Well, hello.

So, I guess I completely forgot I have a blog until today when someone suggested I should write a blog and then I remembered this thing I've been neglecting since last August. I'd apologize, but it's my blog, my rules, my timeline and well, it's mine. Therefore, I'm not sorry for anything.

A lot has transpired since my last post. First of all, we sold our townhouse after living there for seven years. We moved into an apartment for three months while construction continued on our current house. On the topic of apartments, it's been a very long time since I lived in an apartment. For what it was worth, it wasn't a terrible experience. In fact, the management was quite pleasant and though the whole "northwoods" decor isn't my particular cup of tea, we coped with the plaid and the logs and the life-sized wooden bear statues for three short months and it was no big deal. I did not decorate our new house with any of the above, nor will I ever.

We moved to our new house in November. We love it and everyday I still come home and am in awe that I live here and that we finally made this dream come true. On the whole, I love my new neighborhood, except for the woman next door who for whatever reason has been a complete ice queen towards us. I'm operating under the assumption we've done nothing wrong, especially since I'm told she is sort of this way to everyone and most people are immediately enamored with us. Well, a few don't like Brent, but that's because he blathers on about things when he probably should have just shut his pie hole ten minutes ago.  (Like the time he went on and on about the ridiculousness of gluten intolerance/gluten-free living with our group of friends who are all gluten intolerant/-free. Yep, we have a whole GROUP of such friends. Imagine that.) In other news, everyone adores me.

Back to our hostile neighbor lady...case in point, on Sunday, Brent and I were out on our front porch having a cup of coffee. This cute little dog comes over and is all "Oh, pet me, pet me, love me, please be nice to me, etc." We're petting the dog, then suddenly neighbor lady comes over and says, "Will you do me a favor? The next time he comes over, scold him. I don't want him thinking it's okay to come over here." She then takes her dog, turns on her heel and goes back inside her house.  Yeah, I'm pretty much gonna leave the doggie discipline to you, lady, but I tell you what, I will have a fabulous little treat for your dog the next time he comes over and maybe I'll invite him inside for an hour (or four) so he can rest and play with our cat. I'll do everything I can to make sure he knows it's not okay to come over here. You are in luck; favors are my specialty.

I suppose alternatively, I could beat her dog. I'm thinking I'd get an even icier reception from her, so really, I can't win. I'll try both methods and report back the results.

Caleb just finished 1st grade and we're extremely thankful another long school year is over. This year, it only took until about mid-year before his teacher snapped and we had to start meeting with the administration about how to get him to stop showboating and acting like the classroom was his center stage. I blame a lot of things on Brent, so this time I will push the blame back a generation and point the finger at his (Brent's) mother. I can't blame my parents because I'm adopted and well, that only leaves Cathie as the obvious choice because she was also (and still is) a real "social butterfly." As far as I'm concerned, there's a direct genetic correlation. (In reality, he's acting like his Grandpa Bryan, but there's no blood relationship there, so it's a lot harder for me to make that argument, but that's the truth of the matter.)

Academically, there's proof that Caleb is a byproduct of me as well. He's not always the most careful with his homework and is easily distracted, but when he focuses, he's like Rain Man. Math is not his strong suit, but he is stellar at reading and very deliberate about making sure his "your/you're" and "their/they're/there" are correct. If he accomplishes nothing else in life, his early mastery of the English language will ensure he has my love unconditionally and eternally.

I have nothing exciting to report right now about work, other than it continues to bear down on me like a man bearing down in the restroom after eating two fully loaded Chipotle burritos.

As many of you saw from my Facebook page this past weekend, Brent ran his first marathon. Not only did he run it, he owned that bitch. 26.2 in 3:21:37. I don't tell him enough how proud I am of him, but I was weepy when he came across the finish line. I was weepy because of his sheer awesomeness, but also because I know this only means he will run more marathons. More marathons means I'll just get fatter as I partake in his carb-loading sessions before big runs because I eat whatever he puts on the table. I eat what he cooks because a) it means, I don't have to cook, b) his cooking has come a loooooooong way since the "[insert meat here] Helper" days and c) I don't have to cook.

Nothing else to report and possibly nothing else to write for who knows how long. I generally wait for inspiration or time or both. Perhaps in a week or two, I'll have something exciting to share, like news of the new baby I'm not pregnant with and due to conceive in October. (Let's see how many people read carefully...)  Adios, friends.