So May has come and gone rather quickly and really there is not much change from April.
1) Volunteer: This remains on the back burner again - yes one day I will volunteer for something.
2) Pay down debt: This is pretty much the same as last month. It continues to go down without accruing any more debt.
3) Read four books a month: Once again I made it through three books. I'm slowly working my way up to four - so maybe by the end of the year. The first book, The City and the City by China Mieville, was recommended by a friend. This was highly original, highly interesting story about a city that is effectively two countries somewhere in Eastern Europe, where citizens of one city ignore citizens from the other country or are basically removed from whatever country they inhabit. The story is basically a detective novel but has such an interesting back story makes it highly readable. The second book, Murder City, was highly depressing account of the violence in Juarez, Mexico. The author Charles Bowden makes a fairly good point that this is not a war against drugs but a war for drugs and that as long as those people dying are just the poor there will be little sympathy for them from the US. I find it interesting that the AP did a recent piece on this, stating that the Mexican Army is basically backing one of the major cartels. The third book was the fourth novel in the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, Dead to the World. I have no idea why I subject myself to these novels, they are basically trashy romance novels with a supernatural twist, yet they are somehow addictive. I also finished reading the first Harry Potter book to the kids. Basically, I've been trying to do this for years but now the boys seem old enough to listen, although X is pretty sure Snape is behind all the bad things.
4) Publish:The status for this is pretty much the same as last month. The Mennonite mtDNA article can be early viewed for free at the Human Biology website. The AJPA article is in the in press cycle. I'm still waiting to hear about two other articles that have been submitted. I plan on spending the next month writing three more articles. Right now I'm in the process of submitting abstracts for conferences in the fall.
5) Clean the Garage: Once again the egg cartons seem to multiply like rats in our garage. There also seem to be an undetermined amount of shoes and toys that have migrated out of the mini van.
6) Get Maintenance done on the cars: The XL-7 got its tags and passed its inspection, son to the next thing.
7) Catch up on a boatload of TV shows, mostly beginning with B: This month we watched seasons 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 of Battlestar Galacta. This is a pretty good series, although I don't always like the plot line. The acting is phenomenal and they do a really good job with the special effects.
8) Do a 365 walk project: This is intermentinent and based on whether or not I get up early enough, although has the heat has risen so have my children earlier and earlier, plus they are staying up late. This doesn't bother me for S, but for X, C, and L if they don't nap they are cranky and whiny the next day.
9) Learn to meditate:I need to get back to this, I've basically forgone my morning coffee in lieu of green tea (which helps the digestion more than relaxation). However, in a house with four kids, sometimes it is hard to find extended moments of solitude, unless it is either early in the morning or late at night.
10) No computer after 6 pm: the policy for this is just don't ask.
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