High hopes

First day of a new month, and I have HIGH HOPES for this one. For one thing, as of midnight last night, I am officially on holiday, till midnight on the 15th. That alone is liable to make this a good month.

Also, the weather seems to have stabilised, and feels really hot and summery. Perfect.

Next, the girls and I are going to Italy for a week this month and I can hardly wait. I love Italy, have loved it every time I've been (three times so far) and am confident that we're going to have a great time.

My good friend D from New York will already have arrived here in Montpellier by the time we get back, and I haven't seen him since April 2001. And I can hardly wait for that, either.

The girls will be doing a circus and trampoline course, three hours every afternoon for five days, in the last week of August. They love the course, I love the breathing space.

Only minor hiccup - my ex-MIL from hell will be coming in the middle of the month, but hopefully I'll be able to avoid her as much as possible.

And only regret: that I won't be making it to my first ever BlogHer event this year. San Diego is financially unviable, and totally impractical in terms of timing. I'm hoping for (at least) an east coast venue next year, which would certainly be easier for me (less flights, probably cheaper flights). But I'm determined to go at least once; there are so many people whose work I read, and love, and admire, so many bloggers who have helped me (even if they don't know it), so many people I just love the sound of in their writing... 2012, hell yeah!

I used to love July, but this year July pretty much sucked. But really, I do have high hopes for August!

Bring it!