Sometimes I dither. I've been dithering about blogging for years. Dithering about what to say and what not to say. About whether people will know it's me. About whether they'll like me. About whether they'll understand. 

Some of my flakier friends claim that the universe is kind and generous and gives you what you need. Well the universe recently sent two blessings my way.

Blessing #1: Somewhere I came across this little pearl of wisdom: You'd worry a lot less about what other people think of you if you only knew how seldom they do. Somehow that was very freeing.

Blessing #2: My boss told me I have to learn blog if I want to continue getting paid. Well alrighty then. Look at me blog, Baby! Just look at me blog!

So here's some stuff I'll be blogging about ... because I can:

I'm a middle-aged woman with a six-year-old child. Of course I love my boy, and of course I've thanked God (or the universe) a million times for giving me this amazing child. But somehow that doesn't change the fact that I sometimes feel like a dog who actually caught the car it was chasing. So here I am at 48 with a mouth full of chrome.

Another pearl of wisdom: It's very, very important to be able to laugh at yourself.

I adopted a dog a couple months ago. I wasn't working at the time, the carpet in the new house was already trashed, and my son wouldn't quit begging. They say it's good for a kid to have a dog. They say the best way to get over the heartbreak of losing an elderly dog after loving her for 11 years is to get another dog. I waited four years until I was absolutely certain my husband would forgive me.

See above about the importance of being able to laugh at yourself.

Again, of course I love my dog (our dog). She's a 60-pound American Bulldog/Labrador Retriever mix. They told me at the shelter that she was two years old. Being a responsible dog owner, I immediately took her to the vet. Oh, how she laughed when I introduced her to my two-year-old dog. She pointed out the still-emerging canine teeth and explained that the dog was in fact maybe nine months old. My husband has forgiven me.

Life is rich. Life is good. I'm surrounded by love. Like a mantra I repeat it. It's especially important to be able to laugh at yourself when so many other people are already laughing at you.

And, I will restrain myself as long as I can, but my 24-year-old nephew will be shipping out to Afghanistan soon. I tried to keep my mouth shut last year when he was in Iraq, but I wasn't very good at it. Now I kinda figure having someone I love actively engaged in these wars gives me the right.