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It’s 9:15 on a Sunday morning.

And for the first time in weeks, I have a lazy morning planned. So the Mister and I are geeking out on our laptops. He’s watching YouTube, and I’m trying to clear my inbox and social notifications. Of course, it’s been more than a month since I’ve written a blog post. So, I figured that I also owe y’all a quick July & August life update.

Home

We started July with the Mister having a week off work; his company always closes the week of Independence Day. My workweek was pretty relaxed as well.

We decided that was the week to push hard on our kitchen updates. The cabinets and wall have been painted, and the hardware has been updated. We also installed a new microwave.

Next on the to-do list is painting the ceiling and installing new linoleum flooring. I also plan to sew new curtains; the jury is still out on whether we’re going to replace the windows now or wait.

We also spent plenty of time with friends at the pool because it’s summer and we live in South Carolina.

Work

After the holiday week, I’m happy to report that I made some progress toward one of my major goals for the year. I started interviewing candidates for my part-time admin position at work. At the moment, the search has been narrowed down to two really good ladies.

The next step is to have the Mister sit down with us for the second round of interviews; I’m hoping his gut will help me decide who would be a better personality fit for my work-style.

Travel

If there’s one thing that I learned from working with my business coach over the last 18 months, it’s that having space in my schedule for self-care is ESSENTIAL. For me, that means taking some time off. I’ve been doing that all year long by taking the last Friday of each month off, but taking a real vacation is also a priority for me.

A girlfriend and I made plans to head to the Chicago jujitsu clinic. We left a 5 a.m. on a Wednesday and hit the road. I love a good road trip, and we had perfect weather for this drive. We took our time, stopping for breakfast and lunch, and reached our destination right at dinner time.

As a martial artist, I love this clinic. It’s intimate and packed with great classes. Everyone is friendly, and the food. I love a clinic where they have the meals on-site; it really gives you a chance to get to know the person you’re working out with, make new friends and get some one-on-one time with the instructors.

After the clinic banquet dinner, we headed to Toledo on Saturday night, and then Sunday morning we split ways to head to different parts of Michigan. My friend was spending her mother’s birthday at the lake; I was headed to my aunt’s house.

Those few days in Michigan with my aunt were just downtime for me. I really enjoyed a few days with nothing specific scheduled. We hung near the house, watching baseball and catching up – though I did find a local judo club to work out with one day and visited an indie yarn shop another day.

The drive home from vacation brought us lots of stormy weather. Have I ever mentioned that I dislike driving in the rain? Storms while driving through mountains or in rush hour traffic is stressful for me, but we made it home to South Carolina safely.

Jujitsu

It feels like I barely got home before heading back out of town again. The weekend after vacation was the ATJA/AJJF National Judo Tournament, and I had committed to my judo kids that I would be competing. So the Mister and I headed to Atlanta for the competition.

There were 30+ states and 4 countries represented this year, and our school had 16 students entered. I’m proud to report that I placed Silver in the advanced seniors’ women’s division. The following morning, we had the opportunity to take a class with some Olympic level judo coaches, which was super-cool and extremely challenging.

August is my birthday month, but we’re staying near the home-front this year. After all the travel in July, I’m happy to stay here in South Carolina and celebrate with family and friends.

Currently

• Reading: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, The CEO’s Secret Weapon by Jan Jones and Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
• Listening: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and Start with Why by Simon Sinek on Audible
• Watching: NCIS on Netflix