dipping my foot in.

here i am, probably the billionth person to start a blog when there are just about a billion left who don't have one. right in the middle. i have kind of a love-hate relationship with the whole blogging phenomenon, and yet here i am... just how do you start a blog anyway?

hi, my name is jen. i am foremost a mom, which is something i'm still adjusting to even after 2 years. i left a wonderful job in the american craft industry to (mostly) stay at home, although i do work just a bit to help pay the bills. i live in the suburbs just at the end of the city, in a pretty normal house, with my husband, daughter, two cats, and a dog. normal. it wasn't always this way. after being one of eight in a class, yes eight, "jens" (jennys, jennies, jennifers) through most of school, i went to a large college and did my own thing. i had fun. lots of fun. i traveled, had interesting friends, a few really cool jobs, and then i met my to-be husband, and had more fun, traveled lots more, met more interesting people. we were always out and about.

then my daughter, the bean, was born, and suddenly our idea of a big night was spending it at the playground. as anyone with children knows, it's a big adjustment. for me, it's the biggest. she is the greatest thing going, but i often wonder where that old me is. (my guess is prague.)

i guess this blog is going to be about coming to terms with all the really wonderful aspects of just being average. afternoons spent blowing bubbles, the hidden potential of crayons, and whatever of my own interests i can squeeze in. all in all, it's pretty great being normal.