A brand new me!

I entered a contest put on by my newfound blogging pal, Brenda, whom I discovered after finding her adorable valentine cards for my kids via her etsy store. She's a multi-talented mom, artist, graphic designer whose willing to share her warm Southern California abilities with us more artistically challenged folk.

In addition to my ability to write using words that bother the layfolk and challenge some people's thinking - including my own, here is the impetus to my fresh new look:

Hello SAJ. I have only met you today and have spent the majority of my morning sneaking around your blog. I've even bought your valentines for my kids to hand out this year...too busySLASHlazy to facilitate the production of our own. Me? Onward:

1) I am a social work grad student, mother of three, wife to one, living with one basset hound and a crusty old cat. We live in a fun old house and enjoy digging our way through snow to do anything this time of year. Oh yeah - my husband still works in Chicago (from where we moved) four days a week while I attend to the aforementioned single-parent-style. We've been carrying on this charade for almost three years. And we're still married. Hmmm...

2) Like I said, I just bought some of your fine valentines because I don't want to make valentines for three classes of 20+ kids. Your designs do a fabulous job at reflecting my style, and I like that. Because when my kids hand out valentines? It's all about me.

3) I star in a local natural foods grocery store commercial. I'm a local celebrity! Well, that and our red family van is the only one this side of the Mississippi.

4) I started blogging in December of '06 and have enjoyed doing so for the same reasons you began your blog. I love to write and feel I have a knack, yet somehow I am not represent'n like I could be. Hence this e-mail. Anyway, I'm thinking I started off pretty shoddy with Our Goings-On, then took some risks at really expressing myself - to which [unnamed person] swore she would never read my blog again. I included a few choice words in one post that she was thoroughly disgusted by and openly opposed to. I felt so bad I removed the post. I chose to compromise my personal integrity as a budding writer based on [this person's] inability to read for the sake of reading and not take everything personally. I need a presence that will reflect who I am and I have no talent of my own which is why I am coming to you, my new friend.

5) Today's my birthday! I'm 33!!

Check out our goings-on (get ready for the hyphens). You can navigate to my flickr too. That's me, Emily. The tall prematurely greying lady.