July 14th, 2025

I love a slow weekend.

I love waking up without an alarm, taking Milo for a long walk, and spending a few hours doing whatever chore is up in my task list. This weekend’s task list was short:

• laundry
• vacuum 
• homework
• host

Not bad! Or, so I thought.

Friday started the way I like: a long walk with Milo. Since we ran out of espresso beans a week ago (I know, I’m behind on grabbing a new bag), we made a pitstop at a nearby cafe to fuel up. Coffee in hand, kept piping hot by my reusable cup, we headed up to the community garden. The flowers there are in full bloom, so it’s best to appreciate them sooner than later.

After work wrapped up, I decided to ignore my remaining responsibilities. I had a date with season two of White Lotus. Three episodes later, the TV inexplicably turned itself off. Not sure if it was divine intervention or Mazi but, regardless, I took it as a sign and went to bed. 

While sleeping in is all well and good, I don’t like sleeping past 9am. Even when I was a kid, something about missing the mornings on a weekend felt wrong. Saturday, I broke that cardinal rule. By the time I got up and started making headway on my “honey, do” list, it was already noon. As a result of my transgression, I had to cancel afternoon plans and buckle down. Lighting a small fire under me was knowing that I agreed to host girl’s night — I couldn’t have a mountain of five loads of laundry and an unmade bed. What if my guests saw?!? Dare I let them see I’m a normal person who also falls behind on laundry? No, never.

Before they arrived, I made sure all essentials were prepped: wine corked, chicken in the oven, and onion chopped. We made whipped feta dip, summer salad, chicken, lemon garlic sauce over pasta, and Bob’s chocolate chip cookies. Yes, it was a feast.

The next morning, because I learned from my mistakes, I set an alarm. Up and at it bright and early, I leashed up Milo and we started off to the park. The walk to the park is just over half a mile. Perfect for a little stroll to start the day! 

Since 2025 began, at least once a month a stranger will ask me for directions. Luckily, I’ve gotten pretty savvy with where things are and how to find where they’re going. Unfortunately for them, however, I am bad at describing how to get there. As Milo and I left the park, someone stopped us and asked for help finding a bus stop. The stop was two blocks north of where we stood. Simple, right? Wrong. I’m not sure what I said, but it must’ve been nonsensical because the look on their face read “what?” Deciding it wasn’t far out of the way, Milo and I just walked them to the stop before heading home.

Once back, it was time to eat the frog. If you haven’t heard that expression before, it means to do the thing you’re putting off. To do the thing you want to do least and are avoiding. For me, that was homework. And you know what, it wasn’t terrible! After just five hours, and 13 questions, I was done.

Now, I’m laying in bed, cozied up with a great book, and ready to tackle the week ahead.

So how’s that for a slow weekend?