its not bad. I usually try to drive it somewhere so it doesnt just fizzle out, without falling into text buddy frame.

within the context of small talk its also good to

• direct it somewhere. eg make an easy to respond to statement
• say things a little more interesting.

if I respond late like you did, I just respond 'good afternoon ;)' to her good morning

or if talking about work
'good, working on a fancy project'.

things like that.

little white lies dont hurt either so long as they drive the convo fwd. I have tons of old photos of places near me (LI) or old dishes I made that i just send clingy types if they ask me what ive been up to, that in reality happened months etc ago, but are a good default go to if nothing comes to mind. and then I add some flirtiness. 'just made some x, come try it' format etc