Resolution Roundup #6 - June

It is hard to believe the year is half over and I'm still a horrible blogger. Oddly, I can find the time to read pretty much the entire fantasy series for the Song of Ice and Fire in a fortnight. I'm currently on Feast of Crows and will start Dance of Dragons after that then wait 8 million plus years for George RR Martin to finish the last two books unless he decides to break this into a thirty part series and break HBO in the process or he dies and has someone else finish it. I also spent part of the month of June back in the old haunts of Lawrence, KS. I was there doing some research on male genetic variation in American midwestern Mennonites. I stayed at a wonderful B&B called the Halycon house (highly recommend), hung out in the newly constructed lab and got to see a lot of friends that I now only generally see at conferences. Here are some pics of the visit (P.S. the girls didn't come along but they are cute).

Personal Fitness
1) Do P90X at least once this year: Due to the intense heat I have kind of put this on hold and will probably take it up when it cools down or rains for longer than 10 minutes at a time.


2) Learn to Jog: Once again off the table due the habitation of the surface of the sun. I swear squirrels spontaneously combust outside AC homes and humans are melting left and right. Probably why traffic isn't so bad this time of year, look at that upside.

Finance
3) Go to a cash-based only system for at least 3 months out of the year: We will revisit this a little later in the year.


4) Don't eat out for at least 3 months of the year: This may become mandatory as we are finding that potentially other kids are gluten-sensitive besides Cordy. Granted a few restaurants have gluten-free items but sometimes things are hidden in it that make it difficult. 

Professional
5) Publish an article from my Ph.D. dissertation: I actually have completed one of these but now need to revamp it to go once again. I'm sure by the time it is finished it will look nothing like what I had in mind but that can be a good thing as well. However, at this point is in on the back burner. I currently have two articles and a book chapter in press, then another book chapter, article, and a grant that need to be written by the end of July so after that I can relax for the rest of the year. No wait I have to do two presentations so no rest until Novemember at the earliest.
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6) Organize a symposium for a meeting: This is now off the radar.

Family:
7) Sunday Dinners: Seeing as it stays hot, we continue to try and eat breakfast together or we have a light dinner and play a board game after.

8) Spend one on one time with each child, each month: For Spencer's b-day we went out and got him a bike, and went out to lunch and to see Rango, which was quirky kid movie western about a lizard.

Other
9) Begin writing a novel: I plan to still work on it but I may shorten it and write a short story instead. The dream of novel writing is still there but I have no time unless to read recreationly or write non-fiction.

10) Blog at least once a week: I'm like the worst blogger in the world but you guys probably already knew that.

11) Read 13 Non-fiction books this year: Aside from spending my time with George RR Martin, I have also read the Long Walk, by a Polish guy who claims to have walked from Siberia to India during WWII after escaping a Russian work camp about 100 miles north of Lake Baikal. There is some controversy about walking that far or if he even did it but I'm inclined to believe him as who want to make something like walking across the Gobi desert without water.

So until next month enjoy.