The Beginning of Summer Vacation

As you have probably noticed by posting here has become quite irregular.

I am halfway through the end of school and the beginning of camp and am trying to work while my daughter is home with me. And, of course, the end of May and beginning of June was pretty quiet with work but as soon as my time became limited the work came pouring in. I’ve had to schedule new projects for sometime in the future as I’m currently working on a number of projects in addition to fielding requests from my regular clients.

So, something has to give and rather than not spend time with my daughter I’ve decided not to stick to my posting schedule. If I had been thinking clearly I might have made this vacation time but as we always go away in August I didn’t want to take two separate vacations.

I usually start working at 6:30am and the kid gets up anywhere between 7:30am and 10:30am – I can’t seem to figure out her sleep schedule – she’s been staying up later than usual but that doesn’t always mean that she will sleep later. I have been trying to do the bulk of my work before she wakes up and then spend time with her.

July will be more normal. The kid will be going to art camp so I will have a regular work schedule again. In August, however, we are going away for a couple of weeks – I am really looking forward to a break from the computer and getting out of the city. As much as I like living in an urban environment, I am not fond of the city in the summer.

I have some things that I want to accomplish / work on with the kid this summer.

1. Swimming – she needs to learn how to swim. She started taking lessons a couple of weeks ago so we are off to a good start. I’m going to have her take the next level class later in the summer.
   
2. Graphic novel / comic book – The kid loves graphic novels and she is good at drawing. We are working on a small graphic novel project.
3. WordPress – I have an old WordPress site (it started as Movable Type) that I started before the kid was born. I stopped updating it a couple of years ago. I am working on a new template, archiving the old posts and then am going to teach the kid how to write her own posts and upload images so she can keep an online journal. I am also investigating ways that she can highlight her comic strips.
4. Piano – we got an electric piano recently and have both been using it quite a bit. The kid has picked up a lot already without any formal instruction. She seems to have a good ear too – she can hear a song and pick out some of the notes – I can’t do that at all. Before school starts in the Fall, I want her to start taking weekly lessons.
5. Math – even though it is summer break I am having the kid work on math problems. She struggled with Math part of last school year and we worked really really hard to bring up a C to an A. I don’t want her to lose what she has worked so hard to learn.
6. Reading – I actually don’t have to prod the kid to do this – she loves to read as much as I do.
   

So, we are busy with life, fun and my big projects. Hopefully, my posting will become more regular again but I’ve decided that earning money and spending time with the kid is much more important than a posting schedule.

photo credit: flavijus