Good (achoo!) morning! How were your (sniffle, sniffle, achoo!) weekends? I’d kind of like a do-over on mine. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad – I just felt out of sorts all weekend. I’m tired and a little frazzled; the pollen hit me hard on Sunday, Nugget had multiple injuries (the guy plays hard) and I’m unattractively jealous of Steve’s vaccine appointment. It’s brought out a really lovely color in me.

Last week was a whirlwind. I’ve vaguely hinted a few times now that I had something big on the burner, and this is what it is: I’m changing jobs. After spending most of my career in law firms, I’ve accepted a position in the legal department of a west-coast based tech giant. (I am not moving; although both the company and my team are based out west, I’ll be staying in northern Virginia and working from corporate offices here.) The past month has been an exhausting round of interviewing and overthinking everything, but I’ve made my decision and submitted my resignation to my current employer, and I’m finally starting to move out of having anxiety around this change, and into the realm of excitement. There’s a lot to do in my last two weeks of law firm life (maybe ever! although my boss did tell me, “If you don’t like it, just come on home” so I have options) and I’m staring down two weeks of feverish activity to get all of my cases in shape to be turned over to someone else. Two weeks to get it all in order, then a week off, and then – big changes ahead.

Anyway, the weekend was a tiny bit of a bust. I spent most of it stressing about transitioning out of firm life, angsting about whether I will ever get a vaccine appointment, and comforting Nugget through a string of calamities – a skinned knee on Friday; a spill off his bike on Saturday; a playdate in which his head seemed to be magnetically attracted to his little buddy’s on Sunday. The guy is covered in battle scars. And I attempted to read outside on Sunday morning; made it an hour before the pollen drove me indoors and I’ve been streaming from the eyes ever since. There were some good moments, though, I swear. Nugget had the best time at his tee-ball game on Friday afternoon; even did a jaunty little hop into home base on one run. (My Nats are also on a hot streak. It’s been a good week on the baseball front.) And in between head-crashing incidents, we had fun at Gravelly Point on Sunday, watching planes take off and land at National Airport with my law school BFF, Carly, and her family. Next weekend, though, I am hoping for a little more peace and quiet, and a little less blood and pollen.

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Reading. It was one of those weeks of very little activity during the workweek, followed by feverish page-turning on the weekend. On Friday, I finished up The Odyssey – enjoyed it much more than The Iliad; I’m not sure if that was the plot or the translation, but in any event, it was good fun. I needed something short after hundreds and hundreds of pages of Homer, though, so I ripped through another Candlestick Press – Ten Poems about Birds, this time. On Saturday, I decided – no shade to National Poetry Month at all, but I need a break from iambic pentameter. Brain candy was called for, and The Heir Affair, off my library stack, delivered. The sequel to The Royal We departed from the strict Will-and-Kate fanfiction plot, but was just as much of a page-turner as its predecessor; I tore through 460 page by Sunday morning. Took a brief break to finish reading Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill to Peanut, and then turned to another off the library stack – A Bite of the Apple: A Life with Books, Writers, and Virago. I can’t resist a book about books, and I am very interested in the story behind the Virago publishing house. Spent Sunday evening curled up with it, and that was time well spent.

Watching. Most of the week’s watching was devoted to a three-part Rick Steves series about European travel tips; this is torture, but we keep putting ourselves through it. Will we never learn? 2023, Alps or bust! And on Sunday evening Steve and I also watched our weekly episode of The Crown. We’re getting close to the end of the fourth season. What to watch next? I’m angling for a BritBox subscription. Anyone have one?

Listening. What with all the upheaval in my career, I have not really had the mental bandwidth for an audiobook – or even a podcast – in the past week. It’s been music or silence. Mostly music; mostly The New Pornographers (or “Carl and Neko” as I refer to them in front of the kids.) One song in particular has become my anthem of right now; I’ll share it on Friday.

Making. A first aid kit for the car. Can you believe I didn’t have one? Clearly, Calamity Joe needs me armed with bandages, antiseptic cream, and medicinal honey pads everywhere I go. Next up, I think I’m going to repurpose one of my Stasher bags for a travel-sized kit that I can throw in my tote whenever we go anywhere. I was caught flat-footed this weekend.

Moving. Just a chasing-after-kids kind of week. I’m really feeling the lack of more formal workouts. I need to get back on the roads and the weights stat. I say this every week.

Blogging. Themed Reads on Wednesday, and it’s a National Poetry Month special for you! And on Friday, I’m departing a little from Wordsworth and Graham and cummings, and sharing some music (which is totally poetry).

Loving. Although I could do without the pollen, there is one thing about spring that always brings me joy: the return of summer shandy. (It gets warm enough, soon enough, here that April is totally shandy-appropriate.) I think it’s in the stores year-round, actually, but I notice it starting around mid-April. I brought a case home from Wegmans last week, and since I’m the only one who drinks it, it should last me a good long while. Related: I also picked up a new-to-me “beermosa” sour – Dogfish Head “Sunday Feels.” It’s not going to replace my beloved SeaQuench, but I am loving the blend of peaches, grapes, and tart citrus; this will be in the rotation all summer long.

Asking. When you eat Triscuits, do you also replay this scene from Billy Madison in your mind?

Also, what are you reading?