Checking in on my summer bucket list

Well I'm a day late, but I said I'd check in on my summer "To do" list on September 1st - so let's see how we did.

The fun stuff (cause it's more fun to start there, right?)
-Visit the Big Backyard at the Science Museum now that we are members
We did not do this yet - I don't know how long it's open, but we might get there soon.
-Golf both with Nate and also my parents
Yes! We went on Father's Day and are slated to go with them this weekend as well and we will both be playing in the Family tournament this year at the end of September.
-See the new Polar Bear Exhibit at the Como Zoo
Nope, any day we wanted to go was rainy and I've heard it gets rather crowded anyway, so we may wait awhile on this one
-Eat at outdoor patios whenever possible
Yes, we ate at Barley Johns, Brasa, Psycho Suzie's, and the Happy Gnome and sat on their patios and it was lovely!
-Go on a Margarita or Beer Paddleboat ride on the Mississippi (the Paddleford boat company offers both of these options on Mondays and Wednesdays - how fun!)
There was just NO time for this one this year sadly. Maybe next year.
-Go on a bike ride or two
Nope, it's just too hard because I keep my bike at my mom and dad's. There should still be time yet for this during the fall though
-Visit the Elm Creek Park reserve man made beach
Yes! I took a day off with Gina and we had a great time with her niece and nephews even if I did get sunburned as I reported last week! It's faded to a nice tan now.
-Attend the Rock the Garden concert at the Walker
Yes! We had so much fun, it was one of the highlights of the summer for me!
-Visit the Farmers Markets (Minneapolis and Mill City)
I made one trip down with my parents to the Mill City Farmer's Market, will probably go back with Nate sometime this fall. It's more of a fall activity for us really.
-Make jam with my mother-in-law and pie with my mom (with Strawberries)
Again I just ran out of time and my rhubarb also was kind of not so great this year, so this fell by the wayside very early on.
-Spend lots of time with friends as they are able
I did get to do plenty of this even with our busy schedule. I'm pleased to have spent time with almost all of my close friends in some form this summer between dinners out, beach days, barbecues, concerts, class reunions and everything else in between!

The less than fun, but necessary things to do at home:
-Finish taking down two fence posts in the backyard, take out the posts for hanging laundry and also disassemble a planting area and then plant grass seed in all of those areas
We did not get to it this year, the yard became less important as we worked on some other projects
-Clean out the planting areas along the deck in the back so we can actually maybe get plants in the ground this year
See above - same
-General cleaning up of all areas of the yard
Same once again, although Nate did finally get around to some gutter cleaning
-Paint the front door of the house
I did paint the door frame when we were preparing for the appraisal for the re-fi, and I think we'll still get the actual door painted yet this year before it's too cold as well
-Possibly start painting other parts of the outside of the house
Yes! While it was more "touch up" work than the color we eventually want it to be - a fresh coat of paint has made a world of difference and it looks nice! I should finish up a little bit more this weekend and I'm really glad.
-Start my painting in the living room
Yes! We are SOOO close to being done I can taste it. We've had some great help from people which is awesome.
-Put a light fixture above my shower and a fan in the bathroom (dad is going to help with this one)
Almost, I went looking at the fans and light fixtures with my dad last weekend, we're watching for sales for a couple of weeks and then we'll do it.

So - I probably did about half the things on my lists this year. And, it's early yet - while it is now September, we will hopefully have nice weather to do some things that we haven't quite yet before it gets too cold and (yikes) snowy. And there are things that we did this summer that aren't on that list too that was really nice - our vacation to Itasca at the very beginning of summer, a short weekend up north with our music group, a visit to my friend in Mankato to meet her baby girl, the State Fair and then project wise Nate also started building his bar for his kegging system, so that's exciting too.

I have no regrets about the summer and what we did/didn't do. I only regret losing a whole week when I was sick and the fact that it set us back a bit with our running program, but that was out of my control. I learned from that experience that I need to listen to my body more and rest and slow down a bit and the rest of the summer was smooth sailing after I figured that out!

I'm looking forward to another nice three day weekend with some fun things planned and then I'm ready to move on to fall. We have fun things to look forward to and it's my favorite time of the year, so I plan to enjoy every moment.