July Goals

Well here we are a third through the month and I have finally gotten around to posting my summer goals. I have had them jotted down on one of my many little notepads.

They are quiet goals - reflective of my diminished health conditions. Most times I am at peace with that. Most times :-)

• clean out 'the paperwork' bin.  Summer is when I like to go through and get rid of the previous  year's documents... bills, statements, insurance forms etc. Keeping what is needed and shredding what is no longer necessary. It's amazing how much paper that tub can hold, but it has proven invaluable. More than once I have needed something from there and it makes me so happy to be able to find it.

• Read Read Read Read. I need to rediscover the joy of losing myself in a book, preferably while sitting outside at my little patio and getting some sunshine. Some will be for personal pleasure. Some will be YA books that I can recommend to my students. Some will be professional development books.

• Walk Walk Walk. Ok I don't do well in heat and we are in the middle of a long heat stretch. That means I need to get my butt out of bed earlier so I can walk before the heat comes. My walks are short....the longest is 30 min or just under 2K. Those are always risky colitis walks. But heck even if I can get out for a 2 x 2 (two blocks down, 2 over, return home) a couple times  a day, it is something. I need the walks for so many reasons..health...weight...forcing myself to leave my 'safe zone'.  I will admit to being 'lame' and using pokemon go app to encourage that. Noooo I don't go battle and such but the walking 'hatches' eggs and it is oddly motivating for me. Rather like my Nike walk app but, animated. If it gets me moving, then I'm game. Hatching four 5K eggs a week means I am walking 20K a week at least. That's not impossible.

• Fitbit 10, 000 Steps. This piggybacks off the above bullet. I have no problem getting that many steps during a work day, but summer doesn't provide that for me, so I have to provide it for myself

• My computer room. I rarely use the room anymore. I use my laptop instead. I am surprised that desktop hasn't died yet. That room is a storage room for all things now that the boys are not around to pit in down there. I could probably get rid of 20 bags of stuff just from that room, and it's 4 x 8 feet, with a closet. DH needs a place to study for his next waterworks course he has to take for work and it's cool down there. A good motivator.

• Make a tentative money plan for the rest of 2017. I have some money goals left. I have college for DS1. I have a trip down to see DS in October. And of course I have the ever mountain college LOC to hack and whittle away at.  I know that as soon as I make a plan, Murphy will wander by to dip his finger in the plans and swirl away, but if I don't plan, it's hard to make goals.

• Lose 6 lbs. I started off this summer 20 lbs lighter than last July 1. Of course that was a super high for me. I figured I would use the 'loss' to springboard a push to lose a bit. I have college gear I bought with my son's team on it and as it is his last year there, it would be nice to fit it before he is done :-)  

• Delve into Ancestry. I splurged for a one month membership with international access. This will give me a chance to peek at the usually inaccessible sources that pop up, usually from USA or UK. A good part of my family on my dad's side moved to Canada from Upstate New York and I have found some great pics of the ancestors. On my paternal grandfather's side, thanks to the work of a genealogist, we can trace to Bern Switzerland in the early 1300s. It's pretty darn cool. I find it amazing how the surname as evolved over the years. Some of it, in part, due to poor spelling of the census takers throughout the years. 

You will notice there aren't any traditional summer activities on here. No go here, do this, celebrate that. no camping.   Have to regain my strength first.