Why the Ultimate Blog challenge?

Those who know me know how full my life is, and that I'd be crazy to take on one more thing - my whole house of cards life might collapse into a pile of missed appointments and financial ruin. Why, then, would I sign up for a contest that requires me to update my blog for 31 days straight?  Something so time-consuming, so demanding, requiring so much of that "C" word I'm not fond of...c...c..commitment?

I had no other choice.

Did I mention that I lead an extremely busy life? I'm a single mom with a very demanding very full time job. I work from home, which sounds awesome (and is), but often means I'm working well into the evenings long after most people have packed up and headed home for the day.

As if that wasn't enough, I also undertook the purchase of a short sale and moving my family recently, which was the real estate equivalent of the Olympic Decathlon. Every day for 6 months I had to find some more magic to pull out of my - hat - to keep the sale afloat. In the end, I won, but man did I take a beating, and there wasn't not enough Gatorade in the world (or alcohol, for that matter) that could make it better. I emerged black and blue, but a homeowner, and am still unpacking boxes.

Of course, that comes with its own set of problems - I've just bought a short sale. What was I thinking? This is a place the owners let run into the ground - they were getting divorced anyway, and clearly they decided about 2 years ago to just let it deteriorate around them.

You can imagine the condition the home was in and what has been required to get it into shape. It's a long, expensive, ongoing process of searching for service providers I can make a deal with, which results in workmen parading through my home and emptying my bank account, while I try to emit brilliance on a conference call in the next room. I'm also a Realtor on the side, so during that time I was also taking my continuing education classes to maintain my license, and pass an exam. Exams aren't my strong point, which is why I'm much happier working than being a student.

But wait, there's more! My son is involved in musical theater, a band, and a small local television show, plus he's in his senior year so we are neck deep in college application process which, trust me, is way more involved than when you or I were in school.

I consistently maintain a 5-inch high pile of bills to be paid, right to the 3-inch high pile of calls I should have made 6 weeks ago. My house hasn't been fully cleaned since the Clinton administration.

There's just no one to delegate to. As a single parent, with no friends or family nearby, it all falls on me. Someone needs to go to the market, fix dinner, put gas in the car, go to the dry cleaner, clean up, plan all the family events, make all the doctor appointments, plan vacations, buy gifts, make calls, figure out who needs to be driven where, when, and how we are going to do that when I've already rescheduled the orthodontist, the haircut, and the shoe repair four times, now, for 3 different people in the household, call the cable company again to report a problem, shop for furniture, help with homework and audition prep, the list goes on....I'm exhausted just typing about it.

As a marketer, I've always encouraged my clients to blog. And yet, for obvious reasons, I never got around to starting my own blog as an example. Oh, I tried, boy did I try! But all I'm left with is a long string of incomplete sentences for all the attempts I made before getting interrupted by, well, life.

I'm trying to be a good role model for my kids, who are so talented and hilarious that I insist they should have YouTube channels, and every time they start to tell me this or that, I screech- "Don't tell me, vlog about it"! They laugh and promptly ignore me and continue blurting out the latest, newest, coolest thing they must fill me in on or they will just burst! I love my kids. Not only are they my heart and soul, but an endless source of entertainment.

At one point, I lost my job and long-term boyfriend, I suddenly had some unexpected time on my hands - I finally promised myself I would start a blog - FINALLY - I would set aside some "me" time every day to share with the world my adventures and misadventures.

And here, just 6 short years later, it is! In the end, I knew that the only way I was going to do it is if someone held a virtual gun to my head, or there was a cash prize, or chocolate involved. I really just needed a team, a cause, and a more formalized methodology (there goes that Business Analyst in me again) - I'm one of dozens (maybe hundreds?) of other bloggers out there who are rising to the challenge. You can read more about it at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/UltimateBlogChallenge

While I can't promise each day will be Tolstoy, I will do my best to post something interesting, or at least something fun. Or at least...something.

As I type this, I've had no less than 36 reminders pop up from my Outlook calendar which I manage to ignore like a champ.
Not now... I'm blogging!

I hope this motivates you to do something you have been putting off, too...if so, tell me about it in the Comments. I invite you to join me, and I hope you enjoy.

I am up for the challenge, if you are. :)