Monthly Goals Update: January 2022

 We’re one month into 2022, friends! How are we all doing on our New Years goals???

I’m going to make this a monthly post, on or around the 1^st of the month, depending on what day it falls on. If the 1^st falls on a regular posting day for me, I’ll push the monthly goals update a little further back, but I’d like to keep myself accountable for what I’ve set out to do! I have the list here in the original post, and I'll check in, goal-by-goal, each month to see where I'm at! 

Here's where I’m at so far on all the goals I set.

 

Read 100 books.

 

Bit of a slow start for me, but I had quite a few days of no reading at the end of the month, what with the Killer Migraine of Doom, but progress is progress, and I’ll take it! 14/100.

Subgoal: Read all the ebooks on my list.

Twenty-four of the books on the list of books I want to read from my library are ebooks; as of right now, I've read eleven of them, and I'm currently working on another one! Some of these had been on my list long enough that my library no longer owns them as ebooks, but the goal still stands and I’m reading those in paper format, thanks to interlibrary loan.

 

Sew at least one thing.

No progress yet, though my daughter and I did have a discussion about what I might sew, so I have a few ideas!

 

Knit at least one thing.

Currently I’m working on the squares for the memory blankets for the children of my friend who died of cervical cancer. I’m not going to count these as my one item; I’ll eventually find something else that I want to knit.

 

Crochet at least one thing.

Nothing worked on or decided yet.

 

Finish my grandmother’s cross-stitch.

Y’all.

If it hadn’t been for the Killer Migraine of Doom that took me out for so long last week, I would have finished this already! I’m SO close to being done. SO close. The set of grapes pictured above is the final thing that needs to be backstitched, and then the piece will need to be ironed. And then it'll be completed! I'll make a new post when that happens.

 

Work my way through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way.

I’m making good progress. I've completed four chapters so far, and I’ve already noticed that I read quicker and with greater ease than I did before. (Occasionally I can even pick out words that I see online that DON’T have the vowels, which feels huge.) I skipped this week, since Hebrew often makes my brain feel like soup anyway, even without being in a post-migraine stupor, but I’m looking forward to getting back to work on this!

 

Read at least one book in French.

I’m starting off with Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, as kind of my 0.5 book, my trainer book. It’s easier and lighter and I’m very familiar with it. I’m six chapters in (again, skipped this week; French is much easier for me than Hebrew, since I’ve been using it daily since I started learning it at 15, plus my husband is a native speaker, but I’m giving my brain a little get-better vacation) and enjoying it greatly. Still not sure what I’ll read next; I have SO many French books on my shelves, thanks to my mother-in-law!

 

Bonuses:

Write something and get it published.

Haven’t had the chance to write much of anything other than blog posts this year.

 

Do at least six drawings.

Not yet!

 

Watch more Karl Johan.

Nope, not yet!

 

So basically, this month, I did a lot of reading and cross-stitching, but not much else, and that’s okay. My grandmother’s cross-stitch is my longest-running project and thus has been my first priority, and I’m extremely pleased with all the progress I’ve made this month. 

What’s on the docket in February? More reading, obviously; that’s just a given for me. More Hebrew and French as my brain cooperates. I’ll be finishing my knit squares, hopefully quickly, since those need to be sent out by the end of the month. And then we’ll go from there and I’ll maybe start looking for fun knitting and crocheting projects! Despite huddling under a blanket and feeling gross for a lot of days at the end of this month, I’m pleased with the progress I have made. Baby steps are still steps. : )

How are you doing on your yearly goals so far?  

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 27 January - Sunday, 30 January, 2022

 Good morning and happy Monday from the land of almost-zero-sleep-last-night! (Ugh.) I don’t know if it was just some fluke, or if that was a side effect of the new meds my doctor prescribed me (that’s going to be a problem, if so!), but I was awake almost all last night. A nap today sounds awesome, but it’s also my husband’s late day, so we’ll see if that happens.

I’m slowly, slowly getting back to normal after feeling awful for a good portion of last week. I still get winded and sweaty easily, so I’ve been trying to pace myself and not overdo it, so there haven’t been any great strides or revelations in the past few days, just a slow return to normalcy (I also made it through the whole day yesterday with no headache, so that was a win!). I assume this week will be more of the same- possibly with a few extra naps sprinkled in here and there, thanks to last night!

 

Here's what I’ve been up to- or, not up to, really- the past few days!


Thursday, 27 January, 2022

The migraine I’d been dealing with had left me dehydrated as always, so breakfast consisted of both coffee and a bottle of Powerade Zero (which I keep on hand just for reasons like this!). I did an hour of volunteer work while sitting up (which hadn’t happened much the day before!). This was the only hour of volunteer work I was able to complete last week; I’m highly aware of this and will be looking to make up that extra hour somewhere this week.

I cleaned up the kitchen, and then it was already time for lunch. Afterwards, I finally had the energy to read to my daughter, who, as you remember, had been out of school pending our COVID test results. We read a book about July 4, 1776, and then got about halfway through a book about Anne Frank. I dozed a bit, ran the dishwasher, and relaxed while I played on the computer. After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, then came back to find our negative test results waiting for me in our email. Woohoo! I emailed the results to my daughter’s school nurse.

I sat through a good portion (mostly with my eyes closed) of a webinar called Confronting the Rise of School Board Disruptions. When that was over, I read for just a little bit, then went to bed.

 

Friday, 28 January, 2022

After coffee and getting dressed, I wrote and posted my Friday post. Before leaving for school, I brought in the cans from the curb, which had been sitting out there since garbage day on Tuesday (see why I say that if I’m not the one to do it, it won’t get done???). School drop-off was cold and very, very snowy!

Back home, I called the nurse line as instructed by the message I received after messaging my doctor about the increase in migraines and scheduled a 9:30 am appointment with the next available doctor, then headed out a few minutes later. The roads weren’t too bad, but the office is all the way across town, so I left myself plenty of time for travel. The doctor I saw prescribed a preventative and gave me a referral for a neurologist so we can figure out what’s going on. On the way home, I stopped by the library to pick up the interlibrary loan books that had been waiting for me all week!

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, tidied the living room, and rested until it was time for lunch with my daughter. At home, I took out the compost and recycling, and managed a few bites of lunch, but then my stomach said no thanks (common for me in the days post-migraine). I scheduled my neurology appointment (not until the end of March, but that’s fine) and relaxed on the computer. Dinner was breakfast sandwiches and tater tots, which I threw together quickly. I did my Duolingo, showered, and read, then I virtually attended Shabbat services at my synagogue while lying down in bed, since I felt pretty off and worn out. I finished reading Israel: A Simple Guide to the  Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby, began reading Invisible City by Julia Dahl, and went to sleep.

 

Saturday, 29 January, 2022

After coffee, I began putting together my monthly recap post for my book blog. I got dressed and ready, and then the whole family headed out to the Science Surplus store, which is about 25 minutes away. My daughter’s behavior there was less than exemplary, a combination of hunger and, I think, just plain pandemic fatigue, so we didn’t spend quite as long there as we would have liked. I finished the recap after lunch.

I worked on my upcoming monthly goals post, then relaxed on the computer for a bit. Then, needing to move a little, I did a 20-minute yin yoga video. Yin is a slower style of yoga where you get into a stretching pose and then just hold it for a minute or two (or more!). If you’re not at all flexible (*waves hand*), it’s definitely challenging, and it was exactly what my stiff self needed after so many days of barely moving at all.

I filled the dishwasher, then curled up in my chair to rest and play on the computer (told you I was taking it slow this week!). After dinner, I did my Duolingo and biked for a whopping ten minutes. I’m NOT pushing it! I showered, put my daughter to bed, and read, then my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 30 January, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I got dressed, and then it was time to hit up three grocery stores, as we were running low on a few perishable items. This was pretty exhausting (and I was sweaty in the first store. Turn that heat down, people!), but I did come home with a bunch of marked-down mushrooms, so that made me happy! I brought in the groceries and put them all away, then sat for a few minutes to catch my breath.

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, took out the recycling, and cleaned the kitchen, which was a pretty extensive job. When that was done, I lay down in bed and finished reading Invisible City by Julia Dahl. We had lunch and I supervised my daughter doing her math (I didn’t moan that much while giving birth to her, I swear! Such a penchant for drama, this child!), played on the computer, loaded and ran the dishwasher, then started reading Playing with Matches by Suri Rosen.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, showered my daughter, read, put her to bed, then continued reading and finished my book. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before he went to bed and I sat awake for ages. I came downstairs and started reading When It’s Real by Erin Watt to pass the time. It still took me several hours of lying in bed before I finally fell asleep.

 

Not exactly the most productive of weeks- which explain the lack of pictures, nothing all that photographic going on here- but I’m trying not to push recovery and end up with another whopper of a headache. I had planned on getting that extra hour of volunteer work done today, but with barely sleeping last night, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. We’ll see! I’m really hoping this week will be more of a normal week for me, both in terms of productivity and health.

I hope you’re having a lovely start to your week!

Friday links: 28 January, 2022

 Happy Friday! Our PCR tests results came back last night: we're both negative, so my daughter is heading back to school today. I'm still not back to 100%; my headache is controlled by a few doses of ibuprofen throughout the day. I put in a message to my doctor to see what she thinks (and they've informed me that I should call the nurse triage line, so I'll be doing that after I drop my daughter off). I've had to be on longer stretches of meds in the past for a headache that just wouldn't die. Apparently, sometimes we just get caught in a headache cycle and need a little extra help to break out of it. Fun times. Human bodies really are the worst, aren't they?

Here's what I found interesting in the brief periods I was able to be online this week, mostly lying sideways in my chair with my computer on the footstool in front of me!

Tennessee-based adoption agency refuses to help couple because they're Jewish

I'm sure you can guess exactly how disgusted this Jewish woman is by this story.

I used to live in Tennessee for five years (which makes this story feel even worse, actually), and this doesn't surprise me. There was so, so much hatred and bigotry baked into the culture down there. My husband's kung-fu instructor made a really gross antisemitic slur one day right out in the open, absolutely zero shame about it, and the way people treated their neighbors who weren't Christian was just so utterly foul. 

The real losers in this story are the kids, who are missing out on homes that will love them and cherish them for the unique beings that they are. It's appalling.

Speaking of Tennessee...

A Tennessee School Board's Ban of 'Maus' Speaks to a Much Larger Problem

Oh, Tennessee...

Maus is an excellent book. Fascinating that these people look at a book about the Holocaust, where Jews and other marginalized groups were slaughtered by the millions, and their takeaway is, "Oh noes! Swear words and naked mice!" Imagine missing the point THAT badly.

Nothing about the Holocaust is pretty, and it doesn't need to be- it happened, and we need to learn from it. The eighth graders murdered in the Holocaust didn't get the chance to refuse their deaths; how dare these people claim that a graphic novel version of history isn't appropriate for their eighth graders?

The Jews are tired, y'all.

The Newbery Medal is 100. It's Smuggled Some Real Duds Onto Our Library Shelves.

Truth! 

That's not to say that we realized they were duds at the time they were awarded. Times change, standards change, and we learn and grow and realize that there are things in the books we once loved that...maybe don't look so hot in today's light. It happens, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a good thing when we're able to recognize where beloved books have failed to remain good teaching tools. It's even okay if those books still give you the warm fuzzies, just as long as you also recognize where they went wrong amidst the things they did right. That said, this is a great article that discusses the controversy of those old Newbery winners that have racist, sexist, and other problematic content. What do we do with those? 

Times change, and that's okay. School curricula can change with them. : )

COVID Parenting Has Passed the Point of Absurdity

Boy howdy, has it. My daughter missed two days of school this week while we waited for our COVID tests to come back. Her school's policy this year is to NOT send any schoolwork home on missed days, and there's no remote learning. She was perfectly healthy those two days (it was me who felt like garbage) and could have been learning or at least keeping up with her class, but instead...nothing. Another reason to scream. (I at least felt decent enough to read some books to her yesterday.)

Be extra kind to the parents in your lives. We're all exhausted from this. (And the part in the article about how Omicron forced us to go back on all the promises we made? YUP. I feel that, so hard.)

Rewilding Is Good for Our Mental Health

I love this! Turning our yards into foresty, native plant paradises benefits not just nature, but us as well. This is something I'd definitely like to do more of in my own yard. My efforts are constrained by my back, however; yardwork is tough when you're not always able to get around easily. I'm good now, but that's not always the case. Maybe this summer...

And that's it for this week! My activities this weekend will depend highly on how I'm feeling, so who knows! I might be busy as a bee; I might spend the weekend loafing in misery. WHO KNOWS??? (Ugh.) Wish me luck, and I wish you a relaxing, peaceful weekend. :) 

What's Been Going On: Monday, 24 January - Thursday, 26 January, 2022

 Little bit different of a post today.

So, Monday was a normal day. I did all my normal things, cooking, cleaning, reading, etc. Around 4pm, when I hauled the trash cans to the curb, I kept feeling dizzy, but just kind of shrugged it off. It happened a few more times throughout the evening.

Around 1:15 am Tuesday morning, I woke up with my head roaring. Migraines are nothing new for me, unfortunately (and at this point, it may be time to talk to my doctor about a preventative). Meds kicked it down to a dull roar, but I still felt terrible. Migraines are a full-body experience for me; I get chills and sweats, stomach problems, sometimes I vomit, it's just all-around unpleasant. But the real problem came later, when I took my temperature. I took it several times, and the highest it was was 101.9 F. 

Not good.

At-home rapid tests came up negative, but Omicron doesn't always cooperate with those, so we kept my daughter home from school (no sense in her potentially spreading an asymptomatic case, if that's what's going on; she has no symptoms or issues whatsoever right now), and she and I went off for the more accurate PCR tests at 9:20 yesterday. Results can take up to three days.

I'm feeling maybe slightly more human today. My head was still pounding a bit when I woke up; whether that's from the leftover migraine, COVID, or dehydration (this could definitely be part of it; I know I haven't been drinking as much as I should, and with all the sweating...not good, again). The ibuprofen I took is helping, as is the coffee I drank (first in days!) and the sugar-free Powerade I'm drinking. I'll keep hydrating throughout the day, and we'll go from there!

So basically, the past two days have been me lying in bed, feeling crummy. Not exactly a fun time, but it could be worse. Hopefully I'll be on the mend soon, and I'll update when our results come in. I hope you're all doing better than I am! :) 

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 20 January - Sunday, 23 January, 2022

 Welcome to a brand-new week! I can’t say I necessarily hate Mondays. The promise of a new week is actually a little exciting. So many possibilities, so many things to enjoy and do, even if we’re doing and enjoying them mainly from the comfort of our own homes. It does help to be a bit of a homebody when there’s a pandemic!

I’m feeling pretty good about my productivity levels this week. There’ve been a lot of naps in there as well- not sure if that’s a hormonal thing, a winter doldrums thing, or just a regular worn-out-from-waking-up-early-every-morning thing. Either way, I enjoyed them. A nap and a good blanket is always a lovely thing. : )

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

 

Thursday, 20 January, 2022

 

After breakfast and coffee, I edited and posted Thursday’s post. I got dressed and ready, took out the compost (six degrees Fahrenheit outside! BRRR!), and threw some black beans in the Instant Pot. I loaded and ran the dishwasher, and then it was time for a no-standing-outside-walk-directly-in school drop off!

At home, I edited and posted my review for Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen, then settled down for just over an hour’s worth of volunteer work on the computer. When I finished that, I swept and spray-mopped the living room floor, then did 30 minutes of my personal Read Harder project, reading from American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood. I tidied the living room and spent a few minutes on the computer before heading over to the school to grab my daughter for lunch.

And then it was time for a relaxing afternoon! I had my lunch, then fell asleep in my chair for a very cozy nap. After I woke up, I played on the computer, then made dinner, One Pot Southwest Pasta- this is a quick and easy favorite around here. After we ate, I did my Duolingo, then headed upstairs for 30 minutes of biking! I showered, put my daughter to bed, then finished reading Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O’Connell. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 21 January, 2022

Breakfast and coffee first, then I began my Friday post. I got dressed, loaded the dishwasher, and scooped the litterbox, before heading out for a very cold school drop off. Thawing out at home, I finished and posted my Friday post, then hit the floor for a 12-minute Pilates abs video. I had a lot of things to do while sitting today, and I wanted to sneak a little exercise in there! This one is a particular favorite, but if you haven’t done any core workouts in a while, it’ll wreck you!

I knit 15 rows of the first square for the blanket for my friend’s children, then did 30 minutes of my personal Read Harder challenge. And then, fool that I am, I repeated that 12-minute ab workout. PHEW.

 

I took my daughter her lunch, ate lunch at home, then began reading Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby, and dozed for a bit. I picked my daughter up from school, continued reading, and fell asleep again! I’m blaming the ab workout.

After a dinner of leftovers, I did my Duolingo, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and biked for 30 minutes. I showered, worked on my grandmother’s cross-stitch (I’m making excellent progress!), and virtually attended the streaming services at my synagogue. This week was an interfaith Shabbat service of solidarity and peace, with not just our rabbis, but local pastors and imams from various Christian and Muslim congregations, in response to the hostage crisis last week in Colleyville, Texas. While I wish these kinds of services weren’t necessary, it was lovely to see the support from the community. (I attended one of these in person after the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; it was standing-room only. It’s nice to live in a place that understands the necessity of coming together in times of tragedy and pain.)

My husband and daughter were having an indoor campout on this night, so I read my book and then went to bed. : )

Saturday, 22 January, 2022

Lazy, quiet Shabbat. Much less stressful than last week’s! AND we woke up to more snow!

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote two book reviews, then ordered several books via interlibrary loan. And then I snuggled with my daughter and husband for a bit, which was lovely. : )

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and went over my Hebrew flashcards. After lunch, the headache I’d woke up with was still nagging me, so I thought maybe I’d lie down for a bit to try to sleep it off. Two hours of heavy sleep later, I woke up wondering what day it was. THAT was a nap!!! And my headache was gone, for which I was very grateful. I settled down with Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way and worked through Chapter 4, Pronouns, adding a few more vocabulary cards to my stack.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked hard for 30 minutes (since I hadn’t gotten much else in the way of exercise this day!), showered, put my daughter to bed, and read. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 23 January, 2022

Work day!

After breakfast and coffee, I loaded and ran the dishwasher, got dressed, stripped the bed, and started my first load of laundry. I folded several loads and put a little of it away. I helped my daughter with her math homework (FOUR PAGES OF MATH PROBLEMS! She’s SEVEN!!!), switched the laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and tidied a bit of my kitchen shelves that serve as my open-air pantry (since my regular pantry is the size of a broom closet, sigh).

As I was waiting for my daughter to finish up her lunch, I visited some blogs, and then we got to work on her room. I don’t normally share before pictures here, because they’re just so, so terrible- remember when I said my daughter can trash a room like no one’s business in minutes?- but here’s what we did (mostly what I did, but she did help).

 Before:

And after:

EXHAUSTING. My right hip was utterly screaming at me afterwards, but that didn’t mean my work was done! I switched the laundry, put all the folded laundry away (because now I could get to my daughter’s closet!), took out the compost and recycling, and made a pot of lentil soup and a batch of corn muffins. Then I was finally able to sit down and tackle two chapters in Le Petit Prince. I hadn’t gotten to any of this book yet this week and was feeling guilty about it! I spent a little time knitting one of the blanket squares for my friend’s children. I’m up to row 27. I had hoped to get a little further, but the cat interrupted me and said it was time to free up my lap. ; )

 

After dinner, I did my Duolingo (and skipped biking; my body was DONE!) and showered. I remade the bed with the washed bedding, then went over my Hebrew flashcards. I showered my daughter, and then it was off to read with me! I read until my husband came upstairs, and then we watched an episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

And so ends the week! I see the potential for a nap in my future today, as I was up early after having a nasty dream in the wee hours of the morning. We’ll see, though; my husband will be working later today, so I’ll have to pick my kiddo up from school (so I’ll have to set an alarm!). It snowed a whole bunch more overnight, so driving to school will be an adventure, since our road isn’t plowed yet. Eep! Have a great week, friends!

Friday links: 21 January, 2022

 Good morning, and happy Friday! I love the two days of being able to sleep in. My daughter often crawls in with us in the early hours of the morning, which is super sweet, but she and my husband are having an indoor campout tonight, so I’ll have the whole bed to myself- until the cat comes in to share my space. Then I’ll be perched on the edge and unable to move half the night, as usual. ;)

Here are the things I found interesting online this week! I’m trying to balance it out a little more and not have SO much doom-and-gloom. It’s tough out there and not always easy to find stories that illustrate the more positive things!

 

Some COVID Patients Need Amputations to Survive

Oof. I’ve seen this. There’s a guy I keep an eye on on Facebook- healthy, about my age, who thought COVID was no big deal, the government was being too controlling, and there was no way he would EVER get vaccinated. And then he got COVID. And then both his legs had to be amputated. He’s not the only one out there like this, either (anyone want to hear about the man whose leg ended up looking like a burnt hot dog thanks to compartment syndrome?). COVID is a nasty disease, and the number of people who continue to claim it’s nothing but the sniffles absolutely floors me when there are stories out there like these.

 

Genetic risk factor found for COVID-19 smell and taste loss, researchers say

Science! At my house, it’s all science, all the time; that’s what happens when you’re married to a molecular biologist whose specialty is genetics. That this has a genetic component to it doesn’t surprise me at all; our genetics determine SO much of our lives, even things you wouldn’t necessarily think of. I’ve gotten quite the science education throughout our marriage! But this is just one of those things that goes to show that COVID can easily turn into a huge problem for a certain subset of people, only they won’t know it until it’s too late (having no sense of smell or taste could be so dangerous. You wouldn’t know if your food was rotten. You couldn’t smell smoke in your house, or smell if your baby’s diaper needed a change). I feel so bad for the people who have been dealing with this.

And for some happier links…

 

A Couple Dressed as Bees Use Spice Shakers to Spread Native Wildflower Seeds Across San Francisco

Now these are the heroes we need! I love this kind of renegade gardening. The more pollinating plants to attract pollinators, the better off we are, and who couldn’t use a few more flowers in life? This makes me want to set up a seed-filled spice shaker of my own!

And finally…

 

A major study says that at least 65 species of animals laugh

Here’s a little bit of cuteness to start your weekend off right! Animals laugh, too! We’ve all seen pictures of animals looking like they’re smiling, and now we can listen to them laugh. The foxes laughing absolutely kill me, and the rat coming back for more tickles is absolutely adorable. You definitely don’t want to miss this!

 

And that’s all, folks! Stay warm and toasty and SAFE this weekend, whatever you’re doing. Our plan is to spend some of Saturday with my mother-in-law, and we’ll be as safe as humanly possible about it, testing before going (she had COVID over Christmas; my nephew is tested weekly at school). I have books and crafting to occupy the rest of my time, so I’m looking forward to all of that. Shalom, friends. : )

What's Been Going On: Monday, 17 January, 2022 - Wednesday, 19 January, 2022

Happy Thursday! The weekend, and sleeping in, is in sight! (Can you tell I’m tired as I’m typing this? Is it summer yet???)

Bit of a quiet week so far, but that’s okay. The winter doldrums are upon us and the temps are freezing, so I’ve been trying to balance curling up under a blanket and reading the days away with getting plenty of exercise- or at least enough exercise to make my body happy. It’s not always easy to pull myself out from under that warm blanket!

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

 

Monday, 17 January, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I posted my Monday post, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and threw some chickpeas in the Instant Pot. I got dressed and prepared the non-chickpea parts of Moroccan Chickpea Stew in the crockpot, took out the recycling and compost, scooped the litterbox, and tidied the living room. And then we met up with my sister-in-law and nephew for a snowy hour-and-a-half walk in a local forest preserve.

 

The paths were tramped down enough and covered with fresh snow so that there was zero danger of slipping, and proper clothing kept us warm the whole way. While we were there, we saw a woman walking her husky, and on her chest was a carrier with a huge fluffy black cat hanging out of it! Seriously the greatest thing I’ve seen in a while. She says the cat loves it, and I’m glad she humors it and brings it with her. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but it felt weird to ask.

After lunch, I took a nap and read, then took out the trash and hauled the cans to the curb. I threw some brown rice in the Instant Pot. Dinner was really good. If you end up making that Moroccan Chickpea Stew, don’t skimp on the yogurt, whether vegan or dairy; it really needs that to cut down on the acidity of the tomatoes. We all really liked it!

I did my Duolingo and showered, put dinner away, and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I showered my daughter and put her to bed, then finished reading The Book of Separation by Tova Mirvis and began reading Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O’Connell. My husband and I watched two episodes of Killer in Plain Sight before bed.

 

Tuesday, 18 January, 2022

I would’ve figured our tramp through the woods wore me down enough to sleep well, but not quite enough- I had a terrible night’s sleep. My anxiety decided to ramp up into full gear, and what’s weird is that it was all physical- mentally, I was perfectly fine. It was really a bizarre feeling and lasted throughout most of the day.

After breakfast and coffee, I got dressed and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. My daughter gave me some serious attitude at school drop-off- anyone mind if I set up a tent in your back yard for a few years? Decades, maybe?

At home, I did just over an hour of volunteer work. Not my usual day for this, but we had been informed of scheduled power outages on Wednesday, so I wanted to get some of this out of the way. I played on the computer for a bit, then cleaned off the counter next to the microwave and made a jar of taco seasoning for my mom (for whenever it is we get to see her next!). I set up the stovetop full of baking soda and vinegar, to soak for a bit, then refilled my baking soda canister.

After lunch with my daughter, I had lunch myself at home, then wiped down my stovetop and did my 30 minutes of my Read Harder project (reading American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood). I dozed for a bit, read my book, played on the computer. Dinner was leftovers, and I did my Duolingo, then headed upstairs for 30 minutes of biking. This left me a sweaty mess, but my anxiety was still so ramped up that I didn’t feel winded at all, because my heart had been pounding like a maniac all day. So, so bizarre.

I showered, then settled into bed with my book, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Killer in Plain Sight before bed.

 

Wednesday, 19 January, 2022

No coffee this morning! I finally opened the almond milk coffee creamer I’d bought from Aldi, and it was…not good. Not the worst, but, just…not good. Totally disappointing. But I had breakfast and made out my grocery list, then got dressed. School drop-off was intensely cold and windy; no idea why they made us stand out there!

I hit up three grocery stores, none of which had any ready-made veggie sandwiches (to take to my daughter for lunch; she’s stopped eating meat, all on her own. I’ve been vegetarian for years), but I did come home with a crapload of marked-down Brussels sprouts and several packages of marked-down mushrooms, so I’m a happy camper! As soon as I got home and put the groceries away, the power went out, just as we’d been warned it would. So I sat down to start on this post, and when it was time, I hopped in the car and drove over to Burger King in order to pick up some Impossible Burgers for a special we-have-no-power lunch for my daughter and me!

Being vegetarian, I hadn’t had fast food like that in YEARS. Guys…it was incredible. That was a seriously good not-burger. I’ll definitely be going back to get more of those from time to time (it’s a good thing I’m extremely frugal with a ton of self-control, because this particular Burger king is about a two-minute walk from my house!). My daughter also really liked it, so it was a win all around.

The power was still out when I got home, and it was about 59 degrees in the house (with a windchill in the single digits outside), so I huddled under the blankets and tried to nap, but a panic attack- still all physical, nothing mental- woke me up. Just as I was putting on extra clothing, the power came back on, hurray! I played around on the computer a bit to relax and calm down (with a mug of coffee, of course!), then dumped the entire litter box and refilled it. And then it was time for school pick-up.

We don’t often take our daughter out, but on this day, I figured it would be safe, and she went with me to Michael’s (a craft store) to pick out some yarn for a project for my friend’s children- this is the friend who recently died; our friend group is knitting/crocheting squares, and one woman is going to piece them into blankets, one for each child. So of course I signed up for two squares. The store was pretty much empty, as I’d assumed, and we were in and out quickly.

At home, I found my needles, cast on the necessary stitches, and knit the first row. I likely won’t have much time to sit and knit until tomorrow, but that’s okay, it’ll be ready and waiting for me!

 I mushroomed the pizza I’d bought for dinner, then threw it in the oven and took out the compost. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes, and showered. After putting my daughter to bed, I continued reading Notes from an Apocalypse, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women (I think that’s what it’s called) before bed.

 

And that’s it for now! We’re going over to my mother-in-law’s this weekend for a late birthday celebration. She had a breakthrough case of COVID over Christmas (a mild one, thankfully; she was only down for a few days); my nephew is tested weekly in school, and one of us will likely test before going, so we’re being as safe as humanly possible about this. Even then, it’s still a little nerve-wracking! Other than that, more Hebrew study, cross-stitching, reading (and reading Le Petit Prince, which I haven’t managed to do yet this week), and knitting are in the plans for the weekend. Anyone have any interesting weekend plans?

Stay warm and safe out there, friends!