Can't Hardly Wait!

It's almost summer!  I only have one and one-half days left with my kiddos, and while I will miss most of them, my readiness for summer is quickly overcoming my feelings of nostalgia!  After Thursday, all my students will be gone and all my grades in.  Friday is a half-day of close-out procedures and cleaning our rooms (which I started today and am almost done) and then we are free!  My first act of summer will be to undertake a road trip to Ft. Worth to see Vic!  I'm sooo excited!  I haven't seen her since December!  While, admittedly, seeing each other twice a year has become the norm for us, I still can't believe it's been that long since we were together!  She's my sister in everything but blood, and I can't wait to hang out and catch up IN PERSON, instead of on the phone!  Not to mention, we're going to get a bunch of wedding errands run for her too!

Once back from Ft. Worth, I will take on the role of SAHW for the summer!  For those unfamiliar with the acronym, as I was, SAHW stands for Stay At Home Wife!  While I am very excited about being a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom), I am looking forward to being kid-free for a couple more years (though I have the baby fever pretty bad lol).  My friend Alicia over at I Am Far Too Lucky For My Own Good made a list of things to do before she has kids.  Well, I'm not going to be quite that ambitious--my list is going to be things to do before school starts!  And I'm dividing it into months!

June

1. Finish unpacking the boxes upstairs.  This includes going through previously stored boxes and downsizing the amount of stuff we're going to hang on to.  My goal is to have the library and the nursery completely organized.
2. To that end, I also need to get some plywood and make "floors" in the attic for the boxes of things we DO want to keep.  That way, as long as the boxes are light, we can open the closets upstairs back up!  
3. Finish ordering the invitations for Vic's August shower, and finish ordering the supplies for said shower.
4. Get the garden back under control and keep it that way--we're talking some serious pruning here folks!
5. Give the house a thorough cleaning and keep it neat.  Keep an eye out for furniture and accessory type stuff for the game room!
6. Try at least 3 new food recipes and at least 2 new dessert recipes.
7. Start my workout routine back up and keep it going.  Since I can go to the morning water aerobic classes now as well as the evening, this should be fairly easy!

July

1. Finish up planning Vic's shower, and send the invites at the beginning of the month.
2. Keep the garden nice.  Look in to planting some perennials in a barrel pot in the front garden.
3. Keep the house nice.  Continue looking for things to bring the game room together, as well as saving money for things to hang on the wall downstairs.
4. Try another 3 new food recipes and another 2 dessert recipes.
5. Keep up my workout routine--I really want to drop another 10 lbs (but I'll settle for five lol).

So, there's my list!  I'm sure I'll find more things to do this summer.  And of course, I will continue with my blog.  I've enjoyed it as an outlet for my writing impulses more than I thought possible.  It has made me consider actually starting to write stories again...we'll see if that too happens this summer!

My other hopes for this summer revolve around the decrease in my stress level having a positive effect on the success of my RA medications.  I would so love to go into remission!  Well, I won't get my hopes up...a slight improvement would be sufficient.

On that note, I shall leave y'all with some pictures of my lovely African Lillies (aka Lillies of the Nile), which have exploded into bloom!