I took Buddy, Lovey and The Niece to an outdoor concert at Long’s Park last evening.  The group, Oz Noy Trio, seemed like the type of musicians Buddy would like to hear.  (He plays the guitar.)  They were incredible!  Comprised of just a guitar, bass, and pretty modest drum set, they played a jazzy, bluesy, edgy kind of music that was energtic and relaxing all at the same time.  The night was clear and pleasant with that perfect air temperature you can’t feel and no humidity.  While I listened to the music, my mind wandered over the goals I’ve set for the summer.  Had I accomplished more than the outdoor concert?  Heaven knows I haven’t been purposely trying.  While I’m falling miserably short on some things, my progress has been surprising in other areas.  This is what I have accomplished so far.

1. Read 4 books.  Well, I’m not sure how to answer this.  I have not read any of the books I mentioned in my original post, although I still have every intention of doing so.  And the one book I have read is directly related to my World Cultures course.  But it was such a great read – I could not put it down.  In my opinion, that classifies it as worthy to count for one of my book choices.  Please allow me to recommend Monique and the Mango Rains, by Kris Halloway.  This is non-fiction at its best.  It’s the autobiographical account of a Peace Corps worker in a small village in Mali who spends two years assisting a young midwife and establishing relationships with people in the village.  The writing is superb and addresses many of the political, cutural and social issues of West Africa at that time that are probably still relevant today.  It sounds so dry but this is a story filled with human drama.  I highly, highly recommend it!  OK – one book down, three to go.

6.  Attend a free concert.  (See above.)  We had such a great time snacking, playing cards, and listening to quality music.  I’ll be doing this again before the summer is over.  And hopefully, Mr. Whimseypie and Ace will be able to join us the next time.

8.  Go camping for the weekend.  We camped at Hickory Run State Park for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  It was a fun, crowded, busy, and tumultuous time.  The details can be gathered from my travel blog.  In the end, we cut our trip short due to perpetual rain.  Still, a good time was had by all and it fulfilled the requirements of my goal (except the swimming in the lake part – too crowded).

9.  Walking three miles three times a week.  Until last week, I was meeting this goal with ease.  It’s the only physical activity I’m accomplishing right now, but I’ll take it.  My second summer course started last week, throwing my routine out of whack.  Hopefully, I’ll get myself straightened out this week and back on the trail to meeting this goal.

10.  Survivng Quantitative Analysis.   I am amazed to report that not only am I surviving QA, I am actually thiriving.  Yes, I know it’s astounding.  Even crazier is the fact that I love how logical statistics is.  Never in a million years did I think that would be the case!  I still have seven weeks to go after my three week break, and things may change drastically during that time, but for now I am H-A-P-P-Y!

Well, I guess I’m not doing too bad.  And the things that are left are all fun or delicious.  I’m a pathetic excuse for a lover of summer if I can’t accomplish the rest of my goals.  And at least I’ll have a good time trying.