Mondayyyyyyyy. Again! Why do they keep coming around like this? Every seven days, like clockwork. Ugh.

I am so burnt out, you guys. I really need a vacation. Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough – just a few days (more than two) without worrying about work would be welcome. This weekend wasn’t as heavily scheduled as the last few have been, but I’m still exhausted. It started out badly – on Friday (the 13th, of course, and in 2020, so obviously disaster) I was sitting at my computer finishing up some work for the week, when I noticed an acrid, electrical smell in the air. Moments later, the house was full of smoke. Steve and I rushed around unplugging every appliance we could, and eventually isolated the problem to the dishwasher, which had shorted out and come very close to catching fire (and, alarmingly – pun intended – the smoke detectors never went off even though the entire house was full of smoke). It still smells. Anyway – everyone is fine, we’re eating takeout off of paper plates until a new dishwasher arrives (hopefully today), but it wasn’t an auspicious way to begin the weekend, especially after what felt like a hard week.

So, Saturday! We had nothing on the agenda other than the kids’ swim lessons, which we’re doing every weekend from Halloween to almost-Christmas. I spent the rest of the day powering through some cleaning and organizing: folded four baskets of laundry and finished unpacking Steve’s and my bedroom. (It had been neglected for weeks; I finally decided that instead of spending more time trying to clean and organize for my two sloppy ungrateful kids, I would create a serene space for myself. I should do this more often.) On Sunday, I intended to clean up and organize the dining room, but I ended up loafing around for most of the day, other than a couple of hours of hiking in Rock Creek Park with a law school friend and her family. And that’s it – I could really use another day. Just one more full week of work, then Thanksgiving week. Let’s go.

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Reading. Good reading week! I finished The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – review coming next week – and then blazed through A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes novel. (I’ve read The Hound of the Baskervilles but have been wanting to go back and read the great detective’s origin story.) Ended the weekend curled up on the couch, snort-laughing at the descriptions of eccentric British expats headed for Africa in Roald Dahl’s memoir Going Solo.

Watching. Good watching, too! New episodes of The Great British Bake-Off and The Mandalorian, a few episodes of Continent 7 (we’re forcing the kids to re-watch it with us) and a few episodes of The Amazing Race (trying it out). Lots of dabbling in this and that.

Listening. Still working through my podcatcher. I am committed to getting through the old episodes I’ve been hoarding! A few episodes of both Sorta Awesome and The Mom Hour on invisible and emotional labor, self-care and self-comfort, were the highlights of the week.

Making. Basically nothing. I like to do my elaborate cooking – and a good amount of food prep – on the weekends, but without a working dishwasher I don’t have the energy. I did make a totally cleaned and unpacked bedroom, and I’m not sure what I am going to do now with all the mental space I had been devoting to hating my sleep space.

Moving. Not as much as I’d like, as usual – a few runs, a few neighborhood walks, and that Sunday hike. Better than nothing, but I need to prioritize my own need for movement a bit more this coming week. I feel so much better when I am outside, breathing fresh air and moving my feet.

Blogging. Bookish week coming atcha! On Wednesday I have a review of High Wages, which I drafted thinking it was on my Classics Club list and then realized that it’s actually not. Oh, well! Doesn’t mean I can’t spend ten paragraphs telling you how much I enjoyed it. Then on Friday, November’s themed reads. You know what I realized? The first themed reads post was November 2019. I can’t believe I’ve been writing those once a month for a year and haven’t run out of ideas yet! If anything, I think of more themes every day.

Loving. The Mandalorian! You guys. Why is it so good? Every week, when the latest episode drops, Steve and Nugget get all riled up and I get indulgent, and then end up just as enthralled as the boys. (Peanut pretends not to enjoy it, but I think she secretly does.) We jump out of our seats when Mando battles sand dragons or Imperial stormtroopers, and we laugh at Baby Yoda. Although every episode I wonder if Cara Dune will be returning to Team Mando – not yet. The people want more Cara Dune! And by “the people,” I mean me. This fall, every week has seemed harder than the last, and it’s been good to have something to look forward to every Friday.

Asking. What are you reading this week?