What I've been missing

There are a few things missing in my life these days. Some I've cried over and some I've rejoiced over.

I've been missing this since last Friday afternoon:

That's when I dropped her off at RubyDooby's. They left early Saturday morning for their annual beach trip. She's been in Florida with her cousins playing in the ocean, swimming in the pool and giving less than a moments thought to me or her Dad. We know this because we've only heard from her one time. And during that conversation she was playing her DS. It's nothing we didn't expect though. She's taken this trip every year since she was 4 and every year we miss her way more than she misses us.

I've been missing Little Debbie because of this:

I figured if I'm going to get serious about this work-out nonsense, I might as well go all out. So I've cut way down on my sugar intake, I've been eating a little healthier and watching my portion sizes. There have been no soft drinks and no Oatmeal Cream Pies. I've been really diligent with it and can really tell a difference in my strength and stamina. Last week I lost 3 pounds and a full inch in my hips. I've promised not to weigh myself again until this Friday. Hopefully I'll be missing a few more pounds by then.


I've been missing a good book.

I really got on a reading kick this summer. Every couple of weeks I've gone to the library and chosen a couple of random things I've either heard about or seen on some best-seller list. Some have been really enjoyable (The Whitney Chronicles) and some have been interesting and disturbing (The Lovely Bones). Reading Melissa Gilbert's memoir "A Prairie Tale" forever changed the way I will view cute little Half Pint so after finishing it I went straight for my Broadway hero Kristin Chenoweth's memoir "A Little Bit Wicked", which cheered me up tremendously.

For a month I was on a roll. That's when I found a list of books recommended by some well known authors. I thought they'd know what they were talking about so I followed their advice. I finished one (A Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult) and started another (The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman). The former was meant to challenge my faith and ended up offending me greatly. The latter is just boring. They're both going back today and I'll begin a search for something new. Something a little less depressing, sacrilegious and morbid.

Come this Thursday I'll be missing something else. My hair. Well, not all of it. Just some of it. I'm going to see the Hair Whisperer and I've decided to do something a little different. I'm thinking of this:

No, don't be silly. I'm not going blond. I just want to lose some the thickness with choppier layers. What do you think? It's very unlike me to try anything new with my hair so we'll see if I lose my nerve between now and then.

Want to know what I'm not missing? School. But that doesn't matter because today we have our first faculty planning luncheon. Classes resume the first week in August so there's not much summer left for me. In two weeks, I'll be missing some hair, a few pounds and free time spent reading.

But I have a feeling I'll miss summer most of all.