It’s Monday… and it’s morning in America! Y’all, the relief around here is palpable. Our house – and D.C. in general – has a festival atmosphere right now, at the news that sanity and reason are heading back to the White House, and that we will soon have our first female Vice President! (Anyone else think of that line from Gilmore Girls, when the incomparable Paris Geller tries to persuade Rory to run for student government: “Every little girl dreams of being Vice President.” – just me?) We were at the rec center pool for the kids’ swim lessons when the news finally hit. It was all I could do not to take a running leap into the deep end for sheer joy. The shock (we actually did it!) wore off and the news started to sink in that afternoon; we had some folks over – my friend Helena and her little guy, Nugget’s best bud from his old school – and we couldn’t stop talking about it. We roasted marshmallows and just let ourselves feel happy. It was glorious.

I didn’t go down to the raucous parties at Black Lives Matter Plaza – although I have several friends who did – but we did continue the celebration in D.C. on Sunday, at the National Zoo. I saw lots of Biden/Harris t-shirts and face masks! The stated purpose of the zoo trip was to reward Nugget for cooperating in cleaning out the playroom. But the real purpose was to use my birthday camera again. I got some epic pictures of the animals. Came home intending to spend the afternoon folding laundry, but instead spent it puttering around, baking focaccia, flipping through cookbooks and trying to convince my new phone to turn on (no joy, will have to take it back to the Verizon store today – maybe they can get it to work). Can’t believe it’s another workweek.

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Reading. It was a bit of a slow reading week, because I was either glued to election coverage, or doomscrolling and staring anxiously into space, most evenings. But I finished High Wages early in the week and loved it; review coming next week. And over the weekend, I knocked off Mrs Moreau’s Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names on audio – read by the author – which was a total delight. Finally, a re-read: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, for The Classics Club. Hoping very much that I’ll be able to focus on a book again soon.

Watching. Lots of watching this week – mostly CNN election coverage. (Although, CNN: why Rick Santorum? Does he serve a purpose other than to cause the other commentators to make horrified faces?) Other than that: some Bake-Off, some Mandalorian, some Rock the Park (we’ve wrapped up our second watch-through of the series) and a tiny bit of Continent 7 (yes, again, we are Antarctica junkies around here). Steve got a new TV as an early birthday present – I know, I know, I thought it was ridiculous too, but it’s the only thing he wanted and I’ve been resisting it for over a year, and he promised me he’d make it last a minimum of ten years, and there’s a pandemic going on and he just needed a little joy. I think his suggestion that we re-watch Continent 7 was to convince me that I did the right thing by capitulating. (He claims the picture is much more awesome than our old TV. It looks the same to me, but I am glad he’s happy.)

Listening. Finished Mrs Moreau’s Warbler on audio, as noted above, then went back to podcasts – a couple of episodes of The Mom Hour and one episode of Another Mother Runner. I did a big podcatcher cleanout while sitting on the bleachers at the rec center on Saturday (waiting for Peanut to be done with her swim class) and deleted everything I don’t plan to listen to soon. Podcatcher’s still out of control, but slightly less so?

Moving. Not the best week for movement. I was stressed at work and over the election, and all week I kept promising myself a stress-relieving run and then not delivering. Poor form, self. I finally got out on Saturday morning – before swim lessons and our friend date; it was a busy day – and banged out 6.2 for the virtual Marine Corps 10K. It was not my best run. Legs felt dead and lungs were screaming the entire time – ugh. But I met two nice men on the trail – I think they were about my parents’ age? – when I stopped to stretch. One of them was wearing a Wineglass Marathon t-shirt and I mentioned that was my bucket list marathon; turned out they had both run Wineglass multiple times, were from upstate New York – Binghamton and Corning, respectively – and went to Cornell. Small world!

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Making. I had a lot of fun in the kitchen, especially over the weekend. On Saturday, I took my first crack at golumpki, a traditional Polish stuffed cabbage dish that I remember my grandmother making for Sunday dinners (and serving in these very bowls). My vegetarian version wasn’t quite like Grandmother’s, but I think I caught the essence of the thing? On Sunday I made a pot of slow-simmered beans (served over steamed spinach) and rosemary focaccia, and felt a bit like a lady Nigel Slater.

Blogging. Thinking about politics so much lately brought back memories of a summer internship I had, so I’m sharing some of those on Wednesday. And on Friday, another installment in my exurb diaries. Check in with me then!

Loving. There can only be one thing for me this week! I am LOVING the news of our new POTUS-elect and VPOTUS-elect. There’s so much work to do (I had a literal nightmare about Mitch McConnell on Saturday night) but this weekend was for celebrating. I can’t decide the best part… I’ve admired Joe Biden for years now, since back before he was President Obama’s VP. And the idea of sanity, decency, science, reason, being back in the White House – those of us living in the “reality-based community” have been waiting too long. But I think the very best might be Madam Vice President-elect Harris! I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried during her victory speech on Saturday night. The suffragette white pantsuit! The shoutout to her mother! The promise that while she may be the first woman to occupy the office, she will not be the last! This is a moment for women everywhere. My heart was bursting.

Asking. What are you reading this week?