Yay! New shoezle.

Surprise for REAL.  Welcome to my new and improved blog.  After six months of careful contemplation,i.e. procrastination, I finally moved to a very friendly blog platform.  It says “Howdy Francie” when I log in and I crack up every time I read it.  This is my kind of techie service.  It takes the sting out of tech for us techno-phoebes.   I hope it’s good to you too.  Leave a comment or share the post with a freind.  Is it nice to you?  Can you find your way around?  Take it for a spin and let me know how it drives.

The move reminded me of my first post and how scared I was to send it to all my friends.  All you sweethearts made me feel right at home, just like my new blog digs saying “Howdy Francie!”  I am re-posting my first post to celebrate the new home and reintroduce the inspiration behind the blog.  Not everyone caught me on the first go-around so now everyone can be in the know like the “firsties”.

And maybe all this “no more excuses” stuff will light the fire for you to do that something sitting in you head for months or years.  I’ve done it twice now and I say, “No more excuses.  Go for it!”

My first post:

“It just fell in to my lap.”  So many times it seems great jobs or the perfect job just come to my friends who SWEAR they weren’t even looking.  “I haven’t worked in 10 years!  I didn’t even have a resume!”  I’ve had great luck this way in the volunteer department.  I wasn’t even looking to be PTA president, REALLY.  It just came to me and I didn’t even have a resume.  How lucky!  It’s practically the same thing; I’m just short a paycheck.  Lots of jobs fell into my lap this way.

I watched other friends jump on their passions and market their talents to their friends, neighbors and beyond.  I know where to get decorating ideas, photographers and the best granola or cupcakes, right in my own neighborhood. What can I do?  I like clothes and I like shopping.  But I’m better at “the receiving” than “the giving” of fashion advice. Cooking and eating are high on my list too. Again, I make a better customer, a really good one, in the food department.  I know where to work off my food fetish but at 6 AM, nobody will be buying that from me either, especially at that hour.  I think I need some special certificate to lead workouts anyway.

My one thing: Writing.  How do I turn this into a job I want?  How do I turn it into something others want?  Paid or unpaid.  I’ve had lots of practice in my volunteer efforts; it’s exactly those opportunities where I found my joy and talent.  It’s where I developed my first fan base and probably my number one fan.  This gal would not let me go.  “Hi!  It’s been months.  And by the way, you really need to write.  I need you to write.  I need the levity.”  This went on for three years.  I know, I’m S-L-O-W.  I’m also a big chicken or maybe a hefty perfectionist. This loyal fan reads a lot AND she makes a mean cupcake.  I needed to take heed.

How do I deliver my all-important, joyful messages?  What newspaper or magazine will hire a non-journalism major and not even a liberal arts anything?  I’m a business-person.  I did what my parents told me to do, go for the paycheck.  (They know what it means to feed a family of nine.)  I wrote for numerous newsletters.  Does that count?  A book?  My messages are current.  In a book they would loose their zing and fall flat.  Books are too big anyway.  Start small.

My Guy.

And then the drama hit.  A terrible, terrible accident befell my beloved hubby.  An out-of-turn left turn made a mess of my guywhile riding his bike.  He’s doing great now but the messages about his progress needed to get out to all the caring people in our lives, and some we didn’t even know.  I started a blog before I really knew what a blog was about.  It was the best therapy and best way to tell a story once, to hundreds.  I expanded my fan base and my confidence.

I found a way to start a new blog but was still intimidated.  Technology is not my thing and stops most people in their tracks. What will it look like?  What’s in a name?  Can my husband help me?  Yes, he was the biggest shot of fire under my big behind.  Damned if he didn’t start his own blog, a Tour de France blog, while he was trying to figure out how to help me.   He doesn’t even write! (An engineering major.)  And his blog is really good and looks amazing. Crap!  I mean, “Good for you!  Ride/write/right on mister.”  The Tour is over so I’m not feeling so green, as in envy, anymore. Six months later, here is my debut: shoezle.blogspot.com.  No more excuses.  Enjoy.

And fifteen months later here is my second opening:  shoezle.com.  (I own the domain now and I even know the definition of a domain, scary.)

Thanks for reading, commenting, sharing and Liking!

For your convenience, here is the link to Like:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shoezle/210017209089441?bookmark_t=page

Or:  Try the red “f” button at the top of the page, over the strappy sandal pointing to the left.