (and what I intend to do about them) later this week.

*****

So on to funner things...

Let's see...HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my Canadian friends! I'm thankful for you! Enjoy your day!

And lastly, just a friendly reminder that the last day to submit your pet's photo for the

giveaway is Oct. 15 (this Saturday).

Many thanks to all those who have already submitted photos!!
Every single one of them has made my day and I can't wait to show them to the masses!

If you haven't sent me your photo yet, I want it! Send send send!

Thank you!

P.S. I'm a little behind on replying to comments on my recent posts, but I assure you I have read them all and I appreciate them lots. :) Responses are coming soon. 

Uh, please pardon our dust...

...the blog template is under construction.

Moooom, I am NOT ready for my closeup!

Do you ever look at your furniture and just want to throw it all out the door and start over?

Yeah, like who can afford to do that??

Don't worry; I'm not starting the blog all over, but while I move it to a newer, much cleaner template and design, you might notice the header and color scheme is a bit wonky.

UPDATE: The template migration is done! Now I just need to get the furniture straight...

Anyway, I think you'll like the new and improved look of the blog; I've been working on it in draft and I'm really excited! 

Stay tuned...

Blogger Design Quick Change Alert

Blogger has added several new web fonts to its design template and I've grown tired of my winter background; therefore, I've been trying on some new "looks."  Please bear with my blog, as it quite possibly could morph a few more times before I finally settle on something.  :)