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!

One of the nice things about having a blog is that it gives you an anchor in history. (I hear from blogless people that Facebook serves a similar purpose.) I can see daffodils today and think, gosh, this is way too early. But then I can go back to previous Januaries and see that we’re probably only a week early. I had snowdrops pictured in the final weekend of January last year, rather than in the middle of the month, and the daffodils didn’t turn yellow until February. (Also, how is February arriving at the end of this week?!)

With highs predicted for this next week to remain in the 40s, I suspect this daff will unfurl itself in short order. Right now, it looks not dissimilar to me when I am fooled by bright sunshine into leaving the house underdressed only to wish 15 minutes later that I had a warm layer to block the breeze.

The past couple days I was out during the day in just a baseball tee and sweatshirt (and knitted accessories). But as the sun sets, it still cools off quickly and I’m glad to pull on a jacket or puffy vest. It’s still too early for canvas sneakers (at least without wool socks), as I discovered this evening, but I know that day isn’t far off. (My apologies to those of you for whom that day is far off.)

The current forecast for the Bay Area has the highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 40s while I’m out there later this week, so I’m hoping that means I can leave the winter sweaters and coat at home!

I was lucky enough to be on an above-ground train this evening as the sun was setting over Old Town Alexandria. The first clue of its gorgeousness was actually the pink hue cascading over the D.C. skyline on the other side of the river, but I was on the wrong side of the train to capture that.