my quest to become a {gulp} storyteller

This weekend we went to see the comedian Mike Birbiglia perform his show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend. He is so funny and such a wonderful storyteller. I loved that his act had multiple small story arcs within one larger arc, and so many of the jokes would come back later in the bit. I also appreciate that, when compared with the tragic moments in Sleepwalk with Me, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend is at its heart a love story, full of the missteps and heartache but also pockets of optimism that he delivers with such honesty and self-deprecation. It was fun to see the show in Worcester, close to his hometown; the audience was as rowdy as I expected. [If you haven't yet, you should check out Mike's film version of Sleepwalk with Me on Netflix].

raison d’être

Charlie on her first morning of "stay and play" school.

October already? We have an action-packed month, including a move, some of my first doula clients, and getting in shape for my reunion row in a month. To give myself an outlet for discussing all that's happening and to hold myself accountable in my desire to exercise every day, I've decided to join up with NaBloPoMo, that thing where you blog every day for a month. I hope you'll read along!

If you know me well, you might know that today's post title happens to be the name of one of my favorite beers. But I'm not writing about beer this time, I'm writing about my discovery in the last two years of what really matters to me. My reason for existence, my everything, my be all to end all.

a doula for youla

Hey there, creative readers! I could use your help. My plan to become a doula is moving full steam ahead, and the more I learn about the field, the more excited I become. The women in this profession are about as calm and empathic as it gets, so I feel more relaxed about paving a new career path than ever before, thanks in large part to their guidance.

Becoming a doula will be the easy part for me. The trouble is I do not have the entrepreneurial spirit. I'm an idea girl, to be sure, but somewhere along the way I tend to lose steam from the obstacles I encounter, and I haven't figured out how to mount the hurtles. I wish I had it in me to take great risks, but as I often say about myself, at the end of the day I'm a paycheck gal.

maintaining my morning-time sanity

I hope you are warmer than me on this wicked-cold Wednesday. Last night our weather man reported that, with wind chill, it felt like minus 6 degF, and boy did it ever. This morning it was even only in the 20's all the way down at my in-laws' home in Florida! Brrrr. I am managing okay, although I would like to invest in a nose-warmer.

Ever since I started thinking of finding a job later this year, my mind keeps wandering back to the horrid thought of what our household would be like with both of us working. I am fairly sure the organization level of our refrigerator would drop a few pegs, as would our level of clean laundry and, let's be honest, our sanity. Nate and I keep looking at each other and saying "how do people do it?!"