14 mins of battery power left on the laptop, just enough time to close out on my Bloggiesta Weekend! I started on Saturday and was really going strong. Today, was less productive, but I took notes on some of the things I want to get to on my blog for next weekend. In general I think I learned so many little tips about blogging, not just tweaks on how the blog should look, but how it should be run. I got so much information from the Mini Challenges I participated in, and I plan to hit the ones I didn’t get to at another time (looking forward to finally understanding how to set up my gravatar for example.) I feel like I am bumbling around less, and I know of more resources, and blogs to check out when I do get stuck.

I am very happy that I took the time to redo the navigation on the site. My first attempt (having only the Book Blogging entries show on the main page) just didn’t feel right for me, so I changed it so everything shows when you first get here, then you can use the tabs to go more specific if you like. I’m a random person, but I like writing on many different topics, basically babbling about whatever I am thinking about that the time…usually it is books, but not always. For me I think having a personal blog with book blog elements just works better, but having it more organized for readers who might not enjoy the random so much, is a big help.

I added a bit new content, and had brainstorms for more blog posts to come, so this weekend really got me out of my blogging sleep.

I’m down to 10 mins, so here is a quick update on what I got done:

-got new widget codes to match the layout change
-updated my about me blurb and placed it on the sidebar
-added a footer with copyright information
-wrote two new posts
-changed how I wanted to deal with my reading Log (no longer a page I update with Goodreads information, but a link in the sidebar to my 2010 Goodreads shelves, and future reviews. I have no IDEA WHY I was using goodreads, and then rewriting all of that info directly into the blog last year, this will be such a time saver!
-Speaking of time savers, I made a cheatsheet in word of important links, and PASSWORDS…because I really do keep forgetting what my flickr password is, and it’s nice to have my FTP info a well. Yesterday I spent 20 mins trying to remember my windows password on my old PC for heaven’s sake!
-Deleted dead links
-Updated my NEPA/Friends Blog Roll
-Found new blogs that I want to add to my Book Blogger blogroll…that part still needs cleaning out, and adding.
-Cleaned up stray code issues in my css file
-tweaked my sidebar template in wordpress
-joined the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge and did my walking tonight during Chuck
-Visited new blogs, and commented
-replied to comments in my own blog
-Added some of the people I found to twitter

My goals I have yet to do are:
-Get a Gravatar
-Make decisions on the Tech Section and Quote Page, keep as RSS or actually use wordpress for that.
-Blogger Blogroll update
-Review How to Say Goodbye in Robot before I FORGET THE DETAILS (P.S. I really really liked it)
-Post -mini reviews on goodreads so they show up in my reading log
-Find a way to resize the youtube links so they don’t expand past my table…or make my table bigger

The Mini Challenges I completed were:
-The Dead Link Hunt
-The Footer/Copyright Challenge
-The Cheat Sheet Challenge
-The Tables/Labels Cleanup

Time Spent: 5 hrs yesterday 2 today

more information about the challenges can be found at: The Starting Line of the Bloggiesta!

4 mins left, and time to head over to the finish line. I know I was many leagues behind the bloggers who worked three days straight, but my site is still very small, and I review what I happen to have read, so I have no deadlines I have to meet other than my own GET IT DONE ALREADY pressure. I haven’t been reading much lately (AHHH!!!) so I haven’t had much to post on that front. I’m getting out of the Christmas drag session and back into real life so I should be reading more. I have two library books I just renewed (and here is where I need to plug in or the computer goes to sleep…made it pretty far!) “Poison Study” and “Bras and Broomsticks” so I should have something up about them pretty soon…but hard to talk about the books you are reading, when you aren’t actually reading at the moment.

Oh and HEY if you are still reading this, I do have an unrelated question….but this blog is called MELISCELLANEOUS for a reason, I can randomly be random :P My friend wants me to go on vacation with her this summer and the options she gave me are 1. Spain (which I hear is beautiful, but I know no Spanish) 2. London, Paris and the Netherlands 3. England (country side) Scotland and Wales I’ve never left the county other than Canada so I’m not sure what would make a best first vacation abroad, so suggestions would be welcome! I think my friend wants to buy Spanish Leather and I’m more of a Ghost Tours of Scottish Castles type of girl. But anything sounds amazing, and better than my usual Vacation of sitting at home, and maybe, if I am lucky, heading to the Jersey shore to get major sunburn. Melissa + Beaches =DISASTER.

As usual, I’m late to the party, the Bloggiesta party that is. Last weekend I went a bit nuts on updating my blog adding new sections, and a new layout, all of which I am very pleased with, but I still have a some tweaks I have yet to do. I kept seeing the hashtag # bloggiesta on twitter and realized that this weekend is a big blog updating party, and that I was missing out on the fun!

This weekend I am setting some time aide to get some things done around here, both little and bit:

-Update my widgets, they match the old layout

-Update my picture, and my about me page moved the about me to the sidebar instead, made more room for content

-Update my blogroll,

-transfer my Quote Page from Livejournal to Wordpress, probably it’s own subpage

-Blog entry: Book Review of “How to Say Goodbye in Robot”

=Blog Entry: Mel’s Musings (probably in the “I’m in Shape, ROUND IS A SHAPE” heading ;) )

-Update 2010 Reading Log

-Pick up some new blogs to follow

-Comment Comment Comment

-Join one (or more) mini challenges

-Try to hunt down a fitness challenge for my personal blog section, or challenge myself

perfect!! 100 Mile Fitness Challenge

-sidebar clean up

-reorganize site all entries show on main page, but Books, Diet/Exercise, Personal Blog, and Project 365 have tabs at the start that will only show those entries

I’m excited, the Blog is starting to look better, but with some tweaks, and some more CONTENT, I should be back in action. I have been updating my Project 365 daily, but everything else hasn’t been that consistent.

Mini Challenges:
Footer Mini Challenge
Labels/Tags Clean up
Dead Link Hunt
Hours:  5