Only I *don’t* think I should be going, so hopefully that doesn’t disappoint you.

What a crazy, busy summer it has been. Lots of travel (for us and the rugrats), work, family, changes, etc. And fun. Plenty of fun.

Kids started back to school this week. We now have a “Junior High-er” (who will also be officially a teenager in another month). Pray for me. Looks to be a good year, with “The Arts” emerging as the passion of the moment. (Much to Mom & Dad’s delight.) Our budding poetess is planning on publishing a second tome this fall.

I know I have been woefully inadequate at writing. Seems like the “season of availability” I enjoyed for the first eighteen months or so of this space has left for good. And yet, I still hope to occasionally purge here, so it never hurts to check-in once every month or two!

My better-half is heading to culinary school, so that’s news. My day-job has also changed. Our schedules and time at home won’t be the same, but we do think overall the shifts will be positive. We really hope to capitalize on the new “weekend time” (since my old gig often found me busy on Saturdays) and take the kids some new places.

One wonderful discovery this summer: mint juleps.

I had never had the chance to taste one, though I had always been curious. I am blessed to have come to know a genuine Southern Belle. Gorgeous and genteel, she is also the keeper of some delightful food culture – including a great recipe for juleps. On a warm summer evening – relaxing on their patio in Kentucky – it took but a single taste and I was hooked. They may be considered passe’, but to this bar-tending curmudgeon, they are sublime. If you want the details of her secret, you will have to ask me to make some for you in-person!

So sip something cool & strong, sit back and enjoy the end of the summer. Hopefully I will be back soon.