Monday, Monday, Monday.  Again.  Honestly, the days of the week don’t really mean anything to me anymore.  Saturday and Sunday are just the days I work at home in my pajamas instead of putting on my black pants and going to the office.  Do I even need to tell you I had weekend work?  Y’all probably just assume it at this point and it would be a fair assumption.  Next weekend, I’m determined to take both days off.  This weekend, I worked a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday – par for the course.  I was catching up from a particularly hectic week that saw me rushing off to Massachusetts on a last-minute, one-day business trip on Thursday – I was happy to go and it was a good trip, but it threw the week into a tailspin.  On Saturday I had to run into the office for about an hour, so Steve and the kids accompanied me downtown and went to the Natural History Museum while I quickly did the tasks I had to be in the office for.  I walked over to meet them, but by the time I got through the massive line into the museum, they were ready to leave.  I got to see the T-Rex skeleton and… that was it.  Total bust.  We had a better afternoon.  Once I wrapped up naptime work and the kids were up, we all went out for a bike ride and to the playground.  On the way, we stopped by the fire station (naturally) and Nugget got to ride his bike directly into the firehouse.  Mind blown!  Sunday morning, we headed down to Mount Vernon to hike the nature trail at the estate.  There were a few intrepid flowers poking up through the soil, and one flowering vine – spring is coming.  I worked during naptime, of course, and we finished the weekend with a walk/bike to the playground in the afternoon, then crashed on the couch in the evening.  I’m really, really burnt out and I need a few days of solid relaxation.  It doesn’t seem to be in the cards, though, so I’m taking what I can get.

Reading.  It was a better reading week, at least.  I finally finished Half of a Yellow Sun, which was gorgeous and heart-wrenching, as Adichie’s books always are.  (I’m almost through her bibliography, but I need to take breaks as I go, because the books are intense.)  After that, I wanted to pull something else from the library stack, so I grabbed Kathleen Collins’ slim volume of short stories, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?, and plowed through it over a couple of days.  Short stories aren’t usually my jam, but I enjoyed these – just got lost in the writing and didn’t concern myself too much with plot or characters.  Finally, after a long and stressful week at work, I really needed some mental cocoa (trademarking that phrase, what do you think?) and I was behind on the #MissReadalong on Instagram, so I picked up Winter in Thrush Green.  Three months into the readalong, I am just falling in love with this town and these characters.

Watching.  Back to the usual this week – not much.  I’ve been taking a bit of a screen detox since the Olympics ended.  Steve talked me into an episode of Victoria on Saturday, though, and it was a good one.  We hollered with laughter at Victoria jumping up and down on the couch, and at her attempt to watch Albert give a speech to a London abolitionists’ meeting (“I’m here… incognito.” — “Pardon me, ma’am, but… your disguise is not impenetrable.”) – ha!  And Steve almost banished me from the living room when the Duke of Sussex appeared onscreen and I jumped up from the couch and shouted, “OMG, MR. COLLINS!  IT’S MR. COLLINS!”

Listening.  Sort of all over the place again.  Podcasts, the Forlorn Strangers, show tunes – the usual suspects.  Nothing jumps out as especially memorable.  The Book Riot Podcast‘s discussion on #MeToo hitting children’s publishing, I guess – an important conversation, but sad and tiring.

Moving.  Well, the biggest movement was on Thursday when I flew from Washington, D.C. to Providence, Rhode Island, drove into Massachusetts for all-day meetings, drove back to Providence and flew home – all in one day.  That was a long day.  Otherwise – nothing much to report.  The aforementioned hike on Sunday morning – that was nice.  I’m wearing my Fitbit and pretty consistently hitting 10,000 steps per day, which is not surprising given how many times I walk either to the kitchen to get juice for people, or to the copier to scan documents.

Blogging.  I failed you last week – I am sorry.  I promised my February reading list on Friday and I didn’t deliver.  It’s coming this Wednesday instead.  Will that work?  And then on Friday, I am celebrating my little puppy who is about to turn three.  How is that possible?  Hold me.

Loving.  I promise this weekly post isn’t going to become a litany of kid quotes, but I have to share with you something that Peanut said recently, because it has been putting a smile on my face more consistently than pretty much anything else.  Earlier this week, she was sitting at the breakfast table while I was making her toast and griping about something (probably about how overwhelmed I am at the moment) and she, sparkly little sage that she is, said calmly, “Don’t worry, Mommy.  No matter how bad things get, it’s nothing a little glitter can’t solve.”  Ain’t that the truth?

Asking.  What are you reading this week?