Everyday Happenings: On Summer

Well, like I said in the last post, the leaves are starting to change, but that's because it's hot. This happens every year here (well, at least the last two, since that's all I have to go off of), the sweltering heat sucks the moisture out of the trees and they loose their leaves. It's pretty, but it's a whole lot prettier when you're tucked into warm sweaters and scarves.

Really, summer is almost over. School starts next Monday for us and suddenly I'm finding myself a little panicky because I didn't cross much off of my list.

Let's recap:

-Create an outdoor oasis: check.

-Run out of things to burn: ooh, well, we really didn't do this.   Let's blame it on the new grass that we put in and the fact that it's still 90s most nights. We did have an impressive fire in Seattle and during our second party when we had everyone over to celebrate the engagement. We could always have more fire though.

-Concert it up: I talked about this last week. We tried but the universe just didn't want us to get our groove on this summer. We managed to see a decent band a couple weekends ago at the Hardware bar, but that might have been a fluke.

-Hike: One hike. Still, that's one more hike this year than the last two.

-Party like it's 2011: check, check, check.

-Dangly earrings and faux pearls: I think I kicked ass on this assignment. Frequently, when I'm not in scrubs, you'll find me in jeans and either the earrings or the necklaces. It's been a good summer for that.

-Teach Theresea about the other great female singers: fail.

-Take advantage of Netflix: fail.

-Complete our wedding blog: CHECK!!!!! It rocks your socks off.

-Live it up in Seattle: check. Ha, I still have to write about the trip. So, fail in that regard.

-Read 5 books: fail. I've read 1/5 of 3 books.

-Find the summer song: I found two, so that's like extra credit.

-Love the puppy and fiancee like never before: Let's see, I run with the pup now so I think that gives her extra love. And I bought Madden 11 for K the other day, so I'm giving myself a big check for both.

-Study something nursing related: fail.

-Become a workout-aholic: check. The last 16 days I've worked about 13 of them.

-Catch a firefly: fail. I couldn't even capture it on the camera!

-Rewatch a season of LOST: I started the 1st season, and have about four discs to go.

-Rock nail polish: check.

-Grill corn: I started roasting it, which is WAY better!

-Become a morning runner: fail. But, I became a runner, so I don't care.

-Summer sheets: check.

-Sleep naked: fail.

-Find signature summer cocktail: I'm going to say this year it was redhook beer. I don't know why, I'm scrambling to do better on this list.

-Record all of my recipes: fail.

-Finish painting the basement: don't even ask.

-Have one of those classic summer moments where you're listening to great music, at dusk, in a car, with your hand out the window, thinking that life doesn't get any better: check.

-Create a photo portfolio: fail.

-Go swimming: fail.

-Take Lilly back to Little Buffalo: check.
-Enjoy my summer harvest: check.
-Pick Dahlias: check.

I'm not going to do the math, but I think I got a 40 percent.

Still, I have a month to go because it will be hot until October.

Today, I tried to accomplish something. I had the day off, Lilly woke me up at 9 and I thought I had the day to conquer. But, then I spent too much time writing and I met K for lunch and now I'm finding myself at around 4:00.

Maybe tonight I'll lounge outside in the dusk, watch the dog roll around in the grass, and hope that the backyard produces something like this again: