What's Been Going On: Thursday, 28 July - Sunday, 31 July, 2022

Back at Monday again! Oof, what an exhausting weekend! I did get all my book reviews and blog posts written that I wanted to, so that’s a definite plus. And I’m one step closer to the house being homeschool ready. Our local school starts the 24^th; we’re going to start the 22^nd, I believe, so we can start off on a Monday and get the whole week in. I’m not required to keep any records or anything, but just like when my son was young, I’m going to keep a notecard for every day and write down what we do, what we cover (levels, units, pages, etc), just in case. Always helps me feel a little better.

Here's what I’ve been up to the past few days!

 

Thursday, 28 July, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Thursday post, then got dressed and ready. I made a batch of curried red lentil pumpkin soup in the Instant Pot (I added spinach), and took out the recycling and compost. I filled the dishwasher, and my back decided it was done, so off to the chair I went to do a bunch of homeschool prep.

After lunch, I continued on with the homeschool prep, then read on the porch: ten pages of I and Thou, a chapter of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes du Mez (goodness, John Wayne certainly wasn’t a very nice guy. Some of the quotes from him are just so shockingly gross…), then I finished Pressure Cooker by Sarah Bowen. I did a little more homeschool prep, and then it was time for dinner, which was really good!

I did my Duolingo, and then I went on a 2.5-mile walk with my husband and daughter. I showered, filled and ran the dishwasher, and put dinner away. I did a little more homeschool prep, then started reading The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eva Eger. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Friday, 29 July, 2022

After coffee and breakfast (which my daughter made me!), I got some beans in the Instant Pot, and I wrote and posted Friday’s post. I got dressed and ready, made a batch of guacamole, made some popsicles with my daughter, then sauteed some onions and garlic and took out the compost and recycling.

We had an early lunch, got gas, and went to our appointment with my daughter’s counselor. He thinks she has ADHD, which does not surprise me one single bit. She fits SO many of the behaviors, and honestly, it’s a little bit of a relief just knowing there’s a reason for so many of her behaviors. Our job now is to help her work with her brain, instead of struggling and fighting it all the time. There are plenty of successful people out there with ADHD and I have no doubt my stubborn, feisty kiddo will one day join their ranks.  : )

At home, I ran the dishwasher, then made a batch of black bean burgers (my daughter helped, which was fun). I spent a little time on the computer to rest my back, then headed to the porch to read ten pages of I and Thou and another chapter of Jesus and John Wayne. I came in to cook a batch of tater tots, then we had dinner, and I picked up my knitting. I joined the Shabbat services at Temple Israel in Akron, Ohio this evening; my lovely friend Jocelyn was giving the d’var Torah, and she did an absolutely beautiful job, talking about the importance of finding and using your voice, ‘lest we let our silence speak for us.’ Wise words indeed.

I showered and put my daughter to bed (we finished reading A Picture for Marc), read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of What We Do in the Shadows, followed by one Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Saturday, 30 July, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I got dressed and ready. I wrote three book reviews, filled and ran the dishwasher, and then we were off! My husband had suggested a picnic and hiking at a local forest preserve, so we went to Trader Joe’s to pick up some lunch, then drove to the preserve. Almost immediately after lunch, we saw this guy:

 

Isn’t it so cute?!!?? He was not happy about being handled, but we didn’t keep him out of the water for long, and he scurried off so quickly as soon as we returned him to the water.

We also saw lots of fish (though no pictures of them!), a frog just chilling in the shallow water, and a bunch of fascinating wildflowers:

 

At home, I relaxed for a bit, got some beans in the Instant Pot, took out the recycling and put some stuff in the garage, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and tidied and swept the living room (my daughter helped by grudgingly returning her toys to her room). I played on the computer for a bit while my back rested, then threw together a bean and rice casserole and got that into the oven. I spent a little more time on the computer (which I’ve been trying not to do on Shabbat, since I do enjoy the peace without it, but today, I was worn out from hiking and cleaning!).

After dinner, my son and I walked 3.3 miles, then I put dinner away and showered. I did my Duolingo, read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Sunday, 31 July, 2022

OOF, what a day.

After coffee, I wrote one book review, wrote out my goals update post, and wrote out most of my monthly book blog update. And then I got dressed, and it was time to tackle my daughter’s room. *cue dread-filled music*

I started cleaning at 9:30 am. Here’s what it looked like before (and to be honest, this was from Saturday, so it was actually even worse than this when I started):

 

I took a short break for lunch, and then got right back to work. By about 3, my husband came in to grab my daughter and take her to the park and to pick up dinner (which was totally fine with me on both counts!). Here’s what it looked like when I finally finished at about 4:40 pm:

Still needs some fine-tuning, but it’s SO much better. The floor is clean, and we’ll be able to go through her clothing this week, weed out the too-small stuff, and figure out what of her bigger stuff fits. We do this every year before school starts, and that time is creeping up fast, so I knew this room overhaul had to get done soon. And yes, this *did* hurt my back terribly, but it’s done. Daughter and I had a conversation about maybe stopping a little earlier before bed each night in order to pick her room up, and what I should do when she fights me over it.

After this was all done (including weeding out five bags of too-young books from her bookshelf, which I’ll have her go through tomorrow to make sure she’s 100% ready to give those up; I don’t want to give away anything she’s not ready to give up), I sat down to work on this post, showered, showered my daughter, and ate dinner. I did my Duolingo, put my daughter to bed (she requested a re-read of What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew), and read my book. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! Busy week of finishing homeschool prep and getting the house in order. Plus Friday, which is…well, we’ll get there later. :  ) This morning, I need to pick up something from Freecycle, do some volunteer work, and get something made for dinner, though I’m not sure what yet. Busy, busy as always, but I’m definitely going to chill on an icepack for a bit this afternoon, as my back isn’t being as user-friendly as it could be.

Wishing you all a lovely week! : )