Who am I? That sort of depends on the time of day, whether or not I slept well last night, and if you’re forced to look up at me from a height of four feet or less.
My name is Joanne Edmundson. You’ll notice that I don’t have a middle name. Sad, but true. My parents always said they couldn’t afford one. However, they also said things like, “never boil your cabbages twice” and “do you think I rode up the Clyde on a bike?”, both of which I happen to understand (and neither of which I am going to explain here). I have two amazing boys, Grayson and Willan, and an incredible husband who, even after more than ten years, has the power to make me thoroughly happy and weak in the knees (and also crazy with anger). These men are important to me, so I keep them around.
Officially, I am a high school English teacher. I taught, in fact, for seven great and challenging years in Los Angeles, London, U.K., and various high schools in Toronto. And then my one year of paid maternity leave (thank-you Canadian government) turned into five more unpaid ones once I actually met my own children. They were cute and hard to leave. When they’ve grown up a bit more I may just go back to teaching, if only to continue perfecting the art of motivational mockery. It works wonders with teenagers. Find one of my former students and I’m sure they’ll tell you what I mean.
So why the blog? I haven’t mentioned it yet, if only because it seemed kind of self-evident. I am a writer and I have been a writer for nearly three decades, though it took me two of those decades to stop doing it mainly in secret. I have been writing since I could first hold a pen and put thoughts to paper. In fact, one of my earliest school memories is of collaborating outside of the grade two classroom with one very talented Lesley-Anne Parsons. We wrote a play called “Thumper Rabbit” which sadly fell apart in a tearful dispute over directorial control. It never did make it to the stage. After that, I just never really stopped. Writing has been a source of both great joy and mild frustration all of my life.
And, oh, the publishing parties I have dreamed about.
If you put the two most important parts of me together – motherhood and writing – and you stir in a little resolution about personal fulfillment and mental stability, you get this blog. Like most mothers out there, I absolutely adore my children and, like most mothers out there, I live dangerously close to that bend in the road, the one you’re not supposed to go around. The writing you find here keeps me away from that bend. It gives me just a bit more road. It slows life down long enough for me to remember the details. It helps me to focus on the good stuff and handle the bad stuff with more grace and humour.
And there’s always room in my life for more grace and humour.
Cheers,
Joanne
Gallery
I care what you think. I do so.