I was lucky enough to get my name on the list at the library early enough to get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Monday. I have been spending pretty much all of my available free time reading, which is why you haven’t heard from me much. So far the book is great! It is sad to think this is the last one, but all good things must come to an end and at least Harry did it before he jumped the shark.

I have been wishing for a stronger ethnic identity to latch on to. Some sort of tradition that has been passed down for generations. My ancestors moved to this country from Italy and England and Hungry and Germany and decided that they wanted to be American and fit in. Which means a lot of my heritage and customs were not passed down. Sure, being American is fine, but there are times when I wish there was something bigger than me and bigger than my family that I could identity with and hold on to. A larger sense of belonging. Clearly since I am such a genealogical mutt I decided that I wish I was French. Every French woman I see stylish and either adorably cute or terribly sophisticated and I would take either.

I am a hoarder. I admit it. Especially if the items are cheap or free. M & I joke that I will buy pretty much anything if it is priced at $5, even a bag of poop. Hey, it is only $5! Well now that I have admitted I have a problem, I need to do something about it. My first area to tackle is going to be craft supplies. For the next year, yes a year, I will not accept or otherwise obtain in any way, any craft supplies. None. Not any. So you say you have some yarn that you haven’t used and it is the most lovely shade of hand dyed green wool with specks of orange and red? Nope, sorry, I can’t accept it. You have a billion knitting needles in your attic that you won’t be using and would I like them? I would, but I am going to have to say no thank you. You have purchased everything anyone could possibly want in the way of scrap booking supplies and found out that you are deathly afraid of getting a paper cut and bleeding out and you heard I might be interested. Maybe yesterday I would have taken the stuff off your hands, but until July 18, 2008 at 1:14pm, I am sorry, I can’t. A friend of a friend has a printing press that they are no longer using and wasn’t I interested in printing my own limited edition prints? Yes, I am, but I can’t possibly take on one more project or learn one more new skill until I start using the stuff that I have! I am sure kind reader, you knew this was coming, but I have one exception. Only one, I promise! When I am in New Zealand I can buy as much yarn as I want because I won’t be going back any time soon. Oh and by the way, you will all be receiving hand made Christmas presents this year.

Today is a make lemonade out of lemons kinda day. I left the house nicely dressed thinking today was like any other rainy day in NYC. Well I was wrong. Just before I got to the subway it started to pour. Like someone was just dumping buckets of water from the sky. I tried standing still, but that really didn’t help. So I decided that I was going to have to stop and get something else to wear before going to work. Although not before I had to get the rest of the way to work looking and feeling a lot like a drowned animal. I was soaked from the waist down and merely wet from the waist up. My shoes were ruined and had left marks on my feet. When I got out of the subway I stopped in a store and picked up a complete new outfit (minus shoes since I had some at work already) and a new pair of pants in case I wanted to just change the soaked part of me. I opted to completely change into a shirt dress. I am hoping that any future forays into the rain will be less clothes drenching because my legs, which were the part that took the brunt of the soaking will be bare.

My dad just got an iPhone (of course he did!) and it is cool! And by cool I mean totally sweet! I didn’t make a call on it, so I am not sure if the reception is good, but everything else about it pretty much rocks. I can’t even begin to consider spending that much on a phone. I am the type of person who hates to pay for cell phones. Period. The most I have ever paid is $100 and I wasn’t thrilled about it. I am hoping the price comes down a bit before my birthday.

The last vacation M & I had was to China in October. That was fantastic, but I really need a break. The good news is, I know where I will be next breaking to and I am excited. We are going to Australia and New Zealand for three whole weeks! I can’t wait. The bad news is, I am going to have to wait quite a while. Until November! Oy. I am going to have to keep telling myself that it isn’t really that far away and it will be totally worth it.

I make bad food choices. For instance if given my choice of breakfast food, I will get a danish, or muffin, or bagel with butter to go with my ice coffee. These carbs and processed sugars in the morning leave me sluggish and wanting more bigger carbs for lunch. Well I have decided that from now on, six days a week, I am going to eat fruit in the morning. That is right, just fruit, well and my ice coffee of course. So far I don’t feel deprived at all. I mean fruit comes in many varieties which combine nicely. Especially in the summer it is a nice light refreshing way to start the day. It helps that I also reward myself with Sunday brunch. I am trying to now turn to a salad for lunch instead of a sandwich or take out Chinese, but one step at a time.

I know it has been a while since I posted. Things have been a little crazy here. I promise to get back to it this week. I hope you are staying cool and having a great summer.

This fourth of July came and went without too much to do. M & I were going to play soccer and didn’t, we were going to go over to friend’s house and didn’t, we were going to see a movie and didn’t. We took a nap and then watched fireworks from our fire escape. Normally this type of day would leave me feeling a little pathetic, but for some reason yesterday, it just fit.