My goal when I started this blog was to average a post once a week (since that is what is realistic for my life) and I think I have done a pretty good job of sticking to that. Through all the ups and downs of the last couple of years, through my mom’s illness and death, I somehow managed to keep blogging. It gave me joy, the routine of it was good for keeping me going and it has given me a place to talk about things. I certainly have not gone this long without posting though, but there was another death shortly after my last post (my beloved dog Charlie),…