Back in the Swing

It’s a nice feeling to be back writing on this blog. Who knows how much I’ll have time to do it, but I’ve got good intentions, and as you know, the road to Candy Land is paved with good intentions, so we should all be in for a delicious treat!

The truth is, I’ve missed writing here. Like most of you all (unless you’re, like, a starfish or something), I’ve been super busy with life. When that happens, the blog sometimes gets away from me.

That’s not to say I’ve not been writing – I have, and I’ve written a bunch of stuff for The Huffington Post (which still sounds like a stoner magazine to me) and other stuff, but I’ve wanted to specifically get back to this, my own blog, for two reasons.

First, this blog is where my writing all began. Sort of.

My writing actually began with a journal that I kept for eleven years. I wrote in it every single night. Not because I felt a burning desire to lay my soul on paper but because it was a homework assignment for Mr. Delo’s AP English class in my senior year of high school. When we went to turn them in (he had promised he wouldn’t read them), he refused to even accept them, and instead gave us all A’s.

“I just thought it would be fun,” he said happily.

Most of my classmates thought that was pretty pointless, but I discovered I really liked writing. In my journal I wasn’t getting all deep – I felt like I was writing for others, trying to entertain and be funny, even though I never showed anyone my journals. It was fun to think about finishing a whole journal and going back and re-reading a book where I was the star.

That actually makes me sound like the most self-centered person on the planet. Note to self: delete that last paragraph before posting this blog entry. Replace with stuff people like. (Bald eagles?)

The second reason I’m getting back into the blog is that people sometimes check here if they’ve read the book I wrote, Little Princes. When they read old updates they think that my life is frozen in time many months ago, and they think my daughter Lucy is a wee little baby and not the two year old fireplug that she is. (I’m not sure fireplug is a word. I need a different description. Lucy’s really cute and huggable and also crazy and unpredictable and independent and getting her dressed in the morning is like trying to dress a raccoon.)

I like being up to date, is all I’m saying. Or up to date-ish, at least.

So for the purposes of just getting us up to date a bit, I’ll go ahead and recap some stuff in my life, in case anyone cares.

Here are the questions I get the most, in general order of frequency.

Have you had bicep implants? Because your biceps are incredibly large! (Also, is it true you can see them from space?)

Thank you, but no, I have not had bicep implants. (That’s a weird question – are they all going to be weird?)

Are you still involved with Next Generation Nepal?

Heck yeah! I’m the President of the Board. (You want to be president of something, all you have to do is start it yourself – not like anyone promoted me, so it’s sort of nepotistic, which, let’s face it, is how I got ahead in this organization.)

How’s Next Generation Nepal doing, and how are the kids doing?

Great, and amazing. NGN is going strong, our staff has increased to something like 25 people. The dedication and loyalty of our staff to the children of Nepal is like something out of Game of Thrones.

The kids themselves are doing wonderfully well. The older ones are approaching university, one is actually already studying to be a dentist, which blows my mind right out of my ear holes. And of course NGN still rescues trafficked kids and still searches the mountains for their lost families. I’d be happy to answer questions if I can in the comment section if anyone has any.

What are you doing now?

I’m eating some Triscuits. Why? You’re not going to ask me to help you move a couch or something, are you? Because my biceps are a little tight after this monster workout I just did…

No, I mean in general – what are you doing now in life?

Oh. A bunch of things! I’ve been doing a lot of writing and a lot of speaking. I’m blessed to be able to go to schools and universities, many of which have chosen Little Princes as their Common Read, and talk about Nepal. It’s been pretty dreamy. But I’m also thinking about exciting things to do next in life. That’s not to discuss here – you know, sausage-being-made and all.

Where are you living these days?

The Grennan family – that’s Conor, Liz, Finn (age 4), Lucy (age 2) and Emma (age Dog) – have been in Los Angeles for a year, and we’re now moving back to our home in Connecticut at the end of April. We couldn’t be more excited. It’s been a great adventure, and we wanted to spend time near Liz’s mom in San Diego, but our home is Connecticut. Our church is there, our community is there, our friends are there. Those are things that are incredibly important to us.

How often to you get back to Nepal?

About once a year, in October. Mostly to see the kids, but also to talk strategy with the team. But really to see the kids. They’re like family and I miss them every day – I really do. Kathmandu feels like home. And if you told me ten years ago that I was going to write the sentence “Kathmandu feels like home” I would have assumed that you were screaming it with your face smushed against the bars of your cell in the Billowing Meadows Home for the Crazies.

Okay, those are some of the basic questions. I’ll let you get back to moving that couch.

Nice to be back, friends. I missed this place. Come say hi!