July into August

Josh Hartnett was in a movie called August?
Anyone actually see that?
Anyone seen him in anything lately?

August is upon us.  I've always liked August because it's when my birthday is, and that always translated into free stuff, but August always makes me a little melancholy too.  Summer is winding down, so we all cue the panic of cramming in all that "summery" stuff we planned to do; I fear that I haven't enjoyed wearing sundresses as much as I could have (though honestly, it stays pretty warm here until the end of October, so I can still wear them); and it's back to school--eep!

My July goals were pretty laid-back: Spend/save wisely, use downtime well, and keep on running.  I've done ok with those.  I don't know if you could really say I've been spending wisely, I've been on a bit of a clothes-buying bender lately, but in keeping with my manner of shopping, most of it will be returned.  I've been reading a lot, but haven't been using my downtime as well as I could have--still not working on that novel... As far as the running, that's been just ok too.  We, as well as the rest of North America, were stuck in a heat wave, which meant that I did not go running as often as I should have.  But, according to my running log, I managed to cover 66 miles for the month, which is more than I need on a monthly basis to reach my annual goal.  That's more than the distance from my house to Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott! Though if I ran that all at once, I would be too tired to appreciate the history of her homestead.  Note: this is a much more exciting way to calculate distance.

For August I most need to not get caught up in the whole "It's back to school time, must buy cute new outfits!"  I don't need cute, new outfits.  Even if I was a grad student, I wouldn't need cute new outfits because grad students are notoriously unkempt.

James Franco, famously scruffy grad student

I also need to buy and consume lots of zucchini.  I'm obsessed with zucchini lately, and since it's so hella cheap and good for me, I'm going to just keep on keeping on until I'm sick of it.

My smartypig account is filling up nicely, and I should have the money for my new iPod by October--what shall I start saving for then?  I like these savings goals, it makes me feel very focused and like I'm earning my extravagances.

I still need to reduce the number of non-perishables I stocked up on (read: hoarded) in my post grad school graduation panic.  So I'm going to try to eat at least one item per week, hopefully more.

I also have four whole days off in August, so bf and I are going to take a lovely mini-break.  That's got nothing to do with goals, I'm just excited about it.

What do you all have planned for August?