The Ultimate Blog Party!

I can’t believe that I had never even heard of this until Lynsey (who knows all things blog, apparently) mentioned it on the Party Plan Diva Forums.  As I haven’t participated in the Ultimate Blog Party before, I hope you will bear with my humble submission.  So, here is my running late, but still made it post on the….

So, since I am really new to this, I guess the best place to start is with the question, “What is Another Hatchett Job, anyway?”  Well, I guess it is my whole life in a crazy, mixed up nutshell.  Hatchett is my last name and I decided that the play on words in my blog title indicated a whole lot about the insanity of my life.  I am a homeschooling, quilting, work at home mom who is trying to build relationships to grow a fledgling home based jewelry business.  Add in vlogging, reading, family issues, crafts, one special needs and one asthmatic child, throw it in a blender and you kind of get my life with all of my foibles and goof ups.  But, it’s life and you only get one go at it….

A bit about me…..   ( I really need to make an About Me video for my site, but that will have to wait a bit–hubby isn’t here to help with the camera!)

Hi!  I am Jan.  I live in Georgia with my hubby, two teen boys, 2 cats, and 1 leopard gekko (don’t ask).  I am a published poet and hold a degree in Creative Writing (minor:  Biology–yes, a Sci-Fi degree) from Georgia State University.  I have been married for 24 years to my best friend (as of June 2011).  After years of infertility, we adopted our oldest son and 8 months later, I found myself pregnant.  I truly see this as proof that God has a sense of humor!  So, now, with Irish twins in quick succession, we found ourselves dealing with melt downs, breathing treatments, and lots of sticky hugs and love.  After teaching high school Literature and Biology for 11 years, it became necessary (quite suddenly) that I be available to teach my kids at home.  Thus, the homeschooling adventure began.  I quilt, read, blog, and vlog to keep my sanity.  I need the creative outlets.  But enough about me….

My family.  Everything comes back to my family.

In the middle is the hubby.  He works hard as a VP and chemist for Momar, Inc., an international manufacturing chemists firm.  He runs the LuBest division of lubricants for industrial applications.

He is also the Assistant Scoutmaster for our son’s Boy Scout troop (Troop 12, Griffin, Georgia). And a board member of Atlanta Audubon (Education chair–it’s all about the kids at our house).  He owns and runs Hatchett Photography on the side and takes breathtakingly beautiful photographs for portraits, senior photos, weddings, corporate events, etc.  He also is younger son’s coach for the Youth Birding Competition each year.  Our team, the Chaotic Kestrels, won among all middle school teams in the state of Georgia last year!

On the right is our younger son.  He turned 13 this year (yikes, two teens in the house).  He wants to pursue ornithology or wildlife biology as a career choice.  He loves Roman history.  He puts the chaos in Chaotic Kestrels (but he is a really talented birder).  He is also the insanity behind the YouTube channel, EMagnusTV.  He is also my asthmatic who keeps my pseudo-medical skills honed and alert at all times!

On the right is my oldest son.  He is 14 and has dwarfed us all in size!  He is my gentle giant.  With autism.  Well, high functioning autism/Asperger’s syndrome to be more specific.  He has also started having what appears to be some low level seizures.  We are awaiting tests and neurology appointments to figure that one out.  He is the most compassionate person that I have ever met. He loves animals and children.  More than anything, he wants to be a Daddy one day and have a baby of his very own.  He doesn’t have too many hard and fast career choices lined up, but he knows that he wants to work with animals in some capacity.  He would be wonderful at that!  He loves Scouting and wants to be an Eagle Scout.  I am so proud that he is willing to work hard toward that goal!

Younger son has always found wonderful outlets for his intellect and his creativity.  Older son has always been more timid and anxious about trying new things and often feels that he just can’t fit in.  Scouting has been a phenomenal outlet for him in a world where acceptance is hard to come by.  Gotta love that!

So, that’s my world in a nutshell.  I hope you’ll keep stopping by from time to time to see how we are progressing on this little journey through life in the Deep South!

Till next time,