Hello, friends, it’s that time again.  To get the preliminaries over with – I am so not ready for Monday.  Am I ever?  We had a nice weekend; we spent much of it outdoors, which always makes for a winner.  On Saturday, we drove out to Great Falls for a hike – not realizing that it was the day of the North Face Challenge and the park was swarming with runners.  I never mind seeing other faces on the trail, though, and we had fun encouraging the runners and shouting things like “Great job!” and “Looking strong!” as they sloshed through the mud puddles.  After Saturday naps, we headed out again – first for an indie bookstore crawl to celebrate #IndependentBookstoreDay.  We are lucky enough to live within a short walk from a used bookstore and a children’s bookstore, and we visited both.  Steve and I left the used bookstore with purchases (Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot for him and The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton for her) and the kids added to the stack at the children’s bookstore.  We finished the day with pizzas at our favorite local wood-fired pizza joint – perfect.  On Sunday we did more hiking, this time in the neighborhood – at Jones Point Park.  (Two days, two smaller NPS sites – look at us go.)  The downsides to the weekend, lest you think it was flawless, were: tantrums by both kids (when does that stop?) and lots of squabbling and fisticuffs (the kids again), and a vicious pollen attack that had me sneezing and rubbing my eyes all of Sunday.

Reading.  I was a bit slower at reading this week than usual – I’m not sure why.  It wasn’t because the books weren’t good – as you can see, they were.  I finished Life in the Garden midweek and then turned my attention to Northanger Abbey, which was my first book club (!!!!!) book.  It was my choice, and I have read it more times than I can count – I just hope the other girls liked it.  When we had our kickoff meeting last month, we talked about what books we most enjoy and I was the only classic lit fan in the group, so I am a little bit nervous about this choice.  (We all agreed that we’re looking forward to reading outside our comfort zones, and Northanger was greeted with general enthusiasm, so here’s hoping.)  Our next meeting is Wednesday, so I’ll find out then if my pick was a success or if they’re kicking me out of the group.

Watching.  Literally the only thing I have watched all week was this Offa Rex video – over and over (and over!) again.  It is so gorgeous, I can’t stop.

Listening.  All over the place.  Some Decemberists, some Offa Rex, some show tunes, some podcasts (The Mom Hour and Tea or Books?, specifically).

Moving.  I broke 15,000 steps on my Fitbit this weekend – between hiking at Great Falls in the morning and walking all over the neighborhood in the afternoon on Saturday – and earned the “Urban boot badge,” whatever that is.  Where my weekend warriors at?

Blogging.  On Wednesday, I’ll have my April booklist for you – lots of reading from my own shelf this month.  And a healthy portion of poetry!  And on Friday, just for fun, one picture from each of the first ten hikes I’ve notched toward the #52HikeChallenge2018.

Loving.  I have gotten into the habit of lighting a candle each evening when I sit down with my book – just one candle.  (Because most of my candles are scented and I don’t need a bunch of different aromas competing with one another when I am trying to concentrate on reading.)  It started as a way to try to make a dent in my candle stash (I’m on a mission to use up as many things as I can before we eventually move out of this house) but it’s turned into a delight that I look forward to all day long.  It’s such a cozy habit and I love that warm flickering light next to me as I turn pages and muse over characters.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?