Month: June 2019

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Two Views of Nationals Park

Who’s got #natitude?  We do!  As I’ve mentioned, I’m on a mission to make my family into Washington Nationals fans.  Steve is ride-or-die for the New York Yankees, but he’s open to a solid second-favorite team (and the Nats almost never play the Yanks).  Peanut couldn’t be less fussed about sportsball if she tried, but I’ve faced down challenges before.  And Nugget is a blank slate when it comes to baseball (he’s already committed to the Buffalo football and hockey teams, poor fella).  So I feel like there’s room to play here.

For Phase One of my mission, I dragged the family down to the Ballpark Boathouse for a morning of exploring the Anacostia River by way of our paddles, and checking out the view of Nationals Park from the water.

Super cool.  Let’s go, Nats!

Yes, Mom, that is a very nice ballpark.  Can we go home and watch cartoons now?

It was crazy windy on the river – you can’t tell from this picture, but paddling into the wind we were almost stationary.  Definitely a good workout for the crazy kayaking adventure Steve and I have planned.  (About which: more soon.)

Definitely a home run on the water.

A few weeks later, we got a different view of Nationals Park – the inside view!  For Phase Two… that is, for Father’s Day, I bought Steve four tickets to an afternoon game against the Atlanta Braves.  He was surprised and delighted.  The tickets were for last Sunday, so we packed up the dugout and headed to the game.

First things first: food!  I was looking forward to trying out Field of Greens, but it was so far away from our seats that other options seemed better.  Nugget and I grabbed veggie dogs from Nats Dogs, and Peanut and Steve picked up chicken tenders and fries next door.  Eaten while wearing a hooded towel version of Screech, the Nats’ mascot, because obviously.  (It was a free kids’ promotion, and I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of my decision to buy tickets for this particular game.)

Dessert was cotton candy, obviously.

Nugget had a blue goatee and blue hands.

Also a blue tongue.  And got blue goop all over the Buffalo Bills jersey he insisted on wearing.  Luckily I’d stopped in the fan shop and bought him his own little Nats jersey, so he had something clean to change into.  Were Peanut and Nugget the cutest little fans at the game?  Yes, yes they were.

Nugget brought his red baseball glove in case of fly balls, but none of them made it up to the nosebleed seats.  Maybe next time!

In any Nats game, the Presidents’ Race is a highlight.  Giant-headed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt teeter around the field and sometimes fall down, which is everyone’s favorite.  This time, it was a relay race – Washington and Jefferson against Lincoln and Roosevelt.

Teddy anchored his team to victory, and George was MAD.  Look at him waving his arms angrily at Thomas.  Run faster next time, Tom.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!  Go Nats!

What’s your favorite baseball team?  If you don’t have one, would you consider rooting for the Nats?

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Garden Notes 2019: Birds and Bolting

Look at this!  Leaves, leaves everywhere.  Whether they’re actually productive is an open question, but hey!  Leaves!

So far, the tomato plants seem to be pretty much untouched – touch wood and spritz a few extra pumps of squirrel repellant for good measure.  But something’s been digging in both tomato pots.  I found two identical depressions, one in each pot, in about the same spot – nowhere near the tomato plants themselves.  Weird.  My first inclination was to blame the squirrels, but…

There are other possible culprits.

The tomatoes are ripening gradually.  I’m getting more than I got last year, although the leaves still seem really small to me.  It hasn’t been as good as the legendary tomato haul of 2017, but what is?

The rest of the garden is a bit of a mixed bag.  The raspberries are pretty much over.  It was fun picking them, although the bush hasn’t produced all that much.  I wonder if it’d do better in the ground?  Unfortunately that’s not an option – at least, not as long as I’m an urban gardener.  We’re staying here one more year, so I’ll have to consider whether I want to plant berries again next year or wait until I have actual ground to put them in.  As for the rest of the plants, the mint is pretty prolific; I think I’m going to be drying a bunch for tea this year.  The basil is doing decently well, and my next door neighbor, Zoya, gave me some lemon balm to plant too.  I put it in with the tomatoes and basil last weekend, so we’ll see.

The lettuces, sadly, have bolted.  Zoya and I tasted them and they’re sappy and bitter – blech.  I think I’m going to pull them up and replant the pots with more herbs.  How have I managed to ruin lettuce?  Don’t answer that question.

As for the blueberries, they’re pretty much over too.  I got a few, mostly plucked on my way in or out of the house, but the birds took most of them.  Obviously, I should have netted them off.  I knew this.  But darnit, birds!  There are TWO bird feeders full of delicious Audubon birdseed on the other side of the house.  Go eat that!

On the other side of the garden gate, the lavender is growing nicely.  I keep the pot right by the gate for luck and blessings upon the house.

I checked pretty much everything off my June to-do list last weekend – went around weeding the patio bricks, fed the plants, pruned and rearranged, while Nugget and Zoya played construction site.

Speaking of Zoya, I’ve got some new additions to my garden – both gifts from her garden next door.  A pot of mixed succulents, and a trumpet jade I’m hoping will take root.  Best neighbor ever.

The other item on my garden agenda for June was to celebrate Litha with a candle-lighting in the garden at sunset.  I made some herb chains, cleansed and blessed some water, and did a blessing for the garden last Friday – midsummer.

I also did a meditation and tuned into some of the nature energy swirling around.  It was peaceful and empowering, except for the part when a woman started screaming obscenities at her boyfriend (she wasn’t impressed with his parking skills).  Ah, life in the city garden.  (Happy – belated – Litha, by the way!)

And that’s June in my garden!  Some successes and some failures, as always.  But I’m learning, little by little.  How’s your garden looking these days?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 24, 2019)

Hi, friends.  I’m staring down the barrel of what is going to be a very busy and stressful week around these parts – three filings due Friday, plus meetings out of the office and finishing up a bunch of things that I have let linger and can’t let linger anymore.  It’s a good thing I have the quintessential summer weekend to look back on!  On Saturday morning, I took Nugget to get his summer haircut, then we stopped by Duck Donuts to surprise Daddy and Peanut.  We barely had time to shovel the donuts down before we were out the door again, headed to Butler’s Orchard in Maryland to meet up with friends for blueberry-picking.  (We’ve picked blueberries and apples with these friends a few times, so we all took a vote and decided we are the official pick-your-own crew.)  On Sunday, we headed into the city around midday for Daddy’s Father’s Day gift – a baseball game at Nationals Park!  I’m on a mission to make the family into Nats fans.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids ate an alarming amount of ballpark food, Teddy Roosevelt won the Presidents’ Race, and we got to clap and cheer for the hometown team, which is always good times.  We didn’t make it through the whole game (and the Nats lost, anyway) but it was a successful outing and we’ll definitely do it again.  The weekend wasn’t all home runs and blueberry pie – there was a lot of bickering, some yelling, and the house is trashed.  Still, I think what I’m going to remember is the smiles on the kids’ faces as they plucked sun-warmed blueberries from the bush and stuffed their faces with ballpark cotton candy.

Reading.  The reading continues to be slow without Metro commutes.  (I’m trying to remember how I kept up my reading pace in Buffalo, where I always drove to work.  I’ve gotten used to my cushy public transportation ride.)  I spent most of the week over Unmarriageable – two P&P adaptations in a month, who dis?  The weekend was devoted to Dear Pen Pal as I continue my re-read of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series.  (So delightful.)  I have a couple of pressing library deadlines this week, so next up will be The Library Book.  Looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about…

Watching.  Well, I watched several innings of the Nationals vs. the Braves this weekend, which was a lot of fun.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy going to the ballpark.  Steve and I agreed that we need to get a babysitter and go back for an evening game one of these days.

Listening.  I’ve made it through all of my back episodes of Speak Up for the Ocean Blue!  I’d downloaded about fifty of them when I first found the podcast, so this is an achievement.  Still on an ocean kick, I’m now working my way through my (much shorter) backlog of A-Pod…Cast for Killer Whales, and after that, will probably move on to Whale Scout.  I’m definitely on a whale jag, but what else is new?

Moving.  Much less movement this past week, unfortunately.  Work was really crazy as I tried to make progress on a few pressing things, and that got in the way of gym time and weekday runs.  I have another busy week coming up, but am hoping to still make time for at least a few workouts.  I did get in some gardening, which is a surprisingly good workout – especially those weeding squats.

Making.  Not much making, either – unsurprising for such a busy week.  I didn’t do any food prep or, really, even any cooking.  I did make herb chains for a garden blessing at sunset on Litha, so that’s something!

Blogging.  Lots of fun stuff coming up for you!  I’ve got a garden update on Wednesday and a fun ballpark recap on Friday.  Next week, since it’s a holiday week, I’m skipping the usual Monday reading post and rounding up my Fourth of July pictures through the years – there has been some growing!  Wonder what kind of picture I’ll get this year?  As for the rest of the week, business as usual – I’ll have my June reading round-up on Wednesday and my garden tasks for July on Friday.

Loving.  One of my favorite Instagram follows is London-based blogger Miranda Mills, who shares beautifully curated posts on her Miranda’s Notebook and Miranda’s Bookcase feeds.  She’s currently on vacation in NYC and has made it her mission to find every charming and/or floral corner of the city.  I love New York City, but I’ve been there so many times that I sometimes forget about its charms.  Seeing it through Miranda’s eyes has been such a treat, and has me craving a weekend trip up to the Big Apple.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Lakeside

Some time ago, Steve and I were debating the eternal question – if we were ever able to buy a second home, would we want a beach house or a lake house?  Steve voted beach.  I could go either way, but I think I’d probably tilt toward lake.  I just love a good lake.  Don’t you?  Anyway, as summer is rolling in, I’ve got to thinking about all of the lakes I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy.

Most definitively, the Great Sacandaga Lake, where my parents have their camp.  This lake was a fixture of my childhood – sailing, paddling and windsurfing on its friendly waters, jumping off the dock and the boat deck with my brother and cousins, and lighting bonfires on the beach every Labor Day.

Nearby, lovely Lake George – I have more memories here as a teenager and twentysomething – strolling the village and the docks first with my friend Jessica (once we popped into a junk shop and picked up a bumper sticker that said “Honk if you love Sweden!” and her parents scratched their heads the whole way home about why so many cars were honking – duh, everyone loves Sweden) and in my twenties, with my high school BFF Jenn and our mutual pal Seth (a college classmate of mine and co-worker of Seth’s).  We’ve spent a few evenings kicked back at Seth’s lake house while he grilled up a dinner and the next door neighbors fired their pirate cannon at the tourists on the Minne-ha-ha.

Another childhood fixture – postage-stamp-sized Mirror Lake, around which the village of Lake Placid nestles.  Most of my memories are from winter – skating and sledding on the frozen lake – but I watched my rugrats splash and play in the lake’s clear waters last summer.

Five minutes from Mirror Lake, there’s gleaming Lake Placid.  Once my dad and I launched kayaks near the village and paddled all the way to the back slope of Whiteface Mountain, then popped open a bottle of sauvignon blanc and floated around with plastic wine glasses in hand.  (We should do that again.)

My mom’s childhood memories are all of Lake Minnewaska.  Her stories of visiting a lakeside resort here with her parents – a resort that burned down decades ago – are so Dirty Dancing it makes me want to tango.

Nowadays, my most frequented lake is probably Lake Burke.  We’re usually to be found on the hiking trails circumnavigating the lake, but this summer I’d like to get out on the water.

Although I like my lakes small enough to sail across in a Flying Scot, I did live in the Great Lakes region for three years, not far from the shores of mighty Lake Erie.  The views never got old.

And speaking of Great Lakes views, my habit of treating myself to sunrise runs while on business travel served me well when I watched the day roll in over Lake Michigan while in Chicago for a traditional labor law workshop.

But the greatest lake of all has to be Cayuga Lake, with its waves of blue just downhill from the greatest university in the world – obviously – Cornell.  (Honorable mention to sweet Beebe Lake, with its excellent running trails.)

And I haven’t even mentioned the lakes I’ve been lucky enough to dip a toe into on my travels – like the most famous lake of all, Scotland’s Loch Ness.  (I didn’t see Nessie.)

And postcard-perfect, unspoiled Derwentwater in – where else? – the Lake District.  Just looking at this picture is making me want to go back to Keswick.

Clearly, I love a good lake.  And this summer I’m hoping to add Lake Washington and Lake Union to my list.  Of all the things that are quintessentially summer, a clear lake tops the list, right?

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Lit Bits, Volume IV

Random thoughts about books and reading…

I currently have 36 books checked out of the library.  The maximum that a patron can check out at any one time is 50, so I am well over halfway to the max.  The pile is so tall that the North Carolina whelk shell that lives on top of my library checkouts is just barely clearing the underside of the kitchen cabinet.  Now, just to be clear: this is not all my doing.  The kids have contributed to the excessive library stack.  But – still.  Ridiculous.  (N.B. This is no longer true, as of the date of publication of this post.  It’s way down now.  But it was true when I started the post, and is still ridiculous.)

It’s funny how a book that you thought was just a good time can surprise you with a message.  A few weeks after finishing Time’s Convert, I was driving along on the highway (taking the kids to the Udvar-Hazy Center to meet up with a school friend) and the thought popped into my head that Time’s Convert had a lot to do with consent.  A vampire novel could easily slip across an invisible line, but Deborah Harkness’s vampires are very concerned with consent.  They don’t always seek it, especially while hunting, but the more modern vampires in particular are very uncomfortable with the idea of “feeding” without it.  There is a scene in which Miriam produces a woman to feed Phoebe, and Phoebe finds the whole scene distressing.  She finally mumbles “thank you” and the woman – who is perfectly aware of why she’s there and what Phoebe is supposed to be doing – congratulates Miriam on how well-brought-up her vampire “daughter” is.  And when the vampires actually create a new one of their number, they have a long speech they go through to make sure the human in question knows exactly what they are getting into and is 100% on board.  (It doesn’t always work, because what human actually believes they are about to be made into a vampire?  But they try.)  I found it fascinating that the vampires were worried about consent, and tried to obtain it, and I wish that they always did.  I’m still not sure that Harkness handled the issue as well as I would have liked, but it was just interesting that a book I thought was purely a fun read could have prompted this line of thinking weeks later.

Apparently everyone knows I have a problem?  My BFF, Rebecca, recently urged me (again) to read a book by her favorite author, Susan Fletcher.  She also said: “I was going to loan you my copy, but I decided if I did, you’d never read it.  I figured I’d let you get it from the library instead, and then maybe you’ll actually read it.”  Point taken.  Point taken.  I’m a library junkie.  And I guess everyone knows.

Steve and I watched the adaptation of Good Omens together.  As expected, he loved it.  But he still hasn’t read the book.  I keep pressing it on him and telling him he’d love it (and to be fair, I don’t push books on him unless I’m sure he would really enjoy them; no one is telling him to read Cranford).  He says he’ll get to it after he’s done with his current Patrick Rothfuss doorstopper.  So – next year sometime?  I’m on record as saying I don’t mind being married to a non-reader, because HELLO, more bookshelf space for me.  But still, I want him to read the books I want him to read.  Is that normal?  I’m a complicated lady.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 17, 2019)

Happy new week, and happy Father’s Day to all the dads, grandads, pet dads, uncles, father figures, kindly neighbors, and every good guy in our lives (and in your lives)!  I hope all of my friends had a wonderful weekend celebrating the men in their lives.  We did, but it was a busy one – as is usual for us.  Like every Saturday, we were up and out the door early – this time, to a birthday party at a new-to-us park in Arlington, with a splash pad.  There were about seven different parties going on at the same time, so obviously the park thought it would be a good time to turn off the splash pad for maintenance.  #fail.  The kids had fun anyway!  I stuck around for about an hour, had a coffee, and chatted with some of the other kindergarten rising first grade (!!!) moms, then left Steve and the kids at the park and rushed off to my yoga studio for a two hour Ayurveda workshop.  I left with lots of information, some good ideas, and the instructor’s business card.  No sooner had I gotten home, slammed a lunch of green soup and French fries (#balance), than we were off again, this time to summer camp orientation.  The kids met their counselors, checked out their summer classrooms, and made mud pies in the giant sand pit.  It’s going to be a good summer.

On Sunday, we attempted to let Daddy sleep in a little, but he rolled downstairs at about 7:00 – oh, well.  We had strawberry pancake batter all mixed up and ready for the griddle – prepped by the kids and me, with spiritual assistance from Rachael Ray – and we served him up a sweet breakfast.  After that, Daddy wanted a low-key day around the neighborhood and some time to “do man things,” so I ran interference while he went to Home Depot ALL ALONE, which he seemed to enjoy, and then filled up the propane and cleaned the grill.  The rest of the day was devoted to wandering the neighborhood – we hit the playground and the pizza joint, and I took Nugget to the library to get him out of Steve’s hair later in the afternoon – and then we fired up the grill for the first time since moving into this house (embarrassing, I know).  For the first grilling, we went with Beyond burgers on brioche buns – YES.  MOAR THIS.  Happy day, Daddy.  We hope we made you feel as special as you make us feel all year long.

Reading.  Another week with no commutes, but I managed to finish three books and start a fourth – not bad!  I’m prioritizing reading as long as I’m Metro-less, so don’t expect much in the “watching” category.  I wrapped up The River in the Sky early in the week, then spent most of the weekday reading hours over Our Castle by the Sea – not sure why it took me awhile, since it’s a fairly short YA book, but there you have it.  For as long as it took me to get through Our Castle by the Sea, that’s how quickly I slammed through 1939: The Last Season – really enjoyed that one.  Finished it up on Sunday morning and turned to Unmarriageable, which I’ve heard is wonderful.  I’ve just started it; can’t wait to dig in.

Watching.  No screens, other than repeated viewings of my #1SecondEveryday video as it grows longer and longer.  (And I’m clipping my videos to two seconds, not one, so it’s about a minute long already not quite a month into the project.)  Other than that – lots of watching, but not watching on screens.  I watched my littles splash each other in the bathtub, run around the playground, and do a really weird dance outside the fire station.  But that was all Life.

Listening.  As happened the last time Metro was under construction (a few years ago now) while my reading has taken a hit my listening is off the charts.  I finished up my back episodes of Vegetarian Zen (except a couple of holiday back episodes I’m saving) and am now working my way through my backlog of Speak Up for the Ocean Blue episodes.  I’m as far back as January of this year, so chugging along.

Moving.  Lots of movement this week!  A couple of runs, a couple of gym days, and a midweek yoga class with my friend Kim.  (Not planned, but we will be yoga-ing together on Wednesdays intentionally for the rest of the summer, and I couldn’t be happier about that.)

Making.  Strawberry pancakes, grilled veggie burgers, and lots of memories, as usual.

Blogging.  Y’all, I have NO IDEA what I am going to write to you about this week.  I usually have posts planned in advance, even if not written and scheduled, but I have a completely blank week ahead.  I guess we’ll all be surprised…

Loving.  The dads, of course!  This weekend was all about them, and I always enjoy this celebration because I have a good one.  Steve is the best father I’ve ever met.  While I try not to wait all year to tell him that we appreciate everything he does, it’s really fun to make a big deal out of celebrating him.  And my kids are also lucky enough to have the world’s most fun-loving grandad.  Pretty good haul they got in the father department, right?

Asking.  What are you reading this week?  What should I blog about?

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The Summer List 2019

Summerrrrrrrrrr!  I wait all year for this season.  Bring on the heat, bring on the humidity, bring on summer thunderstorms and campfires and late sunsets and lemonade and (vegan) s’mores and tie-dye day at summer camp and lightening bugs (fireflies, lampyridae…) and sand-between-the-toes and splashing in the pool and paddling the Potomac and Belmont Bay and… I could go on.  I love basically everything about summer, and last year’s weather was such a bust that I’m determined this year will make up for it.  It has to.  I want to do everything, of course, but I’m holding myself to ten things and here they are:

  • The BIG one: spend five days on a kayaking eco-tour around the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State.  I can’t wait!
  • The other BIG one: take a family vacation to a new-to-us spot on the Outer Banks.
  • Build up my running base, and sign up for a fall 5K.
  • Take the family to a Washington Nationals game.  #natitude
  • Make mini pizzas on the grill.
  • Read from my own shelves.
  • Celebrate Litha by candlelight in the garden.
  • Go back to Shenandoah National Park and hike a new trail.
  • Make homemade popsicles.  (This is basically mandatory if you’ve seen Nugget’s popsicle dance.)
  • Help Peanut host her girlfriends for a “reading party” in a neighborhood park.

I could think of so many more, but the above should make a good start toward a pretty epic summer, don’t you think?  Now, pass me a vegan s’more.

What’s on your summer to-do list?

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The Spring List 2019: Final Accounting

I’m on record as not loving spring.  Mud, allergies, sheets of rain – meh.  Give me the hazy hot days of summer, thank you very much.  But for better or for worse, spring is one fourth of the seasons of the year, so I do try to make the best of it with all the spring activities (at least, when I can breathe).  I think we did spring right this year – daffodil picking, hiking the bluebell trail, enjoying the blossoms in the neighborhood.  I didn’t check every item off my list (read on) but I did enough that I can say this was not a lost season.  In spring, that’s really all I’m looking for.

  • A MUST: hike the Bluebell Loop Trail at Bull Run during peak week.  Done!  This is indeed a must, and we’ve made a point of getting to Bull Run to hike the bluebell trail every spring for the past three years.  I had a brief moment of panic when the park reported on Facebook that a freak storm had destroyed all the bluebells, but then I realized that it was April 1st, and I could breathe again.
  • Help Peanut and Nugget hunt for eggs in the churchyard after a joyous Easter service.  Hmmm – I’m calling this one-third done.  We did go to church on Easter, and Nugget did hunt for eggs in the courtyard, but I didn’t get to enjoy watching him because I was dragging his sister home as she finished off a massive temper tantrum that started toward the end of the service.  Keeping it real, folks.

  • Host my mother-in-law, my parents and our dear family friends on successive weekends in April.  Done!  Grandma visited Easter weekend (she missed the above excitement, because she was already on her flight back to Florida, lucky duck) and the following weekend my parents and our family friends stopped by for an overnight on their way back north after spending a month on Hilton Head Island (must be nice, amirite).  It was such a treat to see all those beloved faces two weekends in a row.

  • Stock up on the gear that Steve and I will need for our kayaking trip to the San Juan Islands this summer.  My REI dividends just arrived and will be put to good use!  Done!  We set up a date night and booked a gear fitting appointment, and came home laden with shopping bags.  The dividends were indeed put to good use, and I’m hoping that we also get lots of good use out of our purchases over the years.  (Steve came home with the Nemo sleeping bag he’s testing out in the picture above – can’t you tell how happy and contented he is?  It’s stuffed with real down, so wasn’t for me, but I ended up with a cozy Marmot sleeping bag stuffed with recycled synthetic down and am snug as a bug.)

  • Related: get into eco-touring shape with regular gym-going during the week and weekend paddling as soon as the boathouse opens.  Done!  I’ve been hitting the gym a few days a week, running on other days, and we’ve made it out for two mornings of paddling, including a windy day on the Anacostia last weekend – that was a workout indeed.  I don’t know if I’ll ever feel really in eco-touring shape, but I’m doing my best.
  • Read Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell.  Didn’t.  Darn library deadlines.

  • Clear the winter detritus off the back patio, stock up on herbs, veggies and fruit (!!!) and get my container garden started for the season.  Done!  The garden is planted and is producing already – wahoo!  Check in with me throughout the summer for gardening updates.
  • Get my dad’s old camera fixed and cleaned, and start shooting film.  Another one I’m calling one-third done.  I took the camera in for an estimate and it took the store three weeks to get back to me – frustrating – and then the estimate was so expensive I’m now not sure I want to go forward.  I really want to get the camera fixed, and I really want to shoot film, so I might see if they will do a payment plan.  Otherwise, this item may appear again on the fall list.  After all the gear we needed for our upcoming trip, I’m just not in the mood to make another big purchase right now.
  • Listen to the new Decemberists limited edition EP, Traveling On, on my record player by an open window.  Haven’t done this as of press time, but I still might.  My windows are open most nights right now.  So… maybe Saturday night?

  • Take a photography walk with my dSLR through my neighborhood once the blossoms are out.  Three-quarters done?  I didn’t bust out the dSLR, but I did take a photography walk and captured the redbud blossoms – my favorite! – blooming all over Old Town.  Get a load of that purple!  I probably could have gotten better snaps with my actual camera, but the iPhone worked fine.

Not too shabby!  Like I said, not being a major spring lover, I had to motivate myself a little bit to do these things, and obviously not all of them got done.  But I did feel like I had a nice season.  Even at its best, for me, spring is just the opening act – I’m a summer girl at heart.  The mercury is rising every day, and so is my mood, and Litha is still ahead of us – check in with me on Friday for my summer list!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 10, 2019)

Does it have to be Monday?  I feel like I need an extra day – but I always say that, don’t I?  We had a crazy busy weekend, even busier than usual.  It started early, with a date night on Thursday night – first to our favorite wine bar and French bistro, and then followed up with a gear fitting appointment at REI.  Because that’s how we date night around here.  Friday was the kids’ last day of school for the year; how is it over already?  It was all I could do not to cry – they’ve both had such a wonderful experience this year.  Being a room mom in Peanut’s classroom was an experience I wouldn’t have traded for the world – hope I can do it for Nugget too.  I dropped them off, but I missed out on pickup because they had an early dismissal and I was on the phone literally (paging Chris Traeger) all. freaking. day.  Had a work crisis – not of my own making, at least – and while my office ended up the heroes at the end of the day, it was a stressful few hours.  I really needed to work this weekend, too, since I didn’t actually get done anything I’d planned to work on at the end of the week, thanks to said crisis – but it was not to be.

We were up and out the door early on Saturday.  Having spent the latter part of the week pouring over weather forecasts (as usual) and comparing the radar against our calendars, we figured out that if we wanted to get out on the water, we had to make it happen first thing.  So we trundled over to the Ballpark Boathouse with all of our gear and spent a little under an hour paddling around Nats Park.  You can’t tell from the picture, but it was insanely windy – to the point that, paddling into the wind, we pretty much weren’t going anywhere.  But we got a good workout, so that’s something!  Headed home, slammed some lunch, and got ready for a farewell party for a little girl who has been in Peanut’s class the past few years – her family was here on a temporary work assignment for four years, and they’re headed home to Beijing tomorrow.  They’ve been such a huge part of our kindergarten family and they’re going to be so missed.  Hugs were exchanged, tears were shed, and rash promises to visit them in China were made.  (Actually, I think that would be really cool.)  On Sunday, we did more running around.  Steve needed to work, after losing out on Friday billing in order to shepherd the kids while I sorted out my work crisis (which was much appreciated).  So I took Nugget out to run errands – Target, Whole Foods, and the library – and to a bowling birthday party for one of his preschool pals.  Nugget, it turns out, is something of a bowling prodigy.  This was his second time bowling, and he won the game, beat my high score, and invented a library of stylish dinosaur-themed bowling moves, complete with sound effects.  The boy can bring it, what can I say?

Reading.  For a busy week with no metro commuting, it was a decent reading week.  I finished Eligible juuuuuuust in time to slip it in Peanut’s bag on the last day of school.  (It didn’t come home, so I’m hoping that means that Ms. Shaw got her book back.)  Didn’t love it, but as I told Steve: I had to read it, because a teacher told me to.  Next up was Burnout, which I heard about on the Sorta Awesome podcast, and – wow.  Those ladies weren’t kidding.  I think I need my own copy, because I really wanted to highlight.  I finished it on Sunday morning and picked up The River in the Sky, which I bought a few weeks ago from the new indie bookstore in Old Town (swoon!).  I’ve never read any Clive James, and I’m going to have to seek out more, because The River in the Sky is lovely.

Watching.  The only watching this week was the kindergarten class movie – twice.  I attended the “world premiere” in Ms. Shaw and Ms. Lynch’s classroom on Wednesday afternoon, and then watched it at home with Steve after the link was emailed out to all the parents.  There’s a less-than-flattering picture of me at the class Halloween party, but other than that, it’s adorable.

Listening.  I’m trying to get all caught up on at least one podcast, and I’ve decided to work my way through my backlist of Vegetarian Zen first, so that’s mainly what I’ve been doing.  That, and listening to the song Your Ghost, by the Decemberists, on repeat.  Because Nugget informed me that he wants to “Listen to Oh Your Ghost a hundred times and memorize it.”  Okay, buddy, you got it.

Making.  Lots of food-related items this week.  A fridge full of batch-cooked goodies, including sliced cukes and peppers, roasted asparagus and baby bella mushrooms, chickpea vegetable curry, and a huge batch of jasmine rice and green lentils to serve as the base for a week’s worth of bowl dinners.  And most exciting of all, herbed sourdough crackers, made with some of my discard starter.  They were stupid easy, and came out fabulously.  And yes, I am that lady who makes homemade crackers now.  Come at me, bruh.

Blogging.  Listy McListerson here this week – I have the final accounting from my spring list on Wednesday, and the summer list coming atcha on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  I think I probably use this one at least once a month, but I really love my community here – and I was reminded of that, a little painfully, this weekend when we had to say goodbye to cherished friends as they prepare to return home to China.  One of the reasons we moved home after our three years in Buffalo was that we were having an impossibly hard time finding a community there.  We felt isolated and alone.  When we moved back, I figured we’d fall back into our old social circles – and we did, to a large extent.  The friends we’d left behind welcomed us back with open arms.  But what I wasn’t expecting was this huge network of new friends that we found through the kids’ school.  Being in their company has felt like a big exhale of a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.  And I’m sending lots of love with the T family as they take the next step in their journey.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Garden Tasks: June 2019

The garden is bursting into bloom now – a nice thing about living in a relatively warm area; we have a lovely long growing season.  (Remind me that I’ve said this in another month or so, when I’m moaning about the sun burning all of my plants to a crisp.)  Having a small patio garden, I am never going to have an especially long task list, but here’s what I’ve got on the agenda for June:

  • Stay on top of watering daily – except for the days when we have those summer thunderstorms!
  • On the same note, spray my squirrel repellant every chance I get.
  • Make a final decision about whether I’m going to use squirrel netting to keep pests away from my blueberries and tomatoes, and if I decide to go for it, get the supplies and get set up.
  • Replace my bird feeder (AGAIN) – the birds just aren’t interested in the one I got, so I’m going back to the previous model.
  • Keep up with weeding the front walk and in between the bricks on the back patio.
  • Dig up the lavender (which didn’t take) and plant a few more perennials in the front flower bed – chamomile, maybe?
  • Check for ripe produce, and HARVEST!

What’s on your garden to-do list for June?