An August August...

Or maybe not. It wasn't all that grand. It wasn't the worst August to ever August either, though it really did put a push on there last week to remind me that it was still August. But no matter what, it's basically done.

And how did it go?

Nationally...are we at war with Iran? Well it depends on how you define war and at and Iran, I guess. Yes, we are still in active combat with them, unless you are listening to the most recent Sunday morning shows and then it's all wrapped up but we aren't bringing the troops home for reasons...and we did another round of bombing today but that's not war war, that's wrap up war and... Did I mention we are extorting billions of barrels of oil from Venezuela? And he's renaming bodies of water again because that's sane.

So yes, it's all still a cluster fuck and the midterms are closing in. They will also be a cluster fuck but hopefully we will start to unfuck ourselves after they happen. Fingers crossed and wishes made.

Personal stuff!

Another month down means only two more to go until Brent retires. He had a moment last month where he considered staying on an extra month. He did a spreadsheet and everything. But that moment happened on a weekend and when he went back into the office on Monday it passed pretty quickly. So yeah, we are VERY much looking forward to his last day.

And with that in mind I've still been trying to let go of the check marks, gold stars and goals. And...well...

Once this posts I will have done 18 blogs this month which even without counting what I wrote for Dana is writing more days than not. Posted 4 fiction pieces, three of those being part of the Futures series and one being something I wrote for Dana a few months ago that I just felt like putting out there. I know how I want the Futures piece to end and I've been moving people around this month to head that direction. Really trying to not yadda yadda yadda and (END PIECE I HAVE IN MY HEAD) ta da! the whole thing.

Reading: I read 6 books last month which puts me 4 behind the original schedule, which is the same as I was last month so...

I did get the one book I own and at least one nonfiction parts. Actually read two nonfiction books. One was a series of humorous essays laid out as an autobiography, I'm Wearing Tunics Now, very funny. I recommend it. It had been on my requested list for my library for a long time and they finally picked it up. It had been so long since I had requested it I had forgotten who I got the recommendation from...until there was a passage about an odd birthday gift and she wrote she had no idea why she got that and didn't think anyone but Jenny and her odd collection of taxidermy did. OH! Now I know who recommended it.

The other nonfiction was about what we need to do the first day after the end of the Trump/MAGA/Republican regime. It was really fucking depressing. I mean, we all know what all has been broken and what will need to be fixed but it's still SO VERY MUCH when you read it all as a 10 point plan. This is what broke, this is how he broke it, this is what we need to do to fix it/rebuild it/replace it. And the number of administrations with solid spines it will take to get us there. Biden was a breather, a break, but we need more than four years to repair and replace the system. A lot more.

Fiction was mostly really good. My highest rating was Whalefall, my lowest was Dungeon Crawler Carl and even that was good enough that I'm going to give the second book a chance before deciding what I really think about it all. September will have a few new releases from favorite authors, so will October and November...so those will all be pushing their way to the top of my TBR piles. I will make sure to remember my owned list during that time. Promise.

Workouts, made the adjustments I needed and ended up gaining almost 2 pounds of muscle and losing a little over 3 pounds of fat for the month. So the gross number wasn't huge, but the swing was nice. I also made the final decision on joining the gym, even though I won't make as much use out of it until November, there was a deal to join now so I went ahead and pushed that button. I'm hopeful it fills in the gaps I was looking for. I finally gave up on the PVOLVE system that I had such high hopes for. My wonky hips were just not impressed with it, I had to keep modifying everything and then the "Strength" parts were adorable and all but...

I told Brent that I was embarassed more than anything else. You would think by now I would know better than to trust a "you won't believe the results" pitch. Yeah, maybe if I had never worked out before I wouldn't, but I'm too fit for it to have really done much past the first few weeks where I was using muscles in a new way. But what it did do was give me a few more balance exercises and I'm glad for that. As you age make sure your core is strong and your balance is good. It all become functional fitness instead of vanity fitness after a certain point. Even if there is still a vanity aspect. Can you sit on the floor, and more importantly, can you get up without help? Those are the things that start to matter.

I mean, that and a gorgeous bicep line...

Still doing language daily and I didn't find a Masterclass that caught my eye so July was the last of that.

Reading, writing, working out, with language and chores sprinkled in there. That's the way I roll.

What does September look like?

Well more of that list. And college football starts again so I will be adding another sport to the watch rotation. And then just counting the days until the end of October. We put out the fall flowers this past weekend to encourage the downhill slide of time. Let's see if it works!

Oh and whoever is in charge this year, make sure you get Billie Joe his glass of warm milk and favorite stuffie...

Roll on September.