I was such a weird kid. In cleaning out some old papers found at my parents house, I discovered my old summer schedules. Yes, the one time of year when I had time to do as I pleased, I scheduled it. Like I said. Weird. Anyway, what amuses me now is how I thought I could plan out three entire months of activities, down to the hour, apparently.
Of course I know better now (not that I don’t give it a solid try), but summer still remains one of my favorite times of year to Get Stuff Done. Practically, my days aren’t any different in summer than they are in winter. Unlike a kid in school, I don’t get three months off. I still have to work, take care of the house, cook, and do all the other fun things that make life go on. I don’t even travel that much anymore, for a variety of reasons.
But somewhere in the back of my brain that weird kid still resides and she looks at these three months as a chance to break out of her routine, try new things, and enjoy old favorites. I may still have to work, but I like to make the summer fun and productive.
The Summer List:
- Read two classics I’ve never read before. So far I’m leaning toward The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas and Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. These two weren’t required in school so I missed them. They sound interesting, though, and I’m always up for the challenge and education to be found in reading works from past masters.
- Reread the entire Harry Potter series. Because it’s time.
- Finish book four in the Threads of the Moirae. The last book in the series! My goal is to finish it by Labor Day.
- Finish one other novel and have it ready for submission. I have so many projects in various states of completion. I need to pick one, focus, and finish it so I can continue my writing career beyond the Threads of the Moirae.
- Try to appreciate the season. I’m not like most people. Summer as a season doesn’t thrill me. Hot weather doesn’t excite me. Too many bugs and too much humidity for me to enjoy the outside. Too many sunburns in my youth make me a skin cancer risk already. I don’t need to make it worse. And thunderstorms and I do not get along. I much prefer fall. But I’m going to try to make an effort this year to get outside more and find what it is about summer weather that people love so much. I just hope the pharmacy has a double stash of bug repellent and sunscreen on hand.
- Clear out my stash of unbuilt/unplayed Lego and boardgames. Owing to a bunch of stuff going wrong over the winter and then the painting project from hell, I’ve managed to gather a lot of Lego sets and boardgames that I haven’t played with or built yet. (Funny how I don’t have time to do these things, yet I manage to have time to hang out on Amazon and acquire them. I need to work on that!) My goal is to end the summer fully caught up.
- Tour my hometown. I’ve lived here almost my whole life but there are so many things I’ve never seen and done. That’s really stupid when I think about it. I’m going to devote some weekends to being a tourist in my own town.
- Reach level 10 in Danish on Duolingo. I started learning Danish before the painting project began and at one point had a nice 77 day streak going. I want to get back to it and get to at least level 10 before summer’s over.
- Have a picnic. It’s been so long since I’ve gone on a picnic in the park. (See my relationship with summer weather, above.) But this year I’m feeling the urge to gather up some yummy food, a frisbee, and a good book and head out.
- Experiment with my writing. Like everyone else, I get locked in to certain genres and types of pieces I write. I want to try some new things this summer. They might be complete garbage, or they could open up new markets for me. Who knows? The fun is in the experiment.
- Push myself out there more. Like many writers, I’m an introvert. But I need to push myself to get out there more, whether that’s doing more appearances, joining new groups, or taking risks in promotion. It’s hard for me, though, but it has to happen. What better time to try than summer when everyone is more relaxed.
Hopefully come Labor Day I can do a post entitled, “What I did over my summer vacation,” and all of these items will be checked off. I know they won’t, though. Chances are some will have been replaced by other more awesome things and others will end up neglected or buried under “life.” But if nothing else, aiming for a summer of Getting Stuff Done gives me structure. I won’t get to September and say, “Bummer. I didn’t do anything cool at all.”
Leave a comment below by June 14, 2017 telling me what you plan to do this summer. One lucky commenter will receive the ebook of Hunted Fate as soon as it’s available! (Random.org will do the choosing.)
(Photo courtesy of Ingasommer, Ronile, silviarita)