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Hello, Reader.

February has been unusually cold in our neck of the woods, but as March approaches, the weather has become much milder and the sun's shining more brightly. And if that's not enough to cheer you up, we have a slew of fun and quirkly holidays and spring break to look forward to, as well.

Our family will be spending our school break in Germany this year. We fly out this Friday to visit our daughter who's been living there for the past six months, working as a nanny for a family with five children. She just passed the half-way point for her one-year commitment -- yet another reason for rejoicing, as we've missed her something fierce!

Free resources for you this week:

• March 1 - National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day – bake a big batch of peanut butter cookies​
• March 5 - National Day of Unplugging - check out this post for some tech-free fun
• March 14 - National Children’s Craft Day – time to recycle the toilet paper tubes & tin cans​
• March 16 - National Panda Day – send a friend one of our free all-occasion Panda cards​
• March 21 - National Teenager Day – a reminder to pray for our teens (this guide will help)
• March 23 - National Chip and Dip Day – a perfect excuse to feast on fresh pico de gallo​
• March 25 - Brothers’ and Sisters’ Day – here's a brothers & sisters coloring page​

What I'm reading this week:

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Much of my reading time has lately been spent evaluating risks/benefits for various cancer treatments and delving into whatever clinical studies I can find that discuss such things. So I didn't finish any of my own books-in-progress this week. But I did complete a couple of read-alouds for school with my kids and grandkids, plus an audiobook with my youngest called Mandy and the Secret Tunnel. My oldest daughter read and loved all the Mandy Mysteries when she was younger, but this was Abby's first foray into Lois Gladys Leppard's beloved series. The book begins with a funeral and frightening changes for Mandy, then follows her adventures as she finds and explores a secret tunnel in a relative's house and makes several other surprising discoveries, as well.

This week's reader request:

I got a message today from a new Instagram follower asking if I could make her a copy of my free 2025 Year-at-a-Glance calendar in more neutral colors. Those muted tones are so popular these days, I thought a lot of people might prefer such a version, so I added one to my website. If you like the way it looks, you can follow this link to download your own copy. 😊

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From the archives this week:

Our BBC Interview WITH MIRIAM MARGOLYES I didn't get my own podcast recorded this week, and the one I recorded with my English atheist friend will not drop for some time yet, but she did send me a link to the documentary we did together 7-8 years ago (it never aired in the US, only in the UK and Australia). If interested, you can see our family's 11-minute segment by following the link below. (Our part starts at 29:48.) Watch It Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I finished the marjority of my to-do list last week: I ✅ recorded a 2-hr interview with my friend Miriam, ✅ walked 6+ miles, ✅ added springtime ornaments to my tree for all seasons, ✅ made good progress on (but ❌ didn't finish) grading math lessons, and ✅ sewed some new pillowcases.

The only thing (besides the rest of the grading) that didn't get done? My boys' bathroom is ❌ still missing a towel rack. ⛓️‍💥

Personal goals for next week:

• pack bags for a trip to Europe (we're going to visit our daughter in Germany!)
• make sample project for leather class my friend will teach while I'm gone
• clean out fridge and pantry before trip
• decide on a craft project to do during travel time

Pssst: Rakuten's $30 sign-up bonus ends soon. If you've not already registered for a free account (NOT a free kitten), you should do so soon. Bonus cash will be deposited to your account as soon as you make your first $30 online purchase at any of your favorite participating stores.

My lifetime cashback savings through Rakuten is $5,231.89. I normally get 3-10% back by shopping through Rakuten, but have occasionally scored as much as 45% off purchase prices. For more details, see my step-by-step tutorial on setting up a Rakuten account and installing their cashback button.