What's Been Going On: Thursday, 16 June - Sunday, 19 June, 2022

Good morning! Happy Juneteenth observed if you’re in the US, and welcome to another broiling hot week! Are you ready for those high temps this week? I’m not sure anyone is. Our high on Tuesday is 100, which is just crazy. I’m really hoping the infrastructure around the country can handle all of this. I suspect there will be problems in plenty of places, unfortunately.

It’s been a sort-of more laid-back week around here, I think? Still busy, just with fewer things. Lots of homeschool prep going on, trying to figure out exactly what she’s going to learn and how, still not entirely sure what language arts will look like entirely, but I at least have a few ideas. Plenty more work to do, though!

This upcoming week will mostly be trying to keep cool…I think. Possibly just melting.

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

 

Thursday, 16 June, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Thursday post. I did some homeschool prep throughout the morning and had an early bagel for lunch, because we were supposed to have an earlier-in-the-week appointment with my daughter’s counselor. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I got an email that although he was testing negative for COVID, he had a cold and a bad cough and knowing how cautious we are, he was leaving it up to us if we still felt comfortable coming. I wrote back, wishing him a swift return to full health, but said we’d skip this week, and he responded, saying that he was going to cancel anyway, since he couldn’t stop coughing. Poor guy!

My daughter was bummed, so I snuggled her for a while, then changed my clothes, and my son and I did a 14-minute and then a 7-minute ab workout. I rested for a few minutes, and then my daughter and I read outside on the front porch.

I filled and ran the dishwasher, then sauteed a batch of zucchini with garlic while my son made some pasta for dinner. We ate, I did my Duolingo and showered, then I read outside on the porch some more (not as pleasant as my swing, but still enjoyable!). I moved upstairs and continued reading in bed, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Friday, 17 June, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, we all got ready for…the beach!

It took us about an hour to get there; it’s in a ritzy suburb north of Chicago, so I did a bunch of homeschool prep on the ride up there. What better time to get things done?

 

Let me tell you, Lake Michigan is cold. The 99-degree weather last week had absolutely zero effect on lake temps; you immediately lose feeling in your feet once they touch the water. I floated in a raft on and off during the day, but even that wasn’t easy. Every time even the tiniest wave rolled over my legs and into my lap, I gasped. Just absolutely, shockingly cold!

It was still a really fun time, though. The pebbles on the shore are super pretty and I brought back enough to fill a jar to remember our day.

I mostly just watched out the window on the ride home; despite not swimming much, I was still really worn out! At home, I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then it was my turn to shower and de-sand myself. I had a quick late lunch, then read out on the porch, finishing Since Sinai by Shannon Gonyou and reading all of the graphic novel Illegal by Eoin Colfer. The canvas on the arms of our chairs had ripped, so I repaired those during this time as well.

Inside, I did my Duolingo and knit while watching YouTube, then logged in to virtual Shabbat services. I read for a bit, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Saturday, 18 June, 2022

After breakfast (no coffee), I loaded and ran the dishwasher, and then the kids and I were off to a used book sale by a local women’s education group. They have these every few months, mostly in the warmer weather, but there have been a few in the fall and spring as well. This was only the second they’ve had since the pandemic started. We were there on their $10/bag day. We were some of the only ones wearing masks there, which didn’t make my daughter happy at all. She didn’t even want to touch anything (but she still wanted to be there!). She’s definitely got some OCD-type tendencies (which we’ve noted with both her counselor and her medical doctor as something to keep an eye on); this whole pandemic has been really stressful for her.

But the book sale was awesome! We came away with three bags of books, a good mixture of books for my daughter for school and for fun (she picked out an Anne Geddes book of babies dressed as flowers, and a bunch of cookbooks; she’s wanting to learn to make fancy cupcakes, so we can absolutely work that into schoolwork!); a bunch of awesome books for me, including some excellent Jewish books, which makes me SO happy (I’ve already started very slowly reading Martin Buber, who intimates me, but whom I’ve always wanted to read, because he was so brilliant); and various books for my son. Here’s a look at just some of the books we came home with (the other books had already been scattered to various parts of the house!):

 

My son suggested We Interrupt This Broadcast; he had a copy when he was young and used the heck out of it, so I'll be using that with my daughter. I've already read Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg, but I just wanted to add it to my collection; it's a really great book. : )

At home, we had lunch, then I sauteed some onion, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms, and got the eggs cracked into a bowl. I took out the recycling and compost, then read outside with my daughter (during the day, I’ve been reading The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein). After a while, I brought in a bag of tater tots from the garage and put together the breakfast casserole for dinner, and then my son and I were off on a four-mile walk!

 

When we got back home, the casserole went into the oven and I headed to the porch for 30 minutes of my personal Read Harder, and guess what? I finished The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music History! WOOHOO!!! I hadn’t realized I had so little left and was surprised to reach the end. My next pick for Read Harder is I and Thou by Martin Buber. I’m going to read this ten pages per day; his writing is so heavy that I’m not sure I can handle much more than that. It’s a short book; my edition is only 137 pages, so this won’t take me too long in terms of time. I’m just hoping I can understand even a fraction of it! I’ve long admired his ideas, so I’m jumping in with both feet. Wish me luck!

I did some homeschool planning and finished going through The Ultimate Book of Homeschool Ideas by Linda Dobson. Dated, but there were a few things I jotted down on my list. After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, then put dinner away. I read the intro to I and Thou, then put my daughter to bed. I began reading The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Sunday, 19 June, 2022

After coffee, I got dressed and filled the dishwasher. I made an Instant Pot full of lentil soup, then threw together the dry ingredients for a batch of corn muffins. I ran the dishwasher, then made a batch of pineapple jam!

 

I also took out various loads of compost and recycling, then sat down to barrel through four chapters of Le Petit Prince (finally!!!). More homeschool planning, then I had a quick lunch, made the rest of the corn muffins and got them in the oven, then went out on the porch to call my dad for Father’s Day.

At 2pm, my son and I left to go geocaching around the area. He’d been before; I hadn’t, but it was so much fun! We couldn’t find the first two caches, which were hidden in a more wooded area, but we found a bunch more afterwards (including one really cool one hidden in an old payphone). This is my first one!

 

We also went on a walking trivia tour of a local private university, which was set up in conjunction with a partnership with the geocaching app we were using, which was SUPER fun (although it was extremely hot!). Afterwards, we headed off to the mall, where we had tickets for the Stranger Things pop-up hosted there, which my son was super jazzed about. : ) We took a bunch of sweaty mask selfies, which I won’t post, but here’s the living room…

 

We came home for dinner, I did my Duolingo, then I showered and put dinner away. I worked on this post for a while, then put my daughter to bed (we finished our Greek mythology book) and finished reading The Color of Law. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! It’s going to be an absolute scorcher this week, so we’ll be doing inside workouts for the most part. I’m also going to try to get my daughter’s closet organized and the too-small clothing weeded out, since we’ll all be captive inside (what better time to do that?). Heat like this makes me nervous, so I’m going to be doing my best to stay ultra-hydrated!

Have a great week, friends! Stay cool and be safe, whatever you’re doing!!!