Summer To Do List

Disclaimer:
I am a teacher and yes there is much controversy over teachers not working during the summer, but you need to understand that just because we work 9 months a year doesn't mean that we don't spend our summers working on things to make us better teachers.  AND, not to mention the hours we put in during the school year taking time away from our families to write lesson plans, attend teacher trainings, and grade papers which all make up for our only working 9 months a year.  Enough said about that, because my blog isn't really about my only teaching 9 months, it's about how I spend my summer doing things that I don't get to do during the school year.

Actual blog post:
Do you ever write that summer to do list, or even a daily to do list?  I am a big list maker, always have been, and probably always will be.  Makes me feel so much better to cross something off my list, and sometimes I even forget to put something on the list and therefore I will add it to the list just so I can cross it off.  You can call me crazy, but we all have our own little tendencies that others think are crazy!!!!

So my mind has been racing lately about the things that I need to accomplish this summer in regards to my house.  I'm great at multi-tasking, but one thing that lacks during the school year is the maintenance on my house.  One thing my folks and I argue about is how much I can really do on my own, because they would just rather hire someone and pay them to do it then attempt to do it themselves.  That's great that they can do that, I on the other hand, would like to do things myself.  I've never been good at asking for help and really enjoy creating and doing things on my own.  I will admit there are things that I can't do on my own, for example grounding my outlets throughout my house, re-tiling my bathroom (which actually I would have really liked to attempt), and cutting back my very tall and large Oak tree (again, something that I would have liked to attempt).  In reality, there are things in life that you can't do without help and I'll admit, I'm glad that I didn't attempt some of those things.  However, I have quite a few things that I need to get done around my house this summer and am going to attempt.  Sometimes it's okay to learn a little when actually trying to accomplish something and if I fail, I just keep trying until I get it right.  So here is my list of summer to dos (and I'm sure that I will continue to add more things as the summer progresses).  These are in no particular order.

1.  Install new toilet seat (Never knew it was that easy, nor did I know that a scotch brite pad would scrub all the stains and paint off of it!)
2.  Rake leaves out from under water spigot and along house in backyard
3.  Measure area under tree for patio
4.  Buy pavers, gravel and sand to put patio under Oak tree in backyard
5.  Build fireplace pit in backyard
6.  Keep backyard mowed (I'm really bad about this because my mower constantly dies on me)
7.  Spray down basement stairs
     7a. Then shovel leaves off drain at bottom of basement stairs
8.  Buy and put new dryer vent on outside
9.  Lay brick around Oak tree and add mulch
10. Spray driveway with roundup
11. Paint garage (this may never happen because my garage needs to be completely redone and it may be worth more by taking the ugly 1950's paneling down and seeing what's under it)
12. Paint living room
13. Replace front screen door
14. Replace front porch cement
15. Sand and re-stain my kitchen table
16. Buy and install blinds in living room and kitchen
17. Sort through my office
18. Sew seat cushions for classroom
19. Sew panels for front living room closet
20. Figure out what to do with weeds that grow in Southwest corner of backyard
21. Re-stain deck
22. Pull out old bird bath in backyard
23. Cut out all trees from fence and throughout backyard
24. Write lesson plans for thematic units
25. Finish classroom website and publish it
26. Cut shrubs in front flower beds
27. Get all stuff off deck and ready for junk day
28. Spray weeds in backyard sidewalk


These are the things that I really want to accomplish this summer.  Some of them are probably a little out there, but these are all things I have neglected over the past couple years (except for #'s 24, & 25; those are new this year).  I know that once I accomplish many of these I will begin to feel better about my house and maybe enjoy living here a little bit more (I know realistically I probably won't be moving anytime soon)!!

So now that I have made my list, it's time to start crossing it off.  Don't be surprised if I add something to the list just so I can cross it off because then I know I'm actually accomplishing something and not being a lump on a log this summer.  Happy Summer!!!!