Brrrrrrr. Happy Monday, friends! It is JANUARY out there, with a vengeance. Are you staying warm? I’ve been keeping a good balance of coziness with outdoor time – because it’s not fun to wrap up and be cozy unless you get a little cold first. On Saturday, we all really needed a nature release. Last week was… fine, you guys. It was fine. The kids were off school all week long with five snow days in a row, but THIS IS FINE. They haven’t been at school since December 17, between their holiday break and then this snow, but IT’S FINE. So – yes, we really needed a nature release. On Saturday morning we drove over to my favorite local paddleboarding spot, Beaverdam Reservoir, to hike part of the perimeter trail around the lake. (When we were halfway to the lake, Steve jokingly said, “Oh no! You forgot your paddleboard!”) It was a little too cold to be out on the water, but gorgeous. The day was one of those clear winter days that feel almost brittle – in a good way. The reeds and rushes around the lake were crusted with ice crystals and the trail was sparkling. Really – gorgeous! After our hike Steve and Peanut stayed inside to warm up, but Nugget and I headed right back out to meet up with his buddy P, and P’s brothers, at a park in our tiny village center. The boys bypassed the playground entirely and headed straight for a hill (leading down to the sports fields) – rolling, penguin belly-sliding, and sledding followed. Nugget had been begging for a play date with this particular little guy for weeks so I was glad it finally happened, now that the holidays are over. He needed to roll and wrestle with someone other than Peanut.

That was the end of our winter wonderland. On Sunday we woke up to iron grey skies – I made it out for a three mile neighborhood walk, but that was it (although I did have an exciting critter sighting on my walk – read on). Not long after I got home, the skies opened up and the rain washed away most of our snow (and thankfully, most of the ice, too – the driveway was a skating rink). The rest of the day was devoted to the business of life – weekly swim lessons (Nugget was promoted to the next class up! Swim star!) and errands. I was torn between a desire to cuddle on the couch with my book all day, and the need to clean the house – and neither happened, but at least the errands got done.

Reading. Not quite as frenetic as the previous week, but I did a good amount of reading last week. On Monday I finished up A Time to Keep Silence (which was beautiful) and then tore through Twelfth Night in honor of Twelfth Night. Most of the week was devoted to A Countryman’s Winter Notebook, which I’d been saving – and it was worth the wait. Such a total delight. Slightly Foxed has hinted that they’re hoping to publish a series of four collections of Adrian Bell’s “Countryman’s Notebook” columns, with this being the first. I do hope the rest of the series happens! Fingers crossed. I spent the weekend over a library book – Square Haunting, a roundup of the lives and work of five female writers and intellectuals who all randomly lived in the same Bloomsbury square (albeit at different times, for the most part) – two novelists that I know well (Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L. Sayers), one of whom I’d heard but never read (the modernist poet H.D.), and two names that were new to me (classicist Jane Harrison and economic historian Eileen Power). I’m nearly done – and it’s been a fascinating read – with no idea what I’ll read next. Something off my own shelves, no doubt.

Watching. Well, we answered the fraught question “What to watch after Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets?” with something possibly even better – BBC’s Winterwatch. We’re watching the 2021 series and all pretty much obsessed. Have been alternating Winterwatch with Gardener’s World so we’re basically English now.

Listening. Speaking of being basically English, I’ve been binge-listening The Stubborn Light of Things, Suffolk nature writer Melissa Harrison’s podcast (she also has a collection of her London Times columns out under the same name) in which she muses on the flora and fauna surrounding her rural cottage while out walking. I’m quite behind – it’s a one-time series, recorded in 2020 and long completed – and the season is all off; it covers spring through autumn and I’ve been walking and listening with snow on the ground. But as I said last week, it has a very New Years-y feel, and Melissa’s thoughtful comments on the state of the world, change, and stillness, recorded in the first uncertain days of the pandemic, are still very applicable (and very comforting) during this dark omicron winter. I’ve been loving this listen.

Making. Meh, not much. I haven’t picked up my knitting in more than a week (I’m almost done with an infinity scarf for myself after whipping up several to give as Christmas gifts, but I’m taking a break – I guess) and other than some very uninspired dinners and one cookie-baking afternoon with Peanut – trying to break up time during the interminable week of snow days – I haven’t been spending much time in the kitchen. I suppose you can say I’m easing into the year; I’ll be back at it before long but for now I’m favoring a gentle post-holiday re-entry.

Moving. I’ve been on my feet rather a lot. Daily runs around my neighborhood (with some walks to fill in the gaps on rest days), hikes, and chasing a rowdy pack of little boys through the local playground. As I say every week – yoga next week, I mean it, I need yoga.

Blogging. The first of my traditional three-part reading retrospective of the past year, coming on Wednesday, and back to Seattle on Friday. Check in with me then!

Loving. I’m a broken record, but on my walk yesterday I was reminded again why I love living out in the exurbs. (And why it’s always a mistake to leave my camera at home – blurry picture alert.) As I rounded my least favorite corner in the neighborhood (we call it “Dead Man’s Corner” for the combination of poor visibility, an easily-ignored stop sign, and cars that like to fly around the corner taking a racing line on the side of the road where the law requires pedestrians to walk – ugh) a quick movement caught the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw a majestic hawk. Hawks are actually quite a common sight out here – I see them almost every day, either on walks or while driving – but this one flew just a few feet up into a small tree in someone’s front yard, and I realized that he was joining a female hawk, almost certainly his mate! (We have a few breeding pairs in our neighborhood.) I stopped to gape for a few minutes; they noticed me and took off in opposite directions, and the male flew right across the road in front of me looking for shelter in a neighboring yard. Just in the past week I’ve seen multiple hawks, a bald eagle soaring overhead, and a stunning orange fox. I love living in a place where these wild neighbors are so visible – seeing them never ceases to amaze.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Good morning, friends – happy New Year! I hope 2022 is off to a roaring (in a good way) start for you. So far, so good here… two and some change days in. Steve and I made it to our midnight kiss on New Year’s Eve, so I think that’s a good omen for the year to come. (I fell onto my pillow and was asleep 0.2 seconds later; he stayed up another hour – pretty standard for both of us.) On Saturday, we kicked off the new year in our traditional way – with a hike. This time, at Riverbend Regional Park – our favorite; we also hiked there on New Year’s Eve because we’re nothing if not predictable – and the trail and river were shrouded in mist, appropriately mysterious for a new year that’s still a mystery, too. I spent the rest of the day cuddled up with my book, so if that’s a sign of things to come I think I’ll be okay.

On Sunday, we hiked again – this time at Rust Nature Preserve, another favorite – and I banged out a 10K later in the afternoon. It was grey and rainy, but warm at least – and now winter is arriving with our first predicted snowfall of the season (we’ll see if it materializes; around here it often doesn’t). The kids’ school has already announced a snow day.

Reading. What a reading week! This is what happens when I’m home on an actual staycation, forced to relax, with work not intruding. I finished The Carols of Christmas – one last holiday-themed read – a few days before the New Year, and then spent most of the week over Patsy, which I had out from the library. (Liked, but didn’t love.) But there was also some New Year’s reading in there – finishing up A Year of Scottish Poems, which was my poem-a-day anthology for 2021, on New Year’s Eve, and starting the year right with Edith Wharton’s novella New Year’s Day on – what else? – January 1. The highlight of the reading week had to have been Welcome to Dunder Mifflin, a spot-on Christmas gift from Steve. I finished it on Sunday (sad to turn the last page, and already itching to re-watch the show) and started A Time to Keep Silence, which I have in a gorgeous limited edition from Hatchards. 2022 reading is off to a very strong start indeed.

Watching. It was a good watching week, too! We’re almost done with Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets – only one episode left, and I’m going to be so sad when it ends. (Steve was skeptical, and I started watching the first episode of the four-episode series one morning, and then he was immediately interested. This tends to happen… wink, wink.) We also watched Ivy and Julie: A Happy Balance from the American Girl movie franchise for New Year’s – Peanut’s choice, although the plot actually revolves around Chinese New Year, not January 1, but details, details. And we finally watched the final Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker. Still processing. I’ll have to watch it again now that I actually know what happens and I’m not tied in knots with anxiety about Chewie, Finn, Poe, Rey and the gang.

Listening. So, not much listening – I did start on Melissa Harrison’s lockdown podcast, The Stubborn Light of Things, named after her wonderful book. Although it begins in the spring, it has a very New Year’s-esque feel to it. I’m enjoying it so much, although I didn’t get much chance to listen, just a couple of episodes while running errands. More next week, I hope.

Making. Our traditional New Year’s Eve dinner – cheese fondue – for starters. Steve said it was the best fondue he’s ever had; don’t tell our friend Stephen who learned to make fondue in Switzerland and used to host regular fondue nights at his house before the pandemic, but I’m dusting off my shoulders. Neither of the kids were big into it, so I was waffling between telling them that their Swiss ancestors are rolling over in their graves and shouting More for MEEEEEEEE, neither of which is a particularly good look, but there you are.

Moving. I was on my feet a fair amount last week – three runs, including a 10K on Sunday, and three hikes, plus the usual walking and getting in my 10,000 steps each day. Strength training needs to come back, so does yoga. But running is feeling fun these days so I’m going with it.

Blogging. December reading recap coming atcha on Wednesday – get comfortable, it’s a long post – and travel recaps are back on Friday. We’re headed all the way across the country, to Seattle. (Slowly but surely, I’m catching up to current. Still a long way to go, though – our PNW trip was in October.)

Loving. One of my sorority sisters posted this screenshot of a tweet on Facebook, on New Year’s Eve, and it’s everything:

That is exactly what I hope for all of us. I hope 2022 is a whole year of Toyota Corolla – for you, my friends, and for me.

Asking. What are you reading to start off 2022?

Good Monday morning, happy new week, and Merry Christmas – belated – to those of you who were celebrating over the weekend! I hope your holidays were filled with light and joy. We were up north for most of the week, spending Christmas with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Dan and Danielle flew from Colorado for Christmas at my parents’ place, and we drove up from Virginia to make sure we were there at the same time as they were. It was a hectic round (y’all, let me tell you that transporting Christmas over several states, twice – up and back – is an EFFORT) but worth it for the chance to see family. I worked Monday and Tuesday, but took the rest of the week off – mostly; there was one work call on Wednesday – and got in lots of time outdoors, breathing the crisp air. We saw Steve’s Aunt Susan for a lovely walk around Saratoga, then spent a few minutes shouting greetings to my Aunt Maria from her driveway, and our dear family friends (who are like second parents to me) came over on the 23rd for an evening of appetizers and catching up – but other than that, we didn’t see anyone outside of immediate family members. Given the COVID numbers, I called off our cherished holiday lights and dinner tradition with our dear friend Seth, and contented myself with a holiday text exchange with my high school BFF, Jenn – sad, but better safe than sorry. There was plenty of outdoor time, at least – walking, running, sending Nugget screaming downhill on my old toboggan, and a hike in the Pine Bush Preserve – one of my favorite Albany spots – with Dan and Danielle. And we were able to keep it magical from the kids, and I think they had a wonderful Christmas – which is the main thing, after all. And now I’m ON VACATION, with a week stretching ahead and absolutely nothing to do – glorious – other than get my COVID booster shot on Tuesday, finally. Here’s to ending the year with some breathing space, much-needed.

Reading. It was a good reading week – Christmas week always is, as I get in the last Christmas reading by the twinkling lights of the tree! At the beginning of the week, before driving north, I got in the spirit with Carol Ann Duffy’s sweet poem Dorothy Wordsworth’s Christmas Birthday. Most of the rest of the week was given over to The Country Child, which I finally finished (it was lyrical and beautiful, but nowhere near as tight and compelling as Alison Uttley’s other well-known novel, A Traveller in Time). I did take breaks for two of my bookish Christmas traditions – The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Correspondence, a hilarious spoof created by John Julius Norwich, on Christmas Eve; and A Country Doctor’s Commonplace Book, on Christmas Day. I always read those, and on those days. And when I finally wrapped The Country Child, I turned to one of my new Christmas presents from Steve (check back on Wednesday for the entire book haul, and spoiler, it’s GIGANTIC) – The Carols of Christmas, a survey of the true history behind popular Christmas carols. Squeezing in one more bit of holiday cheer before the tree comes down and I turn to the new year and all things wintry.

Watching. It was a kid-centric Christmas, and you could tell because (are you sitting down?) we did not watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” AT ALL. We did, however, watch “Home Alone” three times. And the rest of the week – my mom and I found the “Downton Abbey” movie on TV, always a delight, and we pounded two episodes of “Gardeners World” when we got home on Sunday.

Listening. Some Christmas carols early in the week – and lots via my parents’ Alexa at our family party and Christmas Eve. That’s about it. This week, I’m waffling between going back to the mystery novel I was listening to on Audible or trying out a new nature podcast I downloaded.

Making. Spirits bright? I did try. I’m sure I fell woefully short, but I did try. I made some Christmas cookies with the kids, at my dad’s request (Dan and Danielle made some as well – it was a family effort) and I made many, many, many wrapped gifts. And many, many, MANY deep breaths.

Moving. It was a decent week for movement, all holiday things considered. A hike with my brother and sister-in-law was definitely the highlight, but I also squeezed in a few runs, including a 5K on Christmas Day. And there were plenty of neighborhood walks, because there always are.

Blogging. Can’t let a holiday season go by without showing you my Christmas book stack, so I’ll do that on Wednesday! And on Friday, ringing out 2021 with my tradition – a month-by-month look at the old year.

Loving. All right, don’t judge, but ever since I read The Christmas Chronicles a week or so ago, I have had a fancy for Bailey’s Irish Cream. (Nigel Slater makes a throwaway remark about drinking it iced in a little glass, and that had never occurred to me before and I just had to try it.) I told Steve that the next time he went to the liquor store, I’d love a small bottle, and he delivered on Sunday. I had half a juice glass with Bailey’s on ice, and it was delicious. I’m not a big drinker and I can’t remember the last time I had Bailey’s (it was probably a splash in my coffee ten years ago) but it absolutely hit the spot on Sunday evening, after a long week of digging deep for merriment and magic, followed by a very early car ride. So, so good.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Good morning, friends! Merry Christmas week to those of you who are celebrating, Yule blessings to my goddessy types, and happy new week to everyone else. I can’t believe that Christmas is just days away now – I’m nowhere near ready; there are still gifts to wrap (and to be perfectly honest, gifts to buy – nothing like leaving it to the last minute, right?). I’m working today and tomorrow and then taking the rest of the year off, as I discovered that I had six days of use-it-or-lose-it personal time scheduled to drop off my account unless I burned it all in one go. (Don’t laugh. I’m used to the law firm world, where “unlimited vacation” means that no one actually takes any, ever.)

This weekend was another busy one, and yet I barely made any progress at all toward holiday preparations. On Saturday morning, I took the kids to Alexandria to get Nugget a haircut with our old favorite stylist – we started going to a new place nearer our current house, but they had no availability and he was desperately in need of getting his mop trimmed, and we thought: you know what? We miss Lety, let’s just go back to her and who cares if it’s a bit of a drive. Steve was off getting his own haircut and exchanging his scuba mask at a dive shop in D.C., so it was just me and the anklebiters until we all reunited back at home and then shoved right off again, this time to Mount Vernon. The holiday season isn’t complete unless we visit Aladdin the Christmas Camel. After a long ramble around Mount Vernon, we drove up to our old neighborhood, Old Town, and wandered the side streets looking at all of the Christmas decorations – gorgeous. We met up with my law school BFF, Carly, and her family for part of the walk, which is always fun. And then we drove home, slammed dinner, and fell into bed. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of last weekend – I tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to get stuff done around the house in the morning, Nugget had a swim lesson (Peanut was supposed to go, too, but she threw a fit and we had to leave without her), and then Steve and I pushed off for our second weekend of pool dives for our scuba certification. A whirlwind few hours in the pool later, we’re done with the confined water dive portion of our training, and ready for our open water certification dives in Costa Rica (pandemic permitting, of course – I hope it happens). And I’m EXHAUSTED.

Reading. I may not have made much progress toward my miles-long Christmas to-do list, but I had a good reading week – that’s for sure. Early on in the week, I finished up Tied Up in Tinsel then read Carol Ann Duffy’s lovely Frost Fair in one sitting. Most of the rest of the week was given over to The King and the Christmas Tree, a nonfiction book (written for middle grades, but enjoyable for all) about the World War II story behind Norway’s annual gift of a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. I followed that with Nigel Slater’s The Christmas Chronicles – read his poetic writing about Christmas and winter, but skipped the step-by-step recipe instructions. Finally, on Sunday evening, after finishing with Nigel, I turned to Alison Uttley’s The Country Child. It’s too early on to say how I’m liking it, but I loved A Traveller in Time, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this too.

Watching. We finished up Will Smith’s new nature/adventure show, Welcome to Earth, this week – and WOW, was it wonderful. We all loved it; only complaint was that it was only six episodes and we could have watched sixty more. To mix things up, we threw in a little bit of Monty Don and a little bit of Miss Marple, and I got all caught up on Christmas content on Miranda Mills’ YouTube channel, which is just lovely.

Listening. Lots of Christmas carols – from the Amazon Music free channel, via Alexa; Laurie Berkner’s Christmas (who are these grinches giving that album two stars on the iTunes store?!) and Noel, because the people demand Josh Groban, and by the people, I mean me – obviously.

Making. Some progress toward my Christmas tasks, but not enough. Some progress toward Peanut’s Christmas scarf, but again, not enough. Several cobbled-together dinners, whoops. The very tiniest of dents in my work email backlog. The usual.

Moving. It was a very non-moving sort of week, for the worst of reasons. Y’all. I threw my back out on Tuesday – or strained a muscle or something along those lines. I think it happened when I picked Nugget up from school early to take him to the dentist, and he jumped in my arms. I didn’t notice anything amiss at first, but it got gradually more uncomfortable over the evening until it was excruciating on Tuesday night; I couldn’t even fall asleep until 3:00 a.m. because it hurt so badly. Knowing I had to dive again on Sunday – including wearing a gigantic (and heavy!) air cylinder on my back, I spent the rest of the week babying it. Walking felt good, so I did that; the rest of the time, I was communing with my heating pad. (Steve bought me a TENS unit, but I couldn’t figure out how to use it.) It got gradually better over the course of the week and was back to 100% by the weekend, so that was a relief. Next week, I hope to be running again.

Blogging. It’s all holiday cheer, all the time, around here – even if I’m feeling a bit grumpy about it all. On Wednesday, I’m showing you a handful of new ornaments I picked up on 2021 travels, and on Friday, a lovely long recap of our Mount Vernon and Old Town Christmas walks. Check in with me then, and a very festive week to all of you.

Loving. Would it be a cop-out to say I loved my heating pad this week? It was literally the only thing that got me through. I cranked it up to the highest heat and sat in bed with it and my book. (Of course: please don’t forget to turn it off before bed, and don’t fall asleep with it on you. It’s a fire hazard and a burn risk. Heating pads are for use while conscious only, okay, friends? Okay.) I have this one and it’s wonderful. I might use it even when I’m not injured, because cozy.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Good morning, friends! I can’t believe we’re about midway through December already – how? I’ve barely started my Christmas shopping, and still don’t have my cards out; I need to get moving. This was a fun weekend but I got basically nothing productive done and I’m now totally wiped out; pretty normal for me. On Saturday morning, our dear friends Zan and Paul came over for brunch, a walk in our neighborhood park, and lots of catching up. We hadn’t seen them since pre-COVID (literally just before the world shut down; we saw them on March 7, 2020 when we all went to a St. Patrick’s Day parade together and walked around Old Town – and then not since). It was so good to hug Zan again; it had been too long – another thing COVID has taken from us. Anyway, the morning flew by as mornings tend to do when you’re with people you love, and by early afternoon I had to wave goodbye to Zan at the Metro and drive the kids to a birthday party for their friend K. K was a kindergarten classmate of Nugget’s, and when the kids started riding the bus this fall they discovered that she lives just a couple of streets away, so she’s become both kids’ neighborhood pal. (Peanut loves the glittery headbands K churns out and distributes to her friends; Nugget likes to walk over to her house and drive her mini Land Rover.) The party was a blast – the kids bowled, ate pizza and coconut shrimp, and Peanut got to try soda (hold me). I had to drag them away at the end of the party, which is normal for Nugget (who loves to socialize) but unprecedented for Peanut.

Sunday was a different kind of day – a day spent almost entirely at pools. First, swim lessons for Nugget (Peanut woke up with a cough, so she stayed home; she was thrilled, as she is going through an “I hate swim lessons” phase). As soon as we got home, I had to get in my own bathing suit, because Steve and I had a new adventure planned – we’re getting scuba certified. (There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.) We completed the e-learning portion of our certifications last week, and Sunday was the first of two days of confined water diving. You guys. Breathing underwater is incredible! I was apprehensive at the start of the class – it’s so much information to remember, and it feels like it’s all of life-and-death importance – but I surprised myself by being completely at peace with the very first underwater breath. The sensation of lingering at the bottom of the pool, watching swimmers kick twelve feet above me, was amazing, and every time we were at the surface I was impatient to go back down. I can’t wait for day two – next Sunday – and to experience diving in the ocean in February. I’ll write much more about the experience later, once I’ve gotten a few more dives in (and, to be honest, more pictures – the one of Steve in his wetsuit and BCD, above, is the only one I took; I was too busy in the pool).

Reading. Despite what the above gallery looks like, it was actually a fairly light reading week. Most of my evenings, especially in the first part of the week, were devoted to scuba e-learning; the course was fifteen hours and I did it over five days. But I did get some other reading time in. Early on in the week, I finished up A Single Thread (which I enjoyed, but not overly much) and then read the final, December, chapters in two books I have been reading gradually over the year – The Almanac 2021, and Orchard: A Year in England’s Eden, both of which I’ve read month-by-month since January. Then I whipped through No Holly for Miss Quinn, an old Christmas favorite, in one sitting. The rest of the week, I spent over Tied Up in Tinsel, a Christmas-themed mystery by Ngaio Marsh (one of the lesser-known Queens of Crime – she was a contemporary of Agatha Christie and wrote prolifically, but lived in New Zealand and traveled to England regularly). I have this beautiful limited edition from The Hatchards Library, which is a total delight to read – I just haven’t had the attention for anything, even classic crime, with my brain filled with things like buoyancy control, air pressure management, diving hand signals, safety stops and decompression…

Watching. Well, the main thing I watched last week was the many, many PADI videos embedded in my scuba course. Steve and I also started watching Becoming Cousteau (with Nugget, but it turned out to be not really kid-friendly, and he wasn’t interested in all the old footage anyway – so we’re saving the rest to finish later) and as a family, we watched the first episode of the new Will Smith nature/adventure show, which was FABULOUS. On my own time (very limited last week) I watched a few more Christmas book and #Vlogmas episodes from Miranda Mills – trying to get in the holiday spirit, still not entirely successfully. But Miranda sure helps.

Listening. We’re still on a seventies music kick around here (although I don’t have much seventies music, so it’s the same few songs over and over again). Nugget loves “Escape: The Pina Colada Song.” Follow me for more parenting tips!

Making. Christmas gift knitting continues – I have two gifts nearly done (including one for someone who will read this, so you’ll pardon my being cagey) and started a hat and scarf set for Peanut. I had some very soft pink-and-red yarn with her name written all over it. And I made a banana-walnut French toast casserole for brunch when Zan and Paul came over, which turned out pretty good *dusts off shoulders* despite my total winging it.

Moving. Five-and-a-half hours in the pool with a heavy air cylinder on was quite a workout! Aside from that, the usual walking and running. I need to get a move on with some strength training and some yoga, because I signed up for two December challenges on Garmin.

Blogging. My holiday reading list (or some of it) coming atcha on Wednesday, and then back to Shenandoah hiking recaps on Friday.

Loving. I feel like I say this every time I see friends these days, but it was so wonderful to spend time with Zan over the weekend. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to value time spent with the people we love, right? It’s never enough, but especially not when we’re all locked away from each other. Although Zan and I text regularly and keep in touch over social media, it’s just not the same. I had a moment when we were walking over to the neighborhood park on Sunday. Peanut was holding Zan’s hand, skipping along by her side and reciting an inventory of all the “makeup” in her Caboodle, and I couldn’t help but think about the fact that Zan and I have been friends since Peanut was one year old. We had tea (at Spot Coffee, a Buffalo institution) the day we met, and Steve came to pick me up with baby Peanut dangling off him in the Baby Bjorn. And now she was chattering away about lipstick and blush. Where did the time go? It’s good to share history with friends, and especially to know that your friendship is still at the beginning – even with all that history – and that you have many more years of laughter and sharing ahead. I know that Zan will be one of my very dear friends for decades to come, and that is such a solid, comfortable feeling.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

It’s Monday again. And December – shut the front door. I feel it, too. After months of being on the go almost constantly (or it felt that way, anyhow) I feel like I’m limping to the finish line right now, which isn’t the best recipe for Christmas spirit, but there it is. Last week was another running around kind of week – running all the way across the country, as it happens. Almost no sooner had we gotten home and unpacked from our Thanksgiving trip to Colorado, I had to pack up and head to the airport again, this time to go back to Seattle for work. I was gone from Tuesday through Friday and I had a wonderful time working and socializing with my team and other colleagues, but I was wiped out when I got home on Friday evening. I tried not to over-program us for Saturday and Sunday, but ended up running around anyway. On Saturday, Steve and I had to attend an orientation for new divers – we’re working on getting our scuba certifications and have to knock out the e-learning and pool classes in time to do our certification dives in Costa Rica in February. I’m stoked, but it’s a lot to learn. I have fifteen hours of e-learning to do before I get in the pool next weekend, and I haven’t even started. Anyway – the rest of Saturday we intentionally kept very low-key, because in the afternoon the kids had their appointment for COVID-19 vax dose #2. They did amazingly well (TOUGH kids) and we picked up our Christmas tree on the way home, then spent the rest of the day relaxing.

On Sunday, we had a laid-back around-the-house day for everyone except Mom. After a middle-of-the-night visitor (Nugget, whose arm was hurting from the vaccine) I overslept and bolted out of bed eight minutes before my Girl Scout Cookie Manager training was scheduled to begin – oh, right, did I mention I got voluntold for that job? (I don’t mind at all – happy to help Peanut’s Brownie troop in any way I can – but I’m all tied in knots about not screwing it up.) Miraculously, I somehow made it to the training only three minutes late, and after ninety minutes of information overload, I tooled over to deliver cookie order forms to the troop leaders at the council’s Cookie Rally, which was going on at the same time. (Peanut didn’t attend – she was health-disqualified thanks to traveling less than ten days before.) I spent about a half hour chatting with the troop leaders at the Cookie Rally, then rushed home to dash around pulling out Christmas ornaments and baking lemon chiffon pie and cinnamon star bread (among other sundry things) for our evening Christmas tree decorating party. As usual, I was exhausted and out of sorts by the time the party rolled around, and I snapped at everyone except Peanut for not helping enough. Jingle, jingle. The couch felt good at the end of the night.

Reading. What with business travel and all the weekend activity, I didn’t do much reading last week. Over two flights (to and from Seattle) I did manage to finish Romola (for the Classics Club Challenge), so review of that coming at some point in the next several weeks. And then over the weekend I knocked out A Single Thread, which I had out from the library. Turning to Christmas reading this week, probably – I need to get a little bit more in the sparkle spirit.

Watching. One bonus to being out on the west coast this week was getting to watch Trevor Noah on regular TV! I never manage to stay up late enough for The Daily Show in regular life, but on Pacific time it’s on at a very reasonable 8:00 p.m. I watched several episodes last week, yay! Back home, we worked our way through a small backlog of The Great British Bake-Off (backlog from two weeks of travel) and The Great Festive Bake-Off.

Listening. I’ve been in a weird music mood lately. Spent my errands driving time singing loudly along to “The Joker” and “Escape: The Pina Colada Song” on repeat. Generation Z says that earth tones and macrame are in style again, so I took a trip in the music time machine too, apparently. Otherwise – I started a short Christmas audiobook, The Christmas Hirelings, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Richard Armitage reads it and I will literally listen to him read the phone book. Not sure about the story (yet), but – Richard Armitage, people.

Making. Ugh, I’m still stuffed after our tree-decorating party/feast. We had: a meat and cheese platter (Peanut ate ALL of the olives); pierogi; artichoke dip; cinnamon star pull-apart bread; and lemon chiffon pie. Oof. Otherwise – I made lots of work product, and packets of Girl Scout cookie order forms to distribute to Peanut’s Brownie troop. Never let ’em see you sweat.

Moving. Well, I had a good hard workout in my hotel gym one morning out in Seattle, which felt good. Other than that – a couple of runs and a lot of walking, the usual.

Blogging. Review of Framley Parsonage coming atcha on Wednesday, and back to the travel recaps with another Shenandoah post on Friday. Check in with me then!

Loving. YAY, SCIENCE! I’m so excited that both of the anklebiters have their second vaccine dose done and dusted. (And Steve and I will be getting our boosters this week – yippee!) Can’t wait for that full immunity to kick in for the kids. We’ve tried to live our lives with good risk management for months now, but this will really help. I know Peanut in particular is excited to go to the theatre again. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to the scientific community for creating this vaccine in record time, and for the sage advice of my wise and compassionate pediatrician as I talked the kids’ vaccines through with her.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Happy Monday, friends! How were your Thanksgiving weekends? Ours took us clear across the country – on Thursday the 18th, we flew out to western Colorado to spend the holiday, and the week prior, with my brother and sister-in-law and their menagerie. We don’t see them nearly enough, and it was so good to have all of that focused time together. We stayed up past midnight, twice, drinking wine and talking about fun and serious stuff just as hard as we could. We ate incredible meals and tramped around western Colorado and the national parks near Moab, Utah, and it was perfect. (Lots of stories coming, but not until after I finish up Shenandoah and Seattle.) Flight logistics dictated that our family head home on Black Friday, so we reluctantly said goodbye to Dan, Danielle, Ollie and Marlin (the dogs) and Pancho (the cat). As sad as we were to leave, it was probably a good idea to give the kids the weekend to decompress and get back on Eastern time after all that exhausting fun; we made it a low-key weekend. Saturday was devoted entirely to bumming around the house, cleaning out and restocking the fridge, and getting ready for another busy week (including a business trip for me, it never rains but it pours). On Sunday, we made time for a little more fun – swim class, of course, and a very short hike on our favorite trail, just to get our hiking legs back after the flight. A little cooking and a cozy couch evening on the couch – perfect way to end a weekend and set myself up for a long week of work.

Reading. Some reading week – it was light, but all over the place. I had to set Framley Parsonage aside for a week, rather than carting a heavy doorstopping hardback to Colorado, so spent the flights over a different doorstopper instead – Romola, on my kindle. I’m about a third of the way through, thanks to plane reading, but set it aside to return to Framley when we got home. I finished Framley Parsonage on Saturday night, and spent Sunday over Banana Yoshimoto’s classic Kitchen. (Nice slim fast read – just what the doctor ordered.) I’m off on a business trip – more flights – so I’ll be charging up the kindle and returning to Romola with an eye to finishing it up this week.

Watching. Not much – I was too busy talking and catching up with Dan and Danielle all week. On Saturday, I did spend a few hours watching some of Miranda‘s Christmas videos on YouTube – trying to break through a post-travel grinchy mood and get in the holiday spirit. It’s starting to work, I think.

Listening. Mmmm, not much. I started In the Crypt with a Candlestick, a fun mystery by Daisy Waugh, on Audible – but I’m not into it yet. Other than that, just one episode of my favorite podcast, Shedunnit, on Josephine Tey. (So good.)

Making. It was actually a creative weekend, who’d’a thunk? In addition to a cleaned and restocked fridge (just in time for me to turn around and head back to the airport), I made: progress on Christmas knitting; gluten-free and almost-Paleo banana bread and mini muffins with sous chef Nugget; the beginnings of Christmas cards for mailing; more that I can’t think of right now because someone is whining in my ear.

Moving. It was a hiking week, for sure! Dan and Danielle showed us so many of their favorite spots – from a fun hike in Colorado National Monument, practically in their backyard, to iconic hikes in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks outside of Moab – and more. Plenty of stories and pictures coming soon; stay tuned.

Blogging. November’s reading roundup is coming for you on Wednesday, and on Friday – back to Shenandoah on a warm summer weekend. It’s cold here, so looking through my pictures from Labor Day is warming me right up.

Loving. A bittersweet one. I can’t tell you how much I loved spending the last week with Dan and Danielle. Steve and I love them both so much and we don’t see them nearly enough – and it had been way too long since the kids saw their uncle and aunt. It was an incredible week, full of beautiful vistas and the joy of being together, but that made it all the sadder to leave. I like to joke that I’m an emotionless stone, but there were some tears. Fortunately we’ll be seeing them again soon – and we all agreed that we need to make a point of getting together, whether on visits to each other’s homes or meeting up in some other location for a family getaway – at least once a year. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that time together is precious and we will never let work schedules and everyday responsibilities (oh, and a pandemic) interfere with our family time for so long again.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Yawn. Morning, friends. How were your weekends? Mine was wonderful, but tiring – I could use another day. I haven’t said that many times since starting my new job, but it’s definitely true this time: we were on the go all weekend, and I need a day to recover from all the rushing around. It was a very kid-centric weekend, which was nice – fulfilling. On Saturday, we were up and out the door early for Nugget’s final soccer game of the season. He has loved playing this fall, and I’m thinking of finding him an indoor league to play this winter, although I haven’t decided yet. Both kids also take swimming, and I am thinking of signing them up for indoor ski lessons (yes, that’s a thing!), and I don’t want to overschedule us. So the jury’s still out on indoor soccer. Anyway – the weekend. The game was a total blast (and much warmer than last weekend’s!) and after the game, the coach passed out donuts and trophies. Each kid got his trophy individually and the coach had prepared individual remarks for everyone – it was the sweetest. I tried to video Nugget’s, but screwed up and somehow pressed stop right away, but the gist was – “soccer lover” Nugget came to every game with the biggest smile, worked hard and learned so many new skills, and never, ever, got tired. Sounds about right! After soccer, we rushed home for a quick lunch, and then Peanut and I were back out the door for a Brownie activity at Green Spring Gardens, a beautiful park near our old house. The girls learned about letterboxing, made their own letterboxing log books, and then took a group walk to locate the park’s letterbox. Fun!

Still with me? Saturday was exhausting, and we moved slowly on Sunday morning. I had big plans to go for a long run, but ended up crashed on the couch with my earbuds in, listening to my audiobook. Not a bad way to start Sunday. By late morning, I had zero motivation but had to get off the couch and get the kids to swimming – same old story. But we had fun afternoon plans – a meetup with my law school BFF, Carly, and her husband and kiddos. Carly had her eye on a new-to-us playground near the National Cathedral; it was gorgeous. The kids had a ball running around, trying out the “flying fox” zipline and a steep, fast slide – and more – and Carly and I caught up on the past several months. There’s nothing like a few hours spent with a friend who gets it. We shared joys and vented frustrations, and it was good to talk and listen and be in a safe space with a friend who understands my struggles (and won’t judge) and knows that I understand hers (and won’t judge). It was needed.

Reading. So, I have an achievement to share! Last week (or the week before?) I hit my Goodreads goal for the year. I always set a goal of 104 books (sounds random, but it’s not, it’s two books per week) and I’m now sitting at 106. To celebrate, I obviously decided to read a gigantically long book. After finishing Blitz Writing midweek, accordingly, I turned to the next book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire, Framley Parsonage. I’ve been rationing these, because I love them so much. Framley Parsonage is wonderful – I’m reading it slowly and at press time am a little more than halfway through – although I think I still love Doctor Thorne the best. But Framley has the benefit of several beloved old friends appearing – the Grantlys, Greshams, Proudies, Miss Dunstable, and even Mr Harding all make appearances. So fun! And then around the margins, I’ve been listening to The Sittaford Mystery on Audible; I’m about two-thirds done and forming all kinds of suspicions.

Watching. Speaking of suspicions, the whole family is getting into Miss Marple. Steve won’t admit it, but he’s hooked. We’re working on A Murder is Announced right now. When not solving crimes, we’ve watched another episode or two of The Great British Bake-Off, and several episodes of a Pokemon cartoon (the kids got their first COVID-19 vaccine doses, and we let them pick).

Listening. As noted above, audiobook time. And lots of music, especially when driving the kids places, because they are rudely intolerant of Agatha Christie. Who are these little cretins I am raising?

Making. Progress on Christmas knitting – I made a big error in the infinity scarf, but I fixed it and I hope (???) it looks even cooler now. Please don’t tell me if it doesn’t, lucky or possibly unlucky recipient.

Moving. A little of this and a little of that – a couple of runs (I’m getting my feet back) in the cold, and some walking with my audiobook, and some yoga. Good stuff all, just need more of it.

Blogging. Well, the plan is to have pictures of fall colors at Green Spring Gardens for you on Wednesday; I took my camera and had a lovely time snapping away. But I have to upload and edit them, so we’ll see. And then on Friday, more Shenandoah. The travel posts may continue for many weeks to come and I’m not even mad about it.

Loving. It was so much fun to play in the shadow of the National Cathedral on Sunday! It’s been awhile since I have been up this way, and I forgot how much I love the neighborhood. The National Cathedral reminds me of something I’d have seen in Europe; it’s so beautiful. Peanut asked what a Cathedral “looks like inside,” so I explained it was like “an extra big and glorious and amazing church.” She nodded, said “That’s what I thought,” and went about her business – but I think we will need to make another trip out here soon, and go poke around. It’s been too long since I stepped inside.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

Morning, friends, and happy new week to you. I hope it’s a good one! For me and for you – goodness knows I could use an upswing. Last week was not bad, per se, but not my favorite. On Tuesday we voted in elections for state offices – Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General – and for our House of Delegates members, while the entire country watched. I try not to get political on here, so I won’t say much about it, other than that I hope the result doesn’t do too much harm after all the progress we’ve made in the last decade. The new governor-elect is actually from my town, and his underage son attempted to vote – twice – at my polling place; it sounds like things got contentious. These are the times we’re living in. And the week didn’t get much better – a couple of unpleasant Friday afternoon surprises (nothing I can’t handle) and a personal bummer on Saturday made for a grumpy weekend. I hate grumpy weekends; I want my weekends to be happy and glorious all the time. But that’s not quite realistic, is it?

It wasn’t all bad. We had soccer on Saturday morning – the penultimate game of the season; it was supposed to be our last, but since we were rained out last weekend the league is allowing makeup games. As you can see, it was frigid. The entire field was frosted over and there were a bunch of little red-nosed soccer stars running around. I spent most of the game hopping up and down and hugging myself, and conducting a lengthy Halloween post-mortem with Nugget’s friend M’s mom Kate. Nugget did well but his feet got pretty cold; by the fourth quarter he was begging to switch to the other field, which got more sun (at his age, the kiddos play four-on-four over two small fields). The coach was reluctant to put him in, because – as he explained – they were trying to keep the score relatively even between the teams, and it was already lopsided in our favor, and Nugget is just too good. I pulled all my persuasive skills out of my bag and talked the coach into putting Nugget in on the sunny field anyway; he just had to promise to only play defense and not score more than two goals. (See, Nugget, never say having a lawyer mom didn’t do anything for you.) It took a few hours to thaw out after the game, but by midday the temps had climbed and I headed out for a run (!!!) – and not just any run: my favorite run of the season, the Marine Corps 10K (virtual again this year, thanks for nothing, ‘Rona). And then I figured I had earned a couch potato afternoon – after Nugget and I put a pound cake in the oven. Yum.

Sunday was, if anything, busier than Saturday – not the fun kind, though. After swimming, Peanut was invited to a birthday party at Dave and Busters (which necessitated a Target run to buy a noisy game for the birthday boy). Y’all. My twenty-month birthday party-free streak has ended, long live the birthday party-free streak. And guess what we found out! Dave and Busters is the new Chuck E. Cheese! Peanut hated every second, but she showed up for her friend. And we left as soon as the party was over. I was just grouchy all day – the lingering effects of the unpleasant Friday surprises at work and the personal disappointment. Well, can’t win ’em all… next week should be better.

Reading. If it wasn’t the best week in reality, at least it was a good week in books. I finished Paper Girls Vol. 1 on Monday and am already looking forward to continuing on with the series; it’s as weird-interesting as you’d expect from Brian K. Vaughn. Then I spent most of the week slowly reading Murder by Matchlight, one of the ten or so E.C.R. Lorac titles that the British Library has recently brought back into print. I loved it! After really enjoying Crossed Skis, which Lorac wrote under an alternate pen name (Carol Carnac) I started stockpiling other titles, and am looking forward to curling up with each of them in turn. Then Saturday was for the latest issue of Slightly Foxed; it was wonderful from cover to cover, as usual, but the final essay was the best. I also churned through Meet Mr Mulliner this week – between a couple of commuting days, a few walks, and dinner/dishes via Alexa – I finished the entire book, and cackled consistently throughout. (Augustine Mulliner was my favorite.) And finally – last but not least, I’m just in the beginning stages of Blitz Writing, but can already tell it’s gorgeously written and I’m going to love it.

Watching. For a week that was kind of cruddy, comfort viewing is required, and that’s all I watched. Three episodes of The Great British Bake-Off, more Miranda on YouTube (I’m almost through the backlist, whatever will I do) and some Gardeners World. It was all I could face.

Listening. As you can see (above) I am back on audiobooks after a short podcast break. After Meet Mr. Mulliner, I fired up The Sittaford Mystery, by Agatha Christie. Am only about fifteen minutes into it, so just breaking the ice. And on Sunday I wasn’t even in the mood for “convalescent literature” – only music would do, and specifically The New Pornographers. “In the Morse Code of the Brake Lights” on repeat. Can confirm loud singing.

Making. Creative juices were flowing this week. In addition to the regular rotation of home-cooked dinners: Nugget and I made this pound cake (from a Dorie Greenspan recipe – the classic “Perfection Pound Cake” out of her Baking: From My Home to Yours cookbook). We ate it with clotted cream and jam like Proper English People (please note I am neither proper nor English) and it was everything. Also made: progress on Christmas gift knitting – I’mma do it this year, people, just watch – and a completed 2020 family yearbook, because punctuality is for dorks. I haven’t ordered yet, but I will soon – my stackable coupons expire next week. I just want to let it percolate for a couple of days before doing a final proofreading.

Moving. All right, here – I finally have something to tell you. It was race week! (Sort of, because as noted above the Marine Corps 10K was virtual again, thanks to the stupid endless pandemic.) I planned to drive over to run it on my favorite trail, but in the end couldn’t be bothered to get in the car and just ran in my neighborhood instead. I even ran by the home of one of Peanut’s friends from Brownies and waved like a weirdo. Rest of the week – less exciting. Walks. Yoga.

Blogging. I have a lovely long Elizabeth von Arnim quote for you on Wednesday, and the first of a series of Shenandoah hiking recaps on Friday. Tally ho!

Loving. If you’ve been reading for a hot minute, you have probably figured out that I am in almost constant motion. Now that I am finally out of the trenches of new motherhood, and free from the soul-crushing dazed dread of a career I am only just beginning to realize I truly hated, I am back to my natural high energy levels and not a bit mad about it. But sometimes I do want a lazy afternoon on the couch (especially after a freezing cold soccer game followed by a 6.2 mile run) and I had the best one on Saturday, because of this mug and the tea that was inside it. Starting with the mug, it’s from Sussex Lustreware and I’ve had my eye on it for months, but it was sold out. They finally restocked and I pounced. Isn’t she lovely? The picture does it no justice; the pink is absolutely luminous. And of course I love the message. As for the tea inside it, I am spoiled: my best friend, Rebecca, sent me a sampler pack of August Uncommon tea for my birthday, and I broke into it on Saturday. I tried a smoky black tea with burnt sugar and banana notes, and it was delicious. August Uncommon is Rebecca’s favorite tea – she says she loves it even more than Mariage Freres. I’m not sure I’m prepared to take such a drastic step, but am willing to be persuaded. It was certainly a beautiful tea, and made more so by the love with which it arrived. I have the best people.

Asking. Why is it so much fun to crunch dry leaves? And what are you reading this week?