Welcome July

A new month is here... I love the opportunity for a fresh start. Here are some things I'm looking forward to or challenging myself to in July:

* New floors! My husband I have have been saving to put new flooring in our home almost since the day we bought it. This will be a major upgrade, but also a major disturbance as construction workers invade the house for a week.

* Summer reading, continued. My book club has gone on hiatus for the summer, so I am trying to get a jump on things by pre-reading some books that we might enjoy for future meetings. It's a group of women that I go to church with, so sometimes we read Christian books, sometimes books focused on women's issues (ie, Deborah Tannen's "You're Wearing That?" or Jonalyn Grace Fincher's "Ruby Slippers") Any suggestions for us?

* Third Triathlon of the summer - the Concreteman. This is the only local tri that offers an Olympic distance race. I am really intimidated by the distance, but I would love to say that I'd done it.

* Vacation Bible School. Every year I volunteer to help with the crafts at VBS. Even though they tend to be pre-packaged projects that don't require much creativity, I still enjoy working with the kids on crafty projects.

* Quilt for myself. I started this in January... all the squares are done but that is all. I am challenging myself to finish the quilt top in July.

* Downtime. To try and avoid future meltdowns, I am committing to schedule one evening of free time for myself each week. I'm kicking this off with a bang with a relaxing weekend at my parents' house over the 4th of July.