Hello, new week.  I need another day – anyone else?  I feel like that’s a recurring theme.  I was a ball of stress all last week, for reasons that are not important enough to get into here – just your run of the mill “overwhelmed at work” stuff.  Since I worked all last weekend (traveling for my firm’s all-attorney retreat) I didn’t get to do any of the things that I usually do to set myself up for a good week ahead – things like cleaning the fridge, prepping food for the week, dividing up the kids’ lunch snacks, packing my gym bag… Anyway, that’s all to say that when the weekend did come, I was totally drained.

On Saturday we were out the door early for our new activity – swim lessons.  I’ve been wanting to sign the kids up for swim classes for years now, and it’s really gotten to the point that they need to be able to swim, for safety’s sake.  They get lessons at summer camp, but we don’t keep it up during the school year – until now.  I signed them up for an eight week class at one of the local rec centers.  They were both nervous to start; Peanut shook the jitters off quickly and ended up having a great time, but Nugget just sat by the side of the pool and cried the entire time.  (And if you’re wondering: don’t the instructors have strategies to deal with a scared kid? – I was wondering the same thing.)  Hoping for a better lesson next week.  He actually loves the water and can dunk, kick, swim underwater – just for whatever reason, he was terrified this time.  On Saturday afternoon, Steve had to work, so I took the kids out to a nature center birthday party for one of Peanut’s friends.  Sunday was Peanut’s day.  We put her birthday party off until September, so that school friends could join us, since whenever we try to celebrate around her actual birthday – in August – someone is invariably on vacation.  Peanut requested Pump It Up, so that’s what we did.  There was bouncing, sliding, ball pit shenanigans, and dancing to “Old Town Road.”  (It’s in your head now!)  She had so much fun, and got so sugar-high, that she acted like a wild animal at home and got sent to bed early.  Ah, good times.

Reading.  Slow, but good, reading week.  I finished both Washington Black and Slightly Foxed No. 7 on Monday, then spent the rest of the workweek over Home Fires: The Story of the Women’s Institute in World War II.  (Published in the U.K. as Jambusters, if you have trouble finding one or the other at your library – or on Goodreads.)  It was slow going, but very interesting.  I finished Home Fires up on Sunday morning (and am now looking forward to watching the adaptation on Masterpiece) and switched gears completely – to Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft.  I love the girl-forward short story anthologies that Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe edit (this is the third one I’ve read) and I am ALWAYS here for witchcraft, so this was a clear winner for me from page one.  I’m trying to resist the temptation to tear through it in a day.

Listening.  Podcasts, per usual.  At the moment, I am on a parenting podcast jag and have been listening to back-to-back episodes of The Mom Hour.  Thinking a lot about Meagan and Sarah’s advice in the “Finding Time and Making Time” episode – especially Meagan’s sage comment that “If you’re not happy with your job, or with how your home looks, or with your health, you don’t have filler time.”  That is tough love, and to be honest I’m not sure I’m totally ready for it.  Because I have places where I’d like to make progress on the career, home and health fronts – all three – but I also need that time to decompress with a book; it’s essential self-care for me.  But after that episode I am considering more carefully how I am using my time.  There was a lot to think about in there.

Watching.  So much watching, guys!  Lots of Harry Potter, as the kids have fallen way down a rabbit hole and I am loving it.  I may have fallen, too.  Rumors that I was browsing “adult Luna Lovegood costumes” for Halloween are not exaggerated.  But most exciting of all, Steve and I had a date night on Thursday and went to see Downton Abbey.  LOVED.  IT.  Loved every moment!  I didn’t know much about the story line, other than the basic “King and Queen are coming to Downton!” overarching plot.  But I had read something – no spoilers – to the effect of that this movie wrapped up each character’s story arc with just the ending you would want for them – and I think that was true, although each of the characters was left with more journey to complete and their stories will live on.  It’s rare that a movie actually makes me cry with joy, but Downton Abbey did.

Moving.  Not as much as I would like, unfortunately.  I got in one run, an 86 degree scorcher on Wednesday.  Was hoping to squeeze in another quick run on Friday after court, but ended up having too much to do, and found myself glued to my laptop all afternoon.  Blah.  Hoping to get in some good sessions on the elliptical and with the weights at the gym this week.  I really need to loosen up and de-stress.

Blogging.  September reading round-up on Wednesday (so many good books last month!) and Seattle snaps on Friday.  I’m not sure if I’ll be sharing our entire weekend in Seattle in one big omnibus blog post or breaking it into two posts, so we’ll all be surprised together!

Loving.  My neighborhood!  I know I say this all the time, but – I have found such a loving, uplifting, positive little community here.  A couple of weeks ago, we had a scare with our house – smoke in the basement.  Because it originated near the natural gas line, the fire department took it very seriously and dispatched five fire trucks and an ambulance to our house.  (We were all outside and fine.)  At the end of the day, the house was fine – but when I posted a snap on Instagram of my four-year-old looking incredibly satisfied to see a fire truck AT! HIS! HOUSE!, my community jumped into action.  I got multiple messages from local friends asking if we needed anything, asking how they could help.  We didn’t need anything at all, but if it had been worse?  I know the community would have rallied around us, because that is what they’re like.  On the other end of the spectrum – last week, my friend Adrienne posted an “ask” on our neighborhood Facebook group, for 12- and 18-month boy clothes, which I have in spades.  I told her to come on over, and she stopped by on Friday afternoon and left with a bulging bag.  I was working from home and having an especially stressful day, and it was balm to the spirit to sit on the floor in Nugget’s room for half an hour, going through baby clothes and chatting with a friend.  For so long in Buffalo, I missed that sense of belonging to a place and to people, and now that I have it, it feels better than I could have imagined.  What started as a decluttering project – leading me to join a Buy Nothing group in my neighborhood – has turned into walking and coffee dates, a book club, friends to commute with on the Metro, and a bustling little gifting economy where people jump to fulfill one another’s needs.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?