After speaking with my campaign manager about my slip in the polls, we decided a change in strategy was in order.  I quickly ruled out mass quantities of spam email, campaign promises I couldn’t keep and ballot box stuffing courtesy of my technologically inclined relatives.

I am going to try to run a clean campaign here, after all, even if I do have a few shady characters in my court.

There is one tried and true tactic, however, that just about every well-run campaign incorporates that I am more than willing to try my hand at:  Kissing babies.  I am good at that.  With five adorable children, I have had lots of practice.

And now that I have drawn you in with some light-hearted chatter, a hand shake, and a cute baby, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce first time visitors to my blog so you have a fair idea who I am and what it is you are voting for.

I blog for a multitude of reasons, not least of which is the fear I’d pull my hair out if I didn’t get some adult conversation during the day.  That’s why I prefer to post complete thoughts.  Essays, even.  Sometimes, these posts are the only complete thoughts I can accomplish in a day, and it is nice to have a record of my achievement.  And I absolutely love the thoughtfulness my commenters put into their additions to the conversations.

My favorites are responses to editorials or other discussions involving homeschooling.

• Homeschooling:  Elitist and Anti-democratic
• Note to homeschoolers:  Don’t be psychotic

I have a little bit of a sense of humor which comes out now and again.

• A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unhappiness
• If you want your child socialized

And I share a bit about our own homeschooling adventures.  And misadventures.

• School room of my dreams
• Dana’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

We are also in the midst of a move to the country with plans for more chickens, some goats, an orchard and some sheep.  As I am currently absorbed in reading anything vaguely relevant, I suspect you will find a post here and there about the modern homestead “movement” as it relates to the general subject of how we educate our children.

• Taking time for the present
• Why I am not a “crunchy con”

I hope this brief introduction helps you make your decision to vote for me easier.  Er, helps you to come to an informed decision.  But in case you need a little more, or just can’t be bothered to read all that, here is another picture of my baby.

Who could resist that little sweetie?