I didn’t mean to not post much this week but posting a happy “summer fun list” didn’t feel right — I’ll get to it next week most likely — and then life got busy as it always does.
Everyone has their end-of-year activities: a band concert, a class trip to a camp, a STEM night. These are all good things, and also things that must be managed. Bring a towel to school on camp day. Change the activity schedule to move karate stripe testing to another night so STEM night can happen. I’m excited that my eldest was accepted into the summer pre-college program he’ll be attending but that has come with a slew of forms and logistical matters (one example: he needed to approve me as an authorized user on his account so I could pay the tuition, but that meant he needed to log on with a different user name than his email, and he couldn’t find where they had sent him that, though after we contacted billing and got them to re-send it, it turned out to be a really really obvious log-in…)
Little fun thing: We’re doing an upcoming episode on make-up and accessories for Best of Both Worlds. I did a virtual session with a stylist on what make-up to choose, and my products arrived this week. This is a definite step up from my drug store make-up aisle game. Think Ilia, Kosas, Beautycounter. I haven’t opened things yet because I’m intimidated. I’m meeting with my stylist again next week to finally learn, at age 43, how to apply make-up.
I am re-reading and still enjoying Bomb Shelter, by Mary Laura Philpott. She may be a guest on an upcoming episode of Best of Both Worlds, so stay tuned for that!
My Medium column this week looked at reading from a different angle: Stop Reading That Book (So You Can Read More). Being willing to quit a book you are not enjoying is one of the best ways to read more. We also talked about this topic at yesterday’s Patreon meet-up on summer reading. The June meet-up, on the 30th, will feature Sarah leading a mid-year goal check-in. Her December goal-setting workshop was great, so I’m looking forward to that one.
Before Breakfast covered a few topics: “The Next Time You See Me” looked at an easy way to create accountability without official partnerships. “No Response Needed” suggested reframing offers of help and concern for those going through tough times. “Put It On Repeat” suggested listening to anything you’d like to understand more over and over.
If you haven’t listened to Rebecca Fike’s interview on Best of Both Worlds this week, please do. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the concept of a “household manager,” so I’ll likely post some more about that in the future.
I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend. Even if school isn’t out for a while, this always feels like the official start of summer. We have some things that need to happen but I need to formalize the plan…
I am reading bomb shelter as well Laura, I heard about it from Ann patchett I love her books and writing so I figured it would be good. That’s exciting that she may be a guest on best of both worlds!
Do you know the name of the lovely plant in the pic you posted? It looks like something that grew in my aunt’s garden, but I can’t remember what it’s called.
@Beth – I think it’s called a “Beauty Bush” – which doesn’t say much, but is accurate!
You might want to make an email for each kid separate from their personal email that is used for things like camps, summer college courses, etc. where you both know the password, so that you can easily do things like pay for tuition, but they can easily access for course materials, schedules etc.