Hello Monday, and hello new week – I guess.  This is the first week I’ll be putting in a full five days in the past three weeks and I can already feel that it’s gonna be a doozy.  The week before last, as you already know, I was out of the office for a few days attending my college reunion (plus one extra day in Richmond getting sworn into the Virginia Bar), and then last week, we spent the early part of the week still in New York – adding a few days onto our trip so that we could build in a little time with family, particularly with my brother and sister-in-law who were visiting from Colorado, and with my grandmother who recently had a stroke (but is miraculously much better).  The middle part of the week was full of travel, then I was running around and Steve was on a business trip on Thursday and Friday.  All that’s to say – we spent this weekend trying to be as low-key as possible, but I still don’t feel recovered and ready to jump back in the rat race.  Anywho.  Happy Father’s Day to the dads!  After all the travel and craziness of the past few weeks, Steve wanted a laid-back, relaxed weekend, so that’s what he got.  The only activity on the calendar for the weekend was Peanut’s camp orientation on Saturday afternoon.  Steve took her and they had a great time; I stayed home to officiate naptime and do some work.  On Sunday, we let Steve sleep in as long as he wanted; when he came downstairs the kids greeted him with sand art plaques they had made in camp last week, and I greeted him with “beer snob” glasses and fun new coasters.  He was pleased with all of his gifts!  We spent the morning relaxing at home as it got hotter and hotter outside – I did more work while the kiddos napped – and then Nugget woke up and wanted to go to the pool, which is open for the season, yahoo!  Peanut was still sacked out and Steve was in the middle of a game with friends, so Nugget and I snuck off for some water fun and we had the best time.  I’ll be clinging to those memories of splashing with my little dude as I plod through the week, I’m sure.

Reading.  Not much to report this week.  I wasn’t able to finish my re-read of The Turner House before book club (thanks, travel!) but still could partake in the discussion since I remembered it well from when I read it a couple of years ago.  And then it was back to Scenes of Clerical Life.  I’m nearly done now, after putting in quality time with the last of the three novellas on Sunday evening after the kiddos finally fell asleep.  Not sure what I’ll read next.  I am finding my bookish thoughts being pulled in all sorts of directions these days.  I do have a library book out with a hard deadline, so maybe that.

Watching.  Nothing noteworthy to report here.  We’re between shows at the moment, so we’re just meandering through re-runs of old favorites Parks and Recreation and The Crown and trying to stay decently up-to-date on Rock the Park.  But nothing jumps to mind as being especially interesting or new to share.

Listening.  Lots of podcasts.  I took a break from listening to much of anything on our travels, since the kids aren’t really podcast fans.  But now that we’re back, I’m almost caught up on Those Park Guys Podcast and I’m staying pretty updated on my book podcasts, too.  My brother told me about a podcast called Dirtbag Diaries that sounds great, so I may check that out (as if my Audible account wasn’t neglected enough as it is).

Blogging.  More Ithaca for you this week!  On Wednesday I have mini-recaps of three hikes from Reunion weekend comin’ atcha, and on Friday, Part II of the Reunion recap itself, since the first part was getting so absurdly long I had to break it up.  Yay, Cornell!

Loving.  Sibling time!  I’m still on a high from seeing my brother and sis-in-law last week.  Living so far apart is hard, and any time we get to spend together is such a special treat.  My heart felt like it was going to explode watching them with their niece and nephew – they love those kids so much, and I know they would give anything to see them more.  We had the best time sailing and hiking together on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Tuesday night Danielle and I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. (who even am I?) sipping wine and talking.  We are lucky enough to see a fair amount of my parents even though they are seven hours away – they make a huge effort to visit as much as they can – but Dan and Danielle have lives in Colorado, and we have lives in Virginia, that we can’t just take breaks from the way those lucky retired folks can.  So we make the most of the time we do have together.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?