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This is the topic where you are free to post any type questions or thoughts that perhaps aren't covered under the other threads. Hope your summers are all going well.

My question for August- what are your plans to eek out that last little bit of summer- any trips planned, projects you want to get done or of course the most important question- books you want to read? Bring on August!

Spend as much time as possible with our grandson before he starts first grade on Aug 15. He's growing up way too fast.

I'm really excited because last weekend I was able to complete a plan I had been hoping to do since spring - I bought, assembled, and installed a trellis/swing in the corner of my yard facing the sunset for my wisteria vine to grow on! I'm very excited about this new spot to read - in fact, I sat there this evening with a book when I got home from work!

Another project I've successfully finished this summer is painting and repairing the front corner of my house.

Some projects I still need to complete include:
--Writing a draft manuscript of the family history for a friend of mine (he's paying me to do it, not volunteer!)
--Finishing my DAR application (I only need the recent generation documents, the rest is done.)
--Visiting my grandparents in New Mexico at the end of the month!!

It's so exciting to have the opportunity to do these things!!!

Hmmm...I hadn't really thought about this, so I appreciate this question. I tend to view summer as over in August because I work at a university, and since I'm in school, it just feels like the whole beginning of August is gearing up for something. However, it really is still the season of summer and I needed this reminder to savor it. Some of these things are more "self-care" but still important.

Some things I'd love to happen...
--a good hang out day with the bestie, which we are currently planning for this Saturday.
--clean my office really well, so that it's organized for when school starts
--get back on a good sleeping schedule
--put together some freezer crock pot meals (open to any recs!)
--take lots of walks
--have a day-cation to celebrate our anniversary next week
--squeeze in as many books as I can before school reading has to take precedent over fun reading
--do one more closet/stuff clean out
--catch up on as many book reviews as I can, even if it's just a short one

this summer has been chaotic here; as with most families. For that reason August is going to be more laid back. this summer we cleaned out our smaller camper and moved everything into a larger camper and have taken three trips; and hope to fit in a couple more.
This week we finish rebuilding an end section of kitchen floor because of a leaky refrigerator/ bottom freezer that we didn't want to deal with. tomorrow the new refrigerator comes and everything is finished.
so for August:
3 lunch outing with girl friends
a camping trip
starting new healthier eating program
working on three challenges for goodreads
finish fresh garden produce harvest
anymore unpleasant tasks wait until fall/winter; this is my month to relax more.

August is my summer break from tutoring, so I savor this month every year. It's also when I celebrate my birthday, so that makes the break extra-special for me.

I'm hoping to finish at least one first draft of the many stories I'm working on. Also, of course, I want to read a lot of books during my break. I'd love to clear off a shelf on my bookcase, but I'm not sure I'll get that many books read. We'll see.

I'm just chugging along, same old.routine. right now I'm trying to find a good time to tell my parents about my plans for the future...but just thinking about tjat makes me sick to my stomach >.< But I intend to go through with this plan. I'm getting closer to getting my license...

Hunter (Totally NOT a communist ��) wrote: "I'm just chugging along, same old.routine. right now I'm trying to find a good time to tell my parents about my plans for the future...but just thinking about tjat makes me sick to my stomach >.< B..."

Try not to focus on how to tell them until you're ready to start the first steps of preparation. Focus on getting that license right now...way to go!

Andrea wrote: "August is my summer break from tutoring, so I savor this month every year. It's also when I celebrate my birthday, so that makes the break extra-special for me.

I'm hoping to finish at least one f..."

Happy birthday break! :)

I'm trying to clear a bunch of shorter books off my shelves. I tend to read more in the 300-400 page range, so in August I want to clear out a good stack under 250 or so pages.

Great goal, Hannah.

License before anything else, absolutely. But i should probably tell them before I start packing 😅

Hunter (Totally NOT a communist ��) wrote: "License before anything else, absolutely. But i should probably tell them before I start packing 😅"

Perhaps! 😝

August is always busy for me getting kids ready for school. This year I have one who is a senior (with a few complications there) and one entering 1st grade. Aye yi yi!!

-- plans to take a weekend and just get away, decompress for a few days.
-- redo the kids' bathroom
-- maybe see the new Winnie the Pooh movie
-- clean my house and declutter a little bit
-- get kids back on a school routine
-- catch up on the books I have received at my work through the book exchange and pass some of them on.
-- relax, which is hard with school starting and work (which is hectic as I am implementing a new software)

Everyone enjoy their last days of summer!

My sis and I are seeing Christopher Robin this weekend. I never did see the other movie that came out last year, Good-bye Christopher Robin. I still want to sometime. Winnie the Pooh was such a staple of my childhood.

The CG in the trailers is a bit..unsettling to me. But thats just me

Bonny wrote: "I'm really excited because last weekend I was able to complete a plan I had been hoping to do since spring - I bought, assembled, and installed a trellis/swing in the corner of my yard facing the s..."

Yeah!! Another DAR sister. I am working on my daughter in law's and the more recent generations are our stumbling block too.

Bonny wrote: "I'm really excited because last weekend I was able to complete a plan I had been hoping to do since spring - I bought, assembled, and installed a trellis/swing in the corner of my yard facing the s..."

Bonny, the swing sounds so lovely!! Glad you got a chance to build it.

I have a work trip this week, get home for 2 days and then have a horse show with my younger daughter—the last I will see for a while bc next week I take her to her new job at a barn 1,000 miles away. When I get home from that I will have work and Hubby and I will adjust to being empty nesters for a while.

As for reading, I have a couple books to finish for book clubs, my daughter and I have a horse book (audio) picked out for our road trip, and I’ll have a hidden gem. After that I may try to finish Zorba the Greek which I started last month. And I have a nonfiction book I want to start.

Good golly, 1,000 miles?? That must be a special barn.

Joy, I hope you will enjoy the time with your daughter. Safe travels for all of your upcoming adventures.

My best friend and I went to see Mamma Mia 2 yesterday. If you liked the first movie, you will love the second. Warning: If tearing up 30 minutes into the movie gives you any indication, we were sobbing at the end. :)

My favorite line by Cher: "Great-grandma. Yeah, that won't be in the bio."

Hunter (Totally NOT a communist ��) wrote: "Good golly, 1,000 miles?? That must be a special barn."

It is the place where she got the best offer.

Okay, so I did something about my notifications and I'm not sure how to get them back to how they were. I only had notifications on ŷ������, no emails, except for likes, etc. Then I changed a game's notification to email and a day or so later, changed it back to notification only. Now that is the only thing I get notifications for. I'd like to get them for all of the CFD ones like I was originally. Any ideas?

Christine wrote: "Okay, so I did something about my notifications and I'm not sure how to get them back to how they were..."

I would go to the Emails section under my Account Settings and check that.

Has anyone noticed how many Christian fiction books have “daughter�� or “wife�� in the title?

I’m intrigued by this month’s puck, Red Door Inn, but I’m afraid it’s a romance. I have to be in the mood for romance.

AlegnaB �� wrote: "Christine wrote: "Okay, so I did something about my notifications and I'm not sure how to get them back to how they were..."

I would go to the Emails section under my Account Settings and check that."

Thanks Alegna! I figured it out. I had looked there before but missed the section I needed.

Joy wrote: "Has anyone noticed how many Christian fiction books have “daughter�� or “wife�� in the title?

I’m intrigued by this month’s puck, Red Door Inn, but I’m afraid it’s a romance. I have to be in the mo..."

Yes, there seem to be a plethora of those! I also notice it in general market fiction, too, but not quite as much.

The Red Door Inn is a romance. No Less Days, however, is not what I would classify as a romance, so maybe it might be your cup of tea. :)

I have read 73 books so far this year and have not read any books with "daughter" or "wife" in the title. They are probably more in the romance-only genre, whereas most of mine have been in the Christian mystery/suspense. Looking through the list though, I see a lot of different words repeated in the titles. :)

Beth - ;)
in Calgary

It would make a lot of sense for the romance. For a good chunk of Western history women have been the property of first their dads then their husbands and the Western World is where Christianity is most prevalent.

Of course I'm not saying that is a good thing, but that's how things were.

Beth - ;) wrote: "I have read 73 books so far this year and have not read any books with "daughter" or "wife" in the title. They are probably more in the romance-only genre, whereas most of mine have been in the Chr..."

I would expect it mostly for historical fiction, and yes, probably predominantly romance.

That makes sense.

I'm definitely not in the mood to read romances, even if they're in Christian fiction or historical fiction. Several Christian authors are starting to focus too much on the romance part, and neglecting the rest of the story and it's development. If I see on the cover a man looking sultry, or some passionate embrace, or whatever, I skip the whole book.

I'd agree. Red Door is a romance, but No Less Days has almost no romance at all.

Speaking of the wife/daughter trope in titles, I saw a display once where a librarian had set up all the books on their shelves like that on a feature, got "Hello, My name is" name tags, and wrote the character's actual name on them, along with a note of "let's stop letting these ladies be buried under someone else's identity."

Seeing a title like that is so cliched at this point that I only pick them up if I know the author.

Huh?? It seems I have lots of books with "daughter" in the title and very few with "wife". Who knew??!? Of course, I love romance books, so that probably explains it. :)

And I get what that librarian was doing and it's kind of cute, but I'm actually pleased as punch to have my identity be known as the daughter of my earthly father as well as my Father in Heaven. They don't "bury" me, they're actually quite integral and vital to my identity. And, oh how I wish that I could claim the identity of being someone's wife. I suppose there are a lot of books with "wife" or "daughter" in the titles..... but I kind of like the tradition and comfort of it.

p.s. - I just discovered that I only have four books on my shelves with "husband" in the title. Hah!! I must be "gender-ist"!! Ugh. I wonder if that's a politically correct issue or a politically incorrect one these days?? Hmmmm....

p.p.s. - Oh funny. Look what classic I found on my shelves...... Wives and Daughters.... Hahaha!!

So, it was 93 degrees today with so much humidity that the real feel temp was 103 degrees -- the air that you wear!! And I got to thinking (not sure why I never really thought about it before).... how gross it really must have been for all these characters in my historical books. I cannot imagine having no air condition and having to wear all those layers of clothing. Ugh!!! And the aromas! Ewww

Haha, Jane....I also don't have a problem with the identity itself. But I do like my book titles to give me a hint about the story, and these in particular are often used as just another term for the title instead of actually being something pertinent to the woman's identity in the story. The Captain's Daughter wasn't affected by her father being a captain for more than a few pages out of the story, which was far more about Gilbert and Sullivan than it was about the high seas. The Weaver's Daughter, on the other hand, was a good title because her being the daughter of a weaver played into the story and into her identity. But I've read a lot more weak examples than strong ones. :)

I personally love the "daughter" titles. A couple of great books come to mind:


I haven't read as many "wife" ones, but I did enjoy the general market The Zookeeper's Wife. (There is a bit of content in it, but it's an overall good read.)

Thanks for indulging me in the “wife�� and “daughter��
Discussion.

Jane, I often think about the weather and smells as well. But even in my own lifetime we did not always have central heat and air, and when I was small baths were generally once a week. And I’m not THAT old.

I think we get used to certain comforts and once we have them it is hard to go back.

Do any of you have tips on how to reduce anxiety levels when you need to talk about something important but are worried how it may go? If that makes any sense.

Do you have anyone you could role play with? If so, that’s a great way to practice.

If not, maybe write out how you expect the conversation to go. What different responses might you expect, and how will you react?

My daughter often prefaces conversations like this:
“I need to talk to you about something, and I would like you to hear me out before you pass any judgment.�� This prepares me for something that might be hard for me to hear. It also gives her some leverage. If I begin to react she reminds me that I promised to listen.

Commit to listen to the other person and really try to understand their perspective, even if it won’t change your mind. Sometimes if you can stay calm and sincerely say, I see where you’re coming from, it will deflate high emotions.

I honestly don't know what to expect. See, I've been planning on moving for some time before going to college...but I plan to move to the other side of the country and I don't know how well they would react. I plan to just tell my mom right now, but I've been acting like I don't care about what I need to be doing, so this will be coming out of nowhere for them.

Just thinking about it is making me want to throw up...

Really, this is more of "I'm going to do this and I figured you should *probably* know and there is nothing you can do to stop me", but I'm still stressing out.

Not that they WOULD stop me, but...

I am with Loraine - I want to spend as much time as possible with my two granddaughters. One is 4 1/2 and the other was born July 16.

Hunter, praying for you. (Joy's advice was great.)

Hannah Banana, Since you said "But I do like my book titles to give me a hint about the story"...... I think you should read this cozy mystery I recently read and am trying to write a review for at the moment. Lethal Licorice. Yup. You guessed it. The licorice definitely turned out to be lethal. ;-) (Yes, I know I'm a goober!!)

Well now it looks like she's more interested in watching TV with my sister, so I may not have to yet...which is good and *terrible*

My dad's home now and I'm not ready to talk to him about it yet.

A good article: