I have already gotten a few lovely questions on my Ask Me Anything form and am delighted that several of you have asked me MANY questions at once. So many great post ideas! Thank you!
(If there’s anything you want to know, please feel free to ask me anything by filling out this form! It can be anonymous if you prefer.)
NGS of The Time for Change asked, “What is your ideal way to spend a weekend afternoon?”
This is a perfect question for a Sunday! Especially a Sunday on which I woke up at 5:30 because that’s when Carla decided to wake up. Note to self: if we have to continue doing Daylight Saving Time, change the clocks BEFORE BED.
My ideal weekend afternoon would be spent lounging on the couch, reading a good book, with no pressing obligations hanging over my head. Ideally, I would be slightly tired from the exertion of some kind of family-centric physical activity that we undertook in the morning – a bike ride or a hike or skiing, perhaps. Also, it would be very pleasant if I had started dinner in the crockpot early that morning and I could sit and smell it cooking while I read, knowing that all the work was done and dinner was planned.
During football season, I would swap out the reading for an afternoon watching my (problematic yet still beloved) team win, drinking a nice light lager, with my husband beside me for purposes of high-fiving and answering my questions about football rules, and my daughter lying on the floor of the living room, drawing or working on a LEGO creation.
Now I want to know what your ideal weekend afternoon looks like.
It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.
life of a doctor's wife 
Your ideal weekend afternoon sounds very relaxing and lovely. Mine would include me carving out a bit of time to do some writing, walking away from the computer feeling accomplished. Then I’d watch one or more of my kids play their sport (typically basketball nowadays, but oh how I miss water polo). If I’m really dreaming, the entire gang is on board with tackling housework. We pull together for a solid hour or so, and the place looks ship-shape. Coach grills and we all spend extra time together around the dinner table. *in my example my 3 college kids are all home and no one has to rush off anywhere to see friends or work. 😉
Oh, Ernie – that sounds amazing.
I am considering this question as I don’t have a lot on my plate today. It’s B’s night to cook so I don’t even have to do that. I will walk in the morning, as per usual, maybe get coffee on the way, and I’m hoping to read a lot today. I’ve been making pretty slow progress on the book I’m reading and I’d like to dig into it. It’s a rainy day here, but unseasonably warm–70s!– so I may sit on the porch to do it.
Reading on the porch – in November! – while someone else makes dinner sounds heavenly!
This is lovely! My ideal afternoon involves reading, a lot of reading. Usually I do physical activity in the morning – this morning Rex and I are going for a very long walk in the snow – and then I’ll read and prepare dinner. We have a big dinner every Sunday night, with dessert, so that’s what will be taking up my time. I don’t know if it’s the ideal way to spend a weekend afternoon, but it’s the way it’s going!
Making dessert is a good way to while away the afternoon, indeed.
Hey we’re almost one week in, we’re gonna make it!!!
My ideal weekend afternoon changed quite a bit this summer. The answer used to be chilling out around the house, but now it’s local day tripping. There’s a ton of stuff within a few hours of home that I had never seen before, and once I started exploring I couldn’t stop. I did “outdoor” stuff this summer and fall and I have a list of “indoor” stuff to check out this winter. For the most part these are solo trips but once in a while it works out for the fam to come along. I figure that once winter really sets in I’ll do another stint of chilling out around the house.
Woo hoo, B! We have momentum!
My ideal any time of day is reading a book while the cat is curled up next to me. I’m quite predictable!
Your afternoon does sound cozy, with the dinner cooking away and your family around you.
Oooh I would like to add a cat to my ideal afternoon.
It sounds ideal indeed. Mine would be similar except that I don’t have a crockpot. I would also be watching my nerve wracking football team(the Seattle Seahawks) and hoping that they continue to surprise us by winning. They were supposed to be terrible! Reading a book with my cat, the fire on and a hot cup of coffee=nirvana.
Books, cats, fire — all sounds wonderful! (I would swap the coffee for tea, but that’s me!)
Well, I kind of hate to admit it, but I’m living your ideal weekend afternoon right now. I ran this morning (the physical exertion part) and now I’m sitting on the couch, reading blogs and watching football. Okay, dinner isn’t in the crock pot (darn!) and I do have to get up soon and make a cake… but overall it’s a pretty nice day. Oh, one more thing- my cat is snuggled on my lap. You can’t really beat that.
So envious, Jenny! I got to do very few of those things today!
Your weekend sounds lovely.
I love waking up with no set agenda for the morning; I can ease into the day with a shower, a cup of coffee. The sun would be shining, of course, and we’d fit in some family activity outside – like a long hike through the woods. And then in the afternoon I’d have a few hours to just…putter. Do some little chores, read a book. Nothing pressing, but also mentally engaging. Every so often we get a perfect weekend day like this and, wow, it’s just so, so lovely!
Yes — nothing pressing, but mentally (and physically) engaging!
Your ideal weekend afternoon sounds a lot like mine. ❤️
As the seasons change, my ideas change too, but it always includes reading.
I am rooting for you in tackling NaBloPoMo.
Thank you!! I am going to give it a try!
Suzanne, you are SO going to nail NaBloPoMo. I can feel it in my bones.
Your ideal weekend sounds lovely and like one I might enjoy…minus the football. Most of my reading though happens at night in bed…mainly because the TV is on all the darn time in this house thanks to The Husband.
I have had your Ask Me Anything form open in another tab for days as I have pondered what to ask. It never occurred to me that I could ask more than one question!
Ask all the questions, Gigi! And thank you for your confidence in me!
My ideal weekend afternoon would be going on a walk with the family and no one complaining (according to my son anything over 2 miles is a hike and unbearable), getting home, making tea and relaxing on the couch with a book or a family movie.
I think my ideal weekend afternoon would be exactly what you describe. That sounds heavenly … the book reading not the football.
I’m late to the party but I love the question, and your answer! My ideal weekend afternoon would look similar! I might sneak in an hour, no more, of fun shopping with someone who has a good attitude about it (ie not usually my teens, lol), picking up Starbucks while we’re out. And THEN the book, blanket, football, crock pot scenario. 😉
You had me at No Pressing Obligations! I love a weekend or day where my time is fully my own. I’d love to lounge and read a book or if the lighting is good at my dining room table (it varies during the day) I would sit and work on a puzzle which is therapeutic for me.
First off, did you love The Push? I thought it was so good! Especially since it was a debut! That ending is one that stayed with me.
So my ideal afternoon would involve Will napping for 2 hours so I could read and nap during that time. Afterwards I would want to go to a park for an hour or so. Then we’d come back, eat dinner and everyone would be happy with the dinner I made. Then we’d do baths and bedtime. Or an alternate ideal afternoon would involve being alone in my house for the whole afternoon but that is so so so impossible to pull off in this stage of life. But in 1-2 years my husband could bring both kids out to his moms when he goes there 1-2 times/month and I could stay home one time and come with another time. It will needs to be out of diapers/potty trained and not in the heat of toddlerhood!!
Are you reading The Push? It is one of the most skillfully plotted books that I hated reading ever.
I just spent the weekend with my BFF five hours away after visiting my daughter at university where my former professor and my daughter’s current department head’s retirement reception was, and got to have two and a half of the most perfect week-end afternoons – friends, family, books, food, walking, beautiful weather and puzzles.
Sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon…. and I could think of a few scenarios. They’d all involve free, uninterrupted time to do whatever I’d like to do without any pressing obligations.
I love this! A lot of this would be involved in my ideal weekend, too. If I can sneak in a short nap and get many pages read in my book, that’s a good weekend day. It’s a bonus if I don’t have any pressing obligations!
I love those kind of Sundays. Easy and laid back. I wanted to name my blog Sunday Afternoon but that nem was taken and so I had to come up with another one. Sunday Afternoon is the balance of relaxation and fun and me time and socializing.
Our Sunday usually starts with a nice long breakfast that often times not starts until noon. We often watch a movie while doing that. Then reading, surfing just being. Later I would go and take a bath and read my book.
I do love your ideal afternoon – particularly the seasonal swap for football. I do, occasionally, miss just turning on a game, or College Gameday, or whatever, to have on in the background. I’ve compensated with podcasts and radio live feeds, which help but aren’t quite the same. My ideal weekend afternoon would involve baking something for someone who will appreciate it, reading, and taking time to connect with someone by writing an email, a card, or even a text. Simple, yet sometimes it seems so unattainable…