When I think about being unprepared, I always remember a final exam I had to take in Classical Mythology during my first semester of college. Somehow, it wasn't until the day before the exam that I finally realized that reading and re-reading Bullfinch's Mythology as a kid does not exactly make you a Classics professor. Instead of giving up, I spent just under 24 hours reading The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid. Somehow, fueled by hubris, several gallons of espresso, and perhaps the hallucinatory voices of Homer and Virgil in my head, I actually aced the exam. I vowed never to be so reckless again. That's why I read every book about pregnancy and raising a baby. Hahaha. Baby-rearing books aren't just the Bullfinch's Mythology of parenthood, they're like the Cliff Notes of the Peloponnesian War. Until you have the baby in your arms, you have no idea what it's going to be like.

I thought, for instance, that newborns slept all the time. Mine didn't. He slept about eight hours a day, in four separate chunks. I knew I wouldn't have much of a social life for a while, but I just had no idea that every minute of every day would be occupied with keeping my little one fed and (at least a little bit) rested. I live to groom, but for the first time in my life, since the 7th grade, I left the house without wearing makeup, and feeling quite lucky if I managed to shower. I did not ace "Parenting the Newborn" and I no longer believe anyone does. I have the greatest husband, parents, sister, and niece any mother could have, and they all go above and beyond the call of duty taking care of Finn, and yet somehow in 7 1/2 months, I could not find the time to write a few sentences explaining that Popgadget was on maternity leave.

Hoyun, my sister and Popgadget partner had been doing legal work for a startup, and after Finn was born, she went to work full-time as their General Counsel. Several of our longest-standing writers went back to full-time jobs that left no time for blogging. Somehow, this blog, which has been so vital to me, since I started it in April 2004, was seemingly abandoned. I got emails every day asking what happened. That meant more to me than I can possibly say. I hope to see you all here again. We'll be updating more frequently now, with a full re-launch before the Holiday season.

Thanks so much, everyone. Can't wait to get started again.