Category Archives: Life

Bookish Talk, Life

Sunday Matters: What’s Your Big Summer Read?

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Sunday Matters

All I can think about these days is what my big summer read will be. I like to pick a challenging book for the summer because I seem to have more time to read but I can’t really zero in on a good one .  Seveneves? What else is out there? I’m blanking.

Right Now:

Today, my day starts and ends with church . First, we will attend the service. Then, I am attending a mandatory camp meeting as both a parent and group leader. My daughter and I have never attended camp so we are pretty excited.

This Week:

The only thing I have going on this week, is a dental  appointment. That’s it! I really need to do some stuff around the house. I said that last week and some of it got done but not much. I plan to make more of an effort this week. My closets are a mess and my drawers are kind of a mess too, as is the garage. The last time I cleaned the garage I broke my foot so I must be more careful this time.

Reading:

After a slump ( I guess it was a slump) reading has been going really well. Amazingly well. I’ve been plowing through my review pile and reviews are scheduled and everything. I feel so accomplished.

The only sad thing, is that with all my reading I managed to drop my Kindle and it is now no more. It was an old Kindle but a great one and included 3G which you have to pay extra for now. Anyway, after much thought I went with another basic model. I was reading Wintering by Peter Geye when I dropped the darn thing. I got the new one yesterday but it won’t let me transfer my review copies and my library books are no more. Sadness.

In the mean time, I’ve read two actual books, My Last Continent by Midge Raymond and Firefly Summer by Nan Rossiter.

Watching:

I haven’t been in the mood for TV but I feel like watching some 80’s flicks. Oh, and the Tony Awards. HUGE in my house, as you can imagine. The Teen is very excited for tonight’s show.

Making:

It was a good week for cooking. Tonight? We may pick up Chinese take-out so we can just kick back and watch the Tony Awards. I will be working at the church until right before they start so there won’t be time to cook much.

Grateful for:

So grateful that the beach is just a short road trip away. We hit Santa Barbara yesterday and I’ve never eaten so much food. It was all so good though and even though it was overcast and raining (rain? really?) none of us cared. We hit the zoo, did a little shopping and just roamed around town.

What are your plans for today?

Life

What Does Summer Mean To You?

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What does summer mean to you?

Summer always sneaks up on me. This year especially because the weather has been so cool and nice and then BAM, feels like an oven and everything is brown again.  Yep, sure enough the calendar says June. How did this happen?

This time, I am going to sit down with my planner and pencil in summery things because before I know it, summer will be over and the kids will be reminding us that we didn’t do much in the way of fun. The other day I saw some bloggers talking about summer and their summers differed so much that I thought I’d ask the question:

What does summer mean to you?

In my head, this is what it means to me:

  • Several trips to the beach
  • Evening BBQs with fresh seafood, steak and lots of watermelon!
  • Summery drinks (Pimm’s Cup, Arnold Palmers, Mint Juleps)
  • After dinner runs to the ice cream shop
  • Lots and lots of reading
  • Summer movie blockbusters on the big screen
  • Sitting outside in the shade just to take in the view
  • Shortish road trips to undiscovered beach towns
  • Eating a tuna salad sandwich while watching the waves roll in
  • The smell of sunscreen mixed with an ocean breeze
  • The Otter Pup, happy for all the extra sunny spots to check out
  • Visiting air-conditioned museums when it’s blazing hot outside
  • Concerts at the park

Summer, in general, means a more carefree attitude. It should with school being out and all but since I work for a year-round university, we don’t have much of a break so I have to try harder to get those “feels” in there.

When I picked up my daughter from her last day of school yesterday, she literally did a dance down the sidewalk and I SO remember how the last day of school felt. Such promise of things to come. This year, I plan to make more of the above happen.

Now it’s your turn. What does summer mean to you? What are your must-have summer foods or drinks and tell me what you love to do during these hot summer months.