Today is the first day of the rest of my life...

Today is about as perfect a day as possible.... low 80's, light breeze, sunshine. I started the day with coffee and conversation, and mutual love, with Michelle at Hideaway Bakery. Reminds me of how really lucky I am.

Summer certainly took its time arriving, but this past week has more than made up for the very long cold psuedo-summer that preceded. My last entry was the end of Winter (at least, on the calendar). And here it is the middle of Summer.

I am going to admit right now that I have not gotten control of my calendar yet. Too many volunteer projects, too much work, not nearly enough play. I guess that all means that I actually have to plan to reduce the work projects and monitor that every day. Sort of like exercise and diet... it is very easy to fall back into old patterns.

Spring and Summer terms at the UO were the most intense I've ever fallen into -- I took on a new class to co-teach with two colleagues, agreed to be the program chair for a national conference our professional organization hosted in Portland, worked full time with our summer cohort group (four days a week, 8 hours a day, plus some!). All this for a part-time job. All were interesting, useful, challenging, intellectually stimulating. And I had the opportunity to work with some exceedingly wonderful people.

But I think the price was too high. I am going to have to really watch my proclivity to say, "Sure, I can do that..." I have vowed to make this coming year a "volunteer-free year." Wish me luck.

But, in the midst of all of that activity, I did get to travel to Seattle – TWICE – to see Jake's play. The first time, I went up by myself for the Friday night opening. Jerry arrived in town late Friday night. Then Megan and Marshall (my siblings) joined us to see the Saturday night show – Me, Jerry, Megan, Marshall, two people Marshall met on the train, and 5 of my Seattle relatives. We represented about 1/3 of the audience. What a great night!

The next weekend, I accompanied Sara and her friend Craig back to Seattle for one more show.

How was it? Well, I'm the playwright's mom. Some believe that makes me biased.

Here's the opinion of people not related to Jake:

Seattlest

Stephen Gomez

SGN


So, what's Sara up to? Sara is up to her elbows in Summer. As she should be... And very kindly, she has agreed to come to Eugene to be my zoo manager while I take some hikes and little three-day trips with Jerry.

But, selfishly, the best part is that she has agreed to be my dog-wrangler at two local dog shows on September 10 and 11. We used to spend many wonderful weekends traveling to dog shows, showing dogs, hanging with dog people, winding our way home. Back then, our show dogs were Jack Russell Terriers (I still have two of the original crew here). Now the glamour queens are Irish Wolfhounds.

And even more fun, Jake and Sara and I will travel to Clemson Downs, South Carolina, to visit with their great aunt and great uncle. Martha is 100, Mendel is 101. They have been married for 81 years. Jake and I met Mendel and Martha when Jake was 6 and competed in the National Karate Tournament in Green-something Georgia. Mendel and Martha came for a day. Jake has met Mendel one or two other times, but not since he was a teenager. Sara has not met either of them.

Martha is an artist. Mendel has a PhD in education, and was gently supportive of my PhD pursuits. Currently, Mendel is a film-maker. He has filmed other World War II veterans in his retirement community, edits the films, and puts together three segments at a time into 45 to 60 minute chapters. Mendel was the chair of a university department which focused on using multi-media technology in school classrooms. I think I recall a story that Martha and Mendel taught in an Asian country in the 30s. I intend to bring my video camera...

Now that I have forsworn volunteer activities and vowed to get control of my calendar, there are several "self-help" activities that are going back on the weekly to-do list...

1. Post blog updates more regularly
2. Meditate daily
3. Exercise daily
4. Travel away from home and computer at least once a month (work-related travel doesn't count)

I think I'll start today...