From Powell’s guest blogger of the week, Stephanie Klein, author of Moose:
Life Isn’t Always Lived In the Details: Long Distance Friendship
Exactly. And it totally sucks.
… the smell of wet ground just as a storm is starting.
… watching the rain pour down … from inside.
… that I don’t need to go water the garden.
… knowing that turning on the oven won’t overwhelm us with the heat.
… leftover tortilla chips from last night’s jazz in the sculpture garden (when it was *not* wet).
… a big mug of tea.
… an afternoon I can spend inside without feeling guilty about not enjoying the nice weather.
… listening to music.
… the idea of a clean apartment (because I do *not* love cleaning).
… reading and knitting.
… curling up with my sweetie and the cats.
It’s the one that’s been floating all over the blogosphere for the last month or so. Debby answered it earlier and offered to tag anyone still remaining to answer it, so here I go:
1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago my brother graduated from college and Rudi and I journeyed down from Connecticut to D.C. to wish him well. We ended up brunching at a hotel that is mere blocks from where we live today. We also headed back to New London to see Sam graduate from Conn.
2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (tomorrow, in my case):
3) Snacks I enjoy:
Pretty much anything sweet and/or baked. Ice cream. Peanut butter-filled pretzels. Tortilla chips. Raspberries. Blueberries.
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel to see all my friends and then to all the places I’ve ever wanted to go. Buy a house, complete with large claw-foot tub, built-in bookshelves, and working wood-burning fireplace. Pay off all the debts, mortgages, etc., for the family. Give books away to every kid I encounter. Knit and read at the beach for the rest of the summer.
5) Places I have lived: Connecticut and D.C. [Edited to add] and Oregon
6) Who I’m tagging: Bueller? Bueller?
The nice thing about the second half of the year is that you don’t have to wait nearly as long between holidays as you do at the start of the year. For the record, our next long weekend (July 4 is a Friday) is less than six weeks away.
How was your weekend? Did you fritter it away? Were you productive? Most importantly, now that it’s over, are you happy with how it went?
All in all, I probably could have spent a little less time in front of the computer, but generally I’m pleased with my three days off.
Let’s see how I did in comparison to my original, overwhelming plans:
Ooh! This one I did twice! I went Saturday and added a lower rung and gave the garden some water. And then Rudi and I went over again today and we added yet another rung and I added vertical string to aid the climbing process. Rudi planted cucumbers and bush beans and we gave the garden a good dousing, which ought to guarantee rain tomorrow.
I think I have finished my swatch. Okay, I know I have finished my swatch; I’m just not sure it bears any resemblance to the gauge I’m supposed to be getting for the sweater I’ve decided to knit. I’d always envisioned a summer cardigan when I thought about the yarn (a lavender cotton-linen blend), but when I saw Sorelle, I knew that was what I wanted to make.
I also aired the stash this weekend. Let’s just say that I ought not to buy yarn again for a while, shall we? But doing so did give me the opportunity to think about some of the items I’d like to make for the Summer of Socks that starts in less than a month. My needles are ready.
Okay, so I carried The Book Thief all the way across town with me earlier this weekend, but, as I mentioned, I stopped at the library. The Northeast branch, which is not my normal branch, had the third book of Rick Riordan’s Olympian series, The Titan’s Curse, which my branch library never has. So I took it out. And read it. And read it. And read it. And then it was done. So sad because it was so good. The penultimate book came out recently and the fifth and final book of the series will probably come out sometime next spring, so at least I still have a few more Percy Jackson novels to read. Yay!
The good news on this item is that Susan and I had a fantastic lupper on Sunday. We didn’t get to sit outside, but they kindly placed us in an open window, so it was practically just as good. We both enjoyed our food and it was nice to sit and have a chance to talk, just the two of us.
The bad news is that I totally overslept on Sunday morning and didn’t wake up until two hours after I was supposed to help Sarah move. She was gracious when I called to apologize, but I felt awful.
Susan and I agreed we’d meet up after we both went out to exercise on Sunday. I road out to Thompson Boat House along the Capital Crescent Trail and back along the C&O Canal Towpath. It was the middle of a lovely afternoon, so the canal was crowded with people. If any ducklings are around, their mothers wisely kept them off the water. I did see two half-grown Canada goslings with their parents, as well as a handful of turtles sunning themselves on various logs in the water. I would have liked to head out again this afternoon, but I frittered too much of the day away to be able to go. Maybe if I get to work on time tomorrow I can head out before sunset.
Yeah… about this one. It’s a long process. The good news? I hung up all the skirts and cardigans littering the couch. The bad news? I took out all the wool items from the closet and slung them onto it. Tomorrow…
Hooray! Another accomplishment. I made Nan’s Country Rhubarb Dessert last night and it was delicious. Sort of like a rhubarby, meringuey strawberry shortcake. (I know!) Two more servings left for dessert for tomorrow night.
Obviously, done.
I did not drink any froofy drinks this weekend. (Froofy drinks would require my clearing off my counters, and as you saw above, I’m just not there yet.) I did, however, finish my pink wildberry Italian soda in my “Ripped” pint glass earlier tonight.
Yup. May I have some more, please?
A long weekend stretches before me, long and with endless possibilities, sort of like the highway that runs through much of the midwest. I’m just hoping there are no Junebugs.
Rudi is heading out for most of the next two days, taking himself on a ride called the Mountains of Misery. To me that sounds like the snowbound route to Mordor and therefore ought to be avoided at all cost. To Rudi it sounds like a challenge to his ability as a bike rider and is, therefore, something to be conquered.
Meanwhile I’m planning a quiet, but hopefully productive, weekend. Some of my goals include:
Hmmm… Well, I’ll at least do the last item on the list. I haven’t had a night at home all week (although every night has been filled with fun). I’ve gone to a concert and to a ballgame, seen movies (we really liked the new Indiana Jones film), knit, and eaten at Ben’s Chili Bowl. And tonight we kicked off the summer season right with an evening of jazz at the Sculpture Garden with friends — both the usual gang and some of the women from my office who opted to join us at the last minute (I’m hoping we didn’t scare them away).
So maybe instead my to-do list will look like this:
What are you planning for the long weekend?
The first of my photos from the National Geographic exhibit, “Frogs! A Chorus of Colors,” taken on Mother’s Day afternoon.
Smokey Jungle Frog
Vietnamese Mossy Frogs
African Clawed Frog
Amazon Milk Frog
If you click the images, you’ll get more details about the individual frog species on Flickr.