DO

Baby A visiting me at work last summer

I don't think I've told you what it is I do. I kept meaning to proclaim my bold (because that sounds better than rash) decision to quit my pleasant but not in my preferred field and not challenging administrative assistant job to edit and write from home. Prompted  by a desire to be with my daughter more and to give her a more consistent schedule, and to make room for my editing and journalism ambitions, I declared myself a work-from-home editor in February of this year. 

I do freelance writing, editing, and blogging from my comfy armchair.

I do think that of all the babies, mine is the most adorable.

I do research children's books, particularly picture books, and write recommendations and reviews for them. (Picture books have been my favorite genre for long before I was a mama. Most of Baby A's books are actually mine.)

I do go on dates sometimes, with my hubby (who hates to be called hubby/hub/hubster, heehee.)

I do sleep much better when it rains, probably  because it reminds me of growing up in Virginia.

I do lose my breath in excitement when the trees begin to bud.

I do crave structure.

I do slather on sunscreen and spend as much time as possible lounging/walking/sporting/cooking outside in the summer.

I do wish I wrote more, talked less, cleaned more, worried less, played more, and scolded less.

I do consider myself multicultural, and I find it to be strange when other people do not consider themselves to be multicultural, because we are all influenced by so many ways of living.

I do get a rush out of cutting, cutting, cutting when I edit. But rewording, correcting, praising, restructuring, and analyzing are also fun.

I do dream of working for a major publishing firm such as Time Inc. (Real Simple), Hearst (Redbook), or National Geographic Society.

I do go to church every Sunday because I like it, and I live my life in a rather religious way, which I had not realized until my mid-twenties.

I do participate in PC speech almost always, and one of my greatest annoyances is when people refer to other people as "ethnic", as if every person in the world does not have one or multipe ethnicities!

I do speak fluent Finnish and terrible Spanish. 

I do travel only a little more than I can afford to travel.

I do hope to translate some Finnish children's stories into English.

I do like to get to know people as much as I like to talk about myself, so please, tell me what it is you do.

a kiss after nap time (hers, not mine)

me and the spouse