Today's featured blogger is Amanda from Rage against the (washing) machine. Amanda is a great support for parents of bipolar children, and runs an online support group at My kid's bipolar, now what?. She still finds time to join us in our creative writing endeavors.
1. Tell us about yourself: Ooh, a chance to talk about just me? I am not your average anything. I was a teen mom, but I was a teen mom who breastfed and co-slept and attachment parented (even though I had never actually heard that term). I have been with my husband since I was 16 (and he was a lot older) and we have 3 kids together. I molded the minds of mini minions in the hope of world domination (read: taught preschool) up until this past fall, when my daughter had to begin receiving her schooling at home due to her illness. So now I am a SAHM for the first time in 12 years! I am taking this time with her to further my own education as well. I just started college classes 2 weeks ago and I'm taking a prep math class (gag), Communications and (drumroll...) Creative Writing. I have put a lot of time and effort into learning about my daughter's condition and also volunteering for the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation. Somewhere along the line I realized I have a passion for psychology and now I am working towards a degree in it.
I run an online support group for mothers of children with bipolar disorder and try my best to provide them with relevant resources and support. I am so proud of the growth that the group has had over the last few weeks and I really feel like it is warm and understanding community that I can turn to as well.
When I'm not schooling my daughter or myself, blogging, working on my group or my book or tweeting? You can usually find me cooking, cleaning, reading or scrap booking!
2. Give us a 30-second elevator pitch about your blog: "Rage Against the {washing} Machine" is my excuse for not doing the laundry. Wait, what was the question again? Oh, right. You know how when you go to see your shrink and they tell you to find your happy place? (No? Just me? Ok then.) This is it. This is the place I turn to after spending endless hours with a child (whom I adore) who can go from 0 to psycho in 3.2 seconds and her teenage brothers who torment her. I use snarky humor to relate the sometimes scary but often embarrassing situations we find ourselves in. I like to share bits and pieces of myself in the form of recipes, projects, and samples of my fiction writing.
3. Who is your favorite literary character and why?: Oh, this one is easy! Scarlett O'Hara. Was she always likable? No. Did she always make good choices? Negative. But dammit, she did what she had to do to save Tara. I can never hear the words "As God is my witness...." without thinking "I'll never go hungry again!"
4. What kind of tree would you carve your initials on and why?: Definitely a Weeping Willow. This is my favorite tree (that's normal right? To have a favorite tree?) not only because of its beauty, also because there is so much mythology and symbolism surrounding it. As a hopeless romantic my favorite is that some say that the weeping willow once stood upright and strong, but the death of star crossed lovers so touched the heart of the trees that they bent in abject grief and were never able to straighten themselves again. (sigh)
5. What animal does your husband look like?: This was hard but I would have to say my hubs is a wily coyote! His clever plans don't always pan out, but they're entertaining to watch! He's social, but only in smaller inner circles. He's very territorial and super protective of his family. Oh, and sometimes he's annoying. You know, like all that howling?
6. If you could only save one post in a fire, which would it be and why?: This would have to be my Letter to my 16 year-old self. This letter is full of things I wish I had known, things I would have figured out sooner if I had believed in my voice back then as much as I do now. My 16th year was probably as angsty as they get but I survived it!
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