Thursday Thirteen #43. Summer Plans

In just a few short weeks, a year long project will be over for me. We are delivering all those lovely afghans I have been yammering about to the kids at Camp Sanguinity. Click on the Flickr badge on the sidebar to see 140 of them! As soon as all those boxes are out of my house, I expect the foundation to shift.

What am I going to do with all my free time now? My friend Jenny McB has informed me that it is time for me to take a rest. I don’t know if that’s possible, because I am terribly Type A. I’m already making plans. For my Thursday Thirteen this week I’ll share my Summer Plans.
1. The FIRST thing I’m going to do is get a relaxing massage. My Sweet Spousal Unit gave me a generous gift certificate to my favorite salon for my birthday back in March, and I haven’t used it yet. I figured there was no point in wasting it by having a massage and then getting stressed again the next day. I’m going for the works! I can’t wait.

2. We are going on a road trip to South Carolina to visit my husband’s Aunt Cleo. I have never met her, but have talked to her on the telephone. It was just like talking to an old friend. I knew I’d like Aunt Cleo, because she tells dirty jokes. I can’t wait for that, either. I’ll be able to increase my repertoire of “bar stories.”

3. I’ve got to make our plans for this trip (I’m the “Activity Director” for our vacations). I’ve never been to that part of the country, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to give them. I know some of you would enjoy telling me “where to go.” I didn’t say I’d take your suggestions, but you are free to give them.

4. One thing I plan for that vacation is a side trip to Savannah, Georgia. I have always wanted to go there. I recently watched Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil (not as good as the book) and loved listening to that soft Southern accent. I have been practicing my interpretation of it. I go around ordering coffee or buying groceries and talking like a Southern Belle. People look at me like I’m an idiot, and they are right. It’s very sad. I sound like Gone With The Wind meets The Dukes of Hazzard.

5. I plan to get out my spinning wheel this summer and actually do some spinning! Most of what I’ve done for years is only the spinning during the course of a school program. I have some raw silk, and I think I’ll see what I can do with it. This spinning wheel is more than 300 years old, and I love to hear the sound of it as I work.

Obviously, McGill and Lexus want to help

6. IF the weather doesn’t get too blasted hot, I hope to spend some time trying to salvage my gardens. Two years ago, I had them looking really wonderful, but I’ve neglected them. I’m afraid the neighbors are going to start leaving anonymous notes in my mailbox telling me to clean up my act.

7. I’m also going to empty some shelves so I can have my pot plants on display (an amazing feat with five fe-lions in the house). I bought this one the other day.

I don’t know what the heck it is. I only bought it because the root system resembled a woman’s derrière (I’m sick, I know). It looks like one of those in the paintings by Rubens, like Venus At The Mirror.

Don’t they look similar? My sister is going to lose her mind. I told you she didn’t like the boobs on display at my house. Now she will know I’m nuts, because I’m decorating with butts, too. I do so wish that body type would come back in style.

8. I’m going to spend some hours at the local public library, and at my favorite bookstore. I’ve told y’all about Recycled Books.

If you don’t hear from me, I’ve gotten lost in the warren of bookshelves, so send out a search party. Come to think of it, never mind. Leave me there.

9. I was thinking about learning to crack a bullwhip. Yes, I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, and came away with that idea. I have a bullwhip I picked up at a garage sale for a couple of dollars, but all I’ve succeeded in doing so far is raising a welt on my arm and wrapping the dang thing around my neck. Maybe I should find a less dangerous occupation.

10. Actually, I’m pretty sad about my little “Walter Mitty” fantasies. I had seen Shine A Light, that wonderful Rolling Stones movie that is in Imax theaters now. I came away wanting to pretend to be Keith Richards, hopefully without as many wrinkles…yet. I put dark eyeliner on, wore the scarf around my head, made a dreadlock at my temple and dangled an earring from it, etc.. I pretended to be Johnny Depp after seeing the Pirates of The Caribbean movies. I put dark eyeliner on, wore the scarf around my head, made a drea…HEY! It was the same look! Anyway, I’ll probably be seeing some summer movies and coming home to pretend. Maybe I can find a movie that doesn’t feature characters with dark eyeliner and a scarf on their head.

11. I’m going to drag my husband out to some vintage stores for some serious shopping. No, I don’t need any more crap at my house, but I’ll probably get some anyway.

12. I’ve got to prepare for a workshop I will give for my state storytelling guild in San Antonio in July. They asked me to talk about the “business side of storytelling.” My friend Elizabeth Ellis (one of the premier storytellers in the United States, a wonderful friend, and my mentor) phoned, and in a voice that sounds like chocolate tastes she asked me to do this. She told me, “Shelly, you know more about the business end of it than most storytellers I know.” All I can say is that if I am the expert, storytellers are in trouble!

13. I’m going to hide all my crochet hooks, and I’m not going to crochet a single stitch all summer!

So, have YOU got big plans for summer? Tell me what you’ve got cookin’, and I’ll add you here:

1. Cindee, who is a gardener who makes me VERY jealous, is going to garden and get her house tidy.
2. Jenny McB is going to skip the vacation this year, because she doesn’t want to leave a 17 year old at home alone. Go figure.
3. Maisie has no real plans, but this post reminded her to get on the ball and plan so summer doesn’t slip away without some fun.
4. Yellow Rose (Sherry) is going to do some traveling after her son’s college graduation (a Master’s degree! Whoot! Congratulations!)
5. Robin is planning to come from Israel to the US to visit family. They have decided that with the high price of gasoline, they will fly.
6. Gattina is going to Italy! I’m so jealous.
7. Starrlight is going to see George Michael!
8. Lifecruiser is heading to Sweden.
9. Denise gets to take THREE trips, but one involves 2,000 teenagers, so I’m not jealous!
10. Rashmi’s travels will be the imaginary kind. Books are the key!
11. YOU are next, and I’ll add you just as soon as I drive through this storm to get my hair red. Oh, what I do for “beauty.”

Then, y’all click around and visit some other fine folks who are participating in the Thursday Thirteen Meme. You can find the whole list here.

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. Thursday Thirteen #6 I Should Have Known Better
2. Thursday Thirteen # 8—My Last Meal Before I Die-et
3. Thursday Thirteen # 15—Don’t You Just Hate It When…
4. Thursday Thirteen #21—The Name Game
5. Thursday Thirteen Number Thirty-Seven. My Distractions.

Tagged as: humor, Share A Square 2007-2008, Thursday Thirteen, vacation