What's Been Going On: Thursday, 21 April - Sunday, 24 April, 2022

Eight years ago today, I lay in a hospital bed, snuggling one of the prettiest babies I’d ever seen. Her head was perfectly round and her skin was super pink, and there wasn’t a single mark on her (my son, by contrast, had been banged up a little more by the birth and had various bruises). As soon as they handed her to me, I said, “Oh, hello!” and she immediately stopped crying and just looked at me, like she recognized my voice. One of the most beautiful moments of my life. Happy birthday to my feisty little girl, who turns eight today!

We had a wonderful weekend; Saturday’s weather was nearly perfect and I spent almost all of the day outside. We’re not quite there yet for the weather to be like that full-time, but it’s coming, and I’m trying my best to be patient until it gets here! SO much reading to be done on my swing this summer. : )

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

 

Thursday, 21 April, 2022

After coffee, I finished writing and then posted my Thursday post. I got dressed, brought in a yogurt bowl from the garage freezer, then filled and ran the dishwasher.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Mauritania), then did Language Arts and spelling. We read more Egyptian mythology, then more from our book on fashion history.

After lunch, I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, cleaned out the sink and scrubbed the stovetop. I made a batch of taco seasoning, and then, as per a suggestion from my online homeschool group, we watched an episode of the show Horrible Histories. My history-hating daughter loved it! We’ll definitely continue with this.

We did two chapters of our regular history book, read more fashion history, and then it was nice out enough that we took school outside! We did our Read Harder/silent reading on the back porch (I’m reading The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music History; my daughter read a chapter book about fairies), then did our 15 minutes of journal writing. When we finished with that, my daughter wanted to play in her sandbox, so I pulled my chair up and finished reading our book of Egyptian mythology to her (which took about an hour!).

I read outside a little longer, then heated up our leftovers. I finished reading The Lost Arts of Hearth and Home: The Happy Luddite’s Guide to Self-Sufficiency by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger Henderson, then started How Good Do We Have to Be?: A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness by Harold Kushner. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, and then it was off on a three-ish mile walk. While at the pond, we saw this guy, whom people from the iNaturalist app have informed me is a red-tailed hawk:

 

At home, I showered my sandy daughter, then showered myself and put my daughter to bed. I read, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 22 April, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post, got dressed, and tidied the living room.

We started our day with On This Day in History and geography (Mauritius), then did a level of math, some spelling, and blasted through the rest of Level 5 in my daughter’s Language Arts curriculum. Woohoo! This took us up until 10:45, when we had a little bit to eat – NOT a full lunch after last week’s barf-a-thon – and then it was off to the counselor’s office.

This week went SO much better. There was no barfing, thankfully, and she developed a really strong rapport with the counselor. He’s amazing at asking just the right question and steering whatever subject they were talking about into an example or an idea for conversation. I really think this is going to be helpful!

Afterwards, we ran into the grocery store to pick up some corn tortillas and canned enchilada sauce (I usually make my own, but today was just too full, and this was an acceptable price), and a bag of marked-down tomatoes. At home, we had a late lunch, and then I made an enchilada casserole. My daughter and I watched an episode of Horrible Histories, then read part of a book about evolution, which she really liked. We looked through about half of a book on cat breeds, then, at my daughter’s request, I supervised as she watched some videos about the human body and did a few of the accompanying workbook pages (I was ready to relax at this point, and she was super into doing these pages, haha).

After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, then put dinner away. I spent a little bit of time crafting a thoughtful reply to someone online who had asked about my volunteer work, then I picked up my knitting. I attended virtual Shabbat services at my synagogue (music was provided by the synagogue’s bluegrass group, which is always lovely!). I read my book for a little bit afterwards, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 23 April, 2022

Coffee, and then I wrote out two book reviews (SO behind in book reviews, ack!). I cleaned the kitchen, took out the compost and recycling, and emptied and reloaded the dishwasher.

It was already nice enough for me to haul out my folding camp chair and read on the porch, so that’s what I did the rest of the morning. SO relaxing, which was nice, because after lunch…

I mowed the lawn. Our yard isn’t huge, but it took me 1.5 hours in order to shove the mower through the super-long, super-thick fall-and-winter grass. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, and it wore the skin off my left hand and left me with a huge blister on my right. OUCH.

 

That wore me out. I’m not at all ashamed to say I spent the rest of the afternoon reading on the porch. I finished the Harold Kushner book, then began reading Lovesong: Becoming a Jew by Julius Lester.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, then read on the porch until it was time to come in. I put the chairs back in the trunk of the car, then put my daughter to bed. I read my book some more, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 24 April, 2022

I had breakfast and coffee, then began work on this post. I wrote out some of my book blog’s monthly update, then ended up taking a decent nap. I’d slept absolutely terribly the night before, so I very much needed this!

After lunch, I spent a little time on the computer, talked with my son on the phone, and then it was time to head out the door to meet my mother-in-law at Walmart so my daughter could pick out a birthday present. She picked out a set of doll accessories (she uses her stuffed monkey to play with it more than her dolls, but that’s fine!), and it was nice to chat with my mother-in-law for a short while! Back at home, I chopped up some tomatoes and onions, prepared them for roasting and got them in the oven, then took out the compost. I filled and ran the dishwasher, then did some more stuff on the computer. I blended the tomatoes and onions into sauce, got it into a pot to warm, then boiled the noodles. Spaghetti for dinner!

 

I did my Duolingo and showered, put dinner away, and settled down with my book. I finished Lovesong by Julius Lester, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed. I had the second night in a row of very little sleep, and got up for a while to begin reading One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them by Ammiel Hirsch and Yosef Reinman.

 

And that’s it! My daughter doesn’t know it yet, but we’re off to the Museum of Science and Industry this morning. She’s going to be so excited! : ) Have a great week, y’all!