So here’s the scoop. At the time of writing, I am living in Montreal, Canada, with my better half, George, and two of the greatest kids a mom could ever want. I say “at the time of writing” because we are very shortly (like, in about a week) packing ourselves up and moving west to Canmore, Alberta.
I am a literature graduate turned technical writer (‘cause that’s how you make money with a literature degree) turned big-firm lawyer (‘cause that’s how you make even more money) turned self-employed research lawyer (‘cause that’s how you practice law without going insane once you have kids). I love my work, and I’m good at it. I love my kids, and it means the world to me to be able to have breakfast and dinner with them every day, to wrestle through homework with them after school, and to gratefully tuck them into bed at night. So I do what I can to make it all work together. And mostly, although it can be a lot to juggle, it works pretty well.
But just to be sure I don’t get bored (because that would be terrible), I decided to start this blog. And I decided to start it at a time when my life is already full to the brim, not only with the usual work-and-family busy-ness, but also with the complication of moving our family of four – plus my husband’s parents – to a new community roughly 3700 kilometres (that’s about 2300 miles for those of you south of the border) away. Why not? It is a period of transition anyway. What better time to throw a couple new things into the pot and see what bubbles to the surface.
Plus, life is for living. Now that we have kids, George and I notice more than ever how fast time goes by. My baby girl, born just yesterday, will start middle school this fall. My son, so recently a mere twinkle in his father’s eye, is learning multiplication. These things are mind-boggling. And although it is hard for me to comprehend, there are people who were born after I became an adult who are now adults themselves – running businesses, fighting in our military, playing in the NHL. (Surely that is the ultimate confirmation that you are, maybe not old exactly, but not quite young anymore either.) So I realize that life is not going to wait up for me to get my head around these things.
And to me, most of the time, this is OK, as long as I feel that I am doing something with the time that is passing. Empty time is no good. Fast-moving, way-too-much-going-on time is also a problem if it becomes chronic. But since a happy medium can be hard to sustain, we all have to pick our poison, and I prefer to err on the side of too much to do rather than not enough. Ergo, start a blog and start it now.
Only time will tell how this period of transition, and this blog, work out. Such is life.
