What life is mine?

I have been a busy bee this summer and have neglected this blog. I never set out to be a blogger on a daily or weekly basis. I blog when the mood strikes me, when I have something that interests me enough to write about, and don't want to just fill the space with the same stuff over and over. I did see Julie and Julia (the movie) and do not want to be that type of blogger! Though, I guess if I did, I would get a movie or book deal. Hell, Erma Bombeck did it back in my mom's day!

But let me get an update out of the way.
I have become a devoted follower of Burts Bees natural products. Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash (no bad chems, so no suds), Orange Essence facial cleanser (smells so yummy), Milk & Honey body lotion (which I think I will use more in the winter), Honey and Bilberry foot creme - which is the best thing I have EVER found for my heels which get so cracked and yucky in the summer. This stuff is amazing. And the bonus is that you can rub any excess into your finger cuticles (mine dry and crack horribly) and now they are marvelous!!! And the grand finale --- Ageless Line Diminishing day lotion with Pomegranate and Para Cress. You know those big "bad boy" wrinkles in your forehead - that won't go away? They will now. Amazing stuff!!!

Just wanted you to know that I have found a product line that is wonderful!

Ok, so tonight I am a bit introspective and not sure I can be funny or entertaining. But a blog is for the writer and I need some reflection.

My real self is on Facebook and I enjoy keeping up with lots of friends, family, colleagues, around the country. I find it useful for engaging in causes, reading interesting news articles that other people post, keeping up with the latest trends, and so on. But tonight I really got hit square in the jaw by all the summer fanfare that people are engaged in. One friend went clamming with her family in the Northeast. Another, posted summer pictures from Florida. Others, showed pictures of boating and lakes, family outings and reunions, kids being summer kids, and so on.

I have no such posts. I have had no such experiences. I have had some fun times this summer - a road trip, a quick weekend with my sibling and nieces, a few days with an dear friend in a city where I grew up, a fundraiser for an organization that I planned and came off very well, and assorted other bits and pieces of time with various friends and, of course, time spent with my best friend. It works for me, but it is so very nontraditional. I feel like others are living a Kodak life and I am living a version of modern art - you see it, but you don't really get it.

I like my life (save for being separated by distance from my closest friends) and the non-traditional family I have created. I have my best friend who is what passes for my significant other. Even though we don't live in the same city any more, I see him frequently and talk to him every day on the phone or via a computer medium. I have my close girlfriends who are my siblings. I keep up with their comings and goings, boyfriends and girlfriends, financial predicaments, etc. I have crazy aunts and uncles in my extended family who are the friends and family of my "sibilings" This is how I know I am glad I don't have a real family. One real sibiling is enough, thank you. I have my children who are the kids I mentor, big sister, volunteer my time with, take to events, and enjoy watching grow up.

I have some very nontraditional friends on FB - I don't really hang out with the Donna Reed crowd. But kids and family - the kind that are with you every day - is missing from my life at the moment. And I guess all the pictures and tales of summer stuff just kind of crept up on me today. I am grateful I no longer live with my ex-husband. And I just am not into the dating scene (a whole other story). Which leaves me with me. I wish I were more entertaining and fun to be with, so I could amuse - well, me! Let's face it, I get bored! I long for a dinner party, a movie night, shakespear in the park, a museum - with people I know. It's why I keep one foot in my old city, while I try on shoes on the other foot in this new city. Moving is easy. Living there is a lot tougher.