I know. I've been a bad blogger. I wish I could say that I was away being fabulous and busy and successful and could spare not even 5 minutes to post updates.
Alas, it was not so.
To show you what I mean, here is the list of activities since last June:
1. End of June: Once the kids finished school - which was nearly July for Christ's sake - we had about a week or so of do-nothing time before summertime activities were due to start. I could have gone to Connecticut to visit the folks (and probably really should have, since they haven't see the girls since June 2008), but opted not to, instead telling myself the fib that the girls and I could use that time to de-clutter and organize.
Yeah, sure.
It started out well enough with a trip to the library. Lucy got to break in her brand-spanking new card, and we each got three books. The girls spent hardly any time reading their books, as it turned out, choosing instead to play Pokemon on their Nintendo/Gameboys. *grumble*
The house remained cluttered and disorganized, though I read all three of my books.
2. July: Natalie went to sleepaway camp for a week; her third year in a row. I remember picking her up the very first year and listening to her sob on the way home, certain that she'd just experienced the high point of her life and that she would never, ever make better friends or have a better time... EVER again!
Ah yes, I remember that heartbreak from my time at summer camp. *sigh*
Anyway, off she went, and with Big Sister gone that week, I promised Lucy that she and I would do lots of fun Mommy-Lucy stuff. I guess we must have, but for the life of me, aside from a trip to Friendly's, I can't recall what we did. I do know that de-cluttering wasn't part of it.
When Natalie came home, the girls started two weeks of musical theater. They did Seussical, Jr. Lucy was in dancing-heaven and Natalie had scored one of the lead roles - Horton the Elephant. The wretched child would not let me listen to her practice though. She told me that she wanted to surprise me.
She did. The kid was phenomenal. I cried.
Well, I always cry during Horton's songs. "Alone in the Universe" makes me weep unapologetically.
Unfortunately, I don't have a recording of her doing it. *dope slap* Here's someone else singing the song:
Let me get a tissue and I'll get back to you. *sniff*
OK, all better.
3. August: The girls had the option of doing another session of the theater, but they both decided that they would rather take swimming lessons with their cousin.
Mad success! Natalie took to it like a fish; a spunky, curly-haired fish who got in trouble from time to time for not listening to her instructor, but in her few weeks there she advanced a whole level to intermediate.
As if that weren't enough fun, a few afternoons a week we'd go to my sister's and hang out in the air-conditioned, cable-tv-equipped splendor of her house. I watched Project Runway, Top Chef, and numerous shows on BBC America and lolled about like a slug.
It was awesome, although it did nothing to aid me in my goal of getting my house de-cluttered.
Also, somewhere in between the musical theater, the swimming and the Top Chef marathons, I became an un-Vegan again.
I know, I feel like a terrible person. I describe myself as a sort of self-loathing omnivore as I rush madly into the arms of my lovers, cheese and sausage, once again.
I am such a failure. A meat-eating, wretched failure. But good lord, did I create a delicious split pea and andouille soup! To die for. Especially the pigs that gave up their lives to become andouille. :/
4. September: School started, I persevered but slowly on the children's book that I keep telling people that I am writing and illustrating.
*sigh* That could be a blog entry by itself...
House, somewhat de-cluttered. The key: no kids hanging around to adjudicate on everything that goes into a trash bag.
5. October: Now I'm asking myself, "Where the HELL did October go?"
No, really!
Where did it go? It's November this weekend, I'll be starting NaNoWriMo and I still haven't done my Christmas shopping! For that matter, Hallowe'en is in two days and I have neither bought any bags of candy nor carved a single pumpkin yet.
However, I did recycle and toss out a buttload of clutter this week.
Also, I am teaching myself German again. Sprechen wir Deutsch!
So there you have it: I am not a total slacker. Just 98.5% of one, with the holidays a-looming.
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