Metatalktail Hour: School's Out for Summer!

May 27, 2017 4:53 PM

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week's metatalktail topic: It's Memorial Day weekend in the US, my kids are already (!!) out of school, so that mean's it's summer! What awesome things do you have planned for the summer? Books, movies, Netflix marathons, actual marathons, trips, hobbies, hanging out, cooking, never cooking, drinking summer booze ... tell us! And if you are one of our many friends from the lovely lands down under, tell us all about your cool winter plans!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 4:53 PM (127 comments total)

I'm going to Reno for a furry convention next weekend. Two weeks after that I'm going to a big campout. And later in the summer I have several concert events. It's not a super busy summer for me, but I'm excited for the events I have planned.
posted by hippybear at 4:55 PM on May 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

We have reservations at the Tim-Burton-Inspired pop up Beetle House LA tonight, which is the kick-off of Doing More Fun Stuff Summer.

Tomorrow is my monthly chain restaurant lunch with friends (Olive Garden this month!). MaxFunCon is in 2 weeks. We're going to try to go to Harry Potter World before it gets hot.

Tomorrow I'll pick up a jug of sweet tea vodka, which should be mixed with the lemonade of your choice (I like carbonated) for summer drinking.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:01 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

OMG SWEET TEA VODKA MIXED WITH LEMONADE SO GOOD SO SO GOOD
posted by hippybear at 5:05 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

I am currently waiting in Chicago for a delayed flight to California where I'll be getting fuckin MARRIED next weekend.
posted by dismas at 5:06 PM on May 27, 2017 [34 favorites]

My one really cool thing is taking the space-mad McGee boys (and baby!) to see the solar eclipse in August. I'm really excited! I also expect several trips to visit family because both my sister and sister-in-law are popping out spawnlings this summer, so I expect I'll have baby showers, baby visits, and baptisms to attend -- plus all my kids and my nephew have summer birthdays, so probably a lot of that. (Including Nano McGee's first!)

My boys have camp -- Mini McGee will do 8 weeks of half-day camp and then a week at zoo camp. Micro McGee will do a week of zoo camp, a week of space camp, and a week of paleontology camp spread out across the summer. I sort-of live vicariously through their cool-ass camps. Also looking forward to lots of planetarium visits (hard to do during the school year because the shows are midafternoon!), and the observatory just opened for the season -- Mini McGee and dad are going to go stargaze tonight at the observatory.

I haven't come up with a me-project for summer yet. Maybe I still have too much baby (she still breastfeeds 8 times a day) to have a summer project, but I'm trying to think of one. Also definitely looking forward to Game of Thrones.

The museums around here all band together and do a "science passport" summer thing, where you pick up a passport, then go to different sciencey sites in the area, find the answers to three questions, and get your passport stamped. (If you get 8 stamps or something like that, you get to enter a drawing for science toys.) We had a lot of fun doing that last summer as a family so we'll probably do it again this summer and try to go to some of the weirder sites, like the state fish hatchery. (It's place like the zoo, planetarium, airport, med school library/museum, science museum, nature preserves, herpetology show, etc etc. The most interesting one we did last year was a robot competition.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:06 PM on May 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Have a baby! Kid #2 arrives at the end of June!
posted by not_the_water at 5:09 PM on May 27, 2017 [20 favorites]

Meeting my father in Chicago for a week of vacation/tourism in early July.
Traveling a few hours north to Wyoming for totality during the eclipse. A lady I work has land and is currently expecting about 50 people.
Off-Roading in the new truck, nothing too hard. Were planning on going from Nederland to Idaho Springs (~28 miles) in one day.
A long weekend in Winterpark to alpine slide and go up the west side of Rollins Pass
My brother is supposed to visit with his GF, so we'll finally meet her.
Other than that we don't have much planned.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:11 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Eclipse trip to central Oregon (the appropriately named Sun River, near Bend)!

This year I'm smart. Lots of random days off to enjoy the Puget Sound with my boys. Beaches, hiking, fishing, canoeing, BBQs.

People always ask me why we don't take big trips in the summer. It's because summer in Seattle is the reason we put up with this place the other nine months of the year.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 5:12 PM on May 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Oh my gosh, you guys, I have so many exciting things planned for summer. First of all, in late July I am moving into an actual house that I will actually own. This is exciting but also terrifying. Also, I am taking a trip to Japan. This is happening five days after the big move, which wasn't great planning, but I will make it work.

Until late July, I will be madly pinning things on Pinterest in anticipation of having a house to decorate. I need to come up with a coding project for the summer, but I haven't figured out what that is yet. I might teach myself SQL, but I'm kind of tempted to make an iPhone app.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:25 PM on May 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

Someone in some 'filter thread recently mentioned that there are groups that do like, women's camping trips in northern Ontario. I would love to do something like this (camp with strangers! Strangers who become friends!) but I haven't done any actual research because I'm afraid it might be too late to book anything this year.

Otherwise I don't have anything planned. Right now I'm lying on the couch listening to an old Anne Murray album on vinyl (There is a Hippo in my Tub) and that's enough for now.
posted by janepanic at 5:31 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

My greatest joy of the weekend thus far has been the hummingbirds. I filled the feeder and they've been buzzing by all day. I missed my ruby-throated friends.

I also fixed a ceiling fixture, moved a bookshelf, bought some summer shirts (I have a conference coming up) and baked two loaves of sourdough marbled pumpernickel. Tomorrow we're making white sandwich bread, dumplings, chocolate and strawberry-banana jam malasadas, and I'll fry up some homemade chicken karaage for dinner. Monday I'll probably make pizza, rosemary garlic focaccia, Scottish Tablet, and fried shrimp. It's supposed to rain.

School ended for the kids on Friday but I still have to work. This weekend I'm hoping to get Kitten's (Harley, my wife) help moving a painting to my office so I can hang it on the wall. It's a huge folk art piece that depicts a bunch of lumberjacks and the stumps of a clearcut as evidence of their work. l work in publishing and it reminds me of the consequences of print runs. It belongs in my office and will help me do my job better.
posted by Stanczyk at 5:32 PM on May 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

We just had a baby! Augusta Phyllis is 5 days old today, so the plan is basically to keep her alive as long as possible and maybe also try to get some sleep done/forget about work for a few months. :)
posted by likeatoaster at 5:41 PM on May 27, 2017 [59 favorites]

I'm very upset with myself that I didn't get my shit together and plan an eclipse trip. I've been looking forward to the eclipse for about four years now, determined that I'd get a room and flight to somewhere when the time came, but I just didn't get around to it and now I'm going to miss totality. I think it will be 60% here so I will take the day off so I can photograph but that's about it. I met a guy a few years ago who had a big collection of meteorites (he was... let's call him filthy rich) and astrophotographs and he said seeing a total eclipse was like seeing god. There's always 2024, I guess.

In a couple weeks we're off to North Carolina for a few days for a wedding. That'll be another state to check off, though given the politics there lately I don't think I'd be going for any other reason but a wedding.

The weekend when we get back is my wife's birthday and, although she doesn't yet know it, I have scheduled time with a falconer. We'll go out to Western MA and spend a couple of hours with some guy that has a bunch of Harris Hawks and she'll get to wear the leather glove and have it fly off and land back on her arm a few times. I think it will probably blow her mind. Don't say anything to her though because it's a surprise, ok? As far as I know she doesn't stalk me on Metafilter so I can tell you folks.

My son and I will just be observers. I bought the expensive ticket for her, the cheap ones for us. I have a life-long fear of big birds because when I was in Jr. High School our history teacher was showing us slides of falconers and they were all wearing sunglasses. He said they do this because if the bird sees his reflection in your eye he will tear your eye out. I suspect this is untrue, I mean people have been doing falconry since long before Edwin Land developed Polarized glass, but it still stuck with me and now I'm convinced if a bird gets near me he will surely tear my eyes out. I guess I'm perfectly fine with my wife putting her eyes at risk. Someone please assure me this is bullshit. Cite your sources.

Then we're off to Quebec for a couple of weeks. Well, me for a couple of weeks and my wife and son for three or four weeks. We are fortunate to share a family cottage with my in-laws, a cottage that has been in my wife's family since 1920. We've had some major renovations this winter and had to empty it out completely so this summer is mostly going to be moving back in and getting it back in shape. No more spongy kitchen floor or bat infested roof. It's all been fixed.

During that time we'll take my son to camp in New Hampshire for a couple of weeks. I think my wife will remain in Canada and I'll go back home and back to work. Alone time is always something I look forward to until I actually get alone and then I'm just... lonely. I'll find a project for myself so I don't just spend all my time watching TV.

Today I started milling some lumber that will hopefully eventually turn into a five string bass guitar. It'll be the first bass I've built and the first one I've built from rough, exotic wood from a lumber yard rather than already milled lumber from a guitar supplier. I'm not entirely sure I can pull off what I want to pull off. We'll see.

I start my second class at North Bennet Street School in a couple of weeks. Again, two nights a week for a month or two. This time it's machine woodworking so I'll get some much needed training on various machines which will hopefully allow me to use my tools without being absolutely terrified while I use them. Healthy fear is good. Crippling fear, not so much.

Tomorrow the family is off to climb Mt. Monadnock, which is a small mountain in Southern New Hampshire. It's supposedly the 2nd most climbed mountain in the world (behind Mt. Fuji) so it's not exactly the solitude of the wilderness. It will be the first shake-out hike of the season, one that I hope will get me hiking again since I haven't really done a lot in recent years.

Aside from all that I'm determined to get out on my kayak a few times and walk as often as possible. I've gotten kind of out of shape in recent years and I'd like to get back into it.
posted by bondcliff at 5:42 PM on May 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

I live in New Zealand and there is nothing more ಠ_ಠ inducing than trying to celebrate Autumnal/Winter holidays in the wrong season. So I will be setting aside an arbitrary day for Halloween shortly, having what I call "fakesgiving" the next time I get a weekend rostered off, and a mid-winter Christmas in June.

Winter in Auckland is typically mild and wet but I've been craving cold weather this year so I hope we have a real horrendous chilly winter so I can break out the snuggly scarves and hot chocolate.

Other winter plans include watching The Prisoner, playing Final Fantasy XV, learning to make cherry pie, and finishing my languishing masters degree. If fortune smiles on me I may (finally!) get over to Australia and visit Uluru, which I've been obsessed with since I was a kid and watched this weird cartoon called Noozles where koalas were keeping a man prisoner inside Uluru.
posted by supercrayon at 5:46 PM on May 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

First music rehearsal/meeting today for Much Ado About Nothing, which will go up in late June and run right into Camelot in August. It's the most sustained performing I've done in a while, and I'm seriously out of shape for it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:56 PM on May 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

On Monday, I'm going to see Midnight Oil in Portland.
On Wednesday, I'm going to see Midnight Oil in Seattle.
On Friday, I'm going to see Midnight Oil in Vancouver.


Everything else this season is gravy.
posted by spinifex23 at 5:58 PM on May 27, 2017 [15 favorites]

I just hiked a mountain! Or at least a really big hill! (I'm not sure what the cut-off between those is.) 11.2 miles (up and back), 2,045-foot elevation gain, up Mt. St. Helena in Calistoga, where Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife honeymooned in 1880. The top of the mountain is 4,304 ft. And I saw a rattlesnake! I never see rattlesnakes, even though they're obviously all over the place. This one was slithering away but I saw the rattle-end as it moved into the brush.

I decided this morning that I want to learn to kayak, so I'm trying to sign up with a group that does lessons for people of all abilities for $55 for an outing out of Sausalito (I've emailed and am waiting to hear back). This also led me to start looking up paddle-boarding lessons, because that looks like fun, too, so I might try that. I'm kind of in a "I need to do more stuff, or at least some different stuff" mood, so who knows what will shake out.

And I have plans for Fourth of July, which is nice, because I've had to work Fourth of July the last few years, but I quit that horrible part-time job, so now I can go see fireworks. Possibly also the local parade, which looks charming and small-town in a big-budget way, but we'll see.
posted by lazuli at 6:03 PM on May 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'm working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. My business does 70% of its revenue in the summer. That said, I'm ready--I just had two long vacations and an easy breezy spring. Bring it on!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:12 PM on May 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

We just had a baby! Augusta Phyllis is 5 days old today,

Those sweet delightful lilies
Which nature gave my Phyllis,
Ay me, my Phyllis!
Each hour makes me to languish,
So grievous is my pain and anguish.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:13 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

The top of the mountain is 4,304 ft.

Our tallest mountain is 6289' and we have a list of "four thousand footers" to climb, and they're all mountains. You might have some mountains a bit higher than that where you live but if you did eleven miles and 2000' elevation gain than you, my friend, climbed a mountain.

And kayaking is a ton of fun and one of the most peaceful things you can do. Sea kayaking and flat water are different animals but they're both a lot of fun. Get a solo boat though. Tandem boats are ok if you're perfectly in sync with your partner. The one time my wife and I were in a tandem we were screaming at each other 20 feet from shore, and we never, ever, ever scream at each other. They don't call 'em "divorce boats" for nothing.
posted by bondcliff at 6:16 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

btw those of you in the Northern latitudes and dark skies might want to go see if you can catch an aurora because they're predicting storm level in a little bit. Still iffy and unlikely but generally more likely now than at other times. (and follow @aurora_alerts on Twitter if you're into such things)
posted by bondcliff at 6:21 PM on May 27, 2017

Yay, I climbed a mountain! (And Wikipedia agrees it's a mountain, so there's that, too.)

I did not know tandem kayaks existed, and I will pretend that I still don't know that, because that sounds horrible. You'd be stuck with another person -- like, actually stuck! I need the introvert kayak.

The group I'm trying to connect with also does bioluminescence evening tours at Tomales Bay, so my plan is to try it out during the day and, if I like it, do one of those, too. I didn't even know we had bioluminescent water things in Northern California!
posted by lazuli at 6:23 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Bioluminescence Evening is my favorite Phish album.

Holy shit that sound like fun! Is that algae or are there actually bioluminescent fish? Night kayaking is really, really cool. I think you'll enjoy it, though if there's a wind and/or the water is choppy it can be a bit of work. I'm told people actually enjoy that aspect of it though. It's called "exercise" or something along those lines. I have no use for anything like that.
posted by bondcliff at 6:33 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Holy shit that sound like fun! Is that algae or are there actually bioluminescent fish?

Their website says it's the plankton, so I'll go with that. It also says that fish and seals make it light up when they bump into them, too. Now I'm all excited to try that out.
posted by lazuli at 6:37 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm going to my five year college reunion in two weeks! In the meantime, I'm trying to remember all the cool things I've done since college (Master's! Dog! Fiancé! Job!) and not how lame I generally felt back then. I also have a work trip to Charleston, SC, where I've never been so that should be fun! And I may plan a trip to the Midwest for my niece's second birthday in August, which is conveniently the same time of the year when New Orleans becomes as pleasant as an armpit.
posted by MadamM at 6:44 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

We put in an offer on a house last week and it was accepted, so: moving house!* I am so so very happy about this, I can't tell you. I have been stuck in rented places for all my adult life and I am SO looking forward to having a place where I can paint the walls and nail up shelves and not have to worry all the time about the landlord deciding to sell the place and giving us notice. (15 moves since I was 18, of which five have been my decision.) And my winter jasmine that has been struggling on the border between life and death in a tub for years will finally get planted somewhere it can thrive, too.

(*probably. hopefully. not yet a legally binding contract. subject to successful mortgage application etc etc. touching wood.)
posted by Catseye at 6:49 PM on May 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

We're taking our 7 year old to England in August. So most of our summer will be spent trying to get him to be more accepting of new foods. While I don't doubt that the English have chicken finger technology, the chances they makes them the way a super picky kid expects them is pretty much nil.

Activity wise, we'll do York (staying at a place called The House of the Trembling Madness), sprung for one of those cabins at Warwick Castle (I'll be doing a ghost hunt there that night), and will be doing a bunch of London. The only gap in our schedule so far is due to the vague hope I have of seeing a Liverpool game and we don't know where they will be playing that weekend.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:59 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Mr. Fig and I are currently halfway thru our stay at an all-inclusive​ in the Riviera Maya, and it has been lovely. We'll be going to Lollapalooza for the 10th time for him and 11th time for me in early August. Our house is on the 4th of July parade route for our city, so I host a viewing party for that every year.... The parade starts at 9, so it's all breakfast foods/cocktails.

Other than that, some home improvement projects, riding my bike, general puttering around the house/yard.
posted by Fig at 7:01 PM on May 27, 2017

We're gonna try to visit as many springs as we can this summer.

Alexander Springs
Ginnie Springs
De Leon Springs
Juniper Springs
Silver Glen Springs
Salt Springs
Ichetucknee
Wekiwa Springs
Troy Springs

Florida in the summertime is the best.
posted by saladin at 7:04 PM on May 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

OMG SWEET TEA VODKA MIXED WITH LEMONADE SO GOOD SO SO GOOD

That does sound good, though I'm partial to a martini made with freezer-chilled gin.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:10 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Florida in the summertime is the best.

To each their own, I guess. I left Florida expressly to avoid the yearly 7-8 months of sheer broiling humid misery. Even cold springs didn't entice me enough to stay.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:15 PM on May 27, 2017

I don't have a trip planned this summer as I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to replace my 20 year old furnace this fall--but I am looking forward to cooking some of the things I typically only make when it's really hot out. Especially my gazpacho recipe! When I know it's going to be a hot, humid weekend I'll make a huge batch on a Friday night and then every time I get hungry over the weekend I eat a cup or bowl of it. So delicious and refreshing and since it's all veggies I can eat as much as I want without guilt!
posted by bookmammal at 7:17 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm taking a view camera class this summer which is fun and super geeky. You look like a character from a silent movie with the cape over your head focusing the darn thing and the process to get one shot is ridiculously complicated and arcane. It's about an hour's work for each darn image between loading the film holders in the dark, setting up the fifteen pound camera, focusing, getting out the film container and putting it in the camera, taking the shot, putting the exposed film back in your bag, developing it in total darkness and then scanning and printing (or printing optically). I find that there's almost a meditative state that I can get into concentrating on the process which seems to help my brain in these sucky days.
posted by octothorpe at 8:12 PM on May 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Last summer was a little overprogrammed (teaching, a road trip, a fun international wedding, several rounds of guests) so this summer is basically a big empty space on the calendar. School here wraps up in June and even though I only work at a school one day a week, I tend to set some of my stuff around the school calendar. But I am also teaching a summer course online at University of Hawaii, so I am free of obligations on the 4th of July. I gave talks in Vermont and New Hampshire in the last month. I head to Rhode Island next week for a talk. I'll probably relocate to my dad's place in MA mid-June. There's always a free bed, just let me know if you want the Full Nerd experience (you hang out and do your thing, I basically ignore you, that's how my dad did it) or Half Nerd (maybe we have some meals together, and watch Trailer Park Boys at night). Dozens of MeFites have visited or stayed there. Biking distance from the beach. We've got kayaks. Like bondcliff I want to get over my kayak-resistance (they're heavy! I am short and weak!) and get out on the water somehow, buy a little trailer, do something. Anyone who is in New England and wants to own a tandem kayak, let me know, I have a spare.

Jim and I have been trying to plan a nice vacation together since January and one or the other of us have been sick (my turn this week) so we may do a staycation at my dad's place. I'm going to continue to throw the ballast of his life overboard in controlled ways. I got rid of most of the shop tools (donated them to the aforementioned school) and I'm going to sell the "backup car" and ditch the doghouse (for a dog that hasn't been with us for over six years, RIP Decker). House needs lots of little projects done, some I can do, some are beyond me. If I can get the roofer to return my calls we'll get half the place re-roofed. Maybe get the AC fixed which has been broken for six years. Projects but no travel. Vaguely looking forward to it.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:18 PM on May 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yay for summer!

We just bought a new old house this winter (I said last week, i think, that it's 104 but it's 113 and I am bad at math) and I'm moving in in early/mid-June. Like with all big moves, I am convinced that I will move in and suddenly be three times more creative and productive and energized and My Life Will Change. But this house is really special. I've always rented, and this is the first time I've ever moved anywhere permanently in my whole life, so maybe this time I'll be right.

I'm going to spend time by water and I am finally going to try stand up paddleboarding!

July will mark a full year on dialysis for me, and my doctors say I am doing great. I feel very lucky to be where I am.
posted by mochapickle at 8:27 PM on May 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

Probably I'll sit around reading a lot, which is actually my favorite thing to do except for a lot of other things, but the reason I'll sit around reading a lot this summer is I'll be working evenings and weekends, and everyone I know pretty much has the exact opposite schedule, which is to say Monday-Friday and "normal business hours," leaving me to my own devices on days off. Maybe I'll finally make it through Middlemarch.
posted by scratch at 9:04 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Taking the kids to where I grew up for the first time this July. We'll be camping and hiking some simple trails in Acadia National Park. Given that they had a hard time with bugs today outside, it is going to be an experience.
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:05 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

I did the bioluminescent night kayak tour at Tomales Bay last year! It was like moving through galaxies, just startlingly beautiful. I am also a terrible kayaker, I knew this going in. And I was in a tandem kayak with someone who I suspected and then confirmed was even worse at it then me. Like we were dreadfully bad, back of the group, missing the water with the paddles bad. And we still managed, we were last but we stayed with the group and we crossed the bay and back again.

This summer I'm going to a bat lecture with live bats, then a trip to watch bats with a naturalist. I am way too excited about this.
posted by lepus at 9:12 PM on May 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

A bat lecture with dead bats would be depressing.
posted by hippybear at 9:15 PM on May 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Winter here in Sydney finally arrives this week - though it's been unseasonably warm. We'll be going up to the Blue Mountains for a weekend in a couple of weeks. Other than that, it's focusing on getting my running times down and performance review time at work (the worst, god I would do anything to skip the whole thing).

I love many things about our winters, but winter cooking is probably my favourite. Stews, and soups and pressure cooky stuff: love it.
posted by smoke at 9:23 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Got moved out to my new little farmette 2 weeks ago. Today I bought a big-ass garden tractor and I'm gonna use it to mow my pastures and spread horse poop! The ponies are liking the joint. If I ever get caught up on boxes that need unpacking, chores that need doing, or work-work to pay for all the crap I need from Home Depot and Tractor Supply Co. I might mosey over to Harpers Ferry or chill by the river(s). Oh yes, also going to Brazil for vacation in July!
posted by drlith at 9:48 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

We are still trying to dial in plans-only have a few days planned here and there. Mr. Purenitrous and middle PN are doing sail school-camping out at the lake for a week. I'll be on breakfast crew and littlest PN and I will hang out during the day. I just bought a kayak tonight (killer sale at Dick's FYI) do now I can kayak after him in his junior kayak.

A couple camping trips-long weekends-in July and then camping on friends' property in Madras for the eclipse. Excited but a little worried about logistics of getting there and back either insane crowds we are expecting here in Oregon.

I'd love to plan a week or so of family vacation-youngest two kids are 7 and 11 and feels like they are at ideal age to travel (oldest isn't completely disgusted by us yet but that time is fast approaching)

And oh man, heart is heavy tonight about Portland terrorist stabbing.
posted by purenitrous at 9:52 PM on May 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

(reading the thread bottom to top--so many fellow house-buyers! Woot!)
posted by drlith at 9:58 PM on May 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm going to Reno for a furry convention next weekend.

I have a few friends who are going to that convention! I'm not, but I will be going with them to Camp Feral in August. I'll also do a few other car-camping weekends this summer and I'm going to Montreal next weekend. Add a couple of trips to my folks' cottage and that will probably wrap up the summer. Hopefully it warms up more sometime along the way.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 10:20 PM on May 27, 2017

I'm going to Scotland in August! My dad is Scottish and him and my mum are getting a Airbnb by the coast near Edinburgh for his birthday so am going to join them. Also I am looking forward to cat-sitting for Fraula for a week!
posted by ellieBOA at 11:20 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Visiting the Orkney Islands in a couple of weeks which I am so excited about I can hardly stand it! Then later in the month it's the International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth. Friends and family from the US visiting in July so I get to give my Life as an American Expat tour and lectures. I am growing flax having been inspired by this project. If all goes perfectly I will end up with five metres of thread. Woo-hoo!
posted by shibori at 11:45 PM on May 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have 2 more weeks to finish a class and after that, YAY SUMMER!! I am going to try to learn how to windsurf again. And resume yoga classes. And maybe take a few singing lessons so I can sing in my car and sound somewhat decent. Or take a few tennis lessons. So many interesting and wonderful things to do. I LOVE summer.
posted by gt2 at 12:41 AM on May 28, 2017

Leaving Monday for a week in Chicago to see u2 (when they went on sale the venue for the tgt shareholders meeting in mid June hadn't yet been announced), then renting a car and driving to Cincinnati for the meeting;bookending the trip exploring southern OH .

In August I'm going to sf to see the summer of love exhibits, treating my cousin, her daughters and sister to dinner at quince for her bday, then on to la to see the george takei exhibit and celebrate my dad and uncle's bdays.
posted by brujita at 12:46 AM on May 28, 2017

Super stoked for all of you with rad summer plans!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 1:11 AM on May 28, 2017

Also, I'm getting a cat, Spotty, from a friend in a couple of weeks. She's an outdoor cat that my friend takes care of; my friend is moving and can't take her. She will have to be an indoor cat when she comes to me as I live on a street with a fair amount of traffic. I hope she will be happy.
posted by gt2 at 1:12 AM on May 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'll be going to Stockholm to meet up with friends for a couple days because it turned out that one friend would be in Sweden for a conference already and the other two friends plus toddler live in Finland, so can just nip over/have family they can stay with so I'm going from Brighton to a conference in Manchester and then flying from there to Stockholm like some sort of glamorous jet setter who just meets friends in different cities at a whim.

Other than that, t'husband and I will go camping a couple times and there is a visit up north to my parents in August and if we stretch summer to include September (which I do because I work in academia and summer is my busiest time while we try do the projects that requires the library not being stuffed to the gills with students), I will squeeze in a weekend in a cottage on the Yorkshire moors with some knitting friends for some yarn based shenanigans before the students return.
posted by halcyonday at 1:15 AM on May 28, 2017

School ended for my students on Wednesday and for me on Thursday so YAY SUMMER! Maybe someday it won't be a dank 45-50 F anymore. We never really want to leave Alaska in the summer, so there are only vague plans for gardening (husband) and reading/cleaning/lazing (me) and for both of us to bike and hike and run and find giant sticks with the doggo.
posted by charmedimsure at 1:38 AM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

This summer my parents and my brother and his wife are taking a 2 week Mediterranean cruise - they really wanted me to come along, but I can't get away for 2 weeks, and am not a big fan of cruise ships. They are, however, spending 4 days in Barcelona beforehand, and I will be joining them for that part of he trip! So that's pretty exciting. I bought my tickets on thursday, but waited until friday to tell my parents because it as my Dad's birthday and I thought it would be a nice surprise. They were thrilled!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:15 AM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Well...
We'll go on sorting through the house of my parents, and it's maybe gonna be ok because there's also a garden where we can relax when it gets too big or overwhelming, and the nearby city is nice. That's just how this summer is gonna be.
posted by Namlit at 3:37 AM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

As a teacher, (who grew up in a northern-hemisphere school system) this time of year sucks- it's getting cold, it's getting dark, and everyone on the internet is like "SUMMER YAY" and I just want it to be summer here too.
Doesn't help that I have reports this term.

I love the crunchy cold of autumn at the moment, and YAY we spent a day installing insulation, so there's that, but yeah. Bah Humbug and all that.
posted by freethefeet at 4:00 AM on May 28, 2017

Vacation-y stuff:

I'm finally taking my spring break trip to NYC...in the summer. Thanks, spring break blizzard! I'll see the current off-Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd (yay for the box office, which rescheduled my ticket...) and, among other things, buy a lot of books at the Strand.

Trip to CA to see my parents.

And trekking to Niagara-on-the-Lake with a friend to see The Madness of George III at the Shaw Festival.

Work stuff:

Drafting a couple of chapters for Book 3 1/2.
posted by thomas j wise at 5:29 AM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I haven't taken a vacation in two years due to our third baby being born, but she is (barely) big enough now so we are heading out to the east sea for a few days next weekend. Aside from that not much planned. I have a variety of projects that I would like to wrap up but don't have faith in making much headway due to the aforementioned three little kids.

The biggest thing for me, this summer, is to get my running times down. I disrespected my body over this past winter and have been really struggling to get back down to my fighting weight and get back into shape.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:06 AM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thanks to the snowstorms/snow days and a school superintendent who is fearful about losing her job, the school district where I work has extended the school year until the last day in June, which is absurd.

But this is the last summer I'll have a kid living with me, so it feels weird and bittersweet in that I want him gone already yet never want him to leave. We also have the never ending battle of him already graduated and done and my coming home, exhausted, to a generally filthy house. This pisses me off more than it should and I know I'm the one to get the practices into place to fix this, but he's my third, I'm exhausted and I'm honestly tired of having to tell an 18 year old to pick their freaking sandals off the floor because the cats love to pee on the plastic.

I've yet to plan anything for the summer since I need to get surgery for yet another swollen node -- first surgery was in December -- three specialists later and while they've ruled out all the Big Scary Things, there are still no answers as to why my lymph nodes continue to swell and swell and swell. It appears to be "one of those things" -- an answer that I am not loving. My mother, always a ball of palpable anxiety and generally one to avoid most times, is trying to force her way to care for me post surgery, which will not be a recipe for success.

I'm looking forward to getting school done, this surgery over, and then I can figure out what the next steps for summer enjoyment will be.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:18 AM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'll be keeping it local in preparation for the Hawaii trip later in the fall, spending a lot of quality time enjoying the beauty of the season at my local botanical gardens, arboretums, and parks. Specifically, hiking the heck out of my local regional and national parks to build up my stamina for stuff like this.
posted by jazzbaby at 6:49 AM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Work like a dog for the next two months. I work at a school district and end-of-year/start-of-year is my busiest time. And, as my district has a year-round calendar, "summer" is about three weeks long.
posted by SPrintF at 7:29 AM on May 28, 2017

Now that I'm unemployed (I call it a sabbatical) I plan to do some visible FOSS work in the hopes that it will make me employable by the end of the summer. My previous $JOB had an unclear FOSS policy and I was on salary and they paid for all of my computers and internet. So I erred on the side of caution and never did much beyond the occasional documentation fix or anonymous contribution. This turned out to be not such a good idea. Just like not having a credit card because "don't buy anything you can't pay for in cash" turned out to be a bad idea when you can't rent a car or get an apartment for lack of credit history, being mostly anonymous with little that you can show just doesn't quite cut it.

Younglings, make sure your time is your own and buy your own shit, and get a credit card (but still don' buy anything you can't pay for).
posted by zengargoyle at 7:55 AM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oh, and now I'm gonna watch F1 at Monaco and go VROOM VROOM for a while.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:57 AM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Got a big ol' beach house rented for a week at the Outer Banks; we'll be piling in there with a whole bunch of relatives, from age four months on up to sixty-mumblemumblesomething years. Should be noisy!

I rented the beach house before I knew about/found/contacted my older half-sister, so while she'll be there with her husband, daughter, and grandsons, unfortunately we won't have beds for them and they'll be staying nearby in a place of their own. That's probably a good idea anyway, as we're still little more than strangers and still easing into getting to know each other (although I think we're going pretty good, at least so far!).
posted by easily confused at 8:25 AM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Summer is my favorite season, hands-down. This summer we're going out to Seattle again for a week to visit all of our friends whom we first 'met' 10 years ago when we joined their World of Warcraft guild. They all quit the game years ago. I'm now guildmaster of the dead guild because I can't quit that game. We bought a house 2 years ago and we're working hard on fixing up the lawns outside, which are more weed than lawn.

We have a grill. I have never grilled before so tonight I'm going to fire it up and make hamburgers for misterussell and me.

And we got a puppy in April, so we'll be chasing this little bean around. His name is Murphy and he joins his 10-year-old brother Ollie (shown nestled in the lawn/weeds).
posted by kimberussell at 9:09 AM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Doing a big loop through northern Spain and Portugal: Bilbao, Burgos, Valladolid and Salamanca, over to Obidos for our 25th wedding anniversary (it is the Wedding City and we were there on our honeymoon) then up through Aveiro to Porto, Guimaraes and Valenca back into Spain, Santiago de Compostela and on the pilgrim route back along the north coast.

The exchange rate is going to kill us, but we all have to make sacrifices for our leader's wonderful Brexit plan.
posted by Segundus at 10:15 AM on May 28, 2017

Mr. Too-Ticky and I are (still) building our house. This summer, we'll get a nice new bathroom and bedroom ready. We just poured the top layer of the floor in the guest room today.

I'm also helping to organise the next large hackers' camping event, which is taking place in the Netherlands from August 4 - 8. It's called SHA2017 and it's going to be a blast, for sure.

And Mr. Too-Ticky wants to get back on the motorbike again. This is a Big Deal because he has not ridden it since he had a stroke two and a half years ago. I'm hopeful that he'll manage it; signs point to yes.
A few weeks ago we went to a bike store to get a new battery, he tried on a helmet and I almost cried, it's been so long since I last saw him wearing a helmet. Bikes have always been a pretty big part of his life ever since he started riding.
Riding a twisty dike road together is our version of dancing. I can't wait until the day when we'll go dancing again. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:16 AM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

I have to write the Bar in June, so school's not exactly out yet, much as it might seem like it is. Then I have to figure out how to find a place to live in Ottawa while not actually being anywhere near Ottawa anywhere near Canada Day because I don't have a gazillion dollars for a hotel room and the 150th birthday celebrations are not going to make traveling to Ottawa cheap this summer. Then I have to actually move to Ottawa.

Somewhere in there, I hope to pop to Vancouver to visit my family, but prospects aren't looking that good.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2017

I'm currently on a plane somewhere over the Hudson Bay, coming back from a work trip to Dublin. The week before this, I was in Montreal for work, and the week before that it was NYC. So I'm hoping for very little travel for the next couple of months. Possibly some camping, although I didn't get my act together to organize a big camping trip this year. We are planning to make it to the Mefi PNW camp out, though.

Other summer plans include hanging out in the backyard and drinking, going to a few baseball games, and getting in a few more hikes on our plan to hike all the way around the SF Bay Trail. Also some more work on my tattoo sleeve while my tattoo artist is back in town for the summer.
posted by gingerbeer at 11:08 AM on May 28, 2017

kimberussell your dogs are the cutest!
posted by ellieBOA at 11:21 AM on May 28, 2017

The first half of the summer I'll be quietly finishing sorting out my work website, then working and looking for work. That's the indoor stuff; outdoor stuff will be walks, plus hanging out with the local pagans and druids. And also watching some cricket, as my beloved Worcestershire are having a really good season.

The second half of the summer is unclear for several reasons. Maybe the USA, maybe Scandinavia, maybe stay here.
posted by Wordshore at 11:37 AM on May 28, 2017

Y'all are making me realize that I need to plan myself something to loook forward to this summer. I can't leave town long or go far because newish job that requires I work every other weekend. I work 3-11 shifts, which match my circadian rhythm extraordinarily well but now that my friends are mostly out of retail and service industry jobs and in 9-5s it means I don't see as many people anymore. Hell, my schedule doesn't even mesh well with most of the other nurses I know, which is some kind of feat of logistics. My off days are mostly spent on the endless laundry/dishes/cooking/food shopping grind. Hoping my next job after this, whatever it may be, is the one that finally offers me the right combination of enough money and enough vacation time to have an adventure.

I do have a tattoo idea that I've been kicking around for a while and might finally have enough money to get though, so there's that.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:46 AM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Camps and camping and camping and camps. Camping with my Girl Scouts (who are about to bridge to Cadettes, which means we can do more cool stuff), camping with my family, driving my kids to summer camps, driving to Oregon to see the eclipse from a campsite, camping at Mt St Helens, camp camp camp camps camping. Probably all car camping, not for more than three nights, although possibly with some backpacking thrown in.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:55 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I get the impression that The corpse in the library is not going to be booking any hotel rooms.
posted by hippybear at 1:11 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Winter in Melbourne, AU is not official until June 1st but it definitely arrived on the weekend.

Why did the DJ love winter best?

Because of the boots, hats
Boots and hats
Boot, hats
Boots and hats

You're welcome.
posted by Coaticass at 1:43 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

A few weeks of Germany to see the family (hopefully without drama). Little toad is excited to see a Kandinsky painting in person, go to a jousting performance, and to ride all that public transport. After that, a week of Boston (I've never been!). Summer camp for little toad, and a swim class.
Also, big plans to declutter house and body. 2nd year of tiny toad has made the house into a mess and convinced me, too often, that 'I need a snack' (not true). We'll see how it goes...
posted by The Toad at 2:20 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't know about my summer, but I do know from this and other threads that I kinda wish I were a McGee!
posted by jgirl at 2:22 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

If you were a McGee you'd be super tiny and would be pooping yourself all the time and you don't wish you were that.
posted by hippybear at 2:27 PM on May 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

When adults come visit me I use my guest pass to make them accompany me and my children to the zoo and then at snack time I give them their own pack of goldfish crackers! (Because, really, it'd be rude to feed everyone BUT your guest.) That would be your McGee-for-a-day experience. :D

---

Feast today was medieval themed -- honey-glazed roasted chicken from that "fantasy recipes" website that I swear was posted to the blue earlier this month and now I can't find. Couscous. Onion confit. Peas. And -- tragedy! -- meltaway potatoes, which were delicious but I HAD PLANNED ON RUTABAGA and the supermarket didn't have any so, boo, I used new world root veggies (because I had some on hand). The meltaway potatoes were really good, though! Also the confit. Also that was the best roast chicken I've ever made in my life although I don't think I did anything unusual to it? The honey glaze (which I served as a sauce) was only okay for me -- little too sweet -- but the kids liked it a lot. We let the kids drink grape juice out of wine glasses, because medieval feasts must have goblets!

I was like, "Ooooh, next week I'll do a New World foods theme!" and then I was like, "Oh, no, wait, that's just Thanksgiving." But I will have to think of some warmer weather feasts for summer, because the kitchen got VERY HOT roasting a chicken.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 2:54 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

If you were a McGee you'd be super tiny and would be pooping yourself all the time and you don't wish you were that.

Me and Poopy McGee
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:11 PM on May 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

ellieBOA thank you. When Max passed last year I didn't think I had it in me to love another dog. I still miss Max, oh-boy-oh-boy I do. But a new love has sprouted for Murphy and having 2 dogs again feels right.
posted by kimberussell at 3:16 PM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

I got behind on my ice cream making so this weekend have churned out (har har) triple batches of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla - accidental Neopolitan.

I just finished putting in my garden - I am a terrible gardener of low skill and tend to start the year with high hopes and end with an unmanageable jungle - but I love the process.

Oh. And we have a squirrel now who I have put a special feeder up for so I intend to spend as much time as I can watching squirrel eat peanuts.
posted by hilaryjade at 3:17 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Next weekend a theatre I co-founded in Seattle is having a reunion on the occasion of its 30th anniversary (give or take - the founding was an evolution, it's 30 years since moving into its first dedicated space). I'll be attending that and seeing a bunch of folks I haven't seen in a long long time.

A couple weeks later my sweetie and I are taking a road trip probably to Santa Barbara to celebrate 10 years of couplehood.

We've got tickets to a ton of Hollywood Bowl shows which has become a summer tradition for us. Yo Yo Ma will be performing all 6 Bach cello suites. We also get to hear one or two concerts conducted by Bramwell Tovey, who is funny and delightful.

I'll be starting rehearsals for a new show my crew is putting together for a late-summer run, the Solid Gold Lamé Cabaret in which I will portray Pierre Laurent, Precious Metals Dancer. So I'll be learning a lot of 80s dance moves! Our last show was a musical parody of Beaches, using hit songs from the years the movie was produced and released (1988/89).
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have a couple of Memorial Day-related observations!

1. It is much easier to get the house clean in a leisurely fashion when I have a three-day weekend.

2. There is something to be said for the British tradition of the bank holiday, which is not about anything except having a three-day weekend and when you don't feel obligated to contemplate anything other than the weather and how nice it is not to have to go in to work.

3. I need to clean out the fridge more often.

4. I need to take in the recycling more often.

5. I probably don't need to scrub the tub every week.

6. Cold brew coffee is ridiculously easy to make and improves my life.

7. I am never, ever going to feel like exercising, so I have to just suck it up and do it, so I don't spend the whole day in my workout clothes, not working out.

8. There is absolutely no reason I can't eat strawberry cake for breakfast, assuming that I can find good strawberries this early in the season.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:19 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

In Canada, most provinces have a long weekend in August. It is called various things in various places, but basically, it exists because the time between July 1st and Labour Day just really needed a long weekend. So, colloquially, it is simply called "the August long weekend". Family Day in February has a name, but is a recently added holiday that exists for basically the same reason -- January 1st to whenever the hell Easter rolls around is too long to go without a long weekend.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:33 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

For those of you who haven't made eclipse plans yet, there are still plenty of hotel rooms available in Nashville, TN.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:36 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm doing nothing for summer; I cannot leave my mom unattended for more than a weekend and don't want to go more than 3 hrs away. Since I live near the beach, I will make an effort to get there once or twice. It's not my thing (grew up at the unpopulated coast) so I need visitors to enhance the concept.

But I'm doing yardwork like a fiend. I love it but will regret it later this summer when it's so hot that I cannot give the potted plants enough water to keep them happy.

But I freeking love working with plants.

I'll spend part of each weekend chaperoning the monsters in the outdoor kitty kompound until the humidity gets to be oppressive.

And I'll watch the birds. Currently I have a bumper crop of hummers, the regular cardinals, titmouse and chicadee families, a pair of nesting bluebirds and some nuthatches nesting in another birdhouse, a nearby pair of painted buntings and blue grosbeaks, some dove, the crows, cowbirds, buzzards and osprey visiting, and your standard sparrows and wrens. Plus the bees and such are loving the flowers.

Right now, I'm enjoying the gardenia blossom perfume (one of my favorite no-care plants) and I'm watching the wild scuppernon grapes grow wee little grape-buds.

It does sound like paradise but it is a bunch of hard work to make it happen; oh, but joyful and away from the rest of the worldly issues for a while.

Someone come visit me: southeastern NC; 15 mins from door to shore by car and isolated from the big tourist areas.
posted by mightshould at 3:47 PM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

For a week in August, I'm taking my mother to visit my sister in California. I'm paying for everything, since neither of them ever learned how to make money. And I'll be spending lots of time keeping them from fighting. Why am I doing this, exactly?
posted by sockerpup at 4:07 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sloth and gluttony. Plus indoor nudity if the weather ever actually warms up.
posted by Bruce H. at 4:24 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Eyebrows, you could do a pre-Columbian Mexican-inspired feast. (I could not even begin to advise you about *how* to do that, but it could be done.)
posted by lazuli at 4:35 PM on May 28, 2017

"Eyebrows, you could do a pre-Columbian Mexican-inspired feast. "

The internet to the rescue! Luckily lots of food nerds have food nerd blogs. Am perusing now!

One of my kids is obsessed with London (because of the Tube, initially, but it has expanded), so I made them a full English breakfast (minus the black pudding), and now every weekend they're like, "Mom, can we have a full English? Can we have a full English?" NOT EVERY WEEKEND DUDES.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:38 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'm going to Santiago, Chile for work in (gulp) 13 days. I've never been to South America before, and I don't speak much Spanish. Still, I'm really looking forward to it.

Then in August, we're headed to the Basque Country (French side) for two weeks and then a week in Lille where my husband is from. I didn't realize until just after we booked the trip that it will be twenty years exactly since my first arrival in France, which was also in the Basque Country. I'm looking forward to meeting up with my old host families.
posted by Liesl at 5:38 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Plans for the summer include: town pool club, visit from Mom, annual trip to the shore, long weekend in DC, Spartan Race, trip to FL for sister's wedding. So tempted to go down for the eclipse but at 10+ hours it's a long drive. Knowing 2024 will be closer is comforting.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:53 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

The KP index went to 6 last night, so I drove to a darker area and looked for a good northern view. Didn't see any aurora. KP 6 in Maine is iffy.

I need to buy a car, shopping for a Prius. Drove one today but I think it was overpriced. I'll make a tent extension for the hatchback and then I can car camp. I made a tent extension when I roadtripped in a minivan and it was pretty nifty. I'd like to head to someplace to see the eclipse in August, hoping for clear skies. And I'm old enough to get a Senior Nat. Parks Pass - yay!

I quit my job 2 months ago, am using short-term savings. Job was soul-consuming, so it's good to be out. Trying to decide what to do next. Job hunting at 62 is no fun. Not working is weird, but not bad, except the pay is shit.

The trees next door have grown and shaded my old garden location. I now have a new raised bed garden in the front yard, lots of sun, and now, lots of tomato plants. I'll also plant green beans, radishes, lettuces, basil. Cherry tomatoes in pots. Maybe some squash in part of the old garden. Planted some poppies and nasturtiums from seed. The black flies have chewed me to bits, despite the bug dope.

I live near a lake, and summer in Maine is wonderful (if it ever really warms up), so hanging out on the deck, maybe a swim in the lake, maybe go out in the kayak, it's the best.
posted by theora55 at 6:02 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Great plans for the summer! Mr. CMcG and I are going to see Hamilton, go to Oslo, and try to check out the eclipse in August. Difficulty level: I'll be over 32 weeks pregnant at that point. We're also moving house around then.

I'm also going to spend a month with my 2.5 yr old nephew and my new nephew and their parents.

I'm hoping for a great big recharge to prepare for all the changes.

My best wishes to all for a peaceful summer.
posted by CMcG at 6:26 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Difficulty level: I'll be over 32 weeks pregnant at that point.

Holy crap! That's a multiplier that I never even considered when it came to the eclipse!
posted by hippybear at 6:48 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

My house turns 75 this year! The resident teenager thinks giving a house a birthday party is super lame, but too bad, we never had a housewarming and I think it sounds fun. To kick off the celebration I bought a grill and am gradually working up from hot dogs and fruit chunks (mmm, grilled pineapple) to things requiring actual skill.

There is so much cool stuff going on around the city that my goal is generally just to get out of the house more. Our vacation budget is already spoken for the next three years (Tokyo 2020!) so staycation it is.
posted by Flannery Culp at 6:50 PM on May 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

"My house turns 75 this year! The resident teenager thinks giving a house a birthday party is super lame, but too bad"

My friends have a Bastille Day party for their house every year! Because it was finished being built on Bastille Day 120ish years ago, not because it houses French political prisoners at the whim of the King. Anyway, excellent party.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:00 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I might start housing French political prisoners in my house just to see if it will become celebrated at some point in the future!
posted by hippybear at 7:10 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

(hangin' in chat, trying to encourage chat use by hangin' in it! Come chat with me, it's officially The Quiet Hours and I get bored!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:11 PM on May 28, 2017

drinking summer booze

I had one of these earlier today. It was good. I can kind of imagine Bugs Bunny having some of these to get his load on.
posted by jonmc at 7:34 PM on May 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Officially the Quiet Hours, eh? How can I stir up some shit to make it more interesting for you?
posted by hippybear at 7:44 PM on May 28, 2017

The Quiet Hours refers to my CHILDREN not screaming when they're meant to be sleeping so DO NOT DO!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:50 PM on May 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Je suis les vacances!

-Lou Sun King
posted by clavdivs at 9:32 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I managed to plant 20 various herbs and flowers in record time Saturday, so one part of summer plans is finishing up the other half of the garden and trimming the nespoli and lemon trees.

I also managed to drive out to Ikea and get some storage boxes. My ongoing project of organizing and decorating the flat is neverending, but I'd like to finish up the girls' room at some point this summer. My next step there is to get some paint and stencil an accent wall, the boring white curtains and said storage boxes.

I also need to practice driving around with a freaking navigator some more because I need to simultaneously get used to this new-to-me bit of technology and get my internal driving sense of direction* set so I know which direction to get back on the ring road for home when the navigation cocks up.

My mother might be visiting for a week in August. I had to explain to Hubs that no, we were not going to leave the kids with her for said week and go off on grown ups holiday.

Other than that, no set plans really; for now our big holidays usually are in January when hubs has off.

But I will have to think of some warmer weather feasts for summer, because the kitchen got VERY HOT roasting a chicken.

As someone who has no air conditioning, I submit Lebanese (tabbouleh, hummus, babba Ganoush) or a vaguely Mediterranean theme (panzanella, tzatziki, tapas).
posted by romakimmy at 10:32 PM on May 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

"I submit Lebanese"

Fun fact, Peoria has the largest Lebanese population per capita in the United States, and elected the first Arabic (Lebanese) Member of Congress in 1995 - Ray LaHood.

(Which makes me ever so slightly hesitant to COOK Lebanese since I can go BUY Lebanese at any one of 200 restaurants where they do it ever so much better!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:52 PM on May 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Even better 😜 That's a pretty awesome fact to know about my birth place, though.
posted by romakimmy at 11:01 PM on May 28, 2017

Winter here. Plans include:
- a mid-winter Christmas party with my girlfriend's extended family. (They like to eat; I like to eat. We get on well).
- Running an ultramarathon in mid-July (which has the added bonus of the course going literally past my house, so I can't get too lost/far from civilization).
- Watching the British and Irish Lions rugby tour of New Zealand (this is like a big deal in rugby because normally England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are separate teams, but every few years they all combine, meaning they tour NZ once every 12 years or so).
- And just started volunteering with the Green party ahead of the September election, and hopefully going to help a Red-Green coalition into power.
posted by Pink Frost at 3:03 AM on May 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

What awesome things do you have planned for the summer?

Going to work every day, except it's really hot all the time.
posted by thelonius at 3:21 AM on May 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Great plans for the summer! Mr. CMcG and I are going to see Hamilton, go to Oslo, and try to check out the eclipse in August. Difficulty level: I'll be over 32 weeks pregnant at that point. We're also moving house around then.

Congratulations CMcG! Looks like we're due quite close to each other. I'm expecting as well, due early September! And wow, that's quite the intense schedule! All the very best!
posted by peacheater at 6:48 AM on May 29, 2017

I am 50% convinced that this is the summer I will finally get round to writing the hobby academic paper I have been collecting data points for about ten years now, including asking twice for help from the collective in amassing data via AskMe. It will be on representation of wind turbines in movies. I am approaching about 50 data points and since I got the idea there have been some cracking examples emerge, with a Zac Efron movie being a leading example.

We're also going to see Belle and Sebastian play in a couple of weeks and a week after that we are going for a fortnight away in sunny climes: Northern Portugal and Galicia. The latter trip has already been submitted to AskME for advice, naturally.
posted by biffa at 7:08 AM on May 29, 2017

I am moving to Philadelphia in 2 weeks to live with my girlfriend! I don't have a job lined up and I'm not sure what I want to do for work, so I'm planning on spending at least the first couple weeks applying for jobs, exercising, embarking on ambitious baking projects, and sunning myself on the back porch.
posted by coppermoss at 8:28 AM on May 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

I am going to Fort Worth in June, Portland in August, and moving to Pennsylvania some time in between. I hope I have a little money left at the end of it.
posted by pemberkins at 10:10 AM on May 29, 2017

I kicked off the weekend by making this strawberry summer cake, which was fantastic. We went to the beach this morning with the kids and will start going every weekend until October (yay Florida!).

Aspirationally, I'll try to start swimming in our pool for extra exercise on the nights we aren't otherwise working out. Also hoping to try some new restaurants now that the snowbirds are back up north so everywhere is having summer dining deals (yay Florida!).
posted by gatorae at 11:48 AM on May 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

We're getting a puppy in five weeks! So we're not going anywhere far away this summer. We'll be mostly hanging around the house taking care of our new family member. And consoling the cat...

(The breed is Norwegian Lundehund)
posted by Harald74 at 12:14 PM on May 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

MetaFilter: consoling the cat
posted by hippybear at 12:23 PM on May 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

I kicked off the weekend by making this strawberry summer cake, which was fantastic.

I, too, am making that cake! It's in the oven as we speak. I'm going to eat it for breakfast this week, because I am an adult, and who is going to stop me?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:07 PM on May 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm going to Quebec for a while!

Also finishing my book.

But mostly Quebec!
posted by The Whelk at 10:07 PM on May 29, 2017

Hey, I made that strawberry cake for Easter!
posted by taz (staff) at 4:28 AM on May 30, 2017

That strawberry cake is the best. When I bring it to BBQs I am lauded like a queen.
posted by kimberussell at 6:03 AM on May 30, 2017

Ok, I need to make that strawberry cake right this instant, dammit.

I'm taking a trip to Seattle and Oakland; I'll be meeting my BFF, who lives in Vancouver (I know, sounds like a lyric from Avenue Q), in Seattle and we intend to eat our way through the city for a couple of days.

I will also be taking care of my two adorable new kittens, Yojimbo and Sanjuro (or Jimmy and Sandy, as we call them), who just arrived in the household last week and are roughly eight weeks old, as near as I can figure.
posted by holborne at 9:04 AM on May 30, 2017

My band is playing on Warped Tour. The entire thing. Two months! The whole US! 53 shows or something like that! We will be playing feminist hardcore at a festival that has been a cess-pit of misogyny and sexism for years. So that should be fun or something.

Seriously, I'm excited. But also kind of nervous. Also, I hate....being hot.....but I guess I'm going to have to get used to it!

(my band name and stuff is in my profile if you care to look)
posted by capnsue at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

Pet thread for the next MetaTalkTail please Eyebrows!
posted by ellieBOA at 10:00 AM on May 30, 2017

I had a lovely restful weekend with 2 good hikes in the redwoods, some leisurely housecleaning, lots of reading, and a batch of oatmeal cookies completed.

My summer plans are not to take any vacation time because I'm saving it for maybe going to Kilimanjaro in the fall, but I definitely need to do some more day-trips and so forth. And THANK YOU lazuli and lepus for the information about the Tomales Bay bioluminescent tour! That looks fantastic and I have already emailed some friends to see if they want to do it.

This summer I'm also going to work on choux pastry, which I've never really attempted. And continue training my dog to go over the A-frame properly, which looks like it will take several months...
posted by suelac at 10:03 AM on May 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm on week 14 of my year of required rotations for medical school--not that I'm counting or anything. Week 2 of Internal Medicine. I'm exhausted pretty much all the time. And there's so much studying I need to do...

But I'm also gonna go to my cousin's wedding, and hopefully run a 5k at some point, and get to the beach with friends. So long as I can survive this rotation, I should be a pretty happy camper until the fall.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:20 PM on May 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

We went to a showing of old school James Bond flick Thunderball tonight, very nicely located on a ferry in the middle of quite possibly the most picturesque river crossing in the UK, using an inflatable screen and with lashings of shaken martini on tap.
posted by biffa at 5:46 PM on May 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I quit my job.

Tomorrow, I am going to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Grand Staircase for some offroading, camping, and hiking. I'll be gone 9-10 days.

Sometime after that, I will be hiking the Colorado Trail for a few weeks. Maybe more. Maybe less.

Have fun!
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:01 PM on May 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

I also quit my job! Two months ago though. Enjoying the new one, both for its people-focused management (yaaaay) and, welp, the salary, which is allowing me to travel on a budget of more than 50 euros for the first time in 13 years.

I'm going to Norway. Bringing 25 years of my grandfather's oral Norwegian and family lore with me, plus the 15 years since his passing of gradually teasing out the details of that part of family history. Before he passed I'd managed to find his parents' arrivals in New York (they went to Manitoba afterwards) and the farms they came from. Not many people in Norway wanted to talk at the time. Grandpa had always talked about his father being violently religious; it soon came out that he and a bunch of other men from northern Norway had indeed come over to Manitoba as part of an apocalyptic cult led by a guy who thought he was Christ's second coming. There's a bit of info here, hvis dere snakker norsk. All of a sudden my grandfather's difficult mix of loving his Norwegian roots while also being cut off from them made sense. And gradually, very gradually, people started talking.

This year I'm finally going. I'll be the first person on my side of the family to do so. Others more removed have been back – see, it so happens my great-grandfather was a close friend of one of the leaders (Olaf Melby, I even have photos of him, ugh), so our family stayed quite caught up in it and the fallout, with the notable exception of my grandfather and me. I'm the only one in our family who's kept up with the research – as soon as the cult link came out, the rest of the family treated me like a heretic. Which, eh, understandable from their point of view, one supposes. In any case, when I was born my grandfather got my father to name me after his (my grandfather's) mother. He had adored her; she had disagreed with a lot of the cult teachings and protected as many kids as she could from abuse. And so it happens that the first person on our side of the family to return to the Norway farms, has the same name as the woman who left. I'm visiting her side of the family; as it happens it's huge and there are still people around who remember her and her sisters.

Eight days up in Lofoten during midnight sun season to visit family, a day and a half in Bodø, night train to Trondheim for a couple of days, and then the Dovrebanen to Oslo during the day so I can take in the sights.
posted by fraula at 6:24 AM on May 31, 2017 [8 favorites]