Grueling

Had a tough week, ergo the dearth of posts. (I actually originally typed “death of posts,” and chuckled out loud.)

The wife flew out for three days on a business trip to Ohio, so my mother came in to help rustle with the young ’uns. I also started my tax prep class on Monday and had the second one last night. Six hours total, plus commuting time. Plus three and a half hours homework. Add to that a seven-hour Payroll Law seminar I attended for work on Wednesday. Shake and stir with a soccer practice, last minute requests for playdates, and a very mercurial pre-teen.

I am exhausted.

But – today launches the Birthday Bonanza at Chez Hoppèré, the special stretch of twelve days where three birthdays are celebrated – Patch’s, Little One’s, and, well, mine. Today is Patch’s eighth, and to celebrate, per her request, we’re going out to the Longhorn Steakhouse (Patch likes her red meat) and will be returning home for strawberry-chocolate cake and the opening of presents.

I do have some stuff on deck to post here, but that stuff tends to be in spare and sparse outline and bullet-point form. A review of the latest paperback read. Some lifestyle musings. Some literary dilemmas. A political screed I may or may not banish to the aether via the DELETE key. A cinematic quandary. A meditation on midlife. And on and on.

So do check back. I want to stick to a two- or three-post-per-week schedule, as my extremely jealous schedule allows. I enjoy doing this, and plan on plugging at it for the indefinite future.

As for now – well, some saucy ribs and an ice cold quart of root beer awaits!