Deborah Woehr

You may have noticed a few cosmetic changes to this blog since yesterday. That’s because I upgraded from 2.0 to 2.3. The makers of WordPress raved about a “kick ass taxonomy” system, which I’ll need to explore when I have more time. For now, I knew this blog was way overdue for an upgrade. So I performed that yesterday morning.

Then I came home and started experimenting with plug-ins. Some of the ones I had didn’t work, such as the Feedburner plugin. Thankfully, my image uploader did. That’s the risk when you upgrade, losing valued plug-ins. I also experimented with widgets because I’ve been frustrated with the clutter on my sidebar. I’ve been wanting to scrunch down the archives for a while, but couldn’t figure out how to do it without breaking the blog. After 2.5 years, the list of archives and the categories had grown very long. I’m hoping someone will develop a plug-in that will collapse the links, but that’s not as big of an issue as the other two.

I decided to test out the Admin Drop Down Menus plugin. It works great on 2.3, but I’m finding that it takes getting used to, as far as looks. I’m so used to seeing the blue navigation bar, which tended to get cluttered.

What do I think of WP 2.3? So far, the only difference I see in the main interface is the Tag insertion box below the post box. I like the idea of having tags versus categories. If you’re new to blogging and would like to know the difference between these two terms, read WordPress.com’s Tags and Categories article. At this point in time, I think I would prefer tags over categories because you don’t have to keep tags in a list in my sidebar. I don’t think I’m going to bother getting the Tag Cloud plugin because I think it’s overkill and it would defeat my goal of keeping my sidebar organized.

I liked the widget interface because I can add and remove items from my sidebar without having to mess with the code. My only gripe is that I wish they had widgets for headers. The list of formats you can import into your WordPress blog has grown to include tagging, such as the popular Ultimate Tag Warrior and Jerome’s Keywords.

Kudos to the WordPress team.

I refuse to buy cell phones for my boys. They don’t like them, anyway. My oldest son discovered text messaging on the computer some time in the last year. He uses it to his full advantage, which I don’t mind because it’s free. He’s going to be another year older next week, and we’re already discussing driving. I can already feel the white hairs taking root in my scalp.

Son: im bored
me: I’m mom.
Son: o
me: What do you want to do for your birthday?
6:23 PM Son: my real 1?
me: Yes, your real 1
Son: pizza i guess
6:24 PM me: You want to go out for pizza? Or, would you just rather eat it at home.
Son: um
idk
me: What’s idk
Son: i dont know
me: Nevermind. I figured it out.
Son: o
6:25 PM me: Well, you’re a lot of help.
Son: i wanted to have those baja chipotle fajtas but dad said to just order a “darn” pizza
6:26 PM me: We’ll get you the fajitas, if you want. Do you want to go out to eat?
6:27 PM Son: yeah i guess i dont think it will be crowded anywhere on a thursday night
me: It shouldn’t be. Okay, we’ll plan on going to Baja then.
Son: ok
6:28 PM i meant the ones me make with the sauce but that works too
me: The ones we make with the sauce. Excuse me, I’m having a senior moment. Can you refresh my memory? Just curious.
6:29 PM Son: um
idk its in the pantry
but that probably doesnt help because theres alot of stuff in there
me: Yup.

Just popping in to say hello and let you know that I’m still here. I’ve been rather busy with the job search. Filling out applications and tailoring cover letters to fit specific jobs is a life-sucking experience that I hope I won’t have to do for a while. I managed to land a temp to perm assignment, which I start tomorrow.

Thursday, I was in such a state that I went out and bought myself a pack of cigarettes . . . and paid dearly for it on Friday with a nasty headache. I’m still trying to recover from that. I’ve come to realize that I feel much better when I don’t smoke. I’m able to focus better because I’m not so amped. That’s why I haven’t run out to buy a pack or a carton. I’ve just been smoking my husband’s.

I do fine when I’m not around him because I know that there are no cigarettes lying around. It’s my fault, not his.