1. In July I ran 52.12 miles. My year-to-date mileage is at 335.53 miles.
2. I read two books this month: Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10) and a self help book, Joint Custody with a Jerk: Raising a Child with an Uncooperative Ex: A Hands-On, Practical Guide to Communicating with a Difficult Ex-Spouse. (I know, I know, the title is subjective, but I have already started to use this book when communicating with J and it has REALLY helped. It goes over identifying who has the problem (you, ex, child) and then how to resolve it from there (using I statements, taking time before quickly responding back, etc.). What I also loved about this book is that it really goes to the heart of the matter, how to improve the communication so that the child (or children) are not involved or in the middle. It tells you when you need to just listen to your child, when you need to help the child work out the problem they have with your ex (this helps build self confidence and enables them to work out their own problems with Dad/Mom and yet they won’t be afraid to use you as a sounding board again). It really covers A LOT, and it was so helpful that it was really hard for me to put it down. In fact, 15% into the book I had a fight with my ex, and I used that fight as an example of what NOT to do for the rest of the book. It really has helped and put everything into perspective for me. I hope this book does as much for you as it has for me.
3. Kids enjoyed their first LIVE fireworks display and LOVED. We still have a bag of home fireworks that we haven’t touch yet due to everything being so dry and crispy here.
4. Autumn’s first ER visit. And, first hospital stay. 2 nights. One more word. Asthma.
5. Did a couple of fun activities with Brian, we went to Montelle Winery for their sunset dinner (plan to go back in the Fall!), we did a paddle boat ride/picnic dinner (with wine!) in the Grand Basin at the Boathouse and dinner at the Muny before seeing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. OH, and Brian got to meet my friends from high school, Becky and Terri.
6. Finishing some items off our summer bucket list: rollerskating, Tower Grover Park Market and Wade Pool/Fountains, Whistle Stop Icecream shop
7. Nathan finished T-Ball (his second year)!
8. Teacher Conferences and preparing for school to start in TWO weeks. Nathan is going to have a lot of homework this year, so I am trying to brace for that.
9. I signed Autumn up at a dance school and she will start in September. I called about 4 different schools, and Denoyer Dance won. Its 2 miles from home and they have a class that will work in will with our schedule. Nathan will be playing soccer and will be in Cubscouts this Fall/year.
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And, how I am doing on my resolutions…
(1) Grow in my faith – Still reading my Once a Day Bible… sort of looking forward to the start of the New Testament. Can’t believe I have kept this goal this year!
(2) Friendships – I went to dinner and a movie with a couple of friends, but nothing else to report. I am SORTA thinking about having a revolving get together at my house, either involving movies or books… wine and apps. We’ll see if I can get it together. I wanted to send it to a mixture of my friends, too, so not everyone knows each other.
(3) Risks – Trying to stand up for myself is a biggie, and stand firm on my beliefs.
(4) Quality time with my kids – July has been a quality month when it comes to time with my kids. The later bed times have helped, but I am afraid once school starts again, it’ll be back to the earlier bed time. I have been trying to do some of the summer bucket list items with them, and even some things that they have brought up that aren’t on the list. (Nathan wants to go paddle boating for instance.)
(5) Time to myself each week that isn’t BUSY time. Recharge time. This has been fairly easy to do this summer, since I have the kids every other week. But, it will become more of a challenge once the Fall schedule starts and I have them pretty much all week. This is another reason why I need to get them back on an earlier bed time before school starts. But, I am trying to not be so rigid on what I just can’t get done, I only have so many hours in a day. The maids continue to be lifesavers, I am so thankful for them. I have found that my workouts take a lot of my free time, runs and I have added a couple of upper body workouts so I am trying to figure out the best times to workout. One thing I do want to try to do soon is have a day to myself, a relaxing day!
(6) Pursuing my interests: Going to Paris (finally!) in 3 days, Warrior Dash, Ziplining, etc., etc. I actually just updated my Mondo Beyondo list to help me determine what I need to focus on (it was almost 2 years old).
(7) Meals – I need to work on this soon, with the kids home more and I want to try to figure out a way to simplify Mr. Picky’s (Nathan) lunches.
(8) Mornings. I hate mornings. Try to be better about getting up on time. – Ugh. Not a good month. Should I give up?
(9) Finish my accumulating to-do list (its another blog!). – My 100 to do list is down to 27 ITEMS! Ok, ok, so its been over a year in progress… I am making PROGRESS! AND, this is with me adding stuff to it as needed! Yippers!
