Resolved

Around January 5 of this year (not to be just TOO trite), my husband and I engaged in our annual (and, yeah, kinda conventionally annoying) process of creating our New Year's Resolutions. The list contained the usual (lose that last 15 pounds of baby weight, be on time, spend less money, floss) and some new ones (get more flexible!, pray with the kids more). The one that has been rolling around in my head the most, however, is the one I am at long last beginning tonight--start a blog and blog at least once a week.

Since that time, I have penned dozens of posts--all of them witty and insightful and full of my unique blend of humor and practical wisdom. Each of them has contained some measure of the information and history I want to document for my 4 little darlings--the little daily happenings that make up our life together. The trouble, of course, is that all of these posts have all been in my head.

So, rather than wait another minute (or at least to make the most of the next few while my Disneyworld pictures upload to the printer), I begin.

First, a little about me. I am a thirty something, full time working mother of 4--3 girls, one boy. I am married to the love of my life who drives me crazy as often as he fills my heart to the brim. I am living and working in my hometown and my parents and brothers (whom I adore) all live within a 2 mile radius. My sister is my best friend and daily confidante who went and found her soulmate in and settled down in Houston, Texas. Family is my life. To support this life, I work in Supply Management at a huge multi national manufacturer of construction equipment. My husband and I own a small historic millwork business (windows, doors) which he manages. My life is crazy busy, full to the bursting, and I love it.

I majored in English and Rhetoric in college and after the birth of my fourth (and likely last) baby last February, I vowed to rediscover and reinitiate the activities that made me me before babies. After much soul searching (at least that available to me in my daily 12 minute commute to work), I decided that I needed to do 2 things:
1. Write
2. Work Out (flabby former athlete that I am)
7 weeks later, I have taken the first step.

As I mentioned, this blog has been on my mind a lot. I gave a lot of thought to the title of my blog, and since I couldn't come up with anything all that clever, I settled for Mama Duck. Allow me to explain.

First and foremost, "Ducky" has been a nickname of mine since high school. In a nod to the famed "Long Duck Dong" of 16 candles fame (Is that the right one? At any rate, the Molly Ringwald movie from the mid-80s), a classmate once dubbed me, in reference to my gangly height (nearly 6 feet tall)--"Long Duck Dawn". The name stuck, and "Ducky" I was for some time. My parents even owned a small ice cream store for a number of years which they called "Ducky's Sweets" in honor of each of our nicknames (yes, my big-hearted sister was dubbed "Sweets" by her high school friends!)

Consequently, I often encourage my little ones (ages 7, 6, 3 and 1) to follow me with the words "C'mon little ducks" (when I'm not using the also oft-used, "Hurry UP WE ARE LATE *expletive deleted*" refererence resolution number 2 above). Seriously though, I love the idea of the proud Mama Duck waddling along with her sweet,fuzzy little babies trotting obediently behind her. Nevermind that my first duck would be staring off into space and wandering off in her own direction, the second two would be attempting to destroy one another feather by feather, and the fourth would be attempting to climb onto my back and latch herself firmly around my neck. Still, the image is beautiful.

I also like the saying "Move like a duck--gliding smoothly on the surface and paddling like hell underneath." I'm sure my frantic paddling pace is often evident from the surface, but in general I'd like to think I maintain the appearance of keeping it all together.

For these three reasons, I chose "Mama Duck" as my identity. As I begin this blogging adventure, I am happy and excited (and a little relieved to finally silence that nagging little voice in my head). Writing was a big part of me from the time I was small. Immersed as I've been, in babies and career and just the demands of daily life, I've lost that piece of my identity and I am happy to be reclaiming it. I don't know how often I can commit to posting--4 little ones, a full time job, a happy marriage, a busy calendar--none of these point to the kind of "margin" in my life that will allow me to indulge in this passion all that often. But I will try. I think it will be therapeutic for me to babble on about my trials and tribulations and triumphs. And, since I've never been much of a scrapbooker (sorry little ducks!) maybe it will leave my kids with some documentation of our history together in a way that will also help me reclaim a part of me that I know I have been missing. Here's to the trying!