Identity Crisis

My husband has been trying to help me rename my blog so it has better appeal and he asked me some key questions:

Who is my audience?

What personality am I trying to evoke?

What is the theme of my blog?

I hate it when that man makes me actually have to think. Well, my audience is probably a handful of people who have caught up on all the real blogs - like Oatmeal and Hyperbole and a Half (two of my absolute favorites) - and still need to kill some time before going to work, after work, during work. And another handful is my family who will read it only so if  I ask them for the hundredth time if they saw my last post, they can finally answer "for Pete's sake, Kathryn...YES...we read your stupid blog!"

The personality? Well, it's whichever one manages to not be suppressed by my daily meds.

Then there's the theme. I needed a place to expand on my Facebook statuses. Yes, yes, I know that there's not really a cap on how many characters you use in a status, but how many of you honestly click on the "see more"? Then I needed a place to share recipes because I am an awesome amazing cook and if I can cook up something that makes nine people happy, the whole world needs to know what it is. I am also trying to give Heloise a run for her money and I have a head full of helpful household tips that I'd like to share (but I'm guessing along with the tip will come an interesting story about the opportunity I had to actually try to the tip out).

I guess the most important thing I'd like to share is my family. I think that providing a peek into our triumphs, failures and everything in between gives you a better idea how a blended family works (or at times, doesn't work) much better than watching reruns of The Brady Bunch.

Plus, having another outlet to embarrass my kids makes my heart a'flutter!

So back to my husband's questions. Now that I've answered them, I still don't see an obvious name so I may break down and go with House Kat. It was a joke I made that everyone thought was hilarious (and by everyone, I mean me). Since I'm on early maternity leave from work and Larry calls me "Kat". Get it? Get it? Yeah, I am quite witty *bashful smile*.

You'll be seeing some changes to the design and name, but don't worry - I'll always be me! The writing won't change.

Better Late than Never - An Introduction

A few people have made the mistake of saying I'm funny and that I have missed my true calling in stand-up (comedy, I'm assuming). Whether they actually mean it or they were just trying to stroke my ego is completely irrelevant at this point - they said I'm funny, it went to my head and now this blog has been born. 

I guess I should introduce my family, since they're the ones I blame for knocking a few of my screws loose. Here we go:

Now here's a story, of a lovely lady...who...crap...wrong family. 

Up until almost a year ago, I was a divorced mom of four and Larry was a divorced father of two. Now we're a blended family of six kids, plus one foreign-exchanged student, three cats, one dog and we're expecting a baby girl any day now. 

That's a shorter version of the story than you were expecting, wasn't it? This is just my way of reeling you in...I leave you wanting more so than you'll obsessively stalk my blog, waiting for me to share moments and insight on how our family is managed so well that I still have the ability to string together the sentences needed to continue publishing posts. 

To make you feel more complete, how about I share some random facts with you?

• I am a big fan of using ellipses. I use them...a lot
• If you spell "a lot" incorrectly, I will disown you (and if you weren't related to me to begin with, I'll adopt you and then disown you)
• One teenage boy smells bad. Three teenage boys sharing the same bedroom can create a funk so awful, I have my dog breathe in my face to help erase the memory of the smell. Dog breath is much more preferable. No exaggeration.
• My husband has ninja-like sperm
• A 12 year old girl who is already mean to begin with can make a whole house full of men cry when these three letters are uttered - P M S 
• Moving where I store the snack foods and cereal can create mass havoc, which is all kinds of fun for me