Sorry for my little blogging hiatus last week. Things should be back to normal this week. If you must know, last week I was rendered practically immobile by a horrendous rash, which I’m just now recovering from, thanks to steroids and a miracle cream called Elidel (which ain’t cheap at $55 for a 30-gram tube. It’s almost as expensive as printer ink!). I have no idea where the rash came from, but I’m awfully glad it’s starting to go away.

I will be spending this week as a coffee shop vagabond. I’ve enrolled my daughter in a rock-climbing camp that’s a one-hour drive from my house. So rather than spending four hours on the road every day driving her back and forth, I’m going to cut it down to just two hours and while away my days in bagel shops and public libraries in Charlotte (and hopefully, I’ll get a mother lode of writing done in the process).

Fortunately, the Panera Bread Company where I’m having lunch today features “free” Internet access (though actually it cost $7 when you count the cost of my half turkey sandwich and caesar salad). One question: why must every coffee house in Charlotte be air-conditioned to 68 degrees? Don’t they realize that it’s SUMMERTIME and people are wearing SHORTS?