With a final long weekend of the year upon us, I have a few more things I’d like to get done before closing the books on 2018:

• Get outside. The weather in D.C. is supposed to be mild, and, in a surprise from the forecast of earlier this week, dry.
• Do some baking. I failed in all my holiday baking here (although I was somewhat more successful up north) and there are some recipes I’d like to make. I also received a macaron pan for Christmas, and I admit to being intrigued by the idea.
• Make a few end-of-year donations. I made more donations year-round in 2018, but there are a few more I’d like to send in.
• Ask at the hardware store about grow lights. My violets and orchids are mostly hanging in there, in my daylight-challenged subterranean dwelling, but they definitely aren’t thriving. I’d like to see if they have any recommendations.
• Finalize our list of New Year’s Eve movies. Sarah, Rudi, and I have put forward a list, and I’ll take a stab at coming up with a schedule that works for three of them.
• Cuddle with the cats. (Jeremiah said I should add that one to the list.)
• Visit the library. I have some things to return and a couple new items that came off the holds list this week.
• Send a last few Christmas cards. I know, I know. But we’re not even halfway through the twelve days, so I think it’s okay.
• Finish a few final books. I’ve pulled out several that have been in-progress for a while and/or are short, and will do my best to add them to the read pile.
• Knit a bit. And maybe get pictures of the final couple FOs of the year.
• Listen to some of my new music.
• Pick up groceries at the farmers market. Topping my to-buy list will be collard greens or kale (the latter will probably be easier to find) for our New Year’s Day meal. (This year, I may try adding cornbread to the menu, since I attended a talk recently that reminded me I should have been serving that alongside my black-eyed peas, as well.
• Stop at Riverby Books one last time. The used bookstore down the street from my dentist is closing at the end of the year, and they have discounted their used books by 50% before they lock their Capitol Hill rowhouse for good.

How about you? What are you hoping to check off your list this weekend?

Wishing you a peaceful Sunday, whether it’s being spent on the road or at home. We have one more day in Connecticut before we head back down south & I’m looking forward to filling it with good memories.

Because I got nothing else tonight:

1. Spending time with my family
2. Watching the Macy’s Day parade
3. Going on the breakfast run to Dunkin’ Donuts (I’m going to deliberately start using the old name now that they’ve announced they’re officially shortening it) with Dad
4. Singing along with “Alice’s Restaurant” (“You can get anything you want…”)
5. Piling on the side dishes
6. Eating pie (pumpkin and apple are the traditional flavors in our house)
7. Knowing I’ll get to see Karen in the days to come
8. Rooting for our respective football teams (although I only care about the Powder Puff game, and I think that’ll be done before we hit the road from D.C. this year)
9. Talking to loved ones who are far away
10. Kicking off the Christmas season

(I do not love the long drive, but it will be filled with audiobooks, podcasts, music, and an excellent traveling companion. But think of us when you head to bed on Wednesday night, because we’ll still be on the road.)

How about you? What do you enjoy about the holiday?

With snow predicted in the mid-Atlantic region tomorrow evening and with dark and somewhat dreary weather punctuating the unexpected extra time on my hands (Honestly, it’s so November. I’ve just gotten spoiled living in the south, where cold and dank weather doesn’t generally arrive until December or sometimes even January.), I’m having a harder time than usual remembering how much I love fall. I thought it was time to recap ten of the things I love about it to help get me back in the mood (since there’s still another five weeks left of it…):

1. The foliage.
2. Cider doughnuts.
3. Halloween and Thanksgiving.
4. Coffeeneuring.
5. Wearing handknits.
6. Apples and quince and squash.
7. Comfortable weather (as compared to winter or summer) for long, leisurely walks or bike rides.
8. New tv shows. (We’re enjoying several including God Friended Me, the Magnum P.I. reboot, A Million Little Things, Happy Together, and Single Parents, which is nice because nearly everything we watched last year got canceled or bumped to a spring start.)
9. Digging up the potatoes in my garden. (Because it’s like a treasure hunt.)
10. Hot drinks. (And the fact that everyone stops thinking I’m weird for drinking six cups of tea a day. They still think I’m weird for plenty of other reasons.)

How about you? What do you love about autumn?

If last weekend was filled so completely that I didn’t have time to think about my situation, this weekend was not filled sufficiently. There was too much time on my own, too much time spent in my own head, too much time thinking about how things could have gone differently (not just about being downsized; it was a fun spiral that ran the gamut from dishwashing to grad school).

I realize this is a loss, and while I am not especially upset at having to find another job (that’s not entirely true; I’m looking forward to having a new job I love, but not to finding one), I am still at a loss for the sudden way in which losing the old one occurred. And losses take time and energy to deal with, and there is a grieving process. I’d like to hope that being aware this is what’s going on means that it won’t last too much longer, but I’d be lying if my own consciousness of a problem has historically indicated any ability to move through it with alacrity. But there’s a first time for everything, I suppose. And as long as I realize there’s the potential for this to become a problem, I can take the steps necessary to guard against it — rising earlier, getting out into the sunshine, exercising, talking to people… — and to take further steps if necessary.

I literally keep telling myself to suck it up and power through this, and I will. Just maybe not in ten days. Everyone who kept being surprised when I said I was going to just take a single day to wallow may have had a clearer picture than I did about that aspect of things. So, yes, my plan of thirds is still roughly going to hold true. But I think I will reorder things for the time being so that the self-care comes first and that I’m not dragging myself outside at 4 p.m. in pursuit of a flagging sun.

Because the days will roll past whether I see the sun in person or not, but they’ll sure feel a lot more pleasant if I do.

Today was grey and dreary and involved a trip to the vet for our older cat, Jeremiah, whom, I suspect is suffering from kidney disease. I expect to hear from the vet on Monday that it’s time to start him on a regimen of fluids. But other than a little stiffness when he first gets moving after a nap and some excess thirst, I think he’s doing well for a 16-year-old cat.

While the weekend is looking drier and sunnier, it’s also looking chilly, which means that I’ll be breaking out the woolens. Here’s some of what I’m hoping the weekend includes:

• Donate some more books to the Friends of sale at the library.
• Go on a couple bike rides in the sunshine.
• Bake an apple crisp. (I made applesauce tonight.)
• Poach my quince. (The top ones in the bowl remain unblemished, but I noticed the one at the bottom has become less pristine over time.)
• Take photos of some socks.
• Write some book reviews.
• Finish reading Lethal White.
• Buy a couple plants at the local nursery’s end-of-season sale and plant them in the garden. (They had strawberries and arugula when I stopped by earlier this week.)
• Water my African violets. (I watered the orchids when I brought them home from the office, but the violets are probably parched.)
• Do laundry. (Including wool socks, which means I need to stop by the yarn shop for more wool wash.)

How about you? What are you planning to do this weekend?