Yikes…it’s hot. It’s disgustingly hot. Right now, I’m sitting in my un-air-conditioned living room with three fans blowing on full blast. The sad part is that it’s still cooler inside than it is outside. Interestingly enough, I’ve realized how much of a climatic (not climactic) wimp I’ve become in the past four years of my residency in Southern California. The dry heat of 96 degrees today is making me complain and yet I can clearly remember happily playing outside in those dog days of summer in upstate NY that were both hot and humid (mid-high 90s with humidity that was like walking through soup). On the other hand, a chilly mere 60 degree February morning will send shivers down my spine as I head to school, unable to conjure up memories of wind chills of negative 20s while waiting for the bus on a cold January morning. I admit it. I’m a wimp.

In the background, Jars of Clay’s Blind is playing, a 13-year old album that brings back memories of days of junior high school (well, 7th-9th grade…..) when I would listen to absolutely nothing but CCM. For a couple of years, they dropped off my radar screen, until a few years back when someone (I think maybe my sister) got me their album Who We Are Instead, which is absolutely amazing. I still listen to it to this day. The two albums are markedly different, the first being rather ethereal and lofty, filled with drum loops (albeit soullessly) and string arrangements, the latter being a stripped down folk album with almost nothing but acoustic instruments and an occasional steel guitar.

Anyway, summer has unofficially started. I’ve still got to go back to school this Monday and Tuesday for some amazing professional development meetings. Fun, fun, fun. Anyway, despite the fact that now my weekdays are pretty free from 8am-3pm, I’ll still find myself fairly busy, but this time hopefully doing some fun summer things.

So anyway, since I’m always on my kids about making goals, I’d figure that I’d make some for myself this summer, (and simply the act of publishing it to my blog will lend at least a minimal degree of accountability).

In no particular order, my goals for the summer of 2008:

1. Finish reading my current books.
2. Begin an exercise pattern (I hesitate to use the word ‘regimen’ at this point).
3. Play at least 1 live music show (acoustic or otherwise) in public.
4. more to be added later as I think of them…

With that said, it’s time to do a little bit more baking in this heat. Peace.