So I've done it. I made a blog. In a world oversaturated with blogs and opinions and uninteresting glimpses into daily lives, I've gone and added my own two cents. You are very welcome, world.
I'm not sure why I've chosen now to start a blog, amidst raising my three year old and 5 month old sons, trying to keep a small internet business afloat, and barely having time to plan a week's worth of meals for the family. I think the urge comes from recouping my creative energies after giving birth for the second time. I remember well how the creative juices began flowing a few months after the birth of my first son, Rowyn. It's the ending of that "fourth trimester," as it is so mathematically incorrectly called. You mamas know what I'm talking about; that time when your body fully understands that baby is definitely out, nursing is established and you've somehow acclimated to your continuous nights of interrupted sleep. The inward focus of pregnancy and childbirth is over. You can look outside of yourself. And to those of you, both friends and strangers, who are amazingly crafty before, during and after this whole process, my hat is off. I'm insanely jealous of you and will probably make fun of you from time to time, but it's only because I wish I were you.
Well, those creative urges are back for me after baby Emil's birth. And lucky for you it's manifested as another journal in the blogosphere, because at the current moment it is so much easier than sitting at my sewing machine or pulling weeds out of my neglected garden.
Uch, I've done exactly what I didn't want to do. I've made a long introductory post. Damn! I've hardly introduced myself and haven't even explained the name of my blog. Well, here goes an attempt at a summarized version:
My Shmata...for those of you who don't know, shmata is the yiddish word for rag or dishtowel (also can mean an old piece of clothing). I can thank my mother for the familiarity with this word (and I apologize to my mother for my very limited yiddish vocabulary). To be totally offensive and politically incorrect, let's divulge into the world of Jewish stereotypes (I can do this because I'm Jewish, right?) with a joke my cousin once told me:
"Where does the Jewish husband hide his money from his wife? Under the vacuum cleaner." As laughter ensued, I stood there totally confused. I had to admit that I did not get the joke. And why? Because MY Jewish mother was so freakin' tidy that she once left the house in a formal evening gown with her shmata still draped over her shoulder. Thank you mom, I am now borderline obsessed with keeping my house clean.
And a little more about me...mothering, wifey-ing, sewing, cooking, cleaning, music, gardening, washing dishes, cleaning toilets, google chatting, playing with toy cars with Rowyn, wiping bottoms, driving a Subaru, avocadoes, taking pictures, taking too long to read books...you get the picture. Your typical modern day young mom raising a family in the friendly town of Asheville, NC. Nothing too special, but nevertheless, we all have a story to tell.
