August again.

It wouldn't be August without a post about how lovely, LOVELY this month is. Jason laughed at me when I said the other day that August is better than Christmas, but there is some truth to that--Christmas is a month of anticipation for one, maybe two days, whereas August is a whole month. And for me, it is a month of space that provides room to organize the chaos--in my house, on my desk, and in my head.

This has been possibly our worst summer ever for blogging. It was the hottest July in DC recorded history (the last weekend in July the heat index was 117!). Combine that with the fact that House leadership cancelled all of our days out of session in July, and July was really kind of sucky--when we weren't working, we were hunkering down in our basement, trying to stay cool. I might be the most un-tan I have ever been.

But things are starting to look up. Lately we have:

* Celebrated Jason's birthday! It seemed weird to actually plan a normal birthday, until we realized that we have spent most of his birthdays out of town--San Francisco, in the wilderness, Niagra Falls, Idaho, Idaho, Idaho... We went back to Rasika for dinner, mm, mm. Fun to celebrate him.

* Finally, finally went to see Harry Potter--which was, like, the only thing I really wanted to do this summer! I'm so relieved, since I have held off re-reading the last book for two years now. We saw the movie Saturday, and I finished the book at midnight on Tuesday. Sounds about right.

* Watched Band of Brothers obsessively, thanks to Kevin and Missy. Amazing, and enhanced by all the war novel reading I did last fall.

* Started reading again. Isn't it funny how you can get out of the habit of reading, even if you love it so much? I was so looking forward to reading whatever I wanted after school finished, but things have been so busy that I have found myself choosing easier things--magazines, watching tv, sleeping--in my limited spare time. (Plus, let's be honest, I was trying to read Virginia Woolf again, and that never goes well.) And to be honest, I should have known better than to give myself a reading list right out of school. But I finally picked up The White Tiger, which Jason has been prodding me to read for months, and even between Potter books I am really enjoying it. Jason got a Nook for his birthday, so he's on a roll as well. It feels like something has clicked back into place for me.

Anyway. Perhaps now I will be able to do more than just these catch-up blog entries? Perhaps there will be more to talk about in August?