Well, Hello Stranger

I recently got a comment on my last post from Szelsofa wishing me happiness wherever I was.

So I decided to tell you where I am. Thank you, Szelsofa. You can take credit for bringing the blog back to life.

I don't know who'll even see this, but I just might show my face, so to speak, around the old stomping grounds. I've peeked in on you more than you may realize.

It's been 8 months since I posted. I think I stopped posting because after my pregnancy-induced hiatus I came back to blogging looking for the same community I'd known and it had kind of moved on. I think I was disappointed. I also think (make that know) that I was in a place in my life where I was overwhelmed and confused. Was writing even for me? It seemed I had misplaced my Mojo.

Fast forward to the present. My kids are currently 7, almost 5 and 16 months. We've got the routine nailed, I'm sleeping at night and this time it is I who have moved on. To great things.

My biggest news is that I am returning to college. When I got pregnant with my oldest I was just beginning my senior year at a state university as a Literary Studies major. Pregnancy was not what I anticipated and I found myself reluctantly dropping my classes after the first week due to such severe illness that I was missing too many lectures. After that, life just took me for a ride, one that didn't involve me going back to school. We moved 1500 miles away so my husband could attend grad school and by the time we made it back to my home state I had three kids.

The stars have re-aligned for me, however. If I take two classes at a time I will be able to graduate in spring of 2012.

My first class begins on Monday. I'm completely excited and nervous. Mostly nervous about how my being a student will throw off the routine we've nailed. But I feel confident in my path. It is my time.

Another tremendous landmark for me has been my joining of a wonderful organization called Bloomsbury. A non-profit organization patterned after the group of the same name that Virginia Woolf and her contemporaries started, it focuses on bringing like-minded women together to discuss, teach and learn. It's not quite a book club, not quite a writing club. More like a learning club. A renaissance club. I was actually approached by one of the founders to be a member of the original chapter. The coolest part is that she and I had never actually met before. She had only read my blog.

One example of how writing can really bring people together.

On a final note, I am anxiously looking forward to attending a two day writing class taught by Orson Scott Card in June. I've long admired his work. I hope that it will jump start some confidence in my writing.

And perhaps you will see more of me. Whoever you happen to be these days.