Month: June 2021

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It’s… Tuesday! (Whoops.) What Are You Reading?

Morning, guys. Happy… whoops!… Tuesday. I have no excuse for flaking on you yesterday, or Friday either. Just caught up in a whirl of other things, and I forgot. Sorry! It was a very full, busy weekend. My parents came down for a visit, primarily for the purpose of watching Nugget’s final tee-ball game of the season. They had originally planned to come the weekend before Memorial Day, but plans shifted with a family funeral. But you know what? It ended up being good, because Nugget got a trophy for playing the season, and he was so proud and excited that his Nana and Grandad were there to see it. After the game, we headed to Algonkian Regional Park for a short/easy hike along the river – but it was kind of a fail. Nugget was tired and didn’t want to move (very unusual for him), we got separated as a result – with Peanut and my parents going on ahead; Nugget and Daddy loitering on the beach; and me indecisively lingering in the middle, not sure if I should rush ahead to catch up with Peanut, stay behind and comfort Nugget, or what. I ended up trying so hard to catch Peanut and my parents that I overtook them. See? Kind of a fail.

On Sunday, we planned to take the grandparents kayaking at our favorite spot – Fletcher’s Cove, upriver from Georgetown. In the morning, my parents and I took the munchkins to practice riding their bikes (poor Steve had to work – he has a trial this week). The bike riding was a mixed bag, but kayaking was a highlight of the weekend. It felt so good to be back out on the river. My mom and I shared a boat; Peanut went with Steve (as usual); and Nugget teamed up with Grandad. I smiled the whole time – I’ve had so much fun paddleboarding this season, but kayaking is my first paddlesports love. We finished the weekend with Old Brogue takeout and a campfire; the cicada logistics were tricky, but the s’mores were (as always) delicious.

Reading. As always when I have houseguests, I had a slow reading week (it was worth it, though!). I finished Drawn from Life on Memorial Day, then spent most of the week over A Thousand Ships – the Trojan War and Odyssey from the perspective of the women, and it was fabulous. A potential highlight of the year – we’ll see. Over the weekend, I turned to The Kitchen Front, which is sweet – but without much reading time, I am only halfway through as of press time.

Watching. I’ve been wanting to show my parents Rock the Park, because I’ve always thought they would love it. So I finally did, and they did! Over the weekend they cruised through at least half of the six seasons’ worth of episodes. (Impressive, no?)

Listening. Finally got back to my audiobook! Trying to get my steps in via the treadmill on Monday evening, I popped my earbuds in and turned on All Creatures Great and Small. I’ve been meaning to do that – walk with my audiobook – but the cicadas have made going outside kind of unpleasant; it hadn’t occurred to me to use the treadmill for that purpose, but I’ll definitely treadmill-and-audiobook again soon.

Moving. Pretty active week! On top of a few neighborhood runs, I am just always moving at this time of year. On Memorial Day, we did a family hiking double-header (Mason Neck State Park and then Pohick Bay Regional Park), and then Nugget and I went out for a good two-and-a-half hours of paddleboarding. And we’re always tearing around when my parents visit – showing them our favorite hiking spots, chasing after the kids, and – this time – kayaking.

Making. Lots of yummy good food this week! Antipasti salad from The Giadzy – everyone loved it; I’ll make it again soon. Saucy chicken with artichokes, a “Mommy original” recipe. And, the best, the first campfire of the season – which by extension leads to the first s’mores of the season! YUM.

Blogging. Bookish week for you. I was planning to do my “medium” post-pandemic plans, but since I forgot to post my May reading round-up on Friday, we’ll table after-COVID dreaming until next week and talk about books on Wednesday. And on Friday, because I have a Themed Reads post for these long days near the Solstice.

Loving. This one is a little bittersweet – Nugget’s first Little League season is officially in the books! We have had so much fun these past few months. He’s made the very best baseball friends and learned a ton from his coach. He’s actually really good (unsurprisingly; Nugget has yet to meet a sport he didn’t immediately pick up) and – more to the point – he’s absolutely fallen in love with baseball. One of the little girls from his kindergarten class was on the team as well, and they have paired up for a couple of standout plays. (He’s always so proud – “Z and I tagged TWO RUNNERS OUT today, Mommy! I said Z, let’s get them out, and she threw me the ball and we tagged them but it was ALL HER!”) Oh – have I mentioned what a good sport he is? Whenever he and a teammate work together on a play, he gives them all the credit; and in almost every game he fields a ball and then hands it to the littlest teammate, a pint-sized four-year-old girl, to throw to first base. MELT. MY. HEART. Anyway – I’m so proud of how much he has learned and grown and what a good teammate he is, and he is so excited for the next steps – baseball camp this summer, tee-ball skills this fall, and then coach pitch next spring. I love how much he loves baseball.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

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Post-Pandemic Planning, Part 1 – Little Things

As the pandemic has stretched on… and on… and on… I’ve been hesitant to envision life on the other side. This is unusual for me; typically, I think ten steps ahead of myself and I love planning and dreaming up future adventures. I suppose it could be a stress response; nonetheless, now that I’m fully vaccinated, I’m starting to finally consider what I want to do when it’s really ALL OVER. (Or as ALL OVER as it’s going to be, at least – now that it seems we’ll be living with the reality of COVID for a long time, maybe forever – ugh.) My post-pandemic bucket list has been growing by leaps and bounds.

Over the past year, we’ve had to make do with a lot of sub-optimal circumstances. Going for months without seeing family; the frustrations of virtual kindergarten and second grade; drawers full of face masks – I’ll be glad to see the back of all of these. But there have been some good changes in the past year, and some things I want to carry forward into the brave new post-pandemic world. Prioritizing outdoor time and alone time for Mom (sometimes outdoor alone time for Mom); finding anew my love for running; cooking and baking with Peanut; reading my own books… these have been sources of joy in the last year or so, and I want to keep them going.

That said, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t metaphorically vision-boarding ALL of the things I want to do now that Steve and I are both vaccinated. And the list is long, and wide-ranging – from trying out Orangetheory to kayaking in one of the most forbidding climates on the planet. Here are the goals and dreams on the smaller end:

  • Join a local rock gym and start bouldering regularly – and maybe find a climbing buddy for roped climbs.
  • Go INSIDE my new library (instead of just loitering in the curbside pickup area).
  • Wander the farmers’ market again – we haven’t been since moving to the exurbs almost a year ago.
  • Start going to Orangetheory classes (I’ve been wanting to try it out, and there’s a studio much closer than the nearest Barre3 location).
  • Browse at Old Town Books again – I haven’t been to the new store location since they moved to bigger digs.
  • Related: get ice cream at The Creamery and eat it down by the Old Town waterfront without worrying about crowds.
  • Movie night on the village green in our new town.
  • Take the kids to the Air and Space Museum again.
  • Demo kayaks at Annapolis Canoe and Kayak – and hopefully Lake George Kayak Co., too.
  • Get Peanut into a Girl Scout troop – finally.

Mostly, I just want life to be a little more fun – and I want to go back to doing the small things that I’ve enjoyed in the past, without worrying about being in proximity to other people.

What little things are you looking forward to doing when life gets back to more “normal”?