July 12, 2015

This year, I have challenged myself to read at least 30 books. Originally, I was going to be optimistic and go for 50. I am still hoping to read 50, but I am saying I WILL read 30. Anything over that will be bonus.

Anyhow, I have now completed 17, and it's nearly the end of July. I didn't get off to a very good start the first half of the year, and honestly, I have no good excuses because mainly I was laying in bed, ill. I spent way too much time reading the news or the trashy little articles all over Facebook to get any serious reading done. I made a second mistake of choosing excellent books that just happened to be extremely long. Take Les Miserables, for instance. That book is a brick!

Middlemarch is another I have picked out, also huge. I wanted to read Little Women with  Liberty, also ginormous.

I'm not at loss for great books, but if I set a lofty goal for an impressively large amount of books read, I would do myself a favor picking out some shorter ones to throw in with the lot.

I am currently reading Newton On The Christian Life, by Tony Reinke. I am 40 or so pages in and it is quite good, but it is one of those books where there are loads of footnotes, and my OCD won't allow me to ignore a single one of them, so it is slow going. But I am hoping *fingers crossed* to be done before we leave for our trip on Thursday. I want to bring along my Kindle and very little else, bookwise. I don't want to make my luggage unnecessarily heavy.

I am not a good packer in general, but I am going to do my best this time around. Unfortunately I have to allot a rather largish space in my bag for my prescription medications. What an annoyance. Still, things will certainly be worse if I leave them behind, so they must come along. We will be able to do laundry while we are there so I need not pack too many clothes.

The children are all looking forward to having their grandmother come and stay with them while Trever and I are away. I am hoping the traveling will not entirely knacker me out. I must remember to drink strong, caffeinated beverages, loads of water, and look for any opportunity to nap or use the loo. This sounds to me like a Solid Plan.

I do hope we can squeeze in a trip to the beach. I have missed the sand and water of the Pacific Ocean like it is part of my DNA that has been snatched away from me somewhere around Texas. Living on the East Coast, there are many beautiful and lovely things, but I confess I greatly miss the West Coast. You never really get over being a valley girl. Like, totally.

Amy