"I'm comin out of the kitchen, cause there was something I forgot to say to you."

I was recently told that my blood pressure is not good. My primary care physician shared the news that she did not "like my undercount." All other possible physical contributers seemed to be ok, so she asked what might be causing me stress. I explained that I have two young children, a full-time job, a husband with a full-time job and a house that seemed great 3 years ago and now seems to be crumbling beneath us, each day in a new way. I also explained that beside all this I am a writer. She then told me "Well, something has to go." What an odd thing to say...nothing can go.

Unfortunately this led me to a tearful couple of days inwhich I decided the only answer was that I would have to stop writing. After all, the kids aren't going to take care of themselves, I get a kick out of my husband, my job is not merely thrill-seeking but pays the bills, and the house...well it gets really cold in Massachusetts long about this time a year. It comes in handy.

Then my spouse had a radical idea -- he asked if I could maybe do something different with my writing rather than getting rid of it. Huh. How moderate. And so this blog is part of that notion. Writing allows me to relieve my stress. The stressful part comes in getting the stuff published, and while some of my work is out there, other pieces sit festering in the wings. And so blogs appeal to me in a "power to the people" sort of way. Screw publishers. I have something to say.

In this spirit the blog will be loosely organized around this process, namely that I will try to download my brain each day in a way that will be helpful to me. As many people who find themselves parents many of my thoughts involve children or child-rearing -- but I am also a teacher so I think about other parents and other people's children a great deal too. So, much of this blog will be about the adventures of parenting in the real world. BUT, I also have a brain that stretches beyond this stuff. I think about books, music, art, film, popular culture, current events, Jesus...maybe even cooking if I gave it a shot (nah). I also have this sneeking feeling that some people might read this blog and might have their own thoughts to share. Now that's radical.