Summer Joys, Summer Tasks

Suddenly summer is here; now that the last meetings and end-of-year parties have been attended, I have awakened to all that is summer joy. However, being me, I have made a chore list as long as summer itself which includes cleaning, painting, de-junking, wallpapering, weeding, and book-keeping. That part is kind of a bummer, especially the item on the list that says "Take everyone to dentist." My family members are all dentist-chair cowards, and that does not improve with age.

Added to all my tasks I have listed some things that I hope to accomplish in the leisure category: seeing some summer movies, reading some good books, and writing some good books of my own--or at least one, maybe. :)

Today I started on a big project that has been awaiting me: the cleaning of my sons' activity room. They made it so messy that they both felt entirely flummoxed about where to begin: the mounds of clothing? the giant stacks of action guys? the school supplies scattered here and there and dusted over with bits of cat hair?

Enter mother, determined and slightly insane. I've decided that it's a two-day job, but today's tasks have made it look far more habitable. My oldest son is cleaning out a basement room to make it his teen hangout, and so he and I were equally obsessive today in our quest to make something yucky look attractive.

There will be much of this in my summer, but I know that at the end of my two months' freedom I will have many concrete things to show for it, and perhaps even some stolen relaxation time.

What are your plans for summer?