I think, I’ve decided the future of this blog. Not that it surviving was ever really in question (for more than a second). But where and what not, clearly was.

Honestly, I’ve been outgrowing blogger for awhile now. In the sense that I wanted to do things that simply couldn’t be done. A little more control here and there. Etc. But the whole idea of going through the process of deciding on somewhere else, building it, all that jazz was DAUNTING. And I hate change. And talk about change. So I’m been making do.

Then the whole Google+ thing happened. And fine, I could just not repeat that mistake and end up living on blogger happily until the end of my blogging days.

But the two combined, and it’s time to move on. It really is for the best.

I’m pretty much going to accept I’m not going to win that contest. (Number 4 vote for me!) It would be awesome and I’m NOT going down without a fight. But let’s face it. The one drink that is currently winning combines a lot of booze and a lot of chocolate and most the voters are women/moms who can’t resist that combo. So while I might argue I NEED to win more, the better drink is actually winning. I’m sad, and I’m still going to push like hell to win. But assuming that is the winning drink, I can accept it.

So, with the assumption I’m on my own, I did some more research. WordPress was a great option, but daunting. It is a bit over my head and I’d be mostly on my own. So what else was out there?

I think my best bet is typepad. The hosting is done by them, like blogger, but unlike blogger you do have to pay for it. There are 3 package plans. The first is 9$ a month and I’m right on the cusp of outgrowing that already. The next plan is 15$ a month, and I would have room to grow there for YEARS. So I’m thinking it’s the clear choice. Yes, the 15$ a month is more expensive than the 35$ a year for wordpress. (Assuming I go with that host that was that low.) The thing is, the 35 for wordpress is 1 blog. The 15/mon for typepad allows me to move all 4 under the same account, and add unlimited more. So basically blogger but 15$ a month.

As an added bonus, while typepad won’t let me customize quite as much as wordpress, it will allow more than blogger. And it has a lot of guidance I don’t believe wordpress has.

At some point maybe I will outgrow typepad too, and move up to wordpress. I could see that happening. But I don’t really want to go to wordpress without being able to hand a designer the keys and having them make this possible. And that alone is 500$ minimum. Without that, I’m in way over my head and I don’t need that stress.

In the meantime, I need to figure out when I can afford the 15$ a month. It’s not too unreasonable as long as I’m not think it’s going to happen NOW. I need to have this baby, figure out my job situation, and see where things stand. I can live with blogger as long as I have to. It’s not like they are kicking me out. I’m just looking forward to spreading my wings when I can. And knowing my husband, he’ll help make this happen when it’s reasonable. So hopefully within 6 months. But we’ll see. There are more important things to finance first.

On a different note, but I don’t feel like starting a new post:

There was that brief moment yesterday, right in the midst of fury where I had the real quick impulse of “Fuck it, I’m deleting all of my blogs.” Luckily I did get over that real quick. (For at least this one.) Bottom line, this blog is a huge help to me, but every now and then I get a sign that I’m actually helping other people too. I can’t delete this. Not because of something like that.

Around 7ish, or so, yesterday, I opened up my blog email, and found sitting there, further proof of why I can’t delete this blog. It had been there since before shit hit the fan, but I was too distracted to notice. By the time I did, I was ready for it. I won’t give any details, they aren’t mine to give, but it was exactly what I needed when I needed it most. And as an added bonus, it was the distraction needed to pull myself out of my own drama, and focus on something else. Which allowed me to go back to my drama with a clear head and perspective.

So what did I really lose?

Tk’s blog lost some photos. I was able not fix, but remove bits and pieces so you wouldn’t notice. Sad but not life ending for the blog.

Luke lost his sidebar photo and that’s it. I need to update that anyway. Though the one that was there is kick ass. Not like I don’t still have it on my hard drive, though.

My 2 photo blogs are gone. Maybe I’ll move on to fliker. Maybe I’ll do something with typepad. Maybe maybe maybe. I’ll figure it out. I’m thinking the just random shit one will become a fliker account. I don’t know about the professional one. And honestly, the professional one shouldn’t have been on a blog in the first place, and it’s fate was up in the air anyways.

This blog lost a few dozen photos. I was able to figure out what posts they came from. (Hard to miss the massive gaping holes they left behind.) In some cases I full on deleted the post. In other cases, I just fixed it so you’d never know a photo had been there. So I think this blog is good to go, if a few photos/post short of what it was. I was very happy to have finally tracked down where exactly my award was saved on my drive. Losing that was devastation at it’s best.

Honestly, I’m still pissed with Google. Not so much because I lost shit and had to fix shit, etc. But because there was NO heads up or warning of any sort as to what exactly was going to happen. And no alternative like simply hiding certain photos. I’m sure I’m not the first or last that this will happen to, and I feel really bad for those who don’t survive it like I did. Because, based on Google’s response, most of the Google team flat out doesn’t care and doesn’t see a need to fix it. (That last part in no way applies to the blogger lady I talked to. She actually cared. But the other 2 were assholes.)

But I think I’m done ranting about it. Now it’s time to just move on.