Happy Thanksgiving week, friends!  If you’re traveling this week, I wish you a safe, speedy and seamless journey.  We’re looking forward to celebrations later in the week, but there are a few work and school days to get through first.  And there’s recovery after a busy weekend!  I was very glad to see Friday’s arrival after another busy week of late nights.  We planned to celebrate Steve’s birthday this weekend – poor guy was stuck with a lame Tuesday birthday this year – and he decided that for his birthday activity, he wanted to take the kids to the National Zoo.  What a guy, right?  I reminded him that they’re not actually in charge of what we do, but he decided that he’d rather not listen to the whining, so he gave up his right to a birthday hike.  He was rewarded, though, because we caught the lion in the act of this spectacular yawn.  (I took a whole progression of snaps, so stay tuned.)  On Sunday, Nugget asked to go to the Natural History Museum and despite having a disgusting and pretty painful cough, I put on my Mom pants and took him.  Peanut wasn’t in the mood and Steve wanted to stay home, so it ended up being a mother-son outing.  We took the Metro, saw the dinosaurs and the giant squid, and ate lunch under an enormous shark.  Basically, you could be excused for thinking that Nugget, not Steve, was the birthday boy this weekend.

Reading.  Pretty busy and pacey reading week.  On Monday I finished up The Testaments – ripped right through it.  Then I spent most of the rest of the week over Magic Flutes, which disappointed me (even though I knew going in that it was not Ibbotson’s best).  I spent the weekend with Debo Devonshire, also known as Deborah Mitford, youngest of the most famous set of six sisters (and Tom!) of the twentieth century.  Also dipped in and out of Poems of Gratitude – getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Watching.  We had a family movie night on Saturday evening and watched Ice Age – somehow I’d never seen it.  Very cute and funny.  I also watched the second episode of Miranda Mills’ new booktube channel, on bookish dilemmas.

Listening.  A little of this, a little of that.  The highlight was listening to the Book Riot podcast bonus episode on The Testaments and the Handmaid’s Tale phenomenon.  I expected Jeff and Rebecca to deliver with well-considered and insightful commentary on the cultural moment that these books are having, and they did.  The other highlight of the week was downloading the original recording of Rhapsody in Blue, my favorite piece of instrumental music ever, played by Gershwin himself.  That was $1.49 extremely well spent.

Making.  Not making much this weekend – almost no cooking, as we’re trying to eat through the contents of our fridge before Thanksgiving mania descends; the only thing I made in the kitchen was a quick batch of homemade applesauce, to use up some apples that looked beautiful but turned out to be a little too grainy to eat out of hand.  Homemade applesauce never lasts long in our house, so it will be well out of the way before the big day.  I did a few rows of a seed stitch scarf I’m making – at the rate I’m going, I should be done with it just in time for the first July heat wave of 2022.

Blogging.  It’s Thanksgiving central here this week!  I have a list of small gratitudes for you on Wednesday and would love to hear what little things you’re grateful for this season.  And on Friday, a seasonal poem that I recently read for the first time.  Check in with me then, and have a lovely holiday!

Loving.  I’ve been working on drinking through some of my tea stash – I know, what else is new? – and lately I’ve been working on a box of Kusmi peppermint tea in lovely muslin tea bags.  It’s delicious and tastes just right for these chilly pre-holiday nights.  (Next up: Harney & Sons “White Christmas” tea, which I’ve been saving for December.)

Asking.  What are you reading this week?