Thursday Thirteen #1

I was tagged again today, this time by my mom. For once, I didn't have to think long and hard about how to respond. I was more worried about only listing 13 things I love about summer.

1. Sleeping in
Nothing is better than waking up to the birds chirping, except for doing it without an alarm clock. (Or a screaming 10 month old, but I already went there.)

2. 12 Weeks Off
Okay, so this will be my first real summer vacation, so who knows if I will even like having nothing to do for three months. Okay, who am I kidding...I'm going to love it!

3. The Ice Cream Man
Yes, I still get excited when I hear the melody coming down the street. Yes, I still chase him down. The ice cream man is so cool!

4. The smell of summer rain
There is just nothing quite like a summer rain storm, and nothing better than the smell it leaves behind with the rainbow.

5. The sound of lawn mowers
There is something about the sound of lawn mowers going, and the smell of fresh cut grass that just says "summer". This sound is especially nice if you are not the one pushing the mower, and if it is not before 8am.

6. Birds in the morning and locusts and night
Birds chirping, and locusts...doing whatever it is they do... are two of the best sounds. In the summer, you get to wake up to one and fall asleep to the other. Bliss!

7. Running around barefoot
I hate shoes. My feet hate shoes. I loves socks, though. In the summer, you can run around in sock-clad feet wherever you go, indoors or out. Except local businesses, such as Wal-Mart and City Market. The don't like it. They don't seem to mind fuzzy slippers, though.

8. Wearing my hair up
There is nothing more irritating than hair in your face. Yet, I look really bad with short hair. If you don't believe me, ask my mom to post my second grade school picture. In the summer, I have an excuse to pull my hair up on top of my head, and nobody gives me grief about it. At least not as many people. (They just don't know how cool a bun on top of your head is. The first graders call me "The ballerina teacher".)

9. Lounging Clothes
In the summer, I can wear lounging clothes all day if I want to. (Believe me, I want to). And I don't even have to worry about being seen out in them, because I don't have to go anywhere if I don't want to. (Believe me, I don't want to).

10. Golf
In the summer, I love spending time on the golf course with my dad. This is not to say I actually play golf. I do have a great set of clubs my dad built for me, and really cute golf shoes. I do indeed swing those clubs around, and occasionally I make contact. Sometimes this contact is actually with that little dimply ball. But I do not claim to be a golfer. My dad actually quit as my coach last year, after I washed too many of my cute pink golf balls in a rather monstrous lake. He said it was a puddle. It was a lake.

11. Fishing
Spending time at the lake with my dad is another way I love to spend summer days. Once again, I do not claim to fish. I go through the motions, but Dad says that catching lakeweed does not count. Catching his fishing line also does not count. Even though the last time I went fishing my dad made me clean all the fishies, and stood back and laughed while I turned green and gagged, I still look forward to going again soon.

12. Ball Games
Okay, this sounds weird, because I am not actually remotely good at any athletic event involving a ball. However, I do love to roller blade around the park, and nothing is more summery than a little league game going on the park while younger siblings occupy the playground, and dads grill burgers and dogs. I love eavesdropping on these moments.

13. Cool Breezy Nights
I, unfortunately in my state of the art apartment do not have the luxury of air conditioning. Or a swamp cooler. And until my mom and dad get out here to help me, I do not have ceiling fans either. I cherish the moments when the sun goes down, the windows are open, and a gentle summer breeze drifts through my apartment.

14. 12 Weeks Off
Oh, you said thirteen. My bad...