I have had a week off from blogging, from the whole Internet really, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Dear Readers, you do not want to hear about the last seven days in my world. Nope, you don’t. If I had been blogging this whole time, you would have had to listen to a symphony of stressful holidays, sick grandparents, a funeral, last minute travel plans, flying with a 10-month-old, sickness, a forgotten anniversary, more sickness, a tragic dog story, and a not-so-Happy-New-Year.

As a writer, I want to process all of these things in word-form, but instead I say let us allow the winds of change to blow them away and start afresh. It is a new year after all, right?

It crossed my mind to end this blog come the new year, as it sometimes becomes a burden to maintain. My writing seems dry to me. I don’t like what I’ve written of late. I don’t like when my writing becomes vindictive or defensive, which it has at times this past year. I feel as though I spend most of my time explaining myself, my actions. A personal lashing out, if you will. Navigating life is hard, even harder with A BLOG on your back.

In a new outlook on life, I hope to grow more confident in myself. Accountable only to truth and love, not guilt and obligation. I hope to be free to think and write and grow at my own pace. And goddammit, I am sick of explaining my (our) decisions to people. It’s time to press on and let Time be the great equalizer.

This is a tangent? Yes, OK. But you get the idea? It’s been a great year of blogging, but a challenging one. Weekend Moments was a successful venture, I think. Documenting new motherhood has been something most invaluable to me. Sharing stories and pictures of Poppy seemed to be a hit among the relatives. I think I made a total of $21 on Google Adsense this year. Phooey pants. Oh well, someday I’ll get paid to write.

In the new year, I will be cutting down on my “hot” days. No, no, not the days when I walk around in my Apple-Bottom-Jeans-And-The-Boots-With-The-Fur. But rather the “hot” days that I am online from morning ’til night, checking the blogosphere and Facebook-o-sphere at every possible moment that I am not spending changing a diaper, cleaning up Cheerios off the floor, or keeping the baby from sticking her fingers in an outlet. Three days a week will be solely set aside for reading REAL books, writing on REAL paper, and talking in REAL life to REAL people. And this blog will have to wait on those days. Am I scared to hell of losing readership? Yes. But at least I know my mom and my brothers Pat and TJ will still read this blog until the day I die. (Hi guys!)

With the merriest of wishes I can muster up today, I do wish you and yours a Happy New Year. May it be full of bold choices, kind words, better relationships, small pleasures, and lots of laughter. Oh, and reading what’s left of this blog.