Hello world!

Ok, so here I am. I’m on the internet. I have a blog. I am blogging. I feel a little dirty. Now that I’m past my first few sentences, I can move on.

My name is Michele, I have six children, all under the age of ten, all mine (and my husband’s) and we have no multiples. We live in a tiny 1000 square foot house with a tiny back yard and a tiny galley kitchen. Did I mention that my house is tiny? Oh yeah, and we have three Jack Russell terriers—which are more work than any of the kids.

My husband Fred and I own a restaurant with four locations and since the economy took a turn for the worse, we are struggling day by day just to keep our heads above the water. As if this was not enough, I decided to start a charity a few years ago in my grandmother’s name which serves as a bridge between children and art education in my community.

I know that this rundown seems self-gratifying, but in the efforts of painting the bigger picture I needed to write it all down so that anyone who reads this knows exactly from where my lack of sanity stems. I wasn’t born bat-shit crazy—my deeply disturbed perspective was painstakingly developed and cultivated.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what my mission is and while I have many existing vocations to choose from, I still feel like there is a calling that I am not fulfilling. I had gone to a psychic many years ago who called me the “messenger”. I had no friggin’ clue what that meant and at the time I felt like I wasted a hard earned $50 just to visit a crazy hoarder lady in her creepy house. But for some reason, the title stuck with me and the more that time went on, the more I realized that I really do have something to say—ok, lots of things to say, apparently.

My site is called “It Takes a Village, Idiot!” For those who know me, the first reason is simply that I needed to insert an exclamation point into the title as I am so very fond of using them in all of my Facebook posts. The deeper meaning, however, stems from the point of view that I am an active member in my community, from citizen, to parent, to business owner. I know first-hand (and second, and third) how important it is to build and maintain positive and productive relationships through honesty, cooperation and heart-felt goodwill towards (wo)men. We currently live in a society where these bonds are being taken advantage of through dishonesty, greed or simple lack of interest in fellow people. Our core is spiraling out of control and we have created a new normal just to justify our yucky behavior. We all know in our hearts that our current reality is ridiculous, and the only person who has the balls to speak up and call people out on their ridiculousness is the village idiot. Let me be that idiot!

Now I never take myself too seriously and I am the first to laugh at my own stupidity. And at the end of the day, the lessons that I learn in my rantings are invariably positive and all feel-goody. I am a lover, not a fighter. However, I will at times get on a soapbox and unload into the nethersphere the humble perspective coming from a mother of many, feeder of the masses and vicarious artist. I invite you to come along for the ride.