No post today, 8 September, 2022.

 Sorry, y'all. I've completely run out of spoons. It's been a WEEK, and I'm just downright exhausted. Hopefully I'll be back on Monday, but we'll see how things go.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 1 September - Sunday, 4 September, 2022

Good morning! Happy Labor Day, if you’re in the US. It’s gray and cloudy and cooler today, a nice change from the higher temps we’ve had lately. We’ve got the A/C off, which is so nice! I think the temps go up later on in the week, only briefly, but cooler weather is coming!

This weekend has been so much busier than I expected. There’s been almost no time to read or get anything done that I’m not able to get done during the week, which is disappointing and makes things a little rougher, but I’ll manage. I do need to get our math and Language Arts pages written out at some point today, though!

Going on a picnic with my sister-in-law for lunch today, so that will be nice.

Here’s what’s been going on around here!

 

Thursday, 1 September, 2022

I was awake this day at 4 am because of a stress headache, so I read for a little bit, then got up and filled and ran the dishwasher. I had coffee, then posted my monthly book blog roundup, finished and posted my Thursday post, scooped the litterbox, did a few things on the internet, and then I got dressed. And then it was time for school!

We started off with On This Day in History, geography (the Pitcairn Islands), and a few paragraphs about the Puritans. We did a level of math and a unit of Language Arts, then spelling, and it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we read Fossils by Sally M. Walker, chapter 3 (the Nile!) of 10 Rivers That Shaped the World, chapters 7 & 8 of Around the World in 100 Years (John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci), pages 3-24 of Exploration and Conquest by B. & G. Maestro, pages 27-40 of Atlas of Adventures, and chapter 7 of History Smashers: The Mayflower.

After lunch, I lay down for a little bit but couldn’t sleep, so I got up and emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then took out the compost. I packed our bags, and it was off to my nephew’s to watch him while my sister-in-law, a teacher, attended a school function. Usually the kids run off and play together, but they stuck by my side and chatted to me the entire night, so no reading done for me! (They did, however, run off to play the moment my sister-in-law returned. Of course!)

At home, my daughter and I had a quick dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, and then I read for a little bit. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Friday, 2 September, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I posted my monthly goal update post and got the dishes in the dishwasher. I got dressed and ready, and we started school.

We tackled On This Day in History, geography (Poland), and a few paragraphs about Roger Williams. We fit in a unit of math, a unit of Language Arts, spelling, and chapters 9 & 10 of Around the World in 100 Years (Ponce de Leon & Balboa) before leaving for my daughter’s counselor. After her appointment, we stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up some multiplication flashcards and a tiny frozen pizza to share, then ran into the library to grab a book that was in.

At home, we ate quickly, then got back to work! We read chapter 4 of 10 Rivers That Shaped the World (the Rhine), pages 4-24 of Fossils, Rocks, and Minerals by Marcia A. Lusted, pages 40-53 of Atlas of Adventures, we finished Exploration Conquest, and we read chapter 8 of History Smashers: The Mayflower. My daughter did her spelling and one of her math worksheets, and then she was done for the day!

I sauteed some onion, garlic, and green pepper, then made a batch of waffles. I took out the compost and recycling, swept and tidied the living room, shook out the crumbs from my chair blanket, and went through my homeschool curriculum list. I figured out what we’re doing next, then ordered a bunch of books via interlibrary loan and figured out what I needed to grab from various libraries. I scrambled a bunch of eggs, and it was time for dinner!

I did my Duolingo, showered, and knit while watching YouTube. I joined my synagogue’s virtual services when it was time, then finished my log cabin blanket! My daughter has been sleeping with it ever since. : )

 

I read for a bit, and my husband and I watched one episode of What We Do in the Shadows and one Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Saturday, 3 September, 2022

After coffee, I wrote two book reviews. I had breakfast and hydrated, got dressed, spent a little bit of time on the computer, then went on a 3.1 mile walk with my son.

After lunch, I got the dishes in the dishwasher, then ran out to a nearby library to grab one book, then I swung home and picked up my daughter. We picked up books from our local branch, then drove a few towns away to grab books from there as well. My daughter had wanted to play there, but she wasn’t comfortable with the unmasked kids in the play area, so we went home instead. Poor kiddo. We did stop by Trader Joe’s on the way home to grab items for our picnic the next day.

At home, I roasted a batch of tomatoes for sauce and tidied the living room. I got the dishes in the dishwasher and ran it, then boiled the noodles for spaghetti and blended the sauce. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, and I put my daughter to bed. I read Good Talk by Mira Jacobs, then began reading Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Sunday, 4 September, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I filled and ran the dishwasher. I got dressed and ready, packed our lunches, and then it was off to a forest preserve 35 minutes away to meet up with some new friends!  We met on a local parent safety group; they’re as COVID-conscious as we are, and my daughter is the same age as her oldest son (they’re also pandemic schooling!), so we met up for a masked playdate in the preserve. SUPER nice people and we had a really great time!

At home, I emptied the dishwasher and ran it on a cleaning cycle, then farted around on the computer for a bit and picked up some crocheting. I started off trying to make that earwarmer for my daughter, but quickly realized I did not like the pattern (seems like she’s missing part of it?), so I just started another giant colorful blanket. Good, mindless crocheting. I listened to a podcast while I crocheted the afternoon away.

After a dinner of leftovers, I did my Duolingo and showered, then I continued to crochet. I did go try to read, but hadn’t gotten more than a few pages in when my daughter needed to talk, so I put my book down and snuggled with her. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! Only a four-day schoolweek this week, which is nice. Tomorrow we can sign up for the kids’ fall reading program (my daughter is already excited!), but today, we picnic at the park with the creek running through it. It’s cooler today; I don’t know if the kids will get in, but at least they’ll have the option. Should be a fun day.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!

Monthly Goal Update: August 2022

Welcome, September!

Hard to believe we’re here and the summer is officially over. It just started, right??!!??!? I’m not making that up… We’re back to school, most kids are (and, uh, I’ve already seen some schools have to close due to an overwhelming number of COVID cases, sigh), and while the weather *should* be cooling down, it’s likely going to stay warm around here for a bit, so I’ll just be enjoying the ability to be outside for as long as it lasts!

It's been a pretty productive month here, even though my days are now absolutely dominated by school, cooking, and cleaning. I’m happy with the progress I made on my goals here, and I’m on my way with some other projects, so that’s definitely reason to celebrate!

Here’s how August went for me in terms of my yearly goals.

 

Read 100 books.

Done!

 

Subgoal: read all the ebooks on my list.

I am finishing ebook #3 now. Ebooks #2 and #1 are also in my possession, so this will be marked off in September!!! 

 

Sew at least one thing.

I’m thinking this likely won’t happen this year, but that’s okay.

 

Knit at least one thing.

SO close to finishing my blanket. Two rows of the last stripe, then I gotta work on weaving those ends in!

 

Crochet at least one thing.

As soon as this blanket is done, I’ll start on this earwarmer for my daughter.

 

Finish my grandmother’s cross-stitch.

Done!

 

Work my way through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way.

No progress here. Just not enough time in my days right now.

 

Read at least one book in French.

DONE!!!! I finally finished Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry! Phew. I knew I would, but it’s a relief to have one more item knocked off the list.

 

Bonus: write one thing and get it published.

Nope! Not much time to write, nor the energy for it.

 

Do at least six drawings.

Two down:

Watch more Karl Johan.

Nope. No time.

 

Three items down, progress on others. I’m happy with that! Life is a lot different for me now than when I first made the list, so there’s just a lot of things that I don’t have time for, but I’m happy to make any kind of progress on any of the items here. By next month, I should have finished the blanket and hopefully gotten that crocheted earwarmer tackled. I’ll have at least a few more drawings done; we’re doing art every Wednesday, so that’ll give me some time to sit down with my drawing pad and pencils. Those last two ebooks should be tackled by, I'm thinking, next weekend.

There’s really no way for me to get through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way this year. Hebrew is tough, and it takes time and brain power I just don’t have right now, with everything else I’m doing (i.e., with homeschooling taking up the majority of my days right now). If my daughter is ever able to go back to public school, I’ll happily pick it back up, because I really want to improve my Hebrew!

And that’s it for this month! Onward to September and more progress.

How did you do this month?

 

What's Been Going On: Monday, 29 August, 2022 - Wednesday, 31 August, 2022

Another super busy week!

It’s toasty here again. Not surprising; it’s usually gross this time of year. The highs the next few day are going to be in the upper 80’s, which is actually cool compared to what I’m seeing from other people around the country. Eek! If you’re in the path of this awful heatwave, be careful. Stay cool, and keep yourself hydrated.

School is going well; some days are better than others, but so far (knock on wood), we’re having more good days than bad days, and that’s not nothing. Our afternoons are pretty great; we get all the intense, harder subjects out of the way in the morning, so afternoons are spent with a pile of science, history, and geography books, and we read, read, read! I love it, and my daughter does, too.

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

 

Monday, 29 August, 2022

I got dressed, had breakfast and coffee, then posted my review for A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan over at my book blog. I finished writing and then posted Monday’s post. I did thirty minutes of volunteer work, got a batch of lentils in the Instant Pot, filled and ran the dishwasher, scooped the litterbox, and then it was time for school.

We started our day with On This Day in History, geography (Paraguay), and a few paragraphs about Henry Hudson. Math…did not go well. My daughter moaned, complained, and dragged her feet for two hours through math she knows how to do. Afterwards, we did a unit of Language Arts and then some spelling.

After lunch we read A World of Wonders by J. Patrick Lewis, chapter 1 of 10 Rivers That Shaped the World by Marilee Peters (the Awash River), chapter 4 of Around the World in 100 Years (Columbus. Ugh), pages 77-94 of Before Columbus, and chapter 5 of History Smashers: The Mayflower. My daughter wrote out her spelling words and her vocabulary, and then started on her math worksheets while I went into the kitchen.

I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, sauteed an onion, and made a lentil loaf and a salad. The loaf went into the oven, and I took out the recycling and compost, then I sat down to do more volunteer work while my daughter moaned and complained her way through her math. My husband ended up coming upstairs and she let him help her (she was refusing my help; she often sees me as the bad guy in this situation since I’m the one ‘making’ her do this work). I ended up getting my remaining hour and a half of volunteer work done while she was doing her math. (Math took up about FOUR HOURS of our day. Actual math work: ~30 minutes. Moaning and complaining about doing the work: 3.5 hours. Not even joking.)

After dinner, I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the trash and recycling, put dinner away, replaced the trash bag, and hauled the cans to the curb. I did my Duolingo, then went on a 2.1-mile walk with my husband and daughter, who definitely needed to get outside!

I showered, then finished reading The Outside World by Tova Mirvis, and started reading Hitler’s Furies by Wendy Lower. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Tuesday, 30 August, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I got dressed, then brought in the frozen butternut squash from the garage freezer. I made a batch of butternut squash tomato soup in the Instant Pot, took out the compost, swept the kitchen, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and got a batch of bread dough started in the bread machine. I wrote out the day’s math and language arts worksheets (we don’t own a printer), and it was time to get school started.

We started with On This Day in History, geography (Peru), and a few paragraphs about the beginnings of slavery in the US. Math went super fast today and there were no issues whatsoever! We did a unit of language arts and spelling, and then it was time for lunch.

I got the dough into rolls to rise, and then we got back to work. We read pages 1-23 of Atlas of Adventure by Rachel Williams, chapters 5 and 6 of Around the World in 100 Years, chapter 2 of 10 Rivers That Shaped the World (the Tigris and Euphrates), and finished Before Columbus. We read chapter 6 of History Smashers: The Mayflower, and my daughter did her spelling practice, and then school was done EARLY!!! (The rolls had baked somewhere in here.)

We tidied up our school stuff, and then it was off to the library, where I grabbed a book that was on my ebook list (but was no longer available as an ebook through my library), plus another book on my list. I read almost all 20 pages of my daily bit of Come and Hear while we were there. At home, I relaxed for a few minutes on the computer, then blended the soup, and my son and I were off on a 4.1-mile walk.

We ate dinner, I did my Duolingo, put together the worksheets for the next day, and showered. I put my daughter to bed, read my remaining pages of Come and Hear, then continued reading Hitler’s Furies. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Wednesday, 31 August, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I made out my grocery lists, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, got dressed, and then we started school.

We started with On This Day in History, geography (the Philippines), and a few paragraphs about the Pilgrims. Math was so-so this day; she dragged her feet and complained during the lesson, but got through the work just fine. Language Arts went swimmingly; I was really pleased with her explanatory paragraph about Nasreen’s Secret School. We did some music practice; I’m teaching her the recorder, and she loves it so far!

We paused for lunch, then spent the afternoon doing art together. I started out trying to draw one thing, but it didn't work out at all; I'm no artist, and I'm still very much in the learning stages of figuring out how to draw at all. But then I tried something else, and ended up with some flowers and a slightly lopsided gnome. I don't hate it. : )

My daughter worked on making a giant piece of art: turning our living room into a jungle. She has such big ideas. : )

My husband was a little later than normal, so my daughter and I ran over to the library to pick up a book they had in for me (the last ebook on my list! The ebook wait is something like 258 days, so I opted for the physical copy). While we were there, we also picked up a bunch of new science books, a science video, and a bunch of other books for me. A super awesome library trip!

My husband got home not long after we did, so my son and I took off then. We hit up three different grocery stores (we got marked-down apples and tomatoes; potatoes were finally on sale – one type – and at a slightly more acceptable price – another type; clementines were finally both on sale AND in stock!), and returned books at a different library, then came home to put everything away and cook the pizza. I ate dinner, wrote out this post, then did my Duolingo. I showered, finished reading Come and Hear on the porch read my regular book in bed, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! I’m up SUPER early this morning with a stress-related headache. It’s another busy day here; along with school and all the usual jazz, I’m going over to watch my nephew tonight while my sister-in-law has parent-teacher conferences at her school. He and my daughter will play, masked, outside, so we’re still being safe and taking precautions, and I don’t mind helping out. It’s nice to be able to lend a hand. Wish me luck for a good day in our schoolwork, though; I never know what kind of day I’ll get around here!

Have a wonderful end of the week, friends! : )