By now many of you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting regularly.

Or much at all, if the truth be told.

I’ve effectively been under an enforced ‘internet interlude’, partially of my own making, but mainly due to connectivity issues.

As I’ve shared in Bite of the Generational Sandwich, the main focus of our trip back to the US this summer was my father’s cancer diagnosis. We’ve extended our time here to be with my parents as long as possible.

I’ll be candid: dealing with my father’s condition and what lies ahead has taken almost all of my energy and focus for quite some time now. Writing has taken a back seat for the time being, and understandably so.

Still, I find myself awash in so many new subjects, having different thoughts, fresh ways of looking at old perspectives and beliefs. New angles, new ideas. My mind races and I’ve been jotting things down for future consideration.

I’ve continued writing, but much of it has been offline. Which brings us to the more pressing reason why I haven’t been posting much recently.

The calendar may say that it’s August of 2012, but don’t let it fool you: I’m held hostage in a connectivity wasteland, circa the electronic Middle Ages.

It is a long, involved story that centers mainly around the fact that many elderly people (I’m talking late-70s and older here) don’t exactly have state-of-the-art internet connectivity in their homes.

And why would they? So much of what the rest of us take for granted in our daily lives was invented after they reached retirement age.

So let’s just say that I’ve been languishing in the aforementioned internet hinterland, and leave it at that. 

Little in the way of posting on my blog, virtual silence on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn. Very little on Facebook, and even less on email.

Oh, and I did manage to squeeze in Skype sessions with my dear Jane at Wordgeyser and Maria at I Was an Expat Wife last month that were absolutely instrumental in keeping me connected, sane and on an even keel.

Seriously, those Skype conversations and some in person visits with several fantastic friends in North Carolina (including Carol at Pause and Smile) in mid-July have kept me going. I am a lucky, lucky gal indeed.

So I am alive, doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances, and grateful for every extra moment here with my parents.

I thought I’d end with a few bits and bytes that I want to share with you.

First up, I got a MAJOR shout out from my absolutely favorite British expat in Oz, Russell at In Search of a Life Less Ordinary, when he was interviewed by the Telegraph’s Suzi Dixon for Top Expats on Twitter. Good writer, good blogger, good soul. Profuse thanks to a great cyber friend and great guy.

Then another regular expat contributor at the Telegraph, the British Chris Marshall now residing in Spain, interviewed me for his article Why Have Expats Set the Blogosphere Alight?

Finally, Erin and my good friends over at Blog Expat ran a profile interview From the USA to the Netherlands.

I’m not entirely sure when I’ll emerge from my internet interlude, but it won’t be much longer. My apologies for not keeping up with so many of the great posts and articles written by so many other terrific bloggers and writers, but I will eventually catch up.

I promise.