Hello new week, and hello new MONTH! March used to be my least favorite month of the year – just a lot of mud, slush, and grim weather. But since 2015, March has been all about my sweet little guy and the joy and fun he brings to the family: happy birthday month, Nugget! He’s had a birthday countdown going since January and he’s very excited to be down to the final inning. My feelings are a little more mixed. How is he turning six already?

Anyway – it was a good, if not particularly restful, weekend. On Saturday, we were hoping to have a playdate with my law school friend, Carly, and her two munchkins. We’d tried to get together a few weeks ago, but the weather (ice storms) prevented. The forecast for this weekend was almost as bad, calling for rain, rain, and more rain. But mid-Saturday morning, Carly texted and said it had stopped raining near her and was supposed to stay dry, if cold and gloomy, for the rest of the day. Did I want to get together? I did. Carly and her kiddos drove out to my neck of the woods this time – her husband stayed home to supervise some renovations – and we passed a lovely afternoon first in my backyard, while the kids played, and then on a nearby playground. By around 3:00 even the clouds had burned off, and there were blue skies and warm sunshine, a welcome surprise. The kids ran around the playground while Carly and I chatted as hard as we could through our masks.

If Saturday was mostly given over to fun, Sunday was for productivity. The house had gotten pretty gross (#keepingitreal) between muddy boots, breakfast Cheerio casualties, scraps of art projects and just the detritus of four people living here 24-7. While the rest of the family was content with it, I couldn’t stand it anymore – the mess was stressing me out. I spent three hours cleaning like a maniac: folding and putting away multiple loads of laundry; sweeping and mopping the entire ground floor; deep-cleaning the kitchen and all three bathrooms. I was done by 2:00 p.m. and had the afternoon to relax in a (mostly) clean house. There really is nothing like that feeling, is there? The rest of the afternoon – quiet. I roasted a chicken and two sheet pans of veggies for dinner (+ leftovers), read Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill to Peanut, and sipped a Dogfish Head Namaste witbier. Finished the weekend curled up with my book; a good way to go into another hectic week.

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Reading. Well! Some reading, all right. I closed out February with a banner week in books. The Woods in Winter, which I really enjoyed, occupied the beginning part of the week, followed by three more in quick succession – The Gardener’s Year, a slim but charming book; Terms and Conditions, which has been languishing on my TBR for far too long; and the very funny Pigeon Pie. I finished the weekend with Few Eggs and No Oranges, a World War II Blitz diary I’ve long been wanting to pick up. So far, it’s really wonderful.

Watching. I got the remote on Saturday, and thought it would be fun to watch The Durrells in Corfu, which I’ve been wanting to see. I figured the kids would enjoy Gerry and his menagerie. They did, but the older siblings made the show Not Appropriate For Children, and I had to turn it off – blah. Hopefully Steve and I can watch it together, but what with The Right Stuff, The Crown, and others that we are running behind on watching, it might be awhile. Other than my abandoned attempt to watch The Durrells, it was the usual Rick Steves all week. Can’t complain, although travel shows are not helping my extreme wanderlust.

Listening. I was on a bookish podcast bender and blew through several back episodes of Shedunnit this week, plus a Q&A episode of The Mother Runner Podcast while running (of course), a recent Sorta Awesome on morning routines for the Myers-Briggs types (fun, but not surprising – as an INFP, I like a slow morning with a book, big shock) and a couple of The Mom Hour episodes. The usual suspects.

Moving. Cleaning is my cardio! Or it felt that way this weekend. There was some running and some walking this week as well, but not enough strength training.

Making. A clean house (are you tired of reading about my clean house yet?) and a Sunday roast chicken, and I am feeling very pleasantly domestic about it.

Blogging. Recaps, recaps, get your recaps here! February’s reading round-up on Wednesday and outdoor report on Friday.

Loving. On a whim, I ordered this initial mug from Anthropologie, and I have been drinking my morning tea out of it all week. I know what you’re going to say: don’t you have enough tea mugs? (One can never have enough tea mugs.) My response to that is: (1) I have wanted an initial mug for years, but have always hated the design on every “J” mug I came across, until this one, finally, and (2) okay, fine, I don’t really need more mugs, but it’s a pandemic and this inexpensive little luxury is bringing me some joy right now, which I need. We all need.

Asking. What are you reading this week?