Monday. Ugh.

This morning is a study in contrasts. A little antique plate of almost-too-expensive Lemon Tea Cookies from Best Regards in Kansas City next to my Friends Alumni mug full of steaming cappuccino from my favorite place to save money, Aldi. My dining room, where I’m working, is squeaky-clean, but the kitchen peeking at me through the door reminds me that the dishwasher has died and I still need to put last night’s dishes away. I’m wearing a lovely robe from my even lovlier husband paired with some rather ugly, grass-stained, hot pink Crocs. As I said, contrasts.

Life is full of them, isn’t it?

The blog was on hold for a bit, while I dealt with some camera issues (wouldn’t download!), and wrestled with the idea of a blog. What is valuable? What is too personal? Do I talk about my blood pressure struggles? Do I keep it strictly focused on food? Well, what if some project I’m working on at the house inspires someone else? I’m no interior designer, so does that make me look silly? And besides, I have two kids and two dogs (the cat and guinea pig are pretty much clean-freaks) that like to tear up my house – it’s rarely in photoshoot form. But, to bring those pesky contrasts back, that’s really what readers want in this blog genre, right? Perfectly cooked and staged foods, and immaculately staged rooms?

In-between grading papers last night, I ran across this: http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/any-given-day/ . I’ve posted their stuff before, as it was just too cool to NOT pass along. So once again, I’m inspired by these talented kids. Thank goodness their house gets messy, too! Nope, my house isn’t House Beautiful or High Gloss worthy. But, most likely, neither is the home of those folks I admire. There’s probably some paint splattered somewhere on their floors too, they might have laundry strewn all over the place after a long weekend and the toy monster might also be eating their living rooms.

So, do I have anything of value to say? I am a writer and a former journalist, I don’t want to spend my time shouting into the silence of cyberspace. More importantly for the teacher inside me, I want to *do* something with a blog – just to show my students that I’m relevant in our field. And it’s an outlet for a woman who used to write upwards of a dozen articles a week, I admit.

So, what to write? How to be relevant? I’ll keep you posted if I figure out the million-dollar formula.

And now? It’s getting late and it’s time to wake and feed the girls. A sausage and egg sandwich for Belle and a bowl of cereal with banana for the little one. Again, those contrasts popping up in my morning.

Maybe it’s a message?