5 reasons...

Thanks to mimi for the meme tag. I've never been tagged before (get it out of the gutter!) and the timing on this was quite good. I was feeling a little left out of the blog club. I'm not one to use appropriate SAT level vocabulary or correct punctuation and grammar. I am the first to admit that my blog is very colloquial. Life has left me stressed out and sad lately. I have been sort of out of words. I really appreciate being given a topic to write.

Five reasons why I blog:

1) Well, I can't really speak about starting a blog without mentioning Catherine Newman, who happens to write the first blog I ever read. She kept a journal at babycenter for several years. When I first got pregnant with my little girl in November of '02, I signed up for their weekly email. That's how I started reading Catherine's Bringing Up Ben & Birdy, which is great! When she stopped doing that in December, I googled her name (in a very cyber-stalker way) to see if she'd gotten herself a new gig. That's when I found her blog and her Dalai Mama journal at Wondertime. After reading her new blog here, I realized I wanted to play. There was a tempting link that said create a blog, so I did. That's the reason I started, but definitely not why I continue...

2) I like to write. I've always like to write. I find it therapeutic and cathartic. I've kept a journal since I was 8 years old (which I referenced in my first blog post) and have continued to do so since. Wow, I just realized that I've been journaling for over 20 years. I still have all of the diaries, they are very funny to read. I'm still planning to post an entry (an idea from another blogger), just haven't found the right one yet. I get really sad when I read some months from my early teens, and late teens to be honest. And early twenties. Boys, boys, boys. Men, men, men. Angst, angst, angst. Ugh. So predictable. But I digress...

3) I really enjoy networking with so many wonderful people from all over the place. Especially other mommies. I wouldn't have met any Canadians if it weren't for blogging. (What is it with Canadians and blogging anyway? A topic for another day, I guess). There are great discussions on topics I would never even consider if it weren't for the very intelligent bloggers in the world making me think deep thoughts, which brings me to my 4th reason...

4) I finished grad school in August '06. I had gotten very used to researching, discussing, and writing. I like exercising my mind. I teach high school special education, which is challenging job, but it doesn't do enough to ignite creativity. I guess I'm trying to avoid the Alzheimer's...

5) The fifth reason is that I do think it's sort of a memory book for my family. It will be fun to look back in ten years and see where this all started. I even think my kids will think it's cool. I try not to write anything that would horrify them too much.

I know there are a lot of other reasons, but at least there's five.

I'm going to tag my friend Jacque, Michelle, and Catherine . I think Jacque and Michelle will see this, I'll have to go tell Catherine. She doesn't read my blog. I'll look forward to some reasons why you guys blog.