All work and no play makes Gale a lousy blogger.

I’d intended to get back to blogging this past week, but I’ve been drowning in work since New Year’s Eve.  I’m not sure that this week is going to be any better.  I wanted to stop by and let you know that I’m hoping to get back here soon.  Just having to delay things a bit.

Happy New Year!

At a quarter to 10:00 last night I was putting the finishing touches on today’s post.  As I went back to add a Category tag I noticed that my Categories box wasn’t there.  I clicked out of my post so that I could click back in, thinking the window hadn’t loaded properly.  When I went to re-enter my post it was gone.

WordPress ate my post.

I couldn’t believe it.  I had no intentions of starting over at that hour, and so here I am with nothing to offer but this “the dog at my homework” explanation.  This is not at all how I’d planned to return from my two-week blogging break.  The only silver lining is that I now have an excuse to participate in the McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed meme, which I’ve been thoroughly enjoying for the past several days.

At any rate, I’m sorry about this.  I will rewrite the post for Thursday, this time in Word since WordPress hasn’t earned my trust back yet.  I hope you had a wonderful time watching the Olympics.  I know I did.  It’s nice to be back, although not as nice as I’d hoped.  See you Thursday!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to glue ourselves to the Olympic Games for the next two weeks.  We will see you back here on August 14th.

***

I’m struggling with some things this week, and before I go down the rabbit hole I thought I owed you all fair warning.  I try not to get too opinionated or political on this blog because I want there to be room for everyone here.  I want you to feel welcome, whether or not you agree with me.  And the best way for me to make you feel welcome is to keep the conversation interesting, but polite. 

Nevertheless, I have a point of view.  I have strong feelings about many things.  And much as I try to keep an open mind, I have very concrete opinions about a couple of topics making national headlines this week.  Namely the Penn State sanctions and James Holmes’ cache of weapons.  After some serious thought, I have decided to address each one in this week’s posts.  So I am here to tell you now that these posts will be opinionated.  But I am also here to tell you that you are free - nay welcome - to disagree with me. 

Also, I will make you a little promise.  After hanging with me through some tough posts on Tuesday and Thursday, I will post something happy, uplifting, and inspiring on Friday.  It was an idea that came to me late last week and was originally on the docket for tomorrow, but I feel compelled to address these other issues first.  It will be your reward for taking on these more difficult topics earlier in the week.

Lastly – and this is not something I often say here – it is a privilege to write this blog.  I am thankful that I have an eager mind and a platform to explore the thoughts that pass through it.  Even more-so, I am flattered and honored that you choose to read my words.  Thank you for being here, for helping me grapple with the world around me, in all of its wretchedness and all of its greatness.  It means a great deal.    

This is the finished side of our basement.  It is the place in our house where IEP did his first crawling.  The place in our house where we watch movies and ball games.  The place in our house that doubles as guest quarters when we have overnight company.  The place in our house where GAP and I have had some of our most important conversations.  It is one of the most-used rooms in our house.

And as you can plainly see it’s a disaster right now.  The original cast iron sewer pipes under our house were corroded and must be replaced.  This means that a crew of men must dig into the ground beneath our house, exhume the old pipes, and put in PVC.  This also means that everything from the basement is now strewn about the first floor of our home.  It looks like crazy hoarders live here.

So, last night as I sat and stared at my computer screen, scanned the web for blogging inspiration, and came up empty handed, I resigned myself to the fact that I just don’t have it in me this week.

I will be back next week.  In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed that this whole operation goes smoothly!

There once was a blogger named Gale
Who posted each week without fail.*
But try as she might
she just couldn’t write;
last evening her efforts did pale.

So I come to you now with a limerick.
Please don’t think that I’m playing a trick.
For I earnestly thought,
“Make an effort, or not?”
And this is what I could pen real quick.**

But I still bring good wishes for Friday.
And I trust that big thoughts will come my way
over the weekend,
so come back here, my friend,
for something worthwhile on Monday.

Last night the creative juices just weren’t flowing.  I joined all of the boys to walk the dogs.  Then I went out for a run on my own.  Then I came home, bathed and fed SSP, ate a sandwich, watched an episode of Modern Family that was saved in our DVR, made my lunch for today, showered, and went to bed.  Blogging just didn’t figure into the mix.  I hope you’ll forgive me.

Have a happy and safe Super Bowl weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week!

————————————————————–

*I realize that this is a stretch – especially coming on the heels of my hit-and-miss posting during maternity leave – but sometimes we must sacrifice the truth to save the rhyme.

**And sometimes we must sacrifice the grammar to save the rhyme.  For all you adverb mongers (Hi Granddaddy!), I’m fully aware that this should read “really quickly.”

My dance card was full last night and today’s post will be going up a day late.  Please stop back by tomorrow for my delayed Monday thoughts!

1. Picked up IEP at the house and then went to meet GAP at our neighborhood pizza joint for supper.
2. Let IEP wipe pizza sauce all over my shirt when he wanted to snuggle during dinner.
3. Resisted the temptation to have a Coke with my dinner.
4. Sang “Wheels on the Bus” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with IEP before bedtime.
5. Listened to GAP regale me with descriptions of his own happiness at the start of college football season.
6. Surfed the web for blog post inspiration while said college football season played in the background.
7. Laughed with GAP while we folded two loads worth of laundry.
8. Confronted the fact that my housekeeper didn’t show up yesterday and cleaned my bathroom myself because it had become just too gross to ignore anymore.
9. Sadly pondered the fact that with my 34th birthday in a couple of weeks I will have officially entered my “mid-30s.”
10. Wondered whether or not the colds that befell my family this week are waxing or waning.
11. Took some NyQuil (with my OB’s permission since they took the alcohol out of it!)
12. Went to bed early.

I’m taking today off from work, so I figured I’d take the day off from blogging as well.  Hope you’ve had a good week, and I’ll be back on Monday!

Last night GAP and I watched Blue Valentine, after which I was too depressed to write much of anything.  So this week my Monday post will be going up on Tuesday.  Please check back tomorrow and I’ll have something worthwhile to say.  Hope you had a great weekend!