Yes, absent without leave. I apologize.

Why?

Because life happens.

Over the past several months a LOT has happened to our family.

We welcomed a new grandson into the family, then lost him to SIDS five months later. That pretty much gutted me.

I made an actual friend while she was admitted to the Oncology floor shortly after Christmas. She was amazing. So much so that I visited her every chance I could, even on weekends. She passed a few weeks ago, and I have many regrets. 😦

My job responsibilities have changed, therefore I don’t log the desk time that I used to, as I’m out of the office more often than not. Gone are the days that I could edit a blog and post. 😦 This has also eaten into down time where I would catch up on my favorite blogs (yes, yours, Rob).

We had a wicked week-long sub-freezing spell that killed every single battery in every single vehicle that we own. THAT was fun…Never mind what it did to my palm tree and bamboo … 😦

As bad as the flu was/is out here, somehow I managed to squeak past winter with just a sinus infection and allergies.

I joined a gym. Yes, me. I know I have free weights at home, but my gym offers classes and I am big on Hot Hula and most recently Barre class. And no, Hot Hula is not done with a Hula hoop, weighted or otherwise, although I do have a weighted one and haven’t used it in years.

I stepped through a weak spot in the second bathroom floor on New Year’s night, and that led to the total deconstruction of that bathroom, and the repairs that had to be completed prior to my youngest moving back home.

I got injured a couple of months ago, and that sidelined me for a while. Then I hit my own ankle with an oxygen cart right before I was due to return to the gym, which sidelined me for an additional several weeks. I returned to the gym last week. Yay!

My youngest son and his wife moved back to North Carolina a couple of months ago, and they stayed with us until they found their new home last week.

I have so many blog posts ready to go in my head. They range from the politically charged to the mundane of my day-job to how much fun Hot Hula is to the frustration of being a woman “of a certain age” and all the bullshit (sorry, Mom) that goes along with it.

I’ve probably watched too much news; I’m excited about the possibility of North Korea un-nuking themselves, the release of the three “prisoners” from said Korea. I’m still absolutely perplexed at the division in this country.

I watched Curling during the Winter Olympics, and Johnny and I have still been heard saying, “SVEEP! SVEEP!” 😉

I have dealt with grown children, their significant others, some bits are amazing, some bits not so much, so without further ado, I’m going to release the hounds.

Until next time…