REMEMBER MY SUMMER GOALS? Now that summer is more than one-third past (read that bit again, why don’t you, as you weep into your iced coffee) and I’m about to embark on our few short days of family vacation, I thought I should check in with, um, myself, and err, you all, and ‘fess up to what I’ve done, or not, on that list of mine.
My kids made me do it. Those ambitious little shorties forced me to come to terms with the things that seemed really important to do, see, or experience this summer. Progress is being made, but not all the news is good. Read on…
1. Tomatoes, basil, corn. Too early, too rainy, too cold. These will all have to wait until August, though I did break down and buy a supermarket tomato this week to eat with a salad nicoise I made…from ARUGULA I GREW MYSELF. (Hold your applause until the end, please.)
2. Sun on skin. See above. We had more rainfall in June than in any year since 1903. Even so, today the sun shone, and the Rock and the River and I went swimming in our own pond. My husband is convinced that amoebic dysentery is just around the corner for us all, but the sun on our backs in the cool water felt divine.
3. Fireflies. Going, going, gone, but it stays light so late here, that my kids are always asleep by the time the lightning bugs start to show themselves, anyway. Maybe next year. This year, they made do with sparklers on the 4th of July, which were as close to magic as either child has yet come in their short lives.
4. Bonfire. S’mores. See Number 1, above. Thunderstorms every night=zero campfires, though my kids did have s’mores, they tell me, at their first ever non-family, brother-sister sleepover this weekend. While they were having s’mores, I was having…my husband. Alone. For a whole 16 hours. We owe our friends, big time.
5. Beach, seaglass, crustaceans. We left for four days in Maine Monday. I’ll report back, but signs are promising.
6. A run in the rain. With all the rain we’ve been having, this one should have been a breeze. I’ve been lazy, running mostly on the weekends, not nearly enough during the week, and rain has been an excuse not to. Now that I’ve confessed my sins, I’ll try to do better.
7. Infinite Jest. OK, I’m only about 150 pages in, but progress is being made, people. Considering that I only made it to page 19 the first time I tried to read it (I know exactly where I stopped, because I found the dogeared page when I cracked the book this time). I think hope is in order, even if it’s too early for optimism.
8. A night away with my husband. See Number 4. We were in our own house, but we were alone, and it was free.
9. Stay tighter with my friends. I had a fun meet-up with a bunch of fellow writer/social media type girlfriends last week for brunch. I spent leisurely, lovely time with a couple of L.A. friends I hadn’t seen in a year or so, a high school friend with whom I reconnected at my recent reunion, and am about to see two more of those high school sister-friends in Maine this week. On the downside, I have phone calls and emails from treasured friends lingering unreturned. Two steps forward…
10. Having more fun? Definitely. While I can’t necessarily say I’ve succeeded at the “stress less” part, I’m definitely playing more. I related strongly to this blog post about the importance of play time from a wonderful writer and blogger, Jen Lee. See what you think.
How is your summer going? Is it living up to your expectations? Do you have secret goals you want to confess? C’mon, tell the sisters.
No related posts.
First time here? Here's the idea: