Remember Me?

GUESS WHO?

Hi.  It is I -- the blogger me.  Remember me?  Gloria.  Gloria is my name.  And yours?  Nice to make your reacquaintance (dictionary says this isn't a word, but it's MY blog . . . I say it is).  Lately, my blog has been treated more like an abandoned East Coast beach house in the path of Hurricane Irene.  But summer life is still kicking it's feet to a fast and furious beat which could possibly match the winds and gust of aforementioned super storm.

But I miss you all.  You readers of my self-expression on the good and the bad days.  You readers who choose to leave behind a few of your own words in reaction.  AND those who like to paddle softly behind the scenes, riding in the wake so as not to leave any trace of your presence.  I'm sweet on each and every one of you.

The Mona Lisa smile of a happy, if lately infrequent, blogger.

Instead of pounding the rather warm AM pavement with Hank the Wonder Pup, I'm perched on one of these lovely kitchen stools that my mother-in-law so gorgeously reupholstered for me, scanning Facebook and waiting for the Benadryl (well, diphenhydramine, the generic cousin) to kick in and soothe my irritated skin.  It's quite sad, really, because it appears that this dog lover harbors a part-time allergy to her handsome hound friend of recent acquisition.  Though I've blamed my full-time sinus headaches and congestion of these past months on the worse-than-usual allergy season here in Middle Tennessee, I'm beginning to wonder if the dander-laced straight white hairs liberally adhering to the bottom of our dining set chairs and kitchen rugs could be the culprits.  Mucinex-D and Allegra are staples in my pharmacological arsenal: never have I ingested more antihistamines and decongestants!  On this fabulous Friday, after a round of 6:30AM canine cuddling incited tiny welts and a furious round of topical itching, it was incumbent upon me to add the Benadryl -- with a coffee chaser to counter the drowsiness that often hits me within an hour.  But I label the possible allergy to Hank as part-time due to the random nature of these bouts of contact dermatitis.  This development will NOT derail my ownership.  Fear not!  I'll shoot myself up with whatever concoction will keep me level in order to maintain my relationship with my life-affirming retriever-mix.

Multiple allergens in this picture.

Having said that, it appears the walk may be on.  I'll be back.  Until then, a fond and friendly fare thee well.

NATURE SHOT:  A sunflower sprung from the bird feeder discards
pays it forward to a handsome male Goldfinch.