The Time Has Come, The Time is Now. Mommy the Maid needs to Start Writing NOW.

I love to write.  I love to blog.  I constantly think about all the awesome things I could blog and even write rough drafts in my head...but that is where the process typically ends.  I try to tell myself that I am just too busy to keep up with all my ideas... but that is a bold-faced lie.  I only work 24 hours a week at the bar and I have been slacking on housework.  My kids are doing so well in school and the once daily meetings have been reduced to the typical mid-year parent/teacher conferences.  I have time to lounge in my bed watching the X-Files or Telenovela with my new Xfinity on Demand.

So why am I not following through?

I want to share my trips to the Denver Zoo, school projects, awesome recipes I have tried, my thoughts on family and love, and even how crazy my cats get when I give them catnip.  What about the time the lizard got loose from the cage?  Or when the baby learned to say "peacock" in the most accidental hilarious way?  I need to finish (or start actually) the letter to the little's step-mom.  All of it swims around in my head.  Why can't I get it to "paper"...okay...screen...

Maybe Facebook has something to do with it.  I can jump on my phone and write a quick sentence to share the cute tidbits of my day.  I can take an entire blog post that is circling in my head and cut it down to 140 characters and an emoji.

Maybe because we only have one computer (for 6 of us) and I am not nearly tech savvy enough to figure out how to use the voice feature on my phone to record some notes.  I can't get the Blogger app to download on my phone, and what if I wanted my own domain again?

I am not looking to blog for money, although I was once VERY successful at it, nor am I looking for any kind of blog fame -it exists- I just want to write and share.

So, what am I going to do about it?  I am not sure I have figured that out beyond the "I should just blog more" idea.  Do I give myself a challenge?  Maybe try to write a certain amount of words or posts and not burn myself out like I did with the Blog-a-Thon from many years ago.  Perhaps challenge myself to one or even *gasp* TWO posts a week.  Maybe I need some kind of accountability...although it saddens me that I need to be held accountable for something I like to do.  Perhaps I can join a few of those blog hops that I love so much.  I could even use writing prompts.

Whatever I decide, I will be writing more.  I won't allow myself to go an entire month between posts again.  I want to record my life and do it with a mixture of pictures and words.

My Journey Back to Myself

2/31/15

I feel that I have strayed from myself. I work too much.  I spend too much.  The cycle is slowly killing me.  I am so busy that when I have the chance to do something that I enjoy, I end up parking myself in front of the computer or the TV.  I turn down dance parties with the kids and the chance to make penguin cupcakes because my feet hurt, I'm tired, I work early tomorrow, or countless other excuses.  My house is so unorganized and cluttered that I let my 20 month old color on my math notebook from my online college course - from four years ago - so that I could attempt to match the beach tote full of unpaired socks.  I think that bag is going to find the trash, but I digress.

Life has become chaotic and spontaneous in all the ways that I don't want.  I spend at lest 5 minutes every morning looking for my shoes, my work pants, my keys, the kid's mittens, or the baby's stuffed rabbit.  When I do make it out the door, I have forgotten to eat breakfast and left my coffee on top of the car.  I am frazzled.  I never used to be like this, but then again, I never tried to work two jobs with 3 small children at home and one heading to college in a semester.  

There are so many things that I want to do.  I want to go back to school, write a novel, finish a quilt for my mom, publish a cookbook, resume my Project Life book, take the kids to Disney World, foster animals, sell my cute handmade items on Etsy again, and maybe try out some of those make-up tutorials on YouTube.  These are all things that I could do, if I made the time for them.  Ever since getting divorced, going back to school, and re-entering the work force I feel that I have completely stopped most of the things I used to do.  I used to be Mommy the Maid with a successful blog titled "Mommy the Maid."  I wrote sponsored posts about being a mom and housewife, shared recipes from my grandmother's cookbook, and shared my successes and failures being an entrepreneur with my own Etsy store.  My blog contained my life with excerpts and photos of my recipes, short stories, handmade goods, and family vacations.  I organized my closets and posted pictures and tips for others to read.  I miss those those closets.  Now I have to wear a hard hat to enter my bedroom closet.  But I digress...again.

My New Years Resolution for 2016 is to make big changes and I plan to document these changes on Daily Two Cents.  I will share my progress, my set-backs, and my successes with the Daily Two Cents community.  Follow along with me as I pour out my personal journey into words for all the world to see.  I take these steps boldly, yet cautiously.  Here we go! 

Who is Mommy the Maid?

Nine years ago I stood in my kitchen and had an argument with my (then) 7 year old daughter that I was her mom and not her maid.  In that instant, Mommy the Maid was born.  I used the handle on message boards and for my crafty wares hocked at craft shows and online.  While using this name, I started a blog.  I blogged about the ups and downs of parenting, fun craft projects, recipes, and so much more.  I wrote sponsored posts for a few companies, and even published articles with Associated Content which later formed into Yahoo! Voices.  I loved the outlet that I had for writing as well as the MANY online and real-life friends I made through blogging.  I shared trials and triumphs with my fellow blogging moms.  I cheered when their kids hit milestones and posted about the mess my son made with flour all over my kitchen floor.  I shared a story of an embarrassing practical joke my husband played on me and stood up for the rights of breastfeeding mothers.  I shared my sewing projects and helped others learn to knit.  I was teased for my love of Febreze and fear of Christopher Walken.  My blog was my life recorded and shared online.

Over the last few months, I have thought deeply about why I stopped blogging and if I wanted to start up again.  The reasons I stopped included burn-out after a Blog-A-Thon (for a GREAT cause), depression, moving, divorce, and school.  I don't want to dwell on those reasons as it is only good for circular thinking.  I have changed a lot since then.  I now have twice as many children, 3 pain in the ass cats, work part-time (6 days a week), and my bedroom is currently in a state of crisis.  Even with all that change in my life, I am still the Mommy the Maid I once was, and I want to share my life with the world - or limited users that are interested in reading about my life.  

So who is Mommy the Maid?

I am 34 years old living with my 23 year old boyfriend...and yes, I have heard all the jokes.  He has taken my 3 beautiful children into his heart and we have recently brought another beautiful soul into the world.  Alexandria, Athena, Troy, and Persephone are my world.  No, I am not Greek...I just love the names and the stories told in Greek Mythology.  Alexandria (Alex) is almost 16 and a recent national champion in equitation and has placed at world levels as well.  She is getting ready to drive and taking college courses to finish her high school diploma.  Athena is 9 and entering the 4th grade.  She is dealing with high levels of anxiety and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder.) Most days we struggle with daily life and have an IEP in place at school.  Troy is 6 and is entering the 1st grade.  He is currently undergoing the steps for a diagnosis of ADHD which is a handful.  Persephone (Perry) is working on rolling over and has started to giggle.  

The mental challenges that my children deal with stem a lot from me.  I suffer from anxiety, SPD, and two types of uncommon OCD.  I have tried medications and none of them helped.  In fact, one prescription medication made it worse.  I currently take supplements to keep it all under control and am looking into more talk therapy time.  

We live in a house in a quiet  neighborhood that isn't too keen about my large tattoos and the holes in my ears or the fact that we do minimal yard work. We try to live as friendly to the environment as can.  We use cloth diapers, eat local and organic when we can and prefer to buy second hand items or barter for handmade goods with our own.  While I spend my days serving pancakes and bacon in a family-friendly restaurant, my boyfriend spends his in a kitchen cooking for hungry golfers.  We are terrible to take out to a restaurant as we both take our jobs seriously and expect other servers and chefs to do so as well.  I have lots of work-related rants.  Just wait.  

I plan to fill this blog with the daily stories of my life.  The funny jokes Troy make (usually about farts), the awesome apron I made, the cupcakes that tasted like baking powder, and even the trials of maintaining an IEP with the school.  While that may sound like a typical mommy blog, many details of my life would say otherwise.  I love my life (most days) and this is my record of that.  

Mommy the Maid is back...just a little more frazzled and with less perfect vacuum lines in the living room.