Random Summer Thoughts

I happened to read a friend's blog this morning where a recent post talked about doing things for herself this summer and encouraging others to do the same. Truth be told, the blog is really geared toward moms and while I'm not one, I would sometimes argue that my business feels - and acts - like a child. So taking a page from her blog I'll post the question on to you. Is there anything you want to do - take a class, start and finish a project, change a behavior, etc - that you can start and finish during the summer (using Memorial Day to Labor Day as the deadlines). Some examples that were given were taking a class at a local community college or arts cooperative, planning to call 2-3 people you've been meaning to catch up with and haven't in a long time, getting the baseboards in your living room painted (if anyone really wants to do that last one but doesn't have the baseboards I'd be happy to supply you with some that really do need a little TLC).

The key is that it can't be about your "everyday." So if you're a mom it can't be about, for example, getting your kid to swim lessons on time this summer. If you're a business owner it can't be about increasing sales XX% this summer, if you work in cubeland it can't be about finishing that big project the boss is breathing down your neck for, and if you're a triathlete it can't be about finding that sweet spot in your quest for the ultimate aerodynamic bike position. It has to be about you and be something that would take you outside of your norm. A summer resolution so to speak...

I've been thinking about it for a few days and decided this would be a good thing for me to do as well. I am horrible about letting work become all-consuming and definitely think an outside outlet - aside from teaching the broken leg how to run again - is probably a good thing. Besides, in a few short months I will hopefully be busier then I know what to do with getting ready for the holiday buying season so taking a little extra time out right now for "me" will probably be beneficial. To that end, I've come up with two things:

1. Take the dogs to the park every Friday morning the weather allows. And by 'park' I mean the Big Boy Park which requires us to drive 20 minutes to get to but is literally a dog's dream with acres of fields to run around in, tons of new and exciting smells, and even water access to get in a little swimming on a hot day. I took the dogs last week and forgot how much fun it is to watch them run around and be crazy. Best of all, the crazy people who dress their dogs up in tiera's aren't at the park at 9am on a Friday. Those are the type of people who just hate to watch Princess roll in the dirt which means, without a doubt, my dogs are immediately attracted to them as a dog that needs to be tackled and rolled in the dirt. Needless to say this doesn't usually end well. But Friday mornings appear to be a great time to go and let the dogs be...dogs! And I love watching them be dogs.

2. I've decided I'm going to knit a hat. This hat specifically:

I should mention that I just learned how to knit this past winter and by no means am accomplished at it. But that hat is just too cute not to try. Lest anyone start thinking the wrong thing because I'm knitting baby hats all I'll say is think about the circumfrance of babies/infants' heads to that of adults'. For someone with a limited attention span it is probably much better to only tackle baby hats. Besides, lots of friends are having kids so if I can actually get this pattern nailed down (not likely - but I'll try) I will have a go-to girl baby gift. (Course wouldn't you know it, every friend thus far this year is having a boy.) I'll post a picture of whatever it turns out looking like. Even if it just ends up being a bunch of string all jumbled together.

What about you? What summer resolutions could you make this year?