Reading Wish List

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
Lorreta Lux' Aperture
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
What You Have Left by Will Allison
The Canon by Natalie Angier
The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin
White Noise by don delillo

June 1-11 posts

Friday, June 5

Cody graduated from 8th grade today! He got the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence, which is for kids who have maintained 3.5 GPA over their 3 years in middle school. We went to lunch with the Johnson's at Tokyo Steak House. It was great.

Something sad happened last night, though. Fortunately I did not know these kids, but we had 3 kids who just graduated from high school get into a one-car accident. There was alcohol involved and the one who died was not wearing his seatbelt. Another is in the hospital in Seattle, and the girl walked away unscathed. We got the call at about 3 AM, but David didn't have to go in. Emily Johnson knew the kids, but not well. David said that the one who died was an oxy dealer in the school and had been in a lot of trouble recently.

Saturday, June 6
Slept in late today. Supposed to go to a wedding today, but when I checked the time (I was thinking 7 pm), there was all this stuff on their blog about get there early - like 4:30, and it sounded really bossy and was really off-putting. Dave wanted to go out on the boat, and that sounded like a better idea to me, especially since it is about 80 degrees and beatiful! Cody started his job at 12:45. He rode his bike. Tyler and I dropped Dave off at the barber, then we went to Fred Meyer to buy him some shorts and sandals. We picked up David and then went home to get ready to go on the boat. After lunch, we headed out, and got the boat in the water over by False Outer Point. We didn't catch any fish, but I had a lovely time sitting on top of the boat, drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade and eating CornNuts, and I even got a bit of a sunburn.. Just a little. We came back home, and Cody got home about the same time. We had a nice evening together.
Sunday, June 7
Another beautiful day. Cody had to work at 3 PM so I dropped him off. Then I saw a bear try to cross the road. I bought some shrimp from Superbear and created my own marinade and rice combination to go with them. David went to pick up Cody but somehow they missed each other and Cody ended up walking home without telling anyone that he was doing that. He was grounded. I know he felt bad. I stressed the importance of communication to him, and reminded him that is why he has a cell phone. I reassured him that we would never just NOT pick him up. He needs to let someone know what he is doing.

Monday, June 8

JoAnn is back from vacation. Apparently the kids that were in the car accident last week were close friends of her son, Kevin. In fact, one of them was supposed to go on this road trip in the van with them. She is very upset. It was hard to watch several people ask her about it, and watch her try to hold it together all day.

Tuesday, June 9
I kept thinking today was Wednesday but it's only Tuesday. David was going to go out on the boat with Ed tonight, but right before he was to get off, he ended up having to stay at work and didn't get home until about 11.
Wednesday, June 10
I'm just waiting for this week to be over. I ordered food for next week's Portland Event. I still have to order food for Seattle Mariner's Game. But that can wait until next week. Once again David had to work late. He didn't' get home until about 1:30 AM. The kids were both gone. Tyler and Wil were camping out at Montana Creek, and Cody was camping on the trampoline at the DeWitt's with Travis and Chandler (who is visiting the Johnson's from Arizona). Cody did stay and eat hamburgers with me. I cooked them on the grill, but the grill ran out of propane when they were almost done, and so I had to finish them on the stove. After Cody left, I played around with my new cable remote, specifically the On Demand function, and watched an enhanced version of the first episode of True Blood, which we had missed when it first aired. It was awesome. I love that show. The first episode of the second season is next weekend. I don't know if I can wait until David gets home from Shelter Island like I should.
Thursday, June 11
So now I'm caught up for June. Right where I should be now, in the moment. I think this One Note system is going to work pretty well, because of the screen clipping capability. I don't think I'm going to go back into previous months on Face book. I don't really have anything pressing in there anyway. I think I'm just going to plow forward from this point. I may import some stuff from my blogs from previous, though.
I'm kind of bored at work right now. I think next week will be pretty busy but this week is pretty boring so far. I have a headache that has been here pretty much since yesterday morning.

How we met in Vegas

Pretty cool video that Chris made about our trip to Vegas in April 2009:
How We Met in Vegas
I had a bad cold on this trip, and the whole thing is stewed in prescription-strength Sudafed and Vodka Cranberries. It was awesome.

New Years Day - Thoughts

So I guess I'm supposed to make some resolutions today. I don't really feel like doing that because they will just sound like the same goals that everyone else has, the same ones I put on my list every single year. They don't even need to be stated anymore.

Sometime in the past year -- maybe not quite a year ago, I did come up with some general goals, and I think I'll just update where I am with those at this point in time:

Mental Wellness Goals:

• Stop reading and caring about celebrities - I think I'm doing pretty good with this one. I'm pretty much in a who gives a shit mode with them, which I think is good.
• Read more - I read a lot. I think for this year, I'd like to read a little more nonfiction, and try to be more informed about the world.
• Do hobbies more - I'm working on a beautiful cross-stitching project and I'd like to continue that. I just need to do it more.

Household Goals:

• Eat dinner at the table more often - still working on this one, keep trying
• Have people over for dinner more often - still a good goal
• Have kids cook dinner and help with meal planning - still good to have as a goal

Health and Personal Care Goals:

• Eat better - include more healthy stuff, exclude more unhealthy stuff - I've been so-so with this. I need to continue focusing on drinking a glass of milk with each meal to get my 3 servings. I should also be taking vitamins, and I will try harder.
• avoid eating after dinner - start drinking herbal tea instead - I haven't done very well with this most days. I'm still having a homemade wine cooler after dinner instead of tea. I can do better. (I didn't change ANYTHING in that progress summary from my last one)
• walk and move more in general - stop being so lazy! - I just need to move more. I would like to get into a routine of using my new elliptical machine every day, and using the home weights I have. JUST DO IT, Girl!

Financial Goals:

• Keep up with financial spreadsheet daily - I need to be more regular with this and stop spending without immediate tracking -- if I stay on top of it constantly, I should be able to avoid overspending, which is my main problem, including spending needlessley.
• stop buying magazines - not so good with this. I like magazines, darn it! but all they give me is clutter I have to clean up (which I do not have a problem with), and a short term escape. I need to just focus on reading more substantial things, and getting this type of entertainment via internet rather than paper.
• pay down credit cards and work towards paying them OFF - haven't really been trying hard, need to focus in on this more this year, and make some real headway.

General comments after having updated all of this:

• I'd like to be a better communicator. I think that if I start with my blog, then I can parlay that into useful information to communicate with other people. I need to make the effort and not expect people to come looking for changes in my blog or waiting for me to update. Does anybody care at all, anyway? I need to send letters, and stuff like that. It used to work for me to carry stationery in my purse, and I think I should just start there.
• I need to be a better homemaker and not feel like I am playing catch up. I need routine.