What? Oh, Hi There.

I've been absent a while, playing the role of the stay-at-home mom, which is not for the faint of heart. (Although now that school has started, it might be a nice gig. I could see myself staying home alone all day, cleaning, cooking, running, baking, knitting, and reading, and then shuffling off to pick up The Boy from soccer practice at 4:30. And if I ever find myself independently wealthy, that's exactly what I'll do.)

I won't bore you with my activities of the last week and a half, but I will tell you a few things:

The Boy is in middle school, with a crazy schedule of rotating A-Weeks and B-Weeks, and a locker, and all kinds of grown-up(ish) stuff. I'm excited, interested, proud, and nervous about all of this cusp-of-adolescence business. AND his picture is on the school's new website, which is cool. He's in profile, and he's not in uniform, because the photo was taken on an Own Clothes Day, but he's reading to his Kindergarten Buddy, and it's too cute. If you already know what school he goes to, and you know him, and you want to see, let me know and I'll send you a link. (If you're a weird stalker pedophile, go to hell.)

I am still running (plodding), and am on the part of the plan where I run (plod) for 25-minutes straight. I've lost about fifteen pounds, I think. I only have one more week on this program, and once it's finished I'll go back to the beginning and actually RUN. Not fast--I'm never fast--but fast enough that toddlers and people with walkers won't be able to lap me.

Jennifer Haigh's new book, The Condition, is very, very good. I got it from the library (they sent me a large print copy, which was VERY difficult to read), but I will buy it when I can afford to. Haigh is a wonderful writer with a connection to western PA, and there's always at least a little piece of that in her novels.

Tropic Thunder is very, very funny.

I got my hair cut and colored last week, and while the color is awesome, the cut is leaving me cold. I told the woman who cuts it that I wanted to be able to NOT DO ANYTHING TO IT. Technically, I don't have to do anything, but . . . it needs to be chopped shorter. Next time.

And that's it for me. I'll be in my corner napping if you need me.