Summertime and the Living Is…Busy!

by Sarah Krueger

Every autumn, someone invariably asks me, “How was your summer?” to which I invariably reply, “Busy!”

Every one of our sweltering summer days is filled with swimming, errands, cleaning, driving, cooking, and negotiating the constant clutter that comes with kids home for summer vacation.

That’s just my kind of “busy.” Everyone has their own kind of summertime busyness that seems to take them further and further from their goals. It’s so easy to tell yourself you’ll sit down and write a chapter tomorrow, or “I’ll do more research for my book after I get back from vacation.” I want to really enjoy my summer AND reach my writing goals. The question is, how? Here are a few ideas:

Plan Ahead 

Make-ahead meals are a life saver for someone like me who hates to cook. I cook a bunch of meals on Sunday (or whatever day works best that week) and stick them in the freezer for no-brainer meals the rest of the week. Soups and make ahead-salads like these make great lunches for kids and husbands alike. Frozen smoothie packs have been my favorites for their ability to quickly quiet the screaming hordes.

Hang a Hammock

I’m not kidding. There’s something about lying in a hammock that makes an ordinary summer day turn into a relaxing mini-vacation. I like to grab a cold drink and my laptop and work on my chapters while swinging in the shade. It’s amazing how easily brilliant thoughts flow through my fingers when I’m swinging in my hammock … until I fall asleep. Yeah, that happens.

Visit a Resort

Sometimes when the craziness of life screams too loudly in my ears, I run away!

Not literally – but I do grab my faithful laptop and drive to one of my favorite thinking spots, The Camelback Inn Resort in Phoenix. I grab a drink from the Starbucks and walk out onto the patio. There are always soft, cushy seats to relax in by a fountain and write or do research for my next best-selling novel. I often return home relaxed and having written more pages than I expected.

It’s not easy to slow down and smell the cactus blossoms, but this summer, I am going to make a heroic effort to do just that.

What are some of your favorite ways to relax? Post your ideas in the comments section below!

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Sarah Krueger is the author of The Willowmist series. She enjoys writing teen fantasy and making fairy gardens with her daughter. She is the mother of four boys and a daughter and the wife to her awesome filmmaker husband, Dean Krueger. Visit her Facebook page.