This post is very personal, and I have been contemplating whether or not to share it with you all. But in the end I felt like I needed to.

“Thanks, for not dying Mom!”

That’s what my son said to me, after I had just spent 9 hours in the emergency room.

14 September 2011 is a day I won’t soon forget. I had an appointment for a routine medical procedure early in the morning and so my husband and I were on route to the hospital at 5:50 am.

September used to be my favorite month of the year. It is the last month of summer with its cool mornings, and warm, sometimes even still hot afternoons. The chill in the air at night is a sure sign that autumn is on its way.  Here in Colorado September is especially beautiful as the aspen turn into a beautiful yellow color also known as “Aspen Glow.”

We Will Never Forget!

This beautiful picture of a beautiful month has forever been scarred ten years ago on September 11, 2001. A day nobody who witnessed it, either live or on television, will ever forget.

This is really cool and I couldn’t wait to share it with you.  Rapportive, a little app you install in your Gmail account, gives you instant information on the person who’s email you are reading and helps you build rapport. Everything is right there in your Gmail inbox.

Have you ever wondered what the person who’s email you are reading looks like? Where they live? If they are on Facebook, Twitter or any of the other major social networks?

Well, wonder no more!

That was absolutely NOT funny! I tried to update my Twitter stream last week and found out that my account was suspended for violating the Twitter Rules.

What? Me? Busted for breaking (any kind of) rules? No way!

Okay, so maybe my halo got a bit tarnished over the years. But most of the time, whenever I did something wrong it was totally unintentional.

All my life I’ve been trying to live by the rules, not break them. Gosh, my kids even tease me because I don’t even cut the tags off of pillows. (You know the ones that say …”Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law!” …or something like that.)

But it was true. I indeed, although unknowingly, had done something I shouldn’t have.

Bummer! Seems like…

Well, as you know, I took a little break the past two weeks. While I was hoping I would be able to stay away from the online world completely and immerse myself in a good book or two …

Well, I didn’t really manage to do that.

It seems when you are involved in an online business there’s ALWAYS something to do, ALWAYS something new to learn and at my age, learning goes a little slower. Those old gray cells don’t pick things up as fast as they used to. Maybe I should buy some of those video games for seniors they advertise on TV. Maybe those would help stimulate my brain and make things easier to comprehend and remember.

They say, …“If you love what you do you never work a day in your life.” So I don’t consider what I do working, really.  However, I keep forgetting that it can still wear you down if you try and burn the candle from both ends like I have done for quite some time now.

My husband has been after me for weeks to take a break or at least slow down. But I wouldn’t listen. I wouldn’t listen to the signals my body was sending either. At first that is.

The times where people thumbed their noses at a network marketing business are behind us. As a matter of fact the network marketing business model is getting more and more exposure around the globe. And in light what just happened on Wall Street lately it’s really a good thing too. People need to be made aware that there is still an opportunity to create a great lifestyle regardless of the economy.

So, why are there still so many network marketers out there acting like secret agents around their friends, family and others in their circle of influence? Why are so many still not sharing the fact that they own and operate a network marketing business? Maybe they feel that they won’t be taken seriously by those closest to them.

The spotlight is on the top commentator award winners for the month of July. Is it just me, or is every month passing by faster than the previous one? And for some reason the closer it gets to years end the faster it goes. Hold on to your britches J

In any case, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write this post of appreciation today as this is one of my favorite topics to write about.

Normally I highlight the top 3 commentators for the month unless there are more who earned the top commentator award. This month we have five individuals who have achieved this.

I haven’t always shown blog appreciation, but once I found out about it I was hooked. I thought it was a wonderful way to give back.

Ever since starting out on my blogging journey about two years ago now, I have made many blogging friends around the world. Some walked beside me for just a little while and then went on their merry way, while others stayed with me the whole way through and new ones are dropping into my life every day.

Some are actively participating by adding comments to the conversation, others prefer to be passive and just read my posts. I am very grateful for both.

Have you ever wondered how you could revive your old blog posts and drive additional traffic to them? After all you have written valuable content and you don’t want it to collect dust in some old archive. The best solution I have found is a WordPress plugin called “Tweet Old Post.”

There are many ways you could get your old content back out to new eyeballs. For example you could use a plugin that fetches related posts from your blog and attaches them to any new content you publish. You could tweet out your older posts manually or use automated systems like SocialOomph to schedule them. But that still takes time and we are all very busy.

 With all the buzz about Google joining the social media scene lately, the subject has been on my mind quite a bit. And then the other day a headline on my friend Elmar Sandyck’s blog caught my eye. It read…“Can You Recall When Social Media Started?”

I couldn’t really recall when it started, but I was amazed to find out that the first email was sent 40 years ago. Can you imagine it’s been FORTY years?

Wow, that totally blew my mind.

The news spread across the internet like wildfire. Almost 28% of all websites where impacted by the recent Google changes also known as “Google Slap.” Guess Google just reached a point of having enough of people trying to manipulate the search engines by taking advantage of bots, link farms, article submission sites, etc.

I can’t say I blame them. Have you ever read articles written by bots. It’s pure chunk. But a lot of those articles made it on the first page of Google leaving others with relevant and valuable content in the dust. Never underestimate the power of Google. You may be able to ride the wave for a little while, but Google is an expert in recognizing the “footprint” and they will shut you down if they catch you “gaming the system.”