What I'm thinking about: Summer Plans
June will be here tomorrow.
And that has me thinking about what I want to do with my summer. Since I homeschool, summer represents more free time to me than the school year does, and I want to use it mindfully.
Three months go by pretty quickly, and I never want to arrive in September wondering, "Where did all that time go??"
Instead, I want to feel like I've spent my time in ways that reflect what I'd claim as my priorities.
(We made s'mores with our neighbors the other night, and we were having trouble getting the fire started. Joshua had some success with blowing on it, but the smashing success was brought on by bacon grease. We frosted a log with some from my freezer and the fire was on.)
I know myself well enough to know that I need to be intentional about my free time or the tyranny of the urgent will rule my life. And given my Type A, work, work, work personality, I have to intentionally make time for fun.
So, I'm going to sit down and make a list of things I want to prioritize this summer...things I want to make time for. And I bet most of them won't happen to be expensive.
Hopefully we'll include plenty of s'more sessions, (graham crackers, marshamallows, and chocolate are veddy affordable at Aldi!).
water fun,
(We have a slip n' slide, a sprinkler, and access to several pools, so this doesn't need to cost us anything.)
and park visits.
(We have a park membership, and here's why I think it's so worth the money.)
In addition to fun, fun, fun, I have some projects in mind that I'm hoping to accomplish.
Because I always feel better going into the school year if I use some of my summer days to cross some tasks off of my list.
I'll work on making a summer bucket list, if you will, and I'll share it with you next week. Want to make one with me?
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Today's 365 post: "What are you taking a picture of??"
Joshua's 365 post: Through Zoe's lens
Yes! After the big snow of 2010, I was home bound for 2 1/2 weeks with my kids, and unprepared, and it was difficult! I vowed that any school break longer than a 3 day weekend would come with a plan 🙂 We do one academic project a summer and we have a summer fun list -- we're working on ours this weekend!
We make a list every year 🙂 I posted ours on my blog just yesterday. I love to have a balance of home days and adventure days. We are members of our local children's museum which gets us into most of our local museums for FREE. We love to take advantage of that 🙂
What things do you use bacon grease for, other than lighting fires for smores? Also, why do you store it in the freezer?
Maybe I can clarify... I'm used to saving grease in a can or mug until it's full and hardens, but then I throw it away in the garbage. I've also interestingly heard of menfolk in my life flash-frying frozen waffles in bacon grease, but this is not so appealing to me. Hence the questions above. 🙂
I use it in homemade dog biscuits, sometimes in the place of olive oil (for sauteeing onions), or in a few recipes.
Oil will go rancid if not stored properly. Freezing it will help it keep. I currently have duck fat being stored in my freezer (it's expensive to buy and lasts forever this way!).
Love the idea of using it in dog biscuits! My friend has a lab puppy and just moved nearby, and I was hoping to make some treats for the dog was well as for my friends when they are able to come visit.
My parents always used it to cook with--if they were going to fry up some eggs but no bacon, for example. And if you wanted to cook collards, bacon/bacon grease actually adds a lot to the flavor!
I'm the "cruise director" for my family and part of my job description is to come up with the fun and memorable times for us all. Like you said, many things cost nothing or next to nothing. For our family, it's just making sure we spend time together. Doing things just a little differently is what makes ordinary things memorable. For instance, we like to have Saturday brunch outdoors, on the deck in summer, or eat dinner outside every night that it's pleasant. Or just sit by the fire in the evenings and watch the stars come out. In August we all like to get up in the night and watch the Perseid meteor showers (I think this year it's Aug. 11). My kids all love taking a picnic dinner to the beach, too.
I do get distracted with my own projects, so I have to put myself on the schedule, but just keep my projects to specific times, and allow the remaining time for family togetherness.
Great minds . . . I just made a summer sandpail (like a bucket?!) list in the secret notebook I share with my 10-year old son. It was good to remember things that I loved most about last summer, and to add some new things which are made possible by his being older. I'll make a family one also, but felt it worthwhile to make a special list with my middle guy, so often caught between everyone and everything else.
I love the name "Summer Sandpail"! That's so clever!!
I love this idea! Wish I had thought of it when our kids were younger. We did a pretty good job but a list would have helped!
For summer 2012 at our house, our bucket list has only ONE thing on it! Our oldest daughter is getting married on August 4 in Gettysburg. We all need to survive until then! 🙂 We are doing well but the days are going quickly! 😉
One great way to get inspired for a summer bucket list is to have a major cross-country move at the end of the summer! Or pretend like you do... 😉
We're moving to Seattle in August, so in addition to the "work" list of what needs to get done before the move, we're making a list of all the fun stuff we want to take care of before we permanently leave this city. A lot of it is comprised of things we always meant to do, like visit the art museum as a family, but never got around to doing in the 2+ years we've been here.
EngineerMom, enjoy your summer in your current home. And next summer, you'll find loads of fun and free things to do in Seattle. I'm north of the city by about 15 miles.
I am pretending I do! I have a move planned (destination unknown) one year from now, so the downsizing is slowly but surely starting, as well as the exploration of where I live now. I want to cross all the quirky places I haven't seen yet off my list before leaving!
I love the term 'summer bucket list' - consider it officially plagarised by Moi 🙂
Thank you for this post. We broke up for what you may call Spring break? Dunno? Basically we get a Spring Bank Holiday for a week over in the UK. We get an additional day (2012) for the Diamond Jubilee (oh yes there's been some red/white/blue cake baking going on here). My 7-yr-old Daughter took them to school today (for 'street party') and told me she'd had many "complaints" about them. This obviously concerned me. After interrogation I established she actually meant 'compliments' - Phew!
Something very much on my mind currently is 'prioritisation'. I don't want to fritter away this time I have with my young children, because I know it won't ever come back. I love seeing it spelled out how someone else does it in images.
ps - What's the opposite of Type A?.... As think I may be it! 😉
Liz: I keep a small jar of bacon grease in my fridge. (Never thought to freeze it). I make "white" gravy from it, the kind that goes with biscuits. You cook a small amount of flour in it to desired shade of tan, add milk, and voila, gravy! You can also add bacon grease to a pan to help flavor something.
It dawned on me today that I have 11 weeks (plus or minus) until my due date for our first child....Talk about needing a bucket list! Not just a list of the things that still need to happen in Baby's room (it's not that far from done), but all the things I'd like to do with Hubbie before we're parents. Can't wait to see what your list looks like, and this is a friendly reminder to myself to be intentional about the time between 'family of two' and 'family of three'.
btw - i am SO a type B personality, so my tendency is to be a little too easy going about the time left and run out of it. Nobody wants to be around a procrastinating, 9+ month pregnant lady at the end of August... 😉
A summer bucket list is a great idea, and I'm going to use that term too! I wrote one and posted it on my own blog here: http://aliciajaybird.com/2012/05/31/summer-bucket-list/
The next step for me is to go through my planner and set dates or reminders for some of these things. For example, the local farmer's market start date will remind me to sample new fruits and vegetables. If I set a day each week dedicated to letter writing, I'll be more likely to remember to complete a letter and mail it off. I'm looking forward to hearing others' goals and projects to be accomplished this summer!
Yes! Yes! I definetly want to take advantage of these long summer days!! I starter my summer bucket list 3 weeks ago. This summer I want to focus on art enrichment and take advantage of all the museums we have here in Southern CA, LACMA, Skirball, Getty, etc. Of course with 3 kids we have some beach fun, picnics, pool days and camping on the list. Next i have to get them on the calendar!
I use bacon grease whenever a recipe calls for bacon. The recipe usually has you render the grease, remove the bacon for later, and then cook in the grease. In my house the bacon mysteriously disappears before it's time to add it back in so what's the point of all that extra work? I save the grease when I bake bacon (doesn't work so well with fried bacon, the grease tends to burn) and am ready for any bacon-flavored necessity.
I may not be the best role model for what scraps to save, though. I have been known to go overboard. Right now my freezer includes two bags of chicken bones (one raw, one cooked), three bags of pork bones (chop "tails" for braised chops, ham bits, and non-ham bits), multiple containers of produce scraps (onion skins and celery tops for chix stock, not-quite-bad fruit for smoothies, the liquid that oozes from salsa fresca for Tex-Mex cooking, canned peach juice to experiment making jello), and 4 different poultry stocks (chix, French braised chix, smoked chix, roast duck).
Do you have any Museums nearby? My kids still love to go to the Museum ........ and they're all grown up!
My older son will be in Japan for a month, which means I'll be parenting just one kid. I'm looking forward to lots of one-on-one time with him.
Katy
That sounds like a lot of fun! I will have to think about what I want to accomplish this summer.
I plan on working on the furniture projects that I have to do. My granddaughter (2 years old) has come to live with us so outfitting a little girl's room can be expensive. I think we have to pare down our typical summer activities as the new expense of daycare and diapers is taking a hit on the budget. I have 8 furniture projects that I would like to get done before school starts. That is just to start! LOL
I hope you guys have an awesome summer! There's a typo in the post- your "very" turned into "veddy". Probably auto correct being silly!
Nope, that's ME being silly! It should be pronounced a bit like a rolled "r". 🙂
Totally. Actually, I've been trying to make one for weeks, but have been having trouble putting pen to paper... and now here we are, on the last day of school. Time's already getting away -- I'd better get on it!
Would love to make a bucket list...but teensy problemo. I'm nearly 34 weeks pregnant! I think I may make a small, very small bucket list. Of course, the number one objective will be to relax, enjoy and know that our daily rhythm will be found once we adjust to being a family of four (hoping for a nice routine by Thanksgiving !).
Here is a great idea for firestarters to make yourself using things you already have around the house. It is green because it recycles materials you would be throwing out. I made some for our fire pit last week and they worked great so I thought I would share. I found the idea on pinterest and couldn't wait to make them! :):):)
http://www.everynothingwonderful.com/2011/06/firestarters-useful-reuse-for.html
I think it's a wise idea to plan to "un-plan". Have all the stuff you need on-hand so that if the weather cooperates, you can picnic, swim, hike, etc. on a whim. (Keep plenty of bug spray/sunscreen/frozen ice packs for your cooler on hand). Sometimes I think our culture over-analyzes "fun". To me, the best part of summer as a kid was the lack of structure. Not that you can't make some fun plans . . . but leave some open spaces in your schedule, too.
Just curious..I'm noticing multiple Aldi plugs. Are these new "in-program" ads?
No ma'am! If I am ever paid to write about something, I disclose it...FTC rules actually specify that I have to do that. 🙂
I was truly thrilled that Aldi was carrying heavy cream and blueberries (my mention today), and I buy graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate at Aldi all the time to make s'mores. I think name brand graham crackers are insanely overpriced! 🙂
Occasionally Aldi sends me samples of shelf-stable products (like I got a sneak peek pack of the patriotic sprinkles and I got a goodie bag of Aldi products when I visited their headquarters in Illinois), but I am never obligated to write about them and my post content isn't sponsored. I've written about Aldi for years now all of my own accord...I wrote multiple posts dedicated to Aldi before Aldi ever knew I existed! I'm an Aldi fan-girl through and through.