Monday! You’re back! It’s funny – since I changed jobs, I really don’t mind Mondays anymore. That’s telling, right? It may not last, but I’m enjoying this new lease on life for now, anyway. Not to say that it wasn’t a great weekend. It was one of those weekends spent mostly outside, drenched in sun and fresh breezes (and quite a lot of sweat – it’s summer in the swamp, after all), and I crashed on the couch bone-tired on Sunday night. Just how I like it, especially in the summer.

On Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed and immediately shoved off to take Nugget mountain biking. I had promised him days before, and we were both looking forward to the ride. I’ve been diligently researching kid-friendly trails for my budding shredder, and found a wide trail (really an old dirt road) with basically no obstacles, so we hit it up. It was fun, but hillier than expected and we had to dodge several groups of hikers strolling along six abreast, which wasn’t awesome. It’s poor trail etiquette to begin with, and I’m trying to teach Nugget the rules of the road. But we navigated the human obstacles and had a great ride. It started to rain just as we were wrapping up our ride, but fortunately it was only a passing summer shower, because pretty much as soon as we got home (after feeding the kiddos a quick lunch) we were back out the door, this time as a foursome, headed for our favorite kayaking spot just upriver from Georgetown. Between wind and current, it was a tough paddle – but fun. Can you believe that was just Saturday morning? The rest of the day was considerably more low-key. I puttered around cleaning, took a long walk after dinner, and read a bit.

Sunday was another active day. I slept in a little later than intended, so to beat the heat I pretty much rolled right out of bed and into my running shoes for four very sweaty miles in my hilly neighborhood. (Sometimes I really miss those flat Old Town streets and bike paths… sigh.) Came home and changed from road runners to trail runners – we hit up one of our local parks, Seneca Regional Park, for a family hike. We often avoid Seneca because there is a BIG and STEEP hill to contend with, but Steve suggested it would be good preparation for the Adirondacks later this summer, and I couldn’t argue with that. Between the run and the hike, my legs were pretty much dead after that; again, the rest of the day was devoted to house chores and errands, which was about all I had energy to do. But I love these active weekends; I have energy to burn after sitting at my dining room table solving problems with my brain all week.

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Reading. Bit of a slow reading week – typical for summer. My reading pace always slows way down when the temperature heats up; I don’t worry about it. I spent the week luxuriating in British Summer Time Begins; it’s been on my list for months now but I was saving it for actual summer, and it was so much fun. The weekend was for my last remaining library checkout, the new Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara and the Sun has a very Never Let Me Go vibe, which is concerning. I’ll wrap it up today; really hope things turn out okay for that poor confused robot.

Listening. Finally! I have a good mix of things to report to you. First of all, I made a summer music playlist! Poor little Nugget had to listen to me belt out “Into the Mystic” (I like to really go for it on “IIIIIIIIII wanna rock your gypsy sooooooooul“) and “Letter Never Sent” – among others – on the way back from REI on Sunday. And I’ve also knocked out over an hour of All Creatures Great and Small on Audible, over a few post-dinner walks last week. Another couple of weeks of strolling the neighborhood and I’ll be done with it.

Watching. It’s Tour de France season again! Steve, who hates riding bikes himself (so sad) has good-naturedly watched the first two stages with me. I applied a combination of wheedling (“It’s really all about the shots of the French countryside, you love France!”) and guilt (“I’m always fourth in line for the TV!”) and amazingly, it worked. My plan is to keep this going as long as possible. I really want to watch the entire tour – fast-forwarding through the Peloton cycling through interminable back roads, obviously, and focusing on the really important stuff (French villages, King of the Mountain pushes, and the stage finish for the yellow jersey of the day). And when Le Tour is over, it’s only five days until the Opening Ceremonies of the next Olympics, so basically, I’m in charge of the family’s sports watching for the next two-ish months.

Making. Well, I intended to actually finish this task, but I’ve made… progress, at least… at dismantling the kiddos’ school setups. Nugget’s in particular looks like a hurricane went through it. I’ve gathered up the reusable supplies and started packing them into a Rubbermaid, begun a garbage bag for the worn-out stuff and random scribbles, and tidied up the crayon drawer, so – a good start. By the end of this week, I hope to have completely cleaned out, packed up and thrown away all of the school detritus. Send chocolate, you guys. Actually – forget chocolate. Send wine.

Moving. Another super active week! A double-digit mileage week in terms of running; several walks and bike rides in the neighborhood and local parks; a tough hike on Sunday; a morning of paddleboarding before work and a windy paddle on the Potomac with the family; a strength workout; a yoga workout. I’ve got a streak going of doing at least something every day, and it’s been so much fun. Another side effect of the new job: I have motivation again.

Blogging. I thought I was done with my Tales from the Exurbs for a little while, but we have a very dignified new neighbor and I just have to introduce you all, so that’s Wednesday. And on Friday, my wrap-up – for what it’s worth – of my slow June in books. Check in with me then!

Loving. Did you know that Instagram has a new feature that allows you to enter your pronouns into your profile? (I mean, other than just in the field for your name.) This is a new development that is just so wonderful. It’s so important for allyship to normalize sharing pronouns – to send the message that gender is a large spectrum, and also to create a safe space for trans, nonbinary, and other folx to share their pronouns. I entered my “she/her” and it’s now in slightly smaller letters below my name on my profile – yay! If you haven’t already added your pronouns to your Instagram profile, would you please consider it? It’s so very important.

Asking. What are you reading this week?