Bloggy Basics: 3 Simple Steps To Schedule Posts in Blogger

Yes, it's Monday, not Wednesday, and yes, this is Bloggy Basics!  Why?  Well, I am spending this week moving my blog to Wordpress.  I don't quite know what to expect in the process. I don't know how much I will be able to post until things are up and running.  I definitely didn't want to leave you all hanging with growing your blogs!

If you happen to experience an issue with your feed, please check back on the main blog (rather than just in your feed) as there is a slight chance I will need to burn a new feed.

Now, on to Bloggy Basics!

Have you ever needed to take time off from blogging for a busy day or vacation?  Have you ever felt badly because you couldn't post?  Well, never fear!  There is a solution!

Scheduled posts!

You will be surprised how easy it is to write a post in advance and schedule exactly when it will publish.  As Special Agent Oso knows (sorry - Disney channel reference), it takes just three simple steps!

Step One
Write your post that you wish to schedule for a future date.

Step Two
Click on "Post Options" at the bottom of this page.

You will see a menu that looks like this:

Look on the far right where it says "Post date and time."  Automatic will publish your post right away.  Set date and time will publish your post at the date and time you enter in the boxes.

 Enter your chosen date and time.  Click "Publish Post."

Step Three
Sit back and wait to see your scheduled post!


Wasn't that easy?  Now go relax and enjoy a cup of coffee!

Have you ever scheduled posts before?

Coupon Day

credit

We got some not so great news yesterday - we need a new transmission in our "new to us" car.  If course, it is more expensive because of the 4wd.  So, now we need to squeeze $2500 out of our quite-tight budget.

The Lord knew this was coming - the Hubs has several income opportunities coming up in the next few months.  We'll make it through unscathed and with a much more reliable car after the repair if we're a bit more cautious with our money.

In the spirit of saving, I want to pass along some coupon and sale information!

First of all, my favorite forum, We Use Coupons, will be featured on TLC in December!  This is a great, faith-based, savings forum.  A feature on the front page right now is called "Babies on a Budget" and discusses various ways to save money on baby products and on getting many baby items for free.  Find deals for your favorite grocery stores.  Preview the coupons for the upcoming Sunday paper.  Print coupons, trade coupons, find shopping scenarios for stores, take online coupon classes, play games, even view the Black Friday ads today! (just search Black Friday)

Now, I am an affiliate for We Use Coupons.  I make a few pennies for how many people click through to their site through my links.  If another blogger signs on to be an affiliate, I make $10.  If you are a blogger and are looking for a good affiliate program, please consider signing up under me. Just give my email address (penguinelk at yahoo dot com) when you sign up. I'd appreciate it!  All proceeds will go toward buying wheelchairs for the Free Wheelchair Mission!

More savings news:

Coupons.com has posted a lot of new coupons to print!  Again, I am an affiliate, so my links may look strange. By printing through my links, you are helping to change lives!

• $1/1 Wonderful Pistachios, 80z+
• B1G1 FREE Gold Peak Tea, 18.5oz, Any flavor $1.79 max
• $10/1 Greeneis Dental Chews 27oz Tub
• $1/1 Resers Sensational Side Items
• $.55/1 Resers Cut Potatoes
• $.75/1 Sara Lee sweet Goods Product
• $.50/1 Land O Lakes Spreadable Butter
• $1/1 November or December Issue of Good Housekeeping
• $1/1 illy issiomo can of coffee
• $1/1 Half Gallon 8th Continent Soy Milk
• $3/1 Zantac 24ct+ Sign Up and Save

Bloggers, I use the Escalate Affiliate network for updates on coupons and other great offers. If you are interested in trying Escalate, just click here!  I will earn $3 for each new referral.

Here are some more great offers from Escalate:

• Get a free 8x10 canvas through the Canvas People - sign up and receive a $55 credit which will get you the free 8x10. Makes a great Christmas gift!
• Sign up for free Daily Worth emails - finance tips (and the occasional kick in the pants) for women
• Sign up to receive emails about special offers, coupons, and promotions from The Home Depot.
• Mint - free and fabulous online financial software (like Quicken but easier to use)

I also take surveys to make money online.  In the last year and a half, I have made a total of about $350 from online surveys. Not all survey companies are created equally.  For more details on each company, please see the Survey tab on my PennyPinchingPenguin blog.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Toluna
• Mindfield
• Valued Opinions

So, what are YOUR outside-the-box ways to save or make money?

Updates abound

I've decided to make some changes with the blog. Over the next week or so, I am making the move from the Blogger platform to Wordpress.  I won't get in to all of the reasoning behind the change right now.  I will say that I do love Blogger and all I have been able to do with my blog.  I love all the new features being unveiled recently.

Through the change, I hope to keep posting, but I am not sure how all of the technical details will work out.  I wanted to give y'all a heads up!

The first change is coming today.  It's pretty minor.  I am updating my Feedburner to reflect the blog address without the "blogspot" in the name.  Yes, I know I dropped the "blogspot" in August.  It's time I update it!

What does this mean for you?

If you subscribe to this blog via a reader, there may be a hiccup.  Hopefully, you will still get updates like usual, but there is a chance you may need to click through and re-subscribe.  If you get an error message or no blog posts delivered in the next couple days, please come on over and click the "Subscribe via RSS" button in the right sidebar (it looks like this:  )

If you get updates through email and happen to experience a glitch like I mentioned above, just please come on back and re-subscribe!

I'm hoping this transition goes smoothly!

Oh - I will still cover a lot of Blogger-specific topics in Bloggy Basics!

Can I Call a Mulligan?

I have so much to be thankful for, however, every so often, a day comes along that kicks my rear end.  Today, I wanna call a Mulligan.

Definition: A mulligan, most simply put, is a "do-over." Hit a bad shot? Take a mulligan and replay that stroke.

So, this isn't golf, it's life.  I sure would like to take a Mulligan today though.  Ever have one of those days?

Today started at 4am when Scrunch (now 5 months old) was awake for the day. For. The. Day.

At 4 o'clock.

AM!

For some odd reason, he immediately fell asleep at 6am when Hubby's alarm clock went off for the first time. This nap was short lived. Before 7am, he was up again. Of course Buggy chose today to sleep in.

By the time he was ready to sleep, Buggy was waking up.  They have been tag teaming their sleeping/resting times all day.

I'm wiped out and it isn't even lunch time yet.

Icing on the cake? The "new" 10-year-old car the Hubs got this summer needs a new transmission.

Can I call a Mulligan?

Tell me about a "Mulligan" day you've had recently!

Bloggy Basics: Blog Frog

If you've been around the blogosphere much at all in the past few months, I am certain you have seen BlogFrog widgets and mentions.  I'll admit, I was skeptical about this new blogging social media platform.

So, what is BlogFrog?  Basically, BlogFrog is a platform that turns blogs into communities.  It is a place where blogs can set up forums for their readers to interact. It is a place to join other forums and exchange ideas. It is a place to network and a place to make new friends.

Since this blogging thing is all about community and interaction and networking, BlogFrog is a natural place to grow as a blogger and to grow your community.

If you look on my sidebar, you will see my BlogFrog community widget.  If you click on this widget in the sidebar, you will be taken right to my community forum where you can interact with other readers.  Farther down, you'll see my widget with recent visitors.  These are two awesome features BlogFrog offers to help connect you with readers.  Now,  how does it all work?

Get Started

First, head over to BlogFrog and create a free account.  You can watch a short video to help you get started. You can check out all the discussions that are happening. Once you are signed in, check out some communities that interest you.

Get Connected

Join some communities.  Interact in some forums.  Just jump in on the conversations!  Pose a question!  Here are a few tips.

• Make sure you have a photo or icon in your profile.  This will help people identify you as you  interact more and will help you make friends.
• Quote people.  When you reply to a question in a forum, you can quote the original poster or others who have replied.  To quote, simply mouse over the text you want to quote. To the right you will see quotation marks. Click the quotes.  That block of text will appear in the reply box at the bottom of the thread.  Why quote? When you quote someone, they are notified via email so they can join back in the conversation. I know sometimes I'll forget to check back on a discussion and am thankful to get the email!
• Check out the SITS girls forum - it's a very active and helpful community!

Get Posting

Feel free to start your own thread with a question or comment! It's simple.  Once you are logged in and in the community forum of your choice, you can add to the discussion.

Enter the forum through the tab at the top. 

Click the +New Discussion button.  Add your content!  

Make sure to review the rules for the community at the bottom.  Select a topic and decide if you want to be alerted through email when people respond.  Click Save to post!

Simple!

Have you visited BlogFrog yet?  Check it out!  Not sure where to start?  Visit my community and say help.  I'd love to hear from you!

Check back in a few weeks for a tutorial on adding BlogFrog to your blog!

Want to see more ways to improve your blog?  Check the "For Blogs" tab at the top of this blog for more installments from Bloggy Basics.

Terrible Two's or Pint-Sized Bully? A Comparison of Toddlers and School Kids

no child was injured in the taking of this picture

What does a group of toddlers have in common with a group of middle schoolers?  Surprisingly, a lot!

Both age groups:

• have awkward friend interactions
• are growing in social skills
• lack impulse control
• have bullies

Did I really say that?  Bullies?  Toddlers?

Yes.

If we don't let the cuteness factor of these tiny humans cloud our judgement, we can turn these tiny terrors around before they get to middle school (or any school).

I recently had the chance to work with a group of toddlers.  I noticed that one, who happened to be the oldest in the group, was not quite behaving as he should.  Each time a child would take out a toy, this little boy would stop what he was doing and rip the toy out of the other child's hand.

I used redirection and reminders.... until....

He. Spat. On. My. Child.

Oh no he didn't!  Mamma Bear was on the loose!

Taking a page from Dr. Phil, I made sure his little world stopped.  He was put in the time out chair so fast. From that point on, EVERY infraction was met with VERY swift recourse.  Every positive was met with quick praise.

No, he didn't stop being a bully that night.  He still is terrorizing other little ones.  He did show me that bullies start young.  He taught me that we need to work hard when our children are young to help them grow into kind and responsible adults.  These early years are the most crucial in character development.

None of our kids are perfect.  They will all make mistakes.  That's how they learn.  How we help them learn from their mistakes will shape their character.

Proverbs 22:6 tells us

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

It's a big job.

I pray I'm up for the challenge.  Are you?

5 Ways I Have Struggled with Weight

Just days before delivering Buggy a month early

I have been reading a lot of blogs that focus on weight loss lately.  I am amazed at how open and honest these women are.  I mean, they give NUMBERS!  Actual numbers of their REAL weight and what they have lost and gained.

I don't know if I could do that!

These women have inspired me.

At the moment, I am pretty much where I want to be weight-wise. That doesn't mean I don't have issues with weight.  I'll break down each issue over the next few weeks. Hopefully, the insight I have gained while reading other blogs (check out my list of great reads in the right sidebar) will help someone else who is struggling with weight issues.

Here are my struggles!  For reference, I am 4'11' and my goal weight/healthy weight is 110 lbs.

1. Overweight.  In high school, I became quite overweight - I gained about 40 pounds in just a few months after a thyroid medicine change. It took a few years to get healthy again.
2. Underweight.  At one point in college, my weight dropped to just over 80 lbs. I wasn't anorexic.  I was just working so much that I couldn't keep weight on.
3. Hormonal birth control weight.  Eight years on the pill.  'Nuff said.
4. Baby weight.  My highest weight was just over 160 pounds. It was hard to lose the first time around.
5. Food Aversion.  This can of worms is open right now.  It is a vicious cycle. The less I eat, the less I want to eat. I'll dive into this mess in the future. Basically, some breastfeeding issues I have had with both cause me to feel nauseous while nursing.  It is slowly getting better.

So, I bring this subject to this blog for a few reasons.  I am striving to be healthy.  I am striving to have a biblical view of beauty.  I know that by writing about my issues in light of scripture, I'll be more likely to follow through.  Lastly, I hope to help at least one person!

Have you struggled with weight?  Self-image?