This weekend is supposed to be a mixed bag weatherwise, with sun, clouds, and rain all expected. The key will lie in getting outside earlier on Saturday to catch the sun, but if I miss it then, I hope to see it late Sunday afternoon.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• Stringing up some latticework for my peas and picking more violets from the garden.
• Visiting one of our local bookshops for Independent Bookstore Day.
• Reading as part of Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon (but not as an all-nighter).
• Taking in a YallWest author session or two.
• Buying asparagus at the farmers market for the first time this spring.
• Doing some baking.
• Tracking down quarters. (None of the local branches of Rudi’s bank had them this week, so now I need to be creative at the couple spots that take cash so we can do laundry.)
• Listening to baseball.
• Cleaning the bathroom. (Not fun, but necessary.)
• Finishing the toe of a long-lingering sock (and maybe doing a photo shoot).

What’s on your aspirational to-do list for this final weekend in April?

Things I’m looking forward to after my immunity fully kicks in post-vaccine four weeks from today:

• Visiting my parents
• Hugging my friends
• Browsing the stacks at the library
• Going to museums (one opened in my city dedicated to the written word and I haven’t felt comfortable going yet)
• Eating outside at restaurants (I jumped the gun on this once and won’t do it again until next month)
• Traveling
• Browsing in big box stores
• Seeing my coworkers not through a screen
• Swimming at the pool (and lounging on the deck with a book)
• Attending concerts inside (definitely not immediately)

How about you? What are you looking forward to after you’re fully vaccinated?

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but here’s what’s going on around here right now:

Hearing: Cars driving by, including one playing goth music and another with its bass boosted way up. Birds, with their own unique nighttime music.

Seeing: A lot of mess that I need to invent time to deal with.

Feeling: The warmth of a cat curled up next to me asleep.

Tasting: The last mouthful of hot cocoa I recently finished.

Smelling: Not a whole lot because I should take an allergy pill to clear my head and go to sleep.

What’s it like where you are?

My invitation for a COVID shot just came through, so I’m booked for late Monday afternoon. I am very excited (and a little trepidatious, because I still hate doctors).

I don’t know that I can reward myself with another trip to the beach just yet, but I’m definitely going to get an ice cream cone (and maybe bring my own festive bandaid).

I’d hoped for this weekend to split 50-50 sun and rain, but it’s looking more and more like the rain will fall overnight and the days will dry out. Normally, that would be ideal, but I really need to get some cleaning done around the apartment and it’s hard to force myself to forego sunlight when I spend all my weekdays hunkered down over a computer.

So I’ll definitely get outside. The potatoes that are currently growing in my kitchen have thus far refused to plant themselves (although they’re doing really well without soil so far). I raced the clock down to the library the other evening to pick up the latest Sherry Thomas before my hold expired, so I currently am in possession of several books I’m excited about reading. It would be great to spend some time in the park reading. And I probably also should get some actual exercise in, since volleyball starts up in ten days and I’m feeling woefully out of shape.

But that does put some pressure on Rudi and me to get some cleaning done in the evenings. I heard officially this week I’ll be home full-time at least through Labor Day, and there’s some additional thought being given to what the workplace looks like when we do return after that. (The D.C. office space for my organization has closed, so we’re taking the opportunity to reassess realistically what our needs are after 18 months.) Neither Rudi nor I can continue to just pile stuff up, which has been our M.O. for months, so we need to come up with a plan of attack for moving forward and making our small space work while we remain here. Unfortunately, Rudi and I both exist relatively well in chaos, which leads to our living space currently looking like someone set off a bomb in here. Wish us luck with solving that.

Today was a perfect spring day and exactly what I needed after the workweek I endured. Warm in the sun, brisk in the shade. Clear skies. Perfect for working at the garden. A small person who was at the park with his mom helped me spread wood chips on pathways by filling my wheelbarrow a handful at a time (I supplemented by the shovelful) and counting down when I should dump the load.

I stopped for bagels on the way home. They’d just come out of the oven and were still warm when Rudi cut into them.

After a siesta, Rudi and I took a late afternoon jaunt over to one of the nurseries I like. There is a flat of seedlings (including four more strawberry plants) waiting at the garden for me to plant tomorrow; apparently garden supplies are where I’ve decided my budget doesn’t apply. I blame all that fresh air and the oxygen released by all the plants at garden centers. Clearly it’s dangerously intoxicating to my working-inside-on-the-couch-all-pandemic brain.

We had a video chat with friends in Seattle and New Orleans before settling down for the night with big bowls of kale salad for supper.

Rudi’s heading off on a day trip to the mountains for a bike ride tomorrow and I’m going to make myself an Easter brunch after heading to the farmers market. (While I’m hoping to find freshly harvested ramps and greenhouse tomatoes there, neither will feature in my breakfast plans, which instead will fall heavily on the sweet side.) I’m going to putter down at the garden in the early afternoon and then recuperate at the park with a book, knitting, and a drink.

Happy Easter and final day of Passover to those who celebrate and happy Sunday to those who don’t. I’m wishing all of us a relaxing day of leisure.