Happy Monday, friends!  This is the last week of school for my munchkins – we are limping to the finish line here.  Last week was a busy one, with the preschool class picnic on Tuesday, the kindergarten class picnic on Wednesday, and field day (for kindergarten through fifth grade) on Friday – somehow, in there, I also managed to work.  So I was exhausted by Friday night, and definitely ready for a rejuvenating weekend – which I can’t exactly say that I had, either.  On Saturday, we were out the door early to meet a crew from my office at Huntley Meadows Park for Clean the Bay Day.  We spent two hours tramping up and down a streambed, and I think we pulled several pounds of trash from the park.  A job well done, but exhausting at the same time.  On Saturday afternoon, Nugget and I drove down to our favorite garden center for a new bird feeder – since the birds seem to be singularly unimpressed with our green one, we went back to the red one we had before.  Hoping for better results.  (If we don’t see the birds back at the feeder soon, I’m going to start to think it’s the birdseed instead, but that wouldn’t make sense because I’ve bought the same birdseed that I always get.)  On Sunday, Steve had promised the kids a trip to the zoo, so off we went.  It was mostly uneventful, but I did get a super-cool action shot of a ring-tailed lemur in mid-leap.  Sunday afternoon, Nugget and I had a birthday party to attend at a nearby nature center.  The little dude had a great time going on a nature walk and watching an animal presentation, and I had a great time chatting with the other parents at the party.  Definitely a successful weekend, but not an especially restful one.

Reading.  Somehow, despite a busy week of trying to squeeze a full week’s worth of work into a four-day week with three school events and no metro commutes, I managed to finish three books and start another.  How?  I wrapped up Digital Minimalism on the playground on Memorial Day, then spent most of the week over The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding, which wasn’t earth-shattering but which was solidly enjoyable.  Over Friday and Saturday I blazed through Much Ado About Anne – those Mother-Daughter book club books always go fast for me, and they’re such a sweet escape from the daily grind.  Finally, I turned to Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld’s retelling of Pride and Prejudice for the Austen Project.  I am decidedly ambivalent about it – I haven’t been a huge fan of any of the prior Austen Project books, and I think I might be the only thirtysomething woman in the world who is kind of meh on Curtis Sittenfeld in general – but Peanut’s teacher pressed her own copy into my hands, and now the clock is ticking.  I have to give it back to her by the last day of school, and that’s Friday.  (She hasn’t asked me for it, but I really don’t want to still have her book come summer.)  I’ve had it for months now, so it’s time to actually read it.  In my defense, she has had my copy of Where’d You Go, Bernadette – with the brilliant short story “Dear Mountain Room Parents” in the appendix – even longer.

Watching.  It’s here!  IT’S HEEEEEEEEERE!  Good Omens has finally dropped on Amazon Prime – I’ve been waiting for more than a year, and I am loving it.  Steve and I are three episodes in – so halfway through – and really enjoying it.  It’s pretty faithful to the books, with a couple of exceptions, and it’s absolutely hilarious.  Steve hasn’t read the book, so he has no idea what’s coming.  It’s almost as much fun watching him experience the story as it is watching the show itself.

Listening.  The usual diet of podcasts – mostly The Mom Hour and Vegetarian Zen – and Nugget and I also listened to some music in the car this week.  It’s definitely summer, because I fired up the Rusted Root CD, which is the quintessential summer music to my mind.  All I need is a couple of chords, and I’m back at Camp Little Notch, standing on the picnic tables at the swimming dock, belting out Send Me On My Way with Heidi, Sarah and Rose, or three Yuenglings in, dancing to Ecstasy live on Libe Slope on a hot May day at Cornell.  For some reason I rarely listen to Rusted Root when it’s cold out, but as soon as the mercury climbs over eighty it’s all I want to hear.  I would like to reach out my hand…

Making.  The usual, good stuff all around.  A cleaned-out fridge, a container full of sliced veg for the week, a pot of soup (pureed kale, chard and sweet potato in my homemade vegetable broth this time), and progress on the 2018 family yearbook.  And memories.  Always memories.

Moving.  Been an active week!  In addition to two hours of hiking through a streambed on Saturday (and hefting a heavy bag full of trash as I did so) and tramping around the zoo on Sunday, I got in one gym day (elliptical and legs) and two runs on my new favorite Braddock-to-King loop.  I’m feeling stronger and more motivated than I have in quite awhile.

Blogging.  May reading recap coming atcha on Wednesday – a good one for a long month – and June’s garden to-do list on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  My Bushel & Berry raspberries are ripening, a few every day, and man are they delicious!  I have to say – I am still giddy with the excitement of having raspberries in pots on my patio. Growing fruit has been on my garden bucket list for as long as I can remember, and I really didn’t think I’d be able to make that happen until we move, hopefully to a place with a yard, next year.  It’s been so cool to watch the raspberry bush grow and ripen, and I have high hopes for the blueberries.  Definitely bringing plenty of smiles to my patio.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?