Summary

Tomorrow, Celeste (aka Average Jane) and I are heading to San Jose for BlogHer 14.  We both attended the first one in 05 and have attended many more after that (although, I missed 07, 12, and 13).  BlogHer 05 appealed to me because I was 7 months pregnant with my oldest child at the time and I saw the conference as a fun trip to take with Celeste before I became shackled with the duties of a parenthood.  Little did I know that BlogHer would end up launching some amazing friendships and connections for me over the next 9 years.

Anyway, I'm stealing Celeste's idea of "getting to know to me" since I have not been posting regularly for a long time.

I'm the one standing in the back.  This is dinner with a group of mothers from my kids' school -- so happy to have found a nice, laidback group of ladies.  We have a GREAT school and neighborhood -- I am so proud to be a part of it.

First and foremost, these days, I am a parent with my husband Manoj-- my son Arun is 8.5 and my daughter Anjali is 7 (aka Team Chaos).  They are at the age where they still take a lot of my time.  HOWEVER, they are also at the age where they are so much freaking FUN to hang out with that I am trying to enjoy every moment I can before they become teenagers and realize what an impossibly boring dork I am.  Besides, who else will watch the Powerpuff Girls and play the WiiU with me?

Speaking of my husband, Manoj is a serial entrepreneur -- we are always working on a business idea of his.  I do not really have the personality of an entrepreneur but I am grateful that his tenacity, work ethic and awesome ideas have pulled our life in this direction.  It is exciting to be on the fringes of whatever he is working on and fortunately, my skillset often allows me to help him in a variety of ways.   When Manoj isn't working, he is always hanging out with our kids.

When I am not being a parent or a wife, I am usually sucked into one of my million hobbies -- I am addicted to hobbies and learning new things.  My favorite hobbies are reading, knitting and arachnids. I am pretty serious about my reading and try to get through at least 50 books a year (Yes, I'm on Goodreads -- friend me up, yo!)   In the past year, I have been learning how to sew and have been dabbling in photography.  I also love cooking, but I consider that a lifeskill, not a hobby.

Besides two kids, Manoj and I have are crazy about our pets.   We have 3 cats (Pearson, Harry and Sam), 2 tarantulas (Nya and Little Celeste -- yes, named after my friend Celeste, with her permission, natch), a fish (Alex), a gecko (Gordon), and a dog (Lucy).  We do take our pets very seriously and responsible pet ownership is a pet peeve of mine (pardon the pun!).  I wrote a post about things to consider when making the decision to get a pet, particularly exotics.

I have mostly been a SAHM with a bit of WAHM here and there.  However, a few years ago when Arun started Kindergarten, I began freelance contracting work -- mostly in IT audit, Sarbanes-Oxley and internal audit projects, process documentation and improvement, and some systems development.   I have loads of opinions on the topics of working mothers since I have literally DONE IT ALL.  However, I have found that no matter what I say, someone is offended and mostly, I just keep quiet these days.  Suffice it to say, I am so glad that I was able to stay home with my babies and those early years with them are some of the happiest memories of my life.  I am very grateful that Manoj and I are in a situation where I can do freelancing and have the ability to take on projects with flexibility so that I can be home in time to pick up the Team from school.

To wrap this up, I would like to say that I really miss writing.  I lost my direction and I am hoping to find some inspiration at this year's BlogHer.    I have always been my own Audience of One and I do not see that changing.  While I do hope that my kids will get a kick out it of one day, I have always written this blog for ME.

Here.

I could go into details as to why I have not written for so long.  Most of the details are boring and simply boil down to “Kelli is too damn lazy.”  It is odd that I did not share much from 2013 because Manoj and I realized some long-held dreams and it was truly an inspiring year for us.   We sold our stock in Manoj’s business, did so many house projects that my head spun, and I ventured out into freelancing full-time.  I even picked up two new hobbies that I had wanted to try for a long, long time – photography and sewing.  Although truthfully, the sewing was put on hold a bit when I started working, but I am going to pick it back up in July.  As a Serial Hobbyist, it was exciting to challenge myself and I am always on the hunt for learning something new (Zentangle, you are officially on notice).

Anyway!   You read that correctly, I have been …..“working”.  While I have always been sarcastic about  about my “working” or “not working” status, it has been interesting to have been 100% billable the past 11 months.  I am winding down my current contract and will be “not working” for awhile.  Mostly, I feel very gratefully humbled that I had two awesome clients who provided me with steady income and challenging projects.  I am also very happy with the contracting life and appreciate that we have the sort of flexibility that allows for it.  Contracting and consulting can be risky and scary at times, but Manoj and I have been very fortunate to have found some great clients. We both have had wiggle room in our schedules so the kids didn’t have to do after-school programs at all, which made things so much simpler (the kids were very vocal about not wanting to do after-care programs. )   Now that they are out of school, it has gotten much more complicated.  When I roll off this project,   I am going to take the rest of the summer off and just enjoy my kiddos.  In the fall, Manoj and I will consider what my next steps should be.  

Ah, Team Chaos!  Yes, they are eagerly anticipating the end of this client so that I can be home with them this summer.  The hodge-podge of childcare solutions has grown tiresome and they are ready for me to be home during the day.  Interestingly, my  change in “working” status means pretty much nothing to them – all they care about it is whether they have to go to daycare or not(both are adamant about NOT going to daycare because they would rather be home in the summer so that they don’t miss out on playing with their friends, trips to the zoo, etc.)  I always chuckle at the statements from working moms who say their kids “respect them more” because they hold an outside job.    Frankly?  My children’s respect isn’t based upon my work status – it is whether I am a good parent and a good role model.

Speaking of Team Chaos – they are still going strong!  Arun is 8.5yo and looking forward to 3^rd grade in the fall.  Like many boys his age, he is obsessed with his pets, Minecraft, Clash of Clans, and Legos.   Unlike many boys his age, he still loves to snuggle in our laps and give hugs. 

Anjali will be 7yo in a few weeks and is excited about 2^nd grade.  Like many girls her age, she is obsessed with her pets, Legos, her friends, and her art/crafts.

Mostly with these two, I sit around and feel undeservedly lucky.  They are both extremely social with tons of friends and are doing well in school.

Speaking of school, I am so grateful for our small neighborhood school – each grade has 2-3 sections and because I have been able to be involved with the school, I know so many folks associated with the school – teachers, parents, students, etc.  We have a good school and a GREAT neighborhood.  When we bought our house, we were not even thinking of those things – so what a happy surprise this has all been.

Anyway, I am SO excited about the rest of this summer – I have some fun things planned and hopefully, this post will be impetus I needed to get writing again. 

Overall, I will always regret not having written more last year but there is something to be said for a fresh start.