Summer plans

2013 has been a challenging, exhausting, heartbreaking year. The worst year I've ever had. I've been sad and stressed and oh, just lost for a long time. But over the past month and a half, I've begun to feel more like myself. I feel hopeful. I'm starting to have fun again. It was good for me to get back to work and to be busy. School is a fun place to be. In September, I'll be a full-time teacher again, for the first time since before I had the boys. I'll be teaching kindergarten and it's going to be awesome, but let's face it- it is going to wear me out! Especially in the first month or two, as the kids and I get used to the routines of all-day K {and my own two boys get used to getting up and out the door before 8 a.m. again}. And so, I plan to make the most of this summer vacation. There are 8 lovely, long weeks left. And in those 8 weeks, I'm going to look after myself, spend time with the people I love and enjoy this beautiful place I call home. Oh sure, I've got a lot of jobs I need to accomplish, too {painting, organizing, de-cluttering, deck-building and bathroom renovating} but today's post is about the less productive {lifting the spirits} kind of stuff. Here's my summer fun to-do list and so far, I'm doing a bang-up job of sticking to it!

Eat fresh fruit and veggies from the garden every day
Spend lots of time at the beach
Sleep in once in a while
Ride bikes with the boys
Picnic often {oh, and stop using fabric bags to cram everything in! go down into the crawl space and get out that picnic basket!}
See some outdoor movies downtown
Go to the Lavender Festival
Buy myself some decent sandals, never mind how much they are...
Explore the lakes in our neighbourhood
Get together with friends, regularly
Shop the farmers' markets
Make iced coffees {our coffee maker has that function and I've only just noticed!}
Read a new book every week
Go for fish & chips on the Inner Harbour
Write lots of letters
Spend whole days outdoors
Get into the habit of doing yoga several days a week {it always feels so good}
Meditate daily
Make iced tea and lemonade
Sit outside on the new deck with Alan, and drink that iced tea and lemonade
Be happy

See those raspberries? Fresh from our garden.

Picnic on the beach. There was even a baguette!

After dinner bike rides

Walks around the lake

Blue water, blue sky, sea breeze... swoon!

Explorers

What are you hoping to see/do/experience this summer?