What's Been Going On: Monday, 28 March - Wednesday, 31 March, 2022

Good morning! Another rainy day here, which makes for a cozy, relaxing day at home. (Although I will need to go out later, to pick up a library book from Interlibrary Loan.) I don’t even have to cook dinner, because we are filthy rich in leftovers. I do need to get some laundry going at some point, and to fold last week’s laundry, but that’s really about it. This has been a super relaxing week so far, and it’s exactly what we needed!

Here's what I’ve been up to so far this week!

 

Monday, 28 March, 2022

Oof, a night of no sleep. After coffee, I wrote and posted Monday’s post. I scooped the litterbox, loaded and ran the dishwasher, cleaned off the stovetop, swept the kitchen, and ran my daughter a bubble bath. I got dressed, tidied a few things in the living room, scrubbed my daughter when she was ready, and made an Instant Pot full of refried beans.

I spent a little bit of time on the computer, did a few random, puttery things around the house, and then it was time for lunch. Afterwards, I helped my daughter tidy her room.

She and I curled up together and read for about an hour. I blended the beans, took out the recycling and compost and garbage, hauled the cans to the curb, and put the clean blankets back on the couch. I spent a bit more time on the computer, prepared the tostadas for dinner, and then we ate. I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes, showered, and finished reading The Third Daughter by Talia Carner (SUPER good). I started reading Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson (absolutely fascinating so far!). My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Tuesday, 29 March, 2022

My daughter made me breakfast! :D After I ate it and had my coffee, I put some beans in the Instant Pot and we had a really relaxing morning. I spent a bunch of time on the computer and did an hour of volunteer work. I hung out on the computer a little more, tidied random things in the kitchen and living room, then started the first part of dinner, a larger casserole-sized version of Copycat Tamale Pie.

I took the compost out and cleaned up, then practiced the piano for a little bit. We had lunch, I took out more compost, then loaded and ran the dishwasher.

And then it was time to head to the neurologist! He sent me home with some new rescue meds, and we’re going to see how the migraines are doing in about three months. Crossing my fingers that they stay away. He told me about some supplements that some people find success with; I’ve put my scientist husband on the task of seeing what the science says about these things. I’m a little wary (okay, a LOT wary) of supplements in general; the husband used to work for a supplement company, and let’s just say that he hated it there because they wanted him to basically lie about all his results. (There’s a reason why he left there as soon as he could.)

On the way home, we stopped by the used bookstore to pick up a blank journal for my daughter to practice her writing in. At home, I prepared the polenta, hung out on the computer and did random cleaning while dinner cooked. We ate, I did my Duolingo, and then I did a 15-minute standing ab workout from HASFit. I like their workouts; they always offer a modified version and cheer you on for showing up.

I showered, read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

Wednesday, 30 March, 2022

Afer coffee, I made out my grocery list (rice on sale!), then did my second hour of volunteer work. I got dressed, cleaned out the fridge, took out the compost, brought in the cans from the curb, then filled and ran the dishwasher.

I spent some time going back and forth from the computer to cleaning random things around the house (some days, this is the best way to clean!), and then it was time for lunch. After that, I figured it was time to learn something new, so while my daughter played in her room, I turned on some music- Nefesh Mountain, whom I love- then made my first attempt at darning a sock.

 

Not the worst first attempt, but I totally see what I did wrong in this picture! Hopefully I’ll get better as I practice. Fortunately, I'm not exactly lacking in holey socks, so I'll have a lot of chances for practice in the future!

I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, and then, since my husband was home, I left for groceries. I ended up with 26 pounds of rice (20lbs white, 6 lbs brown) for $16, which made me happy. This is the first time I’ve found brown rice in amounts larger than one-pound bags, and the cool thing is, these both came in reusable, zippered bags! I’ll be keeping and reusing the heck out of these. I also ended up with a marked-down contactless thermometer, something we’ve needed for years (my daughter haaaaaaaaaaaaaates regular thermometers), and Aldi had step-counter watches for $4.99. I got one for myself and one for my daughter (her birthday is next month), so I can make sure she’s getting enough exercise! Modern-day parenting solution right there. : )

At home, I put the groceries away, then read my book until dinner was ready. We ate, I did my Duolingo, then did a 22-minute HASFit workout. I showered, read my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

That’s it so far! It’s been such a calm, relaxing week. I’ve been really enjoying homeschooling my daughter, but this break has been fantastic as well. Two months until summer; we’re planning on doing a kind of modified schedule during the summer, so it’ll be way more relaxed than what we do during the weeks right now. Nothing stressful, just fun, so I’m looking forward to that as well.

I hope your week is going smoothly as well!

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 24 March - Sunday, 27 March, 2022

That was about the laziest weekend EVER. Whole lot of nothing going on. I’m not sure if my complete inability to sleep last night was because we did so little this past weekend or what, but I can’t say I’m a fan of being awake that much of the night!

We’re at that point of the year where I’m starting to feel a little stir-crazy with the cold. While we’ve had some nice days, it’s now back in the 30’s. I was really wanting to get outside or go do *something* yesterday, but…not really feeling hugely confident taking my daughter too many places, with so many maskless people out there. Our friend’s daughter, who just turned three, has COVID, symptomatic and all. And the scary part is that she has Down syndrome and has had open-heart surgery to repair defects. We’re obviously worried about her and how this may affect her long-term. : (

Anyway, it’s officially spring break for us today, so my daughter celebrated by waking up earlier than she would if we were actually doing school. How do kids always do that?!?!?? I’m already worn out, so I’m just glad we don’t have to do school today, though we’ll probably do some reading later on, because reading is fun. : )

Here's what I was up to the second half of last week!

 

Thursday, 24 March, 2022

I hadn’t slept well at all on this night either, so I got up super early and tackled my second hour of volunteer work for the week. I had breakfast and coffee, wrote out my Thursday post, and got some chickpeas in the Instant Pot. I got dressed, scooped the litterbox, and loaded and ran the dishwasher, then edited and posted my Thursday post.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Lithuania), then did math. We finished both the book on slow processes in nature and the book on earth, read the first chapter in a book about Passover (it’s coming!), then started this really fascinating book called Unbored. It’s full of projects and ideas and creative thinking, and we’re both really enjoying this one. I love that I’m able to sit and have discussions about the things in this book with my daughter, that I’m helping to shape HOW she thinks and not just WHAT. I want her to grow up to be creative and a problem-solver, and to be able to make her own fun and find her own entertainment, and this book is a really great pit stop on the road to all of that. : )

We had lunch, and I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. I made a batch of hummus, took out the compost and recycling, and put the broccoli in the Instant Pot to steam. And then back to school! We did spelling and Language Arts, finished our biography on Milton Hershey, and read two chapters of our history book. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History; my daughter finished up Matilda. Friday, she started on something about unicorns), and we read a few more pages of Unbored.

And then I took a nap! Naps are good. I boiled a few eggs, and for dinner we had Hummus Breakfast Bowls. I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes (and finished reading Outsmart Waste while biking!), then showered. I put dinner away, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and put my daughter to bed. I started reading The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 25 March, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post and got dressed. We started our day with On This Day in History and geography (Luxembourg).

We got going with math, but it became clear that my daughter was having a hard time with coins (the new unit that had started this day). It’s not like when I was little and I was constantly dumping out my huge piggy bank in order to count up how much money I have; barely anyone uses coins anymore, so my daughter doesn’t have that experience. We were both getting frustrated when I remembered we’re not on a timeline here, we’re homeschooling and can take the extra time to slow down and make sure she gets this. So I settled her down with a bucket of coins and had her sort them according to type and worth. We’re going to keep doing that until she can recognize all of them easily and remember their value.

 

 We read more about Passover, read some of our book on outdoor science, read more from Unbored, and then it was time for lunch. I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher after we ate.

We did spelling and Language Arts, then began reading a biography on The Brothers Grimm, which my daughter LOVES (she’s big on fairy tales). We read two chapters of our history book, did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and my daughter worked on spelling while I searched my Facebook homeschool group for new books for her (and came up with a TON).

My husband and daughter went out for a walk (too cold and windy for me!). I swept the living room and was going to take advantage of the quiet to do some yoga, but of course the internet was down, so I played the piano until it came back up, and then I did a Pilates video (and of course they came home right in the middle!). I found even more books for my daughter, we had dinner, I did my Duolingo, and showered. I did some knitting in front of YouTube, and then it was time to log in to virtual Shabbat services at my synagogue. (They have themed Shabbat services from time to time; this night’s theme was baseball. Lots of clever jokes throughout the service, along with amazing music by the bluegrass-ish band that sometimes provides music for services. Their mandolin player is amazing! They also played and sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game in both Yiddish and English, which was fun.)

 

I read my book for a bit, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 26 March, 2022

Lazy, lazy Shabbat! I had coffee, and then, prompted by a message from a friend, signed up for a study out of the University of Florida for people who have Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. She and I both have this, and I’m definitely happy to help any lab studying this learn more, because it’ll benefit me in the end! I got dressed and ready, then ran to the library to pick up a spring break activity kit I’d signed my daughter up for (and, uh, a few books for me…), Walgreens for a prescription, then picked up milk, pears, and marked-down bananas at a local supermarket.

After lunch, I read for a bit, then took an absolutely epic nap (maybe all my sleep effort from last night was used up here…). I read some more, and then it was time for dinner (told you it was an epic nap!). I showered, then did my Duolingo, read some more, and put my daughter to bed (we finally finished reading Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. She’s relieved. Not a fan…). I read more, then my husband and watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 27 March, 2022

Another lazy day. After coffee, I wrote two book reviews and started my monthly recap post. I filled and ran the dishwasher, then finished reading The Intimacy Experiment.

We had lunch, I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and then tossed some white beans in the Instant Pot. I read all of a short book called Steal Like an Artist, then napped a bit. I made a fairly forgettable pot of soup, took out the compost and recycling, and did a bunch of my PT stretches and exercises, since my back felt like it needed them. I spent a little bit of time on the computer, and after dinner, despite the cold, we all went for a three mile walk.

I put dinner away and showered, then started reading The Third Daughter by Talia Carner (incredible book. Hard to read, though, in an emotional sense). I remembered I needed to do my Duolingo at 10 pm, so I ran down and did that, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before he fell asleep and I lay awake most of the night.

 

And that’s it! I’m about to clean a little bit and throw my daughter into the bubble bath she requested. No idea what’s for dinner tonight, so I need to figure that out as well. Maybe if I *don’t* nap today, I’ll be able to sleep tonight? We’ll find out. *yawn*

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week! : )

Friday links: 25 March, 2022

 Good morning and happy Friday! We made it! It’s the end of the week! Phew!

We have no plans this weekend, other than to watch the movie version of Matilda (my daughter finished reading the book!), and that is perfectly fine with me. It’s supposed to be cold and rainy, and I’m looking forward to settling in with my books and my knitting, and maybe squeezing a few naps in there as well. It’s possible we’ll end up doing something else at some point, but I’m completely happy if we do a whole lot of nothing. This week has worn me out!

Here's what I found interesting online this week!

 

Fast fashion – the shady world of cheap clothing

This is a full-length documentary, one I highly recommend, on how harmful and damaging the fast fashion industry is (and let’s face it, most of what’s new in stores can be considered fast fashion these days). It’s bad for the earth in multiple ways, and exploitative towards the people who sew these clothes (though it does provide them an income. It’s a major Catch-22). I watched this while knitting last week and knew I had to share it. I rarely buy new clothing; the exception is when my mom gives me her Kohl’s cash, or occasionally when I need pants (pants are *so* hard to buy used). This documentary strengthened my commitment to continue buying used when I need something, whenever possible.

 

Superbug-Infected Chicken Is Being Sold All Over the US

Heads up, my chicken-eating friends. Be careful of what you’re buying and consuming; this doesn’t look good, and it seems like the problem is fairly widespread.

50 Insightful and Funny Takes on Anti-Consumption, As Shared On This Online Community

Lots of good, funny, insightful screenshots about the how, why, and why not of consumer culture in this post. I’ve been reading a lot about garbage lately, and I very much appreciate anything that makes me reexamine my spending habits (small as they already are!).

And in happy news…

 

The first ever TerraCycle town!

If you haven’t heard of TerraCycle, they’re a really awesome company that recycles all those hard-to-recycle items: juice pouches, potato chip bags, dirty diapers, cigarette butts (no, really!), and turns them into useful items. (I just finished reading Outsmart Waste by Tom Szaky, the founder of the company. Highly recommended!) This article talks about a town in Iowa that’s made the commitment to go zero-waste. There are collection sites all over the town where people can drop off the various items that aren’t allowed in their traditional recycling stream, and more are expected in the future. I recently learned that TerraCycle has a drop-off spot for toothpaste tubes not too far from here, so I’ve started a bag to collect them, and when the bag gets full, we’ll take them over. Check on TerraCycle’s website for drop-off spots near you and see what you can keep from mummifying in a landfill! 

 

That’s all I’ve got this week. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, safe, and relaxing weekend that recharges your batteries in the way you need for next week. Shalom, friends. : )

What's Been Going On: Monday, 21 March - Wednesday, 23 March, 2022

 

Almost to the weekend, which means almost to Spring Break for us! We’re not doing anything or going anywhere (I have big plans to clean out my fridge, if that counts…), but we’re taking the week off except for some fun reading, and a change in schedule is always nice!

It’s been a *week* around here so far. Not at all what I expected at the beginning, but that’s life, huh? This weekend is supposed to be rainy, so it’s going to be books and knitting and naps all the way down, because I could use all of it!

Here’s what I’ve been up to so far this week.

 

Monday, 21 March, 2022

You may remember this was the day we had planned for my mom to come up.

I had coffee and edited and posted my Monday post, then posted my review for How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith on my book blog. I got dressed, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, set up the stovetop to soak in a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, swept the upstairs and downstairs, and restarted the dryer from the night before.

My daughter and I started school with On This Day in History and geography (Liberia), and then we got going with math. We had *just* about finished with math, when I looked down at my white board, then glanced back up at the screen to find all of my right peripheral vision smeared. OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. It took a few glances back and forth and one glance at my daughter’s face (the left half was missing!) to confirm: I was getting a migraine.

I immediately took a dose of migraine meds, texted my mom to *not* come up, and told my daughter school was done for the day (can’t teach if you can’t see…). She played while I lay down on her bed – my head had started pounding by this time. My brain gets *really* weird during a migraine, too; I have a hard time finding words and sometimes really struggle to speak. At one point, the word ‘house’ appeared in my brain, but I couldn’t figure out how it was pronounced or what sounds any of the letters made. In the past, my husband has asked me during a migraine how my head felt, and all I could come up with was, “…fiiiiiiiiiiiine?”, when I was very obviously not fine, but “My head feels like it’s been shot by a cannon and my stomach feels like it’s been put through a blender, and if I could decapitate myself without adding more pain to my already-painful state, I’d highly consider it at this moment” was a little out of my reach at the time. Migraines are wild.

About two hours later, my head still hurt, so as per the label on my meds, I took a second dose, and my daughter announced, “Hey look, Grandma’s here!”

Turns out her phone never got my text (this is not the first time this has happened with texts that I’ve sent; I’m going to have to watch that they say ‘delivered’). Fortunately, my head had settled down to a dull roar and the visual disturbances were gone. I had caught it early enough that there was no chance of vomiting, though my stomach definitely wasn’t happy (migraines are *so* fun), and while my head still had a pretty fierce headache, I was able to rally, especially with the help of a bottle of Diet Coke. (And my mom had offered to leave or for me to go lie down, but nah. I wasn’t about to miss out on her visit.)

This was our holiday celebration, since we hadn’t seen each other since early December, so I was able to give her my grandmother’s cross-stitch, which she loved. We spent the afternoon together, my daughter playing with the toys Grandma had brought up. Somewhere in here, I wiped down the stovetop. When my husband got home, my mom and I ran over to a local grocery store, where we bought some ready-made pasta dishes for dinner. I had planned on cooking for my mom, but that wasn’t about to happen with my head still hurting (again, it was only about a 5 at its worst on the scale of 0-10, so not the worst. It really helps if I catch them super early). I also grabbed a bag of tomatoes off the discount produce rack (a huge bag of tomatoes for a buck? Heck yes!).

At home, we baked the pasta and ate, and then it was SO nice out (like in the 70’s!) that I refused to let the whole day go to waste inside and we went for a nice slow three-mile walk. I was feeling mostly normal-ish by this point, so it was a good time.

We hung out with my mom for a bit longer. I took out the garbage and recycling and hauled the cans to the curb, switched the laundry, and said goodbye to my mom. I put my daughter to bed, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

Phew! Stupid migraines. I think this is the third I’ve had so far this year? Glad I see that new neurologist next week…

 

Tuesday, 22 March, 2022

Migraines are never just a one-day affair for me; the next-day migraine hangover is awful in its own way (and my stomach is *still* unhappy about it!), but life goes on and my daughter needed some educating. After breakfast and coffee, I took the new clothes my mom had given me upstairs, wrote a book review, and posted my review for Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang on my book blog.

We started school with On This Day in History and geography (Libya), then it was back to math. We read our book about slow processes in nature, another section from our book about the earth, a little bit from a book about the different aspects of math, and half of a book about Egyptian mythology. My daughter ate lunch right away; I curled up in my chair and dozed for a bit. Migraines are exhausting.

After our lunch break, we did spelling and Language Arts, began reading a book about Milton Hershey, read two chapters of our history book, and did our thirty minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History; my daughter is reading Matilda), and then school was done for the day.

I did an hour of volunteer work, then lay down for a few minutes, not to sleep, but just to give my brain a rest and some quiet. I spent a little time on the computer while the leftovers heated in the oven, and then we had dinner. I did my Duolingo and showered, then crawled into bed to finish reading Garbology by Edward Humes. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Wednesday, 23 March, 2022

I had breakfast and coffee, then posted my review for Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living by Kris Bordessa on my book blog. I got dressed and filled and ran the dishwasher.

We started our day with On This Day in History and geography (Liechtenstein), then moved on to math (I’m so tired of drawing bar graphs!). We read more about slow processes in nature, and I had picked up our earth book, when my daughter threw a tantrum about my not letting her play with toys during schooltime. As I am not an endless font of patience, I cut it off right then and there and instead headed to the kitchen, where I prepared the tomatoes I bought on Monday for roasting. My daughter and I both needed the time to cool down.

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and then we were ready to talk for a bit about why education is so important. We had lunch, and I blended the tomatoes to make sauce. (Below is one tray; there were two, but I had already dumped the first one into the food processor before I remembered to take a picture!) The sauce went into the fridge afterwards.

 

We did spelling and Language Arts, read more about Milton Hershey, and read two chapters of our history book. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and finished our book on Egyptian mythology.

My mother had given me her Kohl’s cash on Monday, so I ran over there and used it and a little bit of a gift card to buy a pair of capris that I very much needed (I don’t really love wearing shorts anymore, and I don’t have a ton of summer bottoms that aren’t my son’s old basketball shorts, soooo…) and a necklace. I ran to Aldi to pick up a few staples, then came home, put the groceries away, and began boiling noodles and warming the sauce. We had a lovely dinner of fake-chicken parmigiana, with the sauce I’d made earlier in the day.

 

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked 30 minutes while reading Outsmart Waste: The Modern Idea of Garbage and How to Think Our Way Out of It by Tom Szaky, then showered and put dinner away. I put my daughter to bed and continued reading, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

That’s it so far this week. I’m worn out already; migraines are no fun, and while I’m not necessarily worried about the uptick I’ve had in them – I used to get one a year, or every other year, and lately it’s more like once a month or so – I am irritated and frustrated at the far more frequent pain and days-long stomach issues and often having to cancel my life for days at a time because of these things. Crossing my fingers that the neurologist has some ideas next week, or at least a better preventative, because obviously the one I’m taking now isn’t much helping!

I hope your week got off to a bit of an easier start than mine! :)

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 17 March - Sunday, 20 March, 2022

 Bonjour, mes amis, and happy Monday! Such beautiful weather yesterday – today too! After that, the weather becomes more seasonal, with cool days, and some colder ones, but these little breaks help us remember that warmer days are coming, and things don’t seem quite so hard when we can remember that. : )

It was a mostly lazy weekend around here, something I *very* much needed. I don’t know if it was my hormones that were throttling me or what last week, but I was exhausted and the whole week felt as though it lasted twelve years long. I’m crossing everything that this week has a little more energy to it! I hope you’re raring to go this week as well.

Here’s what I've been up the past few days.

 

Thursday, 17 March, 2022

After having coffee, I wrote my Thursday post, posted it, and got dressed.

We started our day with On This Day in History and geography (Lebanon), then dove into math. We read about birds, read our science book, and read part of a book about slowing down and noticing the small things in nature (it’s part art, part science, and it’s lovely).

We took a break for lunch, and I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. We got back to work with spelling and Language Arts, read more from our book about Congress (for someone who doesn’t like history, my daughter absolutely loved this book and thought it was super interesting), then got settled with our Read Harder/silent reading books for 30 minutes (I’m reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History; my daughter is reading Matilda). We read a little bit of a book on outdoor science, and then, since it was so nice, we took science outdoors and my daughter cracked open some rocks on the back porch. She found a few with some sparkles inside, nothing crazy, but it was a fun experience for her!

I went upstairs to lie down and passed out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Dinner was reheated leftover soup, and I made some grilled cheese to go along with it. I did my Duolingo, and we all went on a two-mile walk to get some exercise. I showered, read, and went to bed, no TV watching this day.

 

Friday, 18 March, 2022

After coffee, I got dressed and scooped the litterbox, then loaded up the dishwasher. I wrote and posted my Friday post, then we got started with On This Day in History and geography (Lesotho). We did math, finished our book about birds, read from our two different nature books, then took a break to clean up the living room. We had lunch, and I got a batch of beans in the Instant Pot.

We did spelling and finished our book about the history of Congress, and my daughter did her extra math and spelling practice, and then we called it a week. I was exhausted.

I napped for a bit and then worked on some knitting. I made One Pot Southwest Pasta for dinner (cheap, tasty, low-effort!), then ran the dishwasher. I did my Duolingo and showered, worked on my Log Cabin blanket, then logged in for virtual Shabbat services at my synagogue (lovely as always!). I put dinner away and read for a bit, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

Saturday, 19 March, 2022

Lazy Shabbat! After coffee, I wrote a book review (I’m SO behind!), got dressed, and my daughter and I went off to the library for school books, coming home with two bags full. After lunch, I took an EPIC nap – oh my goodness, it was awesome. I even woke up and fell back asleep at some point, which hardly ever happens! I read for a bit after I woke up, then knit while watching YouTube videos.

We had dinner, I biked for 20 minutes (my hip hurt too much for more), and I showered. I showered my daughter and put her to bed, I read Garbology by Edward Humes for a bit, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 20 March, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I unloaded and refilled the dishwasher and cleaned the very messy kitchen. I wrote another book review, got dressed, and organized my pile of clothing at the end of the bed. I cleaned the bathroom, took out the recycling, and we had a whole-family video chat with my mother-in-law.

After lunch, I started a load of laundry, and we took a three-mile walk. I was absolutely delighted to be able to catch a glimpse of some sort of animal, possibly a muskrat, swimming in the pond! I’m a terrible photographer and it was moving too quickly for me to even try to snap a photo, but what a thrill to know it’s there! 

At home, I took out the compost, then cleaned my daughter’s room (which *really* killed my back), switched the laundry and started another load, then loaded and ran the dishwasher. I sat down to knit while watching more YouTube (and was thrilled to find several updates from someone I follow who hadn’t updated in ten years! Super nice surprise).

After dinner, I worked on this post and switched more laundry around (lots of house laundry today too, ugh), then showered and did my Duolingo. I read my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before going to bed. 

And that's it! Quiet wrap-up to the week, but I very much needed that. Little bit of something special on the docket for today; my mom is coming over! We're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Today will be the first time we've seen here since last year. We wouldn't be *quite* so cautious, but her husband isn't vaccinated *eyeroll* (I could list all the medical conditions he has that put him at much, much higher risk for a severe case of COVID, including a history of blood clots, but I'm sure you have other things to do and don't have the twelve hours this would take...), so we've had to really limit our contact with her. Which is unfortunately. But since case numbers are so low, we're going to take advantage (especially in case they go up again!). My daughter is *so* excited, she misses Grandma so much!

I hope you have a wonderful week full of sunshine and happiness! : )

Friday links: 18 March, 2022

Good morning, friends! Our brief taste of spring is mostly over; with the exception of Sunday, which will be in the low 60’s, all our weather will be cooler and more normal for this time of year. Which is fine. The warmer days were nice while they lasted, and they’ll be back!

I slept a little better last night, so I’m not dragging *quite* so badly this morning. The week after next is when the school system goes on Spring Break, however, and we’re also going to take the week off. I think we both need it, and I’m really looking forward to being able to turn the alarm off for a bit. : )

Here’s what I found interesting online this week!

 

America’s rush to normalcy has robbed us of the time to grieve our Covid dead

Collectively, we as Americans don’t have much in the sense of shared grief rituals. That’s not to say that there aren’t cultures within the US that don’t have their own ways of expressing grief; there certainly are. But as a society as a whole? We seem to throw up monuments and, at the very most, if we’re going really crazy, hold a yearly ceremony to commemorate the dead. That’s pretty much it, and with Covid? We have people who don’t even want to admit their family members died of Covid. Some people are angry at any reminder of this pandemic (such as seeing people still choosing to wear masks, as I am!). How do you grieve almost a million dead Americans, and many, many more dead around the world when the loudest among us want nothing more than to pretend none of this ever happened? How do you grieve a loved one when those around you refuse to believe their cause of death is real and is still out there?

There’s so much about American society that could use improvement, and this is just another area. I think the article makes a lot of good points, and that in our rush to return to life looking like 2019, we’re completely disregarding the massive losses so many of us have suffered.

 

Solar Panels Built from Waste Crops Can Make Energy Without Direct Light

I’m all for using every little bit of what we have in order to make the best of our resources. This article features solar panels out of recycled vegetables, which is just genius! Imagine being smart enough to be able to develop something like that (my brain *definitely* does not work that way, so I’m deeply envious!). I hope this takes off and spreads around the world! I’d definitely take some previously-bound-for-the-compost-pile solar panels!

 

Death threats targeting Democrats prompt State Rep. Deb Conroy to shut down Villa Park office

*sigh*

This is my state rep, and she’s been dealing with a security nightmare after a man made death threats toward her. She now can’t go anywhere without police protection.

I’m so disgusted by the juvenile political discourse in the US. We have so many people who think it’s perfectly fine to speak to and about others like the high school bullies they likely once were, and to use social media in order to further their hateful behavior. I’m deeply grateful that the proper authorities took this seriously (you can read about the man charged with making these threats here; you can read exactly what he wrote to Rep. Conroy), but…why on earth did he think this was okay? What on earth in his life gave him the impression that this was acceptable adult behavior? What’s wrong with him???

It bothers me *so* much that people who think and behave like this are just out there, walking around, likely armed. I don’t feel safe at all knowing that this man was around here, armed, and the only reason he’s off the street right now is because he had a big mouth. These people frighten me deeply.

 

Climate change will make your allergies worse: Study

Heads up, my sneezy friends! I suffered from terrible allergies as a kid, but they improved as I waded into my teen years. They’re back, however, and they likely contributed to my recent diagnosis of cough-variant asthma. Our changing climate is adding around 40+ days of allergy fun per year, so stock up on tissues and bulk Claritin while you can!

 

And that’s it for this week. I’m really hoping to catch up on sleep this weekend. This week has lasted approximately 237483792473289 months, so I’m definitely looking forward to an extra nap or ten. My husband mentioned wanting to do *something* this weekend, though he of course had no suggestions as to what that *something* could be, so we’ll see. Whatever you do, have fun and be safe about it. Shalom, friends. : )

What's Been Going On: Monday, 14 March - Wednesday, 16 March, 2022

 Chag Purim Sameach and Erin Go Bragh, friends! I’m not sure how often Purim and St. Patrick’s Day coincide, but I’m guessing it’s not often. I’ve seen a few green bagels floating around on my Instagram feed and some of my Jewish Facebook groups, so there are a few people out there celebrating both! : )

Is it just me, or has this week seemed like it’s been 2374832943 days long so far? I haven’t been sleeping well, so I’m sure that’s contributing to it. The kind-of false spring we’ve been experiencing has been lovely, though! I actually had to turn the air conditioning on in the car yesterday!

Here’s what I’ve been up to so far on this very tired week!

 

Monday, 14 March, 2022

Up and at ‘em! After coffee, I wrote, edited, and posted my Monday post, got dressed, then switched and hung the laundry I’d run the night before.

We started school with On This Day in History and geography (Kyrgyzstan – I did NOT spell this correctly on the first try!). then dove into math. We finished our pond and river book, finished our museum artifacts book, finished our book about slow things, and read a book about school around the world.

After lunch, I unloaded and refilled the dishwasher. We did spelling and Language Arts, read a book about mammals, and did our Read Harder/silent reading for 30 minutes (I’m reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History; my daughter is reading Matilda). We finished our mammal book, and school was done!

And then it was time to prepare my hamantaschen dough. Last year, I made Nutella hamantaschen. I was going to maybe try lemon or poppyseed this year, but then I got sucked in by a recipe in my email: this one for raspberry cheesecake hamantaschen. I decided to switch out for fresh strawberries, because I had no idea where to buy freeze-dried raspberries (and that just sounds expensive, anyway). I prepared the dough, and…I really loathe working with any kind of butter-based dough. It’s SO sticky and gross, and I wasn’t feeling great about this batch when I put it in the fridge. Hamantaschen are a little tricky anyway, and I was prepared to have to remake a new batch of these the next day (one of my friends, who is a fabulous baker, posted this week about a batch of her butter-based hamantaschen not working out and having to be dumped, so it’s not just me here!).

I threw together a batch of breakfast sandwiches for dinner, then took out the compost. I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the garbage, hauled the cans to the curb, then went on a two-mile walk with my family. I spent a few minutes on the computer, and then it was time for dinner. I did my Duolingo, showered, put dinner away, put my daughter to bed, read my book, and watched an episode of Deadly Women with my husband before bed.

 

Tuesday, 15 March, 2022

After coffee, I got some beans in the Instant Pot. It had been a night of terrible sleep, so I was dragging.

We got started with On This Day in History and geography (Laos), and then it was time for math. We read some Asian folk tales, started a book about birds, read from a science book, and then it was time for lunch. I prepared a batch of Cauliflower Kale soup with white beans (this wasn’t my favorite, so I’m not linking it), unloaded and refilled the dishwasher, and took out the compost.

After Language Arts and spelling, we started a book about Congress (my daughter is actually really enjoying this one!), did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, finished our book of Asian folk tales, and then I shaped and filled my hamantaschen and put them back in the fridge to chill. We went for a three-mile walk, and then I baked the cookies (they had to go back into the fridge afterwards to cool). We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, and showered, and then we enjoyed a few hamantaschen. I was impressed and surprised how well they turned out- they held up, no leaky disasters, and they were super delicious!

 

I did 40 minutes of volunteer work, put dinner away, and loaded and ran the dishwasher. My husband had other things to do, so instead of watching anything, I just read until bedtime.

 

Wednesday, 16 March, 2022

Another night of terrible sleep. Bring on allllllllllllllllllllllllll the coffee! I was so very, very tired, but I got dressed and made out my grocery list anyway.

We started with On This Day in History and geography (Latvia), then moved into math, where we finished the current unit. We read about birds, read our science book, then looked through a book of eco-friendly projects. We had lunch, and I emptied and refilled the dishwasher and took out the recycling.

We did spelling and Language Arts and read more about Congress. We did our Read Harder/silent reading, and started a book about outdoor science, and then we were done and I dragged myself out the door for groceries. Three stores this week. No huge bargains, except for some fresh organic ginger on the bargain produce rack. I’ll wrap those up and toss them in the freezer. Vinegar was on sale, so I bought three gallons of that, and we have a lot of broccoli to enjoy this week!

At home, I put the groceries away and did 40 minutes of volunteer work while the pizza baked. I continued working throughout dinner, did my Duolingo and showered, put dinner away and ran the dishwasher. I logged on to my synagogue’s virtual Purimshpiel, which was very cute and funny, and then I put my daughter to bed. I finished reading Attainable Sustainable by Kris Bordessa, then I began reading Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Not a great night of sleep AGAIN last night! Oof. Not sure what the deal is, but phew, I’m worn out already. Maybe the time change has gotten to me. Who knows? It’s leftover soup and grilled cheese for dinner tonight, so maybe I’ll be able to sneak in a nap. We’ll see! Hopefully you’re a little more well-rested than I am. Have a great rest of the week, friends. We’re almost to the weekend!

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 10 March - Sunday, 13 March, 2022

 

It’s Monday! Happy Pi Day, friends. We have a lemon meringue pie (store-bought, from the bakery discount rack, of course) that we’ll be enjoying later on in the day. I also have to bake my hamantaschen later on. I swear, Purim sneaks up on me every year!

This was a fairly relaxing weekend; there wasn’t much going on, and I spent a lot of time knitting, which felt pretty good for the soul, especially after how busy last weekend was. We’re having an early, possible false, spring right now, and the weather gets into the 60’s this week, which will be absolutely delightful- but here in Illinois, we all know not to depend on it to stay this warm quite yet. My daughter’s birthday is at the end of April; one year, it snowed ten inches the day before her birthday! You never know around here.

Here's what I was up to the past few days. : )


Thursday, 10 March, 2022

After coffee, I edited and posted my Thursday post, then posted my review for The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman over on my book blog. I got dressed, filled and ran the dishwasher, tidied the living room, swept the living room and kitchen, and took out the recycling.

We started our day as usual, with On This Day in History and geography (South Korea), and then it was time for math. We read from our pond and river book, our book about museum artifacts, and read more about voting history. And then we read the story Raphaela’s Seder, this month’s selection from PJ Library. We both get super excited when a new PJ Library book arrives in the mail!

We had lunch, and I put a block of tofu out to press. We did spelling and language arts, finished reading our book about voting history, and did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History; my daughter is reading Matilda). We read more of the book about slow things, and I helped my daughter with some spelling work.

I had to run to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, so I returned some library books while I was out (since the library is just a few blocks away), and then I ran over to another local grocery store to pick up more on-sale lentils. $1/lb is as low as they go here, so I figured we needed to stock up while we could (I bought ten pounds here, adding it to the ten pounds I bought from another store on Wednesday. We’re good for a bit!). I also picked up some cauliflower and potatoes from the discount produce rack.

At home, I unloaded the dishwasher and made Pan-friend Sesame Tofu and got the rice in the rice cooker. I took out the compost and recycling, spent a little time on the computer, and then it was time for dinner. I did my Duolingo, and then, of course, I got the email letting me know that I had a library book in! Back to the library I went, grabbing some extra books for the weekend, because why not. : )

At home, I showered and put dinner away and cleaned up, loaded and ran the dishwasher, spent a little more time on the computer, and put my daughter to bed. I began reading Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 11 March, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post, got dressed, and got some black beans in the Instant Pot. We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Kuwait).

We did math, read more of the pond and river book, more of the museum artifacts book, and more of the book about slow things. And then it was time for lunch!

I knew I had a doctor appointment this day, but I thought it was at 2. At 1:05, my phone buzzed, and when I glanced at the screen, it said, “Dr appt in 10 minutes.” I was like, WHAT?!?!!?!? I quickly went to the office website and found that indeed, my appointment was at 1:15. I looked at my daughter and said, “GET YOUR SHOES ON, NOW.”

We flew across town and made it in time, out of breath and with my blood pressure likely higher than it would have been if I had not discovered my appointment time ten minutes before it was scheduled to take place, but it was all good! My doctor listened to me describe my constant cough (I’ve gone in to see her in the past for a constant cough, pre-pandemic, and was diagnosed with post-viral cough syndrome, since at that point, the cough had started when I was sick and went on for like six months) and was horrified by the amount I’ve been using my rescue inhaler to stop the cough, so I came home with a new type of inhaler, one with steroids, and a diagnosis of cough variant asthma (zero surprise there, this is something I’ve long suspected). I have to go do bloodwork at sometime in the future, possibly this weekend. I have to fast before, so weekdays are out!

At home, I was really tired, but instead of napping, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and prepared the black bean scramble part of dinner. I chose some yarn to start a knitting project, scooped the litterbox, and made the polenta.

We had dinner, I did my Duolingo and put dinner away. I showered, then started knitting a log cabin blanket. I’ve never tried this technique before, so it’s going to be a learning process, but I’m enjoying it so far! 

I logged in to my synagogue’s Shabbat services, and when that was over,  I continued reading my book. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 12 March, 2022

Lazy Shabbat! I had coffee and ran the dishwasher, then I got dressed and ready. My husband and daughter and I went out to the Dollar Tree. I needed a pair of kitchen shears (mine have been missing for months now), but that was the only thing I bought. At home, I read my book, and after lunch, I made a batch of Vegan Cabbage Roll Soup.

I had a nap, read more of my book, and did more knitting. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, then biked 25 minutes. I showered, showered my daughter, put her to bed, and finished reading Beautiful Country. My husband and I watched an episode of 20/20 called ‘The Cult Next Door,’ about the Heaven’s Gate cult. Super bizarre.

 

Sunday, 13 March, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I got dressed and ready. I ran to Whole Foods, trying to find nutritional yeast, but it was a no go; we’re going to have to Amazon it. I did get a pack of vegan sausage patties, though! I ran to Aldi, where they had no cream cheese or strawberry jelly, which was fine, since I was headed to Walmart next. I also picked up cat food while I was at Walmart, and that lemon meringue pie. : )

At home, I overhauled the messy kitchen, and then we all went to the used bookstore and Five Below. My husband and daughter got some books, but there was nothing I needed at either place. We had lunch at home, and then I spent most of the afternoon knitting. I did clean up a few things in the backyard (mostly toys, and some garbage that had blown in), and I tidied a few things in the kitchen.

I did my Duolingo after our dinner of leftovers, ran the dishwasher, showered, started a load of laundry, and then knit some more. 

I began reading Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living by Kris Bordessa, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

And that’s it! It’s supposed to be a beautiful week here, so I’m hoping to be able to go for a walk or two while we still can. Purim begins Wednesday night, so I’ll attend virtual services, but that’s the only thing on the schedule. It’d be nice to sneak more knitting in during the week, but we’ll see…

Have a great week, friends!