June 2011 Round Up

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What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Though I didn't get through the entire book, I really studied The Rough Guide to Boston before we went on our trip. Took another book with me on the plane but didn't read much of it.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
* TV Time: Not much left, since it is summer. In Plain Sight and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (which just had its series finale), and Mythbusters. Also giving Suits a try. The commercials looked interesting, then we watched the pilot and found out Gina Torres is in it. It's pretty cute, so we'll give it a couple more weeks.
* New Films: Super 8 (pretty good, nice homage to 70s/80s Spielberg), X-Men: First Class (very very good! greatly enjoyed it and highly recommend it), The Green Lantern (okay, actually a bit too serious for its own good, better than Thor), Cars 2 (okay; too much Mater, not enough Lightning, missing the quiet charm and heart of the original; very much a Bond spoof (as intended), but not necessarily good for little kids), The Scarlet Letter (1926, my first Lillian Gish film; I think I've only seen one or two other silent films, and they were comedies; not bad for a silent drama, I guess), Mansfield Park (it was fine; pretty typical of similar films, doesn't really stand out)
* Old Favorites: Monsters Inc., Little Women, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Ladyhawke, Hercules, Disney's Robin Hood, Sweet Home Alabama, The Philadelphia Experiment

What special days did I celebrate and how?
Sent cards to Mom for her birthday. Intended to send her a baking stone after we got back from Boston (didn't want it to arrive while we were away), but losing my job pretty much killed that idea. I'll put it on the back burner for either Christmas or whenever I get a new job, whichever comes first. Also managed to sneak some Father's Day cards into my mom's suitcase while we were in Boston; she had them on hand to give to him Sunday after we got back. Had cards for DH, too, which we gave him at lunch at Sonny's while we waited for the electricity to be restored to our house.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Mom and Dad covered a lot of the expenses in Boston. Seems like there was something else, but it is escaping me at the moment.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
Luke came home 3 of his first 6 days at summer camp with newly acquired bandaged wounds. I wasn't very happy, but apparently, he was just warming up. He fell off a tricycle the week after Boston and reacted just the way he did when he broke his arm 4 years ago. I had to take him to the ER, as much as I didn't want to. He was fine, just bruised his elbow pretty good. He was perfectly fine 2 days later. In other news, my eyesight improved again, just as it did 4 years ago, the last time I went to the eye doctor. Must get better about that.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
Boston, of course! Also went with friends to take the kids to see Kung Fu Panda 2. It was her son's first trip to the theater, and both boys really seemed to enjoy it.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
Boston introduced us to all sorts of new restaurants: The Parker House, Finagle A Bagel (twice!), Border Cafe, Umberto's, and The Bleacher Bar. And actually, the one that I would recommend the least is The Parker House (though they did have truly the best clam chowder I've ever tasted, ever, anywhere, in Boston or elsewhere; a big tureen of that and a basket of Parker House Rolls, and our family would be perfectly happy!). All of the others were very good to excellent, and I would recommend them to anyone without hesitation.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
Honestly, most things even for Boston were pretty straight forward in terms of travel things. Nothing exceptionally out of the ordinary that I can recall. As far as home goes, I did finally purchase a dough blade/bench scraper for the kitchen (technically think I did that in May, but still). Where has that been all my life, and how have I lived so long without one?! Best $4 I've spent in a long time. I also got new glasses. And an arm sling was definitely unusual, and I hope it stays that way!

What were this month's disappointments or frustrations?
Being laid off was terribly disappointing *and* frustrating. Having the power go out right after getting back and losing everything in the refrigerator was terribly frustrating, as was having to sleep in a hotel our first night back rather than in our own beds. I also woke up crying from a dream for the first time in *years*, which was not fun and very frustrating (and that was *before* I was laid off).

What were my accomplishments this month?
Actually knocked out a couple 101 Things in 1001 Days items this month instead of simply "making progress" like I've been doing recently.

1. Plan and implement "Operation Wellington." Finally, I can talk about this one! Operation Wellington was the original "code name" for Dad's 60th Birthday trip. Wellington is one of the former names for the giant sequoia trees in California, so when we originally thought the trip would be to Yosemite, that's what I decided to call it. That way we could email about it without Dad getting wind of it. As you know, Yosemite morphed into Boston, and we very successfully "implemented" the operation this month.


97. Revamp my website (change graphics, update template). After much pondering and debating, I finally decided to just shut it down. I still own the domain, and I still use it to host my images and a few miscellaneous pages (like my 101 Things progress page), but I don't really have a need for a "website" per se at the moment. I've considered moving my blog over there, but I don't have the mental energy for now. Maybe later. But I did update the index page with new graphics and a new template, and it does have links to this blog and my email address, in case anyone is "looking" for me.

As far as the rest of them go, well, that remains to be seen. I have 6 that I should make for sure, 8 that are solid maybes if I just step it up and make some effort, and another 8 that I have stashed in my "if I suddenly get the urge to overachieve" pile. The rest are either definite nos (about 35) or *highly* unlikely (however many are left). I completed 46 items during my first round. I absolutely want to finish at least as many as last time, and I'm really hoping I can get to 50. Only 93 days left!

In laid off/job search world, I've taken a couple of webinars, I'm spiffing up my resume with a consultant (paid for by my former employer), and I've started hunting for jobs. With my "downtime" of late, I've managed to see 5 movies this month in the theater, and I'm currently caught up on summer films. (There was actually someone *smoking* in the theater during Super 8! Never had that happen before.) I'm trying to get back on track with the meal planning, for all the reasons that I should be doing it, plus to stop eating out so much and (hopefully) save some money. I've also started going through photos and writing up some of our Boston trip. With over 3800 photos to pick from, it's going to take forever!

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?


Does managing to *not* break his arm count as an accomplishment? He also lost both of his top center teeth about a week apart from each other. The missing tooth lisp is terribly cute. Won't last long though; those top teeth are coming in fast! And for the most part, he was extremely well behaved during our entire Boston trip (except for one egregious incident).

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Nothing particularly comes to mind.

Monthly Round Up courtesy of Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Currently feeling: rounded