Mother’s Got A Dot Com

My Blogoversary was on October 2nd, and I missed it. (I know, the Sitemeter thingy at the bottom here says October 8th, but that’s when counting started. My first post was on the 2nd).
The other day, I wrote my post # 500, and I nearly missed out on that too.
What I’m not going to miss out on, is visitor number 50 000 – if I’m in luck, that will happen some time today or tomorrow.

I’ve decided all this calls for a celebration, and in true, boring, blogging tradition, I’m having a contest… Well – not so much a contest, more of a raffle.
So – what do I have to do, you ask, eagerly.
There are three rules, and three rules only:

1. To enter, you absolutely must comment on this post. That will ensure you one ticket.

2. If you’re really eager, and in a linky-lovey, friendly sort of mood, you can also link to me from your blog, but please, please tell me about it in comments. (You’ve got to comment regardless, remember?). If you do, you’ll have two tickets. (One for the comment, one for the link – let’s not go overboard here…) You don’t have to write a post – a nice fresh link is all I ask.

3. There will be no tickets issued for subscribing.
Why? I’m overjoyed with every new subscriber, so feel free to do so if you can’t live without my rants. You’ll find the button way up on one of the sidebars here. It’s orange.
What I don’t want is a flood of subscribers (I wish) who unsubscribe after a week. That would be no good for my self esteem…
(Also – I have no idea how to find out who my subscribers are. I assume there is a way, but I’m just happy I figured out how to put the button up, OK?)

OK – four rules: 4. No spam.

And now – to the prize. Silence. Drum Roll. Surprise!

I don’t know. The last time I had a surprise raffle, the prize turned out to be a Norwegian silver spoon, that went to a lucky British Globetrotter. It could be the same again.

It could also be something completely different, but it will be Norwegian. NOT a plastic troll, and NOT a kilo of Lutefisk, although that would be rather fun.
(I guess I could conjure up a plastic troll for the winner, but chances are it would be made in Taiwan, and that just wouldn’t do. Nothing wrong with Taiwan, but it’s hardly local, is it???) Something local, something non-food/non-plastic, and something nice. OK? I promise I’ll get back to you on this.

The draw? I could use that random thingy, but I’m more of a hat person. It will happen on or around December 1st, when the Autumn Birthday Marathon is over around here. (2 down, 4 to go…)

Now, be adventurous and comment away…

Contestants/Ticket winners so far:
Margaret
Sandee
Empress Bee
maryt/theteach
1stopmom
Jaz
Joie
Alison
Chronic Chick
Jessica K
Hana

Bonus!!! To anyone who sees this post – no need to enter the raffle to claim it: A free, no-strings-attached, potentially link-love saturated membership in the Blog Directory…

Just an afterthought after my last post: I’ve sold quite well… 11 18 20 31 referrals from this blog, and 5 6 from the other one – that’s not bad!

Thanks, everyone – it tells me that some people, sometimes, take the time to read my drivel. It also tells me that the people over at have done a good job at marketing their idea, both on and off their site, and 1-2 months before the official launch.

OK – I quite like being on the top referrer list. If you’re not in, get on over there. There are 1..2..3..4.. tiny banners in this post, but if your aim is bad, there’s a great big button in my sidebar too!

Oh, and is designed to give linky love all around, as of now, and even more so after the launch.

We do like linky love, don’t we?

Oh – and this is my post # 500! Congrats, me!

Thanks to my advertisers from the last 7 days – here they are!

Scramories
Joan Joyce
Happy Thoughts, Happy Tot
eyespi20.com
Inspired Jewelry By Anne Burke
Amy Lilley Designs
Regina’s Family Seasons

It’s that time again, and here’s a post of big thanks to my advertisers:

Childrens Activities with Usborne Books
Happy Steps
Pearls
Personal Finance Management Guide
Carole’s Thoughtful Spot
Confessions of a Diet Coke Addict
Blogs To Note

Remember the Big Bang meme? From the brain behind it comes SlogBite, a new, meme based directory of blogs. The objective being Link Love all around once it’s officially launched, it’s open to anyone with a web presence (it doesn’t have to be a blog). The site is under construction, but accepts participants in preparation for the official launch.
Have a look, have a browse, and join in!

Update: I’ve got 8 referrals to my name from this site already – thank you, whoever you are! I’ve entered this blog in the Norway Blogs Category, a sub in Blogs Of The World. There are two (2) blogs there, mine and mine. I felt so sorry for the category, you see. All empty… C’mon, you Norwegians out there, let’s multiply… Or something.
Oh, and there are PLENTY of categories to choose from. You don’t have to join the Norse squad.

Last weeks advertisers on my Entrewidget – a big thank you to you all!

Happy Thoughts, Happy Tot
The Erickson Zoo
My Opinion Counts
State Of Confusion
Scramories
24 Hour Paradigm
Stay At Home Mom

I believe this blogs Technorati authority must have been on a serious regime of very potent diet pills lately. It went up like a rocket with the Big Bang meme, but for a month now, it’s been going down steadily.
I think I know why. My links are “outdated” in Technorati terms – they only count links that are less than 6 months old. So, when the effects of the Big Bang wear off, I’ll be back to scratch, unless someone comes up with another meme equally as effective. (I’m in, by the way, you creative bloggers out there!)
As for Page Rank – this blog is now back on 0, after a stint in the N/A category… I guess that’s an improvement, at least I choose to see it that way. As long as my other blog (where you’ll find that every post has a contextual paid link in it, and loads of weird comments that I can’t be bothered to delete) has a PR of 2, I refuse to take it seriously.
I guess I could be creative and come up with a meme too. I could also get better at commenting on blogs – I know I lurk a lot – and at replying to other peoples comments here. Social bookmarking sites are not my thing – I’m sure it’s wonderful to have 10 000 “friends”, but I prefer having a few that I feel bad about not visiting go and see.

So – I’ll just keep on blogging for my own enjoyment, and if it pays a bill or two per month, it’ll be a bonus. I’ve “met” some wonderful people, and I’m sure there are many more out there. If you catch me lurking on your blog, it’s because I like you…

What’s a week?

Hardly anything, these days – has anyone changed weeks from 7 to 3 days and not told me? Anyway – here’s a big thank you to last weeks advertisers – all 7 of them!

Twerlemz’ Blog
The Clan McLeod
Confessions of a Diet Coke Addict
Pearls
Our Journey to Forever
On The Horizon
Avon Romance Blog

Mo is on holiday (hope you’re having a smashing time, Mo!), and in his absense, Janna’s hosting her very first Carnival!

Head on over there, there may still be time to join in, and there’s certainly time to visit some of the wonderful MM posts that people have submitted. My favourite Manic post on this blog has to be this one, on 1000, and that’s the one I’ve submitted to the Carnival on The Jannaverse!

If I’d known about the site Webhostrating back in the days when I was looking for a web host, I might have made a better job of it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy with my hosting service. The thing is – I was lucky.
My service happens to be within the top 5 in the rating.
How I made my choice?
The criteria were few and very simple: I didn’t really have any. I didn’t even know the correct term (web host, FYI!) in English, so I had no idea what to look for at first…
The host I finally chose had a site that looked trustworthy, and I’d seen their name now and then during my search.
As I said – lucky.
Webhostrating also have an extensive articles section, where you can learn more about various types of hosting. There are tutorials too, that can help you get the most out of your hosting service. I’ll be sure to check those out – that I managed to get this blog up and running was something of a miracle. I should learn more, so I can keep it for a long time…