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! : )