My plan for this weekend looks a lot like the rest of my week, except that it starts later in the day.

We’ve got video chats planned both days — one with college friends (and with whom we’ve not been in the same spot all together in nearly two decades) and one with my family.

I’m going to go to the garden. There are more violets to pick and lettuces to thin. There are communal chores to be completed alone (or, at least, alone with Rudi if he’s around).

The farmers market continues to be open on Sunday, although they’ve got new plans in place to cut down on exposure, and they’ve closed the composting. We can still take ours to the garden, but it’s definitely more work that way.

I expect to do some baking. The sourdough starter needs to be fed, which means it’s a good day to make bread. I have a shortbread recipe I want to bake, once Rudi tells me where he’s organized my semolina to. Plus, I might make scones for Sunday’s breakfast or pie our supper.

I need to do some tidying, because while I’ve got spots where one person can do a video chat respectably, that spot is not my couch, where both of us can sit together.

I’d like to send some mail. The stationery box is out, although it’s not especially well organized, and I keep having to sort through everything in my quest to find the type of card I’m looking for.

I hope to do some knitting. I wound a new ball of yarn during a call earlier this week. Plus, I have several projects I’m already working on.

I’d love it if Rudi wants to listen to some more of Good Omens. Or maybe Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I understand the free copy that’s floating around all the libraries may be the Stephen Fry version (heretofore not available in the U.S.), and I’d love to see how he measures up to Jim Dale’s recitation. On my own, I’m listening to the the third Inspector Gamache novel and have Meg Cabot’s Size 12 Is Not Fat for if that gets too tense to listen to late at night.

There is always laundry to be done, although we are down to our last roll of quarters. Acquiring more requires hitting an atm for cash and then finding a bank that will exchange bills for coins. The one by our apartment has closed for the time being, but Rudi thinks there may be one nearby that’s still open, at least some days.

I have to get some extra walking in. I did better this week at getting outside after work had wrapped up, but my activity level is still way below where I’d be under normal circumstances.

And, finally, I’ll need to queue up some Jesus Christ Superstar and Gene Autry, since I won’t be at my folks’ place to hear our traditional Easter tunes.

The upcoming week holds several friends’ birthdays, the start of Passover, and the Easter holidays. Which means I should get some things done this weekend to prepare:

• Send out some mail. I dug out my stationery box today, which makes that easier.
• Buy batteries. We’re out of AAs and AAAs and now have to rob Peter to pay Paul, gadget-wise.
• Make some calls. I’ve been okay about checking in with the folks I know in the hardest hit areas or who are in healthcare careers, but haven’t made phone calls.
• Pay some bills. I am lucky in that because I am still working full-time, I am still getting my usual paycheck. I know that’s not true of everyone, so I’m super grateful.
• Have a living room dance party. I am the only one excited by this, which means it often gets dropped off the list, despite it being low-hanging fruit.
• Bake something with my sourdough discard and/or the pie crusts I pulled out of the freezer last week. Rudi would probably be very excited if I finally turned that sugar pumpkin that’s been sitting around the Burrow since the fall into the pumpkin pie that he loves.
• Find my UFOs and my mending pile. Sort them, and figure out how to tackle one a couple mending projects a week.
• Read something. I’ve mentioned that I’m having trouble concentrating on paper books right now, but audiobooks seem to be okay. Rudi and I started listening to Good Omens earlier this evening
• Paint my nails.
• Sleep in.

What are you thinking about doing this weekend?

We did not get around to baking bread, but I did make waffles for brunch and pass on some starter to a stranger.

We didn’t find strawberry plants for the garden, but we did find flour, milk, and greens for the kitchen.

We didn’t clean the living room, but we did defrost the freezer.

We didn’t have a living room dance party, but we did get out on our bikes.

I didn’t finish my book, but I did read a chapter. (I’m getting close to having to turn to Harry Potter…)

We didn’t talk to our friends, but I did talk to my brother, text with a couple friends who live close to the epicenter in New York, and make plans to say a socially distant farewell to friends who are moving back to Germany this week.

We didn’t get the sheets changed, but we did sleep in.

And that’ll have to be good enough for right now. After all, tomorrow is a new day and a clean slate and there are plenty of chances to do more then.

How does one plan for a weekend that looks a lot like a weekday?

Carefully. I will demarcate plans that cannot be done during the week and make sure I stick to them.

For instance…

I am actually going to bake with the sourdough discards Rudi and I shoved into our fridge this week. I’d planned to make overnight waffles for tomorrow, but didn’t realize it called for buttermilk when I was at the store earlier. It does look like I can make crumpets without issue…

We will sleep in. I have a video conference call first thing every weekday, which, while I don’t have to put a bra on for, does mean I have to have some kind of non-pj top on first thing. Tomorrow I’m sleeping in and then I’m going to lounge in a tank top and bathrobe for a while and not brush my hair.

I may go for a bike ride. It’s supposed to rain, but maybe it will lighten up and I can tool around a bit. Trails will be packed, so I won’t be able to go down to the canal and maintain proper distancing, but streets are probably adequate.

We will go to the farmers market. Yes, they’re still open. Yes, they are a bit challenging. But we’ll make it work. The restaurant across the street from me has on its to-go menu on the door a pasta that includes ramps, so I’m hopeful we might be able to track some down.

I’ll read. I’m having a heck of a time concentrating and am inclined to doze off if I sit still for too long.

I’m going to roast some squash. I have a pumpkin and a butternut squash and a gigantic pink candy squash and can possibly throw all three into the oven at the same time.

I’m going to wash sheets and towels. I meant to get to both all week, but didn’t manage to tackle either one.

I’m going to turn the heel of my sock. I took it out for a walk today, but instead of sitting, wandered over to the garden and the store and walked around a bit and talkd to my folks.

We’re going to call some West Coast friends who’ve been wanting to do a video chat. (I’d hate to get out of practice for Monday..)

If I encounter strawberry plants, I’ll be going back to the garden.

We’ll watch a film. My attention span hasn’t really been up to a movie, but I’m guessing Rudi will be glad to watch something that’s not just tv episodes, much as we’ve enjoyed the ones we’re watching (Frankie Drake, New Girl, Parks & Recreation, The Librarians, and Brooklyn 99).

I will be hosting a living room dance party, because we need some loud music and I need to move around a bit.

How will you be spending your weekend?

Here are two dozen ways I’m thinking Rudi and I can get through what now looks potentially like another month of social distancing:

1. Ride our bikes places where other people aren’t. Obviously this will be other people’s plans as well, so we’ll have to think like a Sicilian.

2. Clean the Burrow. I’ve mentioned it before, but the Burrow has gotten rather untidy, particularly after all of this winter’s travel. Also, it would be great to be able to take conference calls someplace besides my bed. And to work at my desk if I so desired.
3. Garden. I’m going to go put in my pea supports this weekend on the chance that they tell us we must shelter in place at some point soon. Hopefully that way my garden will be able to limp through until I’m allowed to get back to it.
4. Learn to make pasta.
5. Learn to make macarons. (Mum has given me the means to do both.)
6. Restring my ukulele and figure out how to play “Happy Birthday.”
7. Buy a plant and keep it alive.
8. Keep the sourdough starter I was gifted today alive and make bread from it.
9. Call family and friends every couple of days.
10. Journal.
11. Read a lot.
12. Check out some tv series we’ve always meant to watch, like Parks & Recreation, The Good Place, and Gilmore Girls.
13. Fix our butcher block.
14. Go through some of the food we’ve stored for a while. I feel like we maybe have equal parts dried beans and frozen strawberries. I don’t think they should go into the same dish.
15. Visit the park every day until they tell us not to.
16. Write letters. Because then maybe people will write back.
17. Knit something big, but not overly hard.
18. Learn to knit brioche.
19. Recatalogue our music, books, and yarn.
20. Take part in online socializing.
21. Switch out my winter wardrobe for my summer one.
22. Assemble material to donate once that’s allowed again.
23. Get art up on our walls.
24. Get caught up on book reviews here on the blog. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)

Okay. That seems like a good start.

What are you hoping to do with all your time at home?