What's Been Going on: Thursday, 23 December - Sunday, 26 December, 2021

 Welcome to a new week! I hope however you spent this weekend, it was safe and you’ve entered this week healthy and relaxed. Any plans we might have thought of earlier were rearranged; one family member came down with a mild breakthrough case of Covid, and my mom, while testing negative on her rapid test, has all the symptoms of it. We’re all healthy and tested negative, however, so we were able to visit my father, which was wonderful.

 Here's what I’ve been up to lately!

 

Thursday, 23 December, 2021

After coffee and breakfast, I posted my Thursday post, scooped the litterbox, and loaded and ran the dishwasher. I published my review for American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadowy History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser on my book blog. And then I settled down for an hour of volunteer work.

We all had lunch and took a 3 mile walk together. My daughter and I did 30 minutes of Read Harder together (I’m getting so close to finishing this book!), and then, with all the best intentions of reading more of my regular book, I…took a nap. It happens!

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and put the cauliflower potato soup on to reheat. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and put dinner away. I read for about an hour until my husband came upstairs, and we watched an episode of Cold Case Files before bed.

 

Friday, 24 December, 2021

I had breakfast and coffee, got dressed, and loaded the dishwasher. I then prepared a double batch of Grits Casserole (with vegetarian “sausage”); I make this for my family every Christmas morning, but it’s so much easier to prepare it the day before and shove it in the oven in the morning. I put some red and black beans in the Instant Pot to cook, folded and put away a load of laundry, started a new load in the washer, and folded and put away a second load.

I played on the computer a bit, talked with my Dad on the phone, and then it was time for lunch! Afterwards, we all took another 3-mile walk. This pond is on our walking route, behind my daughter’s school, and it’s always neat to see how it changes throughout the year.

I switched the laundry and started a second load, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and then prepared an Instant Pot full of sweet potato chili (no recipe, I just kind of wing it). My daughter helped me with my 30 minutes of Read Harder, then I read a little of my regular book before napping (again!). I read a lot more when I woke up, and then it was time for dinner.

I did my Duolingo, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, put dinner away, switched the laundry, then sat down to work on my grandma’s cross-stitch. I virtually attended my synagogue’s Shabbat services (small crowd; we have a lot of interfaith families! To be honest, I’m kind of expecting them to go back to all-virtual services soon. I know of a few synagogues that already have). It was an early service, so I was able to put my daughter to bed. I read for a bit, then my husband and I wrapped gifts while listening to a few episodes of Cold Case Files. I loathe wrapping presents (and I’m terrible at it!).

 

Saturday, 25 December, 2021

In the tradition of children everywhere, my daughter woke us up for the first time at 4:30 am. *blink blink* She got sent back to bed.

When we were finally ready to get up (somewhere around 7 am), I drank my coffee and put the casserole in the oven, and my daughter opened her gifts. She was pretty thrilled with all the fun art supplies, play makeup, games, and Squishmallows she got!

I got dressed and semi-tidied the living room (OY VEY!), and I spent the majority of the morning hanging out with my family, which was lovely.

We had a frozen lasagna for lunch, so we put that in the oven, set the timer for the 23847329743 minutes it takes to cook, then walked over to where my son lives (which is on our usual walking route). We grabbed him and completed our walking route, and he opened his gifts (he’s an adult, so his big gift was the promise of car tires, which he needs). He got me what’s essentially a stocking hanger (and it’s perfect for me; see picture), but it’ll sit on my piano year-round:

 

He also bought me tickets for a local movie theater’s showing of Live at the Met in June, where the theater (and theaters around the country do this) teams up to broadcast a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera; we’re going to see Hamlet. I’ve always wanted to attend one of these, so I’m pretty excited! It’s not until June, so plenty of time to be giddy with anticipation.

We all had lunch and spent the afternoon together; I gave my son a ride back to his place because he had a blister on his foot that was irritating him. I went upstairs to snuggle under the heated blanket my husband had given me and finished reading Challenging Pregnancy: A Journey Through the Politics and Science of Healthcare in America by Genevieve Grabman…and then I took a nap. Did you expect anything different???

We had leftovers for dinner, then I biked for 25 minutes, showered, and loaded and ran the dishwasher. I started a new book, Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir by Aileen Weintraub, and read that until my husband came upstairs. We watched most of an episode of The New Detectives, but we didn’t care for the style of the program that much (or the janky audio!), so we went to bed.

 

Sunday, 26 December, 2021

My daughter came into our bedroom at around 7 to wake us up, so I got her breakfast, scooped the litterbox, got dressed and ready, and headed off to Walmart. We needed squirrel food (it’s only fair that they get some right along with the birds!), along with a few gifts for my father and his wife. We hadn’t been sure when we were meeting with them; I was kind of waiting to see when we would meet up with everyone else and then play it by ear so we could make sure we were healthy. My dad is a Type 1 diabetic and I didn’t want to risk bringing anything to him. But since everyone else was sick, we didn’t visit anyone else, and we decided we’d get together this day, so off I went to grab a few gifts!

At home, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the living room (my daughter’s gifts are still down here; we’ll get the living room fully back together this week!), including sweeping and taking out all the recycling we’d amassed, and the compost. My husband and daughter and I took rapid Covid tests, all negative!

My husband picked my son up and brought him back; his Covid test was also negative, so we were off for the hour-long drive to my dad’s house (I read my book on the way). We ate lunch together, my daughter played, we talked, it was just a really nice afternoon. We’re planning on repeating it again at some point when we’re sure it’s safe.

We drove home (I read the whole way home as well), and I got my daughter her dinner; I wasn’t quite hungry yet. I farted around a bit on the computer, then showered and showered my daughter, and then I had some dinner before putting her to bed. I crawled under my toasty electric throw and read until my husband came upstairs, and we watched two episodes of Unsolved (which I liked, but he didn’t, so I’m not sure if we’ll continue watching this one).

 

That it! I’d really love to get the living room back together this week; that means taking the Christmas tree down, so I need to get motivated enough to do that. The tree is currently in the spot for what we call my daughter’s ‘pandemic school desk,’ the desk she used all last year for remote learning. So, obviously case numbers are exploding all over right now, and I’m feeling increasingly uncomfortable about sending my kiddo back to school next week. I’m REALLY hoping the schools make the switch to go remote for a week or two to let everything settle down, or just cancel altogether and tack the extra week or two onto the end of the year. Otherwise, I’m heavily considering keeping her home for a bit. Even if Omicron isn’t quite as destructive as earlier variants, I still don’t want any of us getting this, especially not my still-developing, still-growing seven-year-old daughter. I don’t know. This is a really scary decision and I’m not sure what to do. Stay tuned!

Stay warm and toasty and safe, my friends. I hope whatever you’re doing this week, it’s productive and fun and you’re able to find some joy.