My husband is practically bursting at the seams with all of his summer plans. He has spent two weeks searching online for a boat he thinks we might want to rent to sail around the San Juans.
Neither of us have sailing experience so I am concerned about this idea. Then I notice the fine print on the boat rental agreement: You have to take a test to prove you are seaworthy.
I suggest to my husband that maybe he should sign up for sailing lessons this summer, and I scratch the boat trip off my list of things I’ll be doing this summer, sort of joyfully because sailing a boat with two inexperienced sailors and two kids sounds like a lot of work.
It was a few days later when my husband stumbled upon plan B. Let’s put our house up for sale and either find a home on Whidbey with more land, or better yet, let’s build a house.
Before he could get a hammer and nail to put a for-sale sign, I grabbed a set of house plans off the Internet, packed them in my husband’s briefcase and handed him off to two friends, one a realtor, the other a builder.
Go ahead, sweetheart, you go spend your summer looking at houses and land and let me know when you have it narrowed down.
My idea of summer is very simple. I’m a beach kid at heart. I grew up near the ocean and spent my summers swimming and beaching. When I’m not in the water, I like to read. In anticipation of summer, I have found my series to read at Sno-isle libraries.
My library has big shelves with great recommended reads. I have started on the prequel to the Otori series. It’s got everything I want in a summer read: escapism, romance, life lessons, and all I need to do is turn the pages.
A good book, a good beach and gorgeous day is enough for me.
I’ve worked really hard this year, and the thing I’m looking forward to the most right now is a little unplanned time, and an empty to-do list. My big summer goal is to be without goals for a just a short while.
Obviously my husband is in the mood for something juicier. He’s ready to pack up the house or take a sailing adventure, and if I just let him do his planning and not get involved until we leave the dock or pack the house, we can both get what we want for the summer.
There’s this incredible push and pull in families to figure out how to enjoy the precious days of summer. My suggestion is to make sure everyone gets to have some of their own plan, and that a summer weekends don’t just wear down one person with all the planning and work. Just make sure that if you take a break this summer, it is indeed a break.
If your idea of a break is to sell your house or visit Friday Harbor, don’t let the days slip away without putting your own wishes on the list.
It’s easy to let the time get filled and neglect your own agenda.
Sarri Gilman is a freelance writer living on Whidbey Island and director of Leadership Snohomish County. Her column on living with meaning and purpose runs every other Tuesday in The Herald. She is a therapist, a wife and a mother, and has founded two nonprofit organizations to serve homeless children. You can e-mail her at features@heraldnet.com.
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