Every year we make a lot of plans for our summer. Ever year there's a list. Every year it includes the beach (for me and Callum, at least), and every year we miss crossing a few things off. Last year we didn't do a great job, and this year I'm determined to remedy that. I have a completely different approach to this summer, actually. We have some goals as a family, but I have some goals for myself as well. Some important things I want to work on.

First, the camera.

I've missed my camera. And I have a lot of work I need to do. Oh sure, it's always to hand, but my intention has not always been set the way I want it to be regarding my photography. Part of this means just being more intentional about taking photos, but it also means some hard work on the back end of the business too. Researching new lenses. Clearing out my Lightroom catalogs. Clearing out my studio. Painting back drops. Some pesky business stuff that have been dangling threads. Like ordering Moo cards. Stepping up my game. So focusing on photography and moving toward legitimatizing it as a business is one of my goals for the summer.

Then the blog,

I'm not gonna lie. I've been feeling a little "meh" about my blog lately. Don't get me wrong. I love SPL. I love coming here (nearly) every day. This space is incredibly important to me. But I'm restless. Do I need a redesign? Do I need a logo? Do I need a new header? I know I have some housekeeping to do here too. Some clean-up on the back end of things. I want to reconnect with this community and continue to build it. But what I also want to do is reignite the spark I feel for this space. I want to really verbalize my goals for SPL and my blogging life (scary!) and put myself on the path toward reaching those goals. That's another of my goals for the summer. Would anyone like to come and hold my hand?

And some homework...

So it'll be me doing the studying, not Callum. His middle school has a summer reading project, but that's about it. (Although there might be some math done, let's face it.) I have some work of my own to do. O pointed you toward Noreen's post on executive function last week. She mentioned the book Smart but Scattered that I'll be diving into, and I'll be reading another book Organizing the Disorganized Child as well. As you know middle school is upon us. One of the things that is so key I think is that so many of these skills (time management, organizational skills, task initiation, even estimating how long it'll take to accomplish a project) are learned. And even kids who don't have ADD or learning differences struggle. Even those kids' moms. I struggle in the summers with sitting and reading during the day. I feel I should be cleaning or working or out and doing. I know I need to and want to, but it was hard to picture myself pouring over these books. Saying it out loud made everything make a little more sense. As Neel said, Cal is our most important work. Studying these books isn't me sitting and chilling. It's me tending to our family. And maybe learning a little about myself in the process.

And then there was fun.

Oh yeah. We plan to have some fun.

I must have been inspired by Theresa's cocktail party a week or so ago, because I have a thing or two I want to say. Don't get all excited. It's not that thrilling. And in truth, you've heard a lot of it before. I've made no secret about the fact that this has been a long, cold lonely winter for me. Stresses have pressed against me, and I have not been the wife, friend or mother that I want to be. We all talk about how much to reveal in these spaces of ours, but for a whole host of reasons I'm not comfortable revealing much more than this here. The source of my stresses are important only to me (and maybe Neel!). They're mine, and I hope that you love and trust me enough to be, if not satisfied with such little information, at least understanding of my motivations.

It's summer now. I'm ready to make some changes. For my health-both mine and my family's, and for our happiness too. We'll have a family meeting this weekend and get Project Summer on the books. I have four goals for the summer, four things I want to work on, and at our meeting we'll work on our bucket list for these too-short weeks of sun and sand. So rather than crawl into my cave to lick my wounds, I'm going to try to spread my wings to fly high. I want all of you to come along with me. Oh, and I likely could use a pedicure too, hmmmm?

project summer {life}

keyboard confessional {life}