As an English professor at a local community college, I’m lucky enough to get a lot of time off. Even though I sometimes teach in this summer, I decided not to, this year. So, I’m off for nearly 3 months.
I know that having that much time off is a luxury that most would jump through hoops to take advantage of, and I am really happy to have a career that affords me so much flexibility and time away from work. However, when I do have an entire summer off, I sometimes go a little stir crazy. (Is the world’s smallest violin playing for me, yet?)
Often, by the end of the summer, I have reverted to my pretty pathetic 20-something habits: staying up until the wee hours of the morning, sleeping half the day, showering irregularly, spending WAY too much time on the internet, watching trash TV. You get the idea.
Now that we have Finn, that’s a little more difficult. He requires that I remain at least minimally functional. Plus, we want him to have a summer full of new things and adventures (big and small) and lots of time spent outdoors.
Also, now that we are homeowners, there is a never-ending list of little projects that need done–most of which have been neglected for the past year, as we try to stay afloat with two full-time jobs, a toddler, 2 rabbits, 2 cats, and countless other responsibilities.
So, in an effort to have both a memorable and a productive summer, I’ve made myself a summer bucket list, which will hopefully guide and motivate the next few months. Maybe putting this all out there will help keep me accountable for the not-so-fun stuff. MAYBE.
Either way, here it goes.
The Fun:
- Spend several days at the beach
- Hit up a new Caribbean island
- Have a no-cook charcuterie/tapas-style dinner on the porch at least once a week
- Have a swanky rooftop cocktail date downtown with my gal
- Visit a farmer’s market at least once a week
- Catch up on our vacation photo books (Alaska/Cannon Beach, Belize, San Juan/Nevis/Anguilla, Virgin Gorda, Italy)
- Take Finn to the Thomas the Train show
- Visit my hometown in Tennessee for the first time since Finn was born (and eat lots of Mexican food while there)
- Go berry picking with Finn
- Binge watch OITNB
- Get family photos taken
- Finally get back to blogging before/after photos of our house
- Finally get back to blogging regularly, in general
- Celebrate Finn’s 2nd birthday with a casual beach party
- Plant an herb garden–and keep it alive
- Finally visit one of the surrounding state fairs
- Eat watermelon, corn, peaches, and tomatoes until we explode
- Get my hands on a pair of those freaking copper-colored Birkenstocks that I’ve been stalking since February (No, really, I know this one is stupid, but I have wide feet and it’s hard to find cute shoes, and I’ve literally checked for these EVERY SINGLE DAY for months)
The Not-So-Fun:
Finish Kellogg practicum project- Clean out Finn’s closet and list a ton of clothes in his Kidizen shop
- Clean out my closet and do the same
- Go through the house and clean up/touch up paint, which we’ve been meaning to do since we moved in
- Pack up some of Finn’s baby toys 🙁 and organize what is left
- Have all of our windows professionally cleaned–they are GROSS
- Get back into a steady workout routine
- Have a pretty standard out-patient surgery that I’ve been putting off because it means I won’t be able to pick Finn up for two weeks
- Get started on the two book projects I’ve been delaying, which are due relatively soon
- Begin visiting possible preschools and (hopefully) get on a waitlist
- Sign-up for and start swim lessons with Finn
- Potty-train (KILL ME NOW)
