Friday Happy Hour: #PlansForTheSummer

Gettysburg on a Hot Summer Day, pastel on Wallis sanded paper, Kellee Wynne Conrad

Oh to be young and foolish. I was on Twitter, yes I’m tweeting, and I was shamelessly following the trends this morning in a desperate attempt to have something new to say on my blog. Everyone is talking about summer. And when I say everyone, I mean all the youngins without a care in the world or a preschooler to wake them the moment the sun rises. And for some reason the best they can think of is “get drunkkk” and “sleeeeep” or “be thin as a ghost and tan as toast.” They have no idea that they are missing the best years of their lives being half conscious and uninvolved. But, hey, that was me once, too.

If I knew then what I know now…yes, I just said that…but the truth is that I see life more clearly as the years fall behind me. And now summer has a new meaning. It’s a time for family and fresh air and discovering the place where I live. Growing vegetables, cooking outside, and lots and lots of sunscreen! Summer is a time to savor…

And summer is a time to share. Today I am very grateful to a generous friend for making our summer more than we had planned it to be. A gift was given and I feel the best way to repay it is to pay it forward. Instead of making this summer all about “parties at the beach” and “staying up all night fangirling over One Direction,” I think this might be the summer we spend a little time doing something nice for someone else. I challenge you to put it on your summer bucket list as well because you don’t have to wait until the Thanksgiving food drive to start making a difference!

Because I can smell summer in the air and we are making plans, this was the best week ever and here are a few reasons why:

·         We’re anticipating a few visits from family members from far away.

·         The boys plan on swimming all summer long.

·         The annual visit to Gettysburg National Park.

·         I see lots of blossoms on my little strawberry plants. Now I’m ready to turn my yard into a growing jungle again.

·         Time for house projects that have been ignored for months.

·         I will be painting, in oil, en Plein Air, without a doubt.

·         My heart is full of gratitude and I am looking forward to passing it on and turning someone else’s summer into the best summer ever!

How about you? What are your #PlansForTheSummer? How do you plan to make it the best summer ever?