Back to blogging

Hello!

It's been a few years since my last post, but I think I'm ready to get started again. Some of you may be wondering why I picked "Life in Chaos" for a title. Well, it just seemed fitting.

When I first started this blog in December 2004, I was working full time and more as a multimedia editor for a newspaper Web site. It was busy, exciting and tons of fun. I was also raising a son, then 2, and remodeling my house.

It's amazing where a 2-year-old's imagination can go in the middle of a gutted kitchen with construction crews and tons of tools. It's difficult to feed a child without a kitchen and, well, difficult to live at home during a remodel. It's also hard to manage a remodel while working 40-plus hours a week and raising a child and a husband. So, you can imagine the chaos of my life at the time.

I continued to post through the remodel and right up until May of 2005. We were still putting the finishing touches on the remodel, relandscaping the backyard and potty training our son. That's when I found out I was pregnant with our second child.

Life has a way of throwing me surprises. According to my Grand Plan, that wasn't supposed to happen until October 2005, after our much-delayed trip to Hawaii with friends.

Well, it's been a few years. We've now potty trained our youngest (Yay! no more diapers), and we're back on track. Sort of. I forgot to mention the latest round of chaos.

At the end of last year:

• My husband was diagnosed with thyroid cancer
• I was laid off from my job of 13 years because of the downturn in the newspaper industry
• I was scheduled to undergo a uterine ablation surgery
• My husband had his thyroid removed
• I was bitten by a spider and had to undergo another surgery
• The medical bills were piling up

We still haven't been to Hawaii. I think that's going to be put on hold for awhile. I'm working on reinventing myself, looking for a job and spending lots of quality time with my kids.

While the latest round of chaos was a bit of a blow, there have been many underlying blessings, too:

• Eric is recovering well and all information indicates the surgery was curative.
• I was given the kick in the pants that I needed to get out of a dying industry, although I will mourn its decline until the end of my days.
• I was able to be home with my husband during his recovery
• We were able to have a month off as a family over the holidays for the first time EVER.
• I get to be a full-time mom with all its joys, work,and, yes, chaos
• My house has never been cleaner or more organized
• I'm not under mountains of stress anymore and am regaining my life
• I've lost 43 pounds and am well on my way to a healthier more productive life
• All of this has brought me closer to my family
• I get the chance to start over and do things I've always wanted to do
• But, most of all, this has reminded me of the important things in life - family, friends and the simple pleasures

Sometimes chaos is just what we need to gain a little perspective.