Something New For My Summer
I am currently living the whirlwind life that leaves little time for anything beyond practices, games, lessons, camps, and quick meals eaten over the sink. Summer is busy and my family is on the cusp of a much needed slowdown just prior to the start of school.
However, even with the hectic summer calendar, some new ventures have come into my life this season. Despite the chaos that is freelance writing combined with chasing a tween, two middle children, and a thumb-sucking toddler, there is still time for some newness. All of the recent new things in my life are very me-oriented because a little self indulgence never hurt a single person.
My First Book Club
After all of the blog posts about my fave novels, I finally joined forces with my neighbor and started a monthly book club. Well, it is a book club with a twist. There is no required reading and a small group of us just get together to chat and talk about all things reading related. It is low key and fun. We call it “Books & Beer”.
I took the plunge and hosted the first event, which got me motivated to deep clean the main level of my home. This was a huge victory for me and my dusted trim boards. Snacks and small talk were provided at a premium. The best part of the meeting was talking with other fellow bookworms about good authors, the best genres, and what everyone should put on their list to read next.
All three novels mentioned by Tessa in her recent book review blog post have been brought up at Books & Beer. A lot of the readers in attendance also liked the following:
- Kristin Hannah’s Nightingale and The Great Alone—Read Tessa’s review of Nightingale from a previous post
- Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot and Nine Perfect Strangers.
- How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
- Educated by Tara Westover
Another great thing about this book club is that people come armed with hardcovers and paperbacks they have already read and want to pass along to others. I have been able to purge some of my book shelves and also pick-up a few must-reads free of charge.
Mom So Hard
Laughter is the best medicine, especially when suffering from household chaos and the strain of parenthood. Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley make up the comedic duo of moms known as #IMomSoHard. They are currently on tour and landed in my city.
Every mom on the planet should check out this show or try viewing one of the many YouTube videos they have posted or buy their book I Mom So Hard. I have never gone to a show like #IMomSoHard and almost skipped this one because my daughter had a ballgame. I am so glad that I took a little time for myself and saw this act.
The evening was excellent because I went with a fun group and giggled at jokes about chin hairs, raising children, and finding time to pee in private. It was great to go to a packed theater filled with mothers rejoicing and laughing. Especially over the fact that motherhood is both wonderful and messy. At one point they grabbed handbags from the audience and went through them on-stage…the outcome was hilarious.
A Little Boring, But New to Me
Another bit of newness that came my way was a twist to school shopping. Typically I load up the kiddos and make a pilgrimage to the back area of Target as August grows near. It is the land of loose leaf paper and blunt tip scissors, where crayons are stacked as pyramids. However, this year I went the technology route and ordered all of the supplies online. I ordered from Target, but I have also heard great things about going through Amazon and Walmart.
I cut out the middle-man of driving across town, walking the aisles, and wrestling others for the last orange plastic folder with prongs. It was a nice change of pace for me and my children. The boys napped while I on-line shopped and my girls watched Project MC2. It is a cute Netflix show about smart, STEM girls going undercover and using science to save others. I still plan to take them school shopping, but instead of buying supplies we’ll get ice cream and highlighters. Plus all of this planning ahead leaves more time for summer picnics and swimming.
What have you been doing that is new this summer? Breaking away from the mundane can be a nice change of pace.