So my mother and I are talking tonight and she says; “why haven’t you been writing on your blog? Have you lost interest?” and I instantly fell into a vat of guilt that was so deep my children had to throw me a rope ladder to climb out.  No, I have not lost interest. Unfortunately things have been conspiring against me this summer and I frankly have had no time to write. Here are my list of lame excuses:

#1 A Dock

Now that both of our kids are old enough to swim somewhat on their own (and when I say “on their own” I mean neither one of them is clinging to my bathing suit in a desperate attempt at flotation) we like to spend more time at the family lake house.  As a result we have been there for at least three weekends this summer and most of that time has been spent building a new dock.  This is what the dock looked like during Memorial Day weekend:

This is what it looks like now.

Grant it most of the work was done by the “men-folk” but we girls provide a lot of support in the shape of swimming leisurely nearby and making sandwiches.  Hey, it is a tough gig but somebody has got to do it.

#2 A wedding

No, I’m not getting married, but David’s cousin is tying the knot in about a week.  Although I’m not heavily involved in the planning of the nuptials I haven’t wanted to miss one second of any of the festivities.  The girl who will be joining our family – well – she rocks.  She’s so awesome I’m writing a separate post just about her. She is so damn cool.

#3 A kid

This is Lucy’s last couple of months of freedom before she starts the societal demands of school.  I’ve wanted to really wallow in this time.  I’ve wanted to do museums and zoos and the pool and make pottery, etc. etc.  My little girl is growing up and soon her life will be filled with friends and foes and a social life.  No longer will Mommy be her best friend.  Although on one hand I’m excited about this, on the other I’m saddened.

#4 A surprise

The biggest distraction of this summer though has been a big surprise that David and I received on June 13th.  If you go back and look at my posting archives you’ll see that my writing really tapered off after that date.  The surprise looked something like this:

In case you are unclear about what you are looking at – well – that is a pregnancy test and it says “Yes+”.  Soak that in for a little bit and we’ll discuss more later.

#5 A Story

When I was going through Grad school I had to read so much for my degree that by the time I graduated I didn’t even want to look at another book.  I can honestly say that I didn’t read a single book for two years after I graduated. I just couldn’t bear it. I resented the fact that studying the biggest passion in my life drove me to the point of almost giving it up.  I promised myself that I would never let that happen again.  As a result, when summers roll around and I’m not obligated to read a bunch of stuff for school I try to read things I WANT to read.  To relish in the beauty of a good story.  I’ve read some great books this summer, watched some fun TV shows, and lost myself in some exciting movies.  I’ve gorged myself on rich characters, and wonderful stories.  My appetite is well satiated and I am ready to return to school full of the love of words that makes me want to be a teacher.

I never said these excuses were good or valid or even reasonable for not writing more often, but now you have them.  I will do my best to return to a more normal schedule of sorts.  I’m glad you haven’t abandoned me or have you? Am I talking to myself now?