Okay, yes, I admit it–I’m a total slacker.  And not much of a blogger.  Apparently, you have to actually write posts in order to qualify for the title.  I haven’t written in weeks.  I haven’t much of an excuse, really.  I’m just a slacker.

Let me think what’s been going on.  We had a birthday (Toby’s; I think I mentioned it earlier), then the next week we had Thanksgiving.  My mother-in-law was here for several days, teaching the children to play poker.  (Sorry, Grandma, but it’s just too funny not to mention!)  Anyway, on Thursday I went for a short spin on the bike–that was the day Toby took to calling me Spandex.  It was a bit chilly.  Then we (a group of about 9 Rosens) went to the Angus Barn for a lovely late lunch.  It was a great place for anyone who can’t be bothered to cook the whole spread (I love to cook big holiday meals, but some years it’s just too much work.  This is one of those years).  The food was surprisingly good, there were LOTS of people, and it was an event, without being stuffy.  The next day we went to my brother’s house (an 8-minute drive) to do the whole thing all over again with my family.  I have a brother and a sister; between us, we have 8 children, most of whom are 5 or under.  Enough said.

Then, the next week, Mr. Helpful was, unavoidably, not very helpful.  He was out of town.  I hate that.  I would be the worst single parent ever.  For 13 years now (actually, more like 18 years–we met in January of 1989) I have thought of his coming home in the evening as the punctuation of my day.  When he doesn’t come home, there never seems to be a moment when I stop and breath and feel that all the loose ends are neatly tied up.  The hard parts of the day just seem to go on without a break.

 Plus, both of my children (who don’t seem to read this, but you never know, so I have to tread carefully here) are in, shall we say, challenging stages right now.  I’m ready to tear my hair out.  And they just absorb my stress like sponges, so take away my moral support person, add in difficult children, and it was not a good week.  And then last week–same thing.  And I sort of realized last week that–whoops–it’s December.

 There’s more–friends in town (had fun with Amelia and Betsy–great to see both of you!), various parties (bookclub, Lee’s office), field trips (hiking last Friday morning–coldest day in two years–what fun), car repairs . . . and we seem to be in homework hell.  Oh, and the bike.  I’ve been working out just about every day, but a lot of that has been drills and intervals on the trainer, and some pretty intense core work.  I did get out on the road yesterday for 30 miles; it was mostly good, but in the last half hour the temperature dropped 6 degrees, and I was quite chilly by the time I got home, beating sunset by about 5 minutes.  Lesson learned.  Next time, rake leaves faster, and get on the bike earlier!

 Anyway, it’s now Monday morning; school gets out on Friday, and apparently it’s going to be Christmas soon.  Guess I should get on that.

If you see me at the mall, I may be wearing a Grinchy sort of frown.