Long-overdue update

Things that I’ve done over the past month or so:

Driven to countless orthodontist appointments, sleepovers, Latin tutoring sessions, guitar and piano lessons and pre-season volleyball clinics.

Started work on qualifying our yard as a Certified Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation.

Spent more time than I’d like to admit watching hummingbirds frolic in our yard.

Celebrated Girl’s 13th birthday. We haven’t had her party yet, but we’re working on that…

Had a fabulous Alaskan vacation filled with canoeing, kayaking, camping, hiking, dog-sledding, glaciers, and all manner of wildlife (photos coming ASAP).

Braved the crowds during “tax-free weekend” to buy uniforms and shoes for Boy and Girl.

Saw “The Dark Knight” on a big IMAX screen at the Bob Bullock museum. I am still absolutely incredulous and horrified that there were children in the audience.

Waited as long as I could stand it to see “Mamma Mia” (Hubby didn’t want the kids and I to go without him), but finally saw it on Sunday, while having a wonderful glass of wine and a burger. It was absolutely everything that I had hoped it would be (more on that later).

Things that I have NOT done in the past month or so:

Update this blog. And for that, I apologize. Especially to Staci, who has put up with my cat puke photo for longer than anyone should reasonably be expected to.

It has been a very busy few months, but all is well. The kids start back to school on Tuesday and I am hoping to have at least a BIT of time to myself after that and will hopefully start blogging on a more predictable basis.

The look/topics of the blog may change in the future, however, as Hubby and I have decided to go back on the “South Beach” diet. This diet requires lots of cooking, especially in the early stages, but it is not the kind of cooking that I typically do (carbs are verboten), so it may get boring for the serious gourmands in the crowd. I am going to try to come up with “South Beach”-friendly recipes of my own, in addition to some favorites from Dr. Agatson’s books.

Also, I may be making a return to the working and/or educational world soon. Boy and Girl are getting older and much more independent and I am also feeling the need to use my brain for something other than figuring out whether a yellow and navy-striped shirt qualify as a “dark” or “light” for laundry purposes. I have some possibilities in the works, and this may not happen right away, but it is something that’s “in the pipeline”, so to speak. This change may also alter the tone of this blog. No way to know until we get there.

All I really have to offer at this point are some ponderings on some recent traffic altercations that I’ve had. I am (paternally) congenitally “blessed” with a hot temper and I am getting to the point where I just absolutely HATE driving. I would GLADLY become a mass-transit convert, if that were even remotely possible where I live. So, here are my open comments to some of my recent fellow travelers:

To the lady that went out of her way to avoid letting me into her (exit) lane the other day on southbound MoPac (I had my blinker on and she SPED UP on purpose, for no other reason than to just be MEAN):

Nice. Really nice. Thanks. I really didn’t want to exit there, anyway. I really wanted to go a mile out of my way and take my time to turn around and come back. Thanks again; you’re a peach. I really like your cute little “Jesus” fish.

To the guy that followed behind the ambulance the other day on the Lamar bridge over Lady Bird lake, taking full advantage of the path created by all of us drivers, yielding to an emergency vehicle, so that you could squeeze in before the lane closed again and get yourself out of traffic for a while:

You are a piece of human refuse. Unbelievable.
(BTW, yes, I am SURE that he was not affiliated with the ambulance or a family member of someone being transported; he turned off very shortly after and ended up going the same way that I was. I saw him at another intersection a couple of blocks later, picking his nose at a stoplight.)

To the guy that parked THISCLOSE to my driver’s door (way the hell over the parking space dividing line) at the drugstore the yesterday, rendering my door impossible to open, in a blinding rainstorm:

Thanks so much. I really wanted to climb into my passenger’s seat and crawl over the console and gearshift. While getting DRENCHED. Does your wife have a Jesus fish on her car? It took every bit of willpower that I had to not roll down my window and key the SH*T out of your car. Thanks to your parking job, I wouldn’t have even had to reach to be able to do it. It was VERY tempting, I tell you. Lucky for you, my calmer side (and the fear that Walgreen’s might have surveillance cameras) prevailed.