Knock, knock . . . . anybody home?

Okay - I know that strong, independent, confident women of the world don't feel the need to apologize just because they fall behind on a few blog posts, but for the few of you out there who know me and read my stuff . . . you know that the British part of me won't get by with that. Sooo

I'm very sorry for the lack of posts and not letting you know my status for the past 23 days. Please forgive me for being rude and not checking in.

Seriously. I didn't mean to take that much of a blogging break. The demands of our lives these days have made it nearly impossible to spend more time at the computer than what was required for work and quick checks of email. I wish I could say that I was busy landscaping my back yard, or I was busy learning how to windsurf and that I was spending all that time I would be blogging outside enjoying the lazy days of summer, but lazy is the last word I would use to describe the summer!

Not that it hasn't been fun. Just a wildly, crazy, lots of obligations kind of fun. (With work thrown in there for good measure.) Rather than bore you with it all, I'll give you the quick bullets:

- Brad is currently working as our church's interim High School Director. The new guy will hopefully be here in Oregon in a few weeks but Brad has been doing an awesome job keeping a HS program afloat for the very discouraged kids who have been without a leader for 18 months. We have had the incredible privilege to spend lots of time with great students and some awesome adult helpers who have stepped up to the plate in this area.

- Brad is also trying to fulfill promises made to friends and co-workers to paint houses. He does this in his "off" time from the High School Director position. Translation: we haven't seen much of each other this summer.

- The kids have been in and out of different camps this summer. The boy is currently in his second week of drama camp and is loving it. The girl is making mom proud by helping out at our church's Vacation Bible School this week by letting 2nd grade girls crawl all over her for a few hours a day. We also had fun serving as childcare helpers for our church's ESL classes offered to the Hispanic community. We practiced our very limited Spanish with the kids while their parents practiced English.

- We managed to sneak away for a few days at the beach. Just the four of us. It was heaven. They are my favorite people to be around. It's the one thing that has kept me going during the craziness.

- Seeing some of the blockbusters. "Transformers" and "Harry Potter 5" have been favorites so far. Going to see "Hairspray" with the high school girls tomorrow night and will take my sweetie pie to see "Bourne Ultimatum" as our first night out alone this summer when it opens.

- Celebrating birthdays. The boy on the 7th. Mine is today and the girl's is on Wednesday. I got a brand new, red, shiny . . . vacuum cleaner. It's AWESOME! (Or as Brad would say, "It really sucks!") Seriously, it's like the Cadillac of vacuums and I love it. I plan on using it tonight - with my new birthday pjs on!

- Trying to grab snatches of creative time. Not much time for this but I'm starting to feel the misery of not getting enough time to write. I made myself journal for a half an hour this morning as a gift to myself. It was bliss. I really wanted to start a new writing project today to celebrate my birthday, but the journaling will have to do for now. And this blog post - that counts too, doesn't it?

Please know I've been sneaking peeks at your blogs and I hope to get back to a more regular routine again soon, but please don't be surprised if another little stretch goes by before I post again. Until then, know that I'm thinking of you all and hoping that you are enjoying the special blessings of summer with those who are close to you. Take care!