What's Been Going On: Thursday, 2 December - Sunday, 5 December, 2021

 Already a week into December! No snowy weather here; we’ve had some cold days (Tuesday is supposed to only be in the twenties, eek!) and some random flurries, but it’s mostly been too warm for snow. We’ve been getting our big snows in January, February, and March the past few years, so I keep telling my daughter to wait, it’s coming! I’m not looking forward to having to traipse over icy ground in order to get her into school, or standing outside waiting for the bell to ring when it’s 19 degrees!

It's been a calm week here. Nothing super big going on, but here’s what I’ve been up to!

 

Thursday, 2 December, 2021

After coffee and getting ready, I scooped the litterbox, posted my Thursday post, loaded and ran the dishwasher, then sat down to finish reading the last few pages of Nurture the Wow by Danya Ruttenberg. I had enough time, so I began reading the graphic memoir Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. After dropping my daughter off at school, I headed out of town to pick up a pair of snow boots for her from someone on Freecycle. She was in desperate need of new boots, so these showed up at the perfect time!

 

At home, I did a little over an hour of volunteer work, finished reading Gender Queer (graphic memoirs and novels are so easy to blast through!) and began reading Ant Egg Soup: Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos by Natacha Du Pont De Bie. I took lunch to my daughter, had lunch when I got back home, did 30 minutes of my Read Harder book (The Joy of Sects by Peter Occhiogrosso), then took a brief nap, because I was completely exhausted for reasons unknown.

When my husband got home, we did 23 minutes of Pilates together, then, since it was super nice outside, walked the mile and back to pick up our daughter from school. I relaxed and played around on the computer while she did her math, then prepared tostadas for dinner (store bought crunchy tostadas, a layer of refried beans, salsa, and cheese, baked in the oven until the cheese melts. Super easy and delicious). I lit the menorah when it got dark. (I think this was another night my photo didn't turn out!)

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and read, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Forensic Files before bed.

 

Friday, 3 December, 2021

After getting dressed and having coffee, I put some chickpeas into the Instant Pot, then loaded and ran the dishwasher. I dropped my daughter off at school, tidied the kitchen and living room, and swept the living room. Then I settled down for 20 minutes of piano practice. I Want It That Way is coming along swimmingly. There’s a key change near the end that I need to work on; I’ll try to get to that this week.

When the timer went off, I prepared Healthy Chickpea Tikka Masala for dinner (this was REALLY good!!!), took out the recycling, and loaded and unloaded the dishwasher. I peeked in at a few of my favorite homemaking blogs, but then it was time to take lunch to my daughter!

After I ate my lunch, I did my 30 minutes of Read Harder, and my husband joined me for 23 minutes of Pilates (with much groaning from me, since I was really tired again!). We walked to school and back to pick up our daughter, and I played on the computer a bit when we got home before falling asleep for a brief nap.

We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and put dinner away, and then it was time to join my synagogue for online Shabbat services! (I waited to light the menorah this point.)

I read for a bit afterwards and ended up dozing off, but I still managed to watch two episodes of Forensic Files with my husband before bed.

 

Saturday, 4 December, 2021

SUPER lazy day! We slept in later than normal, and after I finished my coffee and my daughter finished her breakfast, she and I got our flu shots. Very important to protect yourselves and your loved ones.

We all went to a local science surplus store we hadn’t been to since before the pandemic. It’s local but not super close, and it’s always fun to jaunt over there and dig through their various treasures. My husband got a few things he needed, and then it was home for lunch.

After lunch, I took a nap (ahhhhhh…), then wrote out two book reviews I hadn’t gotten to yet. I lit the menorah when it got dark.

 

We ate various leftovers and such for dinner, I did my Duolingo, loaded and ran the dishwasher, showered, read some of Ant Egg Soup, and put my daughter to bed. I read a little bit more before my husband and I watched two episodes of Forensic Files.

 

Sunday, 5 December, 2021

I drank my coffee, got dressed, and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I cleaned the kitchen, took out the recycling, scooped the litterbox (almost time to dump the whole thing!), took out the recycling and compost, ran the dishwasher, and started this post.

After lunch, I ran errands to Sam’s Club (I bought more cat litter, garlic, carrots, and pancake/waffle mix) and the Aldi next door (I bought green beans). Whooooooooooooole lotta people out there who seem to think the “Face Coverings Required For Entrance” signs on the doorway don’t apply to them. SUPER gross of them to be that disgustingly entitled and potentially endangering especially the employees of the store. I get so disgusted by these people.

At home, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and prepared a potato kugel for dinner, cleaning as I went along, because afterwards, I made some air fryer surganiyot. And then I had a full dishwasher again, so I ran it again! I am so very grateful to own a functioning dishwasher.

My daughter had a friend over, so I mostly played on the computer while semi-supervising their playdate, as it was kind of too loud to focus on anything else! They both enjoyed the beauty of the menorah as I lit it for the eighth and final night of Hanukkah.

 

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, cleaned up the kitchen and showered. Putting my daughter to bed only took a few minutes tonight; she was up a little later than normal finishing her math homework (eep!). I read Ant Egg Soup, and my husband and I watched a single episode of Forensic Files before bed.

 

That’s it for now! Exciting week here this week; my mother is coming over, TO MY HOUSE, for the first time since February 2020. We’re all vaxxed and boosted, so I’ll finally be able to hug her again! On Thursday, I have an online course I’m taking via the Union for Reform Judaism, so I’m really looking forward to that as well, and this weekend, we’re going to plan to take our daughter to a local animal park (a very small one, but fun all the same!) with a friend and her mom. My daughter may also have another playdate this weekend, so we’ll see. Busy, busy, busy!

I hope you’re having a wonderful week and staying warm! SUPER chilly here today!