Intro and Catch-up

Since I have a few new friends (Thanks Moms_Anon friendfrenzy!  I finally participated in one of these and I'm excited to get to know all of the new peeps.) and since I haven't updated my journal in, approximately, forever, I figured I'd do a brief introduction/catch - up post.  I'm going to make an attempt to journal more regularly - but I also say this every few months and have a hard time sticking to it.  It's funny - I have stuff to say, but I either talk myself out of it by figuring it's boring or I'm so worn out by evening that I it's all I can do to harvest my crops in Farmville.  (I have to stop playing that game.  Such a waste of time.)  I was just reading my notes from a novel-writing class I took a while ago, and the teacher had some good advice to keep those of us who tend to short-circuit our writing by perfectionism, "Lower your standards and go on".  After all, if nothing gets onto the page it doesn't matter how good or bad it is in my head.  Personally, I think I need to use that motto in living my life too.  There's no perfection, only progress. 

So - how to sum up me in a few words?  First of all, I guess I should say that I'm not good at using only a few words.  I'm a writer and I am not good at writing short stories.  I tend to novel-length pieces, unless I'm writing fanfic, where I can get out a shorter piece.  I'm not sure why that is. 

I am a thirty-something, first time mom of a boy, Tai.  I'm married to Tom, who I have been together with since we started dating in my junior year of high school.  He's a computer-geek, which I find both sexy and frustrating in equal measures.  I often feel like we aren't speaking the same language and we need to work on our communication.  However, he is a great dad, and he and Tai have a good relationship.  That means all the world to me, since my Dad and I have a fraught, barely-hanging-in-there sort of relationship.   Fortunately, my Mom and I have a fabulous relationship.  Sometimes we tend to be almost too close, but I'd rather that than the reverse.  I have a younger brother, Q, who lives down in Palm Desert.  He's a pain in the ass sometimes, but I know that no matter what he has my back - and I have his.  We're family, and that means a lot to both of us.

I live in San Francisco, and have been here for 11 years now.  Before that I was in Michigan and Maryland.  I don't think I'll ever leave this city.  I am completely spoiled by the weather, the people, the liberal leaning politics.  All of which fit my hippie sensibilities.  I've made some fabulous friends here and have become part of a neighborhood mother's group.  Both friends and my group have kept me feeling relatively sane and as I make my way as a mother, wife, and person.  I am blessed by them.

I am a stay at home mom right now - I was training as a Marriage and Family Therapist before that, concentrating in grief therapy.  I wasn't very good at self-care and burned out before I even got licensed.  I left the field abruptly after a bout of anxiety that just about kicked my ass.  It wasn't pretty.  I'm considering what I want to do with my life, but haven't decided yet.  I'm thinking about opening a co-op preschool, becoming a doula and possibly a midwife, and just working my ass off to finally finish my novel and become a Real Writer.

I'm bisexual, polyamorous (though monogamous by default at the moment), fat, feminist, vegetarian, pro-choice, and spiritually seeking.  All of these are things I feel strongly about, though I am in no way militant and am more than happy to discuss many view points about all of this stuff.  The longer I'm a parent, the more I believe that we're all just trying the best we can to do the right thing and muddling together though this messy world.