Good morning from Virginia’s Blue Ridge!  I’m on a business trip to a tiny town near Roanoke and currently extremely relieved that it isn’t snowing like it was last week.  (Just as the trees were bursting into bloom all over NoVA, the practice assistant to the partner who assigned me the trip emailed me a picture of “what the weather is doing” in the town that was to be my destination: blizzard conditions.  Yipes!  But it was seventy degrees when I rolled into town last night, so I think I dodged a bullet.)  Unfortunately I have such a busy schedule that I don’t think I’m going to have time to squeeze in any hiking – I didn’t even bother to pack my boots.

Other than dreading my business trip – mainly because of the punishing schedule that was circulated on Friday – it was a pretty nice weekend.  Steve had to work again, so the kids and I mainly bummed around the house on Saturday.  We attempted to ride bikes to the playground, but had to turn around because nothing I did was going to convince them to ride the same speed, or even close enough together to allow me to keep them both safe from cars.  In the afternoon, Nugget and I made playground and library runs – pretty standard stuff.  On Sunday, we were all set to head out for a hike at Mason Neck, my favorite Virginia state park, when I realized that Nugget had a rescheduled play date – oops!  Plans quickly changed and Peanut delightedly curled up with a book and a blanket while Nugget and I headed to his friend’s house.  We had a lovely morning, walked to the playground near his buddy’s house, and went out for Mexican food.  In the afternoon, there was more playground-going, and I worked through most of my garden to-do list for March.  And then my workweek got started early as I climbed into my car and shoved off for my business trip.

Reading.  Evidently, I had a very Royals-heavy reading week last week.  From Monday through Thursday, I was immersed in Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days that Changed Her Life, the new biography from Lucy Worsley.  I thought it was such a creative way to approach a biography and I enjoyed every minute.  Next I turned to Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, not because I am on some kind of royalty bender (at least, no more than usual) but because of library deadlines.  It’s also a very creative approach to biography, but I’m not sure I am enjoying it quite as much as I enjoyed Queen Victoria.  I’m still reading the Margaret biography as of press time; I did bring my next book (The Glass Ocean) with me, but I’m not sure I will have time to finish with Margaret and start anything new on this trip; between the schedule while I am here, and trying to keep up with my other work, I’m expecting to be buried in my laptop the whole time.

Watching.  Nothing – I’m still recovering from my epic week of watching the entire second season of The Crown with my mom over the course of five days.  I did watch parts of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse again while the kids were glued to it, but I’ve now seen it so many times I don’t really need to pay attention.  (It’s such a good movie.)

Listening.  Lots of podcasts, as usual.  I actually had a lovely drive out to the mountains yesterday evening, listening to Tea or Books? and the new-ish Slightly Foxed Podcast.  I’d been saving both for a long car ride – when I listen to podcasts during my commutes, it’s in snatches of a few minutes here and a few minutes there, while waiting for trains, standing in the coffee line, etc., and I wanted to play these episodes straight through.  They made the trip speed by.

Making.  Nothing at all.  I’d hoped to make a loaf of sourdough and a batch of olive focaccia at some point this weekend, but that didn’t happen.  I’d also hoped to make folded laundry and a clean bedroom, but that didn’t happen either.

Blogging.  It’s a bookish week!  On Wednesday I have two more books to review for The Classics Club – I actually read them months ago, but was saving the review until I could do the whole series in one shot.  It occurred to me that would be an absurdly long post, so I decided to break them out instead and do them two at a time.  On Friday, I’m sharing a book that I recently read and couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out if I’d read before.  Book deja vu?

Loving.  With spring springing everywhere, my bird feeder has been an especially hot spot lately.  I have a squirrel-proof variety from National Audubon Society (the squirrel-proof part is totally necessary in my neighborhood – they’re EVERYWHERE) and I love to sit by the window and watch the birds flitting between the tree, the fence, and the feeder.  So far we’ve mostly had our run-of-the-mill sparrows and wrens, but I’m always hoping for a cardinal or two.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?