I missed posting last week because I was out of town and spent all that Thursday in the car. Then time got away from me and I decided to just wait until the next Thursday. Which is today.

It's been a week since my family reunion trip in Utah but I am still going to focus on that. I had a wonderful time, much more than I expected. I love my family but all of us together like that was a gamble; it's been a couple years. There are a couple of things I learned on that trip.

Raquetball - I don't know if that's how it's spelled, but it's how I spell it. I LOVE it. I had never played it before but the condo resort where we stayed had some courts, along with tennis and a pool and other stuff. I played some tennis and that was fun, but I've never been that great at it. But I am actually pretty darn good at raquetball and with practice I could get better. I played around with my dad as a bit as he taught me the rules and tricks, and then with him and my brothers. I had a lot of fun playing for real with my sister-in-law because we were pretty evenly matched. I want to play more raquetball now that I am home.

Auntie Autumn- First off let me say that I fought this name. I said they call me Autumn, or Aunt Autumn, but please not auntie. But I lost that battle quickly. So whatever. But I actually really enjoy being an aunt and now that I've spent time with them, I love my nieces and nephews. I have learned that it still in no way gives me any desire to ever have kids of my own. I like playing with them for a bit but still being able to pass them off to the actual parents. And now that I am home and it's been a week, I miss them.

Catching up with college friends - I have tried to keep up with all my friends from college, and things like Facebook and blogs help with that. But it's been a couple years since I've seen some of my friends from my days on the college newspaper. I caught up with a few who live out in Utah. We went out to dinner and just hung out talking about "the good old days." I had such a good time. Katie, Season, Amy and Lance: I am so glad I got to see you all!

Geeking out over music - We've all done it. And while I promise I do listen to more than just musical soundtracks, I have been geeking out over musical soundtracks lately. I am still addicted to Next to Normal and I am finding it hard to listen to anything else. I can listen to it multiple times a day every day. But the main instance I had in mind was about one little line from one song in Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. It is a song called "What Is It About Her?" sung by Brian d'Arcy James and Julia Murney. I enjoy the whole song, but there is this one line Brian d'Arcy James sings that freaks me out in a good way. I will seriously skip back about 10 times each time I listen to the song just to hear this one line. I don't know what it is about it that affects me so, but once is never enough. I compulsively HAVE to hear it again and again.

So tomorrow is Thursday, of this I am aware, but I will be getting up really early in the morning and driving from Omaha to Ogden, Utah, and I will have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to blog. So I am moving things up a day this week.

I have mixed feelings about this upcoming trip. Family vacations can always be interesting. The family dynamic changes and tensions can rise more easily it seems. That being said though, the whole family hasn't been together in several years and I think it could be fun. My brothers and their wives are bringing their munchkins down and we are all converging in Utah.

I am not good with children. As a group I don't like children. I take them on a case by case basis and I can handle one maybe two at a time. But there are going to be five little people there, all of whom are related to me. I find this very daunting, as all five are pretty much strangers to me. I haven't even met the newest one yet. We'll see how it goes. My parents think they are going to love me. Something about kids finding the one most resistant to them and zeroing in.

I am so excited about getting a break from work. I don't know that I can actually afford a week without working, but it is imperative at this point for my mental health. I'll take the trade off. A whole week away from dealing with idiotic customers and people who think I'm expendable because I'm "just a server."

There is a pool where we're staying, hiking, all sorts of stuff. I'm really looking forward to spending a lot more time outside. It's something I enjoy more than people think, but don't do very often when I'm home and working.

Also, I am super excited to get to see some girlfriends of mine that I've only seen once or twice since college. There were three girls I really wanted a chance to see, and luckily for me they all know each other since we all met working on our college paper together. So the four of us are going to get together one night while I am out there, and I can't wait.

I will have Internet access out there, so I will keep y'all posted on how the week goes. That is assuming I survive the drive out there tomorrow just me and my sister in a car. I usually listen to one musical soundtrack right after another on road trips and she likes Wicked and nothing else.

It's Thursday again, and I have had a pretty enjoyable week. I haven't been working much, which helps I think, but also makes me pretty broke! Oh well.

Tweets that are exactly 140 characters - I love it the most when it just happens to work out that way, but if I am close I will try to readjust what I wrote the tiniest bit to try and get it exactly there. I don't know why but I feel the smallest of thrills when I do that. I'm neurotic.

Birthdays - I had two big birthdays in my life this week. My father's was yesterday and we went boating as a family and had a nice dinner together last night. One of my closest friends from college turned 25 the day before on Tuesday. She lives in Washington but I sent her 25 individual birthday cards in the mail to celebrate. Happy birthday Dad and Chelsea!

Plane tickets - Southwest Airlines was having a two day sale on airfare that ended yesterday. My mom noticed it and told me about it. So I got a round-trip ticket from Omaha to Baltimore in September for a pretty good price. This is the first step for my New York City trip with my EEB! I will stay at her house and then we'll take a train up to NYC for the weekend. I can't wait, and it feels nice and real now that I have the ticket.

That one CD you can't get enough of - I have a lot of music, especially musical soundtracks. You all know that already. But I go in phases. There will be a soundtrack that I will listen to over and over for weeks or months and it's all I want to hear. Then I won't listen to it for months to a year and become obsessed with something else. It's fun. Right now I CANNOT get enough of the soundtrack to the musical Next to Normal. I love it so much and I listen to it practically every day at least once. It was up for best musical this year but didn't win. If all goes well I will get to see it live in September. Love it.

Other things:

• Finding a movie you love but don't own yet in the $5 bin
• Having so many books you want to read that you can't always decide what to read next
• Talking to far away friends on the phone, even for just a minute or too. It just cheers me right up.
• Pre-ordering things off Amazon and knowing they'll (usually) arrive on your door the day they are released.
• Spending more money on Amazon just to get the free super saver shipping
• Re-adjusting the books on your bookshelf to make room for your latest acquisition
  

Alright, so it is July 6 and I am just now posting my goal for the month. I know. But I decided this month to mix it up. Instead of avoiding something for an entire month, or even doing something every day for an entire month, I decided on a project I have been putting off that I now have to get done by the end of the month.

Last year for my birthday a close friend bought me a journal that was Wicked/The Wizard of Oz themed. It's the neatest looking book and I really like it. I knew right away what I wanted to use it for, but I have yet to put it into action.

By now everyone knows that the thing I am probably most passionate about in live is musical theater. I am not a performer by any means, but I am a most ardent and appreciative spectator. Sitting in a dark theater watching a musical (or a play too) unfold on stage is my happy place.

Since this journal was sort of tied to Wicked, I decided I would use it as a record of the shows I get to see. I already save all the ticket stubs and Playbills, plus I have taken several pictures in front of the more significant theaters. My plan is to keep track of dates and theaters and notable performers and my general thoughts of each show I see.

Before I get to the present though, I wanted to start with the more significant shows from my past. Any show I've seen in New York, including my first Broadway show ever when I saw The Phantom of the Opera the summer I turned 16 with my dad. I have all the information collected, I just need to take the time to put them in the journal.

So my goal is to be completely up to date by the end of the month. I won't say I am going to work on it a little bit each day, I know I never would, but a fair chunk each week until it's done.

NOW, I need suggestions for future months. I have a few more ideas up my sleeves, but that won't last forever and I really want to keep this up. So I will take dares (except for the potato thing Dad, I won't even try to give those up), suggestions anything you have to offer me. Let me know!

Holy cow, it has been July 3rd for half an hour now and it only recently occurred to me the significance of it being July. June flew by in a flash and that means another month where I SUCCESSFULLY completed a goal. Nothing chocolate (pretty much nothing sweet) for an entire month.

I really honestly thought this was going to be my toughest challenge yet. And lo and behold it was not at all. I've made the occasional mention of this over the past few weeks, but I am still shocked. Giving up sweets was so easy. A lot easier than I think it should have been. I am addicted to sweets and have a hard time rationing myself.

But it seems like the moment I made that decision and took dessert of the table completely, it left my head completely. I didn't even really miss it. I didn't get any huge cravings I had to engage in epic mental battles to overcome. I was fine. I still am.

Once July hit and I realized my "trial" had ended, I didn't run out an binge on anything. I allowed myself a nice glass of chocolate milk tonight at work, and it was incredibly refreshing, and that's all I've had. For now, that's all I'm going to have.

So I've decided to keep it up. Not as a goal or for any great length of time, just because I've learned I can. Chocolate milk is back in my life though, I really do love that stuff. And if dessert comes to me I won't automatically turn it down: Ice cream with friends here, a piece of someone's birthday cake there. I just don't plan on seeking it out for awhile yet; I'll let it come to me. Ben, Jerry, I'm so sorry. I still think we need to take a break.

Oh, and information on July's goal will follow in the next day or two. Stay tuned.

It's Thursday again! And I am in a much better frame of mind than I was when I posted last. My situation has not changed, but I have changed my outlook on the situation. I'm doing what I can to change it and I just have to let it all go. But hooray for Thursday.

Fireworks - I haven't seen any yet, but I know I am in for a big treat this weekend. I have to work the 4th, but the 3rd is when the excitement happens in my family. We go to Rosenblatt stadium in downtown Omaha as a family and with another family we're all friends with. There is a fun baseball game and then when it gets dark they let everyone out onto the field and there is a pretty spectacular fireworks display. I had so much fun last year and I can't wait. There is just something about fireworks that is just innately joyful. Just try to not cheer up when you watch them.

New swimsuit - I love to swim and be in the water, but that activity usually requires a suit. I have no problem wearing one, but I always have the damnedest time trying to find one. I really stopped trying, and it's been about eight years at least since I really had a decent suit. But I went out today and tried to find one, and it took a while but I did. It is so cute and now I can go to the lake with my family and swim on some upcoming vacations. It's great.

Taking an idea and running with it - Sometimes I get these flashes of brilliance where I come up with a perfect idea. At least I always think so at the time. My good friend's birthday is coming up next week and a couple of weeks ago I came up with something to do for her that for all I know no one's ever done. I can't get into details because she reads this, but I am excited about it and I just went crazy and had a lot of fun getting it all together. She had better like it, or at least realize that the concept came from a good place!

So You Think You Can Dance - I full out love this show. I can't get enough of it. The variety and the caliber of talent on that show astounds me weekly. I love learning about all these choreographers that I, a person with 3 or 4 left feet, would never have known otherwise. I just love being a witness to all the creativity and talent on that stage. I can't get enough.

I had others too, but I can't remember what they were now. I'll have to save them for later I guess.