7 Things I Learned From My Summer Vacation

We host a weekend get-together every July, next year will be our 20th. 

It started out as a bunch of recent college grads gathering at my very gracious in-law’s lake cottage in Michigan.  Our numbers have expanded over the years, as we’ve gotten married and added children.  We can gauge our growth in advanced degrees received, mortgages, increasing car size (to accommodate our growing families), challenges met and conquered and learned from.  It is amazing how we have all evolved. 

After 19 years of hosting this event, there are some Organizing Truths I have learned and can share with confidence:

  1. Organizing Truth:  Life is not about the stuff, it is about people and relationships.  I am so blessed.  I am choking up as I write this because I have images of such good friends and conversations and love, a wonderful co-host (my hubby), my gracious and dear in-laws and my dad who brings us cookies every year.  I am so, so blessed.
  2. Organizing Truth: Quality time with friends and family is judged by enjoyment, not by effort.  I am getting better about judging event success by the fun had by all, and not by the diversity of menu options or the cleanliness of my house or how much effort I put in (because the more you do these things, the easier they get!).
  3. Organizing Truth:  You can learn from every experience.  After any experience, ask yourself to sum up what you have learned in one or two sentences.  Self-awareness is a valuable skill, tool and talent.  It helps you find worth in every experience, even the mundane, and helps you to constantly evolve and improve.
  4. Organizing Truth:  Take notes, and help your Future You out next time.   I have a spreadsheet for planning this big weekend from year to year, with guest and RSVP lists, menu, shopping list, etc.  In the next few days, I will open up the spreadsheet file and make some notes about what worked and what did not:  “don’t forget the softball game next year, ask G to bring more fireworks, broaden the lunch menus”.  I will save that information, change the dates for 2012 and be ready to go next Spring.
  5. Organizing Truth:  Technology can be a very useful tool!   I already mentioned my yearly spread sheet, and a glance at my file directory tells me I have been keeping notes digitally since 1998.  I annually update the email contact list and correspond almost entirely via email.  These are basics.  I can also send map links to emails if requested, and this year I was able to check Facebook and my email for arrival updates via my smart phone.  Maybe next year, I’ll use Evite and we’ll have a FaceBook page (but then again, maybe not).
  6. Organizing Truth:  Standard Operating Procedures make things run smoothly.  I have a list in my head of things that need to be done, but next year, I will hang on the fridge a list of kid-friendly jobs to be done, so I can defer to the list and delegate better.  Examples of tasks may include:
    1. Get the boats ready to go: load the cooler, count and load the life jackets and beach towels
    2. Meal Set Up:  clean off table, get out plates and napkins and utensils, consult menu, etc.
    3. Yard Clean Up:  soda cans and water bottles to recycling, sporting gear and beach toys to bins, etc.
  7. Organizing Truths:  Notes from Kitchen Duty.
    1. Set up for the next meal at the end of the current meal.  Meaning, after dinner clean-up is done, look ahead to tomorrow’s breakfast, and set out the griddle and pancake ingredients and frying pans for sausage.  Most critically, set up the coffee maker for the next morning, so whoever gets up first can flip the switch!
    2. It occurred to me along the way that I could save a lot of hassle for myself and my guests if I just did all the menu planning and shopping.  At first, everyone would bring their own stuff, and meals were a hodgepodge, the refrigerator was full of odds and ends, and coolers were lined up on the deck and needed regular additions of bagged ice.  Now, I do all the shopping (with a few additions, like Cinnamon Rolls from the Ohio contingent), the menu is posted, and this year, a team of kids even helped with prep and clean up.  It’s a beautiful thing!
  8. Organizing Truth:  Less really is More.  I could go on and on, but I won’t!

So, learn from my experiences, I know I do.  Think things through, review and revise, and most importantly, get out there and appreciate your friends and family and life.