Every summer I realize that this is my only time in which to accomplish anything non-work related over the next year and come up with an epic to-do list. Normally I only get through about 1/3 of the stuff on the list, and then I get mad at myself. Not this year!

It helped that the weather was completely craptastic for most of May and the first 2/3 of June. Thanks to a solid month and a half of dreary days and deluges that left me housebound, I was able to convince myself that I should woodshed the unpleasant stuff so that I'd have plenty of time for outdoor fun when the weather improved.

First up was the patio. I installed the bamboo fence*, bought a new tablecloth and planted a jungle back there, including lots of herbs and a hot pepper plant. Among my list of herbs:

sage x 2
rosemary
thyme (no parsley though, Simon and Garfunkel)
cilantro
pineapple mint (whoa!)
oregano
lavender x 2

Then it was time to get organized indoors. A trip to IKEA with Noodle yielded two new shoe organizers and an awesome scarf hanger. The latter was much-needed, and I the simple effectiveness of the design had me once again marveling at the Swedes. Why are they so good at stuff? And so attractive and stylish? I miss Stockholm.



Finally I completed the least pleasant task of all today: the cleaning out of my file cabinet. Talk about miserable, but it's done and I can now shut its drawers without crushing old concert programs and tax documents, so cheers!

A barrage of non-cleaning to-do list items are also checked off, including updating my website, 3/5 of my course preparation and syllabi for the whole schoolyear, writing my crazy milieu of rehearsals and concerts into my new planner, and scheduling a trip to LA later this summer. June, I have defeated you. Next stop? Band camp**!


*The huge jerks in my apartment office who SPECIFICALLY OKAYED ME PUTTING THE FENCE UP are now trying to make me take it down. Stay tuned while I attempt to make them realize that they're stupid.
**Note: I'll be MIA while at camp, but get ready for some fun posts upon my return!

Labels: days