Summer's end

The end of summer snuck up on me this year, I guess because Back To School with a college freshman (who lives at home and takes classes online) and a high school sophomore (who doesn't get her school supply lists until after school starts) is a very different experience than Back To School with littler kids. AND THANK GOD FOR THAT, MAN. It was only yesterday that I looked at the calendar and realized holy crap, school starts a week from Monday. Wow. Where did THAT summer go?

H has recovered pretty much completely from having all four wisdom teeth removed and is zooming along (ha!) with her driver's training. She drove on the frontage road for the interstate the other day! Very exciting!

C has been composing music and helping some friends with a very exciting project and looking forward to taking his very first college course so he'll finally have something to do, for the love of God.

P has been working ridiculous hours like always. Enough said.

I have been reading, reading, reading. Loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, liked Aric Davis's The Fort, loved Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company. (Yes, THAT Steve Martin. I never was a huge fan of his standup but the man is a genius, no lie.) Now I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars, which I'm told will make me cry buckets, but really I'm just biding my time until I can start reading books that take place in the fall. Because FALL IS COMING. Oh yes, it is.

And also I've been watching TV. Breaking Bad is back! Yes! Thank goodness. I'm sad that these are the last episodes, though. Do we like Low Winter Sun? I think I kind of like it. I dunno. I'll give it a few episodes to be sure. I am all in on Broadchurch, though. ALL. IN. I wish we could get more British programming here in the US. BBC America and PBS don't quite scratch that itch, do they? Nope. Not for me, anyway.

In other news I've somehow morphed into an 80-year-old honky-tonkin' Texas lady, because I cannot stop listening to the Willie's Roadhouse station on the XM radio in my car. Willie, Waylon, Merle, Lefty, Hank, Dolly, Tanya, Patsy, Tammy -- I have developed a fondness for them all that I can't begin to understand, much less communicate to you. I didn't grow up with this music so I have no idea why it suddenly speaks to my soul, but it does. So. There's that.

Hang in there, guys. We're halfway to September. We can do this.

It's almost July

It's almost July and I have nothing exciting to tell you, unless your idea of excitement involves endometrial ablations and corneal debridements, both of which I'm likely to have in the next couple of months. And now I've told you way more than you ever wanted to know. I'm glad we could have this talk.

It is very hot here now, 80s when I wake up around 8-ish a.m. and triple digits by lunchtime, but the weird thing is that I kind of like it. I don't know if it's the losing 20 pounds thing or if I've just lost my mutha-effin' mind, but ... yes. I do not hate the hot weather anymore. I don't even know what to tell you about that. This time last year I was looking for retirement homes in North Carolina, and now I'm thinking Texas is awesome, except for our politics, and let's not even go there, okay? I am happy to tell you how my uterus is trying to kill me during menopause and how I am sort of going blind a little bit, but let's not get into politics. God forbid. Assuming you believe in God. Let's not go there, either. Would you like a martini? Is it okay if I have one? Awesome. Slainte!

Here are some things I've been doing:

1. Playing World of Warcraft with C and also taking him to the UT campus so he can look at his future home away from home.
2. Taking H driving because she has her learner's permit now, OMG.
3. Cooking. Lots of stuff.
4. Drinking. Lots of stuff.
5. Watching a bunch of horrible television.
6. Reading Jonathan Tropper again and downloading more books to my Kindle than I will ever be able to read in a lifetime.
7. Taking myself out to lunch. Because I deserve it, goddammit.
8. Still eating modified paleo. And still keeping my weight off.
9. NOT EXERCISING AT ALL.
10. Enjoying the heat. Did I mention?

Yeah. It's summer. I don't know.

I've been everywhere

I've been off on a bit of a solo adventure this past week, driving alone from Texas to Ohio by way of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky to meet up with my brother and parents and visit some extended family.

  

 

And then on the way home, I decided to take the scenic route. I drove through West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama before finally crossing through Mississippi and Louisiana again, and then home to Texas.

I drove through 12 states and slept in five of them.

I saw my parents and brother, four cousins, six first cousins once-removed, all my uncles, all but one of my aunts, and my last remaining grandparent.

I saw autumn leaves for the first time in 12 years.

I drove through the Appalachian Mountains.

I crossed the Mississippi River twice.

(Ditto the Ohio River.)

I shopped at Tamarack in West Virginia.

I climbed the tower at Big Walker Lookout in Virginia.

I ate pulled pork with four different sauces at Tom's Barbecue in Greenville, SC.

I put more than 3,000 miles on my car.

I finished reading The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch and liked it very much.

I drank many tiny plastic bottles of wine.

For 5.5 of the eight days I was gone I was completely alone with my thoughts. I didn't have to worry about what anyone else wanted or needed. I didn't have to make anyone's dinner. I didn't have to clean up any messes I didn't make. I didn't have any appointments to keep.

I had a lot of fun.

HOWEVER...

I missed my kids and husband. And even the stupid dog.

I missed the water pressure in my shower at home.

I missed my bed. And my pillow.

I even missed my own cooking.

I learned that while I am a total antisocial misfit loner and proud of it, some things are just more fun when shared with one's favorite people.

And I am SO GLAD to be home. Where my people are.