TT 12 x 2 = 24 hours of blogging

(Comments are up under the title of THIS entry. Just click on the word HEARTS and it will take you to the comment page. )

1. I think I could have done it on my own but I am glad I didn’t have to find out! Having a partner helps!

2. Being a monitor was cool! I liked going around to the sites I watched and cheer them on. There was one participant (who shall remain nameless but if you sift through the posts we put up, you’d find it) who apparently was blogging on three different sites. The one that I was assigned to monitor got maybe a sentence or two each half hour. Hell, my dog could do that! That is following the letter of the law but not the spirit. I’m not even sure s/he told anyone s/he was doing this particular blog. We were the only ones commenting on it and s/he never responded.

3. Cousin ‘O Love is quite a good blogger. I don’t think it’s in her blood (yet) as it was with La and me but you never know! Her voice comes through in words much the same way it does in real life. It’s gonna take a lot of work to bring her goofy side out (if one exists!) – she’s used to moving about very, very successfully in the professional world. Goofy is fun but doesn’t pay as well.

4. Speed is very helpful in an endeavor such as this. Wish I had some! :) Of course, then I would have been blogging, cleaning, exercising, talking and annoying the household. For Cousin’s sanity, best that I didn’t.

5. Next year, I’m thinking drunk blogging might be kind of fun! God only knows what will fly out of my fingers when inebriated. Although I can say most definitively that it won’t be a “Mel Gibson” kind of spew. When I’m a bit tipsy, I’m all lovey and huggy and stuff. How many posts can I say “I love ya, man”? Tune in next year and find out!

6. I couldn’t keep up with the contests, the monitoring and the blogging (even with help!). Next year, I’m delegating stuff out so each will have posts AND other things to keep up with. (I have a feeling I’m gonna be real hardcore next year. If I drink, though, it all goes to hell.

7. Some people really outdid themselves on posts and contests and stuff. One of the cool blogs doing just that is found right here. I bookmarked her and plan to make it a daily visit. Snarkalicious!

8. Some of those that sponsored me came right from the Thursday 13 crew! Thanks to Crazed Mom (a soul sister of mine!) and Golden Nib for their generous contributions. BTW, I’ve added you both to my side bar along with the ever effervescent Anita who contributed as well in both sponsorship and comments and Margie Mix who always looks after me. Really, ladies, thank you SO SO SO much!! Who says virtual friends aren’t real friends?

9. It took me about 36 hours (or more) to recover from this thing. I would like to say that it was a combination of a very stressful week with Mom’s surgery culminating in a 24 hour blogathon but I think the sad truth is that I’m no longer the spring chicken I was – if I ever was. I don’t think I would have survived children. I am so spoiled with all my time being spent as I please. (Most of it frittered away reading, if truth be known. SHHH) Anyway, I didn’t come back to “normal” until Tuesday afternoon.

10. I was amazed that I didn’t run out of stuff to talk about until the wee hours of the morning. You might point out to me that I was only doing half the entries and I might point back out to you to just shut up! (said with love, of course!) If I had to do it all on my own, I wonder if I wouldn’t have resorted to the “I’m so tired” one line entries I saw popping up now and again on my travels. Probably not since that’s cheating (I feel). For clarification, see #2 above as re: spirit vs. letter of the law.

11. It was helpful to have Cousin ‘O Love’s son Joe and his girlfriend Leigh burst in, snarf some, swim some, show photos and generally disrupt our flow. < --- meant in a good way because it got our blood flowing a bit since we had to actually get off the couch (!gasp!) and move around. My advice for all you aspiring blogathoners out there? If Joe and Leigh aren't available, have people burst in on you randomly to keep you from nodding off into a coma. If your husband offers to do a nekkid dance around the room, take him up on it! (That didn't happen here, nuh uh, nope. It was CoL's husband doing the dancing this year. Duty's turn is next year! haah) 12. Don't try to watch a Spanish movie dubbed in English at 5am. It actually hurt my brain to try and concentrate on it. Very poor choice but it was either that or "PAID PROGRAMMING" which seems to be quite the popular show since it's on every channel on Sunday mornings! 13. Remember that what you say, even if it's small and (to you) insignificant, could be a catalyst for something great. Mollie found my listing out of almost 380 at the Blogathon home page and commented on here that she sponsored me. As I mentioned before, her simple act of doing that put in place my decision to commit to the thing and raise over $1100 for the National Children’s Cancer Society.