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!