Why I blog?

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now. I just wasn't sure I had something meaningful to talk about, which is not an issue for a lot of bloggers out there but I didn't want mine to be one of those blogs about everything. That is not to say I won't ramble on occasion but that this blog has a focus of sorts. Its focus is life in the Foreign Service.

You see, my wonderful hubby, Paul, recently gave me the perfect excuse to start a blog when he got a job with the Foreign Service. Getting that job wasn't trivial but I will describe that in a separate post. First, some housekeeping:

Why I blog?

• to keep family and friends updated on our trials and tribulations - by all indications life in the Foreign Service has its highs and lows and I will attempt to chronicle those for you.
• because I get to be my own editor - and I can break those AP Styleguide rules all day long, if I want to. So liberating, ha?
• because it gives me an opportunity to vent - I am already starting to freak out a little, so I am hoping that writing about this will help me deal with the craziness or as fellow blogger Jill from http://theperlmanupdate.blogspot.com/ puts it "I write because it's cheaper than therapy."
• because I am a zombie - I wake up at odd hours and hopefully this will give me something to do when I can't fall back asleep.

Why not blog in Bulgarian?

After all Bulgarian is my native language. I have to say that I considered doing that for a while because my parents know very little English and didn't want to rob my biggest fans of the joy of reading my gems. But after thinking about it for a while I decided that English made more sense because Paul's family is substantially larger than mine and almost all of our friends, including those all over the world, know English. As a nod to my family and my native Bulgaria, I gave the blog a Bulgarian name. Tuk & tam means here & there in Bulgarian. I will just have to keep my parents updated on what's going on with us via Skype, which they love anyway because they get to watch Nia's antics.

What to expect from this blog?

• I will probably be writing a few times a month. I don't see myself doing it daily but there may be a flurry of activity in the beginning because there is so much happening right now.
• I will more than likely subject you to digressions, parenthetical statements, overuse of my favorite words and the occasional end-of-the-sentence preposition. 'Cause that's just how I roll. If that's not to your liking, this blog may not be for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.
• I will try to post pictures and the occasional video of what's happening to and around us.
• My "partners in crime," Paul and Nia, will make frequent appearances and I will include their comments as we go along.
• Something is telling me that I will need your comments to keep my sanity, so don't be shy.
• The views and opinions expressed on this blog will be mine and not those of the Foreign Service or the State Department (I felt I had to include a cover-my-butt statement here, just in case).

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