Summertime Resolutions July Update

Another month has come & gone so that means it is time for another update on the summertime resolutions. I think this month was a bit more productive so I'm happy about that.

Read, Read, Read: My books this month mostly revolved around a couple of series that I have started & would like to complete. I read By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was an easy read, but I really enjoyed it. I have never in all of my 27 years finished this series, in fact, I don't think that I had ever actually made it to this book in the series so it was a good feeling to finally be able to motivate myself to read it (especially considering I teach reading to elementary students!) I think I only have about 2-3 books left to go now in this series & they do seem to get better as Laura matures through the books. The next two books I read are also part of a series (a very popular series that as a teacher-I probably should have read a long time ago too!) I read the first two books in the Harry Potter series Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Both of these books were excellent, although I'm not really sure why they became such a phenomenon. Harry & his friends make for great characters & these books felt like reading a mystery novel set in a "fantasy" world (two genres that I tend to like) so they both definitely made for good reading. I'm ready to read the third one, but I'm working on another novel (a western) right now that is part of yet another series so it will have to wait for a little while & that is okay by me. (I know, I know, what are you thinking Anita? Trying to read books from 3 different series at the same time-I hope I can keep them all straight! I guess if I start thinking that there are wizards & indians "out west" & that Laura Ingalls is attending Hogwarts then someone better give me a good shake!) The last book I finished was one that is required by the school (work) because we will be receiving training in it once school starts up again. It is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. It is a "self-help" book, but I actually really enjoyed it. I thought that it had a lot of good advice for teens (& adults), but since it was geared at teens-the examples were slightly off base for an adult reading it. We were told that it contains much of the same info as the adult version of the book, but that the teen version was a much easier read & easier to follow so that is why it was chosen by the school for the staff to read. In addition, I found out that I am a "grape" & boy, did the description of a "grape" (me) hit the nail on the head! It contains great life skills for anyone to put into use in their own lives.
Exercise: I'm a little proud of myself on this one because I have actually been getting more active this month. I've also been using her to hold myself accountable, which has helped tremendously. I finally got back into doing my Pilates videos 1-2 times a week (usually twice-yeah me!) & I have been working walks in a couple times too, however, since all of the hot, muggy weather set in over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to incorporate other types of activity into my week when walking isn't very appealing. I like to throw a CD on the player & dance around the kitchen & living room while holding Luke (an extra 20lbs makes a HUGE difference) or sometimes we play chase/peek-a-boo around the island in the kitchen (Luke is in his walker so he can't actually fall down/hit his head/hurt himself when we do this-unless laughing too hard counts.) What can I say? Luke & I have quite a bit of fun during the day sometimes!
Get my photos organized: My photos are all pretty well organized on the computer into files that I am happy with. Now it is just a matter of trying to go back and edit the ones that need editing & continuing to sort out the pictures that have come from various locations (Scott's mom's camera, picture CD's, etc.) & finally getting my pictures printed/ordered!
Get my house in order: People are now allowed to enter the Master Bath & Living Room. :) Scott & I have been doing an okay job of keeping the Dining Room straightened up after my efforts last month so that is 3 rooms of my house that have been cleaned in great detail! Hooray! The next room on the agenda is Luke's bathroom+the 1/2 bath. These should go fairly quickly-I hope!

With school starting this next month, I'm hoping to stay on top of all of these things & get back into the groove of going to work every day again, so wish me luck.