Meet me at NN this year!
I was a lurker here from 2003-2009, and I'd intended to be a more regular diarist when I joined. Then I was raising three young boys, working part-time, moving again, and negotiating the Asperger's world with my oldest son, and I realized DK couldn't be a priority.
But this year I'm taking four days to attend Netroots Nation. It's a big step. My three-year-old has never spent a night away from me (wish my husband luck!). As the kids get older and more independent, I'd like to spend more time on political activism.
I believe parents in the 25-45 age range are underrepresented, since we're usually so preoccupied with the children, work, and barely keeping up with household chores & errands. Add in choir, baseball, gymnastics, PTA, fundraising, co-op preschool, and a kid on the autism spectrum... well, it's no wonder we don't post here more often!
I've been making progress on the home front-- Kaiser is covering my son's therapy, the kids are registered for good schools in the fall, and I'm happy with a job in my field (study abroad) with wages & hours that fit my schedule (only 12-15 per week). I'm even keeping up with the news on DK, TPM, ThinkProgress, Rachel Maddow, Daily Show, etc. My marriage might be a bit less functional (how can I focus on everything at once?), but we've agreed to seek counseling together, so I think there's hope.
Anyway, all this is to say: My name is Aurelia, I'm a mother of three in Portland, and I'd love to meet some new friends in San Jose next month!
Oh yeah, and the fluoride thing... well, Portlandia being as quirky as you've heard, we just concluded a major argument over whether or not to add fluoride to our water. It was such a traumatic issue, pitting friends against each other... I don't even want to get into it (ask me when you see me!), but suffice it to say, it's much more fun for liberals to debate conservatives than to fight internally.