I crawled into bed—oh the muscle/joint aches were the worst—and succumbed to sleep. But then I woke and discovered I … couldn’t do anything. Couldn’t read, not even your wonderful blog posts, couldn’t (oh the frustration) write, couldn’t enjoy a lunch of Vietnamese noodle soup with my hubby (I love Pho Tai, it must be the best, cheapest comfort food known to man, but what, oh, what was this flu-ridden lack of enthusiasm?!)
24-hours later, the achy joints finally abandoned me (I guess they couldn’t take all the whining), but the fatigue and discomfort linger on. I can’t sleep for all the hacking. It’s a fucking cold, people! Why do I feel so helpless? But it’s also summer and who wants to be forced inside on a summer’s day when there are so very few of them? (and no, neither walks in the sun or half-hearted workouts have managed to “sweat it out” of me.)
And then there was this: this blog, with its funny, sweet little face that I just wanted to pinch and pat.
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| Remember this? |
And even so my daughter and I decide we’re going to play with it a bit, just check out some options (you know girls and their makeovers), and all of a sudden “apply” gets hit and we have crap on the screen and we can’t get the old face back, try as we (she) might. Our lovely readers have already mocked and kindly advised me in the comments’ section, bless their hearts (that’s for you, Karen), but there you have it: blog re-boot by fire. Thank god Deb was sweetly gracious about the whole thing and tagged along on the now-necessary task of a complete overhaul. (is it just me or is Blogger offering fewer template options??? And some really weird neither-here-nor-there colours…)
Just so you know, there have been a few issues working out the width of the new columns so they fit into all browser pages, so please let us know if it’s getting cut off on one side or the other.
Anyway, big thanks to Stefanie for her patient re-tooling and mocking up of the new masthead. Deb and I just love it. Hopefully you do too!
And then to top it off, Deb entertained last night and forgot to respond to the blog! What the hell? I felt so sorry for Barb last week as she is not one to get sick a lot. And then to have it hit you in the middle of gorgeous summer is the unkindest cut of all. As for the revamping, I love it and extend my heartfelt thanks to the talented Stef for taking time out of her very very busy life to do it!
ReplyDeleteOh, Barb, what a stupid, mean, ill-timed, nasty cold! I'm so glad you are on the climb up. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteThe redesign looks GORGEOUS!!! As you know from the copious emails (LOL), I kept watching yours and Stef's tinkering on the blog. That was a bit of a roller coaster ride! LOLOLOL :) But, the final product looks GORGEOUS!!!
BTW, whatever you and Stef did, w00t! because the column widths now look PERFECT in Chrome! I know you said they looked fine in Firefox and Safari. I hope readers who use Opera or Explorer have spiffy widths, too.
YAY for the font changes in the tagline! YAY for crisp purple over white! YAY the easy to read bolder print in the body text! And, LOVE all the supercute pics y'all've added!
P.S. I'm still working on fixing the button code issue. You'll probably get a slightly cranky email reeeaaalllyy late tonight. It's just that this week has been knocked wonkity by my son starting 7th grade and moving to the jr. high building at school. Once he's gotten tucked into bed at night and the laundry's finished, I haven't been good for much of anything beyond laying on the couch and streaming old Barney Miller episodes until I finally can quit thinking/worrying enough to fall asleep.
Thanks so much, Rigel. Without your input we might've just lolled along assuming the size was perfect! PS I didn't draw attention yet to the lovely "grab button" you made for us as I know you still want to futz with it, but did you notice how cute it looks on our sidebar?? (thrilled it worked this time) Anyway, take your time, darling. And get some sleep!
ReplyDeleteAs for cold, grumpin@#*!*#@
In spite of my love of colour, you just can't beat a white background. Can't! It looks great.
ReplyDeleteGet well soon Ms Barbarella.
Site looks lovely. Barb, hope you are feeling better. I got that blasted cold twice this year.need to reduce my stress and increase the vit c. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know what I love about a white background? It's easy for me to read the words... might not be/look as "cozy", but I think you forget that once you start reading so easily...
ReplyDeleteThanks guys!! xo
There is nothing worse than a cold in the summer, except maybe a cold in "this perfect summer" we are having. You must have felt awful Barb, so bad that you couldn't read, write or eat Pho (that's pretty bad I'd say) I was so happy to see a blog this morning, it looks terrific! Deb, you photos of Lake Huron were stunning and I loved your summation of the week through your list. I love this blog, welcome back ladies!! And thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary-Jo!
ReplyDeleteIt works for me. I would love to see a current picture of the two of you next to the first one. I love your current look.
ReplyDeleteI just looked back. Is the new one a current photo? Hard for me to see it.
ReplyDeleteI like the new look, it's cute. Hope you feel better soon Barb summer colds are an injustice.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the kudos on the new look. Madge the two most current ones are Barb and I in hats! (please don't judge as it was 3:30 in the am on Royal morning breakfast and the other one only a month before that is the one where I am in the long red dress. These are only a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking how nice this blog is going to look to my eyes each Mon., Wed., and Fri. morning once we settle into the muddiness, grays, browns, and dreariness of late fall and early winter.
ReplyDeleteOf course, once there's snow and ice on the ground, I might be all, "Nooooo! Another expanse of white!" lol
*sliding cursor over links and seeing the purple go to light blue and thinking, "Teeheehee, Barbara got her light blue after all!" :)*
Well dang, Barb, I see what happened that messed it up before. You put a "u" in color. That'll do it every time. :) The new page looks great. I like the white background. It's much easier on the old eyeballs.
ReplyDeleteIt sucks to be sick in the summer. I have that crud as well. I'm not longing to be outdoors though. It's too dang hot here. Triple digits for yet another week. If you like walking IN the sun, move to Texas where you can walk ON the sun. :)
Hugs & tissues with lotion
Karen
P.S. If you happen to see a lung fly by go ahead and grab it. It's mine. :)
Summer colds are the worst. You can blame any aches and pains on the cold weather, but what do you say now? The sun made me sick? It just doesn't sound right.
ReplyDeleteI'm on Firefox. The colors all look pastel to me, and the background isn't blindingly bright white. It looks all spring-y. Very pretty.
PS I set up a blog of my own. If I click on my name, it brings it up correctly. Could someone please tell me it works for outsiders, too? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDawn - It brought up your profile with a link to your blog, not your actual blog's home page.
ReplyDeleteHey all, was just out getting my youngest ready for college, argh! Thanks for all the lovely input on the new look and my awful cold (it's hard to shop when you're miserable). But we got it all done!
ReplyDeleteDawn, the site looks awesome! But yes, you do have to click through your profile to get to it. Hey, can anyone tell me how to change the profile so it goes straight to your site???
Karen, as always, thanks for the snort. And sooooo sorry about the cold! At least I can't feel guilty that I passed it to you :)
I too must say how much I like the new look. I'm a big fan of white and purple. (It was my wedding colors) Colds are so awful. School just started here and my husband and I are guessing until how long until the first cold comes home from school. I give it two weeks. I hope the recovery from your cold is quick. Take care.
ReplyDeleteAw, Barb... I hope you're feeling better! I have to say, I'm enjoying the new look of the blog! I know I haven't replied as often as I had been, so I just wanted you know I was still around! :)
ReplyDeleteLove you gals!
I hope you're feeling better. What a drag those summer illnesses are. Your new layout looks wonderful and the new header is smashing!
ReplyDeleteSummer colds suck times ten. I hope you feel better soonest, Barbara.
ReplyDeleteAnd yay for the new look of the blog! It's so very pretty!
Totally digging the new look! See, there are no accidents.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better - Pierre was knocked flat on his arse in July with something similar - and he's rarely ever sick. He said it felt like he was moving through quicksand - couldn't do anything but sleep. It took a few weeks for whatever it was to finally leave his chest. All better now but it was a doozy.
Dawn -
ReplyDeleteYou don't necessarily have to use your profile when you comment (e.g. choosing your Google account option in the pull down menu below).
What I did when I had a blog was to pick the name/url option in the "Select profile" pull down menu below the comment box. Type Dawn in the name box and in the url link box add the complete http: address for the front page of your blog.
I'm gonna fudge it on this one to give you an example. I pulled down and selected Name/URL. I entered my name in that line. Then, on the URL line, I entered the address to my wist
http://www.wists.com/winterlighthomestead .
Now, if you click on my name on this comment, it's the hypertext link directly to my wist.
With this linking option, you bypass the problem of linking through your profile.
Hope this helps.
Oh, Barbara-you never tamper with technology when Mercury is in retrograde! I do love the new header though. And I'm so sorry about the summer flu! We've all had colds this summer, which is bad enough (and the first time in a VERY long time!)
ReplyDeleteThanks all!! Molly, Beth, Lisa, Tannis and Hart, your well wishes mean a lot. Sadly, it is a slow-moving cold, argh.
ReplyDeleteRigel, thanks so much for the description of how to link to the profile. Very helpful!
And glad you like the new look!! xo
Forgive me for trying to make it through what Rigel just explained. (Keep in mind that I can spell "computer," but that's as far as I'm usually able to get.) Thanks for your patience.
ReplyDelete