New beginnings

Hello dear friends,

With the beginning of the year, I also finalised my plans of renewing my blogging experience-and yours. 

I have discussed this in the past, but I was not sure if I wanted to do it, and what it would mean to my relationship with you. You know how I cherish our friendship!

And yet, I wanted to put almost everything on a new basis, the "green" part and the "Greek" part of my blog, with who I am now, almost five years after I launched my ship in the blogosphere, and thus, to put forward a more honnest and whole "me". 

So,

with all this in mind,

I am launching 

The E-Diaries

I hope to see you there, soon!

http://the-e-diaries.blogspot.com/

Supermoms and Superbloggers: No, thank you!

Lovingly dedicated to The Stepford Wives of blogging

 This morning I (re)installed Tweeterdeck on my work pc. It's quite nice (and quite distracting) to have the tweets popping up in a little window on top of the screen while I do a "to-do". It feels like I am on top of things, in a "can do-want to do-not miss a thing" way.

Anyhow, here is what pop up after a while:

 @thep......woman: Today I'm preparing: Roasted beef tenderloin, rosemary potatoes, olive cheese bread, Caesar salad, burgundy mushrooms...and creme brulee.

Now, that lady's blog is a lovely website with a great flow of information, and an endless stream of beautiful photos of beautiful American countryside in the most epurated cowboy way, lovely horses and, God bless them, all-American children. A beauty to watch althogether.

But that tweet made me think:
Is that kind of professional sophistication actually blogging? And is it in any way real? I mean nothing against the Mrs., whose featured cookbook I dully bought a while ago. It is not just her, and her tweet was just the drop that filled my glass. But for heaven's sakes, what real woman has the time to casually put together "Roasted beef tenderloin, rosemary potatoes, olive cheese bread, Caesar salad, burgundy mushrooms...and creme brulee..." all in one go, feed the clan, and tweet about it, let alone casually  blog about it?

I only made main course, salad and sweet when I was a newlywed, homebound with expecting my first baby. I was in my early twenties and my husband recalls my copious efforts, much to his credit.

OK, I may be imperfect, uncapable or plain lazy. But if you are anywhere near as imperfect as I am, hear me out on this: that perfectly turned out stuff you see in many home-and-family blogs home industries, is good for you (and me) if you want to read, or rather leaf through a virtual magazine and fantasize about it, much like reading Vogue or Town and Country, or if you feel like puting the occasional recipe into practice, tempted by the delightful photography, with perfect lighting and the perfect props.There is actually a whole long list of women with perfectly manicured blogs and a surreal amount of perfectly and regularly churned out text and photography, with just the right mix of information and confession that makes them addictive. Although I admit to succumbing to that housewife glitter quite often, I have this to say: do not for a moment buy into the lifestyle.

And if, like myself, you can not or want not to match those standards of unattainable picture perfect perfection, know that they now remind me more of Stepford Wives (where I'd be the Betty Middler character) and less of "Little House on the Prairie", and do not in any way feel  like you have to emulate it or, even worse feel inspired by it. There is nothing inspiring there; there is only depressing. If I may say so, let us mere mortals with full sinks, one course, and sometimes -oh, the horrors!- frozen meals, live our own lives and be honest about it, and let us let the golden locks of so-called blogging hard sell their fantasy world. Yes, I would like a bit of personal cash, and I won't say "no" to some garage sale and Amazon book sidebar ad, but otherwise, no, I'd rather not sell my life, my home, my hot husband and my chubby baby to gain readership, and boost my ego. That in my list is called housewife-porn, not blogging. 

First Things First

Hi there!
Yes, I am here, typing on the work computer when I should be checking codes. But never mind the codes. Just for a while I am popping in to say HI! 


It has been an interesting almost-month of unplugging and unblogging and much uncomputing outside work. 
This did not mean that I got any more work done. I am still struggling with the pile of translations that I need to do for the company's corporate website. And unlike my usual tendancy, I find it hard to switch to French. Talk about split personality!


What I did though, was more reading, more gardening and generally a little more living. Like an afternoon or two at the beach. And some more reading. And some uncluttering. Can you believe I had by bedside some magazines from 2009? 


What this period of silence taught me, is setting up some prioroties. Now, work is among my priorities, don't get me wrong, but I am a person who needs time to herself in order to function. Time with friends, time with what matters. Time for being in touch with God and my soul. Time to cherish, time to breath. And space, yes I crave space. Less chatter, more substance. And then some chatter :) 


So the biggest lesson from this time, and I am sharing it with you, is:
START WITH WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. Then do what you have to do. By doing what I want to do first, like walking, or reading, or posting on my blog, I can go about my tasks with more spirit and pizzazz.


Try it for yourselves and see what happens ;)


P.S. I changed the post's title and reposted. Lesson #2: Stop being such a perfectionist.

Post-Christmas Look

After the Christmas decorum I was looking forward to a simpler do. As happens most of the time it could take some time to put into place my links, but I think I may not. I am also thinking about where I want to take this blog, after four years of blogging this coming April. The Happy Turtle is a file of what catches my attention in the design blogosphere. I think The Green Greek wants to grow up, leave behind the need to be liked and accepted. Spend time in selected company. Leave behind most of the memes and the links that do not work for me any longer. And move on in a way more cohesive and more true to who I am now.

Top Secret

Do you get spam messages? I get  a lot. Every day. Most of them go straight into the bin. There are offers I never asked for. Blue pills from pharmacies eager to sell them. Russian ladies who want to know me intimately. Or my husband. Indian fabric manufacturers. Japanese electronics giants who close down and want me to have their goods for next to nothing. Oh and banks who want me to confirm my account following a certain link. (I don't).
There are spams that belong to a category of their own. There are lengthy e-mails from African widows and relatives of Iraqui resistance fighters who want me to help them touch the money their dear ones left them. These are usually ready to read, no attachments. So, after i deal with the company mail, I sit back and read the day's spam mail.

Today's mail from Mrs Aminatu BOLKIAH is quite interesting so I thought I'd share it with you. It reads:

Dear friend,

Greetings to you, I got your contact detail via business guide of your country, and based on the further explicit investment information about your country from my research, i wish to invest in your country under your supervision.

Mrs. Aminatu Bolkiah, wife to Prince Jefri Bolkiah former finance minister of Brunei, the tiny oil-rich sultanate on the Gulf Island of Borneo. Let me save time by not amplifying my extended royal family history, which has already been disseminated by the international media during the controversial dispute that erupted between my husband and his step brother, the sultan of Brunei Sheik Muda Hassanal Bolkiah.

As you may know from the international media, the sultan had accused my husband of financial mismanagement and impropriety of US$14.8 Billion dollars. This was as a result of the Asian financial crisis that made my husband's company Amedeo Development Company declared bankrupt during his tenure in office. However, my husband is in jail now, his bank accounts and private properties including a crude oil export refinery have been confiscated by the sultanate.

Furthermore, during this unfortunate period, I was advised to evacuate out of the country to avoid further prosecution from the sultanate and his security operatives, but unfortunately for me i was incarcerated by the Sultanate, he has seized my passport and ordered his military guards to be monitoring my movement. Presently i have not access to a phone but I have a Palm hand-held computer from which I am sending you this mail.

Before I was incarcerated, I have already dispatched the sum of Forty Million Euros {EUR 40,000,000.00 Ђ} in cash, through diplomatic arrangement to Luxembourg. The funds where splinted into two parts and were canceled in two security proof boxes, the boxes are currently deposited into the custody of European Diplomatic Storage Facility Unit in Luxembourg, for safe keeping. I am afraid i do not want the sultanate of Brunei to know about these funds, and otherwise could seize it. Therefore, i want to start investing these funds secretly in abroad.

I hereby seek your consent to have you as my representative; i want you to help me invest these funds secretly in your country to facilitate future survival for me abroad. Firstly, you will help me to retrieve the funds consignments / boxes, from the European Diplomatic Storage Facility Unit where it’s currently deposited in Luxembourg. You can ask the diplomats to deliver the boxes to your door step address in your country, via diplomatic means, and the boxes can not be checked by the customs due to the diplomatic immunity.

Since there will be an expenditure from your side, I agree that you will be part of the beneficiary of any investment made with the funds. Also, I am willing to offer you 20% of the total funds in the boxes as compensation for your effort. Ok.

Please, you have to keep this as a top secret between you and me, as i do not want anybody else to know about my contact with you. I count on your absolute confidentiality, transparency and trust while looking forward to your prompt reply towards a swift conclusion of this transaction.

For security reasons, kindly reply via my private email address:...

What do you say? Shall I accept? Then I could notify everyone in my Follow-Me list and we could all head for the Carribean. Or a sunny Greek island for that matter.
P.S. You know I won't do that, don't you? Not by answering a spam mailing at least. But it makes you think. Why would people write such ridiculous texts to cheat on other people? And are there people who really believe that someone wants to give them some millions of dollars? Are people getting that silly? god forbid!

I hope you had a good laugh, though. Have a beautiful week!

Blog makeover update

If you have sat with me long enough in this blog, you know how I grow restless. I want to move this, and change that...I suppose I wouldn't be in the Interior Design business if it weren't for that part of my character. Come think about it, I wouldn't be in Greece, let alone in this job!
I thank God for all that He has given me, my strengths and weaknesses. It is a matter of how we use our gifts, and master ourselves. The school of Life.

A couple of very talented ladies have made some especially designed templates for me over the years. I managed to ruin both, dear me!

Do you remember this one by Dawn?

The button from my blog's previous incarnation, designed by Tara, could be seen on my sidebar when I checked earlier. Those two flags? Remeber? I thought that I had rescued it. Apparently not!


Well, no html, no button! Tant pis! Will you be so kind as to follow me instead, so that we don't lose track of each other? I promise to follow you back!

Please let me know what you think of my new do. I like the fact that it is wide and sunny. And that motif? It reminds me of traditional Greek patterns. Love it! And it is Free, too!

There. Now I am going to re-arrange the stuff on my sidebar (that is what I was doing when I messed my previous template).

Enjoy the weekend. I'll do my best to stop by your places, dear friends. Be happy and blessed.

My computer under attack

I am just sneaking in a few lines to say hi, and miss you all!
My computer is under attack. I don't usually hate people, but I detest those spamers and those people who cause trouble to other people.
So you don't let me open my blog and post? Go away and get off me!
Sending love your way!

Spam Arrest filter

I don't know about you, but we receive alot of spam messages these days. We have a filter on and an Anti-virus, but we somehow get some hundred spams each day. It really makes it difficult to spot the messages I need to read, which in turn makes me stressful because I might miss an important e-mail.
Today, after visiting a mom website, I saw she had a spam filter on. I checked the website and it seems like a really good idea because it targets the specific problem. I thought I'd share it here with you. Click here to learn more.

New look and our winner

Hello,
After more than a week of toiling over it, Tara and myself are happy to present the new look of The Green Greek. And I am glad to say it is everything I wanted it to be.

We began by my picking the theme from a beautiful selection of kits. I was spoiled for choice.

I loved the colorway of Watch me Grow, the kit I picked. Tara's use of it was an immediate success. I love the colors and texture. The header was going to be the most difficult part, but after e-mailing her a trackload of stuff I thought that could fit in there, she made the professional choice, and it was the best! The girls gasped upon seeing it. They loved it, so it was an immediate yes! It took some time for me to shape up my posts and sidebars. But yes! Tara managed to have the template ready and installed on the 6th, as announced.

Now for picking our winner, I would have loved to offer everyone a blog makeover, but there could only be one. This had to be assigned to an independent and totally impartial party. So, here are the names of the four participants.


Folded.No cheating!
Then given to be to handled.

I am glad to announce that Denise of Shortybear's Place and Free to Me was the lucky winner.
Denise and Tara, have a great time building together the blog of your choice!

Check out Tara's work in familiar and loved blogs such as Beth's. Thank you Beth for leading me to Tara! Here is a taste of Tara's new kits for spring:



Do stop by Tara's. She is simply the best person to work with, and as I found out while checking other blog designers, her prices are very down to earth, too.

So, have fun,a nd Happy Spring to all!

Enjoy the Weekend

Wishing you all a very pleasurable and Spring-fresh weekend. Don't forget to join my giveaway for a free blog makeover by Tara, my own makeover wizzard.
Have you visited The Happy Turtle yet? She's done terrific work in conveying what I had in mind. And she is doing a great job on The Greek Greek, too.
Monday 6th is the unveiling date, and we're going to random pick the winner. Who will she be?
I love all those flowers in the photo found here, so I am sending a bouquet to each one of you.
Enjoy the Weekend.

Spring day...and a fabulous giveaway

Hello dear friends, hello big sunny world.

I have spent one week away from the computer. Telecom was upgrading the soggy lines, so we had no connection whatsoever.

How it was, you ask? First, no contact with the company. No reports to send. No e-mails to receive. No placing orders. Not knowing which orders the truck will unload (just arrived: the new summer bedlinen).

Not visiting my blogging friends :-( , and no blogging.

How we got our line back? Well. After calling and asking and begging, it dawned on us that there is another way of doing things. By that I mean the South-Eastern way of doing things. The one where you know someone who knows someone? ringing a bell? No? Then you are definitively blue blooded Anglo-Saxon!

Because knowing someone is the only way of doing things in Southeastrern Europe and the big wide East of the Northern hemisphere. Thank God for that system! If it didn't exist, I would still be off computer and possibly out of business, too!

Do you know, I am nearing my 1000 post? and my 3rd blog-o-versary?

I am going to celebrate with a giveaway and a new look that is being baked by a talented and very special lady, whose name is Tara. Do visit her over here and see her lovely AND very reasonably priced work.

And on April 6th, tadam! Out of the hat will come the name of a lucky receiver of a Spring makeover, curtesy of The Green Greek! How do you like that?

The rules? Simple, really. Leave me a comment, letting me know what you would like to read and see posted from me in the coming year. I'll make a list and promise to fulfill your wishes. Spread the word, follow me, join in the game!

Sending warmest reagrds to all of you.
xoxo

Mention well deserved

It seems that Blogger has discovered one my favorite every day stops on the net.

Merisi's Vienna For Beginners is a blog about Vienna, obviously, but also so much more. Beautiful pictures of hidden corners, lovely shots of landmarks over the seasons, and sparkles of poetry, too. Here are some recent favorites:

Stop by and say "hello". She's a very nice person and you'll get hooked!

Spring fever on the blog

The new header image I found is so much fun! I found it at Split Decisionz which is a very helpful and fun website if you are looking to update your blog.
The long talked about makeover of the blog, with some restructuring included, will take place in the next couple of weeks. So if you see funny stuff when you visit, do not be alarmed, it's just me (and my secret makeover partner extraordinaire that I'll reveal after the makeover). The makeover will be followed by a giveaway both here and at the Happy Turtle, to celebrate my 3rd bogoversary and the culmination of my 4th decade in life!
Stay tuned!

About cheese and blogs

Yes, I actually began with the title. How else can I put it? There are some posts that I mean to write, but I don't because they need time and concentration, which I lack. So I am glad I've found this post about goat cheese. I have mentioned feta quite a few times especially whenever I was doing Menu Plan Monday as in this post about spinach pie (while you're there, you may take a look at my recipes as well) but never wrote about it as I meant to do.
So, there is this goat lady I had come across in the past but never bookmarked-I wonder how I managed the linking in the pre-blogger-beta days. Her blog is about goats and herding and the life that goes with it.

" In Homer’s The Odyssey, the hero eats goat cheese with his wine. The most famous Greek cheese is feta", she writes , and that is true. Do check her recipes. They're interesting.

Also, Beth hosts a blog design giveaway by Tara. Judging from her blog's looks, she did a nice job and will certainly do for yours , too.

I've stopped by Denise, as I do every day, and today she posts about a new ministry, called The Lighthouse of prayer. We all need prayer, we all know people who do, and we can all join in prayer many times a day, as we are requested by God. So please join and give freely as freely it was given to you.

Another giveaway, this time for an icon bracelet is hosted by Sylvia. I've never seen one before; it's not part of the Greek Orthodox tradition, but it's a nice reminder of our Christian faith and I wanted you to know about it.

Last but not least, Gina hosts a wonderful giveaway for Valentine's day, a dvd of Sense and Sensibility! You may also join in the fridge magnet exchange, which a great way to share a friendship reminder.

Tomorrow it's Saturday and we shall be heading for the bi-annual company conference. We shall travel with the kids, but we shall leave our little Patcha, the found cat behind as he is not allowed into the hotel room. We hope to have a nice, relaxing change after the sadness of the past week.

Please pray for safe trips. Have a beautiful, blessed weekend!

What I meant to write

Posts I intended to write, but haven't gotten around to. Follow the links to read for yourselves about news of the world that I have found interesting.

Green Issues

The Bush administration has made it easier for drilling, mining and major construction projects to go ahead without a full scientific assessment. Revised rules mean agencies will no longer have to consult scientists about whether projects, such as the building of dams or mines, would harm wildlife. Democratic President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to reverse the new rules.

Read more here.

The EU is moving towards stricter controls on pesticides after European Parliament negotiators reached a deal with the 27 EU member states.

The legislation will ban 22 chemicals that can trigger cancer or cause neural, hormonal or genetic damage.

Read more here.

Christianity

Pope Benedict XVI has suggested that the need to save mankind from a destructive blurring of gender roles is as important as saving the rainforests.

"Rainforests deserve, yes, our protection, but the human being ... does not deserve it less," the pontiff said.

Read more here.

In 2004 the Vatican published a document designed to address "distortions" generated by radical feminism. The document was signed by German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - seen then by some as a possible future Pope - and approved by John Paul II.

It reaffirms the Church's opposition to gay marriage and trends in gender studies that obscure the difference between the sexes.The letter says there is now a tendency to see women as opposed to men, and sex relegated to no more than a physical difference. It says feminism's view of equality has inspired ideologies which "call into question the family, in its natural two-parent structure of mother and father, and to make homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent".

Women should not be stigmatised if they do not have a job, the document says.

But it adds that those who choose to work outside the home should not be forced to "choose between relinquishing family life or enduring continual stress".

Read more here.

The Vatican City State, the world's smallest sovereign state, has decided to divorce itself from Italian law.Vatican legal experts say there are too many laws in Italian civil and criminal codes, and that they frequently conflict with Church principles.With effect from New Year's Day, the Pope has decided that the Vatican will no longer automatically adopt laws passed by the Italian parliament.

The Vatican has also decided to scrutinise international treaties before deciding whether or not to adhere to them.

Read more here.

Around the globe

Indigenous leaders in Brazil say they are on course to win an important victory for their community's rights.

The court had been asked to rule on whether an indigenous reservation, which stretches over 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) in the Amazonian state of Roraima, should remain a single unbroken territory.The area, known as Raposa Serra do Sol, which translates roughly as "land of the fox and hill of the sun", is home to up to 20,0000 indigenous people and was declared an official indigenous reservation in 2005.Indian leaders viewed the case as setting a crucial precedent regarding the protection of their rights and ancestral lands, with implications for all of Brazil's indigenous communities.Their fear, they said, was that a ruling against them would be a signal to land grabbers, prospectors and loggers that it would be acceptable to invade their territory.Read more here.

Lunching out and Weblog Awards

Hello,
It's Saturday evening and I am blogging from my laptop at home, while listening to a TV show on St. John the Evangelist and the island of Patmos where he wrote The Revelation.
We have had a lovely lunch with the in laws, surprise, surprise. Perhaps those bottles of wine worked their miracle and everyone loosened up. Or it was my prayers and yours to help me cope with them. Or both; after all "wine maketh glad the heart of man".

I stayed up late because another weblog award is up, ("another", provided you have already read my post on Blissfully Domestic; if not you still have time to run and vote for them!).
This time I know of it quite early, so as to nominate my personal favorites. Do stop by and check my nominees, and then head here to nominate (by Monday, January 12, 10:00 PM EST) your own fvorites, and vote between Thursday, January 22 and Monday, February 2,10:00 PM EST.

Best European: Bleedinng Espresso
Best Photography:Soulemama
Art,Craft,Design: Posie Gets Cozy, A Petits Pas
Food: Canelle et Vanille
Best Topical:Spiritually Unequal Marriage
Best Writing: Hidden in France
About Politics: Taki's Magazine
Best Kept Secret: Shortybears Place

And if you do, do let us know. I'd love to see your hidden favorites!

The Christmas look

Yes, you've guessed it. I have been playing with my template again, trying to give it a Christmas look. And as was the case last time, I got the answer I wanted: turn in to new blogger or not?
I like html and now that I have more or less mastered it...am I giving it up for the easy breezy new blogger template? Decisions, decisions! LOL! Never mind, here I am with my new festive look, ready to receive the links and things. Now I have thirty minutes before J arrives. Let me see what I can do:-)

Oh Dear!

Did I surprise you? I did? Oh well, I was surprised, too. I opened my blog today, to see an empty page with a long line of mumbled pictures and links on the left hand side. Truth is, I played around with it yesterday, adding Christmas hymns and pictures and a couple of links. It looked OK last time I checked. But this morning, it was gone.

Oh what to do? I saved what there was of my html, and headed to The Cutest Blog on the Block via Notes from One Mom , picked a new template, et voila! I got a face lift. Truth is, I was looking for a new template for Christmas, a new header perhaps, but I thought I'd settle for some blinkies instead. You know what they say about the Universe. Someone up there got the message: see that mrs down there? let's give her a hand!

Thank you dear Angel! Great job you did with my blog. I am truly, honestly grateful. Now I have to import links and stuff. Oh well. Something nice to think about!

Happy new week!

I can't get myself to concentrate and write. It is getting quite obvious. I do think it is a theme that runs in the blogosphere. A feeling of tiredness, of what is the point of it all. Some people I used to read are off reach and I don't blame them. Others simply disappeared.

As far as I am concerned my blogging has to do with linking to people who make me feel we belong to each other, with whom I share quests and interests.

It is about fun and the beauty of our every day lives.

It is about connecting.

It is about strengthening my new found faith in Christ, amidst the storm of clutter that surrounds us.

About being myself, without the restraints of a work, family or social circle that is to a great extend forced upon me.

Now about something nice that I found today:

Faith Prints is a lovely little site I mostly view through Plaxo. Tania posted this and I decided to play along:
"At this moment, use the alphabet and write down the first thing that comes to your mind for each letter. Don’t ponder or try to think of something that will be impressive. Just do it! This says a lot about you and may surprise you as well. Go ahead… you know you want to!”

A: Alpha-Omega, the beginning and the end of the sanity of mind, body and soul is Jesus Christ.
B:Be happy, don't worry too much!
C:CAN , as in Yes I CAN! attitude.
D:Dare to imagine.
E:Everyday is another day.
F:Faith saves.
G:Greek heaven (in search of).
H:Healing.
I:I can do all things through Christ (Hi Annie!)
J:Join hands in prayer.
K:Keep calm and carry on.
L:Love never fails
M:Mommy, that's who I am.
N:Never give up
O:Oral hugiene is important (as in "I have a dentist's appointment on Wednesday"!)
P:Pray every day.
Q:Question all that happens outside Jesus.
R:Rave in the every day.
S:Seek and it is given.
T:Truth.
U: Unplug, declutter, weed.
V: Vein of gold.
W:Who dares wins.
X: Xs don't count.
Y: You are not alone.
Z: Zip your lips and let your mind fly.

Happy new week!

Letter from the Front

Hi,
I am not exactly at the front, but it certainly feels like that sometimes. I have missed stopping by to each and everyone of my dear friends and I did lurk around a couple of times. However, blogging had become one more thing on my to do list, which was not fair.
I am not ready to get back into it, no phone line yet at home (it's been nearly four months since we applied), but I wanted to say hello, and thank you for stopping by and e-mailing me. There is lots to do at the home front, unpacking and while unpacking storing away summer stuff. The weather here is still fairly warm. I may wear long sleeved shirts instead of t-shirts and sometimes there is only need for a light cardigan. I love cardigans. I'd have one in every color if I could.
I have been thinking about pulling my two blogs together, perhaps renaming them to reflect more who I am now.
Sometimes we need to stop and wait until we get the answers.
Sending love, prayers and best thoughts. Take care.