Pete and Repeat - July in Review and August Goals

I would love to tell you, dear readers, that we are all settled into our new home, but that is not the case. Our books, furniture, clothes, pots, pans, and most of the material essence of our lives still has not been put into a container and sent on its journey from the Midwest. Fortunately, we had decided to get new bedroom furniture and a sofa for what will eventually be our study, so we do have something besides an air mattress to sleep on and something to sit on. Unfortunately, I took cooking utensils so for granted that I forgot about how useful and necessary they are. You haven't lived until you end up stirring sauteing vegetables with a plastic knife and nearly burning the shit out of yourself trying to drain water from pasta without a colander. Bailey, too, has not quite settled into the new place and new routines. She made a jail break today and there were a few tense and tearful moments before we managed to find her.

We'll get there eventually, but maybe not until I get back from my second trip to NYC, which begins shortly. In the meantime, let's talk about what's going on with my goals. In July I kept them to a minimum in order to be somewhat manageable during a chaotic time. They were:

1. Stay active. I did alright with this. It was a very low mileage month for me running wise between a bad summer cold and the move, but I got in a number of short runs, a handful of short yoga practices, and at least an hour of walking each day that I was in NYC.

2. Make progress on an article manuscript draft. I definitely made progress. I managed to keep up with my goal of writing or revising a minimum of three pages a week even while I was working on the project in New York and during the move. There is still a fair amount of work to be done, but I need to be able to access some books before I can do all of it.

3. Take lots of photos. I took a fair share of photos during the month of July and only missed one day of snapping a shot for my 365 project.

4. Take advantage of my time in New York. I think I did quite well with this. I went to museums; I went to the ballet; I ran in Central Park; I ran a 5K race; I scoped out a couple of cupcakeries; I did work in the NYPL; and I spent time with friends who live in the city.

5. Be kind to my spouse. I will put this one in the books as a success, too. Luckily, M. and I travel well together anyway, but I did try to make an extra effort to think before speaking or acting during the more stressful moments of packing, closing on the house, and moving.

So what about August? My energies will be divided between more time in New York during the first part of the month, and the start of classes during the second part of the month. Hopefully unpacking and getting more fully settled into routines will be part of the plan, too. So I'm keeping my goals as manageable as possible. They are:

1. Get my course syllabi ready and my lesson plans in order. It goes without saying that I have a bit of work to do to get my classes up and running in a new institution, but it's important and time-consuming, so I'm putting it down.

2. Make more progress on that article manuscript. While some things will have to wait until I have my research files and a library card, there are some sections that can be fleshed out and some that still need overhauling. I want to spend at least part of one of my free days in NYC in the public library again.

3. Start training for my fall half-marathon. I'll write more about this later, but I'm registered to run a half-marathon in 12 weeks. I need to pick a plan and start amping up my mileage again.

4. Attend at least three yoga classes during the month of August. I'm really feeling the need to get back on my mat for longer periods of time. It's time.

Do you have any goals for August? Any fall half-marathons or races for which you've started to train?