I was going to post this on the first day of summer (remember that day, when there was actually some nice, hot weather – the kind you should have all year long?), but things being what they are, and work being what it is (grrr), it didn’t happen.
Remember the first day back at school, when you had to write those stupid “how I spent my summer vacation” essays? I have always hated writing essays; I would get writer’s block just from staring at that blank page. Plus it was always hard to write what you “had” to write, versus what you “wanted” to write. Blogging is better, because I can write anything I want – no grading, no judgment.
While I certainly don’t have summer vacations off anymore (those were the days!), I can still relish in what I’d like to accomplish over the summer (at least I have Fridays off until September!). And I am describing my list as “bodacious” because it seems to be my word of the week this week (for whatever reason, I ended up replying to a co-worker’s email with “Bodacious – thanks!” and it seems to have stuck).
Anyhow, without further ado, here is my “bodacious” list of things I want to do this summer.
1. Yard work – I love mowing the yard (all 0.18 acres of it!)
2. Work on obtaining some color other than pasty white or lobster red (isn’t there some middle ground that I could find; why does it have to be one or the other?) Fortunately, this is one type of multi-tasking even this uni-tasker can manage – do this along with #1 and increase my vitamin D intake all at once!
3. Finish Patti’s afghan for the bedroom. I have so far (since February when I started crocheting again after not having done it for over 10 years!) completed afghans and coordinating pillows for all three kids, plus a set for Patti in the living room. I am currently about two-thirds of the way through crocheting this light brown (latte colored) afghan, with all sorts of textured patterns in it. Not an original design, but working from a pattern (I’m not quite comfortable designing my own crochet projects yet), but certainly very nice and will go well in our bedroom once we redo the color scheme in there the way we want it (cappuccino and light sage green). I’ll post a pic of it when it’s done (the afghan that is, not the room – the room makeover is a couple of years down the road).
4. Make a pair of coordinating crocheted pillows to go with the afghan. I am planning on doing them in a medium sage green, in a pattern inspired by the afghan. That’s as original as I get with crochet projects for the time being. Again, I’ll post a pic when they’re finished.
5. Barbequing – MMMMmmmm. Nothing like hangin’ out by the grill, beer (or cooler, or margarita) in hand, hanging out with the wife and kids. We need to have some friends over a time or three, I think.
6. More yard work (I think there are some shrubs I need to dig up)
7. Further living up to the ‘CraftyGuy’ persona, I’d like to get some woodworking projects out of the way as well. Mainly some covers for our ugly old radiators throughout the house. A good beginner project from what I’ve heard, so I shouldn’t cause too much damage. Perhaps a bookcase or two as well – we shall see.
8. Take the second (out of three) Wilton cake-decorating course. Hone my frosting flower skills a bit more.
9. Nurse those inevitable sunburns.
10. As if my plate wasn’t already full, I would really like to get back into a quartet again at some point. During most of my time with the Sounds of Concord barbershop chorus, I also sang baritone with a quartet named Z Street. That lasted about 3 years, then we called it quits (perhaps a topic for another time). It was great fun while it lasted though. While I clearly don’t have the time or energy to devote to a highly competiton-oriented chorus such as SoC at this time, I miss the quartet experience and I’d love to get back into one at some time – either baritone or tenor (not lead, as I’m far more comfortable singing harmony, and my bass isn’t nearly powerful enough), but would be nice, even if just for the fun of it. But realistically, this may need to wait. The reasons why I left the Sounds of Concord would speak into why I should perhaps not bite off more than I can chew, schedule- and priority-wise.
11. Yard work. I think we have a meadow growing behind the fence – where’s the weed killer?
12. Actually get out to the driving range sometime. Would be nice to get to the point where I don’t embarrass myself before going to a real golf course!
13. Power-wash and re-stain the deck.
14. Clean out the garage. Oh look - I found some golf clubs!
15. Look for the SPF-7000 sun block.
16. Clean out the basement (wow – an inside activity, who woulda thunk it?)
17. Play with the digital camera a bit. I’m no professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m certainly no artist by anyone’s standards, but I have started to dabble with photography a bit as of late (perhaps I may have been inspired by a friend of mine from college, Carol Schiraldi, who now lives in Austin, TX, and is an absolutely amazing photographer – she has had work displayed in some number of exhibits already, some of them juried). I tend to favor nature pics (capturing odd angles and shapes) and I like sepia tones (that funky yellow-brown color you see in the older photos - I like the idea of taking new or modern subjects, and photographing them with an “old” appearance), but all that’s a topic for another day I suppose.
18. Oh, and did I mention yard work?
Whew! That’s a long list. No excuse for being bored this summer. Now if only I could figure out how to play hooky from work – that would truly be bodacious.
No comments:
Post a Comment