You know it’s a good birthday when you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, even if you were intending to write a blog recap from bed.

Rudi & I began the day with bagels and birthday presents before he took me to the airport for a flight to Connecticut.

My parents gave me midday cake (above) and we spent a low key afternoon reading and dozing (me) before heading out for pizza. We returned home for more delicious cake (Mum made my favorite cake of Gramma’s) and a dizzying array of gifts in front of the fire.

I got texts or calls from everyone I know, starting before I got up to moments before midnight, which made me feel very loved.

If your birthday sets the tone for the upcoming year, mine promises to be a good one.

I thought I’d share a sense (or five) of what’s going on in the Burrow tonight:

Seeing: A lot of mess, but much of it good mess like piles of books to read and dvds to watch. The warm light of the floor lamp combined with the fairy lights around the perimeter of the room.

Smelling: The barest hint of the broccoli dish Rudi stir-fried for supper tonight. Possibly also some of the citrus I bought last week.

Tasting: Toothpaste. (I’m heading to bed after posting this.)

Hearing: The hum of the refrigerator. An occasional car driving by. (There was just the acceleration of an SUV or truck trying to make the light.) Corey padding around in the kitchen.

Touching: The warmth and softness of my polar fleece lounge pants. The too comfortable sag of my couch cushion.

And a bonus:

Feeling: Excited about trips to Connecticut, Phoenix, and Fort Lauderdale this month and my birthday at the end of the week. Stressed about a couple of work projects. Achy in my knees from three days in a row of sports (I’m counting bowling), including tonight’s very vigorous volleyball game. Sleepy and ready for bed.

Good night!

It was a pleasant weekend, all told. Rudi came home tonight, and we got to watch episodes of Sanditon and My Life Is Murder and catch up with each other.

I had a great game of bowling, coming up with 111 points in nine frames. (The league is weird and is timed and so I didn’t get to bowl a tenth frame.)

I did a lot of walking out in the mild weather. (Isn’t that camellia gorgeous?)

I tracked down King Cake and Girl Scout cookies (Did you know each local council sets the price for a box of cookies, which meant cookies in D.C. cost a dollar more than they did 100 miles away in Pennsylvania?) and cat litter, bought greens and potatoes at the farmers market and tea made out of cocoa bean shells at a craft fair, picked up holds from the library, and did some other chores.

I finished two books and a shawl, rewatched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and had supper with some friends.

So, yeah, it was a good weekend.

Not bad for February, eh?

This is the only weekend left in February where I’ll be home the entire time, so I need to squeeze certain things into it:

• Visiting the library.
• Stopping by the bakery stand for King Cake.
• Doing laundry.
• Bowling.
• Meeting up with a friend to go to a craft fair.
• Cleaning.
• Taking advantage of some of my birthday month discounts.
• Going to the farmers market.
• Baking.
• Paying some bills.
• Getting outside.
• Catching up on some sleep.

How about you? What’s on your agenda for this weekend?

I made it home from California just after noon, but my plan not to lose my entire day to travel failed. I spent both legs of my red-eye feeling super sick, and so pretty much spent the rest of the day dozing on the couch.

Tomorrow, however, is a new day, and I’ve managed to eat and drink something that did not make me feel worse, so I’m hopeful we’re past the worst of it.

I am not much of a Super Bowl person, so I think I will skip my friend’s kind offer to have me join her and her husband at a bar to watch the game (she’s from Germany and wants to soak up the atmosphere). Instead, I think I’ll finish reading my book, bind off my shawl (!!), wander down to the Kennedy Center to catch the last night of their outdoor illuminated Winter Lanterns display, and get things sorted for the week ahead.

Rudi is off on ski coaching duties all week, so I’m on my own. This means I need to actually do a little better about planning ahead, since there will be no one else to check bike availability as I’m brushing my teeth. (If only Corey could work the phone app…)

Rudi was kind enough to pick up a bag of day-old bagels yesterday, so I have breakfasts sorted for a couple days. I’ll need to think about lunches and suppers, though. Maybe I’ll make a lasagna or a quiche, since those make for good leftovers. (I’ve got volleyball games both Monday and Tuesday nights, so maybe I’d better make one of those tomorrow…) Mary Berry’s cookbook is due back to the library, so if I want to try any of her cookie/cake recipes, I’d better jump on that, as well. Then that will give me snacks, too.

I need to change the sheets tomorrow, and since Rudi is away, I think I’ll just put on the flannel set. They’re too warm when he’s home, but I think they’ll be cozy while he’s away. Plus, it takes the pressure off of having to get that laundry done during the weekend, when everyone is fighting for time with the washing machine. (Actually, we’re a very civil building, and while we sometimes have a queue, everyone is usually very prompt about clearing the washer and dryer.)

While Rudi’s away, I’d like to get a little sorting done in the living room and kitchen.
I still need to put away some Christmas things piled on my living room table — cards and cookie tins and cds — and there are similar piles elsewhere that could be dealt with. Since I spent both sets of plane flights asleep, I still have my Inspector Ganache novel to listen to — incentive to spend time working on manual, brain-free tasks.

Finally, since the key to getting myself out the door in a reasonable fashion is to get up a little earlier, putting myself to bed at an earlier hour is also probably necessary. So hopefully my posts will be a little closer to midnight than two for the rest of the week!