Five minutes ago, I was quickly checking email. I saw a Google Alert for my company brand, The Sassy Ladies. Checking the link, I found it was a new blog, created by a woman named Ceile on the Cape, who plans to blog her personal journey to find herself during a "90 Day Dating Detox". I posted a quick comment to encourage her, decided to follow her progress, then returned to my Blogger dashboard.
There, I noticed the invitation to create my own blog. I took the bait. Not that I'm new to blogging - I've been doing this for The Sassy Ladies for almost four years. But sitting here at the start of 2010, it seemed fitting that I take advantage of new beginnings, and start a personal blog as well. I am at a crossroads in my life, not quite 40 years old, with all my life goals met and many options ahead of me. The next 90 days will be pivotal, and how fun it will be to create a daily catalog, for myself. For posterity. Hmmm. Thanks, Ceile for the inspiration.
I rang in the New Year joyfully. My saint of a mother and father agreed to babysit for not only our kids but our friends' two kids, so while they supervised a sleepover, a small group of us went out to drink, dance and be merry. At midnight, there I was, kissing the love of my life, my husband, Rich, just a few doors down from where we went on our first date, 20 years ago this April 20. The band was hot, the club was cool. One of my two best girlfriends, Kris, was by my side, making sure everyone was having a great time. I looked around at the odd collection of my good friends from work, volleyball, and our town, and was so grateful for having them there to party with. For the past few New Year's Eve's, most of us have stayed in, since we're all in the years of early parenthood, so we were all grateful to finally be out and having fun. Like the good old days. (Am I finally old enough to use that phrase?) It was a perfect ending to a challenging year, and a perfect beginning for 2010. I have high hopes for the year ahead.
This is the year my youngest child, Nicholas, goes to school full time. My eight year long maternity leave will wrap up. I've loved the time I've spent out of the workforce, though many would say that starting two successful companies part-time, while raising two adorable kids full-time is not your traditional maternity leave. Looking back, it worked for our family, and I always encourage new mothers to explore options that work for them.
Over the last month, I surprised myself with the realization that I'm ready to work full time again. For ten years, my dream has only been to work part-time from home. I am savoring this last year with Nicholas, who is in afternoon kindergarten, but I can tell he is ready to be in school all day. He misses his sister, Jessie, when she gets on the morning bus, and both kids love going to school. (Phew!)
It's time. There is tons of work to be done. Things are shifting in my business, and I'm grateful that new ideas and opportunities are plentiful. (I'm not ready to share those with you this morning, and this blog post has been long enough.) I'm expecting Nicholas to get up any minute and come downstairs for snuggle time while we watch the snow fall.
Over the next 90 days, and likely beyond, I'll be right here, journaling on first personal web log. (Hell, I've owned MichelleGirasole.com for a few years - about time I use it.) I promise to be authentic in every way, and beg your forgiveness if I overuse the smiley face, as I tend to do. :)
Hmmm... 90 days, and counting. What will my life look like 90 days from now? What will yours look like? It's a great time to ponder that, isn't it?
