Because clearly, I am not thinking about anything other than the fact that  I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning, this is going to be a special Friday Five. This week was wonderfully lazy.  I got hit hard by allergies on Tuesday and Wednesday and did basically nothing but rallied on Thursday and got some errands done.  I also found out I won a free entry to the Color Run thanks to the lovely ladies at Scoot a Doot.

Go check them out– they’re amazing and host tons of great giveaways!

So, since I’m going out of town tomorrow (for a whole week), this is going to be Friday Five: Hawaii Edition.  (Friday Five-O, Hawaii Friday Five-O? there’s a joke in there somewhere!)

1. clothes:

I have a confession- I’ve been packed for about two weeks now.  Every now and then I’ll go through my suitcase and switch out a dress or outfit, but instead of pulling out all my summer clothes when it finally got warm in Ohio, I went through my summer clothes and packed my favorite stuff into my suitcase for Hawaii.  I can’t wait to see some of those dresses again! I’m still probably going to need like an hour to pack everything and make sure I’m not forgetting anything but I love packing so it’s not a big deal.  We bought sunscreen in bulk from Sam’s Club and yesterday Joel told me he wasn’t bringing a carry-on …which I heard as “you can fill up another bag and I will use it as a carry-on for you.”

2. books:

I am SO excited to read these books.  I have been waiting since January to read Shatter Me and Unravel Me and I told myself I wasn’t going to read The Selection until The Elite came out because I’m too impatient when I finish a book I like.  Luckily, City of Bones is a huge series that I haven’t started, so my summer is ripe with choices.  And, yes, I STILL haven’t read The Book Thief so I’ll probably be awkwardly crying on the beach while I tackle that one.  You should all be proud of me, too, I am reading most of these on the iPad instead of buying hard copies.  I’m trying to embrace the fact that I love reading on the computer screen, which may hopefully lead to less clutter of books in our house.  (I’m still going to collect my favorites, but I don’t need hard copies of EVERYTHING.)

3. teaching

I’m already thinking ahead– when I get back into town I need to overhaul my syllabus.  (Maybe that’ll be a job for the 10.5 hour plane ride? Ugh.) I’m excited to teach a sped-up version of my children’s literature class, but it’s going to be a lot to condense and I’m going to have to figure what I can take out and how to get some of the required assignments done in time (without killing my students!)

4. cleaning the house

Joel and I totally rearranged our living room last weekend and I’ve been trying to get our house as clean as possible so that when we come back, we’ll come home to a clean house.  I want to be able to come home and throw our clothes in the laundry and have a totally clean house and clean dishes. Dream big, right?

5. minimalizing stuff

This kind of goes with “cleaning the house” but also is something I want to work on in my entire life.  I started reading this blog/website The Minimalists and was really inspired/awed by the ability of people to just cut out all of the things they really didn’t need in their life… and how much richer that made living.   I’m thinking about starting this when we get back from vacation– going through my clothes and pulling out things I don’t wear or need.  I’m SO guilty of keeping “sentimental” things and just keeping EVERYTHING.  I don’t think I want to get rid of all of my trinkets but I can definitely cut out some of the clutter and reduce what I have.  I can start buying books on my iPad and start scanning and throwing away old papers.  Someday, I’d love to have a spotless and empty home, but I know I need baby steps to actually get it done.  This relates to Hawaii because I’ve made a pact with myself to only buy one souvenir from the whole trip– a Christmas ornament.  I’m hoping I can stick to that goal?