Happy New Year, my friends!  I know we’re all excited for a clean slate and a brand new page on the calendar.  I ended the year in a burst of productivity – spending chunks of the long weekend making major unpacking progress in our bedroom (one of the two rooms in the house – the dining room being the other – that are still in really rough shape) and on our 2016 family yearbook.  I always mean to get ahead of that project early in the year, and I never do – oh, well.  It’s a good winter afternoon activity.  We squeezed in fun as well: a few walks to the waterfront, a morning petting the farm animals at Mount Vernon, and our traditional New Year’s Eve fondue.  For the last weekend of the year, it was a good mix of family fun and actually checking things off of my to-do list (which you know I love to do).  So, pretty darn good.

Reading.  Not the most productive reading weekend, although I did almost completely catch up on my bookish podcasts (more on that to come).  I ended up abandoning Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, because it just wasn’t doing it for me.  (Don’t know if it’s the book, me, or my kid – but the method wasn’t for us.)  Toward the end of the week, I read Princesses Behaving Badly, which was a lot of fun and such a different approach to history.  Being in the trenches of the Princess Wars myself, I liked reading about some non-Disney royalty.  Next I picked up The Wangs vs. the World, which I’m enjoying but which is slow going because I keep putting it down to work on house chores.  That’s not the fault of the book – that one’s on me.  It’s due back to the library tomorrow, so I’ll have to get a move on.  Next up, I think, will be The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead.

Watching.  Steve and I fired up a new show on New Year’s Eve and we are now totally obsessed.  After hearing Rebecca mention “Rock the Park” on the All the Books! podcast, I knew we had to check it out.  We are loving it, cracking jokes about the hosts and drinking in the gorgeous scenery.  So far, we’ve watched the episodes on Katmai, Glacier Bay (my favorite thus far), North Cascades and Olympic.  Of course, it’s giving us serious travel itches, but we have at least three national parks on our 2017 agenda, so we’ll get the chance to rock some parks this year.

Listening.  As I mentioned above, I’ve almost completely cleaned out my podcatcher, thanks to all the time spent on unpacking this weekend.  Best episode I’ve listened to recently has to have been the “Drunk Booksellers” episode featuring Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness of “Books on the Nightstand” fame.  I’m cranking through episodes and looking forward to dropping back in on my Audible app – I’ve got several credits to spend and still about twenty hours of Middlemarch to listen to.  My earbuds are busy.

Making.  Lots and lots and lots of unpacking progress!  At the beginning of the weekend, the three large windows in my bedroom were almost completely blocked by boxes.  Now 1.5 of them are free and there is so much more light in there – it feels great to have some sunlight streaming in!  I’m on a roll and can barely convince myself to stop and get my other house projects done.

Blogging.  I might be excited for a fresh slate and a new year, but this week on the blog I’m still stuck in the past.  Two recaps coming for you – December’s reading on Wednesday, and my traditional look back at 2016 on Friday.  January’s always packed with new year’s content – including a review of goals from the previous year, setting goals and picking a word for the upcoming year, and my three-part year in reading series.  I have some more good content planned as well, so do keep checking in.

Asking.  Did you have a good New Year’s?