So!

We made it through a year or so of parenting and a year of mommyblogging. I’m fully — FULLY — aware that I’ve posted about practically nothing but my kid for the last 12ish months. And hey, I’m pretty proud that I managed to do a post a month to track my little monkey’s milestones. It’s the closest he’ll get to a baby book, because baby? Mommy’s had a blog so long that her penmanship is painfully illegible and journaling triggers her stupid carpal tunnel/tendonitis/tennis elbow crap.

But now that Grayson is walking and jabbering and manifesting a deeply held commitment to his personal autonomy, what’s next? Does the “Goodness Grayson” category take over 8junebugs until the end of time?

Ennnhhh. I think not. I’ve planned on doing the monthly letter thing since Leta Armstong was a month old, but I also like the idea of stopping at a year. Even those letters, though addressed to my son, are a reflection of my growth as much as his, and I’ve still got plenty of growing to do.

There’s the house. I should capture somewhere what we’ve done with this place.

There’s my ongoing attempt to deal with the effects of aging. I had a date with radiology this week for a biopsy on a nodule of my thyroid — a big but almost certainly benign one. Still, facing this shit comes with Feelings, and this is where my feelings go.

There’s some professional stuff that I would have bounced to the blog on my nextJen Communications site, but that site is all but defunct these days. Even if I wanted to freelance right now, ain’t nobody (in this house) got time for that. But it turns out my knowledge appears to be somewhat useful to some folks, so I’d like to bung it down somewhere.

I’ve also hit the point at which my personal life and my professional life are essentially entwined online. We crossed that bridge years ago, really. At 22, I’d’ve died before attaching my personal journal to a resume, but I can’t lie — being myself online has resulted in work. Paid work and job offers/considerations. And when you do web content for a living, nothing shows your passion more than 2,000-word screeds riddled with profanity an after-hours portfolio.

There’s our Unique Situation. I’m deeply troubled by the lack of resources available online for sighted spouses. I don’t know yet what to do about that, but being open and honest about what our life looks like seems like a good start.

There are causes and issues I care about. The struggle I face with Cause/Issue Blogging is that the internet is much, much more full of brilliant people than it used to be. There once was a time when I wrote because I had something to say that I hadn’t seen said elsewhere. That doesn’t happen nearly as often anymore, and thank heaven for it. There are so many strong voices speaking up, speaking out. But that shouldn’t stop me from adding mine.

And there’s still Grayson, who is growing and learning so fast that it’s nearly impossible to keep up.

Onward, yes?