Here’s Me

Hi you — I’m Amy.  I grew up in the Northern Virginia ‘burbs, and am currently living in Washington, DC with my husband, our daughter and son. Moose, our Boston terrier, is staying with my in-laws in West Virginia, where he is being spoiled with pulled chicken and daily rides in the car. My parents are still married to each other, and I have three siblings. After some time in the corporate world, I hung my own shingle as a freelance writer and project manager, and I can’t imagine going back. I can’t even read Dilbert without feeling very uneasy inside.

I’m a serious quitter. I quit smoking in February, 1996. In March of 1998, I “quit eating” (at 308 pounds I had gastric bypass surgery — to date I’ve maintained a 160-pound weight loss). I quit drinking alcohol in July of 2005. I, uhm, quit again in June of 2008. To this day I still have elaborate dreams that include frosty pints of Cherry Garcia and dusty bottles of Amarone.

I believe that pain is inevitable, and suffering is optional. I try to celebrate something every day.

I started this blog as a way to reach out — to build community. When the kids are old enough, I plan to tell them whatever they want to know about all these things — about their Mama — including the difficult and sad years. In the meantime, all they need to know is that I am committed to loving them every day of their lives, and that I am very, very pretty.

Write to me at amy at fannfare dot com. Seriously.

Note: You may notice that I title each post with a lyric — a line from a song — and finish it with a link to that song…a video or the words or a’listen.  What’s that all about?  My husband teases me saying I know the lyrics to every song that enjoyed radio play between 1970 and 1990-something, and I don’t actually dispute that.  Most bloggers try to have a “thing,” and mine became “the lyric thing.”  It’s a challenge that makes “this blogging thing” even more fun.