Hey, guys.  Everyone have a good weekend?  Ours was pretty decent.  I was recovering from a long, busy week that included one day that can only be described as craptacular.  Sometimes everyone has a day like that, right?  So I was a little stressed out all weekend – both because of that lousy day, and because of the volume of other work I have to get done this upcoming week.  I put in several hours working this weekend and really needed to put in even more, but I was squeezing the work in around family activities – so I did what I could do.

We did have fun as a family this weekend.  On Saturday, we took our March hike – which was really more of a walk – through the National Arboretum.  Then on Sunday, while Steve took Nugget to the grocery store, Peanut and I went to a local nursery and bought a few plants for our container garden, then went home and planted them.  We were early, apparently – even in Virginia, the edible plants haven’t really hit the nurseries yet.  But we got lettuce, sugar snap peas, and rosemary – good for a start, and we will move some things around once the tomatoes, basil, and other herbs are available.  During the kids’ naptime on Sunday I snuck away for a belay certification course at a nearby rock gym – I used to be belay-certified and loved climbing back in college, and I’ve been wanting to get back to doing a few things for myself (more than just reading on the Metro, that is).  I felt a bit guilty – I should have been working – but I booked the class three months in advance, so I went for it.  I loved the rock gym and can’t wait to get back on the wall soon.

Reading.  Due to the aforementioned crazy-busy and super-stressful week, very little reading happened – at least in print form.  I did read Chronicle of a Death Foretold – all of 120 pages – in less than 24 hours.  But since then I have been picking things up and putting them down.  Tried Wanderlust, Rebecca Solnit’s history of walking – which I do very much want to read – but wasn’t in the right frame of mind for dense nonfiction, so I think I’m going to return it to the library and try again later.  Then I started A Circle of Quiet, finally, and have been dipping in and out, as it’s the kind of book that seems to be lending itself to bite-sized reading sessions.  Finally, I decided to just go for it and read the book that I really wanted to read at the moment – Barchester Towers.  It’s been on my list since I read The Warden last year, and a friend has been urging me to shove everything else aside and pick it up for weeks.  Hope it does the trick of staving off a reading slump, if one is in the offing.  (I’m not sure; I’m feeling a bit more blah about my library books than usual, but that could just be because my own books are looking so pretty and inviting on my shelves!)

Watching.  While I haven’t done much reading, I’ve done some great watching this week!  First of all, we’re now officially caught up on Rock the Park – I’m glad that we’ve seen it all (thus far – the show is still airing so we’ll have plenty of episodes to watch in the future) but I’ll miss spending twenty minutes every evening with Jack and Colton.  And the other great thing that we watched this week – Moana!  Peanut has been begging to see it – we didn’t go when it was in theaters, but there’s a very strong Disney princess culture at her school – and I wanted to see it too, if only for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s soundtrack.  So we bought the BluRay and digital copy and on Friday night we let Peanut stay up late and had a movie night with just her (which she loved) to watch it.  I absolutely loved it – and it’s been a long time since I said that about anything Disney.  As one Amazon reviewer said: “The parents don’t die!  And there’s no romance!”  The songs are great, and the animation – of the ocean and sea creatures in particular – is gorgeous.  I’m trying not to suggest it as often as I would like to, because I really don’t want to get sick of this one.

Listening.  I was driving all over creation in the beginning of the week (okay, just up to Maryland a few times) so I ended up churning through my audiobook – The More of Less, by Joshua Becker.  There were more practical tips in it than in the last book I read from him, or on his blog – so I appreciated that.  It was a pretty good listening experience, too.  I think I’m going to alternate between an audiobook and podcasts, at least for awhile, so it’s back to the podcatcher for me this week.  I only have three episodes in there, so I’ll probably be choosing another audiobook shortly.

Making.  Not much, unfortunately.  Lots of work product last week, and not a lot of anything else.  Not many dinners – which makes the Whole 30 challenging – and no house projects checked off the list or new craft projects, and no photo projects.  I am feeling a bit out of balance lately – hope that changes soon.  Even if I don’t have time for actual projects, it would be nice to have time to cook real food and finish unpacking my house, eight months after we moved.

Blogging.  Telling you about the National Arboretum on Wednesday, and my March reading round-up (it’s a long one) on Friday.  Check back!

Loving.  The new Brooks Greenlight running capris I bought – in fun orange, pink, yellow and blue print – at Pacers last weekend.  I wore them climbing on Sunday and they were so comfortable and cute.  They have a nice high, wide and secure waistband, which is very helpful for those of us who have had two C-sections.  Can’t wait to take them out for their actual purpose – I’m still deluding myself into thinking that I’m going to run the Parkway Classic in April, so I really need to get going.

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