Welcome!

Almost three years ago, my husband was looking for a new job. He came home one day and said, “There might be a job in New Jersey.” My reaction? “New Jersey?!?!!” I am from Finland, and I have lived in Boston for a year, but all the other years that I have lived in the U.S. have been in California. I had always said that if we moved anywhere from the Bay Area, we would move to San Diego or Boston. Now, we were thinking about New Jersey. As it turns out, my husband ended up getting and accepting that job in NJ which meant that we would be packing all of our things, leaving our house, leaving all of our friends and family, and moving across the country. It also meant that after 6 years of me being a full-time tenure community college faculty member teaching ESL (English as a Second Language), I would become a Jersey housewife and stay-at-home-mom to our then 20 month of daughter. Not only did I need to settle in to our new rental home and find new friends, but I also needed to find something to do with all the newly freed free time that I had in my hands. As a full-time community college instructor, I had worked from 8 am until 9 pm most days except on Saturdays when I would allow myself to have some fun time (but, yet, still thinking about how many papers I would need to grade the next day). Now, I was home with a toddler with no work. 

Aaaaaaaawesome!!!!!

When the first Sunday in September came, and I realized at 5 pm that I did not need to create a lesson plan for the next day, I was beside myself. It was a strange feeling the first and second week, but oddly enough somehow I got used to it. 

What was I going to do with all this free time???? I started to knit. I had learned to knit in elementary school in Finland. I love knitting socks and toys. I also got a sewing machine for my birthday that year. I knew how to sew, but I wasn’t super comfortable with my skills. Now, I can make a dress for my daughter. I re-learned to crochet and discovered the love of crocheting toys. And, I love to plan. I will plan anything. So, when my new Jersey friends asked me how do I have time to do all of the things that I was making and doing, I would say, “After working full-time at a community college and knowing how much time it takes, I feel like I have more free time in my hands than I can handle.” 

Since then my daughter (I’ll call her O from now on) has started preschool, and I am still a full-time Jersey housewife, I have a new adjustment ahead of me. O will be going to preschool three days a week which leaves me nine hours a week of childless time. What shall I do? I could do laundry, go grocery shopping, clean the house. But, instead, I am going to start blogging. Yep. I will be a blogger. 

Welcome!