Sunday, May 01, 2016

My Summer To-Do List

It's been a while since I posted one of these, huh?  I had great success with them last year, but then never made one for the winter or spring.  Actually, I started one for the winter, but never finished it because... I don't even remember why because.  But inspired by Jennifer, I've decided to go ahead and do this again, because I did find it quite helpful!

(Source)

So here's my list for this summer, which really will be May through August because we'll be finishing up our schoolwork in a couple weeks, and taking our summer break from mid-May through Mid-July, so... yeah.  Anyway, here's what I'd like to accomplish by the end of August:

~ Finish reading Sixguns and Society by Will Wright

~ Read The Shadow on the Mesa by Jackson Gregory

~ Read Much Ado About Anne by Heather Vogel Frederick

~ Read 6 other books from my TBR shelves

~ Read 3 books from the library

~ Try a new pie recipe

~ Make Lemon Blueberry Cake


~ Watch the Ioan Gruffudd version of Great Expectations (still haven't gotten to that!)

~ Re-watch and review Branded (1950)

~ Watch one of the Rudolph Valentino movies I own but haven't seen yet

~ Watch 5 other movies from my TBW shelves

~ Find out if it's okay to build a tree house on our property.  If it is, build one like this.

~ Meanwhile, make at least one of these:


~ Visit Colonial Williamsburg while the flowers are all pretty

~ Make myself a new skirt

~ Order my costume for the Star Trek convention -- and SOON

~ Get a significant amount of editing done on my YA western novel, Fickle Creek

~ Pick which novel to begin writing next

Four months!  I can do this, right?

30 comments:

  1. Aw, what a nice header! You will be unsurprised if I say those three pics almost belong on our plot bunny page. I instantly got this story with the three of them, with John Wayne punching somebody, Bobby in handcuffs, and Rudy looking serious. LOL!

    I wonder if creating a list like this would work for me? Of course, that would require thinking farther ahead than the end of this week, and I'm not sure my brain can do that. But it might be fun to try, if nothing else, to see how badly I fail to accomplish anything on the list.

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    1. DKoren, your wish = my command. I'd read that story. I actually could come up with one myself based on them, hee.

      It would be an interesting exercise for you, anyway! Put a few "freebies" on it like I do, that you're guaranteed to get done (like I totally watched a Rudy movie last night, so can cross that off already). Makes me feel like "Yes, I can do these other things too, then!"

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    2. LOL! The problem is, I don't want to write it myself. I just want to read it. Hee.

      Freebies... as in "Re-watch Hobbit movies" type thing? I'm not sure I could put down any movie type of thing. Hm. Kind of like movies are my daily escape, not things to be accomplished or something? Books, I could put books down though, because they've become such a chore now that glasses are required.

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    3. ::Pouts:: Same here! I may toss some ideas in with the plot bunnies, just for fun. Could turn into another Picnic Murder...

      Yeah, by 'freebies' I mean things I'm planning to do anyway, without a list to remind me. Like, I'm intending to review one movie by each of my Birthday Boys up in the new banner, so I could've also put "Rewatch and review Captain Newman, M.D. and a John Wayne movie" up there too, if I'd thought of it.

      Also, the "watch 5 things off my TBR shelves" is kind of a chore because I keep feeling like I *ought* to be doing that. But I know I'll have no trouble accomplishing that this time, as I've got more than 5 Alan Ladd movies I haven't watched yet, hee.

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    4. So freebie for me would be "get quotes for fence" cuz it has to be done in the next few weeks no matter what. My list is kind of awful. Get sample of paint to take to Lowes to match so I can paint roof boards. Fix grout. Re-stain bridge. Figure out how to do concrete to fill in holes in driveway. Finish and edit novel. That's the only fun to-do!

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    5. Right. What about "order ST costume" for another fun one? I should have "get spring check-up for a/c" and "clean entire house for mother-in-law's visit" on mine too...

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  2. Ooohh, good luck with it all! :D You sound very ambitious (which I totally consider a good thing). :) I love the little hoola hoop hideouts, they're so cosy looking!
    We have a tree house that my Daddy made. :) Since we're in the country and there's lots of excellent trees, we have one about 10 feet high, and last Saturday my little siblings and I took a small table, chairs, and a water tea set (we spilled a good deal of it, getting it up there ;D) in our high tree house. It was very fun! We have two levels on it (my Daddy loves going 'all out' and he even suggested putting in a little cupboard and walls up there!) and it's just about the best tree house I could have asked for. :D
    I love making lists - I just wish I were going into a summer holiday right now! *sigh* ;)
    ~Miss Meg

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    1. Thanks, Miss Meg! I've always got a million projects I'd like to get done, and lists like this help me prioritize them and remember to do stuff. Like we've been talking about a tree house for 2 years now, but I never remember to look up our HOA's rules and see if they're allowed. I've always wanted a tree house myself -- yours sounds amazingly cool! I'm not that ambitious, or good at carpentry, hee.

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  3. Sounds like a great summer! I'm sure you'll get lots and lots done :-)

    My to-do list this summer basically says, WRITE. That is all. Because that's the one thing I most want to do which I can't do during the school year :-) I really want to work more on my Britain-in-WW2 story and I cannot WAIT to start my Holocaust/Dutch Resistance novel. (We studied the Holocaust quite a lot in German history this year and now I have even more that I want to say about it.)

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    1. Jessica, I think it will be a good summer :-) And the rest of this spring, too.

      I'm feeling very drained of writing energy right now, having just spent 6 weeks more than doubling "The Man on the Buckskin Horse" during the revision process. I need to absorb right now, as I'm wrung dry of creative energy.

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    2. Right! Whereas, I'm in the exact opposite boat--bursting with creative-writing energy with absolutely NO outlet for it. I have alllllllllllll these ideas and I just haven't got the time to really write any of them. I WANT THE SUMMER TO COME RIGHT NOW. Fortunately, I graduate on Saturday (!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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    3. Oooooooooh, that's so close now, Jessica! How awesome. Your summer is nearly here :-D

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  4. Sounds like a busy summer! And that treehouse looks awesome! :D Hope everything works out for you to be able to build it :-)

    That lemon blueberry pie looks delicious! You like baking? So do I!! XD

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    1. Blessing Counter, that's the way I like my life -- full of interesting things to do, read, watch, and eat! I definitely love baking -- too much for my own good, lol.

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  5. I love your list. I really need to plan out my reading goals better. I'm doing the "PopSugar" 2016 challenge. Last year I was scrambling to get all the categories in. I need to plan for that a little better over the summer.
    Tree houses are fun. I hope you can build one. We made one on one of our properties. My husband found an old car door on our property and incorporated it into one of the walls - cool.

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    1. Jennifer, last year I failed abysmally at my goal to read a bunch of Robin Hood books -- only read like 2 instead of 6. This year, I'm on track with my Anne reading challenge, so far, partly because I'm joining someone else's challenge, so I'm a little bit accountable to them, I think.

      I want our tree house to be kind of like the flets around Lothlorien in Middle Earth -- really just a platform you can put to many uses. If it works the way I want, even my 4-year-old will be able to climb on one side without a ladder because the tree I'll put it on is halfway down a hill. So one side will only be like 3 feet off the ground (or however high it needs to be to get the lawnmower under it), but the other side will be more like 5. We could even use it as a sort of standing table or buffet if we had friends over for a cookout.

      I just need to find out if our HOA will allow it, or if we'll need to petition for it, or what. Some things, they get picky about.

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    2. Accountability works. :)
      Sounds like a cool tree house. I hope you get to have it.

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  6. Hamlette, I love to-do lists and high ambitions! My reading has fallen terribly short this year so far, I'm planning to start getting up an hour earlier so I can squeeze it in!

    Tree house building is so fun also, and one of the best "toys" for kids!

    I'm excited to see you are working on another western novel!

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    1. Oh, and I like your new header too. :)

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    2. Annie, that's a great idea! For a while this winter, I was getting to bed a little earlier, and then waking up before my kids and catching up on reading blogs in the quiet of the morning. I need to get back to that.

      I'm working on revising this western, and then I have ideas for three more, two of which I know enough about I could start them, but I can't decide which I want to start first!

      And thanks! I like it too :-) John Wayne, Rudolph Valentino, and Bobby Darin all had May birthdays, so I'm celebrating them all at once. But in the most western way possible, hee.

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  7. I'll be expecting some of that Lemon Blueberry Cake in the end of June when I'm visiting. And you don't need to clean the house for me :-)

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    1. Aha! That would be an excellent time to make it, as it looks Very Involved, and I wouldn't want to make it just for us.

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  8. I've made the lemon blueberry cake before and it is super delicious!

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    1. Lois, really? That's awesome! I've had that recipe in my Pinterest folder for over a year and keep drooooling over it :-9

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  9. I've been on a Great Expectations kick lately! I read the book, and watched the Ethan Hawke one, and then rewatched the Jeremy Irvine one and the Douglas Booth one, but they were both rather disappointing. Didn't get the end right. So I want to see the Ioan Gruffudd one, but it's not readily available to me. I wonder if it's better than the others. Do you have a favorite version?

    Also, I have nominated you for the Liebster award: http://howtowatchamotionpicture.blogspot.com/2016/05/liebster-award.html

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    1. Sarah, truth be told, I've never watched a single version of GE. The Ioan Gruffudd version came out right when I was first nutty about him, and I actually bought the book and read it in preparation to seeing his version, but then for some reason, I missed it when it was on PBS, and so... I never saw it. But I bought a VHS copy last year, so now I just need to go ahead and give it a watch.

      Thanks for the nom! I'll check it out :-)

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    2. Wow, you've been waiting a long time to see it then! I hope it's worth the wait and you enjoy! I've heard it's good. :)

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    3. Yup. I'm a little scared it won't live up to 20 years of my expectations...

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  10. Fun list, Rachel. Best of luck with this summer to-do.

    I remember watching Ioan's "Great Expectations." It was good as I recall although I'm pretty sure that I liked one of the newer ones best (overall). Although considering I'm judging these only on a production standpoint, perhaps neither of those is most faithful to the book.

    Good luck on your writing and TBR! Both are things I need to make progress on as well. :)

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    1. Thanks, Rissi! Pretty much, I'll be watching GE just for Ioan, hee.

      A big TBR pile is both a blessing and a problem, isn't it?

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