OK, everyone, naptime is over.  This blog is obviously not going to write itself.  I have had some major obstacles to regrouping and recommitting to the blog, and with any luck those obstacles are behind me.  I intend to have compelling, relevant content on a consistent basis going forward.

Without getting too maudlin, my father passed away on June 30, 2011.  The personal loss was great, but the loss that’s more pertinent to this space was the precarious sense of order that I had started to feel about my life and my writing.  It’s strange to see that I’m still trying to regain focus almost a year later.

After the funeral came the settling of the estate.  Mainly, this meant finding new homes for all my dad’s stuff.  My house looked like a more bookish version of the set of Sanford & Son, and I felt like a Big Dummy for thinking I could parse through every item and get top dollar for the non-sentimentals and fit all the rest into a properly annotated and enormous scrapbook.

Oh, and then there was work.  I was duly taken to task for falling behind at work due to the inconvenient timing of my father’s demise, so I had to focus there, as well.  My work whisked me away to Houston, Toledo, and the North Carolina coast.  Then came the holidays.  And my ongoing home improvement projects…

And the continued blossoming of a most incredible relationship.  Yes, dear readers, I had business to attend to, but I have also been spending a fair amount of time in La La Land with a ridiculously caring and special dude.

So, not that any of you have been staying up nights pacing the floor, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

And I bought a new car.  Her name is Lessie and she is extorting monthly payments from me that I’m hoping to offset with proceeds from my brilliant blog posts, all laser-focused on highly search-engine-friendly topics.  Like this one.

So, OK, the truth is coming out.  It’s all about the money.  Come to think of it, just mail me some money and I’ll consider forgetting about the blog for another year.

Blackmail, you say? Such a harsh word.  Just call it hush money…

Silly asides aside, I am back and ready to rumble.  Please join me, won’t you?