Need Advice Please

As stated in a previous post, I am going to start talking about one thing that is bothering me to death which is weight. I want to just get it out on the table and talk about it and then do something about it. I know I will be posting how I'm doing in losing weight at times and I don't want this to turn into a weight blog.

As we all know it's easier to have just one blog. I really don't want another one because I want to keep all of my thoughts and feelings in one place, but I don't want to bore my readers either.

So, should I start another blog just for my weight or would you mind if I blog about it here?

Thanks ya'll!

Cool Tool to Export and Import Blogs

Blogger has a great tool to export/import blogs and I used it while moving my old blog here. At first I thought that I would need to cut and paste all of the old blog entries into this blog and then comments would be lost, not to mention it would take a long time. I decided to see if there was any tool available that could export the blog, so I went to Google and typed "export blog into new blog" and found an article stating Blogger has a site available for their users to beta test new Blogger features located at http://draft.blogger.com and one of the new beta features was exporting/importing blogs.

I visited the site which looks just like Blogger.com and signed in with my Blogger user name and password. After signing in, it looked the same but after looking around found a few changes from the regular Blogger. What's nice is any changes you make to your blog using the beta Blogger does display in your blog. I found the tool that allows you to export and import blogs and so I then signed into the beta Blogger site with my old blog credentials and used the tool to export my old blog. It basically creates an XML file that you can save to your computer (which is great because it allows you to keep this file which you can use as a backup for your blog). The XML file stores all blog entries you posted along with all comments received. It does not include widgets you may have used or the blog template you used to make your blog pretty.

I then signed back into the beta Blogger site with my new Chunks credentials and imported the file I saved to my computer and voila, all blog entries and comments displayed. What's REALLY nice about the import is that it imports all entries/comments to your blog but does not publish them automatically. I was so happy about that because I wanted to manually go through each blog entry and remove all references to my old blog along with all comments I had posted using my old blog user name. So I then went through each blog entry reading all posts and comments and removing what was needed. After doing this I published the post and then the old post displayed in my new blog. Beautiful! I was very happy that nothing was lost.

Since I started blogging I have never gone back and read any old posts. Have you ever read your old posts? It was quite enlightening to do so because it really made me realize that I am getting better. Sure, I still have dark days when depression wraps its cold hands around my throat, but really, it's not been as bad as it has been. I'm not slipping into suicidal thoughts as much and the heavy blanket of depression hasn't suffocated me for a while.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not sitting here thinking that I've beat depression and that it's gone for good. In the past I would feel that way and then be sorely disappointed when it came back to haunt me. I think I accept the fact that I have depression now and before I could never accept it. If you can't accept something it really creates conflict and I was troubled for a long time. I was also embarrassed that I had depression. I felt abnormal and hated the feeling. Now I realize depression is my reality and this new blog will now be about bits and pieces, or chunks, of my reality versus feeling like an abnormal soul.

I'm not abnormal. I'm me. And that is OK. What a great reality to awaken to!

Picture Night

I found a site called PhotoFunia that is really a lot of fun. You don't need to register and you can use all of the templates by uploading all of the pictures that you want in order to create really cool effects. Below are some pictures of my daughter and myself.

 

  

  

  

  

 

 

Below are some pictures that I tweaked using Microsoft Photo Draw (not PhotoFunia):

 

  

  

  

You know, for some reason all of the items that were on the right-hand side of the page such as the blog roll, blog archive, etc. aren't displaying in the sidebar. Instead they are displaying at the bottom of the page. I tried to figure out what is going on and can't. I wonder if it has to do with the template and e-mailed SuckMyLolly.com asking (she has the best, BEST templates in the world!). Hopefully I will be able to get this resolved in the near future.

By the way, pretty soon I am going to talk about something that I alluded to in my last blog and never spoke about. It's difficult to discuss. See, the pics of me above were taken a while back before I gained weight. I look terrible now. I'm trying to do something about it and it's been quite difficult. I'll be posting about it soon. I think it will help if I do. It's going to be tough though...ugh.

Until then, if you try out Photofunia, let me know. I'd love to see your creativity!

Snails Are Faster Than This

I don't know what is wrong with me today. I just have no inclination to work at all. Sometimes this feeling hits and it's manageable. Today, not so manageable. Because of it today at work is taking forever to end. It is FINALLY 4:14pm. For some reason time slowed to an abysmal crawl between 11:00am and 3:00pm. I remember looking at the clock at 1:12pm and then after what seemed like hours looking again and it was only 1:14pm. Talk about disappointment!

Today I can say that I have accomplished...nothing. I really don't know what is wrong with me. Could it be the weather? It's finally starting to cool down and you can feel Fall making it's way to our hot and humid state. It's the type of weather where you just want to be outside walking around and not cooped up in a small space looking at two computer monitors. My eyes are actually tired looking at them all day.

I feel like a child looking out of the school window praying for the bell to ring.

OMG Finally!

I have now officially moved to my new and permanent home. I exported my old blog, imported it to this one, took out all references to the old blog and here we are. The process seemed never-ending, but it is now complete and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The grass always looks greener on the other side. I was tired of Blogger and tried other sites and here I am full-circle again. I appreciate Blogger much more and think it's the best blogging tool out there so far.

If you have me on your blogroll, please delete the reference to my old blog and replace it with this new address. I'm going to delete my old blog tonight after writing this post.

I like the look of this blog better as well. Of course I got the template at Suck My Lolly. Check her out, she has great templates there. I've decided to keep it simple in the code so that I can change out the template as I like. It's fun to use different designs from time to time.

Oh, it's wonderful to be back in the blogging world again. I have a lot to say and will be posting as time allows.

*hugs* to everyone!

Not Doing Too Well

I haven't been doing too well. I haven't been able to even write. At first I just couldn't think of what to write about and so I didn't and took a small break from blogging. Then, I started not to do too well and now I have nothing to write about at all.

I'm writing right now just to try and feel better. Don't think it will work, but I'm trying.

Even though I haven't blogged I have been visiting your blogs and though I haven't been commenting, I just want you to know that I have been checking in.

Depression is cancer eating you from the inside and I am very tired of it all.

Pictures from Casablanca, Morocco

I really don't have much to say and haven't for a while. Do you ever get that way? So, instead of boring you with blabber about nothing, I'm going to post pictures instead. The following pictures are from my husband's trip back in November to where he grew up in Casablanca, Morocco. You can click on each individual picture to see a close-up if you would like.



The following picture is of my husband (on the left) and the principal of the fine art school he attended. He met him at his house and they had a mint tea together (Morocco is famous for their hot mint tea. It is very much a part of their culture.) Mint tea tastes very good and reminds me of melted mint bubblegum.



The principal put the cowboy hat on my husband as a joke since he now lives in America.







The following picture was taken in one of the gardens of the fine art school my husband attended:







The following is a picture of downtown Casablanca:







The following is a picture taken of a synagogue in downtown Casablanca:







The rest of the pictures are taken at the Hassan II Mosque.



Taken from Wikipedia: "It is the second largest mosque in the world. It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).



Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic water. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of the floor of this facility is glass so worshipers can kneel directly over the sea; above, spotlights shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca.



These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean."



It also includes a number of modern touches: it was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof (my husband told me that the sliding roof is automated and takes five minutes to open the entire roof...imagine how big the roof must be).



The mosque displays strong Moorish influence and the architecture of the building is similar to that of the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Spain. This and the old Tin Mal Mosque are the only mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims. Non-Muslims may view the interior on hour-long guided tours that depart several times daily.



Six thousand traditional Moroccan artisans worked for five years to turn these raw materials into abundant and incredibly beautiful mosaics, stone and marble floors and columns, sculpted plaster moldings, and carved and painted wood ceilings."



The following is a picture of the minaret:











Are these big doors or what?







That's my husband standing there!











Now let's go inside:















The following picture is taken of a hand-carved wood ceiling with 24 karat gold painted onto it in various places:







I love this chandelier:







And this one:







This is my favorite one:







And this is a beauty as well:







I can't wait to visit Morocco and take pictures myself to post on this blog!