Name it?

My editor called me this week about my new VITAL Source blog. She wanted to know two things. The first: “Are you going to have your first blog entry in on time?”

I stammered. “Um. Define ‘on time.’”

“Very funny. The new website goes live at midnight on Wednesday, November 1. On time would be before that.”

Oh. My. Okay – time to blog. “Yes, I’ll have it to you.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it off. In addition to mothering three school-age children and being a homebirth midwife, I returned to school full time this fall to finish that English degree I started back in 1991. I had projects and papers due, and just wasn’t sure when I would get it done.

Unfortunately, I didn’t fare much better on her second question. “What are you going to call it?”

“Call what?” I asked innocently.

“Your VITAL blog.”

“Call it? Like a name?”

“Yes, like a name. For your blog. For the new website. Do you read your emails?”

I didn’t really need to answer that question since I was clearly perplexed by this entire conversation. “I assumed it would have the same name as my column?” This last sentence sounded more like a question which, in honesty, is what it was.

She waited on the other end of the phone while I figured out that I needed to come up with a title for my blog. “Okay, I’ll come up with something during Sociology and call you back.”

As I got off the phone, I was filled with dread. I’m not good at naming things. My cat’s name is Kitty because I just couldn’t come up with anything better. I kept thinking that I’d give her a real name eventually, but seeing as how she’s 13 years old now, it seems unlikely. It took days to name each of my children, though I had been preparing for it for nine months each time. I sank into my seat in class and started thinking.

I was just getting in my car to leave Alverno and pull the three o’clock, white-knuckle, Hail-Mary drive back to Tosa to pick my kids up from school when my cell rang again.

“Got a title for me?”

My editor is good because she’s persistent.

“Yes! I do! I have one.”
“Give it to me.”

“Oh Mama! A slightly crunchy blog.”

She waited for a minute to see if I was joking. I waited a little long to indicate that I wasn’t.

“Okay then.” I could hear her writing it down. I think I could also hear her shaking her head in disbelief at my decided lack of ability in naming anything. But maybe I’m projecting.

“I told you I wasn’t good at this…”

She assured me that it was fine and we talked about a few other things before we ended the call.

Despite the fact that I was obviously unprepared for the launch of the new site and our new blogs, I am very excited about all of it. At this point, I plan to write about my kids and family, midwifery and other birth stuff, the trials and tribulations of being a college student again, and lots of activism stuff. Some of the entries may be short, just a few lines. Others, no doubt, will be so long that you all will get eye-strain trying to finish one up before bed.

Thanks for checking in with for this first entry. Looking forward to blogging again. Soon!