Average Jane Starts Her Summer

July was so crazy-busy that I’m just now realizing that it’s summertime and I should think about doing some summertime things before it’s too late.  As of the end of BlogHer, I’ve taken so much vacation from work that it’ll take me seven months to actually earn the vacation I’ve already taken.  Clearly, I need to think about some activities close to home.

For starters, I’d like to go swimming at least once this year.  I don’t know anyone rich enough to have a swimming pool or young enough to live in an apartment complex with a pool.  I wouldn’t object to swimming in a lake, but it’ll be kind of icky-warm by now.  Then there are water parks, but they always give me the uncomfortable suspicion that I’m sharing a portion of the clientele’s weekly bath.

What else do I want to do before autumn invades?  (I’d like to take this time to mention that I went to the grocery store last week and saw a large group of employees setting up the Halloween candy display.  In early August.  Better hurry, there are only 83 Halloween candy shopping days left!)  Well, I haven’t grilled out enough.  I haven’t made cucumbers with vinegar.  I haven’t eaten any watermelon yet – I bought a piece but it got hidden in a fridge drawer and had to be thrown out.  I don’t have even a hint of a tan, but that’s always the case given the 60-level sunblock I use.

More than anything, I want some lazy summer time.  I want to nap in my hammock, read two books in one day with cats piled on my lap, make a tuna noodle salad and have it for lunch two days in a row.  I want to have dinner on the deck every night, just because it’s warm out.  I want to break out of my laziness briefly to weed my flower beds and cut down the volunteer trees, then take a shower in ice-cold water and sit on the porch swing to let my hair dry.

Maybe I can start some of that on Saturday.  In the meantime, off to work!