Some Housekeeping

**edited to add question #6, just for Cindy**

It has come to my attention that there are some of you out there that are not familiar with a bloggy carnival. Which is great. All of us have been through the "I don't want to participate because I'm afraid I won't do it right" feeling. So, I'd like to clear up a few things for you in case you wanted to participate in Holiday Happenings in a few days.

(For those of you that thought that I was going to talk about actual things I do to keep my house...Girl, you're reading the wrong blog. I just cleaned last week! Is that something you're supposed to do on a regular basis?)

Back to blogging:

1. All questions that are bloggy in nature have probably been addressed in some sort or fashion at this great site called Blogging Basics 101. Most of the links I will provide today will point you in this direction.

2. What is a blog carnival? It's a post on any person's blog that suggests a specific topic for blogging that day. This host provides a central location for collecting links to the topic posts from all over the blogsphere. For a more in depth explanation read: What is a carnival? on BB101

3. What is a Mr. Linky? On the day of the carnival, at the end of the host's post, there will be a numeric list of names of people that are participating. This list is generated by a program called "Mr. Linky" and if your are participating, your name needs to be on that list. To add your name to the list, you must find the Mr. Linky box at the end of the post and enter your name and URL of your post. Mr. Linky does the rest. For more information read: How do I use Mr. Linky? on BB101
To see Mr. Linky in action: it's Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer today. This is a huge carnival, but so much fun to read!

4. Why do I have to link to my carnival post and not the home page of my blog? Linking directly to your carnival post and not your home page is called using the permalink. It's the permanent place we will always be able to find that particular post on a page all by itself. Basically, it's just good manners. Because most people don't read every post entered in a carnival all in one day. Because that might take hours.

And you might get so involved in all of the carnival posts that your children might be forced to fend for themselves. They might have to eat cereal right out of the box and hold their mouths under the water spout while their twin sister works the knob. And, your husband might come home from work and find you wearing the same pjs that you took your son to school in that morning. That's never happened at my house, but I'm just throwing it out there as something that might happen if you were to try to read all of the carnival entries in one day.

But, since all of you are good parents, you would pace yourself and read the carnival posts a few at a time sprinkled in throughout the week. If you have the permalink, it's no problem. If you have the link to the home page, the author could have written more posts and it could be hard to find the carnival post you're looking for.

So use the permalink, girls! Read this for more information: What is a permalink and why do I need it? on BB101

5. Do I have to have a blog to participate in carnivals? This may vary by topic and host preference. For this host? When it comes to Holiday Happenings? I would love to hear from you! Even if you don't have a blog. Just leave your memory or tradition in a comment on my post.

6. Hey... is there ANY chance I could bribe you into enlarging your font on your posts? I'm getting so old, you see. I'll pay big bucks. ;) Well, I can understand that your eyes may be tired, especially if you are trying to read all of the WFMW posts in one day. Here is my solution: The toolbar at the top of the screen has a choice called "view", click on that. Then go down to "Text size" and click on that. Choose a size that would be easy on your eyes and click on it.

Now, my personal moral beliefs hinder me from accepting a money bribe, but . . . I love me some Starbucks.

So there you have it, everything I know about participating in blog carnivals. It's pretty easy, and so much fun! See you Monday!