August Summer Bucket List Update
Every summer I make a list of fun things and productive things I want to do before summer "kicks the bucket". I post updates every few weeks to let you guys know how I'm doing (and to hold me accountable!)
Good heavens, it's August already. Time for another check-in on my bucket list!
Productive Goals
1. Paint Sonia and Zoe's beds white.
Done! It was a big job, but it's finished and the beds are put back together in the girls' rooms.
2. Paint Zoe's room.
If you follow me on instagram, you already know that this is done. Still gotta hang things up, but the walls are all painted. And the ceiling!
3. Paint Sonia's $25 Goodwill dresser.
Done! Here's a whole post about it, if you missed it.
4. Paint my bedroom.
Not yet.
5. Paint the replaced board on the deck.
Done.
6. Sand and paint under the bumpout in front of our house.
Not yet. It's been stupid hot here, which is not making me feel like painting outside!
BUT.
I have done 4/6 of the painting projects I put on my list, so that is not too shabby at all.
7. Do a top-to-bottom declutter of my house.
I'm working on this! I did my kitchen, the linen closet, and the hall closet.
I still need to do:
- my bedroom
- the under-the-stairs closet
- the laundry room
- the office
- the living room (which will be very minor. There's only a tiny bit of storage in that room.)
8. Make three photo books.
Nothing done here yet.
Non-Productive (Fun!) Items
1. Make a random donut run.
2. Go see a movie in the theater.
Yep! We saw the new Aladdin at the cheap theater.
3. Go visit our friends in Ohio.
We haven't gone yet, but we have a weekend planned in August!
4. Swim at least once a week.
(this is ongoing, obviously!)
5. Eat a meal at a park.
6. Eat a meal at the pool.
Kind of! We ate dessert at the pool in July...the pie that Mr. FG and Sonia made.
7. Go camping so Sonia can star-gaze.
8. Buy slushies.
Yep! We didn't exactly buy them because we got them free on 7-11 day. 😉
9. Bike to the snow cone shop.
10. Roast marshmallows.
Again with the too-hot thing. Sometime we get summer nights that are good for fires, but my goodness, we've had none lately.
11. Go night swimming.
12. Go mini-golfing.
13. Host lots of sleepovers.
(still doing very well at this!)
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How's your summer bucket list coming along?
Looks like you are being super productive! Good job! Random question, do you know what color/type of paint/stain you use on your deck. I love the color and we're getting ready to redo ours so I thought I would check!
I wish that I did! The label is all messed up, and I can't read it anymore.
When I need to buy another bucket, I'm going to have to go get paint samples and try to match it that way.
I should have written it down. Or blogged about it.
Ok, so, I looked at the Behr website here: https://www.behr.com/consumer/colors/wood-stain
And I think my color is Boot Hill Gray. But it's really much more brown than gray, I'd say.
Is this just the regular solid color or is it the DeckOver? We've been trying to decide what to apply to our older deck after we stripped it. We've heard and read some not so great things about the DeckOver product.
It's the waterproofing stain and sealer. I read up on the Deck Over stuff too and was too scared to give it a try. People had so much trouble with it bubbling and peeling, despite careful prep work.
It did not seem like a good long term solution to me!
The stain and sealer has lasted really well on the railings, and just this summer, the deck floorboards were starting to show a little wear. So...three years or so between recoats. That's not bad at all, especially because the floorboards are super easy to paint. It's the railings and slats that are a bear, and I didn't have to fix those at all.
You inspire me! I follow you on Instagram and all your projects remind me of myself back in the day.
It is HOT in Texas in August and I have no bucket list beyond daily swimming, quilt making and trying new veggie recipes for my main meals. I am going mainly meat free.
Thank you for being here!
I made a bucket list for myself and have been trying to tic things off. Helpful that summer seems to last here FOREVER so I have plenty of time. I need to write a blog post about it so that I can get 'er done!
I have only done a half of one item on my list. The heat has impeded some of it (creating some big planters outside so, lugging and shoveling huge bags of dirt, uh, no) but the rest, I simply didn't have time, so:
I missed my somewhat impromptu class reunion.
I have done zero sewing on replacing some cushion covers.
I started sewing some soup cozies but realized my thread has polyester in it, which can catch fire in the microwave, so I had to buy all-cotton thread and now I must start all over 🙁
I still have a shot at getting two old lamps re-wired professionally before summer is gone. Maybe. My amateur job did not work at all, so I am going to try a professional. I've re-wired lamps before, but these are really old and just don't conform to the new kits.
I wanted to take the grandkids on special trips, and I've only taken the oldest one so far. The other two are much younger and I plan to take them together, but it's so HOT. The trip I took with my young teen grandkid turned out great, though, and we had a lot of fun. So, there's that.
Planning and doing activities this summer has really been challenging. We also had a heat wave with new heat records around 105 F. Ten years ago, 85 F were hardly ever exceeded here. Fortunately, we are in a comfortable temperature range again and longer trips with my nephew are possible.
Yesterday I read that this July has been the hottest month globally ever recorded. I found it very interesting that the authors proposed that an increasing number of trees could help to decrease the temperature, especially in cities. While trees in public places would be very helpful, they stressed that also plants in gardens and balconies of every home could make a huge contribution.
I think I will add another point to my summer bucket list to include some literal bush planting activities on my balcony or at least I will try to support some organization planting trees.
For roasting marshmallows I took a old clay flower pot, lined it with foil, put in 3 charcoal briquettes. The grands had fun roasting marshmallows in 96F heat without me dying from heat stroke building a campfire.
If you haven't planned a camping trip yet, I have an idea for a star-gazing/donut run. Go west to Washington County. Few lights, and Krumpe's Donuts in Hagerstown is one of those "experience" donut places. I think they are open 7 pm - 2 am Sunday through Friday. It's located in a residential area in Hagerstown in a back alley with a few parking spots. Usually you will be standing in line for a bit (but not a totally long time). The donuts are fresh and good. It's a Hagerstown institution.
Also, for the star-gazing, the further west you go, the better--- as long as you're not near one of the interstates. I don't have a camping place to recommend because we live here, so we don't camp here 🙂
Or you could try Krumpe's on your way back from Ohio. . .
Been through this area, plenty of camping at local parks, one of best is... https://koa.com/campgrounds/hagerstown/
Also, not summer, but stargazing opportunity at the nearby Antietam Battlefield...
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=99147
I never made an actual to-do bucket list, but we had some vague ideas of things to do and I finally scheduled some of them:
1) go camping (mid September)
2) visit Traverse City (first weekend of October)
3) go to the zoo (been there twice)
We also had a lot of home stuff we wanted to do and have finished:
1) landscaping work
2) refinish the deck
3) drop off food bank and clothing donations after clearing out some closets and our pantry
Still have a lot of organizing to do around the house this month.
I haven't painted, decluttered or reorganized anything so my summer months have been more or less a bust on things I'm supposed to be doing. I did at least get to go to one GhibliFest and am going to Rifftrax Live soon so there's that.
I do have a short vacation planned although it's admittedly not a vacation I would choose (more for the wife and kid.)
I didn't have a list, per se, but we did finish the flip house and it went on the market last week. So happy to have that finished!
I love what you've done so far, but I want to gently encourage you to paint your room. You put your family first, which is awesome, but I think you're going to love having a new private space for you and Mr. FG, especially if you choose a more tranquil color.
You are totally right...I will love love love having a quieter color. I think I'm just dreading all the upheaval of moving things out of the bedroom. I like having everything where it's supposed to be, so the stage of having furniture everywhere and closets cleared out is 100% not my favorite thing!
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly"
It's going to be the same amount of work no matter when you do it, and you'll have the benefit sooner if you do the work sooner.
If you wait till the school year, then you have the school work and stresses added to the disruption stresses.
One suggestion... if you've been painting inside the closet the same colour as the room it's in, I would take the opportunity this time to paint it white!
Then, the next time you need to paint that room you won't have to bother with the closet! (I figure white goes with all room colours and you hardly ever see inside the closet anyhow.)
I heartily second this suggestion. We just got done with a studs-out remodel flip project. My painter contractor husband wanted the closets to match the walls, with white trim. It was a ton of work! It does look fabulous, but that's only when the closets are empty. Another thing of his is to use enamel for the closet interiors because it holds up better, which is a great idea, but make sure the enamel you use is white!
We've had great luck with putting everything in the center of the room and draping in plastic sheeting. That way no paint except where you need the paint to be. Saves us a lot of time.
I don't have a bucket list per se but...
Over the past 12 months I have completely remodeled my home. That included removing popcorn ceilings, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new porch, inside & outside painting and front yard landscaping. At the completion of the landscape project on July 10th I decided to have an open house so all my friends and neighbors could see the finished product. Sad to say I am content to live with things as they are, but inviting people to come see my home motivated me to get (most*) everything clean and organized. The party was this past Saturday, it was a great success. *My craft room and office still need to be sorted organized and
That is a HUGE accomplishment! Yay you!!
Wow! That's some amazing painting you got goin' on there!
Just a thought .... can you bump the marshmallow/camping experiences to September? I know life gets busier then, but the temperatures moderate and campgrounds tend to be quieter.
I don't do "bucket lists" but I'm pretty pleased that we've been able to have so much fun this summer--including putt-putt, taking my mom out for ice cream twice and sitting by Lake Michigan with her, a beach day (today!), camping ....
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Yeah, I think we could do marshmallows sometime this month but if this heat doesn't break, I REALLY REALLY do not want to go camping! It's one thing to have a fire outside and then go indoors and sleep in the AC. It's another to have to sleep outdoors.
I seem to recall you camp in a tent. So do we .... and I love it when it's cool at night but sleeping in a hot tent??? No thank you!
I don't blame you! What if, instead, you all took a nap during the day sometime, then drove out to the country late at night to gaze at stars? Depending on how far out you need to go, you can get a motel somewhere, or drive home that night?
Kristen, if you can camp around August 9th - August 12th the Persieds meteor shower is near or at the peak. That would be some wonderful stargazing for Sonia.
I also just heard that Krispy Creme has released a Reese’s peanut butter filled donut. That, to me, is worth a donut run!
that was fun to read ..and you make me feel all motivated - I haven't made a bucket list yet but I am trying to make more of my time - so far succeeding
I also don't have a summer bucket list. That being said the family and I...
Visited family.
Went to Lancaster Pa for the train museum. This museum was excellent.
Went to the Princeton University Art Museum. Amazing value as they have everything and ask only for a donation.
Watched a lot of The Clutter Fairy on youtube and decluttered all over the house. She is a smart one.
Went out to our favorite restaurant about one a month with Swagbucks gift cards helping out.
Went out to breakfasts a couple times. Always feels like a vacation when you go out to breakfast.
Still some summer left to go.
The only thing I wanted to do this summer was to take the kids on two hikes. (outside of camping.) We haven't gone yet, but there are still a few weeks left. 😉
I highly suggest getting to that camping/star gazing item on your list. There's nothing like a sky full of stars. It makes me feel small and remember just how big God is. (plus it would give a perfect opportunity for marshmallow roasting!)
Feeling the post-vacation blues, so a good time to recap what's happened this summer:
1. Camping. We did 8 nights of camping in Canada and Vermont, plus 6 nights in hotel/airbnb. In Vermont, we had a couple of very clear nights of stargazing where the Milky Way was visible, other nights were a little overcast. I recommend downloading a stargazer app on the phone, which you can direct at the sky to recognize the stars, constellations and planets. The kids had a lot of fun with it.
2. Painting. I have painted a couple of watercolors, and my older son has also done several. On our camping trip, there was a watercolor painting session at the nature center that we also took part of, so my younger kids did some painting as well. I'm also treating myself to a watercolor session this weekend.
3. Projects. I have not really done any projects with my kids other than a little baking. Now that we are back from our vacation it would be fun to sew an easy skirt/shirt and teach the kids some.
4. Fun things other than swimming. We swim a LOT in the summer, and being by the pool kind of takes over all other fun things. (Not a bad thing.) But we have managed some beach time also, including kayaking and fishing. No biking as it's been very hot, but hope to bike to our farmers market soon.
5. Getting adjusted to my new position at work. It's work in progress, but going well all things considered.
In September, I'm getting ready to be part of a consignment sale, so my goal is to do some deep decluttering again in August.