So it’s been more than five years since I’ve last written here. I debated even keeping this blog up every time I got a bill for web hosting or a received a renewal notice for the domain name. But I had written here since 2006 and there are 2,156 posts on this blog (2,157 now). I know I could’ve just archived it but I had put too much work into it. I have learned much, gotten many opportunities, and met many wonderful people through this blog. 😊 And when more than a few people recently suggested I start blogging again, I decided to dust off the cobwebs.

So let’s see. What’s happened in the past five years? Well, in 2018, my family moved from New Jersey to the suburbs of New York. We had outgrown our 2-bedroom condo and so moved to a spacious house in a good public school district. (We now rent out our condo.) My daughters adjusted as well as could be. J now had an hour commute into the city each way so he worked from home one or two days a week.

Aerin & me at a Blackpink concert in November 2022

Our family did relatively well in the pandemic. The girls chose to learn remotely for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year. They’re such homebodies that they were actually sad when they had to return to in-person learning the following year. J works for a large tech firm so he was able to work remotely…and his company realized that its employees are able to work remotely for the most part so they never required them to return back to the office. J still works from home and only goes back to the office once every few months. And despite all the layoffs that a lot of other tech companies are going through lately, his company is doing well and they’re actually hiring. 😅

I’m still a stay-at-home-mom for the most part. I’ve tried looking for a job but I’ve been out of the workforce for so long that it’s hard to find anyone who wants to hire someone like me. I used to work in marketing and marketing is sooo different now so it’s like I have no experience whatsoever. I make some money here and there testing websites and apps before they go live.

Claire & me at Hamilton in December 2022

The girls are doing well. I can’t believe they’re 11 and 12 years old, turning 12 an 13 this year. They’re so smart and so amusing. Claire is in all honors classes at school and still maintains an A+ average. Aerin is so sassy and funny. They’re so different but — although they would never admit it — they’re still best friends and are inseparable. We gave them the option to have separate bedrooms but they still chose to share a room and we hear them giggling and whispering to each other all the time. It was so, so hard when they were younger because they’re only 13 months apart but seeing them like this makes it seem all worth it.

If you had been following me on Instagram, you may have seen the pictures in this post. I have been updating sporadically on there, but honestly, my life hasn’t been too exciting as of late. Oh! My sister had a baby — the cutest ball of energy named Luca — and she moved all the way out to Texas. My parents finally retired and followed her out there so that they could help with Luca.

So that’s about it for now. I hope there are still people who have this blog in their feeds, that I haven’t lost all my readers. I will try to write something at least once a week. If you’ve been a long time reader and actually saw this post, please let me know what you’ve been up to!