So, I was busy at work, last week, and didn't make it by here. I rearranged 2 stores from top to bottom, so you can imagine how that might have kept me occupied. Even though I haven't been posting, I have been doing some behind the scenes kind of stuff concerning the blog. I'm in the process of having a little work done. Well, I'm not. The blog. You know, like a blog facelift. It won't be completely unrecognizable, but just a little nip and tuck to give it some new pep for a new season. I know you'll be overwrought with debilitating suspense until its completion.

I'll admit, too, that I've been a little down in the dumps, lately. I don't know....maybe you'd even call it a funk. I guess turning 50 and going through all the changes of my kids growing up, mixed with this oppressive summer heat that I hate, a little sleep deprivation, and a dash of hormonal variability, I've just been feeling blah. You ever just feel blah?  Well, I have....but, now, I'm feeling like the wind is coming back in my sails and I decided I was in the mood to shake things up a bit.

I went to see my dear photography friends, Mark and Carol, for new headshots for the blog and social media page. The old one was cropped out of a family picture, which was taken about 6 years ago and, goodness knows, it was past time to put that one to rest. I got to the studio and told Mark I didn't need anything fancy....just a couple of muffin top mugshots. I sat down where he instructed me to and he put the reflective thingy below me and the big light in front of me as I told him there was nothing I hated more than having my picture made. Lights, reflective surfaces, and cameras pointed toward me are not things that exist within my realm of comfort, which is most likely why he had to chime in with reminders to look "a little happier" between a few shots.

Anyway, I got those done and went back to look at the proofs. Mark always does a wonderful job of making you look way better than you really do. I picked the ones I liked best and then they did the touchups that smooth away the lines and blend the blemishes and erase the errant strands of hair, so they're like me only much, much better. I'm thinking these ought to carry me for another good 4 to 5 years.
      
In this mood for a little blog revitalization, I also got up with my old friend, Sophie, last week. As the blogging expert that she is, we met for lunch, so I could ask her for some advice on tech support and other subjects.....which I did, but we ended up spending most of our time just laughing and talking about hometown stuff and our happy high school days. Soph is always an inspiration...even when we're just discussing our Mamas and the difference in mama-ing styles back then and mama-in' now. There's nothing like a good belly laugh with an old friend over a chimichanga and a glass of tea.  

So, all that to say that, even though I've been busy with my job and wandering around in kind of a foggy funk, I've also been working on recapturing my mojo and letting the winds of change blow me forward with a renewed energy.          

I think I mentioned sleep deprivation earlier, so I guess we might as well discuss that since this is kind of a conglomerate post lacking any real central theme. Davis and I have been having co-sleeping problems for the last two weeks or so. We go through brief periods of this from time to time. I have to start off sleeping on my left side because of acid reflux and, because I must stick my legs out of the covers, that requires that I sleep on the right side of the bed.....unless I'm having trouble sleeping and need to turn over, therefore making it impossible to stick my feet out of the covers, which is a problem.

Davis is a back sleeper.....which to us, side sleepers, is just plain creepy. I've always said that if we had a register book, a CD of favorite organ hymns, and a line of people trailing from our bedroom, we could have ourselves a visitation every night of the week as he lies there in repose with his hands folded gently across his stomach.

So, his back sleeping causes him to breathe loudly and, well, since I'm an admitted sleep diva, I can't have any kind of noise distracting me when I'm falling asleep....except the white noise coming from our sleep machine, of course. I'm just high maintenance that way when it comes to getting to sleep and I can't handle anything "extra" going on....unlike Davis, who can sleep sitting up on a couch in a brightly lit room full of people laughing and talking with a ballgame blaring on the TV. I guess being a woman of 50 has made it harder for me to fall asleep, lately, but, once I get asleep, my sleep endurance is still most impressive. Most impressive, indeed.

Anyway, when sleep is the goal, I get uncharacteristically impatient with any obstacle that stands in between it and me.....i.e. Davis' loud breathing. So, while I'd never dream of hitting him in the daylight, waking hours, I have no qualms about reaching over and giving him a wop and a stern command to turn over. Now, I'm not saying I'm proud of the way I behave in the night, but I'm just being real and, usually, when someone says they're being real, they're not sharing the very best part of themselves.

Well, Davis, who, in his awakened state is a most kind and gentle soul, after a couple of blows, the semi-conscious, grumpy version of Davis grabs his pillow and heads off into the night, mumbling unkind and smarty things as he walks through the darkness, across the family room and down the hall to the guest room. I start to feel kind of guilty for a few seconds until I realize that I can stretch out on my right side and stick my feet out of the covers on his side of the bed and stretch my arms over there, too. My guilt is usually quickly overshadowed by my desire for sleep. Really, though.....we're both very nice people, otherwise, and we're happy to report that we've been doing better, this week, so that's a relief.

So, I guess that's all I know at the moment. I'll be back, next week, and we'll talk about even more riveting subjects, I'm sure.

Have a good one!