The Summer To-Do List...in Review!

As school came to an end back in May, I created a list of my Summer Top 10 things to do.  It's crazy to think that I only have a week left of NO SCHOOL and then I'm back to a 60-hr work week...eeeek!  Once that happens, anything left undone will most likely remain that way :-)  

Summer always goes so fast and I always feel like I got nothing done.  However, when reviewing my list we did manage to accomplish a few things!

1.  Finish staining the fence...I was able to get a large section done before it got too hot to be outdoors.  As of late, we have been battling high humidity on my days off (85% on Tuesday, 70% today) and rain in the forecast so there's no way I'm wasting my time and money just to have the stain not absorb!  Looks like we'll be spending some autumn weekends finishing up the fence.

2. Paint the back porch to match the front porch...Mission accomplished! 

3.  Install shelving in the kitchen "cubby" and maybe go ahead and paint the kitchen...The kitchen has been painted but we haven't gotten the shelves installed yet.  However, we did get the tile tattoos done on the backsplash and we weren't counting on doing that!

4. See George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic in concert...We saw him, BeauSoleil, The Two Man Gentleman Band and a bunch of jazz musicians (namely Stephen Richard) in concert this summer.

5.  Roadtrip for a meal at Gate's BBQ in Kansas City...Not only did we eat there, but we ate our next meal at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ as well!

6. Clean out the basement and our closets, then have a garage sale...The closets have been cleaned out and we did get rid of some stuff from the basement after one whole day of re-organzing the dungeon.  The remnants aren't enough for a garage sale so we'll probably run everything down to our church's Re-Sale store.

7.  Read...I read 4 books, a few cookbooks and have started two other books.  I think that's a personal record!

8.  Learn to knit...I may have forgotten to sign up for the class--ooops!  But there's another one offered in September that I'll try attending.  The same community education center offered a Vegan Cooking class in July that I did remember to sign up for and it was super interesting!

9.  Learn to can...Last year's garden produced so much fruit that we couldn't keep up.  This year has been a different story as our tomatoes aren't doing too great.  I'm still holding out hope for our tomatillos that are doing really well so far!

10.  And finally, relax...Thankfully, I was able to do some of this!  I went to the pool some, went to Kansas City for a girls' weekend, had a few days where no alarm clock was necessary, got caught up on things (is that really "relaxing"???), etc.  Last summer, I was busy with all the last-minute planning of our wedding and I have to say, this summer was far more relaxing!

We did manage to do a few other things as well--I'm not always one to stick to a plan!  Justin played on his company's team in the city softball league...I made a bunch (okay, 6) decorative pillows for our bed and 2 for the porch swing...planted 7 hostas and a fern around the Mulberry tree in the front yard...hung some new blinds for the house...made new curtains for the kitchen...went to Kansas City for Justin's birthday weekend...went to Lawrence for a Girls' Day Out...

I'm sure there are a few other highlights that I'm missing but all in all, it's been a good summer!  After all the crazy heat and high humidity we've had, it's safe to say that I'm beyond ready for fall weather and football season to get here :-)