9 months later

I cannot believe it has been 9 months since I last blogged here. I really took one hell of an extended maternity leave there. In the spring, it got to the point that I was so tired from toddler parenting and the 3rd trimester that I had to focus my last remaining brain cells on a few academic commitments instead of my own little corner of the tinterweb. I deleted Twitter off my phone as I just couldn’t hack it. All my old online cubbyholes just didn’t seem to fit me, so I’ve bowed out. Maybe they will fit again, like my pre-preggo jeans. Maybe not. Either way is ok.

Then, on 22 March, a young gentleman arrived in rather a hurry, and I’m only just lifting my head out of the wondering haze that is having a newborn. Oh, and a 2 year old. And a building project. I did pull myself together to blog on another platform about my experience of labour this time. It was truly prehistoric- I woke up, and an hour later had a baby at home, with no healthcare professionals and no time for even a paracetamol. Not an experience to be recommended, but nonetheless interesting and much better for me than my first outing. If you’d like to read that, it’s here:

http://www.rockmyfamily.co.uk/homebirth-precipitate-labour/

I’m at a bit of a Janus moment archaeologically at the moment. I cancelled my CIfA membership yesterday, which felt symbolic. And today I attended an open day for a possible new career (!!). But on Sunday, my second book, “The Etruscans,” is due to come out. I have advance copies sat on the table looking at me. I have impostor syndrome exploding through my synapses. But I also have another general audience archaeology book floating around in my thoughts, and I’d like to have a stab at putting a proposal together when I’ve finished a couple of other bits and bobs, squashed in between preschool drop offs and baby naps. I’ll whiz up another post over the weekend explaining some of my thoughts in writing the “Etruscans” book, in case readers pop over to say hello.

See you soon. Here’s a baby under a tree.