my parents named me Jocelyn Marie Young. Jocelyn because my mom was reading a book with a character named Jocelyn and she liked it. Marie because apparently in 1971 there was some law in place that all girl children must have middle names of Marie or Lynn. Young because that is the name of me Dad.
if you were paying very close attention for the first paragraph you would also have drawn the correct conclusions that i am 30 years old and that i am not married. my mother is convinced i am not married because I do things like drink juice directly from the pitcher, and i let her think that.  it is much easier for her to deal with thoughts of me being ill mannered and flawed than the reality that i just never have gotten married.
which of course didn't prevent me from having children who are my very heart, my co-conspirators, my best friends, yard apes, rat farmers, kiss-givers, fit-havers, destroyers of my living room, and constant companions. august is 10 going on 37. anya is all the way 2. i am convinced that my children are going to save the world, even if it is one person at a time, starting with me.
we live in a farmhouse that has been in my family for 137 years in Door County, Wisconsin.

why bucolic front?

when i decided to live here almost 11 years ago i started realizing how strange a place door county is. we have fantastic culture and wonderful restaurants. we have the densest population of really strange and wonderful people here. it is a place of celebration, a place of healing and quiet. it is a place to get your groove on. buy stuff. learn things. fall in love, fall out again. wash that (wo) man right out of your hair, lather, rinse repeat. it is a place where infrequently people question whether you are acting like a grown up, where priorities run to the flying of the kites, getting to a gallery, meeting your dinner guest, sailing. the weather is always tolerable unless you are a wimp. these are the stories about being here.

i know. my life sounds so challenging. 

other facts:

i have never been to our nations capital, and i wish i felt more guilty than i do about it.
i hate bananas, but not as much as i hate yogurt. bloorgh.
i have an obsessive relationship with food and everything about it.
i am really great at my job and most of the time i like it too. but i don't think it is what i want to do when i grow up.
i am pretty sure my cats are smarter than me.
i laugh in the face of adversity. every day.
green is my favorite color.
i have public bathroom phobia issues.

Books in the House –  A lot. Quite a lot, actually. They have their own room.
What else is in your house? -  Accoutrements for my cooking obsession
Personality attributes currently going to waste – devotion, whimsy, esoteric/intellectual intimacy
Occupational Superhero Powers -  multi-tasking, and an uncanny ability to remember numbers and names
Personal Dichotomies – needing and loathing isolation, cello music which makes me swell with joy and ache simultaneously
Words I like very much – bubble, splendid, quintessential, fugue
Words I do not care for – ointment, blurt, untuous