Well, here’s that old Monday, coming around again like it does this time every week. I’m pretty relaxed about Mondays these days, but it helps to come into them off a good weekend and this weekend was… not very good. I was wiped out going into it, which is always a bad start. After a week in Seattle at a legal department summit, I was already behind and had more than a week’s worth of digging out to do – and that’s without reckoning on my closest coworker, with whom I work every day, being out of the office enjoying a fabulous (and well-deserved!) Hawaiian vacation. I was obviously happy to cover for her, but I felt like I was drinking from the fire hose all week. Compounding the overwhelm was the fact that Nugget was sick with a cold all week; at first I was worried that I’d brought something home from Seattle, but after considering the possibilities carefully I concluded that he must have picked some germ up at soccer camp. Steve caught it too, and while Peanut and I were fortunately unscathed, it meant a lot of extra work and not much sleep for me, as the little guy was only comfortable curled up next to me all night – which was sweet until he started coughing in my face. So… doing the work of two people, on half my usual sleep. Good times.

With all that (and I swear I’m done complaining about it) I really needed a joyful, relaxing weekend. I did not get it. I try to stay positive around here and to look on the bright side, but there’s no way to sugarcoat it: the weekend just sucked. Nugget was mostly over his cold, but he was drained and out of sorts and he dealt with it by griping at me all weekend. Peanut was out of sorts too; maybe she is fighting off whatever Nugget brought home after all, or maybe it’s something different; I didn’t have the energy for kid mood detective work. We spent Saturday running around – from baseball pictures to Target to Nugget’s baseball game (where Peanut got chewed out by one of the parents for going into the dugout – I mean, she shouldn’t have been in there, but the dude ruined my video of Nugget getting a hit off a pitch from Dad) to a birthday party. I was exhausted and severely grumpy by the end of that gauntlet. On Sunday, we celebrated Easter with a hike (no church; crowded indoor spaces are still outside our family’s COVID risk tolerance, especially with two of us recovering from being down and out last week) – trying to watch the eagles at our favorite local park and take in the last of the Virginia bluebells, but the kids were horsing around and fighting the whole time, and tempers were seriously frayed. I finally lost it when Peanut turned her nose up and made “ew, gross” noises at the gruyere cheese souffle I made for Easter dinner (WTF, kid!) and I’m thoroughly glad to see the back of this weekend.

Reading. While last week and the weekend may have been rotten all around, the reading – at least – was good. Early in the week, I finished Kate Hardy, which was not up to D.E. Stevenson’s usual standards, but still, any D.E. Stevenson is going to be better than most anything else. Spent the end of the week and the weekend escaping into my spring book stack whenever I could – it may have been the only thing keeping me going – and what an escape it was. Clare Leighton’s gorgeous garden memoir, Four Hedges, liberally adorned with her astonishingly beautiful woodcut illustrations. Then Skylarks with Rosie: A Somerset Spring, the latest from Stephen Moss, one of my favorite nature writers – thought-provoking and so special. Then Old Herbaceous: A Novel of the Garden, a slim but beautiful book I tore through in less than a day. And finally, ended the weekend curled up with Illyrian Spring, which has been on my TBR for years.

Watching. Every so often, the kids discover something on Netflix and push it on the family, and every so often, they hit it out of the park. That was the case with our family viewing this week: we binged (or what passes for binging – one to two episodes a night) the ridiculous Netflix series Is It Cake? – in which professional cake artists compete to fool a panel of judges into thinking that their cakes are ordinary objects. Nugget discovered it, it was just as silly as it sounds, and we laughed and joked and enjoyed every minute. Ended the weekend with something much more edifying: the new nature series, Our Great National Parks, narrated by our beloved President Obama. We watched the first episode on Sunday night and were completely blown away. More to come.

Listening. I’m still on a podcast train. Every so often I get the idea that I’m going to clear out my podcast backlist and I listen to a bunch of episodes before giving up in despair and getting even deeper in the hole. I’m currently trying to listen my way through the 68 unplayed episodes of The Mom Hour I currently have in my queue. It’s a project.

Making. Well, there was that cheese souffle I mentioned above – the one that Peanut found so unbearably disgusting. (It doesn’t look so awful, does it?) The rest of the family loved it, so I have that going for me. Nugget inhaled his generous helping, I had two scoops, and Steve ensured we would have no leftovers. Other than souffle (and a French-inspired potato salad) I don’t think I made anything last week… except for work product, of course. I don’t think I’ve ever written so many emails in a week before, and I’m still behind.

Moving. So – I finally did it, you guys. I got a Peloton bike! I’ve had a membership for awhile (since pre-pandemic, actually; I joined right before COVID, intending to use the bike in my then-office gym) and have done sporadic workouts using the app. (I really love Peloton yoga, but it turns out it’s kind of difficult to follow Kristin McGee’s cues on an iPhone screen. Who knew?) When Peloton rolled out a good deal (for members only) on equipment, I thought about getting the Tread, because I wore out the belt on my old treadmill and have been needing to replace it, and to replace a treadmill belt turns out to cost almost as much as a new treadmill. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel that what I really wanted was the bike – so after a long, ruminative text conversation with my friend (and Peloton addict) Samantha, I decided to just go for it. It arrived on Thursday and I’ve already done ten rides! (Don’t panic: that includes warm-up and cool-down rides.) Including a live class on Sunday morning, riding with my pal Amanda! In between, some hiking and walking, but I’ve pretty much been all about my new toy. I’ll have to find a good balance, because all I want to do is spin right now. (I don’t love having it in my living room – in the Christmas tree spot, no less – but it was the only option, for now at least.)

Blogging. Very travel-heavy week for you. On Wednesday, I’m taking you running in Seattle; the views are outrageous. And on Friday, back to Colorado for an incredible hike.

Loving. I can keep this short. I love my Peloton. Seriously, love it, love it, love it. I can’t believe I waited so long to get one. I love you, Peloton! Peloton, I love you!

Asking. Do you have a Peloton? What’s your handle, if you do, and do you want to be friends? Also, what are you reading this week?