Lazy Days of Summer by Tara Randel



Is it me or is July flying by? We seemed to just celebrate July 4th and...bam, off to San Antonio next week for the Romance Writers of America conference!

Summer is always a time filled with so many activities or family vacations that the months blur into fast moving days. I’m not complaining. I love hanging out with my family. I love the warm lazy days and the sun setting later in the night. Any excuse to go out for ice cream works for me. As the heat presses on sometimes the days are endless as we try to find ways to keep cool.

So what are some ways to beat the dog-days of summer? Here are a couple of ideas.

Read a book. I’m an author, so that is always my first choice. Days spent at the beach or around the pool are perfect opportunities to get engrossed in a great summer read. Catch up on the work of your favorite authors or better yet, try a new author. You might get hooked.

Rent a movie. If you’re anything like me, you have a list of movies you meant to see during the year and never made it to the theater. Since there are mostly reruns on television right now, take a break from network and cable tv, pop up a big bag of popcorn and rent the movies you missed. And if it’s really hot, try a weekend long marathon!

How about a short road trip? If time and finances are available, plan a weekend away. Travel to a destination you’ve always talked about going to, but have put it off. There might be interesting places right around the corner from where you live that you’ve never visited before. Now is your time.

Go to the movies for a summer blockbuster. Plenty of good movies are still playing, so if you love the big screen experience and the ice-cold air, hit your local theater.

Cook out. What is it about summer that makes anything cooked on the grill so much better? Hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, even vegetables taste yummy. Make a special point to get together with neighbors you haven’t visited with in a while and catch up.

Spend the day at the beach or lake. Kids and adults alike love a new adventure. Not close? How about a city recreation pool? Or buy a kiddie pool and soak your feet out in the back yard. Imagination goes a long way.

Museums, libraries, cultural arts centers. All worth a day trip.

Did I mention reading a book? Oh, yeah, I did. 




 Soon, the kids will be back to school and we’ll be back to the same old grind. So enjoy the weeks until Labor Day. Do something completely different for a change. And if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

Comments

  1. It's not a family activity, but it's a good one for everyone sometimes: schedule lunches with friends, either in cluster or one at a time. It's fun, fairly economical, and catches you up. The girl I had lunch with yesterday had already had breakfast with another friend. She was laughing because she had a two and a half hour breakfast and a two hour lunch, but they were both good for the soul.

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  2. Great idea. Lunch with friends is always lots of fun.

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  3. Wonderful ideas Tara. When we were more mobile, we did all of them. Now we're pretty much restricted to the front porch, but on these gorgeous days, we do everything there! Breakfast, coffee, lunch. The dog's bed is placed beside our glider, and if she can get to it before the cats do, she plops beside us and waits to catch treats. Neighbors walk by or call from their porches and every moment is golden.

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    1. I actually love the deck in my backyard. With a book, lounge chair and iced tea, that's a vacation for me.

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  4. Ok, am I shallow? Besides writing and reading I like to shop. I've never met a mall I don't like. And summers at malls are good, because they're cool, they have food courts where I can sit and watch the hustle and bustle of fun people. I look at their bags and try to figure out what they bought. I have always loved to school shop. So when my daughters moved out it was a sad time for me. Then they both had daughters they kindly bring to visit during the summer or early fall school shopping season. When I get home from National that's what I get to do with my grand-twins. They're in high school so I get to see what they have in great stores like Forever 21, Love Culture, Hot Topics, and H & M. Stores I'd probably not go in were it not for taking the kids.

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    1. Don't we all! I'd go shopping if I could get to the mall. It's probably better for the budget that I don't.

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    2. I hate to shop. I can always think of ten things I'd rather be doing. The exception, of course, is a bookstore.

      I do love going out to lunch and exploring towns I've never been in. I like shopping in antique stores :)

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  5. You are so right Tara! July is flying by, but it might be my fault-I've been sorta wishing time to go faster to get to RWA conference to see all of you ladies again lol:) Once we're there, time can slow down:) I'm with Roz! Shopping is one of my favorite beat-the-heat ventures. But I also love road trips and movies...and of course reading:)
    Love your book covers so much! I bet they look beautiful side by side on your bookshelf:)
    See you next week!

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  6. Great suggestions for summer. We love to camp. I love the cover of your book. Happy writing.

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  7. A big YES to all of those great suggestions, Tara! I especially love to read in the summer. I have a front porch that's shaded by tall trees and I can watch families pushing strollers with little kids and dogs go by. So sweet. I wish I lived in the south so I had this kind of weather year round.

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  8. Tara, what a fun post! Reading is probably my favorite way to pass a hot summer afternoon, too. I also love a summer hike. We have a lot of heavily forested areas around so even when it's hot outside we can usually find a "cool" place to hike.

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    1. I wish we had more forested areas around here. I love to hike and sometimes it's just hot at the beach.

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    2. The Mentinks are having a Go Fish tournament today. We sure know how to have a wild time, don't we?

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  9. Since Mr. Curtis is home during the summer, I like to try to take Friday afternoons off to sneak in a movie.

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    1. We used to love to do that! And sit in the back row and neck.

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  10. I'm a schoolteacher, summer flies by. Today Mike had dive practice and I did water aerobics. Then we came home for an hour and cleaned. Then, he had an appointment at Sylvan. I took a book to read. Then, I took him to Lego camp and I came home and started working on AAs. I was really supposed to do HERS for another book, but the system won't accept my password. Now I'm cooking dinner (Hey, how did all these eyes get on the potatoes!). Sears was supposed to come tonight. Did you know my kitchen is circa 1957. It's gold!
    I love summer and all the things I get to do.

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    1. What a busy day! You must have tons of energy!

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  11. Love all your ideas, Tara! Especially the one about reading some awesome Heartwarming novels! Magnolia Brides looks like a winner to me. We love going to the lake and getting in some boating and tubing in the summer. The water cools you off if you get too hot. I don't know where July went either. I work in a school, so I usually don't look forward to August!! Great post!

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    1. Thanks. It's always fun hanging out by the water. Since I live on the coast, the beach is just minutes away. Summer goes by way to fast!

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