This week's writerly news, my new favorite song, + more

Our poolside friend on Wednesday.

Summer vacation is upon us. For me, that means triple-digit heat (the other day it was 109), my daughters (now officially a freshman, sophomore, and junior in high school) and I using the pool a lot, tons of photo-taking, pool-side reading, more food preparation since everyone's home all day (thank God for fruit in season right now) recovering from 8th grade graduation festivities (while preparing for my youngest' own party next week), and a whole lot of other stuff. 

So... I don't have a lot to share. In fact, my brain is on duh mode, writing-wise, which I'm finding to be very frustrating. I actually thought about whether I should share this or not, but decided that all writers know about times when you seriously want to do anything BUT write, and readers deserve to know it's not all butterflies and happy songs when you write all year long. Honestly, I think my brain just needs a break. Which stinks, because I have things I want to get done, but when you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it.

I've even been missing my fun twitter chats, because it's TOO BUSY ROUND THESE PARTS. (One positive sidenote: I am getting quite tan from the many outdoor festivities. Hoorah!)

Anyway. The lack of posts =  proof of summer life. (I hadn't missed a Waiting on Wednesday for a long time either until this week, so that was weird.) Of course the #JLBgivesawayaDVD of Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is going, and for those of you waiting on bookmarks, hopefully by the end of next week Hafsah will have had a chance to work on stuff, so I can order them. :)

Since I don't have anything exciting to share from the writerly aspect, here are a few noteworthy things that have recently grabbed my attention:

OVERJOYED by Bastille (acapella) is my new favorite song (I need to be able to buy the version of this NOW). I guarantee you will listen to this one over and over. 

Magic Mountain's Colossus Roller Coaster Closing in August (When I hear the word, Colossus, I always think, whiplash. Curious to see what they replace it with.)

Escape-Artist Horse, "Houdini"  This guy is the cutest.

#30daysofbookstagrams (If you're not following me and would like to, click the Instagram icon at the top right corner of my blog.) Here's June's list (feel free to join in at any time!):

This upcoming Sunday is Father's Day, so for anyone looking for ideas, here are a few ideas I've found to come in handy (remember, you can always change word gifts to Dad or Love or Father, et cetera).

Also, tomorrow night (Saturday), at 9 EST, my #nerdherd pals Mandie and Tabitha and I are watching The Proposal together on Twitter. So... if you want to go see a movie with some pals but don't want to change out of your PJs, feel free to join the convo at #nerdherdmovienight :D I'll bring the chocolate!

And, that's about it. Have a blessed weekend, everybody!