August review

1. Run 15 miles in one running session at least once.
Ugh, taking a break was a bad move. I've had a really rough month with running and have gotten pretty discouraged. When I ran by Lake Geneva I felt so good and strong and confident about running. Now I feel very intimidated by every mile. I worked out a training plan and have slightly decreased my mileage in the last couple of weeks. I am doing a long run every other week and am adding a mile each of those times. On the off week I will run 5 miles on Saturday. Today I ran 6 miles and it hurt. I suspect I do not have the right shoes, but I can't afford to buy another pair (just bought these this month). Next week I will run 7 miles (I'm doing a long run two weeks in a row because I missed the 6mile run last week because we were out too late on Friday night). If I stick with this training plan, I will run the 15 miler in November.

2. Write one handwritten note each month.
I think I'm doing an okay job on this since I've had a lot of thank you notes to write.

3. Spend the afternoon school time reading a non-fiction book.
My non-fiction book is The Bible Jesus Read, by Philip Yancey. He explores 5 books/sections of the Old Testament - Job, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and The Prophets. I have read Job and Deuteronomy so far. This book is fascinating and I'm loving the fact that it is compelling me to read and dig into the Old Testament. I read Deuteronomy this week - I have never read that book. It is certainly not the book that I thought it was. And there is stuff to learn and take to heart in that book. Basically, reading this book in addition to my personal Bible reading (Jeremiah and Romans) is prompting me to think a lot about who God is and how the God of the OT relates to Jana of 2009.

4. Start the whole flylady thing.
Yeah, I need to restart that. After school begins...

5. Repaint the foyer, front room/dining room, kitchen and family room.
Foyer - done. Kitchen - ceiling, walls and trim painted. My next project is to sand and paint the cabinets. I'm definitely procrastinating on this project since I know it is going to SUCK. In addition, I'm taking the girls to Michigan for almost a week in the middle of the month and I'm hesitant to get started on that project before then. I need to start, I just don't want to - I want it to magically be finished:) Not sure about whether or not the front room/dining room and the family room will be completed by my birthday - not likely, I assume.

6. Go on at least three city adventures with the girls over the summer.
Went to the Museum of Science and Industry in June. We didn't do anything in July. We need to do 2 more between now and school - 3 weeks until school, but 1 of those will be in Michigan. So we need to do 1 each week that we're home. I want to take them to the Lincoln Park Zoo this week. Not sure what the other adventure will be... Maybe the Children's Museum downtown.

7. Take a yoga class.
I've been investigating this a little more. I really, really, REALLY want to take yoga. However the price and the schedule really deter me. I WILL take a 6 week class before my birthday, though.

8. Write in each of the girls' journals at least once a month.
Nope - I still suck about this one.

9. Do a personal Bible study in the morning before all the morning routines begin.
I'm reading Jeremiah and Romans right now and am loving both of them. I've been doing this routine for a few months now (started before school ended) and I now actually look foward to reading the Bible. My bigger issue is remembering that God exists outside of that time... why do I forget that?

10. Do not add any new television shows to my regular watch list.
Doing well on this one since it is summer and if we turn the tv on it is for White Sox baseball.

11. Be consistent with not getting on the computer until my stuff is done.
This hasn't gone well this month. I've spent much too much time playing games instead of cleaning or doing laundry. Generally my house is picked up and my laundry is caught up, but there is no deep cleaning going on.

12. Drink 100 ounces of water on the weekends (total of Saturday and Sunday).
Some weekends are better than others with this goal. When I'm home I'm good. When we're out I'm not. And when we're out I'm drinking wine or beer which makes it worse. Need to continue to be aware of this and remember to do it.

13. Memorize Bible verses.
Had a two-week stretch of not working on my verse - had one picked out, but didn't put any effort into memorizing it. I restarted on Monday. Still very happy that I'm doing this.