I began this post on May 24...
...which tells you how tough it has become to carve out a little time just to write here.
I suppose there's a silver lining in feeling so damned busy. I can't complain about being bored. And while I prefer my days to pass in a more leisurely, contemplative fashion -- the frantic pace I've been trying to keep is almost exhilarating.
I just wish I felt like I was getting things accomplished.
So let's see:
On May 24, I attempted to report that I managed to jump off the hamster wheel long enough to celebrate a quiet birthday with my family, who all made an appopriate fuss over me (without teasing me too much about my advanced age).
That week, my friend Glennia Campbell surprised me by naming me one of her five favorite bloggers. This means a lot to me for several reasons:
1. The others on her list are truly list-worthy: Aimee from Greeblemonkey, Amie from Mamma Loves, Marsha from Sweatpantsmom and Beth from Techmamas.
I don't feel worthy to be on this list. At any rate, I'm honored to be in such good company there.
Especially since Glennia herself is one of the more admirable people I've met in my 7+ years of keeping this blog. She is super-accomplished and super-smart, and a helluva nice person to boot. I am in awe of her ability to balance family, writing and extensive travel -- all while working full time as an attorney.
She makes me want to move to Northern California so I can hang out with her more often (although really - I don't know how she could make the time!). I'm just grateful that this bloggy thing we do has enabled us to do so as much as we have.
May 25: Wednesday morning is the time I co-host our weekly MOMocrats MOMochat show on Blog Talk Radio. I have mixed feelings about this: On the one hand, I really enjoy putting the show together because I end up learning a lot from our guests and co-hosts.
On the other hand, I feel like I really suck at hosting. I don't think well on my feet, I'm not all that articulate, and I can't stand the sound of my voice.
Other than that, I think we do a great job. And last week, we were honored to interview the President of EMILY's List, Stephanie Schriock. I cannot begin to tell you how inspiring it was to talk progressive politics with this amazing woman. You'll just have to listen to the show here.
I do worry that just because I find the conversation interesting, that may not translate well with listeners. I wonder if we need more conflict (in the form of callers) to make it more interesting. And I have ambitions of putting together a second show to talk about pop culture, just so I can lighten up my reading material a little.
In the meantime: next week's guest will be a real treat. Joanne Bamberger (aka PunditMom) will be on hand, to talk about her new book, The Mothers of Intention: How Women and Social Meda are Revolutionizing Politics in America. (And here's the part that has me most excited: I'm in the book! I'll be writing some more about that in a future post.)
May 27: My husband took a much-needed day off in anticipation of a much-needed mini-break in Northern California, where we visited with my sister and brother-in-law and a couple who are among our dearest shared friends. I spent the previous day grooming myself for the trip - you know the drill: haircut, manicure, waxing.
Yeah, it all sounds really frivolous -- but I don't get any of these things done as often as I should, and one of the nasty little surprises I got when I hit middle age was the discovery that I actually need to do these things MORE often than when I was young.
As much as I'm trying to grow older gracefully, I am still vain enough to hope that my appearance doesn't frighten my family when I visit. So I crammed everything into one day and hoped for the best.
The trip north was eventful. I'll tell you more about that in the next post.
Hopefully, tomorrow.
