Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave...

What was I doing all that time I was away from my blog?

Well, I:

...participated in the Mighty Texas Dog Walk with 'Stache. So much fun; took my dog and Platinum - and she walked the entire thing with me! That's a long distance for a 5-year old. We turned around just a bit before the midpoint, but we still completed about 4/5 of the 5k.
...met some men. More on that later, really.
...lightened my hair to a strawberry blonde.
...broke up with someone. There will NOT be more on that later.
...ended my first year of teaching.
...decided to start saving to get a new car by December.
...turned 31. Acted like a 21 year old that night :-)
...bought some very, very nice shoes and handbags. I almost blogged about that the day I bought them - I'm that into shoes that they inspire me to reach for the keyboard, all the while ignoring any semblance of deep thought.
...went on a vacation to an island with my family.
...came back with a blistering sunburn from said island trip.
...pretended to be a proctologist named Dr. Anita Manda Cuppenpoke for a P Party. What's a P Party, you ask? Everyone comes dressed as something beginning with, you guessed it, the letter P. It was a good time for sure, but not quite the highlight of my partying month. My birthday night out gets that honor, hands down ;-)
...conquered a mild fear of the ocean, and boats on the ocean.
...was contacted by, I kid you not, 4 ex boyfriends. Well, the term "boyfriend" is used loosely here. Three of them were men that I had dated briefly (2-4 dates) last year, one was someone with a bit more significance. After talking to Christmas, I was reminded of a rather obvious bit of wisdom that I have chosen to ignore repeatedly as of late. Exes are exes for a reason, and that reason is virtually always present regardless of how much time has passed. I should tattoo this on my forearm for reference.
...met a man at a bar. I know, I know, I know...cliche and awful sounding, right? It gets worse (and yet, in some ways, better - even pretty good). I'll just let your imaginations run wild with this one. Three of my closest girlfriends know allllllll about it :-) Let's just say, Jerry Springer would have been proud of the aftermath.

I'm going to end this post on that high note. I'll expand on a few of the events another time, because they are worth exploring in order to sharpen my perspective...and, they're pretty damn funny.

TMYK

Alcohol changes people. For the majority of cute girls, drinking makes you cuter, and when a generous male friend drinks with you, you have a license to bitch at will and still be seen as cute because they aren't really listening to you anyway. They are watching your cleavage jiggle as you laugh at your own verbal blunders. This is okay, let them watch. Be kind to others who pay for your drinks.