My office generously gave us all next week off from work, which means I get my first prolonged stretch of time mostly for myself this year. Sure, would I have preferred to spend that time in Connecticut with my family and my BFF? Definitely. Would a good back-up plan have been to spend it here in D.C. with Rudi and my local pals doing a Friendsgiving? Absolutely. Is this 2020, when the lessons of making the best of things and making do and making new traditions is hammered home again and again? Yes, yes it.

So, I will do that. What will my time off include?

• Lots of reading. I picked up this pile at the local library this evening and have two more books waiting at other branches for me. The mid-Atlantic has adopted a pathetic fallacy for its Thanksgiving week forecast, so I believe I should have plenty of time to cross a bunch of these (and some others) off my TBR list.
• Knitting. I just have the toe decreases left on my second sock, so those will definitely be wearable on Thanksgiving. Once that’s done, do I pick up projects I put down partially knit or start something new?
• Cooking and baking. My Thanksgiving meal is still evolving, but I’m narrowing in on it. I’m also thinking that I’m just going to bake every day and maybe see if local friends or my upstairs neighbors are interested in braving my germs. (All fair if they aren’t. This isn’t a normal year.) At the very least, I’ve got a couple pies (or maybe mini pies?) on my to-make list and want to give some thought to Christmas cookies. And I still have dozens of tomatoes I need to do something with.
• Prepping the apartment for Christmas. This is sort of a catch-all item that includes cleaning up my living room so there’s room for a tree, putting new batteries in the fairy lights, and
• Making some progress on my Christmas to-do list. I’ve been working off and on on this year’s Christmas mix and should start working through a playlist. I bought stamps for Christmas cards (also already in hand) this week. The local bookstore is having their quarterly sale and the downtown holiday market has come up with a socially distanced shopping plan. Rudi and I need to talk through virtual tree-trimming parties.
• Biking and spending time outside. I haven’t been great at finding that midday break from work to get outdoors, so I’m definitely going to take advantage of unfettered access to daylight (even if it’s behind clouds) this week. I also still have potatoes in the ground in the garden that I should dig up.
• Having at least one more Netflix date with Rudi.
• Writing postcards to Georgian voters!
• Holding a bunch of video chats with friends and family. We have several in the planning stage, but no set times, so I will need to marshal folks into order in the next couple days.
• Catching up on sleep.

Yes, that does look a lot like my normal weekends these days, but that’s probably okay. If I can make it to next weekend feeling less exhausted and burnt out and on edge (or maybe just one of three, since this is 2020), I’ll feel like the time has been spent well.

How’s your weekend looking?