Another weekend, another to do list.

Things I hope to accomplish:

• Finish four books
• Finalize my first shortlist (15 titles) for the Cybils panel
• Have dinner with Rudi and Julia
• Go to Crafty Bastards, which also involves investigating the new Union Market
• Wash laundry
• Change the sheets
• Wash curtains
• Sort library books into piles so I can reclaim some of our living room by returning a bunch of them.
• Write 5 book reviews
• Finish my red Christmas socks (I was down to the toe decreases when I stopped earlier this year.)
• Make a green tomato pie
• Make bread
• Mop the bathroom floor
• Mop the kitchen floor when I put the food mill away
• Switch out my summer and winter clothes
• Find my missing handknits
• Call Fragers to see if they have garlic bulbs
• Pull up dead/dying summer plants and put in fall/winter veg at the garden
• Do some of my reading outside in the sun, since it’s supposed to be nice
• Compose this year’s tree trimming invitation
• Go to the farmers market
• Get a minimum of six hours of sleep both nights and still get up before noon.

Things I did (or didn’t) accomplish this weekend:

• Finish four books (Done!)
• Go to the charity benefit at Politics and Prose (done! bonus: Christmas shopping!)
• Wash laundry (one load done; another will happen in the morning)
• Vacuum (done)
• Write three book reviews (one)
• Knit 10 rows on a sock (Fail)
• Wash the bathroom sink (yes)
• Handwash socks (the pile that was in the bathroom got done; those in the bedroom did not)
• Make applesauce (apples cooked down, but haven’t run them through the mill yet)
• Make a pie/tart (fail; although there’s a pie crust in the fridge now)
• Make bread (nope)
• Mop the bathroom floor (nope)
• Mop the kitchen floor (nope)
• Switch out my summer and winter clothes (nope)
• Listen to music (some, but less than I’d have liked)
• Plant fall/winter veg in the garden (didn’t even go down to the garden)
• Think about going over to the Arlington Library to acquire more Cybils nominees (16 books picked up)
• See if Michael and Julia have time to get together (got together with Julia for a walk)
• Sit outside in the sun, should it appear (no sun Saturday; failure to sit outside on Sunday)
• Go to the farmers market (yup)
• Make a pot of chocolate (and drank it while eating cider doughnuts for breakfast)
• Get a minimum of six hours of sleep both nights and still get up before noon. (Accomplished!)

It was an ambitious list, as Karen wrote. I’m not wholly disappointed with what I got done, particularly since I finished four Cybils nominees and have clean underwear for tomorrow.

It’s late and I’d like to go to bed, so I’m afraid we’re opting for a bulleted list tonight.

Things I hope plan to accomplish this weekend:

• Finish four books (One is done; a second is started.)
• Go to the charity benefit at Politics and Prose (done! bonus: Christmas shopping!)
• Wash laundry (a priority should I want to wear underwear next week, which I do)
• Vacuum
• Write three book reviews
• Knit 10 rows on a sock
• Wash the bathroom sink
• Handwash socks
• Make applesauce (with some apples that are looking a little peaked)
• Make a pie/tart (with some apples that look perkier. A perky pie! ha! (yes, I’m going to bed soon, I promise…))
• Make bread (okay, the bread machine will do the brunt of this, but still…)
• Mop the bathroom floor
• Mop the kitchen floor (since I have to move stuff to get to the food mill, anyway)
• Switch out my summer and winter clothes
• Listen to music
• Plant fall/winter veg in the garden (this includes calling Frager’s to see if they have garlic bulbs)
• Think about going over to the Arlington Library to acquire more Cybils nominees (if not this weekend, then a must-do by Wednesday)
• See if Michael and Julia have time to get together
• Sit outside in the sun, should it appear
• Go to the farmers market
• Make a pot of chocolate
• Get a minimum of six hours of sleep both nights and still get up before noon.

And with that bullet, let me away before it becomes impossible!

Today, was Halloween.

I might have dressed up:

I might have dyed my hair:

When people asked, I told them I was “a riot of color.”

I might have a lifelong fondness for Halloween and its trappings:

(I’m the clown.)

This was nursery school, October 1978. I believe it’s my second Halloween costume ever. (Mum and Dad, feel free to correct me on that if I’m mistaken.) Mum made it, as she did all my costumes between this one and 4th grade (I think). Yes, I was really lucky.

Amanda usually wraps up her weekend with a bulleted list and invites others to do the same. This week, with three days in our weekend hopper, I accept:

• We begin the weekend with new life. Susan and Phillip have a healthy baby girl.
• Our typical summer Friday evening picnic at the Yards. It starts in daylight with feet in the pool, chatting, and watching the jumbotron in the distance after the baseball game begins. It carries on into darkness, through our supper (complete with macarons courtesy of Sarah) and a blue moon.
• Sleeping in.
• Watering the garden. A tomato and a pepper to pick. Squash to mourn. The pool looks crowded, so I carry on to elsewhere.
• Off to Georgetown. There’s a “new” pie place. Pricey, but tasty, with cupcake-shaped pies. Blueberry lemonade pie was excellent, as was coconut cream. Skip the lemonade itself.
• I finish my book at the waterfront park. A toddler wonders why I’m crying.
• Drama in the sky before me. Race the thunderstorm home. I win, although I admit to being nervous when I had to cross Rock Creek.
• Homemade tomato soup with tomatoes we picked.
• No berries left at the farmers market. Peaches are dwindling, as is the corn. Apples abound. I buy a fiery flower and paw paws.
• Knitting on my Olympic Affection once again. I’m back to virgin wool!
• A last swim at the pool for the season.
• Baseball vs. the Cubs. The Nats win their 82nd game of the season, guaranteeing them their best season since moving to D.C. and a winning year.

• More importantly, it’s Cora’s first baseball game.

• Homemade popsicles after a sweaty bike ride home from the ballpark.
• Cooking out on the stoop. We grill veggie hot dogs, corn on the cob, a pepper (for Rudi), and a peach. The perfect end to the summer season.
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Three things about three things:

TV shows I’ve been watching this summer:
1. Inspector Lewis: The quality of the writing on this BBC buddy cop show isn’t always outstanding, but the chemistry between the intergenerational leads is.
2. Psych: ION airs this dramedy in a marathon Saturday nights, and it’s everything I like in a show: ultimately underneath the crime-solving, it’s about how you cobble together a family out of your friends. Plus, ’80s and ’90s pop culture references and guest stars.
3. Leverage: This is another cable show re-aired in marathon sessions on ION. While it’s best if you don’t think about how court cases are going to hold up when the evidence is obtained in questionable means by witnesses who disappear, it’s hard to dismiss the appeal of the ensemble cast.

Activities planned for this week:
1. All’s Well That Ends Well: The first Shakespeare Theatre Free for All production we’ll have seen since they left Carter Barron.
2. My final grass court volleyball match(es) of the season.
3. Paranorman

Things I did this weekend:
1. Spent the day at the beach
2. Had tea in the rain
3. Relaxed by the river with a picnic dinner that included homemade peach crisp and tomato-peach salsa