The beginning

My friends tell me I should write a book.  Well, either that, or I should do stand-up for a living.  Sometimes I just repeat funny stuff I've seen, but I do have a rather sassy sense of humor.  I never intend to offend, so read with a smile on your face.  

This urging to write has come at many junctures in my life.  For example, when Em, my youngest, was a baby, sometime in late 1998, we moved to the country to a VERY small little house with no storage.  When I say 'no storage', I mean none.  No closets, limited cabinets in the kitchen, a drafty attic that doubled as a bedroom and only two main rooms, a bedroom and a living area.  Small is an understatement.  A real estate agent would call it "cozy".

I got really good at organizing things - in fact, it became on obsession to come up with new, creative ways to store our things.  Somehow it leaked out that I was an expert organizer and a couple of friends hired me to organize some closets in their homes.  It was a small community, the internet was new (I know, WHAT?!?) and I was an organizer, not a marketer.  I wrote a book, complete with funny cartoons and detailed "how to" instructions on how to do everything from folding bed sheets to ideas for closets and garage storage.  I sent it to one publisher who sent it back with kind words that felt like a pat on the head and a "thanks-but-no-thanks".  I was discouraged and swore off writing.  I know....drastic, but I was kinda mad.  I thought it was good, dang it!  They just don't know!

Well, I looked at that book many years later and was frankly embarrassed at the simplicity and style.  I had certainly come a long way since then.  Or so I thought.

In 2002, we lost Emmy's Dad in a car accident.  Robert was born on a holiday - Valentines Day - and he died on a holiday - Christmas morning.  Our lives had been forever altered.  A couple of years later, I decided to write about our experiences those first years without him.  Problem was, the writing was completely one-sided.  I was venting and grieving on paper and that was NOT what others wanted to read about.  I submitted it to a few publishers anyway.  I had compiled a 500-page book and I thought it was good.  It was his story.  It chronicled things about his life and what happened in the accident and the weeks and months that followed.  I got a letter from a potential publisher telling me it was "selfish".  I was completely crushed.  

Some time alter, I realized they were right - the story wasn't finished.  It's now been more than 10 years since we lost him and we've learned much.  More importantly, we've learned how to live and I've discovered that humor is a good way to approach life.  Look at his face......he was goofy and that's how he lived!  He would not be happy if we wallowed in self-pity!

Thus my motto was born:  Everything is funny if you look at it the right way and anything worth taking seriously is worth making fun of!  Here goes attempt number three......sort of.  Blogging is the thing now, so this is my writing.  Feel free to tell me what you think!  I promise not to run away!