Carole’s Ten on Tuesday topic this week was too enjoyable to resist: Who doesn’t want to write about some of their favorite things of the moment?

Mine include (and I’m taking this at face value and not including people):

1. My volleyball teams: I’m having such fun playing twice a week. If I screwed up every other part of my winter, I at least got that right. My weekday team will be back together for our third season in a row this spring, which is exciting. And if my Sunday team wants to play again in the spring, I might agree to spend the money to rejoin them, as well.
2. Real mail: Karen and I have been exchanging correspondences recently, and it definitely adds a level of excitement about picking up the post.
3. Sock Madness: The annual sock-knitting competition begins again next week. I’ve been in a knitting lull/rut/funk, so I’ll be pleased to have this kick off soon.
4. The Book Ninja Swap: I’ve had a fun time doing swaps this last year, and I’m looking forward to this one as well. I’m particularly excited about the person I’m sending to, since we have several things in common.
5. The library: I can’t tell you how much I love that they just let me request books and dvds and then give them to me for an extended period of time. I’ve been making my way through the Marvel back catalogue on the movie front, but also have out a ton of the highly recommended titles of last year. I visit at least twice a week (once to the main branch by my office and once to the Georgetown library on the weekend) to show my appreciation (and greed).
6. Sumo oranges: We discovered this sweet, giant, seedless orange at Whole Foods a couple years back and now I start haunting their produce section as soon as Christmas is over to get my fill. (You can see a picture on Margene’s blog, where she also lists it as a favorite.)
7. My remaining fairy lights: We put up Christmas lights around the perimeter of the living room before the holidays, and with the exception of the week we were out of town in December, they’ve been on non-stop. They’re non-LED lights, so they die out with use (even with replacements from all my other defunct strands), and I’m now down to a segment of 20 lights I expect to have go any time now. But I appreciate them so while they’re still lit.
8. Bulbs: With the exception of those flowers outside the Smithsonian a couple weeks back, none of the bulbs that I’ve seen in the area have bloomed yet, but all the shoots are above-ground and I know it’s only a matter of time.
9. Orchids: Two of my three orchid plants at work are still going strong, and I compliment them on their fortitude and beauty every morning when I arrive at the office. Apparently some people have difficulty getting them to bloom once the flowers pass by the first time, but I’ve been lucky.
10. Jam: The open jar of choice is plum, but I’ll be opening the one I bought for my birthday later this week: it’s red fruit (raspberry and strawberry) and rose.

This weekend, I hope to:

• Make lasagna/soup/guacamole.
• Bake cookies/bread/pie/cake/granola.
• Finish the local baby knit so baby can arrive unhindered by my unfinished project.
• Take down the Christmas cards. (Clearly my missing held holiday mail is never going to turn up.)
• Knit on my shawl.
• Read a book. Or two. Or three.
• Sleep.
• Mail cards.
• Write blog post(s) about books. (!)
• Go to the farmers market.
• Buy stamps.
• Pick up holds at the library.
• Watch movies.
• Clean the bathroom.
• Drink tea.
• Phone a friend.
• Change the sheets.
• Attend a yoga class.
• Set up my ukulele class.
• Do laundry.
• Soak up some rays.
• Listen to music.
• Wash socks.
• Clear off rocking chair.
• Breathe.
• Cuddle cats.

My weekend included:

• Working late on Friday to put a dent in the work that got put off by two unexpected days off at the start of the week.
• Preparing an egg sandwich using eggs that had frozen in my fridge (they’d been sitting against the fridge roof for a couple weeks).
• Sleeping in on Saturday.
• Having brunch with Sarah.
• Meandering my way home and finding a giveaway pile (city folks leave unwanted items curbside in hopes you might want their junk; I’ve brought home a bread maker and books and gotten rid of furniture and a spare blender that way) that included Billy Crystal and George Harrison dvds and packets of seeds.
• Making sandwiches for Rudi’s and my supper.
• Hitting the farmers market today.
• Attending the annual meeting of my community garden. (This will be my ninth year gardening!)
• Playing volleyball.
• Watching the live performance of Grease.
• Talking to family and friends.

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Weekending along with Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise.
Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are Comments Off on weekending.

This long weekend included:

• Attending the Wizards-Celtics game, which came down to a shot taken so close to the buzzer that it had to be reviewed by the officials:
  
• A pre-cold snap visit to the garden to pull the last of the stakes and cages out of the ground (and any veg I hoped to salvage)
• Reading (I finished three books)
• Homemade tomato soup and paninis
• Knitting
• Hanging with the cats:
  
  
  
• A trip to the farmers market
• Enjoying the final weekend of the Christmas tree
• Watching the snow
• Playing volleyball for the first time this winter
• Sleeping in
• Eating homemade waffles with Rudi:
  
• Going on a chilly walking date with Rudi that included a stop for veggie tacos and one for hot drinks
• Putting the Christmas decorations away

I know, I know. We’re down to the last day of the year. But I figured I had some things I’d like to do before it’s over:

1. Sleep.
2. Deal with the two Groupons that expire tomorrow. (One is transferring money onto my Starbucks card, so that’s easy.)
3. Finish one last book. (We’re into the final 50 pages or so of a mystery, and I actually don’t know who the murderer is OR who the PI works for. Shocking!)
4. Complete one last knitting project. (I’ve just got a couple rows to finish, plus two thumbs to knit on my Christmas fingerless mitts that it’s been too warm to wear this year.)
5. Pay the phone bills.
6. Send out the last of the Christmas cards. (I like real mail no matter when it arrives. I assume other people will, too.
7. Unpack. (My carry-on is jam-packed.)
8. Compose a three beautiful things post.
9. Go to the movies with Sarah. (We’ve got a trio of films we’re planning to see as this year transitions out and 2016 moves in.)
10. Call Rudi to wish him a happy new year before he goes to bed. (He’s coaching up in Vermont and likely will be asleep by the time Sarah and I get out of the theater.)

How about you? Are you trying to finish anything up before the clock strikes twelve and the calendar flips over?

This weekend was spent in Connecticut. We drove up early in the day on Wednesday and came back in the wee smalls tonight.

I got to spend time with my folks, making Christmas cookies and watching movies and playing pool and sitting in front of the fire and baking scones and listening to music. We got a few tasks accomplished — like hauling some wood and setting up (but not decorating) Christmas trees — too.

There was a lot of napping — on the drive up and during the parade on Thanksgiving and during CBS Sunday Morning and when I went upstairs to get dressed yesterday afternoon — and some reading and a little knitting.

My best friend, Karen, and I got to spend some time together, which is always wonderful, with the bonus surprise of getting to see her kids for the first time in ages. They change the dynamic of the visit and it is definitely less restful for her, but it was really nice to see them.

It was the first holiday without Gramma, which was sad and weird. For the first time in a decade, no one stole the doughnuts Rudi and I were coveting most for Thanksgiving breakfast. No one did any crossword puzzles. No one wandered out midway through Thanksgiving afternoon to tell Mum “it smells good enough to eat” and to inquire if we’d be dining anytime soon, forcing us to have a snack of cheese and crackers. And no one trundled off to bed at ten with a warm mug of milk and a “Well, I’m going to bed!” I missed her, and her absence was felt all weekend long.

Weekending along with Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise.