I thought I’d spend my anniversary writing about things I don’t typically share on this blog. The “juicy stuff,” if you will, about my life.

Let’s start with the serious stuff: 

My politics. I rarely write about politics online because there’s nothing more divisive to a community than political opinion, and I don’t want to encourage that. But just for the record, I’m liberal; I’m a (usually) proud Democrat. I vote in every election, from school budgets to local elections. I believe that people really can make a difference through politics, and it’s a dream of mine to one day serve on a town council or school board.

My “other” job. Almost all of my online presence is about my writing self, but I actually devote more real-life hours to my music-teaching self. Like most public school teachers I know, I love my job when it’s just me, the kids, and learning. A lot of bureaucracy and needless testing gets in the way of that these days, but for the most part, I still enjoy my job. I love the age of the kids I teach (4th and 5th grade) and I take seriously my role as the first person to teach them a musical instrument. After more than a decade, I still get shivers up and down my arms during band rehearsals when the kids really show me what they can do. 

My religion. I was raised a devout Catholic, and went to Christian camps and retreats in my pre-teen and teen years. Religion helped me through the years when I had cancer (age 13-17) but after I went into remission, I got angry at God. It took me years to recover my faith. These days, I don’t go to church, but I do have a strong faith in God and believe that it’s important for people to have faith in themselves and their life paths.

And now for some lighter stuff:

My guilty pleasure. Chocolate. Carbs. Preferably both together, as in a chocolate-frosted brownie. Mmm.

The worst thing I can’t help reading: Archie comic books. They are so, so sexist, but I’ve always loved them. Betty is my favorite character.

My best habit: Tracking all my other habits.

My worst habit: Getting up early without having gone to bed early.

Something I rarely do: Watch movies. But if I do, they’re usually ones I’ve already seen, like Gene Kelly musicals or 90s romantic comedies.

Something I never do: Go to the dentist. I know that I should, but I’m seriously terrified even by a simple cleaning. To make up for it, I floss and use fluoride regularly. But yeah, I should go. Someone needs to make me go.

I’m still looking for more beta readers for a short story and the first three chapters of my historical novel! Any takers, please contact me. 

And don’t forget to check back again, because I’m working like crazy trying to get the newsletter back up. There will be a giveaway!

Happy blog-aversary to me!