While I was gone ...

Bullet points for the sake of expediency.

* We got 5 nights in the camper in 2 different campgrounds. Last night's adventures will merit a post of their own later. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
* A visit from a dear friend was a good thing. Funny how things can change in 21 years.
* Load 3 of camping laundry is in the washer now. Camping: when your regular Mt. Washmore is just not a challenge anymore.
* Starting the bedtime routine this week. Bed at 8:30 tonight if I'm lucky. (For me and the kids. See bullet #1. Details to follow.)
* Vet appointment for Pippa. Antibiotics for a bacterial infection in an anal sac (ewwwww) and steroid drops for an eye condition. Every day. For the rest of her life. Because it's fun to wrestle her to the ground, pin her, and hold her little applehead in one place so I can get the drops in each little bulgy eye. But I love her, I really do.
* Got tons of reading done this week. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith is worth the read. I got through 1, 2 and 3. Going back to the library for more. The Cry of the Dove is hard to get into ... she shifts time and place so quickly, and the characters ran together at first. Once I figured out how it all fit together, though, I enjoyed it. Some of the prose is lyrical and I found myself thinking, "I wish I had written that." Surprising and emotional.


* Also read a generous helping of People magazine. I found a couple older ones in the laundry room at one campground and bought a couple, too. Mind candy. Yummy.
* Did not miss the television all week. The kids didn't mention it or video games all week. In all honesty, they never pine for electronics when we camp, but I was glad nonetheless.
And a bonus, non-bulleted point:
I did not watch 1 minute of Olympic coverage. Nothing. Since the '94 Dream Team and the cynicism I developed as a result of the time-honored tradition of amateur Olympians being smashed to smithereens by a bunch of professional athletes crowing and preening about their prowess while humiliating teams of actual amateurs who had worked so hard to reach the Olympics, I just can't stomach it. So I didn't watch it. And I didn't miss it. And I don't feel bad about it.
So take that, NBC. And IOC. And USOC. 'Cause I know you were all waiting with bated breath to hear what I thought of it.