Hmm.. How (and Why) to start

I suppose I should start this blog the same way we start a new school year - with some "getting to know you" games.  However, since there is nobody here but me, it shall be a very boring game.

Here's me:
I'm a special education teacher living in Madison, Wisconsin.  I am starting my first full year of teaching while trying to maintain my home, family and sanity.  I have one son, a 12 year old, who provides daily joy and aggravation.  I also have a husband who, fortunately, provides just joy (and stability and love and all things good).

Here's the plan:
During this school year, I want to cook at least four good meals a week for my family and blog about my journey.

So...why?  Hmm...  When my thoughts are all jumbled and scrambling to the top of my head I find it best to make lists.  I am a fan of lists.

List #1:  Why am I, a busy teacher with a family, bothering to blog about anything at all?

• Something new to do.  I always need to have something to do, to look forward to.  When I don't have enough to do I get lethargic and lay around watching too many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" or "House Hunters International" and then I feel guilty and dissatisfied about being unproductive. I seem to have two speeds: frantic and off (I am sesrching for a middle speed of 5, but that's another story).
• It's fair.  I make my students write every day, so it's only fair that I do it too.  
• To be a better cook. I hope that providing a healthy cooked meal for my family will make me a better cook by the end of the process.  I'm not a terrible cook right now - I don't think my cooking has made anyone sick yet. I do tend to rely on cooking the same things frequently and I hope to break out of that rut.
• To help me get off my butt (and reduce the size of my butt).  I don't really like taking the time to cook at the end of the day when I'd rather collapse with some cheese, crackers and a pint of Ben and Jerry's.  I'm about 50 lbs overweight, mostly because I rely on convenience and my cravings for sweet-fatty food. I am trying to get more exercise this year, too, but going to work out and then picking up half a dozen cupcakes is a bit silly (for which, read "stupid").

• 
  

So that's it.  I will try to blog at least daily for at least 10 minutes. I'm hoping to use these last two weeks before school as a clearinghouse of my thoughts and plans before I get down to the nitty-gritty of actually performing. Here we go!