8 Things

My real life friend Mrs. Hawk tagged me with a meme, and since it's Friday and, more importantly, THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION, I'm going to play along.

(Mrs. Hawk is one of my dearly loved youth group girls from back in the day, by the way, and she is now two days past her due date for her very first baby. So go love on her and her swollen cankles if you have time.)

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Family camp (in four weeks!)
2. Our ex-house selling
3. The local farmer's market opening in late June
4. A canoeing date with Corey next weekend
5. Getting to snuggle my sister's new baby (no date scheduled, unfortunately)
6. The birth of my second niece in July
7. Swimming as much as possible this summer
8. Being tan

8 things I did yesterday:
1. Attended Natalie's final day of school awards chapel; she got a character award for purity
2. Took the kids with some friends to a local park to celebrate the beginning of summer
3. Changed about five poopy diapers (one word: blueberries)
4. Tried to not be frustrated with a baby who wouldn't nap
5. Used a gift certificate to get a pedicure for the first time since February
6. Led a book club of fellow MOPS moms in a discussion of Susuanna's "All I Needs is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans: The Tired Supergirl's Search for Grace" and laughed my head off.
7. Ate a bowl of cereal for dinner after I got home from the pedicure/book club appointments
8. Read "The Last Cavalier," a book by Alexander Dumas that was recently "discovered" in his old papers; I read "The Counte of Monte Cristo" last month and was so taken with it, I've decided to read as many Dumas' novels as I can this summer.

8 things I wish I could do:
1. Get up early AND be happy about it
2. Take a nap every afternoon
3. Paint or draw well
4. Stop time
5. Discover a cure for cancer
6. Go to cooking school and become a chef
7. Return to television production and work for the Food Network or HGTV
8. Get 10 minutes to myself every day

8 shows I watch (here is where I'm going to frighten some of you):
1. Good Eats (when I can catch it)
2. Barefoot Contessa (when I can catch it)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

8 favorite fruits:
1. Peaches
2. Blackberries
3. Raspberries
4. Strawberries
5. Bananas
6. Pineapple
7. Cantaloupe
8. Grapefruit

8 places I'd like to travel:
1. Jamaica
2. The Carolinas
3. The Northeast
4. Colorado
5. National Parks in the off-season
6. Africa
7. New Zealand
8. Thailand

8 places I've lived:
1. Kentucky
2. Dallas, Texas
3. St. Paul, Minnesota
4. Phoenix, Arizona
5. La Jolla, California
6. San Diego, California
7. San Jose, California
8. Small Town, Minnesota

I'm supposed to end this by tagging 8 of you to continue the game. But I'm too tired. Even this nonsensical post has taken me 2.5 hours to write, due to constant interruptions.

When does school start again?

(Kidding. I'm kidding. But I think I do need to work on my grand Summer Plan, and pronto. I'm considering the installation of a mandatory quiet time every afternoon, even for the older kids. Anyone have advice on doing that to kids who haven't napped in years? Is it too hard to go back?)