What's Been Going On: Thursday, 14 April - Sunday, 17 April, 2022

Phew! Interesting few days around here. So much as we try, the best-laid plans often go awry, and there’s just nothing we can do about it but laugh. Life is just like that sometimes.

Despite the…messes…of the past few days, things are at least running a little more smoothly. My daughter has settled down a little, so we’re staying out of tantrum territory. The weather has been gross, though; it’s been cold and windy this whole past weekend, but I’ve been motivated enough with my other projects that it’s only making me a *little* grumpy. (SERIOUSLY, APRIL, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE WARMER THAN THIS!!!! FORTY-ONE DEGREES, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???)

Anyway. : D Here’s what I’ve been up to lately!

 

Thursday, 14 April, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I wrote out and posted my Thursday post, then got dressed. We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Mali), then worked through math. We took a short break so I could empty and refill the dishwasher and took out recycling, and then we dove into Language Arts and spelling (I will say, my daughter’s spelling has seriously improved since she’s started homeschooling! It’s by no means perfect, but there are times when she’ll write a few sentences and everything is spelled correctly, which definitely wasn’t happening before. Could be homeschooling, could be she’s just hitting her stride and reaching a developmental milestone. Either way, I’m happy!). We read some of her outdoor science book (birds!), then started a book on food history.

After lunch, we read some of a biography of Walt Disney, did two chapters of history, and read from a book of Filipino children’s stories. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, 15 minutes of journal writing, and then my daughter and I had a long talk about the therapist we would meet the next day. She was so nervous, so I did my best to reassure her. She did her math work while I made tofu scramble with veggies, baked pumpkin oatmeal, and air-fried some sweet potatoes. I got a batch of tomatoes reading for roasting, cleaned up, and got the tomatoes in the oven.

 

After dinner (which was SO good), I did my Duolingo, put dinner away, and did a 36-minute Yoga with Adriene video. I showered, returned an email to the therapist we would be meeting on Friday, and blended the roasted tomatoes into sauce (which went into the fridge). I settled down with my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 15 April, 2022

This is the kind of day you just have to laugh at so you don’t cry.

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote out Friday’s post and got it up, then ran the dishwasher and got dressed.

We read from our biography of Walt Disney, read more from the outdoor science book and the food history book, and then we had an early lunch before heading out the door to the therapist’s office.

He seems very nice. My daughter sat on my lap a good part of the time we were in the office; occasionally she got up to play with the slats of the vertical blinds. We’d been there chatting with him for maybe 30 minutes when my daughter, who had been *so* nervous, just turned around and vomited all over. All over herself, the floor, me, both our coats…If anything ever deserved an oy vey, this did.

I apologized nine million times (fortunately, he has kids, so he gets it, but STILL. OY VEY) and did everything I could to clean up. We made an agreement to come back next week at the same time, and my daughter and I hustled out to the car, where I stripped her soaked-with-vomit shirt off and got her buckled in with a just-in-case bag. I cracked the window driving home, because lemme tell you, the car did not smell great. OY.

At home, I got my poor embarrassed kiddo upstairs and showered her off (after changing my clothes first), and then I collected the laundry and got it going. I snuggled her in my room and read out loud to her for a bit (we’re reading Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield).

After my husband got home, I walked to the gas station behind our house (not directly behind, but it takes like two minutes to walk there) to get a caffeinated drink, because – no surprise here – I had a headache! At home, I pulled out the last purple stripe on my blanket; it was rumpling in a way I didn’t like, and I figured I’d try to reknit it (still not completely thrilled with it, but oh well).

It was leftovers for dinner, and I attended Central Synagogue’s abbreviated Shabbat service, followed by their Passover Seder, both of which were lovely. I often ‘field trip’ there when my synagogue doesn’t have services, and services at Central are always absolutely phenomenal. The music is mind-blowing; you’d think the rabbis and cantors stepped straight off of Broadway. I have to say I do love my own synagogue’s services best, but it’s always nice to virtually travel to Central. : )

I showered after the Seder was done, then put my daughter to bed (it wasn’t my turn, but sometimes when you have a rough day, you just want Mom, and she did). I read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

Saturday, 16 April, 2022

After coffee, I finished reading This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith. I emptied, refilled, and ran the dishwasher, and took out the compost.

I got dressed, and then it was time to head off to the library a few towns over to return a book (and pick up a few more!). I was one of a very few people wearing a mask in there *sigh*, but I grabbed the books from my list, plus one extra.

 

At home, we had lunch, and then it was time to clean my daughter’s room, because it was a mess again. I wish I’d gotten a picture! This took over two hours, and by the time we were done, my hips were absolutely screaming. Sitting on the floor is really, really hard for me. I curled up in my chair with Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer and read for a good long time, and then we all hopped into the car. My husband had to run into Menards, and then we went and got ice cream (I’d promised my daughter ice cream after her appointment the day before, and, uh…obviously that wasn’t possible then. Not as a bribe, just as a, “I know this is a tough thing for you, so here’s something nice to look forward to afterwards").

At home, I read until dinner, did my Duolingo, and did a 27-minute Yoga with Adriene video. I showered, hung out on the computer a bit, then read my book. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 17 April, 2022

I hope all of you who celebrate Easter had a lovely one!

I woke up at 6 am and snuggled with my daughter until 7, which is a far more acceptable time to wake up! After coffee, I read my book with the microwaved rice bag draped over my neck and shoulder (I had a stress-induced muscle spasm last week and it’s *still* incredibly painful). Finally, I got dressed and headed to the kitchen to start dinner for later: taco-flavored lentils in the Instant Pot, and sautéed onion, garlic, red and green peppers, and zucchini, all for homemade taco bowls later on. I ran the dishwasher, took out the recycling and compost, took out the tomato sauce I’d made earlier in the week to the garage freezer, and tidied the kitchen.

After lunch, I knit while watching YouTube for a bit, then my daughter and I went upstairs to clean out some of her toy drawers. They were getting much too full and not only looked terrible, but they were unorganized and chaotic. We sent two bags’ worth of items to the basement toy stash (she can still play with them; it just keeps the number of toys in her room to a more manageable level), and everything is much more organized now. I’m going to be thinking of ways to make the absolutely enormous mess on and under her blue table more manageable as well. That thing is out of control!

I came back downstairs and knit while watching YouTube; on and off, I’d get up and do something else, like tidy the living room, and start a batch of rice in the rice cooker.

 

After dinner (which was good as always! I love making my own Chipotle!), I headed upstairs to do an absolutely brutal 36-minute HASFit workout that left me completely disgusting, dripping with sweat, and barely able to wash my hair when I showered! (Seriously. Those Michelle Obama arms better be coming my way soon!) I was laughing the whole time in the shower at how floppy my arms felt! I put dinner away, put my daughter to bed, did my Duolingo, then struggled to keep my heavy book upright while I read. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women, and I slept like the dead!

 

And that’s it! Here we are at the beginning of a brand-new week. We woke up this morning to a dusting of snow *eyeroll*, but by the weekend, it’s supposed to be in the 80’s. Oh, Midwest… Twenty-eight schooldays left, until we switch over to our summer schedule. Who wants to take bets over whether we’ll be ending the school year in pants and sweaters???

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. I’m crossing everything this week goes smoother than the last few!