We’re heading north at the end of the week (!!!), so a certain part of this weekend will be dedicated to tidying the apartment. I also need to do laundry.

I keep suggesting to Rudi that we should celebrate his birthday with some friends (he was out of town last Sunday), but so far nothing’s come of that. I’ll raise the point again.

I’d like to do some baking, but I’ll only do that if it actually gets warm enough in the apartment for me to let Rudi close the window and turn on the a/c. Tomorrow night it’s not supposed to drop below 70 outside (::whimper::), so that is a possibility. But the one perk of living below ground, particularly during the spring’s first heat wave, is that we’re insulated against the heat for a lot longer than other people. I have a love/hate relationship with a/c, so the longer I can go without turning it on, the happier I am. (Rudi, not so much.) But if I introduce heat inside the apartment (or the cleaning takes on its own heating element), it’s far more certain Rudi will draw the line.

Garden (literally, as in from my garden) salads are also on the agenda. I’ve been picking a couple bags of greens each week, but the impending heat is signaling the end of the arugula, at the very least. I’ve been really good about staying on top of bolting greens this year, but the temperatures have been on my side, and I may have to pick entire plants, rather than just plucking the largest leaves if the weather doesn’t cooperate. We’ve got a couple salad dressings we’re really grooving on from the farmers market (strawberry poppyseed and green goddess), which I find helps make the salads feel distinct from each other. When we get back from Connecticut, I might try the bakery’s housemade blue cheese dressing. I put in a couple hours in the garden this evening, but without any certainty of rain in the forecast, I’ll have to go water and pick snap peas and strawberries.

And otherwise, who knows? Maybe the park concert. Hopefully some knitting and reading.

How about you? What are you getting up to this weekend?

Apparently the desire to leave my house and see people again makes me want to buy new clothes. Friday I bought a couple casual tshirts online during a sale. Saturday I took myself to TJ Maxx for the first time since the pandemic and came away with several tops I could wear for work calls and a sundress I need to try on for Rudi. Yesterday, I ordered shorts, none of which may fit. But apparently I’m tired of the clothes I’ve been Zooming in for the past 15 months. Now, if I could just find some underwire-free bras for a reasonable price and get a Target BOGO sale on underwear, I’d be a very happy camper!

Today was a day for doing a couple things at once. I listened to an audiobook while having breakfast. I did laundry while taking part in the Bout of Books Twitter chat. I snacked in the sun while reading. I listened to a band while knitting. I finished my audiobook while sleeping on the couch.

Okay, I confess: that last one ended up being too much. While technically both happened at the same time, I had to rewind the audiobook to catch the end of the book.

But still!

Things I’m hoping to get to this weekend:

• Do my taxes.
• Clean up some portion of my apartment.
• Spend lots of time outside.
• String the peas up higher. (They’re growing like weeds.) Also, remove more weeds.
• Go to the library.
• Stop by a craft festival.
• Wash laundry.
• Pick up my knitting.
• Finish my audiobook.
• Shop for some graduation gifts for my interns.

How about you? What’s on your to-do list?

For the third time in 14 months, I’ve gone to a restaurant and sat on their patio with other people.

The first time was for Sarah’s birthday last month, and we hadn’t yet been vaccinated. People’s interpretation of “wear a mask except when you’re eating or drinking” was too lax for my taste, so I told Rudi I wouldn’t be repeating the experiment until I’d had a shot.

Last week, post-shot #2, I went out for drinks after my volleyball game. I didn’t yet have full immunity, but given the latest info on outdoor spread, I decided I could take the chance.

Tonight, Sarah and I went out for pizza. We talked about her garden and past work evaluations (we’ve both worked places where they’ve asked supervisors not to rank employees as “excellent” on their annual reviews) and upcoming travel (she’s going to go see one of her oldest friends next month; I’m going to see my family later in May). It was so … normal.

I’m not ready to eat indoors yet. But it is a nice feeling to be comfortable eating outside again, particularly as we’re about to head into the time of year when that’s nicest.

Today wasn’t the most productive day, but there’s always hope for tomorrow, right?

There are definitely some things I’d like to cross off my mental to-do list this month in addition to the key one, which was to get my second COVID shot. But I’d also like to:

• See my family
• Clean my apartment, so I can have the pet sitter come
• Plant tomatoes
• Find my swimsuit (it might be in my travel bag, since I was on travel two weeks before the world shut down), so I can swim at the pool once it’s open
• Celebrate Rudi’s birthday when he gets home

I mean there are definitely others, like spend time with friends, socialize with my volleyball team, and be outside as much as possible. But those are the main five.

Are there things you’re still hoping to do this month?