Sunday, August 22, 2010

"Hi," she said quite sheepishly, "I've missed you."


Hello there, dear readers. I presume the only ones to get this will be those who have me in a feed or some sort of reader. I mean, when someone hasn't posted in almost two months, you kind of stop checking, right?

Well, I'm back. For today. No promises about tomorrow or next week. But, for today, I'm back.

And, I'm going to let you in on a big secret. Well, not a secret, really, but something I haven't shared with you, my dear readers: I'm running for office. Yes, that's right. I have yard signs (and even get to see them when driving down the road, which is very strange), campaign literature, a website and even a few endorsements. I was given a passing mention on a prominent news site and subsequently a prominent blogger was outraged on my behalf (and on behalf of the other even more amazing women who weren't mentioned either).

I'm running for School Board in our county and campaign season is in full swing. Every. Single. Day. I have campaign stuff to do, usually more than what I can possibly finish in a day. And, of course, it's summertime and Lucas and Nathaniel are both home with me all day (ya' know, cuz I'm also a stay-at-home mom!) and so life is insane. But, also really, really exciting. Abel is 110% on board with this and so incredibly supportive. (Thank goodness, because, if he wasn't? None of this would be possible.) When I don't feel like I can do One. More. Meeting. or knock on One. More. Door. He pushes me to do it, to go, to smile, to knock, to talk, because we believe in this effort and we know that it is worth it. Worth it for our sons and their future. Worth it for all the children in our county. Worth it.

But, now that my "secret" is out to you, friends, I'll be even more honest. It isn't just being busy that has kept me from blogging (but it is being too busy that has kept me from reading and commenting on your blogs, however, and I truly am missing you!), it's also a feeling of being too exposed.

I am putting myself out there, publicly, and asking thousands of people to either vote for me or against me. To say: yes or no. To me. And, even though I have not ever blogged anonymously, and I do think it is a very good thing that voters could google me and come here and learn more about me than literally any other candidate on their ballot, it is also a little scary. Because it's me. Yes or no to me. And, damn, does that cause some major writer's block!

But, with the wonderful encouragement of my dear friend, Dr. Blondie, I decided to come back, let you in on my adventure, ask you to cheer me on (and if, by God, you live very near to me, I ask you for your vote!), and support me in my cozy corner of the world here on Smiling Mama. A corner I hold near and dear to my heart and a corner that I have been missing very much.

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!