Today is February 29, which means that it’s a rare breed, a blue-moon kind of event — something to be celebrated rather than taken for granted.

(Yes, I know leap years have been celebrated with regularity since 46 B.C., but that doesn’t really change the point. How many have occurred in your lifetime?)

So, how will you mark this special day? Will you plan an indoor picnic? Call an old friend? Drive to the beach? Eat dessert first? Take a trapeze lesson? Put on your favorite album/song/playlist, turn up the sound, and dance around the living room — with a special someone or by yourself, singing along at the top of your voice?

However you choose to celebrate, I hope you make it your own. Remember, today is a gift day — and no one is going to know if you waste it but yourself.

We got hacked last night (again), and my theme, being ancient in terms of the web, is being ornery. Rest assured that this will not be the final look for Sprite Writes, but please bear with me as I give my online house a new coat of paint and plant some new flowers. After all, my seventh blogiversary is right around the corner.

P.S. Thank you to Rudi, who painstakingly went through every file in my blog to remove the hacked code. He’s a good guy.

Update: And it’s back. Rudi pored through his files and found an unadulterated version of my theme. He totally rocks.

Taking a note from Amanda, a quick recap:

• Lots of knitting this weekend. Some of it fruitful. Some will have to be frogged and started — yet again.
• Rudi’s injury last weekend is unfortunate, but does mean I get to see him two days in a row.
• Some cleaning. Not enough, but it’s a start.
• Too cold to start the garden for the season.?
• Tea ordered from the Porto Rico sale before it ends.
• Bills paid, but no real mail sent.
• Anne of Green Gables on PBS.
• Hot cocoa poured from the chocolate pot into tiny heart-shaped cups and served with cupcakes.
• A yellow tulip procured — for free! — from the farmers’ market.
• Scones and tea for brunch.
• Sitting outside in the chilly sunlight.
• Dinner, family-style, at the local Chinese place with Phillip, Susan, and Holden.

Amanda shares these free-form posts each Sunday night with the shape of her weekends. I thought this week I might do the same. (Yes, I accept the accusation that it’s a cop-out on composition and narrative.)

loud, upbeat music turns a friday night sulk into a dance party.
saturday is a day in the kitchen:
i find clothilde’s quince recipe
and make applesauce
and roast a pumpkin.
dishes. so. many. dishes.
clean sheets for the bed.
clean towels for the bathroom.
never out of pj’s.
a nice long chat with rudi’s mom.
a supernatural british tv show may be too scary for me.
finish knitting a sock.
start a new book.
today starts with the farmers’ market:
more quince for cheap,
the first rockfish of the season,
beets to go with the cabbage i bought last week.
then out to hyattsville with rudi, john, and sarah:
lunch at franklin’s
followed by a poke around a tangled skein.
secret service at politics and prose. didn’t see the famous politico’s family member.
rudi notices their vanilla syrup for my steamer is hand-made; no wonder it’s so potent.
the grocery store is less crowded than feared, and the cats appreciate being fed.
home in time for an accidental nap on the sofa, then the super bowl.
cast on a hat for a swap gift — pretty purples and quite squishy.
the pats didn’t win, but you couldn’t begrudge the giants their first and fourth quarters.
betty white, darth vader, and clint eastwood had the best commercials. matthew broderick and snoopy did well too.
madonna was okay, but needed shorter heels.
cocoa before bed.

Rudi and I got a new tv for Christmas. We’ve watched some tv shows and some movies on it, but I think this is the nicest thing I’ve seen on it thus far.

And, yes, those were taken back at the beginning of the month. Our tree is not still up.

Today is Russian Christmas and the 12th Day of Christmas in Western Christian religions (also known as Three Kings Day). I did not get twelve drummers, but I did get an Icelandic cd on which there is some drumming (I think…).

I hope your celebrations have been merry and that your upcoming year is one of good fortune.