What I am Into This Month: July

I apparently never took a beginning of July/end of June
picture. This is from early June, when life was green and not
one million degrees and in an emergency drought state.

I'm having a hard time believing July is over. Where on earth did this month go? It's been ridiculous--running around frantically at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Here's what I've been up to in July, other than working, renovating, registering for baby things, etc., etc., etc.:

On My Nightstand: I'm still working very slowly through the non-fiction books that I've been reading the past few months. Summer interferes; it's simply not non-fiction book weather.

I did read Mockingjay, concluding the Hunger Games trilogy. I'm toying with writing a full review of this, though it's probably redundant. Suffice it to say, I thought it ended exactly as it should.
I also read the first book of Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper series, Through Wolf's Eyes. It's been a long time since I've read such straight, traditional fantasy. I find that I'm a little tired of some of the tropes at this point, but Lindskold treats them well, with interesting variations. I'm working on the second one now and enjoying it.

And I don't know who recommended A Discovery of Witches; it was someone in the blogosphere. Let me just say that this book, the first in a trilogy, is what Twilight should have been. Do you know what I mean by that? The books are, in some ways, eerily similar (vampire becomes obsessed with girl, girl falls in love with vampire, vampire for some unarticulated reason refuses to have sex with girl, etc.), but this heroine--the last in a long line of witches with some pretty kick-ass powers of her own--is much more likeable, relateable, and role-modelly heroine than whiny old Bella. I have the second one on hold and think a more detailed review (and a post on urban fantasy and kick-ass heroines) might be in order.

I've also been reading books on cooking: Forgotten Skills, Ratio, and a few others (most of which I checked out of the library based on Anne's recommendations in this post, which I heartily recommend). Theoretically I'd like to do more with my little ol' food blog, but if nothing else I'm enjoying learning the science behind cooking. I also made fresh linguine the other night for the first time in a long time because Ratio wants me to make all of the doughs forever.

Want to Read: Finishing the Introverts and Luther books would be pretty good right now. I also have the sequel to A Discovery of Witches on hold.

I've been collecting other recommendations all summer, but need to organize and prioritize them. Anyone have any for me?

TV Show Worth Watching: I'm half-heartedly following Hell's Kitchen (we're many many episodes behind). Gordon Ramsey would hate my food, I think. I pop in and out for other things the DDH watches: Royal Pains, Eureka, White Collar.

Of course, for the next two weeks, I'm glued to the Olympics. Much to the DDH's chagrin.

Movies I've Seen (in or out of a theater): Yes, we saw The Dark Knight Rises. The Saturday it came out, so the day after the Aurora, Colorado shooting. The theater was only half-full, and I wonder if that can be attributed to fear, the fact that we picked the less popular, cheaper theater, or just that the movie's not as popular as it should be. Because. My word. Yes. There's a lot of there there, for an action movie, if you know what I mean.
In My Ears: Even my faithful "Like a G6" station irritates me now. Somebody toss me a musical lifeline. I can't listen to anything without getting a headache and wanting to scream.

What I'm looking forward to next month: Progress on all things baby. I don't actually have any plans for August at all. I have to hire someone at work to fill in for me. And I'm sure there's a lot of work to do, at home and at work, to prep for T-Rex's arrival. But I won't complain if the world would take it quietly for a bit. I need to soak in the last of my pre-baby days.

This is the second time ever the DDH and I have faced August without it meaning back to school for someone. I freely admit I miss my own elementary and high school days. And even college. But I'm glad he's done with law school.

Goal Progress: I posted some goals for the new year, and I figured these monthly wrap-up posts would be a good chance to check my progress throughout 2012.

The Budget: Our savings got a nice boost because we switched home insurance companies but apparently had already paid for this year's coverage or something, so the old insurance company mailed us a $3,000 rebate check. Which I guess means it's money we had already paid (and eep! that's a lot of money), but hey, bonus! So that's good. I'm still on track to pay off my car, and my boss even said that, though I shouldn't plan on or expect anything, the firm might actually pay me for part of my maternity leave. God does provide, one way or the other.

The Garden: I've even managed to kill off most of my herbs, though the sunflowers are still growing. Sigh. This year's weather required me to be way more on top of the poor garden than I was. I'm hoping to do a fall planting, though if it doesn't stop being one million degrees out every day, that's not going to happen.

Food: I'm finally back onto a routine and cooking regularly after all the vacationing and visitors. Check out Reality Chef for some of what I've been cooking. I'm experimenting with fresh pastas right now in the hopes of doing a nice comprehensive series over there. Delicious, but perhaps not as healthy it could be.

The Craft Room: I have little left to do in the craft room. Some labels, some shifting around of things. Clearing off my desk. It's beautiful. But I really do need to work in the office now. And of course I've been keeping you posted on the nursery!

How was your July? What are you looking forward to in August?

Oh! Also I got a new phone. See how much nicer the pictures
are? And also how the grounds crew can't keep the grass
green? Hot time, summer in the city....