August 1, 2023

Goodbye July... Hello August!

July was an odd month - I felt like I didn't do much until I reviewed my goals and realized I have done a fair amount.  We did loads of house projects (final final kitchen post coming soon!) as well as sorting the baby room, washing baby clothes, planning weekend family holiday, hosting guests for 8 days and going away for a weekend.  I also managed to eat through some of the food I've been meaning to clear from the cupboard (the packaged Pad Thai wasn't as good as I hoped).  And of course I did the family and kids albums, started planning Isaac's birthday party, and had a number of play dates, and interviewed for a new job.  

The disappointments of July is that I only read two books this month (I'm wondering if the dishwasher is already limiting my audiobook time?) and that I'm doing basically no exercise at all.  I'm generally tired and uncomfortable already... and I still have just under 3 months of pregnancy to go.  It was also very rainy this month, which has definitely affected my overall perception of the month... I'm glad I'm not too hot but I definitely appreciate a day of sunshine here or there (plus my stubborn refusal to buy a maternity rain coat means I'm continually ill prepared for rain and will be until I'm not pregnant)

But onwards to August!  The sun has come out today so I hope this is a good sign for the month.  Isaac and Lilah are both in Nursery 3 days a week in August, and I'm enjoying the last of my school-free time with Isaac.  Starting in September I'll have a child in school for the next... 18 years of my life?  

This month we have small adventures planned - I want to go to our local bread shop on a Saturday to see their Saturday specials.  We are also going glamping for a weekend which I am super excited about - I've never been glamping before and we're staying in a yurt.

I plan on reading more in August, I have a lot of books coming through libby that I keep putting back on hold.  Right now I'm listening to the Audio of Daisy Jones & the Six (LOVE IT!) and reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.  Both exactly the kind of books to get me back into reading after a bit of a reading slump.

I plan on blogging more in August - I have topics I've been meaning to write about but I seem to be staying up late and waking up early and generally too busy.

I have some fun work projects coming up, including a final interview for the lateral/upward job.  No matter how that turns out I'm so glad I've made the effort.

My goal is to continue to fix all the annoying things that I keep putting off due to time.  For instance, my handbag fell apart about two months ago - I bought it 8 years ago and loved it and then I realized it wasn't looking particularly good anymore:

So I've been just putting things in my pockets to leave the house, but that's not really working in the summer when I don't wear jackets as much.  I finally ordered 6 purses online, had them all delivered, and chose this new one (which was on half price sale!):
Then I sent the rest back and now I have a purse again.   My new bag fits a water bottle, isn't falling apart, and actually didn't cost much.  It just took time to put together an order and return. 

This month, I want to fix some other "pebbles in my shoe" - my laundry basket has two broken handles but I haven't replaced it (I have taped it back together three times, but my tape bill is increasing dramatically).  I also broke 2 of my 3 kitchen bowls, so I currently have a set of 1.  I want to get a few more so I can have a set of... 3?.  I also need to get some more cutlery - we only own 8 forks and that was fine when we hand washed everything after every meal but is currently the limiting factor on our dishwasher cycle.

It would probably be good if I incorporated some exercise/movement into my day (besides housework and following kids and getting up to wee 20 times a day) but I don't really have a goal here and I am aware that "move more" really isn't achievable/trackable.

So fingers crossed for a not too hot August.  Mostly I hope I'm not too uncomfortable and can continue to put in energy now to make my life easier in the future.

How was your July?  Do you have any big summer goals left or already achieved?

6 comments:

  1. I have a couple of other books I think you'll like as audiobooks: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, similar to Daisy Jones, it's an oral history of a rock band, but it has slightly tougher subjects about racism and sexism, and Echo, which is a lovely YA story about a harmonica and how it impacts the lives of four different children across time.

    One of my favorite handbags had a broken strap for YEARS and I finally sent it out for repair earlier this summer. It felt great to have something like that crossed off my to-do list. Better late than never, right?

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    1. Oooh thank you! I'm always looking for new audiobooks, will put these on my list. I also want to read more YA so Echo sounds great.

      It's such a rush to finally fix things / cross things off lists, I always wonder why it takes me ages too...

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  2. I'm definitely down for more blogging from you in August!

    I've had my share of purses that looked like yours by the end! I keep them until they look terrible and then grudgingly go out to TJ Maxx and always find something very cute and very cheap and wonder why I didn't replace it sooner. And yet the cycle continues....

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  3. You're going glamping. Color me jealous! That sounds like such a fun getaway (you gotta blog about it, obviously).
    I love all your other goals (and I do agree, it sounds like you had a pretty successful July, although I also agree that the month somehow flew by. Just like every other month this year.)

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    1. I'm so excited! I've never been before and I've always wanted to try it

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  4. Thank you for a wonderful recap of your July. I can relate to the idea of having "pebbles in my shoe" and i hate having them. I refer to all of the unfinished things as "open loops" but the idea is the same. It's those tiny things that eat away at your energy, constantly in the back of your mind. My anxious nature allows me to address these open loops in a prompt manner, for most of the time. Example of an open loop that I closed in July: scrape and paint our third floor star case that was yellow and peeling. What a wonderful feeling!

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