Happy Silence.

I don't have a good excuse for not blogging much lately. It certainly isn't for lack of things to write about, as we've been happily, busily jumping from activity to activity since we've been back from our trip. Brownie events, school science fair, school carnival, International Night, birthday parties, Easter egg hunts...we've done it all. It isn't for a lack of time to write - work has been fairly quiet lately, and there were many times I thought about blogging, but the thought was just quickly replaced by something else.

I think the biggest reason for my silence is that I tend to write as a way to process things - either things I am thinking about in advance, or debriefing on post-mortem. And lately, I've just had one recurring thought, and it wouldn't be terribly interesting to simply write, "life it good."

But, there you have it. Life is good! My life--make that OUR life--is good. It is certainly far from perfect - there is the nagging sinus/allergy problem that will likely plague me for life, and the bills to pay that always seem to slightly outnumber the the money coming in, as well as the usual trials and tribulations of married life, of parenthood. There are bigger imperfections, too. My aunt, who is getting progressively more sick and less alive and I'm guessing who won't be with us much longer. Other friends and family members who are facing big and heartbreaking issues that I wish I could fix...and yet...in spite of it all, I just have this overwhelming sense of contentedness. This is the life I never knew I wanted, if that makes sense.

My mother often comments on how busy we are, how much running around I do, and how am I not exhausted? Truthfully, sometimes I am exhausted - this winter definitely helped me realize that I can't do it all. Even so, I love the busy pace of our life. I love carting the carpool kids around, socializing with the other moms at the various committee meetings and school events. I love our increasingly busy social life - as our circle widens and there are new friends to make. I love being involved at the girls' schools and knowing that in some small way, I am making a difference in their experiences there.

Everyone who has lived through it and come out the other side talks about how fleeting it is to parent children. And, of course, the part of that statement that refers to the actual biological ages of kids has always been obvious. But I'm starting to understand the other part of it, too...that one day, when the girls are grown, I'll have lots of time to myself. I had always assumed that this was a good thing; something to look forward to. And, in a sense, I'm sure it is, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it for what it is. But I also think that I will miss these days when the only time that is absolutely my own is the time spent either in the shower, on the elliptical, or in the 10 minutes between getting into bed and falling asleep.

In any event, if I haven't been writing, it is simply a happy silence.

Tick Tock...Tick Tock

It is sooooo quiet at work today. Most of the staff is either on their summer Friday, or taking a vacation day. I swear, you can hear a pin drop. It is hard to be here when it is so empty. I have a feeling today is going to drag, so look for many blog entries from me today ;)

I think I need a real hobby

I'm a little *too* excited that I now have rank. Page rank, that is. After hovering at zero for months, my page rank has jumped to a 2.

Time to get a life...no?

PageRank™ (as defined by Motive Glossary):

PageRank is Google’s ranking software that calculates the relevance of a webpage to the search keywords entered. The software analyses both the number of incoming links and the ‘quality’ of the referring webpage to generate a relative measurement between 0 (low-relevance) and 10 (high-relevance). (The ‘quality’ of the referring webpage is an abstract measure of how authoritative it is on the subject matter.)

I (heart) Blogging

I have to say that I am somewhat surprised at how addicted I have become to blogging. As I said in my opening entry, I wanted some way of chronicling this amazing time in my life and the kids' lives. These years are so busy and tiring and hard, yet also so amazing and full of joy and wonder. They are going by so quickly, and I know that in the blink of an eye, the kids will be grown and what I really feel to be my "life's work" will be over. I want to cherish and remember it all, and blogging is helping me to do that. I just didn't realize how prolific I would be.

I do think some of it has to do with the ease of composing electronically, vs. with paper and pen. Let's face it...writing by hand, for those of us accustomed to typing everything, is hard! Honestly, the only times I willingly use ink pens anymore are for signing checks (and, since most of our bills are paid online, there's only a couple a month that get written), writing grocery lists (truth be told, I have been guilty of typing it up on a slow day at work -- makes it easier to organize by store layout that way ;-) ) and signing birthday cards. I'm guessing I won't stop doing that anytime soon.

Well, whatever the reason, be it ease of use or just the enjoyment at having an outlet for all the random thoughts that occur to me, I am so glad I am doing this. Even if no one is reading ;-)

Here goes

I think I'm going to really do this. blog, I mean. I've been intrigued with the idea for a while now, but somehow the thought of putting it all out there has seemed so...daunting. Like showing up for work in my pajamas or something. But, I've finally realized that no one is likely to even read this, so, what the hell?

Mostly, I like the idea of keeping an artifact of my life, the kids' wonder years to look back on. So, here goes.