Hello. My name is Sandy, and this is my blog. I use the alias, Poppy O’Houlihan, because it’s funny and also to give my friends a bit of anonymity. It’s not their faults I write about them. I am 33 years old and live in North Carolina with a man I call Husband, in part because I’m legally bound to do so since we got married in 2008, but mainly because it’s cool. We are about to have our first baby in late September. Very exciting. And scary.
Husband and I have a crazy mutt that, as a result of Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS), went blind in March 2010. Before that, his separation anxiety made him somewhat aggressive, and he would often bite our friends as they were leaving our house. This behavior, among others, did not win him any admirers. The blindness has calmed him down tremendously, and with the new baby on the way, we think it was a blessing in disguise. He has a great life and is able to do most of the things he has always done. We are happy to be his seeing eye humans.
Husband and I moved to the mountains from Charlotte in 2007 embarking on what would turn out to be the Dark Period. Almost upon arrival, I wanted to go back. Long story short, while I am a Carolina girl, I thought I wasn’t a mountain girl. Husband was not about to uproot our entire lives only to turn right around and go back, so we stuck it out for three years. Now, we are back in Charlotte, and I am convinced that I am, in fact, a mountain girl. Statements like that are the reason I blog.
I have always enjoyed writing, and I think somewhere in this website I will find whatever it is I’m really supposed to be doing with my life. Whether it’s to just have a hobby or become a full-fledged writer, who knows? For now, the Dark Period is over and I’m focused on the future and all the positives in my life.
I grew up on a long dirt road, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that while that road was the path out, it is also the way back home. In my search, I’m trying to take my own advice. Always remember where you came from, try hard and pack light.