Summer has had a slow arrival this year and I have to admit I am in the minority, I was happy with the wet and cool spring. It makes me anticipate the upcoming warm temperatures and beautiful garden spaces ahead with more appreciation.
Claire is finishing up her internship at a corporate event planning company – a job she thoroughly enjoyed even if there was occasional stress involved. She learned so much! After she graduates from George Brown (in Hospitality and Tourism) she is moving on to her new life in Nova Scotia the later half of the summer. Cole is attending summer courses in Toronto and Sienna, Italy. Chloé has returned from Edinburgh and will be at camp as a counsellor this summer up in Minden, ON. Caden is attending summer courses at UofT and will spend some time on a big boat sailing through the Baltic. My job? Let them live their lives, answer the phone (and listen with my mouth closed) and send money when required.
How will I fill up the 95 days of summer? Well, I won’t. I want to take this opportunity to embrace my word SLOW since I haven’t done much of that lately, or at least not consistently. I do have a list, but it is not my usual exhaustive and detailed plan by any stretch. My list in 2018 had 20 items and I did most of them. This year, in contrast, I want to spend far more time relaxing and less time doing:
Take a couple of courses | I’m signed up for two courses that will be applied to my University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies in Creative Writing certificate: Mapping Your Story with Barbara Radecki at the Mississauga campus; and, Picture Books at the St. George campus in Toronto with Cary Fagan.
Enjoy my backyard | The entirety of last summer was spent constructing a whole new backyard, now I want to enjoy it. The furniture has arrived, the lighting issues will be addressed, the bubbler pump will be replaced, the plants that did not over-winter well will be replaced, and the planters are full with ferns and basil. Now to enjoy my tea in the morning and wine at night – gather my stacks of magazines and hang outside with the dogs. Sunny days will be spent up on the deck and even some of the rainy days can be spent outside on the covered patio.
Binge watch a series or two | There have been a few recommendations (Unforgotten, Catastrophe, Fleabag, National Treasure, After Life, The Good Fight) that I’ll watch in the evenings, on rainy days – and when the sticky +40°C and 100% humidity weather arrives. No comfortable days are to be spent inside!
Unplug from technology and distractions | Unplug as often as possible and read instead. I have more than a few books sitting in piles in my office and on my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads and I’ve read a number over spring. The momentum is there!
Travel overseas | I am excited to travel with my youngest and he’s happy to travel with me in a more “adult” manner since, you know, better food. We’re spending a few days in Bath and Glastonbury before we board a boat to the Baltic. I’m super excited and hopeful my tendency for motion sickness can be kept under control. If it is there’ll be much more water travel ahead!
Finish up the big organization project | Since the hardwood floors were installed I have made very slow progress repopulating the rooms with “things”. Big principle furniture, yes; books, art and other objects, not so much. I don’t want to return things ‘because it’s always been there’. Time to have only things that make me happy in the house. No more “placeholder” or sentimental (for the sake of sentiment) items.
Practice Sound Reiki® | I’d like to take some time and really become proficient with this valuable energy tool. So proficient that it becomes second nature – no script or paper required in order to be effective when I call on it.
This list will be added as a complement to my regular practice of:
Personal training 3x each week with Jackie (with stretching in between sessions)
Walking the dogs to at least twice each day – more for me than them
Sleep a full 8+ hours every night
Daily meditation, journaling and oracle card pull
Regular blogging and memory keeping projects
Daily writing toward the completion of my novel-in-progress
Household chores and projects (which has a list of its own)
Regular lunch and dinner dates with girlfriends
What are you up to this summer? Are there new adventures or do you settle into a nice summer routine?
I’d like to help you combine two things on your lists;
more time in your fabulous new backyard with wine and
dinner with girlfriends!!
Tuesday?
Sounds like a plan! See you on Tuesday. xo