Here it is. Another month is coming to a close. Before I dive into a summary of the week, I want say a HUGE thank you to those of you who nominated “Inside Michelle’s Brain” as one of this year’s BBAW Best Book Blog Feature or Series of Posts. I was having a horrific day on the day I was informed, and it truly made my day. We’re talking tears. I found the series cathartic to write and never expected them to be popular. In fact, I figured most people would ignore my ranting because the blogging world does not need another blogger ranting and stirring up drama. I am touched beyond reason that people felt strongly enough to nominate me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

School officially started for the kids on Monday. Holly’s reaction to second grade was that it was “awesome.” Connor was less enthusiastic about seventh grade. He’s struggling to adjust to his workload (homework on the first day of school!) and the fact that his locker is located in the opposite wing of almost all of his classes. By the end of the week, he adjusted pretty well, and the hardest thing he faced was getting up and getting ready in time to catch the bus at 6:30 AM.

Connor also experienced his first and second cross-country meets this week. The first one was hosted by his school, and he came in 12th out of approximately 30ish boys. His two-mile time was just over 15 minutes. His second meet was yesterday, at one of the larger cross-country events in the state. There had to have been over 200 boys running yesterday, but he managed to come in 44th place, beating his previous time by almost two minutes with a new personal record of 13 minutes 13 seconds. We are SO proud of him, and it is an absolute joy to watch him succeed and see him truly enjoy this sport. I don’t know about Jim, but I am really looking forward to the rest of the season.

Of course, Connor was supposed to have two soccer games yesterday and one today. Unfortunately, his heart is just not in it this year, and given his school workload, along with piano, trumpet and cross-country, he is seriously considering dropping soccer this year. He has been playing since he was four, and it is an agonizing decision for him. He has stated that given the choice between cross-country and soccer in high school, he’ll choose cross-country so this would essentially be the end of an era for him. It is his decision, so we shall see what he wants to do.

On the work front, things remain in limbo. The plans for the sale are still in place, and people remain nervous. We are all expecting some form of announcement around the beginning of September. At this point in time, it is just gut feeling and conjecture, but the initial six weeks mentioned will have past so it makes sense to get more details of this thing. My employee did opt to quit. He was quite upset that he could not stay with our parent company; they put a moratorium on any employees at my location being able to go to another business unit within the parent organization, citing that our possible new employers are buying all employees. He managed to get a few zingers shot in my direction before he left, citing that I do not have the skills, personality or desire to be an effective manager. I find this out after he looked me in the eye and said it was a pleasure working with me. NOT that I am bitter or anything.

Read My Own Books Month is still going strong. I haven’t read as much as I would like, but I have been reading some interesting stories this month. Here’s a list of my reviews since my last TSS update:

• Dark Lover by J. R. Ward
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
• Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys
• Heartless by Gail Carriger
• By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
• Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
• Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
• Love Lies Bleeding by Jess McConkey