We are still sitting squarely in summer and in fact sitting just at the middle but in August inklings of fall start to trickle in. Kids will be going back to school, college students return to the campus where I work, football pre-season gets going (which we don't follow but the sport always puts my in a fall mindset) and pumpkin spice latte promotions begin.

This will also be the first August since we've lived here that Chris hasn't been returning to work - he's on sabbatical through December! Chris will still be working but it will be from home and completely self-directed and so without the demanding meeting and admin schedule that he usually has. This will mean we won't be carpooling and doing daycare pick-up/drop-off together but it will mean that the house stays tidy and that dinner is waiting for the boys and me when we get home. In other words, it will be glorious.

I'm looking forward to a change of pace at my full time job as well. It's been a busy, and at times stressful, summer and I'm looking forward to settling in to a more normal pace. My time tracking notebook has continued to be a great tool and has really helped me to manage a full workload this summer. I love still being somewhat on an academic calendar and the fresh start that comes from the beginning of a new school year. And this will be the first year we are feeling that a bit with our own kids - hooray! Dash has been in a preschool program but the first day of the official preschool year feels like a big milestone.

Big things happening in August:

+ Solo parenting one. last. time. Oh man, I am ready to be done solo parenting! Just a two night stretch this time, and on the positive side after Chris's four (!) trips in one month I've seen that solo parenting has become easier in many ways as the boys are a bit older plus bedtime and naps are much smoother. Still, definitely ready to be a two parent team for a long while.

+ Dash starts preschool! I'm just so excited for this and so is Dash. He loves school and I'm loving the preschool age.

+ Trip to Austin + Dallas!

 August goals:

+ Update Dashiell's room. I take forever to make decisions and to actually spend money but I planned most aspects of Dash's room update last month and I'm hoping we'll make this happen this month.

+ Plan Chris's birthday. Chris turns 39 in early September! 

+ Make progress on creative projects. I have one Girl Next Door Podcast-related project I'm working on with Erica and one new little project on I'm working on with a friend who lives nearby. All of us are already pretty busy doing all that we do but slowly - one weekend creative work session at a time -  we've making progress and I'm realizing how much I love planning and building new projects.

+ Paper and digital organization at work. Now that I have two big reports behind me (feels so good!) I'm planning to go through all my email files and paper files and keep only what is necessary. Plus, my team is moving into a new office space (in the same building) in about a month so it's prefect timing to get organized ahead of that.

Recurring monthly goals:

+ Exercise three times per week. On Monday and Friday mornings I go to Orange Theory and every week in July with one exception I also fit in an early morning weekend run and it feels GREAT.

+ Publish to RISING*SHINING on Mondays and Wednesdays. I'm finding I get into a blogging groove and then lose it, but then find it again. I'm accepting the ebb and flow and know that I always get back to it, that's just life right now!

+ Record and produce new episodes of The Girl Next Door Podcast and Matrimoney on schedule.

Happy August!