Blog Swap: Semi-Single Mom

Cannwin from The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin is back to guest post. The poor girl has been waiting on me for another blog swap. Life has been hectic as it always is and I think she gets that seeing as how she is also a mom with four kids and one perpetually absent husband. Thank you to Cannwin for her patience with me! Read on to see what she has to say about married single motherhood.

I guess this is supposed to be one of those whitty, funny blog posts that makes everyone laugh, but the truth is that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't come up with a funny way to say "I'm a Semi-Single Mom."



I have a husband, but he's gone a lot and I miss him.



I miss having someone around to help when the kids start screaming, or vomitting, or crying for no reason beyond pre-pubescence.


I miss having someone to pawn the fraction homework onto and to delegate cub scouts to.



I miss having a warm body to cuddle up to at night. A body who can lift my eight year old son and carry him back to bed at night, so that I don't have to endure a night with him in mine... because I can't carry him.



Having a husband whose not around is like smelling sweets but not being able to find them.



I think Adele puts it nicely when she says:




Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?




So that's me. Cannwin the sometimes semi-single mom of four. I'm tired 70% of the time lonely 80% of the time and humorous 99.9% of the time, just not today.

Blog Swap: Welcome Again...The Great and Random Cannwin!

Cannwin of The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin and I are swapping blogs for the next several Tuesdays. She will be gracing Hanging by a Silver Lining and I'll be treading on her chunk of the blogosphere trying my best not to muck it up too much. We've done this before and had so much fun doing it that we figured it was worth another go.

Today...An interview! Here's your chance to get to know the woman behind the greatness and the randomness... (Make sure to head on over and hear what I had to say to the same questions.)



What was the spark that generated the idea that drove you to start your blog?

When my husband and I were discussing places to go to Law School, we talked about moving out to South Dakota (which we eventually did) and I started toying with the idea of creating a blog to keep up with family. I think the idea must have been in my head before then, but that's when it really started to take flight, but I still didn't think that much about it until I came up with the title "The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin." Call it slightly egotistical, but I really liked the title and then I wanted to make something that I could use it for. That's when the itch took over and I probably had the blog up within the next week.


What do you find most challenging about blogging?

Getting readers. Everyone says, 'If you want readers you have to be a reader.' I'm not a reader and my blog doesn't really have a niche. I guess you could call it a 'mommy blog' but, to me, it's so much more than that. It's exactly what it says it is--it's my ramblings, be they great ones (like the essay I did about growing up in an angry house) or totally random stories about strange things my kids do.


I would love to make the 'Blogs of Note' or be nominated for something cool that would get my name out there and make people notice that I've actually got something worth reading! (Well, most days at least).


How do you keep coming up with material for your blog?

I breathe writing. My mind is a constant whir of ideas and opinions and philosophies. 9 days out of 10 I have absolutely no problem with coming up with something to write about. I've also been a pretty big journal keeper since I was a child, so maybe that practice has made blogging easier (I don't write in a journal anymore--I just blog it all).


What piece of literature or media has inspired you throughout your life?

Poetry has been a huge influence in my life. HUGE... it was one of the defining characteristics of my teen years and honestly kept me sane. My most beloved poem is "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. The first time I heard that I was in Jr. High and it changed my life, literally.


Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?

There's this one blog that Evelyn actually pointed out to me called "The Noisy Plume," I think she's fantastic. She's poetic, she's a great photographer and she's an incredible artist (jewelry). I adore her blog.


The other blog that I really enjoy is called BS5. He's a British guy who writes maybe 2-3 sentences every time he blogs. And it's just day to day stuff, but I really enjoy it for some reason. I've been following his blog since I started blogging myself, which makes his the oldest one on my list.


What is the ultimate goal for your blog?

I think that ultimately what I would like to see is my blogs made in to books that I can have around my house. I imagine my grandchildren and great grandchildren (and hopefully great-great grandchildren) being able to pick up one volume or another (each would be a years worth of blogs) and reading through the posts and comments and really getting to know me. And maybe even laughing! If you ever look at my blog labels there's one that is just three periods (...) that's my note to self on which posts I want to keep for my 'books'.


What skills do you bring to the Super Mom table?

Are you kidding me? I created the Super Mom table!


If you could have lunch with anybody, living or deceased, who would it be?

My husband.


Which means that half of you just sniffled and dried your eyes, and the other half said that doesn't count... but I haven't seen him since August 1, 2011 and I only get to talk to him for about 10 minutes every night (in which he's typically half asleep during). I would really like to just be near him for a bit... like a refill on the mommy gas gauge.


Ever been to another country or state that you liked better then where you currently live?

I loved South Dakota. I really miss it. Like, super miss it. When we moved there I thought I was heading into the wilderness, but now my opinion is that it's this countries best kept secret.


What are you doing with yourself if you’re not blogging or actively mothering?

Currently? Nothing. I probably wouldn't even qualify under the 'active mothering' status at the moment. I'm sort of just surviving until March. Sounds depressing, but that's what flux stages in life do to a person. :)