What's Been Going On: Monday, 23 May - Wednesday, 25 May, 2022

 Good morning, friends.

What a rough week it’s been. Just so much heartbreak. I learned yesterday that one of the Uvalde parents who lost their children is a friend of a friend. Not surprising, because my friend’s son had to hide himself and others in the bathroom a few months ago at the Oxford, Michigan school shooting; another friend’s daughter’s school was shot up in Indiana a few years ago, and someone I used to post with at a breastfeeding messageboard when my son was little lost her daughter in a school shooting in, I believe it was, New Mexico a few years ago.

The fact that I’m just one person and I have all these connections to grieving parents and their dead-or-traumatized kids says a lot about what we value in this country, doesn’t it?

Anyway.

This is our first week of summer break and the plan was to take a little bit of time off to do some house projects. Not much of that has been done yet, since I’m just kind of…numb, and trying to process. I’d like to think the rest of the week, or maybe next week, will be more productive, but who knows? We’ll likely all have moved on to the next mass shooting by then…

Hard to be optimistic when we all know this is just another stop in the road, right?

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

 

Monday, 23 May, 2023

After coffee, I edited and posted Monday’s post, then posted a review for The Big Tiny by Dee Williams over on my book blog. I got dressed and threw some chickpeas into the Instant Pot, and then it was time for what we decided would be our last day of school.

We dd On This Day in History and geography (Oman), and then we plowed through three units of math. This was long and tough, but my kiddo made it, and at the end, we were done with the second grade math curriculum completely! \o/

After lunch, I did an hour of volunteer work while my daughter watched two episodes of Horrible Histories. I cleaned the kitchen, took out the trash, compost, and recycling, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and ran it. I made a batch of vegan chickpea balls, then I scooped the litterbox.

I hung out on the computer for a bit (I went in and out to the backyard a few times where my husband and daughter were playing), then boiled a pot of water at my husband’s request for the massive anthill he found out back. He went for a run, and I went on a 3-ish mile walk with both my kids.

At home, I boiled some noodles and heated leftover homemade sauce, and we had spaghetti and chickpea balls for dinner. I did my Duolingo and showered, then knit my blanket while watching a YouTube video I’d had open on my computer for a few days. I put my daughter to bed, read my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Under the Banner of Heaven before going to bed.

 

Tuesday, 24 May, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I emptied, refilled, and ran the dishwasher. I got some beans into the Instant Pot, did an hour of volunteer work, then copied some recipes from a library book that needed to go back. I brought in a jalapeno from the garage freezer, and then it was time for lunch.

The kids and I made a trip to the library so they could grab some books. At home, I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, took out the compost, and turned the IP beans into a batch of cheesy beans. I cleaned off the counter tops, emptied the jar of orange peels that had been soaking in vinegar for a few months into a storage container and took the peels to the compost, then I made a batch of cornbread muffins.

I hung out on the computer for a bit, then went on a 3-ish mile walk with my son. At home, I made a batch of rice while my son cooked some soyrizo, then I went to collapse on the chair, since my back really hurt. It was about this time when news of Uvalde began coming out, and I stayed on the computer, horrified by the news and the increasing body count of small children.

After dinner (rice bowls with cheesy beans, soyrizo, yogurt-as-sour-cream, salsa, and cheese, with cornbread muffins), I did my Duolingo, showered, and knit while watching YouTube videos. I read my book, difficult as it was to focus, and my husband and I watched an episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Wednesday, 25 May, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I made out a grocery list (absolutely nothing decent on sale this week, ugh). My back was still extremely cranky, so I stayed in the chair on the computer most of the morning. I did fill the dishwasher and got dressed, and I took both kids to Five Below (and the Petsmart next door) for something to do; my son needed a case for his phone, so this was something we needed to do.

After lunch, I emptied and refilled the dishwasher and took out the recycling, and it was back to the chair, where I doomscrolled and refreshed, looking for updates on the Josh Duggar sentencing. I’ve had a horror/fascination with that family ever since they appeared on the first TLC special when my son was about three (and rumors began swirling online almost immediately afterwards about their eldest son’s behavior and the manner in which the parents covered it up, all of which turned out to be true, though this wouldn’t come to light until years later). I was happy to see he ended up being sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison.

My son and I went for an expensive grocery trip (2% milk was up to $3.50 at ALDI!!! Just a few months ago, it was $1.78), and at home, we put the groceries away, then headed to the basement because of a tornado warning in our area (everything was fine! It passed by us). When it was over, I cooked the pizza, and after dinner, I did my Duolingo and hung out on the computer some more. It was just that kind of day.

I  showered and put my daughter to bed (no walk today; the threat of rain was still there); she and I finished reading Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. I finished reading A Beginner’s Guide to Paradise by Alex Sheshunoff, then read all of the graphic novel Lennon by David Foenkinos, and started And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: An Illustrated Memoir by Margaret Kimball. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

And that’s it! I’m going to try to be a little more productive today. We’re going to try to clean things up a bit around here, I’ve got dinner that needs to be cooked, I need to scoop the litterbox… maybe that’ll all keep my mind off *gestures broadly at everything*.

Hang in there, friends. I think I’ve got a few letters to write to some Congress critters. I know that mine agree with me, that the slaughter of elementary school children and their teachers in Uvalde this week was entirely pointless and that this country’s inaction on these mass shootings is shameful and a more civilized society would have taken care of this problem approximately 2348327498323 mass shootings ago, but I need to do *something*. I’m so sad, y’all.

Wishing you all a peaceful end to this week, however you can find it.