How Does One Start (to Blog) Again After SO Long?

I guess by simply logging in and writing. Well, let me take a whirlwind look back. A year ago, on Feb 18, I left my job at WSJ. I was sad because I loved the WSJ, but the last few months in a new role got the best of me and a change was in order. I took seven weeks off, so to speak... if you could define "off" as writing a book, spending time with my kids, doing projects in my son's class, freelancing and job-interviewing. I experienced a bit of mother-panic in those classroom visits, initiating a quick decision that we were decamping for the suburbs.

Oh, yes, I said suburbs.

 (our new house, well, old, but new to us....)

After receiving three job offers (I know, I know, unheard of) I made a really hard decision and turned down (twice) the one that I knew I would love but that would take too much of a toll on my family, turned down the one that would be really interesting but take me too far from journalism, and took the one that did the least harm working for someone I really respected and liked. It was interesting -- and not the right fit for me ultimately. I'd have stayed for a while anyway because I was learning and had a great team of reporters, but out of the blue another company came calling and it was the right time to make a move.

So, we bought a house (the day before a hurricane) at the end of August in a suburb as close to NYC as one could get and the kids started at a new school and day care and I started a new job right after Labor Day.

Now, a year away from this blog for no good reason except I couldn't figure out how to write about leaving WSJ, a place I loved and thought I'd be at for many years, and because I had to write 55,000 words in six weeks, and because I had such a short time to figure life out that I just couldn't write about it.... well, I'm back.

I'm even less of a supermom now than I ever was (and since I wasn't one to start, this is not good news) before. But, I'm still plugging away and I have a lot to write about.

First up: The suburbs have a lot of upside. But they have some downside too -- namely, high taxes, Stepford-like tendencies, marriage to train schedules, lots of driving, and when you buy a house, pricey stuck-ness. As in, you can't exactly decide to move when so easily and you can't call the super to fix a pipe and you have to pay for your own heat. Holy ConEd-aphobia, my friends! Now I know why rents are so high in NYC!

Come back this week for a look at how I became a school board vigilante, mad math mom, vacation-hater and more.