What to Do for Summer

A lot of young adults and college kids get jobs in the summer. Other people go to the beach or hang out at the mall or the movie theater. There are some people who have regular old jobs, too. There are people who go on vacation to the Bahamas or Paris or Hawaii or something.

In the past I would have fallen into that last category. Just last year I went to Greece, England, and a trip up the West Coast of the U.S. I've looked at jobs to have for the summer, but they want either full-time or they want me to work after the summer is over. Sorry, but I need my schooling right now more than I need a job.

Here is what I plan to do for my summer: relax. I've spent the whole year with my nose in several textbooks; I think it's time to chill. But really? With tons of free time I get bored. So I decided to do something fun that also helps the community. I'm volunteering at the local animal shelter.

I LOVE animals. Cats are my favorite, dogs my second favorite. And so I'm going to work with cats. It's something for me to do over the summer, and it's good for the animals. Win-win situation there. So I'll put up a page on here for adopting animals from the shelter, though I won't update it necessarily every day. I'm working on a story that I think is the best thing I've ever written and I plan to keep up with it and make it the best that I can.

Now here are some ideas for you guys if you're bored this summer:

If you're an aspiring writer, there is this awesome site called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which is in November, and they also do a young adult program called the Young Writers Program) that does a summer camp called Camp NaNoWriMo. You basically try to write a novel in a month and track your progress and set goals for yourself, etc. It may be fun for any writers out there.

Another idea is get a summer job. You can work at Starbucks or the cinema or a FroYo stand. I don't think it really matters--as long as your doing something with your time and getting money for it. Maybe you're trying to save up for a new camera or a car; I'm trying to save up for a MacBook Pro, though it would help if I got a job.

Say you don't find a job that works for you, like with me, then you can volunteer. There are tons of volunteer jobs out there. You just have to looks for them. I like animals so it made sense for me to volunteer at the animal shelter. You may hate animals (you should know, however, that a lot of animal shelters have jobs that have nothing to do with animals, like an administrative volunteer, or a photographer, or someone who helps find lost pets) then try something else. If you live in the U.S. then this website may be able to help you find your volunteering job match: http://www.volunteermatch.org/

I love to cook and bake. There's a ban on baking in my house right now, but no matter. If you're in to cooking and baking go online and Google interesting recipes, buy the ingredients you need and set to work. If you've never cooked in your life you can start now. And if you like making everything from scratch like me, or you're weary of store-bought food or you're health conscious, then here's another amazing site that gives recipes for making most basic things that you eat all the time in your house like peanut butter: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/ I found them trying to make homemade granola bars, and they were delicious. And here's a tip if you've mastered every recipe out there: mix it up. They have peanut-butter granola bars on that site. I put cocoa powder and chopped up bits of Reese's in the granola bars instead of just raisins and boring peanut butter. Experiment.

Maybe you're crafty. If so, check out your local craft store. Sometimes they'll do weekly projects where you learn all sorts of new things. I've made scrapbooks, posters, bracelets, paintings, collages, etc. You can find so much in craft stores. I make my own soap and candles after learning how to do it from a box from a craft store.

Now I'm going to assume here, but if you're reading then you probably like books. Unless someone forced you to read my book. I hope not. I prefer the idea of you willing reading my book. Not using it as a torture device. Anyways, if you like books, then logically the best place to be is the library. It's another place that they sometimes accept volunteers and summer jobs. I used to hate the library because they were always a year behind and they didn't have all of the new books that just came out that I wanted to read. But I've been reading the Mrs. Pollifax series lately, and those books are like 40 years old or something. I know they didn't have cell phones and you didn't need a passport to travel to Mexico or Canada then. And I have fallen in love with those books. So just because a book is new, does not mean that the old ones are bad.

I hope that gives you guys some ideas. I'll try and put up pictures of the animals up for adoption tomorrow, but I've got to warn you, some animals get adopted fast and I won't have updated in time for you guys to get a shot at them.

Happy summer!

K.K. Cook

Summer Buzz

     How is everyone else's summer going? Hopefully good. I know I always look forward to the summer. A nice time to just chill and relax. And attempt to get a tan (Irish heritage makes it hard to be anything but snow white). But really summer is just about taking a break and having fun.
     Most people back home probably go to the beach or the pool for their summer. Sometimes I wish my summer was that laid back. Not that I don't like my summers, they just usually end up... rushed. I have the majority of my family living in England, so I usually go there to visit them.
     One of my brothers also lives there and he's still in school. English schools get out end of July-ish, whereas schools back home get out early June. That in between time I normally end up writing and reading. Then we get to the family visits and the small vacation time.
     In just a few days I'm going back home to America. I haven't seen my baby brother in over two months so I can't to get back! School's starting back up again at the end of August. I'm going to be home schooled this year so I have no idea when I'll be restarting school.It should be fun though. My awesome cousin Patrick is going to be home schooled with me (he was home schooled last year as well). Patrick's only eight, but he is freaking awesome. If you met him you'd understand.

 He does talk a lot as well, as you might be able to imagine from this photo.

 He's going to be a heart breaker when he's older. Only he's too sweet and kind to hurt any girls.

See more pictures of Patrick at http://agencyprotalent.com/patrickdonovan#patrick And yes, he is a model/actor.

Hope everyone has been having a wonderful summer!

K.K. Cook