GRAND Social — Grandparent linky — September 24

I'm not sure if I learned it in kindergarten—that fabled place where all we really need to know was supposedly ingrained—but I am sure that I did learn how to share somewhere along the line. Yet it's come to my attention that I've been remiss in regularly sharing what's in the far reaches of the Grandma's Briefs website. Namely, Grandma's Back Room.

If you're a fan of Grandma's Briefs on Facebook, you've been directed to the Back Room, but I need to get better about pointing out what's featured there right here, on my home page. So before I kick off this week's GRAND Social, I want to direct those who've never been or those who have but may have forgotten all about it to click on over to Grandma's Back Room. It's where you'll find my reviews, my giveaways, my sponsored posts.

Of course, the giveaways are a top reason to visit the Back Room, and this week there will be plenty. For starters, there's a current giveaway for a VeggieTales DVD, but that's just the beginning. This week I'll also feature in the Back Room another DVD giveaway as well as one you surely won't want to miss as it's for the coolest of cool indoor bouncy houses. Plus, I have a few other goodies I hope to get posted there this week.

I urge you to visit the Back Room, take a look around, and enter the current giveaway, even if just as practice for what's to come. Entering a Rafflecopter giveaway, the widget I use for giveaways, can be a tad intimidating the first time or two. I'd like you to practice up, for I have great giveaways in store, not only this week but through the end of the year (think week of giveaways when my Holiday Guide kicks off), and I'd really hate for you to miss out on them.

Then do come back here. After all, today I share here the main feature of the day—another GRAND Social.

See? I do know how to share! Now it's your turn, via the GRAND Social.

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, but you must be a grandparent who blogs.

• Posts shared can be an old one or a recent one, your choice. I like to link up to older posts that current readers likely haven't seen.

• To link up, copy the direct link to the specific post you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue "Click here to enter" text below and follow the directions to add your post to the list.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, please, and none you have promoted on a previous GRAND Social linky.

• No contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites.

• Adding a mention at the bottom of your linked posts, such as This post has been linked to the GRAND Social linky, is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button using the following code:

<a href="/" target="_blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.

• Looking for another grandparent linky? Be sure to visit Connie's Grandparent's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday (open to links through Monday nights).

• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. All bloggers who link up would be honored to have you click, visit, read and comment.
  

READERS and PARTICIPATING BLOGGERS: Please visit the posts others have linked to by clicking on the thumbnail photos. Comments are always appreciated by the bloggers whose links you visit, even if it's simply "Hey, stopping by from GRAND Social."

Thank you for participating in the GRAND Social grandparent linky!

525,600 minutes ago

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Sunday programming to present this announcement:

Today is the ONE-YEAR BLOGIVERSARY of Grandma's Briefs!

Yeah, baby! One year ago today I set out to create a blog to help ease the distance between myself and Bubby, to share my successes and failures as I venture out on the grandparenting road. Since then, this little site o' mine has seen 396 posts, 2,393 comments, 15,385 unique visitors, and 44,748 page views.

Most of all, though, this site has seen YOU! And it's YOU that has made Grandma's Briefs such an awesomely incredible experience for me!

There simply are no words to describe how much I appreciate you showing up and reading and commenting on my words and pictures, making it seem like this crazy journey I'm on -- the same one taken by millions of others, yet oh-so personal to me -- matters to someone besides myself and my family.

You all mean the world to me, and I'm offering up a few prizes as just a very small token of my gratitude for the difference you've made in my life. I'd like to give each and every one of you a great big bear hug, but a little giveaway will have to do.

But first ...

DarrenRowse, masterful mentor and blogger extraordinaire of Problogger, recently proposed a 7 Link Challenge that I thought would make a perfect one-year-blogiversary post. Darren's challenge is to present seven links in seven themes that best represent to new and long-time readers what one's blog is all about and to possibly introduce one and all to a few posts they may have missed.

In that vein, here are my answers to the 7 Link Challenge (Be sure to keep reading after the links for details on my blogiversary giveaway!):

1. Your first post – And so it begins ... featured -- naturally -- an absolutely adorable photo of Bubby.

2. A post you enjoyed writing the most – One woman's pleasure is another's worst job ever. I absolutely hated, hated, hated this job but I found writing about it rather cathartic because I knew I would never, ever, ever again be in a position to have to work such duty. Plus, I kind of enjoyed making you all say "ewww!" over the stinky job instead of the usual "awww...!" over the always precious antics and photos of Bubby.

3. A post which had a great discussion – Wanted: Crazy, quirky confessions. Wow! I loved reading all the quirky things you all got going on, and apparently you did, too. This post had the most comments of any other so far, and it doesn't even include the equally quirky comments I got when posting the same thing over on Vibrant Nation.

4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written – There are so many great blogs I read by interesting and insightful women, but it's the posts of Pat at Mille FioriFavoriti that I envy the most. Not one particular post, but every single one. Why? She's a grandma, just like me, but she lives in this wonderfully exciting place (NYC) and has the most awesome photo skills to document the world in which she lives and travels. I don't hanker so much to write posts like her; I just want to be able to take photos like her ... and take those photos in places as awesome as those in which she takes hers.

5. A post with a title that you are proud of – Bikes, trikes and big-boy beds. Other than the always adorable photos of Bubby, there's nothing particularly special about this post. But I think the title just flows well -- and tells exactly what the post is about.

6. A post that you wish more people had read – With this kiss, I thee wed. Without the first kiss, there would be no me and Jim, thus no Brianna, Megan and Andrea; no marriage between Megan and Preston; no Bubby. Ultimately, without that first fateful kiss, there'd be no Grandma's Briefs. Well, this post isn't about that kiss. But it is about the anniversary of that kiss.

8. Your most visited post ever – Two men and a toddler (haircut) was published last August, but to this day I still get at least one -- often more -- clicks on it daily. I like to think it's because it is such a wonderfully wacky documentation of Bubby getting a haircut by Preston and his buddy. I shudder at my stats, though, showing there may actually be a more disgustinglypedophiliac factor to the searches that result in some of the visits. I've considered deleting this post because of the thought of what's behind the searches, but I love the photos too much to do that -- and I hope the icky folks doing the searching feel gut-wrenching guilt when they unexpectedly click on the wholesome photos of Bubby getting his hair done by Daddy.

And now, for the Grandma's Briefs One-Year Blogiversary giveaway:

Like I said above, I'd like to give all of you something. But what I have is three prizes to award, at random, to three folks who comment to this post telling me Why do you read Grandma's Briefs and/or what topics or features would you like to see more of in the coming year?

The prizes are:

Grand prize: A Grandma's Briefs One-Year Blogiversary tote bag filled with a few books from my stack of advance reader copies from publishers, plus homemade chocolate chip cookies made by Grandma (that's me)!

1st place: A Grandma's Briefs One-Year Blogiversary tote bag and homemade chocolate chip cookies!

2nd place: Homemade chocolate chip cookies!

(Do note that I'll ship the prizes within 24 hours of making the cookies so you won't be getting stale yucky pucks in the mail!)

Comments received by midnight MST Wednesday, July 28 are eligible for the drawing; winners announced Thursday, July 29.

Again, I appreciate you all! Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring!

Update

on 2010-07-25 23:35 by Lisa Carpenter

Okay, I'm the biggest dork of a grandma in the world, as Megan just pointed out that the Rent song -- and the facts -- show that it's 525,600 minutes in year, not what I originally had as the post title. Correction to title made! Thanks, Megan!