Summer Update

Every summer, I make a summer fun to-do list.  Or rather, I have my kids pick particular things they would like to do.  None of the items can contain anything to do with sitting in front of a screen - computer, television or similar thing.  I also add a few of my own in there!

This summer, my daughter selected the Charles Schulz Museum, Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory, CYO Camp, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  My son picked playdate, playdate, and playdate.  And my personal ones included reading more books for fun, volunteering at camp, going to amusement parks, hanging at the pool, and ensuring my plants successfully grow.

I am happy to share that we are almost done with our list - and it's only mid-July.  Considering how the length of summer vacation seems to be shrinking (my kids go back to school in August), I think we are on track.

The Charles Schulz Museum was pretty cool.  As I kid, I loved Snoopy.  I had a ton of snoopy stuffed animals with clothes (jogging suit, pink dress, etc.) and even shoes, I think.  I read the Peanuts comic strip every Sunday.  I would like to go back one day.  It was not super enthralling to my son, so I didn't get to read as many of the comics displayed as I would have liked.  Also, I mis-read the movie listings thinking the show we were going to watch was the one about the red-headed girl, but it was about a girl in a red truck.  A mixture of live action and cartoon about Snoopy's brother (or cousin?) and the live actress he seemed to like was odd.  I loved the 80s, but watching a jazzercize instructor/rollerskating dancer wearing 80s attire scale a rocky mountain while trying to dodge bullets (yes, they were getting shot at) to save this cartoon dog was unbelievably ridiculous.

The Mrs. Grossman's Factory was really cool.  Of course, I loved stickers as a kid - and I still sorta love stickers now.  Learning about how they were made was informative and getting free stickers is
always awesome.  The one downside?  It smelled super bad.  They said it wasn't toxic, but it still felt like it couldn't be good to be breathing in all those chemicals.

We just finished our first week at CYO Camp.  Lexi was at teen camp, so we didn't really see her.  The teen campers stay on what is known to be the more rustic side of camp.  For me, that side is home though.  Back in the day, it was where girls camp resided and those are the same cabins where I stayed.  I heart the Miwok side of camp.   Nicky had a blast as a day camper.  He gets to experience all the camp activities - like canoeing, making friends, doing archery, tie-dying, playing field games, hiking, and swimming - but I pick him up at 5pm and then put him to bed around 8pm, except the one night where he gets to go on an overnight (smores, campfire, cookout, etc.). I'm hoping that next year he will try residential camp for the week.

Prior to this past week at camp, Nicky has been the social butterfly with all his playdates: to Great America, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, his friends' houses, the pool, etc.  He will also have more scheduled soon!

As for me, I'm doing well at checking off my summer to-do list.  We went to the pool several times in June, especially since Nick was in swim lessons.  We also went to Great America and Six Flags.  Also, I was diligently caring for my plants and making sure they would grow.  While at camp, my husband has agreed to take care of watering them.  Isn't he sweet? Thank goodness.  I would have been super sad to leave my plants to die in the heat.  I'm sure it's work, but he is also enjoying eating fresh tomatoes.  This past week, I volunteered here at camp in the office, but next week I hope to do more projects outside. I like the variety and am up for anything really.  I've also been reading quite a bit of books.  My goal this year is to read 25 books.  This morning, I finished book #15.  Woot!

And that's my summer update.  I figured I should blog at least once a month. HAHA.  Also, I don't have regular access to facebook, so....yea.

Philly's "Days of Happiness"

I suppose I should have mentioned that I may not get to posting my DaysOfHappiness photos here.  It's much more convenient to post the photos to my Instagram, which can be found here.  It isn't super exciting, but it gives a glimpse of what I've been up to.

For me, it's the little things that make me happy.  Sure, while I'd love to fly to Greece - or at this point, even Disneyland would do - it just isn't feasible right now.  Fortunately, I've become the type of person that is happy with the "little" things, which generally feel like "big" things to me.

Some of the things that have made me smile recently?  Here are six, in no specific order:

Getting a Hello Kitty watch!!!  I loved Sanrio while growing up, so this was a happy blast from the past.  It also has helped keep me "off the grid" more, checking my watch for the time instead of my phone.

Watching my kids do their chores.  We have been working with my 7 year old son more, getting him to help with laundry, dishes, and basic cleaning.  I admit I always have to remind him, but I am hoping that with gentle reminders (hopefully, not yelling) and consistency, he will get there without my having to say a word.

FACIAL!  Wow.  I love this place.  Spa Severino is truly a wonderful spa.  It's a small business, which I love - more customer service and less "big company" feel.  Love it!

Watching our plants actually GROW.  I was not blessed with a natural "green thumb" like my grandfather.  I've been known to kill plants regularly.  It's sad, really.  Fortunately, we have had a good run this year.  It started with a zinnia bulb my son brought home.  It bloomed and then died, but we kept plugging along, watering it and re-planting it.  And guess what?  It's grown like 2 feet tall and now has a new flower!

Awesome and healthy meals made by my husband.  Sure, sure.  I know how to make some myself, but I definitely am not the cook in my family.  Honestly, I think if I was home alone for the weekend, I could probably eat a bowl of cereal and be okay that.

Rollerskating.  I took my kids to San Jose Skate before the poor place closed its doors to the public.  I had so much fun.  As a kid, I was an avid roller-skater.  My friend and I spent HOURS skating up and down the street, with one leg up, jumping over stuff, backwards, in circles, and all sorts of other crazy tricks. It is one of my favorite childhood memories, rollerskating afterschool.

Admittedly, my life isn't very exciting.  I'm even surprised anyone is reading my little, boring blog, but this is what my life has become: pretty freakin' awesome.  HA!

But right now, at this moment, I am most grateful for my summer class getting canceled.  Don't get me wrong.  I was excited about teaching it.  I even had four field trips planned for the class, but instead of working (even part-time work is still working), now I get to spend my summer with my kids.  I don't have to juggle my work schedule with their schedules.  More quality time with my family?  Yes, please - and thank you!

So that's about it.  If I do make it back to blog here this summer - and I hope I do - expect blogs about adventures with my kids...because that's how I roll, my exciting life. HAHA. :)

Happy Summer!

100DaysOfHappiness: Tomato Plants

I have decided to try my own version of 100 Happy Days, meaning I will be posting happy day photos when the mood strikes - until I hit 100.  It may be 100 days straight, it may not.  I can't be tied down to these types of constraints, especially since I'll be "off the grid" again this summer in July when I go back to camp.

So, first up is a photo of my tomato plants!

For anyone who knows me, they know that I do not really have a green thumb.  Plants have been known to die once they arrive at my home.  However, I thought I'd try again.  My son's school had a plant fundraiser last month and I figured even if they didn't make it, I still contributed money to his school. 

So, I left the school plant sale with three tomato plants, two strawberry plants, one kale, and a couple different types of bell peppers.  The strawberry plants have not been faring as well, probably also due to the high temps we had last week.  The bell peppers and especially the tomatoes are faring the best.  

Checking on them each morning and seeing the little green tomatoes growing and the kale leaves increasing in size makes me happy!!!  

Rambling...

Almost two months later....

I've been swamped at work - completely overloaded with grading, classwork prep, and volunteer hours.

And now....the countdown is on.  There's about a week and a half left of the semester before finals.  Then, there's at least a week of grading.

AND THEN....

It's summer.  I'm scheduled to teach summer school, but it meets 2x/week and it's the sustainable travel and tourism class, so I'm planning on field trips and lots o' fun!  heh.  It's amazing they pay me for this, but they do.  Woot.

And so, my summer action plan is getting my workouts back on track and exploring California.  I'd love to go out of state, but after pricing things, it looks like it's going to have to be more local.  Trekking kids around with me gets expensive. HA.

As soon as I get caught up on grading, I'll start my annual summer list of things I want to accomplish.

Any suggestions?

Gratitude Post #7: Health

There are so many people who are sick, suffering from a myriad of ailments. Fortunately, I have been pretty healthy.  Only recently have I been affected by seasonal allergies or a cold of some kind.  And as annoying as it is to be sick, it makes me appreciate that I'm pretty healthy overall.

 vs. 

I'm looking forward to kicking this cold once and for all.  Go away cold.  I appreciate my health.  You've done your work.

The Social Media Vortex

It's so easy to get caught up in social media: check facebook, check instagram, check pinterest, and so on.  By the time a person finishes checking all his or her sites, an hour could easily tick by.

That was me, sucked into the facebook vortex.

So, I tried deactivating my facebook.  I think I lasted two days.  I probably would have lasted longer, but then I realized that deactivating my account makes all my posts invisible.  This is only a problem because I post jobs on the department facebook page.  All my posts disappeared.  And then I was supposed to post more - difficult to do if my account is deactivated.

So, I logged back on and am currently an "active" facebooker again.  However, I'm going to try to show a bit more restraint - post a bit less, comment a bit less, be logged onto facebook a lot less.

Why?

Aside from the obvious time-sucking, I think it can sometimes do the opposite of what people says it does: connect one another.  Yes, you can see photo of family members who live far away.  Yes, you can chat with someone once in while.  But the truth is, most of us just surf through hundreds of posts quickly, not really connecting with one another.  We just start thinking we know how the other person is, what they are up to, how their kids are, how stressful the jobs are, how sucky the weather is.  But truly, I think real connection is lost.  Only the surface is shared....and people take that as connection.

Clearly, messaging is different than liking a status.  A conversation is possible with a message.  Liking is just acknowledging a person said something, usually it's in passing.  It's not a meaningful exchange.  I think it just gives people a false sense of connection.  But, at least for now, I know *I* need to work on more meaningful connections with people.  While I know many of my facebook friends are people who are great at connecting both on facebook and in real life, I am not one of them.  Facebook makes it too easy to hide back into my introverted self, decline invitations, and pretend I am interacting with a ton of people.

So, this month I am going to work on not being on facebook and actually having more live conversations.  Only time will tell how this will play out.

Gratitude Post #6: Rain

I have to admit that I am a summer person.  I love the sunshine and have never been one excited for rain.  Normally, I'm the one waiting for the rainbow and eventual sunshine.

However, I have been waiting for the rain for weeks.  We desperately need rain.  As my fellow Californians know, we are in the middle of a drought.  I worry that our summer will be one fire after another...if we don't get enough rain and our parks and forests become too dry.

Fortunately, today we finally got some rain - and for that, I am so very grateful.  I started thinking of the upsides of rainy days - today and in the past.  Looking at the raindrops on my windows reminded me of my childhood.  

Growing up in San Francisco, rain was normal, raincoats were a must, and stomping through puddles to get wet was a favorite activity.  Also, "little" things like getting a new umbrella was always awesome as a kid.  I remember having a clear umbrella, so I could cover my entire head but still see straight through it.  Of course, I also had some of my favorite character umbrellas.  Thinking back,  I also remember enjoying the raindrops falling on the windows in the car, watching the windshield wipers go back and forth, trying to "clean" the window but never quite being able to do it.  Drip, drop. Drip, drop. 

Rain also reminds me of one of my favorite childhood movies and the song:
My childhood favorite song and movie

And while I prefer summer sun over winter rain, I have to say that rainy days have their perks.  Aside from the obvious necessity of rain, rainy days do have their upsides.