We haven’t had a “Wired Wednesday” since OCTOBER!! What? I say it’s time to have Wired Wednesdays return.

Are you new here?
Forgot about “Wired Wednesday”?

“Wired Wednesday” is where we take a break from all things Mod Podge and Hobby Lobby….and focus on my OTHER true love. Technology!

I am a geek. It’s true.

I’m self taught in Blogger, Photoshop, Design, Illustrator, HTML, and anything else technology related that I can figure out.

So “Wired Wednesday” is a no holds barred question and answer feature, where I can either answer a “techie” reader question, or just share some geeky info with you.

Sometimes we talk about BLOGGER, and how to navigate it. Sometimes we cover basic PHOTOSHOP.

Basically, if it’s technology related, I’m open to learning about it.

So, I think Wired Wednesday is making a return.
Maybe not EVERY Wednesday.
But it wants to come back. (It told me.)

Today I wanna talk a VERY basic part of one of my technology BESTIES!

Isn’t she precious?
The best way to know if something belongs to me….
is to look for some appearance of the Mouse.
 
What?
 
Deer pee on their territory.
I like to put sparkly Mickey heads on everything that belongs to me.
Same concept!

I realized the other day, that my cute mommy didn’t know how to make herself a “PLAYLIST” on her iPod.
And I thought, “oh my gosh!  I’ve rarely heard a more intense tragedy!”
iPod playlists are the only way I make it through my day sometimes.

And I HIGHLY suggest making one!  Two!  Okay, I have at least 20.

I have one for each kid.
One for the entire family.
A “compromise” list for my husband and I.
2 Christmas lists.  (one spiritual, one secular)

And the rest are for whatever emotional whim I have!  For example:
There’s the workout list: “Pit Stains”
There’s the Country list: “Songs Fer Yer Truck”
There’s the Disney list” “Mad About the Mouse”
The ones I wanna sing: “Shower Concert”
and one of my faves, the 90′s list: “Jessie Spano Has Great Hair”

If you don’t…..YOU GOTTA GET SOME LISTS ON YOUR iPOD!

(these screenshots are from iTunes on my Mac.  I think a PC should be darn near the same!)

• Playlists are listed down the left side.  
• When you click on them, you can see what’s in them.  
• Also, by clicking on the categories across the top (Name, Artist, Album) you can change how their listed.  I like mine listed by song name.

• To make one go up to FILE and select NEW PLAYLIST

• Then hop down and give it an awesome name.  (at least that’s a requirement for me.  Who wants a list called “Rap Music”?  “Rimz & Krystal” is completely preferable……yes??

• Then just go back to your music list and start dragging!  You can select one song at a time.  
• Or…..if you happen to have 9,270 songs…..(who would have that?  Oh yeah.  I do!) You can highlight several at a time.  
• If you forgot what’s in there…don’t worry. iTunes will warn you if you’re trying to add a duplicate song to a list.  So no worries!

Get out your iPod people!  And make a list.  My husband has “songs that make me happy”.  Isn’t that amazing?  What a great concept!

Or I have “songs I’ll never skip”.  All my mostest favorites, of EVER!

The thing I love about music is that it’s so stinkin’ personal.  It’s almost NEVER the same for 2 people.
What lists are you gonna make?  (or do you have great ones already?)

Do you have a GREAT idea for WIRED WEDNESDAY?  Or a question you’d like us to talk about?  Feel free to E-Mail me!

A quick return of “Wired Wednesday.”

And it’s a basic one. But those seem to be the most popular (and helpful) to readers. Remember that you can send in ANY question that you have, and I’d be happy to answer it. Chances are, if you have it…..someone else does too.

Today I thought I’d let you in on a little secret you may not know about, or be using to your advantage.

It’s the “Post Options” section in blogger.

Guess what?

It’s Sunday night….and I’m writing all my posts for this week. And yet, you will see them post one by one. Each day. When I want them to.

Brilliant, right?

I’m off…possibly riding the Haunted Mansion (with the Jack Skellington Holiday overlay)…and you are reading a new post.

Also, have you ever began a post on Monday….only to finish it on Thursday? Or the next Friday? But when you post it….it says “Monday” which is now a week ago?

Well this is how to fix that problem, as well as “schedule” a post for a later date.

• First: write your post.  Write it at your leisure, and get it done whenever you feel like it.
• When you’re all done.  Look in the bottom left hand corner

• Click on that little blue word that says “Post Options”

• That will open up some options to you.  All you need to worry about is the right hand side.  Click the button that says “Scheduled at”  (you can see it clicked here)
• You can change that date and time just by clicking in it and typing whatever you’d like.  You can pre-date it, post-date it, change the time….just that easy

It’s also really good for those who have crafting blogs and want their posts to show as current as possible.  If the post took you a few hours to complete, change the time to reflect when you FINISHED. 

Hopefully that’s a helpful tip for you to feel like you can catch up on posting whenever you have time.  Then set it to post at times when you might be busier.

Like I’m busy right now.

On Splash Mountain!!

It’s been SO long since we had a “Wired Wednesday!” I just had to throw one out there. Just for kicks. But this one also has a quick idea in it as well….so don’t tune out…just because you aren’t a “tech” kind of individual.

As you all know, we’ve been SUPER focused on my son and his 8th birthday for the last few weeks. Between his birthday party, and his room makeover, and this past weekend we were again focused on him. It’s not that we love him more…by any means…it’s just that in our church turning 8 is kind of a big deal. And we really wanted it to be special.

But sometimes, all the birthday parties, and room remodeling, and hoop-lah….aren’t as important as just telling your kids that you love them.

Years ago, I watched an Oprah…..

{wait….can I just interject here and ask, “where the heck am I supposed to get all my words of wisdom from when she goes away? Seriously. How will I have light-bulb moments? Oh lady O….I miss you already}

I digress….

Years ago I watched an Oprah show where they suggested writing a letter to your kids each year on their birthday. And I had a little boy about to turn one. I thought it was brilliant. Beyond brilliant. I wish I could direct you to the person who said it. But I don’t know. Just know that it’s certainly not my idea.

I went and bought a special box to put my letters in. And on his first birthday, I began. His first letter was a hand-written 8 page letter. It talked about all his firsts, (the ones I could remember) how I loved being a Mom. How sleeplessness and I didn’t get along. It was a dictionary of all the words he was saying. And a documentary of all the toys he loved.

At the time it seemed silly to write it all down. But I must have been bored that day. I knew I’d NEVER forget all those things. Because they were all so amazing. But I wrote it.

I put it in an envelope and placed it in the box. Until the next year, when I retrieved it. And re-read what I’d written. So fun to see how far we’d come. How much he’d grown. And how much I’d FORGOTTEN! Gasp!

Fast forward 8 years. I’m now on letter #8. And I hope to continue this tradition. (I do it for my daughter as well) I sat down a couple weeks ago and read them all.

I forgot that he called a popscicle “poppa-sick-ee-oh”, and that he turned on his mobile to “page” us when he needed things. So many little things I loved remembering.

Actually, now-a-days I type the letter. It’s so much faster, and makes it easier for me to keep up the tradition. But doing that makes me miss the whole “hand-written” aspect.

HERE’S THE TECHIE PART!

I love using my special font. (I have a cursive version too!!) I had mine made by DARCY BALDWIN. I don’t have any affiliation with her at all. But I was very pleased. I’m sure there are a ton of other people who do it as well. And I will probably make more in the future. You know. When I decide to change the way I write my “r’s” or “w’s”.

And don’t give me the “I don’t like my handwriting” bologna. I don’t buy that. Your family won’t care what your handwriting looked like. But they will love seeing it. I would give anything to have things written in my Dad’s handwriting. Messy, or not.

I also won’t accept that your kids are older than one, and you should have started this then.
I’m sorry.
That’s lame.
It doesn’t matter whether your kids are 4 or 40…even one thoughtful letter to re-cap an entire year of a precious relationship…is priceless.

And yes, it does take time, and thought. But is an hour or two too much to ask? This year I put it off. And actually just finished it tonight. But I KNOW that one day he’ll love having this letter that I took time to write. And it will be worth a couple hours.

So off you go….to write some letters…..no excuses.
Just awesome memories.
And spending time on things that matter.
(yes….I’m admitting that sometimes I spend time on things that DON’T MATTER.)

Happy Wednesday!!