I believe this is a thing, and since one of my summer plans is to “blog more” and I haven’t been really doing that (since my other summer plan of “have more free time” hasn’t panned out…) –here we go! Perhaps if you are lucky this can be a weekly feature.

1. Miles the cat is still missing, obviously. We get numerous calls weekly about various black cats. There are so many stray, feral, indoor/outdoor black cats in the area, and I think we’ve seen only the tip of the iceberg of them. Or there’s two cats that move really fast. He might still be out there (I mean, he HAS to be somewhere, but whether we ever see him again is questionable.) I like to imagine him having a nice life, and still hope he might come home someday.

2. People keep asking if I’m doing anything for vacation. I sometimes feel awkward saying, actually, yes, I’m taking a three week road trip with Louie to see 7 National Parks and I planned it starting last September and had to set an alarm to book some of the campsites and know exactly where we are staying almost every night and can’t wait…so I say, yes, we are taking a trip to see Yellowstone, Banff, and some other places. I’m also taking a trip to Phoenix to see my new nephew, and again to see him in Chautauqua, NY in July. People don’t want to hear all that, but hey, I’m child free, I work way too much, and I am traveling this summer.

3. Fiction vs. Non-fiction. I enjoy reading both, but non-fiction rarely sucks me in in the same way. I really enjoy reading and can truly experience flow in life when I’m reading…but I always enjoy learning things and I particularly enjoy the idea of non-fiction books. I have a large stack of books I’m reading this summer and so far I am part way through my second book. I need to up my rate or I won’t finish the pile!

4. Speaking of hobbies, I realized that my band and my quartet are basically hobbies. Not really, and not officially (for tax purposes, no) but I don’t make enough money from them to consider them worth it if not for the enjoyment. My band just finished mixing the last few songs on our album yesterday, and we are having a CD listening party at the end of the month at a local pub for people to come hear it. We have a CD release concert or two planned for September, and it’s a fun time. I’m pleased with our product and fairly pleased with my improvisations on the recordings. My playing in that regards has come a long way, and I’m sure I will only improve more over time.

5. Louie and I have been watching Barry on HBO. It’s a dark comedy about a hit man who wants more out of life. After spending several months immersed in the Game of Thrones world it’s a real relief to have something light on the TV!

6. Sometimes I feel like I’m still hobbling together a career, but I recently realized that according to my records I’ve been teaching since 1993-94. An organization I belong to was giving out certificates and I thought this seemed appropriate. Since I’m mostly self-employed and I’ve moved quite a few times in my adult life, I often feel like I’m still new. I’m not, and I have a lot of experience to back me up, and this certificate reminds me of that. My students may not be winning too huge awards, but they still achieve quite a lot, and they are doing what they can. When you are self-employed sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to define success in your career…that’s probably a whole series of blog posts I should do!

7. I often think of what this blog is about, besides me. Should I give more advice? Should I focus more on a more defined aspect of my life? I like being random, and I think my dozen followers enjoy it, but lately I’ve realized I probably do have plenty of actual advice to give people. I also try very hard (and I think I succeed) at giving advice, but not being upset when people don’t take it. I’m fairly used to nobody listening to my advice, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have good advice! I won’t hold it against you though, so don’t hesitate to get my opinion. My selfie game is strong, also.

8. My birthday is this Friday. It’s not a milestone birthday, except that I’m turning 41, which some friends have said was hard, because 40 was cool but then 41 was…in your 40’s. I think it’s okay though. I’m mostly doing what I want to do with my life, and while I wish I were in better physical shape (ahhh it’s so hard, I feel like this is only getting harder, damn you getting older and stress!) my hair looks fantastic, I’m playing well, I have a great collection of students, and plenty of work. I could have more friends, but the ones I have are real friends, and I could have more free time to pursue more hobbies or visit family more often…but overall I’m feeling good.

9. I realized it’s been about a year since I started reorganizing my music collection. It’s on my to-do list for this week and next week, but it’s just so…boring. I mostly have it organized, but it’s the finishing touches I find hard to motivate myself to get to. I need to just sit down and do it, and I just don’t want to. I’d rather read or blog, or sit quietly in the dark.

10. It turns out 10 things is a lot, but this has been a fun post to write. I think I’ll try to make this a weekly feature, but you know that is likely something that I won’t do regularly. Never say never though! Okay, another thought on goals: often I feel like I set a lot of great goals for myself, and then don’t accomplish many of them, if I look in the short term. But if I zoom out (so to speak) and look in the long term, I’ve accomplished quite a lot. Yes, I may not get to things as quickly as I’d like, but I get there. And who cares anyway. Maybe I don’t have to accomplish everything every week. Maybe it’s okay to just make a bowl of popcorn and put your feet up and watch a funny tv show, at least every once in awhile. I might not write a post like this every week, but if I do a few a week, that might be a lot of fun!