Back from Rome

Baby and I are back home - and feeling euphoric! I believe my new template reflects my mood: hummingbirds, little purple flowers in a green forest - speaking of which, everything is so verdant here! It's like, while I was away, the world seemed to wake up and don a new, beautiful, colourful dress it just couldn't resist buying as it presented itself, gorgeous and flowing, in a storefront window.

Rome was beautiful, extraordinary, unbelievable. But nothing beats hearing a robin singing a spring tune to the early dawn, trees, garbed in their fresh, new, pale-green leaves, fragrant blossoms just opening their rosy petals, and a warm evening wind carrying the aroma of grilled burgers on a barbecue.

I'm suddenly having a craving for a burger.

Anyway, I'm glad to be home. I missed it. I missed my kitchen. Yay! I have a kitchen counter again! And four, yes, four burners! Oh, and my dishwasher! How I've missed you!

Still. Rome was wonderful. I realize I have not written very often in this blog during my month in Rome. But when one is too busy seeing, well, everything ...

This puts me in mind ... I am seriously thinking of changing the title of my blog (and consequently the address). I will let my readers know, in a future posting, if I decide to do so.

I am a new mom. I adore my daughter. My wonderful, perfect daughter. So wonderful, in fact, that she never gives me so much as a headache. Except when she's pulling my hair - hard. I'm sure we'll kick the habit one day. I have read other "new mom" blogs. The women who write these seem to be able to stick to their chosen topic. I, on the other hand, appear to have some amount of trouble doing so. I could write about my daughter every day. But what would I write? "Today, she has taken two naps, 1h30mins each, and outside of these naps, played happily on the floor with her toys." I don't have to deal with tantrums. I don't have to deal with fussiness. Or endless crying, or painful teething, fevers, rashes, or even sleepless nights. They just don't exist here! I know I might sound like I'm bragging. I'm not. I'm not complaining either, mind you. I'm just grateful.

But here's the thing. People need to suffer to write. Or so I've heard. Actually, I don't believe that, not one bit. But I do believe that a writer needs something to write about. So far, in this blog, I've written about a Tempo car shelter, my ex-dog, ex-boyfriends, handsome (or not) Italians, and how to lose weight (by the way, I lost 5 lbs in Rome! Living almost exclusively on pizza, pasta and gelato! Ok, now I'm bragging). Actually, looking back, it was only in March that I wrote faithfully to the topic of motherhood.

I have a confession to make. You know how some people say that when they have a baby, parenthood becomes their whole life, and their child takes up 100% of their time? Their entire lives have changed, and their baby has become their only priority. Well, that's just not true with me. Sure, my daughter gets everything she needs, including her mother's undying and deepest love. But mommy needs her own life, too. I could never be a stay-at-home mom. Right now, that's what I'm doing, but that's only going to last another very few months. My daughter is going into daycare in the fall, and even now she is spending the mornings with my neighbor, who is, incidentally, a stay-at-home mom. With four kids.

I am a mom. But I am also a writer. A new, just started emerging into the scary world of query letters, submissions and, of course, rejections, writer. I am also working on a first book. An intimidating, 530-pages manuscript that I began 8 years ago. This monster is taking my every last bit of courage to edit.

So there it is. I need a steady topic for my blog, one to which I will write, or else I will just keep going all over the place. Why not let it be: Confessions of a New Writer (or something like that)?

I'll keep you posted.