Not much, but it's a start

Having been challenged to give blogging a try, I am about ready to stick my big fat callused (but very nicely painted) toe into the blogging pond and hope that it does not get snapped off by an alligator!

So, what does one say on a blog? Any damn thing you want, I'm told, as long as it's not illegal, immoral, or fattening (and only the last one is really forbidden, I think).

Following good journalistic principles, then, I suppose I should start with the basics: who-what-when-where-why.

• Who? On the cusp of my 5th decade, I play several roles: wife to a wonderful man, daughter, mother of two grown children and stepmom to three more, and Mimi to four adorable grandchildren. Also, I am a part-time graduate student studying sociology, public policy, and political economy.


• What? I think I want to use this blog to make sense of my life...ponderings on the world I live in--relationships, school, work, whatever.


• When? I can't guarantee that I'll write every day, but I'll try to be consistent at least.


• Where? I live in a mostly affluent, aging suburb of Dallas. Lots of socioeconomic contradictions here!


• Why? For more than eight years I have been in school, first at community college, then on to the university, and finally to graduate school. Nonstop, every semester. Even summers, mostly. And I've realized that in the process I've lost a piece of myself...my heart, my love for people, for my family, and even for my God, has gradually gotten a little colder, hardened by the passionate pursuit of knowledge, achievement, and grades. This is a sad situation that I want to change! Also, I've always enjoyed writing, but the requirement to produce academic papers has snuffed out the pleasure I once found in playing with words. I want to regain that piece of my life, and in the process, hopefully exchange that "heart of stone" for a "heart of flesh," as it says in Ezekiel 36:26.

So I guess that's a start. Who knows where it will go from here? I don't know, but I am going to keep my eyes open for alligators!