I wait for summer all year. And while I have learned to keep my general expectations low and take life as it comes, with summer I fail one year after the other. My expectations are so high, I want to do so many things, and enjoy all so much. It’s humanly impossible for reality to meet my goals. A day has only 24 hours and I have a job, 18 cats, a pretty large garden, and a very old house that needs constant care.

And speaking of work, since my small business alone isn’t enough – yet – to support me and my cats, I have a ‘day job’. And this summer I changed jobs TWICE. My new workplace is FANTASTIC, but it keeps me busy from Monday to Friday.

I went to the lake on the first days of July, then my old work sucked the rest of the month. On weekends the lake is CROWDED, and reaching the beach implies getting stuck in traffic for too long. Then I changed jobs, and when I finally had a week off… it began raining.

Today is the first sunny day, but it’s also Saturday, and I really don’t feel like getting stuck in my car for three hours just to go to the lake, when on weekdays it takes an hour or so back and forth.

But it’s still summer! I’m lucky enough to live in Italy, where this season goes easily into late September and even the first days of October.

And for the first time in my life, I work at a job that has amazing working hours. I finish at 16.30! And even if it takes me half an hour to get home, I can be back by five p.m. Still in time to enjoy my garden – which has seen me very little this year. It’s still summer, days are still quite long and hot, and late afternoons are perfect to read outside.

Speaking of reading, lately, I need big fat novels that get me away in time and space. Something gripping and with a touch of romance. I began ‘The Bronze Horseman‘ yesterday evening, and I’m liking it so far.

This past year has been strange, I feel like I almost sleepwalked through it. I didn’t achieve or do anything I wanted, I just felt exhausted and uninspired. I pushed myself for a while, but nothing improved, and I finally understood that I had to let myself be, let myself rest. It’s why I’ve stayed away from this blog, despite what I wrote here.

Now I feel better, I’m happier and more focused. Ready to plan nice things to do for the rest of the year.

But It’s still summer. Here’s what I want to do from now until the end of September:

• Go to the lake – of course – as many times as I can. Nothing makes me feel at peace like swimming in the open air. There are seven Sundays until the end of October, and now that tourists will be fewer the beach will be easier to reach.
• Do yoga on the terrace. Something I did last year and truly enjoyed.
• Finish The Bronze Horseman – if I keep on liking it. I don’t torture myself with books I don’t like. Reading must be a pleasure.
• PLANT FLOWERS. All my flowers died because of the impressive drought combined with the heatwave that we had. I cannot tolerate my garden looking this sad. And flowers are important for the bees. I also want some evergreens for the terrace. I need something resistant to cats. I have large vases that are currently used by my cats as outdoor toilets – and it has to stop. They have plenty of toilets in the house, it’s about time they stop killing my plants.

I could go on and on, but I have to keep the list short and doable to be really enjoyable. Otherwise, I’ll feel like I haven’t enjoyed summer… yet again!