Taking Stock

It's hard to believe that in 2 weeks, the school year starts again. Summers just seem to get shorter and shorter and shorter. We've had a lot of bad weather this summer too. According to the local news, it rained 17 days in June, 16 days in July, and so far, it's rained 5 days in August. Definitely a wet summer, with not a lot of sun.

I haven't accomplished much in the way of organizing my house or de-cluttering it, either. I have done a lot of reading and knitting, which are both ways I de-stress. Unfortunately, I've had a lot to de-stress about. For most of the summer we were on pins and needles as to what was going to happen on our team at school. That decision was made, and now I'm stressing over the fact that I can't teach what I'm good at teaching (and qualified to teach!) and I will be teaching a major content area that I'm not qualified to teach. What's really making me nuts right now is that I don't even have access to the textbook til the end of this coming week!

Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of my mom's death. Three years ago I spent my summer caring for her during her final days at her home in another state. My husband stayed here, and I spent the summer 1000 miles away. I feel blessed that I was able to give my mom the gift of being able to die at home, supported by her children. I really miss my mom -- I still catch myself heading to the phone on Saturday mornings to tell her about a book she has to read, or to ask for advice on what to do with the mountain of cabbage and eggplant I received in my CSA share this week. And there have been lots of reminders of her this week -- from the mountain of veggies that she always knew how to can or freeze, to finding a copy of a book by one of her favorite authors featured on the "favorites" shelf at the library.

I had my annual physical and eye exam this week too. A mix of positives and negatives. Positives include the fact that my glucose levels are better than they've been, my good cholesterol is REALLY good, and my blood pressure is really good. Negatives include the fact that my weight hasn't budged, my bad cholesterol hasn't changed, and I need a new prescription for my glasses. That means new frames too, since they can't use my existing frames for my new lenses. I hate trying to pick out new frames too. My husband was out of state on business, so I had to rely on the office staff at the eye doctors and my own sense of what looks good to pick out new frames. I hope I chose wisely --- the office staff was split on the 3 frames I narrowed it down to! I went with the first pair I'd tried on and kept coming back to. They were the cheaper frames too. Now I just need to get a decent hair cut and color and I should be set!

2008 Books

I've been reading a lot of "brain candy" so far this year. I'm in the "fluff" part of my reading cycle. Over the holidays I read some thought-provoking, more serious, materials, and now I'm in the dessert section! I'm tracking my reading and taking up the challenge of reading 50 books this year. This challenge would not have been a problem in the past as until recently I have been a voracious reader. But over the past couple of years, I've taken up knitting pretty obsessively and my reading time is what has suffered! And I've also spent an awful lot of time reading blogs instead of books! So this should be an interesting challenge for me this year.

One great book I can recommend, though I finished it in the waning days of 2007, is Three Cups of Tea. It's a terrific true story of Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber, who is building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a way to promote peace. My sister sent a copy to each of my adult sons as a Christmas gift and told them that everyone under 30 should read it. I think EVERYONE should read it, no matter your age.