What I Did This Summer...

Tonight is my last night of summer vacation. I'm feeling some trepidation about going back to work tomorrow, but it will be good to have a routine again. Back in June I wrote a post that spoke to the commitments I made for the summer. Only one person, my mom (thanks!), checked in with me over the summer to see how I was doing on my goals. Overall, it was a mixed bag.

Goal #1 was to write more often. I didn't do so well with this goal. While I actually did quite a lot this summer that I could easily have written about, I'm struggling with the idea of whether I want to write an "on-line diary" where it really might only interest those people who know me fairly well, and even then that might be pushing it or as one that is interesting to a broader spectrum of people. I love reading blogs that are written in such a way that they reach a wider audience and while there might be personal details, the overall outcome is more general; it would appeal to anyone whether they know the author or not. I guess I just need to get over myself and write. Those who want to read will and those who choose not to won't.

Goal #2 was to get more exercise. Yeah, that really didn't happen. I was plenty active doing various things all summer long, but I did not make it to the gym, not even once. The new plan is to go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays before I pick up the kids from their daycare centers. I just need to make sure I leave work early enough to work in a workout.

Mom and Sharon on the way up to Reno. This is where we found our first box of the trip.

Goal #3 was to reach my goal of 300 letterboxes by early July. This goal I met! On the last weekend of June I went to Reno with my mom and her friend Sharon for Spy vs. Spy II, a letterboxing event. We boxed on the way up and back as well as at the event itself. Since then I have found 28 additional boxes. I have "just" 72 boxes to find before next July. Luckily I live in a box heavy area and finding these boxes shouldn't be too much of a problem.

My mom walking back to the car in Reno after finding a box. Please note, it helps to have a compass that correctly points north!

Goal #4 was to work on organizing the house and getting rid of things. This summer I cleaned out and reorganized the linen cabinets, the kids bathroom, the master bathroom, and my jewelry box. The biggest thing I worked on though was my kitchen. I relined all of the shelves and cabinets and reorganized the entire kitchen. When we moved in over 5 years ago I made choices about where things in the kitchen would go based on how I thought the kitchen would flow. I haven't been happy with some of those choices for years, but didn't know how to fix it. I didn't really know how to fix it now either, I just knew I needed to make a change. So far, I'm fairly happy with my new choices in the kitchen. The two areas of the house that we did not work on are the garage and all of the junk that is being stored in our bedroom that needs to be posted on Craig's List.

Goal #5 was to finish Kiersta's baby book. I DID IT!!!! Kiersta loves it and I am so happy to have this project out of the way. As soon as I finished I got the all too familiar feeling in my body of wanting to start the next project. Hopefully I'll find some time some day.

Goal #6 was to finish the Harry Potter series. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this afternoon. I watched very little TV this summer as I often had my nose in a book. I also watched all 6 of the Harry Potter movies and can hardly wait for the last movie(s) to come out this November. I have to admit that I am mourning my loss of time with the wonderful wizard and his mates.

Here we are in Santa Barbara on one of those bike thingies.

Goal #7 was to have fun. I definitely accomplished this goal. While I spent a lot of time working around the house and acting as a chauffeur for the kids various activities, I did manage to have fun. As a family we went down to San Diego for a long weekend to celebrate my 40th birthday with my best friend from college. While there, we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, went swimming, drank too much, and caught up on each other's lives. On the way home we spent time in Santa Barbara where we rented one of those little pedal surreys. We stuck the kids in the front basket and Brian and I did all of the pedaling. This is one of those activities that looks like it will be more fun than it really is, but the kids had lots of fun. We also went to Woody's BBQ for lunch--so yummy!!! Additionally I spent lots of time with my kids. We went to Gilroy Gardens and Happy Hollow, the San Jose Museum of Art and the library, to birthday parties, playdates, swim lessons, gymnastics, and Gymboree. It really was a fun summer.

Kyle looking awfully cute at the San Jose Museum of Art.

So, while I didn't do so well with my exercising or writing, I did meet all of my other goals. I guess I was having too much fun to find the time to write, maybe I need to have less fun in order to write more.

PS I wrote this yesterday, but Blogger was down and I couldn't post it. I made it through my first day of work (no students) and found out that I have a student teacher again this year! :)