Hey sugs!
It is about time to put this “Spring Bucket List” to rest, once and for all. But before I do, let’s take a look at this final progress report on all of my hopeful spring activities. I want to thank my sweet friends for joining in on this post. And I am super stoked (which is a word I don’t even use!) about having some more lovelies joining for the “Summer Bucket List” post on June 21. If you are a blogger and would like to join us, please holler! And if you don’t blog but do summer, share photos of your activities with us on Instagram using #SummerBucketList17.
A Final Look at My List
Spring has been pretty hectic. To be honest, I haven’t done real well at consulting my list as PC and I planned our weekend activities the past few months. In a panic this weekend, I was scrambling to realize a few of the activities I knew we hadn’t completed.
Oh, boy-oh-boy, looking at the list again right now, I didn’t get busy enough this weekend. Instead of sleeping at night, I should have been:
- Hiking and picnicking
- Playing catch
- While feeding some ducks
Here at home, I should have been:
- Scrapbooking Easter (even though I haven’t finished all the Christmases past)
- Bible journaling with one hand
- While working on my mosaic with the other
- And then winding up the weekend by decluttering my entire house
And had I done all of that, I wouldn’t feel so bad about having missed the “Tequila, Taco and Cerveza Fest” the first weekend of the month. As it is, I missed it and accomplishing all the other bulleted items, to boot. Instead, I was babysitting and cuddling this little dumpling all week and weekend.
Time well spent, I think most all of you would agree. Even if it wasn’t on my “Spring Bucket List”. Here are a few experiences we did manage to mark off my list.
Watch a Sunrise or Sunset
I have begun doing Miracle Mornings after my friend Casey Rooney, who blogs at caseyrooney.com introduced me to the book by Hal Elrod.
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It requires that the reader wake up approximately an hour earlier than usual in order to follow a routine that promises to transform her life by increasing energy, motivation and focus. And we have been up earlier to brush the pool every morning. So, I have seen a number of sunrises in the past few weeks.
Last night, we enjoyed watching the sun set over the Franklin Mountains from our hot tub.
With the light from the spa reflecting on our faces, you get a good sense of how we would look as ogres.
See what I mean?
Read on the Balcony or Patio
I promise we did this. Just forgot to take a picture. But you can trust me.
Start Reading a New Book Together
In an effort to be able to mark this off the list, we selected a book to read together this afternoon. Another Audible edition, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman.
We thoroughly enjoyed listening to the author’s debut novel, A Man Called Ove, in October when we drove out to Phoenix for the Men’s Over 50 World Series. Ran into a snag downloading Audible onto my Nook so we haven’t listened to the book yet but we are both looking forward to getting started tomorrow.
Decorate for Spring and Easter
I got on this early in April but just forgot to take pictures. And now I have started taking it all down in order to begin thinking about decorating for summer. Climbed up on the island to take these photos tonight of what’s left of the springiness above my kitchen cabinets.
You’ve seen my wheelbarrow decorated in an earlier update, here. And my Easter garland, here.
Work in the Yard, Gardening Around the Pool
We worked today and have more to do tomorrow around the pool. Both of us enjoy being outside, working to create our paraiso. Please click here to see the gardening projects we have completed so far.
Pay it Forward
Would like to report that I had done something really earth-shakingly inspirational for this spring bucket list activity. Maybe this summer. I did donate to the postal carriers’ food drive on May 13.
As a substitute librarian, I work in different libraries wherever a librarian is out on leave. This school year, I have had long-term assignments in four different schools. I try to bring a little something special to each library. At Cooley, the library had been sadly neglected for years. Megan, the new librarian this year, has worked wonders transforming this space from dark and dusty to bright and welcoming. But she is out on maternity leave, so I bought a few little things to help dress it up. Chinese lanterns, felt cut-outs, beach-themed die cuts. I also purchased a Bath and Body Works Wallflower for the library in their stress-relief eucalyptus mint fragrance. The kids loved it. And the teachers. And the custodians. One custodian mentioned how nice the library always smelled and wanted to know what it was. I bought a Wallflower for her with the stress relief scent.
Nothing that it is going to change the world. But it brought a smile to the faces of a few.
And lastly…
Work on My Elephant Pictures
Haven’t worked on my elephant collage yet. Summer activity? But I have been working on a little on my cross stitch. Check out my little bit of progress.
Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
Not sure what race I am running, though.
Your Turn
What did you enjoy doing this spring? Was it a planned activity or something you did spontaneously? Would love to hear about your spring in a comment below.
And then hope you will come back on June 21 for the reveal of my “Summer Bucket List”, which may or may not look familiar! Seeing as there are a number of activities I didn’t get to this spring. OR maybe between now and then, I will be able to check off (not to be confused with the name of the Star Trek navigation officer Chekov) a couple of these pending activities.
Please show my sweet bucket list buddies some love by stopping by for their “Spring Bucket List” final progress reports. Follow the links below.
Looking forward to a quiet Memorial Day and a quick work week. I will be co-hosting a style post(!!) with Jennie at A Pocketful of Polka Dots. Hope you will stop by. Will be sharing more about babysitting my little Lucia. And hope to tell you more about Miracle Morning in the coming week.
Have a blessed day.
Hugs and kisses,
Your precious little dumpling is adorable, and the absolutely perfect excuse to have not gotten to all your Spring Bucket items for sure! I’m also happy to see that Fredrik Backman has another book out, as we likewise loved A Man Called Ove. So funny, sweet, and poignant all rolled into one!
You are going to enjoy your pool sooo much this summer I am thinking. Over here, we are looking forward to cool, Pacific Ocean temps once we figure out what house to buy and get movin’ – hopefully by end of July we’ll be joining you in looking and feeling refreshed!
Hugs!
We will dive into Backman’s book tonight…managed to get Audible working on my Nook so we are rarin’ to go. Will let you know what we think.
So happy for you that your present home sold so quickly. I was thinking you had found a new home you really liked already. Would think the search would be a little fun but a whole lot stressful. I enjoy looking at homes but even helping my daughter in Albuquerque narrow their search via Zillow had me drinking. Ok, I was drinking before that.
Thank you for coming by and for joining this series. Onward and upward to summer!
Looks like you did make some progress!! Alas, with my travel schedule I had nothing new to report! Hopefully with the crazy easing up a bit I’ll be able to get more done/shift some to my summer bucket list!
Sooo glad to know you will be back with us for summer. I have at least three new gals joining so this little project is growing and that has done my heavy heart good this week.
Enjoyed your photos from the college tours. Have you reached a decision? Does having your daughter go off to college mean the nest will be empty? You are so busy and have such a full life, that you will adjust well. But there’s something about a daughter leaving home. I cried like a big baby yesterday when I had to say goodbye to Lucia and Lauren. And they live just 240 miles up the road. Never is easy.
Ahhh…that’s the bundle of energy that wore you out?!! Isn’t she precious??
And kudos for you for getting up an hour earlier!! Sleeping in is really such a treasure for me when we can do it, that I’m not sure I’d be open to it!!
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thank you, Jodie. Miss Lucia Carolina Buendia is energetic, funny (at one!) and super duper loving. Her huggies are the best. Sore and stiff this morning from lifting and carrying her but PC mentioned that my arms look more toned…ha!
My Miracle Morning may come later once I finish with subbing this school year. The magic hour may move from 5 to 7 or 8 am. We’ll see. I treasure lazy mornings a little, too.
Spending time with a grandbaby trumps everything else, for sure! How wonderful that you had that much time with her! I also think doing “little” things that make people smile counts as BIG things! Isn’t it fun when we can do that! Thank you again for inviting me to join you on this list thing; I’ve enjoyed it!
I think you still did plenty!! It is hard to get everything done on these lists, I think that is why I took a little break from them… but, I’m looking forward to doing a Summer Bucket List with y’all soon! I think it’ll help me accomplish more this summer! I love that you and PC are going to read a book together!! I am sure that hot tub and pool have been taking a lot of time, too! I would just want to lay in there and relax ALL day LONG! LOL! 🙂 That elephant cross stitch is going to be so pretty!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Hey sweet friend! I cannot tell you how much it means that you are joining in for the summer bucket list. I think I am going to have to whittle my list down from 25 things this spring (that didn’t all happen) to a more successful number. When I would put too much food on my plate and then not eat it all, my mom would say ‘my eyes were bigger than my stomach’. Think that translates into bucket lists, too.
PC and I have read about three books together. I used to read-read to him in the car on trips. But now we listen on Audible to a professional narrator!! I am ok with kinder books but he had me reading Three Musketeers aloud one trip. Blah! Yuck!
Cannot wait to get out of school for the summer. I have a craft project hanging fire that I want to link-up with you. Just looks like a big ole mess right now. But give me ten more days and I will be over there for Creative Corner. XO
Great post! I plan to join in with the summer bucket list and make it a great 3 months.
Oh, I am thrilled to have you join us. Adding your email address to the bucket list group right now. Thank you for coming by, Juhli and leaving a comment. And thank you for joining us come June!
Leslie, I’m impressed with your bucket list and the number of things you were able to accomplish–and snuggling with the baby definitely takes precedence over all else; they grow up so fast. I’m looking forward to your summer bucket list and plan to join in. I love the idea of a bucket list with a shorter timeframe. Since we never know when our time on this earth will be up, it’s better to experience things now than some distant future. Happy final days of spring!
Christie
Thank you for stopping by, Christie, and for commenting!! And best of all, for your interest in our bucket lists!!! Yay, YOU! I agree completely with what you said about not knowing how long we have on this earth. I even hate to commit to six month dental appointments (pessimist?)because you never know. And I hate going to the dentist.
I really went through Lucia withdrawal yesterday but today was a little easier. Going to wait another day or two before Skyping with her in hopes that then I won’t cry.
Have a quick, short week! Have added you to my bucket list email group. And if you are interested, we do a Sentence a Day link-up, too. We wrote one sentence a day for a month. Then on the first Thursday of the new month, we publish our sentences. We will be posting this Thursday and starting a new month of sentences. Let me know if that would be something you’d like to try.
Looks like you got plenty of items crossed off your bucket list. And time with that little grand baby trumps everything else. She is too precious. And I loved the Ogre look. 😂 that part made me giggle out loud.
Yay for giggling out loud! I am afraid I’ll never be a serious blogger because I’m too goofy.
Loved having my Lucia here but boy, was I exhausted every night. Ha! Out of practice, for sure.
Thank you, Dani, for joining up for Sentence a Day and for the bucket lists. It means a lot to me. I enjoy your foodie posts, too!! Keep ’em coming, friend.
Life can certainly get in the way of our well intentioned plans, Leslie but I would certainly swap my bucket list to spend time with my grandson. Your little bundle of joy is much more precious and entertaining than ticking things off your list. You did manage quite a bit though! I’m in for the Summer List although living in Australia mine will be all about Winter. Have a wonderful week and enjoyed reading your post.
Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
Hey Sue!
Thank you for coming by and understanding how important time spent with grandbabies can be. Felt kind of deflated yesterday after the kids drove away. But feeling better today. Sad to put away the high chair and pack and play, etc. Hope to Skype with Lucia and Lauren in the next day or two. Skype is such a life saver.
Your Lucia is adorable, and you’ve accomplished a lot this Spring. Love your sense of humour. Look forward to reading your summer list.
I loved reading this post! I think you accomplished a lot!
I’m very excited about joining you for the summer bucket list! I just did a little work on my May Sentence a Day post, and I realize that work has been completely dominating my life this quarter. I feel so overwhelmed that I don’t really plan enough fun things. I’m really looking forward to putting my summer bucket list together!
Babysitting that cutie will always trump anything else. Love the Spring decor that you had left, I just started putting up my 4th of July because I want to be able to enjoy it for longer than 4 days, hehe 🙂
I got out my 4th of July stuff, too, for the same reason!
Anxious to hear more about your camping trip when it happens. Will keep
checking in for news on it.
Wow Leslie you’re a busy bee! I can’t believe how much you’ve done. I love the wheelbarrow! Having a bucket list seems fun. I might give it a try!
Gail
Gail, if you want to join us for our summer bucket list post on June 21, we would LOVE to have you! I have a group of about 10 gals doing it. Or I hope that many will participate again! We are going to do a link-up and just list each other’s blogs in our post. Then do a few updates on our progress throughout the summer. It can be as involved or simple as you like. Please let me know if you would like to be added to the list of participants.
Thank you for coming by and commenting. I have been busy but still have stuff left to work on or carry over into summer!
XO