During the years I waited for M.B. to arrive, all I wanted to write about was motherhood, and my longing for a child. There was the Passport to Parenting column series for Literary Mama; magazine and anthology essays about infertility and adoption and about my difficult relationship with my own mother and father; and my anthology About What Was Lost: 20 Writers on Miscarriage Healing, and Hope.

Once I became pregnant, I found that I had other things to say. My new mother-to-be status freed me to explore sides of myself I hadn't written about much before. In creating M.B., I had the urge to create a new, sunnier writing voice, too.

In my (relatively) energized second trimester, in between the morning sickness, exhaustion, and headaches of the first trimester and the aches and pains, exhaustion and headaches of the third, I wrote the opening chapters and proposal for a book (part memoir, part lifestyle guide) about yoga philosophy and healthy eating. My hope was to share what I'd come to learn from The Yoga Sutras -- an ancient yoga text -- about how to lead a healthier, happier life.

I was thrilled when the news came that Skyhorse Publishing would be publishing my new book, enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, Vegetarian Chili, a Monkey Temple, and a Beagle Pointer from West Virginia in 2009. For the next six months, my limited writing time (thank you to Neil and to my new and fabulous babysitter Alexa for providing these precious hours) is going to be funneled into meeting my January 1st deadline, and I'll be taking a hiatus from writing my Mama's Boy columns.

I promise to return early in 2009, with new stories to share. M.B. will be a year old, and I can't even imagine how many lessons he'll have taught me by then. In the meantime, give your Mama's boys and Mama's girls a hug from me, and thank you so much for reading.