Howdy, ladybugs, thanks for stopping by for 10 on the 10th: 06.2021. Have one eye on the Cincinnati Reds game and the other on my laptop monitor. You know it’s summer when there’s a Reds baseball on our TV every night. And every summer Saturday, finds my Princey-poo on the diamond playing in the El Paso 50 years and older baseball league. So a lot of my responses to this month’s 10 on the 10th questions all about summer will no doubt have a baseball theme.
10 on the 10th
You can check out last month’s 10 on the 10th post, here. While you’re here, please take note of next month’s theme so you can start thinking about it now. We will be sharing our 10 favorite summer foods. Yeah, I know…how will we ever narrow it down to just ten?? I feel your pain!! And feel free to link or share favorite summer recipes then, too.
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10 on 1oth: 06.2021
Have been reading and listening to Laura Tremaine. Are you familiar with her? Enjoyed her book Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First and want to sit down to write a post about it very soon…hopefully this weekend. Tremaine’s podcast is called “10 Things to Tell You” and I listen to it on Stitcher.
Where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, the book and now the podcasts inspired some of the questions for this round of 10 on the 10th 06.2021. Laura Tremaine shared her 10 questions for a successful summer in a May 25th podcast by that same name. Of course, I had planned my theme for this month’s 10 on the 10th way back in January but I used a little of what I learned in the podcast to shape some of my questions.
With that being said, let’s get on with the show…
10 Questions All About Summer
So here are my responses for the 10 questions. Can’t wait to read YOURS!
Balance
- What will make summer successful for you this year? Finding a balance between work and play. Having several opportunities to make memories with those I love most.
Somersault
- “500 Days of Summer,” “School’s Out for Summer,” somersault, “The Boys of Summer,” “Summertime Blues,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” dog days of summer, “Endless Summer,” “Summertime and the Living is Easy”…which of these phrases resonates most with you and your plans for the summer of ’21 and why? Somersault for me. My life often feels like a somersault or cartwheel. One moment I am upright and on my feet. The next moment I am knocked down, curled in a ball. Something that might look a lot like the fetal position. Or the position you take on a plane when preparing for a crash landing. Or possibly even worse, with my feet in the air and my head toward the ground…completely turned upside down. Things with my mom can cause me to swing from one emotion to the next. This summer I want to change my frame of mind. To find a way to better cope. And, as I have mentioned a couple of times recently, I want to shift my focus on the blog.
Summer Plans This Year and Last
- What do you look forward to doing this summer that you couldn’t do last summer because of C-O-V-I-D? What plans did you have last summer that had to be postponed, altered or canceled all together? Being with PC and family at the beach. We are all going to South Padre Island together the end of July for our birthday celebrations. I’ve never been there before so truly look forward to a few days at the beach with my loved ones. We didn’t really have plans last summer that Covid forced us to cancel. By summer, I think we all could see the writing on the proverbial wall. No one was going to be going anywhere!! I did miss going to the Chihuahua Triple A baseball games. Missed church. And going to movies. Happily, we are back at church now and looking forward to a few good movies coming out this season.
Just So You’re Tracking
- Name something you will track this summer. Steps, calories, Weight Watcher points, money spent, books read, miles traveled, workout sessions, laps swam, miles run, gatherings with friends. How will you track it? I track many of these things already. Sometimes rather haphazardly, though. Come by counting and tracking things naturally as my sweet mom is big on counting things. Like the number of steps from her apartment door to the dining room at her assisted living facility. Or the number of falls she has taken – upwards of 75. This summer I want to track the miles I walk and run. Not sure how to do that. Can use StepBet to help me keep track of the miles I walk. Thinking I need a pad by the treadmill, maybe to track miles run. Going to make that happen. I have just the one.
Something New
- Is there something new you look forward to trying this season? New recipe, new ‘do, new restaurant, new vacation spot? As I mentioned above, a new vacation spot – South Padre Island. Anyone been there before? We have been to Galveston a number of times. And Lauren and I spent one quick night at Corpus Cristi one year. But we’ve never been to South Padre. We all have reservations at Sea Breeze, each family with its own condo.
Summer Repeat
- Share something you do on repeat every summer. Why is this activity on repeat? Were you able to do that familiar activity last year during the pandemic? We kick off most springs and almost every summer with baseball games. In years past, spring has meant PC was playing in the Cincinnati Reds’ Fantasy Camp. Or we were attending some of the Reds’ spring training games in Phoenix. In fact, we even did that in 2020 BC – before Covid. Then we would jump right into PC’s own baseball season here at home. It lasts until early fall. And then it’s time for the Senior Men’s World Series back in Phoenix again. Paul hangs up his cleats very temporarily around November. But gets them out again by mid-February when we start all over again. Can you guess why baseball is on repeat every summer? Because it is my husband’s passion!! I even have a baseball-themed Keep Collective bracelet supporting his team, the El Paso Yankees.



Making (Re)Connections
- Who will you connect with or reconnect with this summer? Going to try to reconnect with some extended family at least via text. Looking forward to connecting with all of my immediate family at some point over the summer. Trying to break out of my introverted-ness. Thanks to How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen. Have already begun by volunteering to work in the Clothes Closet at the First Baptist Church. Walking with my friend and teacher pal Martha. Visiting with the baseball wives during games. Going to breakfast with other pals. Who am I?
Screening Screen Time
- This season how will you manage screen time for yourself and your family? Actually, I need to do better at getting off the computer in the evenings. PC has been shutting his computer down promptly at 8:30 pm each night. But sometimes I am in the middle of blogging or doing a Duolingo lesson and can’t just shut down. Which leads to minutes, sometimes many minutes, before I do close up shop. Have to do better. Also have to find a way of not allowing the phone to butt in during meal time. Think I will start taking the house phone off the hook. And turning down the volume on my cell. Because once they ring, I feel compelled to answer!! By the way, are we the only humans left with a landline?
Summer Projects
- What project are you hoping to tackle this summer? Something around the house? A craft? A gardening or outdoor activity? Well, my spring cleaning is fast turning into summer cleaning. I have got to finish the upstairs before the first official day of summer. Have GOT to!! Have begun making another collage with my sister through the Maker Bee Hive. So much fun. This time we are making a bicycle collage. Perfect for summer. Also need to figure out what to do in the side yard where our grass is so sparse. We had plans to put in a pathway but then the grass started looking a little more promising. Now we don’t know what to do. Hate to kill what grass there is but it looks pretty straggly.
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Summer’s End
- How do you want to feel at the end of the summer? At peace. Rested. Content. Reconnected with God, myself and my family. Those sound like typical beauty pageant answers, huh? But it goes back to question numero uno…and what would make summer successful for me. Finding balance. That would lead to more peace, rest, contentment, enjoyment in life.
Your Turn
How do you want to feel at the end of the summer? What would make this summer successful for you? Won’t you share in a comment below or on my Facebook page, here? Or if you have a 10 on the 10th 06.2021 post, please link up with me!!
Hope we can all enjoy a restful, restorative summer this year.
Off to work a few minutes on my collage before attacking my mountain of ironing and finishing the spring cleaning in our upstairs guest bedroom. Thank you for stopping by today. Enjoy your weekend!!
Hugs and kisses,

Your vacation plans sound so relaxing and fun! And it sounds like that book was really what you needed at the right time. Have a wonderful summer.
Thank you so much, my friend. Have missed your posts. I am so behind on my blog reading but spending the night tonight trying to catch up.
Sounds like it’s going to be a good summer! That holiday resort looks fabulous and the perfect place to make happy memories with the family – have fun!
Thank you, sweet friend. I am excited about the prospect of all of us getting away from LIFE and just having time to relax and enjoy being together.
Ohh, enjoy your vacation! I should really turn my computer off at night, I am always working on blog stuff… which, I should be doing other stuff like focusing on my family!! I love finding new podcasts to follow, I need to check out Laura Tremaine and her book! Thanks for sharing that! You always have good book recommendations.
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I truly do not know how you get everything done. I am in AWE! You and Kellyann. Your blogs are rich, and informative and lovely but you have such great home lives, too. I cannot for the life of me get it all together.
This was a fun one Leslie! I can’t wait until next month! There are so many summer foods I love. I’m glad to hear it sounds like you are already enjoying your summer with socializing and volunteering and your trip coming up!
Thank you!! I am so glad you are playing along with me.
😂😂 at your landline comment!
Your vacation sounds wonderful! A great way to catch and be together and enjoy the sun and waves. 🙂
And girl, that introvert stuff – me too!! This pandemic and year at home has not helped with me being comfortable out and about. I’ve gotten real comfy at home this year. Lol.
Lol, I think so many of us bloggers are more comfy writing than talking! I am so ready for our beach trip…well, mentally! I would like to lose a few pounds first, though.
I had to look up South Padre Island as I had never heard of it; it looks amazing!!
Hope South Padre doesn’t disappoint.
Ahhh summer!!!! If we can all be vaccinated and take a few more steps towards our new normal — I cherish the dream!!
Absolutely. All of the adults I am closest to have been vaccinated. We are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Life is beginning to feel normal.
A vacation with family sounds good to me! I’m looking forward to a relaxed summer with lots of bbq s!
Yay for summer bbqs!!
Thank you so much for hosting Leslie! I hope your summer ends up with more balance and fewer somersaults. Also, we still have a landline too. And I LOVE that idea of having a time at the end of the day without screens. I think I’m going to implement that for me, and hopefully for my family too.
Thank you, sweet friend. Me, too!!
I think my husband was talking about South Padre Island. We went to Galveston but not South Padre!
Galveston is nice but not really a resort location exactly. And we have had trips where the seaweed and mosquitoes were pretty hard to take. I am anxious to see if South Padre is better.
I love how much your husband enjoys the Reds. That’s my team, though I’m not a big baseball person. I do want to take my nieces and nephew to our smaller baseball team though – I think that would be fun and they’ve never been! It’s the Florence Y’alls!
I’m going to Hilton Head next month to see my aunt. I’ve never been so I’m excited. It’ll be mostly a relaxing, by the pool vacation, and I’m here for it.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Ha!! The Florence Y’alls!! Haven’t heard of them but gotta love that name. Paul absolutely loves the Reds. They are playing on TV as I type. We have enjoyed a couple of Dayton Dragons games, too.
You need world peace & applie pie in that pagent answer – LOL but I like it – summer is supposed to leave you relaxed.
I’m like your mom – I count EVERYTHING – steps I take – steps I walk – calories, I count useless information – I think its an anxiety thing for me.
I’ve been trying to do good about staying off the computer at night too. Let that brain calm down.
I think counting is an anxiety thing for my mom and for me, too. I dislike counting money, though. Kind of strange. I guess because it matters that I count it right and accurately. Counting steps…not so much.
Your vacation sounds dreamy. My boss came by the library on Thursday and told me that I need to take a real break. So I guess I need to figure something out.
The picture of the babies, so sweet and funny.
Yes, I bet you do need a real break. That sounds like a trip in your RV to me. You’ve been so busy with the accreditations. Time to unwind a little.
These were great Leslie. Sounds like a great summer to come! I had to look up South Padre Island…..ummmmm that looks like a really LONG bridge over A LOT of water….lol. I’m not sure I’d like it.
LOL, I am not sure about the drive to South Padre. We are flying into a small airport nearby and renting a car. I am not crazy about long bridges over water either!! Thanks for the heads up.
Sweet friend, I hate to hear about the somersault you feel like your life is at times. I know things with your mom upend you – I am praying for you that you can find away to manage this and remain upright to enjoy your life!
xo,
Kellyann
Thank you so much, sweet Kellyann. It helped to hear about Shelly’s experiences and to know I am not alone.