10 ways to kick off your summer

Today was the last day of school, so in my mind this afternoon officially marked the beginning of summer.  Longer evenings!  No school zones!  More playing outside!

A few reasons why I'm excited it's summer:

• more sunlight makes it feel like I can fit more into my day
• working four long days so I can have Fridays off!
• the slower pace
• lightning bugs!
• my birthday
• our anniversary
• traveling to new places
• more time with the puppies!
• the opportunity to slow down and not be so rushed

Let's ring in the new year season.  Here are 10 quick ways to get into the summer groove:

1) Make a pitcher of lemonade.

2) Invest in a rocking chair for your porch or patio.



3) Go on an evening walk and look for lightning bugs (or fireflies for the non-southern).

4) Host a cookout.

5) Visit a farmer's market (or a friend's veggie garden).



6) Light up some sparklers...bonus points if you write your name before it burns out!

7) Road trip!



8) Set up a kiddie pool for the kids (or puppies).

9) Attend an outdoor concert or music festival.



10) Go old school--gather up the neighbors and have an old-fashioned ice cream social or progressive dinner.

Here's to a long, relaxing summer!  How will you kick it off?

Adi

Reading grants in DC (or, the hardest I've ever worked on vacation)

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to be a grant reader for a federal competition in Washington, DC.  I'd done some remote ones through conference calls but this was my first time to be sent to DC to do it on-site.  It was much more intense than the picture I had in my head.  We read through grants, discussed them in small groups, came to a consensus on the scores, and went back and forth with the Department of Education people a few times to clear up anything that wasn't up to their standards. Fortunately, my group was awesome and we got along really well.  I liked them from the start, when we were emailing each other before the trip.  While the days (and nights, and early morning hours) were long, I'm glad I went, and toward the end of the week I even managed to escape the hotel to snap some pictures in the Pentagon City area!

That first evening I arrived I got to have dinner with my husband's aunt and uncle and had a great time catching up with them.  They're such a fun couple!  Little did I know it would be my last time to escape the hotel for a while, haha!

Here's the view from my room:

Okay, that part was kind of awesome.  I didn't expect to get one of the coveted "Potomac View" rooms but, lucky me, I did!  I never made it down to the touristy area to get up-close pictures of the cherry blossoms but they were gorgeous from the plane as we dipped and curved to make our entrance into the airport.  That's a pretty lucky view to get to have, too!

That first evening I arrived I got to have dinner with my husband's aunt and uncle and had a great time catching up with them.  They're such a fun couple!  Little did I know it would be my last time to escape the hotel for a while, haha!

Here are some of other gorgeous blooms in the area:

This was my fourth visit to DC so I wasn't in a rush to go look at the mall and monuments.  (The reflecting pool was drained again, anyway.)  That turned out to be a good thing, since I didn't have time until the last night, and at that point I was too tired to go!  I am the type of traveler who wants to spend as little time in the hotel room as possible because I WANT TO SEE IT ALL.  By Thursday, the near-all-nighters had caught up to me, and my reading pal and I went to the revolving rooftop restaurant instead of out on the town.

The views were gorgeous, we got an outside table (closest to the windows), and it was sunset.  Totally worth not going out.

 
After a long week and a long flight that ended with circling the region due to some storms, I finally got off the plane and found my sweet husband waiting for me with a GIANT bouquet of flowers.  What a treat!  That definitely cheered me up after a long, bumpy flight.

It's good to be home, but I'm thankful for the experience.  It's pretty cool to meet people from all over the country, from difference backgrounds in education, and work together to figure out who should earn some grant money for some innovative new programs!

Adi