Coming Up For Air

Once again, the Prodigal Blogger returns.

No particular reason for my absence, other than the normal laziness and business that seems to occupy my days in equal measure. My work hours are long and filled with lots of tasks, and that means I spend my off-hours engaged in pointless frivolity, resenting and avoiding any tasks that are expected of me on a habitual basis. Laundry, phone calls to family and friends, blogging, dishes--if it is expected of me, it pisses me off.

Still and all, I always come back. Maybe I am a hopeless Gemini, or maybe I have not yet found my groove in the blogosphere. When I put some thought into it, it occurred that there were many things I wanted to write about--my work and profession, my California life, my wishes and dreams for my "ideal life", various creative projects, my willy-nilly attempts at housekeeping, all the little things that make my life so damned lucky...little by little, I am trying to formulate a plan and see how my blog can bear fruit. Or at least be a reflection of my life. I'm not giving up.

Stay tuned for more details!

Work on Wednesday: An Explanation

I will go through my life a childless woman.

Please don't think "Oh, no! How awful!" It's by my own choice that my life has taken that path. I've never been fond of children...or at least children that I do not know. (Which is most children). As I so delicately phrased it once, "Someone forgot to wind up my biological clock." I wasn't going to let children be the "deal-breaker" of a relationship; if my life partner wanted one, fine, I'd pop out a couple and probably make a dang fine parent. Strict, no doubt, but affectionate and involved. However, if left to my own devices, if I had my druthers, I would choose not to bear children. Apart from the not-really-wanting them, there's the whole issue of rearing them. Rearing children is a brave act in the current world, and I admire every parent who turns out a good kid. I believe that a child benefits from a stay-at-home parent (not necessarily mother) and I would have liked to be that parent, at least until they started elementary school. Anything else would be not cool, as far as I'm concerned, but still--how do parents manage to make a single-income household happen? It boggles.

One of the many points of compatibility between me and Himself is our mutual goals with regards to children: not having them. Or, in his case, not having any more. He has two sons already, one fully-grown (Himself is ten years older than me, and got started with the baby-making very early, which means I was still playing with my Barbie dolls while he was...well...playing with his Barbie doll), and that's quite enough.

So, no children. I have an unofficial godchild in Wesley the Hoosier Dude, and a more handsome bairn there never was. And I have my stepsons. And that's it. And everyone is more than happy with this. I have other things, other interests, other desires; and more than that, I have my career.

A career and a child are not mutually exclusive. Nor are they particularly comparable (apples and oranges, actually). But my career is where a HUGE portion of my energy is focused, and so it only seems fair that my blog focuses on it, at least a little, in the same way that some of the blogs that I read focus at least some on their children. My career is not the only thing that defines me, but it is one of the things. And it's a major point within this blog to explore how I can successfully combine the identities of "career girl" and "home manager."

So, there's that.

Fortunately, I love my career. I'm an adult services librarian, which sounds much naughty than it is. Essentially, I'm an information mistress, a book maven, and a ditch-digging data dude. I work with the public, I get paid to be curious and research, I have a wide variety of duties, and I am constantly exposed to more, more, more information. I get to learn new stuff all the time. I love my bosses (and there are quite a few of them), and I love my colleagues.

In short, in choosing to be a librarian, I chose to spend a good deal of my life in Heaven on Earth--which should hopefully make for some interesting reading when it comes to Work on Wednesdays!

Theming it Up

One thing I am trying to decide on is how to theme and format my blog's content. A lot of the fabulous blogs I am currently reading have "day of the week" recurrent themes, and that very much appeals to my love of order. Of course, given my excessive self-absorption, I will probably post more than once a day, but it would be nice to have a theme that I HAVE to stick with. Accountability, and all that. So, here's what I am thinking at present...please provide input.

Making on Monday (in which I focus on things that I am making, have made, or wish to make)(Nice and broad and noncommital, huh?)

Together on Tuesday (in which every Tuesday I try to have a "perfectly together" day, or else ruminate on ways in which I can get my life more together

Working on Wednesday (in which I ruminate on my workplace, profession, or else professional aspirations)(after all, that's the other part to my duality of career girl/homemaker)

Thinking on Thursday-(In which I wax pseudo-philosophical, nostaligic, or brainstormy)

Five on Friday-(In which I feature the Top 5 of something on some random subject)

? on Saturday-(Help me out here. I'm going for alliteration, but am not sure what to go for in terms of Saturday's subject content. What would you like to read more about?)

Sybarite on Sunday-(In which I take a moment and extrapolate on something lovely and indulgey)

So. What do you think? What's your input?