Periodically, Carole posts three things about three things. Less periodically, I steal the idea. Today is one of those days:

Three tv shows I have been watching on Netflix
1. Numb3rs
2. Fame
3. Bones

Three things I did tonight
1. Left work early … at 8 p.m.
2. Finished Will Grayson, Will Grayson
3. Pet Jeremiah while he napped on my leg

Three things Rudi has cooked for me this week (this was a suggested topic)
1. Homemade tomato soup
2. Chili
3. Tankards of tea

Yesterday, Sarah wrote up 13 things she’d like to do between now and Thanksgiving. I thought I’d join her in making such a list, but will stick to ten things since I failed to make the admirable progress on my summer goals that Sarah did on hers. Please note I’m only including fun things I want to do, rather than things I have to do on this list:

1. Attend the National Book Festival — With the exception of the years we were in England or Salt Lake, I have attended every one of these since we moved down here in 2003. This year it’s two days. That’s twice as much fun!
2. Finish a sweater — I was hoping to do this over the summer, but then I never picked up anything larger than a sock.
3. Play volleyball every week — I have joined a rec league. It’s partly to get me playing the one sport I ever really loved taking part in (rather than viewing, like baseball) and partly to introduce me to some new people. Tomorrow night is the first scrimmage, and, frankly, I’m mildly terrified.
4. Attend weekly yoga classes — I have signed up for classes at four different studios. I have no excuse for not getting to at least one each week.
5. Pick apples — Both John and Sarah have mentioned it, so one of these next couple weekends should find us at an orchard.
6. Spend a weekend in Connecticut — I’m overdue for a trip to see the family.
7. Catch up on my classics — I’m woefully behind on my classics reading challenge.
8. Find/make a Halloween costume — Because it’s fun to dress up.
9. Learn twenty useful phrases in a new language — Which leads us directly to …
10. Go to Iceland — And have a fun time!

This weekend, I plan to:

• Have a picnic at the Yards with friends. (Okay, including this is kind of cheating because it’s already happened, but still…)
• Go to yoga class.
• Get to the Corcoran for their final free Saturday of the summer.
• Watch the Mets-Nationals game followed by a Lifehouse concert.
• Swim at the pool.
• Stop by the garden.
• Clean a bit.
• Visit the library.
• Perhaps go to a local farm.
• Perhaps rent a canoe and paddle around on the C&O (although I might want to do a preview sniff test to assess post-Irene drainage issues).
• Perhaps go to a movie.
• Perhaps cook out.
• Go to the farmers’ market.
• Drink strawberry daiquiris.
• Break out the Wiffle ball and bat.
• Do a little baking.
• Knit.
• Read.
• Sleep.
• Get outside.

How about you? Any fun weekend plans?

Snippets from the week:

Finding the soap we bought in France nearly three years ago just as we run out.

The car radio (which is on its last legs) does not die while we’re stuck in traffic, which allows us to sing along with Rudi’s fantastic playlist created just for our beach trip.

A fantastic fresh flounder sandwich and red birch beer for a late lunch on the beach.

Waves!

Dolphins!

My new beach towel (my first in nearly two decades) is gigantic and absorbent, and I snuggle into it.

Four flavors of fudge to take home.

Dinner for two at a roadside diner costs less than $15.

A drive to the country means two weekend days in a row with Rudi.

My new baseball book, Diamond Ruby is excellent, perhaps the best I’ve read this year.

Five of us around John’s table after a delicious dinner. Nicole gives me locally produced soy milk with my hunk of cake (my grandfather would have approved of her slice sizes), and we reminisce about jobs we had as teenagers and our first cars.

Dead a/c. At least it’s mostly sticking to highs in the 80s this week.

A cupcake with Elspeth post-work. She’s back in the area, doing important work in a field she’s excited about. I’d like to be more like her when I grow up.

Crackerjack at the ballpark. Two home runs from the Nats means a notch in the win column.

Dinner at the Argonaut post-game. My root beer hails from the south, and my fish taco does not disappoint.

The garden is not as sad as I feared it might be. The chili pepper plant is covered with buds and blossoms, and there are more flowers on the squash. We celebrate by having last week’s squash in a stir-fry.

Thunderstorms mean the music at the Yards ends just after I arrive. We snag a spot under the pavilion before the rain begins (although encroaching puddles would later force a shift), and John, Rudi, Nicole, and I have a picnic with a view of lightning. Local white peach butter on baguette is the hit of the evening. We are the last ones to leave, long after darkness falls.

My week, in snippets:

Up earlier on a Saturday to fill water barrels at the garden than I am to go to work during the week.

Rudi’s away for the weekend, but he’s left me a container of sesame noodles to eat for dinner, so I don’t have to scrounge.

I follow it up by baking the half-roll of Gramma cookies that didn’t go to Dad.

Sleep in the middle of the bed.

Farmers’ market: lots of fruit. An almond-plum muffin with strong tea for brunch.

Hot and humid, but there is one person’s worth of shade over the benches in front of Teaism. No one else joins me outside.

A brief, strong rainstorm brings no rainbow, but does bring Rudi home.

We sit at Starbucks as the sun goes down. Rudi talks about the weekend’s rides and festivities while I knit on a sock.

A weekend’s effort brings The Woman in White to a conclusion after nearly three months in progress.

Monday brings disappointment from a deferred deadline.

We seek consolation by watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on a screen down on the Mall and eating a picnic. The sky is pink and the Capitol gleams bright white. The tomatoes are sweet. My grape juice is fizzy. The crowd applauds.

A mid-week watering trip to the garden nets a two-color summer squash, two black cherry tomatoes, and three red chili peppers.

Just a smidgen of rain and the weather cools off to the mid-80s. So pleasant.

A late lunch at the farmers’ market offers me a lassi, a mushroom empanada, a cherry muffin, and a container of raspberries. I carry a bouquet of zinnias back to the office to split with some coworkers.

It’s nearly twilight when I leave the office to walk home. The sky is violet and the clouds on the horizon an inky indigo.

We are all running late, but I am still the first to arrive at the Yards. I get a scoop of blueberry white chocolate ice cream and people watch. Eventually, Rudi, John, and Nicole join me. We sit on a blanket for drinks in the dark and later head out for pizza.

Curling up on the couch with a book while I wait for some delicates soaking in the sink causes an hour to fly past unnoticed. I tell myself “Just one more chapter” over and over and over again.

Amanda does a post on Mondays that lists what she and her family did over a weekend. I thought I’d adapt it to share what I did this week:

Sleep until noon after Rudi leaves for a bike ride.

Then up for sock knitting and Beach Party on Netflix for a summer-themed afternoon.

A ball game in the evening with my favorite pairing — the Mets and the Nationals.

Our seats are in the full sun, so we stand on the concourse and watch the game from behind the pricey seats.

When the concession stand that serves veggie burgers turns out to be out of patties, the line cook offers to make me a patty-less burger and then gives it to me for free. It was delicious.

Our blueberry supplier still has blueberries — and a second crop of luscious strawberries.

Off to Georgetown to the National Pinball Museum. After an edifying trip through the museum portion, we spend an hour pulling plungers, flipping the ball toward targets, and aiming for high scores. Rudi is best at the Guns ‘n’ Roses game, while I excel on a Jurassic Park machine. We both struggle with the games from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, which require a different set of skills than modern machines. [Note to locals: The museum is being booted out by new owners (who presumably are looking for higher-end clients) after Labor Day, so head over this month if you want to check it out.]

Time for nourishment! Cupcakes at an outdoor cafe table. Mine is called smurfette — lemon with blueberries. Slightly alarming name if thought about too long…

On to the garden! It hasn’t been watered in days… Long, grateful gulps of water. A few tomatoes to pick. A squash to watch. No beans yet.

Money back from Connecticut because my car lived there only one month out of 12 last year. Surprise money is the best kind. So are honest bureaucrats.

Fort Reno to listen to bands. And eat pie. But mostly to hear music. Loose Lips is the best of the three groups. Cooler air; cloud lightning.

A customer service plea finally gets the right answer. I am grateful.

Cooler weather lasts. Make time to sit outside for a few minutes to eat lunch.

Rain!

Lots of episodes of Numb3rs while I test knit a sock.

The second part of The Woman in White — finally! I didn’t think it was possible to read this slowly.

A blackberry and cream popsicle.

Jazz at the Sculpture Garden — and space on a bench to sit.

Home with the cats.