It's about time!

It's been awhile since I started a new blog. And, since I feel as though I'm starting a new, a new blog is in order. Pop the champagne, have a swig, and lets get started, shall we?

My name is Joy. I'm a family woman (god, am I a woman? That sounds so...old). I've got a husband (hereafter referred to as Man) of three years. He is wonderful most of the time, and well serviceable all the other times. A little tune-up is all that's needed. I have a wonderful son (hereafter referred to as Little Man) who just turned one and is driving me, quite literally, to distraction. Forgetting the dog would be a sin, so my darling 100-lb Akita who never leaves my side (except when I leave her to go, well, anywhere) also gets a shout-out.

As far as jobs, like my blogs, I've had dozens. I'm a teacher by day, just making a huge switch from middle school to high school English. I start the new job in August, which I'm sure I'll write about a lot here. When I'm not teaching, though, and even sometimes when I am, I fall back on my great love, which is writing. I've had a few stories published, but haven't done anything like what I dream of doing. My goal is to have a book contract by the time I'm 30. That's nearly two years. I've got a lot of work to do.

My current works in progress (hereafter WIP) are:
MADE FOR WALKING (women's fiction)
GEMMA UP-OVER (Young Adult fiction)
AFRICA BY ELEPHANT (children's fiction)

When I'm not busy with work, family, or writing, I have a few other things I do on the side:

I run. Or at least I try to. I'm looking into three races in the September-October time frame that range from 3-10 miles. Nothing major--at least nothing as major as what made me start running in the first place which was an 18 mile run on the Virginia Creeper Trail (haha!). I've since come to my senses.

I remodel. I am currently remodeling, with the help of Man, our master bathroom. We're tiling the floors, painting, and, if all goes well, tiling the shower. We'll see about that last part.

I pretend to be green. And by pretend, I mean that I am working very hard on making my life as green as possible. I make my own laundry soap, I use cloth bags when I go shopping, I recycle, I compost, I'm working on a raised bed for next year to plant veggies since veggies don't really like the clay that is my soil around here. Generally, I'm trying very hard to reduce my carbon footprint and the collective footprint of my family. It's hard, but I'm trying.

Any or all of these things are fair game in my blog and I hope you enjoy growing with me! Let me know if you stop by, I'd love to see who's reading!