So I’m starting this Grand Adventure wondering just what is inside my brain that is
dying to introduce itself to the world. It’s kind of exciting, actually—like taking off on a roadtrip with some snacks and a bare bones idea of the direction in which you’re headed.

This sort of thing would make my husband and at least several of my friends absolutely CRAZY because they write in Sharpie while I write in pencil. Both methods have their benefits, don’t get me wrong. I am just perfectly comfortable with a measured amount of chaos around me. It doesn’t make me sweat.

I’ve been a writer for about forever. Teaching English for 25 years means that I have modeled a lot of writing for my kids. I’ve written pages and pages of curriculum. And for five years as a peer coach, I wrote copious amounts of notes and reports for the teacher evaluation process. None of that is how I want to be remembered as a writer, however, and over the last few years, I have found myself writing more personal pieces because they deserve life.

A couple of friends and I are writing a book right now, so summer 2018 has been all about that. I’m super proud of what we are creating—a collection of stories and strategies meant to empower Women in the Middle (like us) who are not in their twenties anymore but are anything but done. We have great plans for other books, articles, blog entries, and speeches, too. But in between, I still need to write. There’s more than I must say. I can feel it. So here I am.

I spent some time today thinking about what it’s going to be. It’s not a teacher blog. It’s not a cooking blog. It’s not a decorating blog. It’s not a business blog. It’s not a life hack blog. It’s not a blog dedicated to tricked-out street sweepers (there’s got to be one of those out there, right?). It’s something, all right…but the vision is still emerging. And I’m totally fine with that because I write in pencil.

What I decided to do, at least for now, is to make this purely a storytelling site, and I’m going to make a commitment to post at least 2-3 times a week. For each post, I’m going to attach at least one picture and tell the story that goes along with it. Some of the pictures will be from my past—the ones that are sitting in boxes in the closet of my office that I SWEAR are going to go into scrapbooks someday. (My mother was not organized with her photos, and neither am I. And now that she has passed, guess who has all of HER disorganized boxes? It’s a good thing I am comfortable with a half cup of chaos.) Some of the pictures I use will be my own that I take. I am going to do everything I can not to use any stock photos.

Sound good? Good! Off I go into my office closet to dig up some pictures to share with y’all! I think I’ll start with MY ruby slippers, circa 1989. 😉 Mall bangs, too.

P.S. The picture above was from my maiden voyage on my inflatable kayak on the Fourth of July. There will be a post about that—my family’s most sacred holiday—in the future. There are so many stories to share! 🙂