I also used to live mostly in A mode until I got dogs.

Nowadays, I find myself shooting in S mode a lot.

Having said that, I don't like shooting wide open on a fast lens except in certain circumstances, so like you, I sometimes prefer to set both the shutter and aperture and compensate with ISO. I guess this is a luxury with newer digital cameras than it is with the older ones that had a barely usable ISO 1600.