Forgive my neglect

I cannot believe how remiss I've been about posting lately! I feel like a neglectful parent leaving my sad, highly unread, blog to its own devices. Shame on me! Therefore, rather than inundating you (Mary) with a million individual posts, we're simply going to treat this post as a hub page for all the Examiner articles I've written lately.

I've been busy, though certainly not as busy as some. I can tell you that I'm eagerly anticipating the article that I'll be posting tomorrow. I'm starting a new weekly series and I'm frankly ridiculously excited about it. I like having set days and things that I know what I'm going to write about. Sure, I still have to come up with the topic for that week's edition, but it just seems...I don't know what, but I feel more relaxed about writing such pieces. I'll do my best to actually come back tomorrow to unveil this brilliant idea of mine. (If only you could literally make written words drip with sarcasm...How awesome would that be?)

I'm going to go a bit off topic for a minute and talk about a book I just finished. It was a Jodi Picoult, House Rules and per the usual, it was outstanding - not my absolute favorite, but still she never disappoints. It's funny, I've come to expect twists in her books that initially leave me bewildered and dying to know why on earth she would do such a thing. Eventually, though, I get a little space from the book and I can acknowledge her complete and utter brilliance. Seriously. If you've not read her work, you really ought to. This book, however, I spent the bulk of it trying to figure out what twist she was going to put on it (just once, I wanted to be able to say I wasn't completely shocked), only to have it end completely on the side of immediate acceptance. That in itself was shocking, but great book. Unfortunately, the library didn't have any available that I haven't read yet, so I have to pause in my quest for a Jodi P. fix.

I told you I was going to meander off topic. So, here's what I've been up to in my neglectful absence:

• What's the risk? Tips for preventing SIDS
• One of my October awareness articles. 
• 'It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' airs this Thursday, October 28th  
• This might have already aired, but there are still some good family activity ideas included in the article.
• Family Night: Preserving the memories
• One of my favorite family night articles to date. 
• National Cyber Security Awareness Month: Online safety guidelines for kids
• The final of the October awareness articles. 
• Family Night: Wii tournament
• We've been having a blast teaching Abby to play some of the Wii Sports games. 
• 'Your Baby Can Read': Helpful tool or scam? 
• This article came about after coming across an article on Digg. 
• Laurel Public Library announces Fall Book Sale
• Extremely local, therefore not particularly helpful if you don't live in the area. Crazy amazing prices, though. 
• Keeping your family's skin healthy during a Montana winter
• Considering my hands are already cracking and the weather is doing it's normal Montana-I-can't-decide-what-the-weather-should-be thing, it seemed a handy article to write. 

So I haven't been lazily neglectful, just accidentally. I hope my faithful few are having a delightfully wonderful week!