Happy Monday, y’all!  How were your weekends?  Who watched the Superbowl?  I mostly just read.  We had a fun weekend, though.  My mom is in town visiting for a week and the kids are over the moon.  Speaking of the moon, you can probably hear the excited screams even from up there.  Nana = rock star.  She arrived on Friday afternoon and so we’ve had an entire weekend of Nana fun, plus squeezing in our regularly planned activities.  On Saturday I took Peanut to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s – it. was. intense.  I came home with a sore throat from screaming things like “HOW WAS YOUR NEW YEAR’S?” and “LET’S HAVE COFFEE NEXT WEEK” at the other moms.  Peanut had a good time; she was apprehensive at first, as is her way, but she got into it by the end of the party and asked me if we could come back tomorrow.  (NO.)  On Sunday I had the First Down 5K on my calendar and my mom was up for an impromptu race (it was her second 5K!) so we had a good time taking walk breaks running.  I have a lot of work to do before I’ll be ready for the Parkway Classic this spring, though.  The rest of Sunday was spent hanging out, stapling my eyelids open so I could work while the kids napped, and reading my book (We Love You, Charlie Freeman) during the Superbowl.  And now we’re back to reality.  Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Reading.  After finishing The Making of a Marchioness last Monday night, I treated myself to one more comfort read – Pomfret Towers, which I enjoyed mightily – before turning back to my library stack.  Fortunately, I had plenty of good choices for Black History Month.  I started with one of Maya Angelou’s autobiographies – Mom & Me & Mom.  I’ve only read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and had no idea she was such a prolific memoirist.  Can’t wait to read more.  Mom was hauntingly lovely.  Then I switched over to a relatively new release, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, which I’d been saving for Black History Month.  Due to my hectic weekend, I’m not far into it yet, but I am liking the beginning very much.

Watching.  Something other than Rock the Park this week!  Well, first of all, there was the Superbowl.  I never really watch – just enjoy the anthems and halftime entertainment, and some of the more big-budget commercials.  Other than that – since my mom is in town, we’re re-watching The Crown so she can see it.  It’s very much her style of show (she’s a big Downton fan, too) but she doesn’t have Netflix at home.  And I’ve also seen a video about baby orangutans, and another about baby elephants playing in a nature preserve, more times than I can count this week.  Certain short people are really into the zoo these days.

Listening.  I have a little over an hour to go in the money management course I’ve been listening to on Audible.  Some parts of it are more helpful to me than other parts.  (For example, the part about whether it’s really a smart investment to obtain higher education?  After college and law school, I’m afraid that ship has sailed.)  But the retirement planning lecture, the lecture on mortgages, and the lectures on investment basics have all been really informative.  Still, I’m getting a bit sick of investment talk and ready to get back to Middlemarch and/or my podcatcher.

Making.  Nothing at all.  Well, I’ve made lots of work memos this week, and one very fiddly Excel spreadsheet.

Blogging.  Bookish week coming up for you!  On Wednesday I have my reading round-up for January (a bit late, but I had to squeeze those lists in last week) and on Friday, some recommendations for Black History Month reading.  Check back!

Loving.  Running a 5K (my first in awhile!) with my mom.  We were both untrained and slow, but it was fun.  We enjoyed the scenery (Washington Monument!) and griping about the wind and the distance, and seeing the kids waving us on gave us a good kick at the finish line.  I need to run more – I always miss it when I take a long break, and it’s so hard to pick it back up again.  Much better to just be in the habit!

Asking.  What are you reading/watching/loving this week?