Warning: bizarrely random post ahead. I’ll sum it up: melancholic musings, link love, and a bunch of ways you can make me smile.

First up: melancholy. Today sucked. Day four of solo parenting. Hubs had a last-minute opportunity to fly a 172 (that’s a 4-seater airplane for you non-aviation-folk) to Florida, and get paid doing it.

Long story short: solo parenting 3 kids age 5 and under sounds all crazy in the cute and adventurous sort of way until you do it and you hit the wall on day four and from the moment you wake up until the moment they are all asleep in bed you feel like your eyeballs are going to burst from the blood vessels that are popping outta your head. You do some stuff and say (yell) some stuff you’re not proud of and you have a constant refrain in your head of ‘failurefailurefailure’ like a damn woodpecker that makes you even angrier and makes you want to throw your head out the window, but that would be bad so you don’t. Then you find this and you’re all #butmicrowavesarebad #sorrynotsorry.

Also: experiencing some major road blocks in the creative spaces of my brain. Holiday treats week became a holiday treats two days and the Honey Hot Chocolate post sits in my drafts, mostly finished, but without the gumption to finish and press publish. I don’t know why yet. I totally suck at being a professional blogger.

(Ps. You people that snickered at that term? “Professional blogger, teehee, that’s cute/hilarious/stupid. What a total joke”. Y’all might wanna check out this post, then mosey on back over here with your sorry face on).

OK, melancholy over. Writing is cathartic – thanks for indulging me.

Giveaway Winner!

I have a lucky giveaway winner from the post/giveaway on 50 Uses for Essential Oils [And the First 3 Things I Tried + GIVEAWAY].

Drumroll please………… The winner is Stephanie ([email protected]). You win a Holiday Gift Set of Oils and a Spa Mist Diffuser from the awesome and inspiring Bre at Nourishing the Home!

If I don’t hear from you in the next day or two I’ll shoot you an email (probably once my hubs returns tomorrow and brings my sanity back with him. I think he accidentally packed it in his luggage because it seems to be missing).

Now, the real point of this post (as per the title)…

Top 5 Best Christmas Gifts for Your Favourite Blogger (for Free!)

1. Click their amazon links!

First up (because I’ve never officially talked about it on this site), you know that bloggers can earn significant money through their work, right? And that that’s ok, right? It’s like a part-time job, only it’s your passion and you’d do it for free if you had to (and most of us did exactly that for like two years before ever seeing that first dime roll in). I’m not even close to even a full-time job income now, but would love for it to be a viable family business down the road.

Now, the important part: I *just* hopped on to the amazon affiliate bandwagon a few weeks ago, and I have been pleasantly surprised at the potential. I mean most of my peeps here at Red&Honey are probably already buying stuff from amazon. So if you wouldn’t mind a tiny slice of the pie going in to my pocket instead of amazon’s (same price for you), why not, right? Except not if it’s literal pie in my pockets – that would be sad.

Here’s my magical portal to amazon, sure to result in pocket pies. #figurativelyspeakingofcourse #youcouldbookmarkit #justsayin

What’s that? You want it again, only bigger? Ok, if you insist. Go ahead. I’ll wait here.

 

 

*FYI – same deal for all affiliate links… bloggers love when you make a purchase through their site! Share the wealth pennies, peeps.

2. Share their stuff

Share it far and wide. Share like your kindergarten teacher taught you, only more. Then again. And double that again. Share like it’s going outta style. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Allthoseothersocialmediasitesineveruse… you know, those other ones. Email, telegaph, carrier pigeon – whatever floats your boat.

Um, but only if it’s awesome. #disclaimerduh

3. Follow them in social media

Click the like and follow buttons and interact on their various pages. A happenin’ FB page helps it get seen by more peeps, which is, again (if I hadn’t already made this clear) a win. Pinning their stuff on Pinterest is a HUGE fave these days because Facebook is being cantankerous.

4. Visit often

Visit the blog. Again. And all the days of your life forevermore.

Overkill? Meh.

5. Comment and email

Ahh, my favourite. Bloggers have very delicate egos. Soft and breakable like a robin’s eggs in the spring (<– hello, random simile?!). They need lots of affirmation and lovin’ and hugs. Virtual ones, though. (No one wants a stalker. In case you were considering it).

Comments (nice ones, duh) are a blogger’s hugs. Hug often.

So that’s it: five ways you can give your favourite blogger a Christmas gift this year, and it won’t cost you a dime.

(Ok, my ‘literal’ brain is telling me to tell you that yes, affiliate links would indeed cause you to spend a dime or two, but hopefully not ones you weren’t already gonna spend. Capiche?)

And lastly, my gift to you (besides my crazy awesome life on display for all the interwebz to see) is some of my favourite reads from my fellow bloggers.

This concludes the world’s longest intro ever to another edition of…

Weekend Links

The Christmas Conundrum | Jen Hatmaker

Nearly 25 Years of Fathering and All I’ve Got Are These 3 Lousy Tips | Huffington Post

Proving the Risk of Harm in Early Sleep Training | Evolutionary Parenting

The Bully Too Close to Home | Hands Free Mama

Paleo Cinnamon Rolls | A Girl Worth Saving

Where Is the Love? | New York Times

Wanna give me a comment-hug? Tell me about a quirky/fun/unusual Christmas tradition you do in your family.

(PS. I hope you stick around to wade through the crazy with me – I have so much more to share with you in 2014, and I’m getting pumped. Some big life shifts are happening that I shall share about soon!)

top image from beatnik photo