Thursday Thirteen #11

Thirteen Reasons I'm Glad Tomorrow Is The Last Day Of School,
Despite The Whole, Going-Insane-While-Trying-To-Keep-
The-Kids-Active-And-Not-Bored-And-Still-Have-
Time-To-Work Thing

1. Sleeping "In"
Last summer I felt guilty every day for not getting up at 7:00 when my husband did, but I'm just not a morning person--I am wholeheartedly a night person. So I usually got up at 8:00. Which is a helluva lot better than 6:21 a.m.

2. Having Help With Cleaning
My kids like me being home because they were tired of 6 and 10 years, respectively, of "summer camp" (i.e. day care). They refuse to let me sign them up for very many activities. Nonetheless, we do wind up with a schedule. And part of that schedule is cleaning some part of the house every day. They also take over full responsibility feeding the animals and emptying the dishwasher.

3. Spending Time With My Kids
Some people won't believe this, but you have to break it down. I definitely love my kids. I'm proud of them, and I'm doing my best to make them grow up into good people. There are some things I enjoy doing with them (bike rides and movies, for example). But I'm not a "playing" Mom. I don't want to spend tons of random time hanging out and doing things that don't interest me. Consequently, I spend the entire school year feeling guilty for any afternoon that I come back to my computer after they get home from school. All the forced togetherness during the summer gives me plenty of quality time so I can feel less guilty about the time I don't spend.

4. Camp Nana
For most of the summer weeks, my mother-in-law takes the kids overnight on Tuesday. She gets them at some time Tuesday (sometimes late morning, sometimes late afternoon) and keeps them until Wednesday evening. That full writing day is soooo appreciated when it's rare.

5. Date Nights
Goes along with Camp Nana. I get some quiet time with my husband and get to see some movies we wouldn't normally get to see together. We don't go out every single week, but even the ones at home in different rooms are calm and restful and we feel connected.

6. Diminished Schedule
There is so much less to do in the summer! We do still have soccer camp going on for the next seven Fridays for Number Two, and Number One will start practices in July, and they each have a class or two, and Number One has swimming lessons, and we have some doctor and dentist appointments and Number Two's orthodontia. But trust me, that's a vastly diminished schedule.

7. Harry Potter
I can't tell you how geeked I am for July. The fifth movie will be a decent appetizer, but I don't expect much from it. It's just a great way to pass the time. But the book. I listen to Jim Dale's performance rather than reading the book itself, and I tell you, July 21st can't come fast enough.

8. The BEACH!
We go on vacation in August, to Myrtle Beach. J's choice, gifted to us by the in-laws as they have a time share down there now. I can't recall ever being to any southern beaches, so I am setting my expectations really low. I'm used to New England waters--cooling off, bodysurfing, etc.--and I have a feeling we'll have flat, calm water, extreme humidity (well, there's always humidity, we're at the BEACH), and bathwater temperatures that do not refresh. Anyone who has been there, feel free to disabuse me of my notions. :)

9. Supernatural Summer
I'm going to watch both the first two seasons, every Thursday between now and the start of season 3 or until I finish, whichever comes first. Why, yes, I have seen every episode multiple times already. So?

10. More Reading Time
I have an unacceptable mind set that is telling me finding good writing time will be difficult this summer. Part of that stems from experience, part from the knowledge that my full-time writer friends with kids don't plan to do as much work during the summer. So I hope to read a lot more books than I've been managing.

11. Netflix
My Netflix account got a little disused over the last half of the television season this year. I will concentrate on catching up a bit. I am currently watching Kyle XY (have only seen two episodes so far, not that impressed) and next up is season 3 of Entourage. Plus there are a ton of movies I haven't seen yet.

12. Movies
Okay, maybe cheating a little because I mentioned this under two other items, but summer movies are one of my great loves. Yes, I adore good blockbusters. That means well written, well acted, and well directed. I'm pretty picky, though I've relaxed my standards a bit. Fantastic Four and X-Men 3 were great disappointments in past years. But it's not so much the quality of the film as the entire experience. The darkening theater, the big screen and surround sound, the trailers and the anticipation as the movie starts. What adventure will it take me on? This happens all throughout the year, of course, and some of my top favorites weren't released anywhere close to summer. But summer movies always follow a barren winter/spring, and there are many more possibilities.

13. Long Days, Longer Evenings, and Anticipation of the Fall
I love living in a part of the country where things change. There's something to appreciate about every season, and each one makes the next even better to reach. I'm not exactly counting the days to August 27th and the first day of school, but I am looking forward to it.






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