Saturday review

Here’s what’s been happening around casa RL this week:

Work: no significant developments as yet on the new project I mentioned earlier, but feeling very fortunate to be reminded of how much I like my job and my .org this week. It’s hard to quantify how much the quality of my working life has improved over the past year, so I’ll just say: it’s a lot.

Physical activity: after not doing any regular exercise for about four months, I re-started a walk-to-run program I first used about 3 years ago, and am going strong. I even went out in the rain this week, which, given my past track record (ha!) would normally be a golden opportunity to skive off. I also, after much endeavor with bike shops and boxes, finally have a functional bike again – complete with tagalong for Miss B, helmets for both of us, and a working lock and key. Since we don’t yet have a car (this is a whole other story), this is currently my best option for medium-distance travel: relying on Canberra public transport is a dodgy proposition at best, taxis cost the earth, and we can’t justify renting a car every weekend, much as I might like to. I cycled to the farmers’ market this morning – 10k (6mi) round  trip! (Not exactly the Tour de France, but not too shabby either, considering that the bike had been boxed up for 4 years prior to a couple of weeks ago.)

Recreation: in addition to joining a knitting club, I’ve also joined a book club which serendipitously came into existence shortly after my return to Canberra. We had our monthly meeting this week, where we discussed In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I first read this book a long time ago – maybe 15 or 20 years – but I was just as impressed, if not more so, at the quality and vividness of the writing. Having just spent 2+ years living on the Kansas/Missouri border lent an extra dimension to the re-reading experience, but then so did discussing it with a group of non-Americans. Also, if you’re looking for an unbeatable book-film combination, I highly recommend reading or re-reading this in conjunction with a screening of Capote, which places the writing of the book in the context of the author’s life and literary career. Mind-blowing.

Miss B: already counting the days until summer holidays (30); recently started playing cricket; has taken to the tagalong like a duck to water and is now demanding to cycle to and from school every day, and requesting recreational bike rides besides. Question of the week: “Mum, what’s the difference between a samurai and a ninja?” – asked of her half-asleep mother at Saturday breakfast. (My cop-out response: “I don’t know, ask your father when he gets home from the gym.” There’s no point in having a military historian around the place if you’re not going to put him through his paces occasionally.)

DP: safely returned, not going anywhere for a while. Work, work, work, work, finishing a book, practicing cricket in the backyard with Miss B, trying to find space for all his books, mapping out bike routes for me, vacuuming as therapy – pretty much business as usual. It’s very nice to have him home.

Food: the braised pork loin I posted on Monday was pretty much the only new recipe this week. Other than that, there were lots of old standbys: salsa for tacos on Monday night; lemon-mustard chicken and grilled zucchini on Wednesday; and rx4 rhubarb (with some strawberries mixed in) with Greek yogurt for breakfast pretty much every day. 

Weather: spring is well under way; daytime temps are in the low 70sF/20sC, with chilly evenings down to 40F/10C and below. It’s not quite shorts-and-flip-flops weather yet, but we’re getting there.

How was your week? Hope your Saturday is as nice as mine has been.