Given my belief in karma, last week I was left to wonder whether I had wronged someone when, without warning, our hosting provider pulled the plug on my ability to publish. Despite the stress and frustration of the last several days, I'm happy to report that we're up and running again with a different, decidedly more friendly host. Thanks for your patience while we work out the final kinks of moving the site to a new home.

Since founding this site I've been fortunate to learn of lots of local "mamapreneurs." I’ve subsequently been thinking about creating a business directory that both showcases local talent and makes it easy for users to support local businesswomen (whether or not they have a brick and mortar presence). I'm thrilled to report that the directory is underway! If you’re a Massachusetts mamapreneur, click here to learn how to get listed in the free directory. Otherwise, spread the word to any Massachusetts mom businesswomen you know, and of course please check out the directory, which includes the inaugural group of fabulously talented local mamapreneurs.

The turn of the year offers a fresh opportunity to reflect on the past, present, and future, and I will never, ever take for granted the creative, chaotic, and imperfect life that has emerged in the face of mamahood and my (later, semi-related) abandonment of the professor track. And I am grateful to all of you for your interest, inspiration, and virtual camaraderie. As a Happy New Year wish to you, please read on for a collection of resolutions and intentions from me and the fabulous women who guest contribute to this site. I hope these ideas will provide food for thought as you reflect on how to take care of yourself, enjoy time with others, and work towards personal and/or professional goals this year.

In addition to a seemingly limitless supply of cookies, one nice byproduct of this week’s holiday slowdown has been the ability to attack a few projects long sitting on my to-do list. So in this vein, two bits of housekeeping: First, I just designed a series of “cute as a button” (as one mama I know called them) Make Way for Ducklings-inspired buttons for public use. So if you dig reading these pages and have a site of your own, please consider grabbing a button for your site! And second, if you are a mama operating a business in Mass. and have a website, email info@bostonmamas.com to learn more about a new project to be unveiled on the site in the coming weeks. And otherwise, keep enjoying those holiday cookies!

Dear Readers (and potential writers!): I am looking to expand my merry band of contributing writers to include one or more mamas who can provide insight in the realm of useful general and local resources (e.g., gear, books, programs, etc.) for kids with developmental delays and disorders. If interested, please email me at editor@bostonmamas.com for more information.

The closest I’ve come to a panic attack was when I was trapped like a sardine at London’s Tate Modern, shortly after the gallery’s opening in 2000. Not surprisingly then, aside from supporting our little local shops, I’ll be opting for online shopping over mall mobs this holiday season. For those who similarly dread crowds, our bargains page has lots of exclusive shopping codes from independent retailers, as well as deals from our shopping affiliates. Some of the latter are running great limited time holiday offers (some expire today); we’ve created a special section for these deals and will update the listings as we hear of more special offers. Enjoy!