New Beginnings, and a defense of the Full Time Mom

Welcome back, wonderful readers!

After nearly a year, I've decided to return to the blogosphere. This was kind of a difficult choice, as the last 14 or so months have been some of the most painful, thought provoking, tumultuous, rewarding, and ultimately life altering a person can have, and the idea of airing that laundry, dirty or otherwise, in such a public forum wasn't one in which I was interested. If you don't know the whole story, I can sum it up quickly: Since last January, I quit my job, moved to Taiwan, moved back from Taiwan, returned to Richmond, got pregnant, got married, moved, lost my grandmother, and had a baby. And the baby now is the biggest challenge of my entire life.

It is because of Kaylee that I decided to come back to blogging. While bringing her into this world was a cleansing and humbling experience, it brought with it a new set of adventures. And we all know how much I love adventures, and how I love sharing them, good and bad. The myriad discoveries of the four weeks since she was born, from the mundane (the inventor of the Crock Pot needs to be deified) to the scientific (did you know a newborn's stomach is only the size of her fist?) to the fantastically disgusting (if you've ever babysat, you have an idea of what I'm talking about), every day has been about growth and discovery, not just for Kaylee, but also for Sze and I. Everyone tells you that having a baby changes your life, but nothing ever prepares you for the magnitude of that change. This is about three million times harder than I thought it would be, and I knew it was going to be hard. And really, I have never, ever, not even when I was a hard-partying freshman in college, been this tired. Never.

During my pregnancy, Sze and I decided that I would stay home for a while to take care of Kaylee. While this decision is a strange one for a self-proclaimed feminist, I was already unemployed and the lack of expenses related to my working- daycare, gas, wardrobe, etc - nearly constitute a second income. So, I resigned myself to the life of a stay at home mom, prepared to rock my baby in peace.

Wow, I was completely delusional.

I am working harder now than I have ever worked in my life. My day starts at 7:30 in the morning and ends at roughly 10:30 at night. I get up at 3:00 to feed her. I am a full time household manager, executive chef, grocer, childcare provider, and delivery boy rolled into one. I soothe crying progeny, change diapers, administer bottles, do laundry, clean, cook, run errands, field phone calls, and maintain the family schedules every single day. I take Kaylee to story time. Next month, we start pilates. Oh yeah, and I still have a healthy relationship with my husband. AND I shower once in a while. This is not the life of a Wisteria Lane housewife, and anyone who says that a stay at home mom isn't working has obviously never met one. While I used to think that "housewives" had given up their independence, I now realize that there's a lot of power in being the one in charge of it all. You're the traffic director, the conductor of the orchestra. You're the person who has the answers. And when you're awake enough to realize that, it's pretty cool.

I have chosen not to rename the blog for one simple reason: I'm still a Funky Gourmet. While my roasts may come from a slow cooker instead of a painstakingly basted rack of lamb that spent all day in the oven, cooking is still my passion and my release, now more than ever. I want to instill the concept of food as an expression of love in Kaylee, and of cooking as an art form. And frankly, chopping onions at 3 in the morning after she's been screaming all night is just about the best stress relief on planet Earth. So expect recipes and culinary quips. They'll still come. But, like everything else in this new life of mine, they come balanced with a bombshell of a baby.

Thank you for coming back to me, sticking with me, or finding my page for the first time. And Buon Appetito!