What's Been Going On: Thursday, 24 February - Sunday, 27 February, 2022

 

Happy Monday, friends! Back at it for another week!

Tiny bits of spring in the air around here. We hit 40 degrees this weekend, the snow is mostly melted, and some of the trees even have buds on them. Of course, there’s every chance the weather could turn and all those buds could die and fall off and need to sprout all over again, but it’s nice having that hopeful feeling in the air, especially with everything going on in the world right now. Even one good thing is reason to celebrate, right?

Not a hugely restful weekend this past weekend. Nowhere near as busy as last weekend, but I think things are just going to be constantly busy around here for a while, and I’m just going to have to mentally- and physically- adjust (as I type this, my left knee is bothering me. No idea what I did). Give me a few weeks and I might be at that point where I’m used to it, although right now it feels a bit like I’m on a hamster wheel with no exit…

Here's what I was up to the second half of last week. : )

 

Thursday, 24 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I put a batch of white beans in the Instant Pot, got dressed, and used our world map in order to give my daughter a brief explanation of what’s happening in Ukraine. I didn’t want her to overhear something or peek at something over my shoulder on the computer and not understand it and be scared, so I let her know what was going on. We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Ireland!), then got settled with math, followed by a ten-minute wiggle break for my wiggly kiddo. We read more Native American myths (she really likes these!), finished our book about astronauts, and read more of the book that discusses the economics of how products are made.

We had lunch, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and made an Instant Pot full of vegetable soup, took out the recycling and compost, then cleaned up the kitchen. I herded my daughter through Language Arts, we read part of a book that answers kids’ science questions, she did her writing, then we did our combined 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m currently reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster). Afterwards, my daughter asked that we keep reading the science questions book, so we did and went past the normal school ending time. ; )

I dozed for a few minutes, then read a little, and then it was time for dinner. I did my Duolingo and showered, put dinner away, then played on the computer for just a little bit. I went upstairs to read and finished reading The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J.B. MacKinnon. I started reading Period. End of Sentence.: A New Chapter in the Fight for Menstrual Justice by Anita Diamant, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 25 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote my Friday post, started a loaf of challah, and got dressed. I kneaded the challah, scooped the litterbox, then we started with On This Day in History and geography (fittingly, this day’s country was Israel!). We did a really long math lesson, finished the book of Native American myths, read a book on squirrels (did you know that their nests are called dreys?), and read more of the book about the economics of how products are made.

I loaded and ran the dishwasher and we had lunch. I braided the challah, and then we did spelling and Language Arts. We read three chapters of history, half a book on huge math numbers (my daughter says she hates math, but she really liked this book. She’s actually good at math when she focuses), and part of another book on slow things. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and I baked the challah (why are there no candles that smell like freshly baked challah???).

I did my favorite (HA) ten-minute ab workout and would have done it again, but my husband was cold and had cranked the heat up, so it was a bit toasty in the house! I hung out on the computer before dinner, then did my Duolingo and repeated that ab workout before showering. I cross-stitched, then I logged on to my synagogue’s virtual Shabbat services. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed

 

 

Saturday, 26 February, 2022

Breakfast and coffee, and then I worked on my monthly recap post for my book blog. I got dressed and read, and I drove to the post office to mail out the knitted squares for my friend’s memory blanket. I stopped by the library to return a load of books, then ran into the Dollar Store to grab a few things since I was out. At home, I had lunch and dozed briefly, then unloaded and refilled the dishwasher and ran it.

I finished my book blog recap, then worked on my monthly goals update for this blog. I did a little bit of Hebrew study, did that 10-minute ab workout again, and returned to studying Hebrew (Hebrew makes my brain feel like soup. The grammar is intense).

 

I boiled some frozen pierogies for dinner, did my Duolingo, and showered. I showered my daughter and put her to bed, read my book, and watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

Sunday, 27 February, 2022

Breakfast and coffee, and then I weeded out the jeans I hardly ever wear (due to my chronic pain issues, they’re not hugely comfortable. I decided I’d try a pair on this day, and for a few hours, it wasn’t too bad. It felt weird wearing them again, though; they don’t really feel like me anymore!). After getting dressed and ready, I cleaned my daughter’s room. Again.

 

 

I ran to GFS for some bulk peanut butter, then it was home for lunch, and since it was almost 40 degrees and sunny, we went for a walk. Back home, I sauteed an onion, worked on this post, then dove into a few more pages of Hebrew. I prepared a batch of baked spaghetti and threw it in the oven, then finished my Hebrew chapter (PHEW. Possessive endings for singular nouns. My brain is going to take some serious time to process and remember these…).

I visited some of my favorite blogs, then it was time for dinner! I did my Duolingo, made up a batch of muffin batter for Monday’s breakfast (I used to do this when my daughter was in preschool; I’d prepare a batch of muffin batter the night before, throw it in the oven to bake when I showered in the morning, and then we’d have a nice breakfast of hot, fresh muffins! She liked the idea when I reminded her of it the other day, so I promised I’d start this up again), cleaned up after myself, then baked the shortbread cookies we’d prepared earlier in the week. The dough was really crumbly, and I kind of had to form a bunch of my own cookies instead of just slicing and baking, but they tasted really good!

When the cookies were done, I headed upstairs to read, where I finished my Anita Diamant book. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

And that’s it! So far, this morning is going swimmingly with our new routine (dishwasher is going, we’re enjoying warm muffins, and I’ve already scooped the litterbox!). We’re off to start our school day in a bit. May your weeks be peaceful and productive!

Friday links: 25 February, 2022

 Happy Friday, friends!

We woke up to a little more snow this morning, and we may see a little more on and off throughout the day. I slept terribly again last night; worries about Ukraine and being too hot, then too cold kept me up. I could’ve slept in much later, but we got up and got our day started anyway. I’m going to get some challah started before we start school. Feels like a good day for some comforting carbs, eh?

Here's what I found interesting online this week!

 

Wisconsin child dies of rare condition linked to COVID-19

These articles just break my heart, and I want to rage and scream and throw things at the people who constantly push the line that COVID isn’t serious for kids. Maybe in most cases it isn’t, but there can be serious consequences (I saw a family whose two kids both had MIS-C after a COVID infection, and one of the kids was also diagnosed with diabetes after COVID), and parents should be aware that they’re rolling the dice with their children’s health. My father is a Type 1 diabetic, and I’m terrified of my daughter or anyone in our family ending up with medical challenges like he’s had. This is why we’ve kept her home; I have no desire to play Russian roulette with her or my health.

 

6 Spices You’ll Be Amazed You Can Grow Yourself

We’re inching closer and closer to warmer weather and growing season! I don’t know exactly what I’ll be growing yet- we don’t have a very big garden, and my back tends to flare enough in the summer that I’ve never been able to manage anything we grow by myself, so my husband is usually in charge- but I have a few extra growing containers this year, so I’ll have at least a few things I can handle myself! I like the idea of being able to grow my own ginger; I always keep fresh ginger wrapped in foil in the freezer, and growing my own would save money and feel so cool. : )

And finally…

 

A Bookstore in a Bus in the Bronx

Yes! I love this! Bringing books to the people. And when the rent is too high, why not make it mobile?

This is the kind of creative thinking I adore (and man, I wish my brain worked like this!). The owner saw a problem, then came up with a solution that worked to fix it. And it’s clever and cute and fun to boot! Three cheers for Books in the Hood!

 

That’s all I’ve got for now! I’m hoping this weekend will be a little more chill than last. I don’t have as much housework to do- my daughter and I will tidy up her room, and I told her I’d mend a rip in one of her favorite skirts, and I need to do a load of laundry, but I’m hoping I have some time for doing some Hebrew study, which I haven’t been able to get to for weeks. Fingers crossed!

May your weekend be productive, peaceful, and exactly what you need to feel whole. Shalom, friends.

What's Been Going On: Monday, 21 February - Wednesday, 23 February, 2022

 

Greetings on this chilly Thursday morning!

We’re slowly easing into a regular homeschool routine, figuring out what goes when and how to do what. I’ve got some different ways of structuring our morning routine (which- eek!- involves setting an alarm for about 20-30 minutes before we normally wake up, so I’m crossing my fingers that I have the fortitude for this!), but I’m not planning to implement that until next week. One thing at a time, right? We’ve had enough big crazy changes here lately!

Here's what I’ve been up to so far the first part of this week! (Forgive my lack of photos; I've had a hard enough time remembering all that I need to do, let alone remembering to take pictures of it!)

 

Monday, 21 February, 2022

This was Presidents’ Day here in the US. Had my daughter been in school, she would’ve been off this day, so while this wasn’t technically a school day, we still did *some* schoolwork.

After breakfast and coffee, I edited and posted my Monday posted, got dressed, filled and ran the dishwasher, and my daughter and I tidied the living room and swept both the upstairs and downstairs.

And then we got settled down for Movie Monday. She and I made a deal: if she does a unit of math for me on one of the weekend days, we can watch a documentary of some sort in place of math on Mondays. She had agreed and done Monday’s math on Sunday, so we watched the documentary Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story (available both on Hulu and YouTube). This fit in with all the reading we’ve been doing about garbage, food waste, and ecology. I paused a lot to explain things to my daughter and also to ask her questions in order to ensure that she was understanding what we were watching. She was horrified by all the waste shown in the documentary and had a lot of good ideas on how to waste less food. We both highly recommend this documentary!

We read half a book on the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, and then it was time for lunch. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and then we made a batch of fresh cranberry shortbread, to be baked later in the week when we have time! (Plus it also used up some cranberries I have in the fridge.) We cleaned up afterwards.

My daughter worked on some writing about the movie we watched, which somehow ended up a conversation about how babies are born? I don’t even know. After that, we did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster; my daughter read Eloise in Paris).

I fell asleep after our reading, then I took out the trash, recycling, and compost, and I hauled the trash cans to the curb. I replaced the trashbags in both the bathroom and the kitchen. It was nice enough on this day that we were able to go on an only-mildly-muddy three-mile walk, which was nice.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, spent a little time on the computer, put dinner away, and put my daughter to bed (we’re still reading Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb). I read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Tuesday, 22 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I scooped the litterbox, tidied the living room, and filled and ran the dishwasher. I got dressed, and then we started our day with On this Day in History and our geography book, which offers a brief look at a different country every day (this day’s was Iran).

We did math (which takes anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour, depending on what’s on the menu and how much of a snail my kiddo feels like being!), part of a book about Jamestown, the second half of our nature book, a book about quicksand, and the opening chapters of a book on Native American mythology, and then it was time for lunch!

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, then threw a batch of taco-flavored lentils into the Instant Pot. We did language arts in the afternoon (we’re following the same Engage NY curriculum her school follows, which I like and which makes it easier for me!), then read two chapters of A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies and half a book about the Pilgrims, then we did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading.

After school, I attempted a nap, but my husband and daughter were too loud for this to happen, so I got up and did an hour of volunteer work. For dinner, we had taco salad. I did my Duolingo, showered, put dinner away, wrote a book review that I’d been scrambling to find time for for AGES, then went upstairs to read for a good long time. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before going to bed.

 

Wednesday, 23 February, 2022

Breakfast and coffee, then I got dressed and tidied and swept the living room.

School started with On This Day and a quick look at Iraq. We did math, which didn’t take too long today! We finished our books on the Pilgrims and Jamestown, read more from our book of Native American myths, read a biography of Julia Child (which my daughter had picked out!), and started in on a book about how products get from their first origins to in our homes (it goes into the economics of it all, too, and seems really interesting).

Lunch break, and then language arts. We read three chapters of history, discussing the Salem Witch Trials and women’s roles in colonial America (my daughter? Not a fan). We went through half a book about astronauts, which, surprisingly, contained a reference to the new math concept that had appeared in today’s lesson. So cool when these things are reinforced! We read a biography of Beverly Cleary, and a few pages of a book on pirates, and then we were done. Phew!

I ran to Aldi, but we didn’t need much; I only bought $21 worth of groceries for the week! At home, I put them away, then settled down for another hour of volunteer work. I put the pizza in the oven, then chopped up tomatoes and a zucchini for the salad (using the last of last week’s marked-down salad greens!) and made a creamy garlic dressing (SO good!). I filled and ran the dishwasher, then it was time for dinner.

I did my Duolingo, then went upstairs to do a workout or two. I did my favorite ten-minute Pilates workout and was planning to do it twice, but my right hip and lower back said, “The heck you are!”, so I figured I needed to listen to it. Sigh. I showered and wrote up this post, then put my daughter to bed. I read my book, then my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed. I didn’t sleep well at all, due to the news out of Ukraine.

 

It feels a bit like a different world this morning, doesn’t it? My heart is with the people of Ukraine; I’m deeply worried for their safety and their future. Homeschool today is going to start with an explanation of what’s going on there; my daughter will likely hear reports on the radio and see things over my shoulder on the computer, so I’m going to explain the situation to her in a way she can understand. My grade school teachers did the same for my class during the start of the Gulf War and the fall of the Soviet Union and I’ve never forgotten that.

This morning, I leave you all with the text of the Hashkiveinu, a beautiful Jewish prayer that feels especially appropriate for today. Be well, friends.

הַשְׁכִּיבֵֽנוּ, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽנוּ, לְשָׁלוֹם, וְהַעֲמִידֵנוּ שׁוֹמְרֵֽנוּ לְחַיִּים, וּפְרֹשׂ עָלֵֽנוּ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶֽךָ, וְתַקְּנֵֽנוּ בְּעֵצָה טוֹבָה מִלְּפָנֶֽךָ, וְהוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ לְמַֽעַן שְׁמֶךָ. וְהָגֵן בַּעֲדֵֽנוּ, וְהָסֵר מֵעָלֵֽינוּ אוֹיֵב, דֶּֽבֶר, וְחֶֽרֶב, וְרָעָב, וְיָגוֹן, וְהָרְחֵק מִמֶּֽנּוּ עָוֹן וָפֶֽשַׁע. וּבְצֵל כְּנָפֶֽיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנוּ, כִּי אֵל שׁוֹמְרֵֽנוּ וּמַצִּילֵֽנוּ אָֽתָּה, כִּי אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אָֽתָּה. וּשְׁמֹר צֵאתֵֽנוּ וּבוֹאֵֽנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשָׁלֹם מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, שׁוֹמֵר עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַד.

Grant, O God, that we lie down in peace, and raise us up, our Guardian, to life renewed. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace. Guide us with Your good counsel; for Your Name’s sake, be our help. Shield and shelter us beneath the shadow of Your wings. Defend us against enemies, illness, war, famine and sorrow. Distance us from wrongdoing. For You, God, watch over us and deliver us. For You, God, are gracious and merciful. Guard our going and coming, to life and to peace evermore.

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 17 February - Sunday, 21 February, 2022

 Busy, busy, busy!

It was a weekend full of getting done all the things I don’t have time for during the days these days. I think we’re in kind of a transition period right now, where it’s going to take a little bit of time for me to figure out what works when and what’s the best way for me to accomplish the things I need and want to, so bear with me during these weird times!

So with that quick introduction, here’s what I was up to the second part of last week!

 

Thursday, 17 February, 2022

The good thing about homeschooling is that there’s no alarm clock. The bad thing about homeschooling is that you can oversleep easily. I like to get started earlier rather than later, so oversleeping is *not* my friend, but it was because I was awake for a good three hours throughout the night. I threw on some clothes, had breakfast and coffee, filled and ran the dishwasher, posted Thursday’s post, and we got started on writing. We did math, finished our book on garbage, and did a grammar lesson (reflexive/demonstrative pronouns), and read a book on jobs.

After lunch, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. We read two chapters from A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies by Joy Hakim, did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster), and then I dozed a bit. I sauteed some onions, garlic, peppers, and zucchini, and made a batch of cinnamon vanilla waffles, then put in an hour of work for my volunteer job. I chatted on the phone with my son, then scrambled some eggs, and we had breakfast for dinner.

I did my Duolingo, cleaned up, and then it was time to virtually attend a webinar on combatting book banning- super interesting info, and I got some cross-stitching done while listening. These are the napkins I found in my grandmother's cross-stitch stash that go with her table runner, so I'm working to complete these now.

I showered and began reading The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J.B. McKinnon. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed, and I slept MUCH better this night.

 

Friday, 18 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post, then got dressed. I scooped the litterbox and filled and ran the dishwasher, then my daughter and I got started on math. We read part of a book on camping (her choice; she loves camping), did more math (in addition to her regular curriculum, we’re also working through a book on time and money, both of which are weak spots for her), and then I talked on the phone with my kiddo’s school principal.

It was a very pleasant conversation, but my daughter is now formally withdrawn from the school district, which makes me really, really sad. I love her school and the people there, and I’m heartbroken that it’s come to this. I don’t mind homeschooling her at all, but I shouldn’t *have* to to keep her safe, you know? I have some paperwork I need to send into the state board of education, but that’s it. We’re officially homeschoolers now.

After lunch, I picked up a bag of leggings from a woman on Freecycle who lives just about two miles away from me, from whom I’ve picked up a bunch of stuff in the past. Three of the leggings were LulaRoe, which I would never pay retail price for, but which are super soft and I snag whenever I find at places like church yard sales and Freecycle. At home, we read two chapters of history, my daughter worked on her writing, and we did our 30 minutes of 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading.

I hit up three grocery stores after school. Nothing good in the sales flyers, but I did come home with three packages of cheese ends, a bag of marked-down mixed fruit, a bag of marked-down zucchini and one of mushrooms, and a storage ottoman Aldi *finally* had in! I had a smaller one from Freecycle, but I’d wanted a larger one, and the one Aldi had advertised a few times had been held up by shipping, but it was FINALLY there! Twenty bucks and this thing is perfect. It’s a great height for my hips, and my daughter and I can BOTH put our feet up, which is good, because this is where we sit when we do school in the living room. I’m thrilled with this!

I put the groceries away (and set my ottoman up), tidied the living room, emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, then put the spaghetti on to boil and baked the garlic rolls I’d bought. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and put away dinner and cleaned up. I sat down to cross-stitch, and then it was time to virtually attend my synagogue’s Shabbat services.

 

I read for a little bit, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 19 February, 2022

Breakfast and coffee, then it was time to get dressed and head to the library with my daughter! We went a little nuts with the books…

 

We went over to Michael’s; I don’t like spending money on Saturdays, but I also don’t like to make special trips, and this was the only time I was planning to be out for a while, so I made the exception because I found myself almost out of DMC 907. I ran the dishwasher when we got home, and after lunch, I did some organizing around the house. I unloaded the dishwasher and refilled it, chopped and dehydrated the mushrooms I’d bought the day before, made a batch of tofu meatballs (using the rest of the sauce from the night before!). I cleaned the kitchen and dealt with the bag of mixed fruit I’d bought, then wiped off my gross stovetop. I put the tofu meatballs in the oven, then I sat down to make out a menu for the week. I’d realized that with homeschooling, I didn’t have enough time to figure out meals in the morning, and that left me scrambling, so this will help.

While the tofu meatballs cooked, I caught up on some computer things, then threw the tater tots in the oven, and moved some frozen veggies out to the garage freezer. I filled and ran the dishwasher again. After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, then started a load of laundry and did more things on the computer. I put dinner away, put my daughter to bed, switched the laundry, read my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 20 February, 2020

After breakfast and coffee, it was time to hit the ground running! I got dressed, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, took the recycling out, folded a load of laundry and put half of it away. I stripped the bed and put the sheets in the wash, and took the now-dehydrated mushrooms out of the dehydrator and added them to the bag. I threw dinner in the Instant Pot- Creole Black-Eyed Peas.

My daughter and I cleaned her room. It wasn’t as bad as it can get, but it was still pretty scary! Afterwards, I showered her, and then it was time to cut her hair. She’d been asking me to cut it for a week now, and I finally had time (and the lighting was good!). I ended up cutting off a good five or six inches this time. I don’t often post pictures of her online, but is she not the cutest?!?!??? I can hardly stand how cute she looks with shorter hair!!!!

 

I took the compost and recycling, switched the laundry and started a new load, and then it was time for lunch. I put away the other half of the clean laundry (in my daughter’s room; I could actually get to her closet now!). My daughter and I had made an agreement to do a chapter of math today, so we got to work on that (she did great!). While she worked on her problem set, I put the sheets back on the bed, and after she finished, I took a much-needed nap!

After dinner, I did my Duolingo. I showered, put dinner away, then grabbed the blanket and pillow cases from the dryer and put them back on the bed. I put dinner away, and then it was time to snuggle in bed under the blanket with my book. I read for a while, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed. At some point in the night, I woke up to find my daughter snuggled next to me, and the cat snuggled under the blanket with me. : )

 

That’s a wrap for last week! Nothing on the calendar for this week, just our regular agenda of school and home things. At least I don’t have to worry about laundry and a majority of the housework, right???

Have a great week, friends!

Friday links: 18 February, 2022

 Good morning, friends, and happy Friday!

All our snow had melted, and then we got hit again yesterday with a brief-in-duration snowstorm (only about five hours) that covered the ground completely again! It shouldn’t last too long, though; I think we have some days over the weekend in the 40’s, so everything will be gross and melty and sloppy. The snow was so pretty when it was coming down, though!

Here’s what I found interesting on the internet this week!

 

Chris Crouch was anti-vaccine. Now his pregnant wife had COVID, and he faced a terrible choice.

Spoiler alert: things turn out ‘okay’ for Chris’s wife (‘okay’ because she and the baby survive, but who knows what, say, her lung capacity is, or how she’ll fare after being so ill for so long, and nearly dying. You don’t just bounce back from that), but there is a COVID death mentioned afterwards. These stories fascinate me. At least they realized their mistakes, though; I’ve seen people post about how awful the vaccine is, only to follow it up minutes later with prayer requests from loved ones dying of COVID. I will never, ever understand that.

 

Libraries are more popular than ever and library workers don’t earn livable wages: the state of US public libraries.

An important article. I love my library and use it frequently, and I would gladly sacrifice some new books or services if it meant that the workers there earned a livable wage, because that’s what they deserve- especially these days, when libraries are being asked to do more than ever. I’ve seen libraries set up as COVID test sites, libraries being asked to hand out masks and at-home COVID tests; librarians are regularly called on to help their patrons fill out all sorts of forms (some for things like food stamps and housing). And don’t forget the library down the road from me, which had to close due to threats from patrons who were angry over having to wear masks in the building.

Pay library workers more. Whatever they earn isn’t enough.

 

It’s time to stop the insanity that is killing public education.

I love this article. I’m not Baptist, or Christian (if you’re new here, I’m Jewish), but I’m in complete agreement with this article. Despite currently homeschooling my daughter in order to keep her safe (her school recently went mask-optional, and my husband and I aren’t comfortable with that at the moment), I’m a HUGE advocate for public schools, and I’ve been disgusted for years by the people trying to ruin them, who are trying to pretend that large swaths of history didn’t happen and are desperate to sanitize everything their children learn about and turn it all into pretty little lies that fit their nationalistic narrative.

Our kids deserve better, and no matter your religious perspective (or lack thereof), Mark Wingfield has written a wonderful article that highlights how the current struggle to whitewash public education is garbage.

And in something older…

 

“Money buys time”: Woman Posts Eye-Opening “We Don’t All Have the Same 24 Hours” Tweet That’s Gone Viral

This is an older article, but it’s relevant to my life right now. Since we started homeschooling, my days look different, and the ways I’ve been able to use my time have changed. I spend the majority of my time before 3pm sitting with my daughter and helping her learn. I’m no longer able to keep a super tidy house or work on my own projects during those hours, so that’s a bit of a source of frustration for me, but I’m happy to have this opportunity to keep my daughter safe, so it’s a tradeoff. BUT…it affects everything else. I don’t have the same amount of time as other people, because when school’s done, I’m making dinner and playing catch-up on all the other things that didn’t get done when I was going over history and math with my kiddo.

Not everyone has the same amount of time, for many different reasons. Be kind. Be understanding.

Bonus fun bit: I was quoted in the article. ;)

 

That’s all for today! We’re going to get dressed and started on math. Not many plans for the weekend, really, just catching up on everything I no longer have time for during the week (LAUNDRY, ANYONE???). Hitting up some grocery stores after school today, so that’ll be fun- am I the only one who actually likes grocery shopping? It’s always a fun adventure to scout out those good deals, I think.

Shalom, friends! Have a great weekend.

What's Been Going On: Monday, 14 February - Wednesday, 16 February, 2022

 Good Thursday morning, friends!

Are you digging out from snow? We’re supposed to get hit later on today with a bunch of it, or maybe just a little, so I guess we’ll see what that looks like. 

It’s been a quiet, homeschool-filled week this week. I have to say, despite the extra challenges thrown in our path by having to make this immediate switch to homeschool, I’m not hating having my kiddo home full-time. It’s lovely to wake up a little later than normal (sometimes with my daughter having crawled in bed with us at some point in the night!) and then spend a good portion of the day snuggled with my little girl, reading, helping her write and do math, and helping her learn. I love watching her mind work to come up with the answers to the many, many questions I pose to her all day long. Homeschooling her wasn’t ever on my menu (mostly because A., I know she learns *best* from people who aren’t me, and B. she is one stubborn little kid! We may still be in a honeymoon period, but…fingers crossed!) but so far, it’s not as tough as I feared .

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

 

Monday, 14 February, 2022

Valentine’s Day! My husband left chocolates by my computer. :)

After breakfast and coffee, I edited and posted my Monday post. I got dressed, tidied the living room, and then it was time to get started on math. My daughter was really distracted this morning. She’s awesome at math when she focuses, but was really struggling on this day, adding when she should have been subtracting, forgetting to count things, etc. Some days are like that; fortunately, most days are better, and I’m hoping she’ll grow out of or better learn to manage this at some point.

We took a break so I could unload and refill the dishwasher, then did an English lesson (indefinite pronouns). We read about plants, part of a book about fire (both history AND science), and then did some work on map-reading skills.

After lunch, she worked on writing (this is one area where I’m hoping to help her improve; she needs a lot of direction still when writing, both in terms of spelling and content). We read and discussed two chapters in A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies, then we did our thirty minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and I finished American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood. WOOHOO!!!! I didn’t really love this, so I’m happy to move on to something else. We finished the book on fire, and started reading another book about garbage (my daughter is really enjoying these books about garbage- they’re science, history, human behavior, problem solving, and creativity. We’ve come up with so many ideas for projects reading these books. It’s one of my favorite subjects as well, so that doesn’t hurt!).

I snapped the bag of marked-down green beans I’d bought a while back, took out the garbage, recycling, and compost, then hauled the cans to the curb, and then I cooked the green beans (I added some sesame oil as well). Probably the best batch of green beans I’ve ever cooked.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes, then showered. I went through my grandmother’s cross-stitch materials, which have been in my closet for a good long while, and found that, unfortunately, some of the items she had started, don’t have any patterns. Not sure what I’m going to do with those, but there are other usable items in there, so I have plenty to work on in the future!

I read my book (STILL reading Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott), and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed. I didn’t sleep well at all.

 

Tuesday, 15 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I got dressed and filled and ran the dishwasher. We tidied the laundry room, and then we sat down for math, where my daughter did some work that set the foundation for multiplication and division, along with a page and a half of math problems. We read a book about the orchestra, one about the Statue of Liberty, and more of our book on garbage.

After lunch, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I had my daughter work on some writing; we read two chapters from her history book; and we worked for 30 minutes on my Read Harder project/her silent reading. This was the day I started reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (it’s part of a three-books-in-one set, so after I finish this, I’ll move on to the next book in it!). We read a Magic Schoolbus book about light to finish our day, and then I ran to Aldi to pick up a few groceries- we had plans for a field trip on Wednesday (which is my usual grocery shopping day), and we’re supposed to get snow on Thursday, so I didn’t want to be out and about, nor did I want to be without milk, which we were out of. (Okay, we wouldn’t be out; I have some powdered milk and some shelf-stable milk. But still.)

At home, I put the groceries away, then chopped an onion and sauteed it with some peppers, garlic and zucchini. I put the rice in the rice cooker, made a batch of guacamole, took out the compost, brought in the cans from the curb, and took out the recycling. And then I sat down to do an hour of volunteer work on the computer.

After dinner- homemade Chipotle-style bowls- I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes, showered, and put dinner away. I put my daughter to bed, then read my book. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women, and I slept much better this night!

 

Wednesday, 16 February, 2022

Field trip day! After breakfast and coffee, I got dressed, and then we- husband included- were in the car and off to Chicago to spend a few hours at the Field Museum!

So many cool exhibits there. Lots of preserved animals, with placards giving fascinating information about their habitat, behavior, and important features. Tons of exhibits that feature history, with examples of objects hand-constructed by people throughout time and examples of their housing. Dinosaurs galore! So much of what we saw went right along with many of the things my daughter has been learning about the past few weeks, so it was really amazing to be able to point those out to her and ask her questions about them and hear her answer correctly!

 

There were, unfortunately, a few people who had removed their masks (you had to be both masked and show proof of vaccination upon entry into the museum), but only like three of them, though there were a bunch more people with their noses hanging out (IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS. How have they NOT figured out by now that their nose leads STRAIGHT DOWN TO THEIR LUNGS?!?!!?!?!?!????). We didn’t bother getting tickets for any of the special exhibits, since there was already so much to see, and this ended up working out just fine, since we walked through almost everything there and our feet hurt and we were tired (and my daughter was getting antsy and losing focus) by the time we decided we needed to eat, so then it was time to head home. What a fun trip!!! It was the first big thing we’ve done since the pandemic started, and it was nice- and exhausting!- to get out of the house for that long. (And I took a whooooooole lot more pictures, but this phone, which I got in October, seemed to have eaten them? I still haven’t quite figured this out. Even restarting didn’t help. Weird.)

At home, we ate, and then I snuggled up in my chair and fell asleep (told you it was exhausting!). I worked on this post, then baked the pizza I grabbed from Aldi the day before. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, and I skipped biking because my feet hurt from all the walking! I showered and put my daughter to bed, then I read my book. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women, and I slept terribly again, causing me to massively oversleep this morning. Ugh.

 

The local schools are closed today due to expected snowstorms later on, but we’re still getting some work done, despite our late start! I may or may not hit some grocery stores later on today, depending on what the weather looks like (right now, there’s nothing, and you bet local people will be complaining and laughing that the schools called off. Sigh).

What have you been up to so far this week? Any fun adventures?

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 10 February - Sunday, 13 February, 2022

 Monday, Monday! How are you, friends?

I had a really productive weekend and am feeling, in general, a little more optimistic about things. I managed to get all the things done that I needed to, in order for the upcoming week to run smoothly- AND I even got a nap in there!

I struggle a bit when major life changes come around; it takes a little time for me to adapt, and that’s how it’s been with being thrown into homeschooling. My daughter is doing really, really well with academics; she’s able to focus well and pay attention and stay on task (and I make sure to notice when she’s getting antsy and take a five or ten minute break so she can get the wigglies out). She’s feeling pretty betrayed that the schools were forced by the lawsuit to drop COVID protections; she’s hurt and confused as to why the adults in charge aren’t willing to keep the kids safe, and I completely understand, because I feel the same way. I think this is why she’s been such an eager participant in our homeschool activities. She doesn’t want to go back, which is sad.

But we’re doing okay, and things have been going well around here! Here’s what I did during the second half of last week.


Thursday, 10 February, 2022

I got dressed, had breakfast and coffee, then scooped the litterbox, and then we were off to the doctor! It was an appointment with my physiatrist, whom I see about my back. Just a follow-up after my last set of injections, which really helped. She did prescribe me a new medication for the neuropathy I get in my feet (I think I also have Raynaud’s in my feet, which doesn’t help; my feet are a mess…). While we waited, my daughter and I read a book about chemistry. (The doctor agreed with me that it was nuts for the schools to remove COVID mitigations right now.)

At home, I threw a cup of black beans into the Instant Pot, and then we started on math. We took a break for lunch, did more math (in order to catch up with where my daughter’s class is right now), and then we did our 30 minutes of Read Harder (for me, reading American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood)/silent reading (for my daughter; she’s reading a Geronimo Stilton novel). And then I dozed, because I was really, really tired. School was shorter today because of my doctor’s appointment, which I had scheduled pre-homeschooling. I have a few other appointments coming up like that; we’ll just take school with us, like we did. :)

I filled and ran the dishwasher, then prepared a batch of beans and rice, and visited my favorite homemaking blogs. I tidied and swept the living room before dinner, then did my Duolingo afterwards. I biked for thirty minutes, showered, threw a batch of white beans in the Instant Pot for the next day’s dinner, wrote my Friday post, put my daughter to bed, and read. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women.

 

Friday, 11 February, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I edited and posted my Friday post and got dressed. I emptied the dishwasher, then it was time to sit down and start on math with my daughter. She. Did. AWESOME.

Her school uses the Eureka curriculum and I love it so much. It makes math so much more intuitive than the way I learned it at her age; she’s already able to add two sets of three-digit numbers in her head, and she doesn’t sit and cry over math like I did. (That’s not to say that math always goes smoothly, but she very much knows what she’s doing and understands the processes in a way that I never did in school.) I actually enjoy doing these lessons with her. We took a short break afterwards so I could load and run the dishwasher.

We worked on grammar next, a lesson on possessive pronouns, and then we read more about plants, and finished our book about garbage (which gave us some really good ideas for projects. Stay tuned!). After lunch, I made a batch of Cauliflower Potato Soup with the white beans I’d cooked the night before. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, cleaned up the kitchen, and took out the compost and recycling (my daughter was still eating her lunch during all of this). I tidied and swept the living room and swept the kitchen, then we headed upstairs to tidy up my daughter’s room, and I put away a load of laundry.

We settled down for our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading. I threw a load of laundry in the wash, folded a set of clean sheets from the laundry room, and then we snuggled up for art class. My daughter LOVES art, and I’d given her the choice of activities earlier in the week. She had really enjoyed a fiber art project earlier in the year, so she chose to start learning how to cross-stitch with one of the kits she got as a holiday gift this year. She’s only seven, so it’s going to be a while before she’s ready to do this independently, but I’m happy to help her learn. Lots of good memories to be made together here. Here’s what she accomplished today:

 

We did two chapters of Making Thirteen Colonies (The Story of US) by Joy Hakim, and then we were off for a very cold, windy, sloppy two mile walk (shorter because the path around the pond would’ve been a wet melty mess!). At home, I switched the laundry and folded one load.

I did my second hour of volunteer work for the week, blended the soup, and folded another load of laundry. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, put away a load of laundry. and switched the wet load into the dryer. I showered, put dinner away, and put the dishes in the dishwasher. I worked on my knitting, and virtually attended my synagogue’s Shabbat services.

My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 12 February, 2022

Uh, so, the night before, I’d forgotten to take my new medication, and my feet bothered me all night long. TERRIBLE sleep. HMPH.

I had breakfast and coffee, and then, despite being exhausted and having massive bags under my eyes, it was time to dive into the day’s projects so that the upcoming week could go smoothly. I took my dried mushrooms out of the dehydrator, then chopped and put the remaining mushrooms in. I put away a load of laundry, then folded and put away two more loads. I showered my daughter, and then we did another math lesson.

This one didn’t go quite as smoothly as the day before, but I think that’s because she was hungry and getting easily frustrated, so we took a break in the middle for lunch. We finished up afterwards, when she had a full tummy and a better attitude, and then I lay down for a nap.

When I got up, I felt sluggish and gross, so I did a 20 minute yoga video (no walking outside, since I think the high was something stupid like 15 degrees F), and then I caught up on some things on the computer. Dinner was leftover soup. I did my Duolingo and biked for thirty minutes, then showered and put my daughter to bed (we finished reading Anne Frank: Behind the Diary by Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven. I didn’t read the last few pages to her, though I read them myself. She knows Anne didn’t survive, but she’s too young to know any of the more grisly details at this point. I read those pages myself when she went to bed so that I could complete the book). I read my book- still slowly reading Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott- and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women. I remembered to take my new medication and slept well this night!

 

Sunday, February 13, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I did a few things on the computer, and then it was time to get to work! I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, then collected yesterday’s dehydrated mushrooms into the bag- I have about 2/3 of a gallon bag full of dried mushrooms now, ready to add to soups and be rehydrated for other dishes. 

I then hauled the sewing machine upstairs in preparation to sew my torn bedsheet.

 

Yeah. It was a bad one.

I could NOT get the sewing machine to cooperate with me. I don’t know if it was something I was doing wrong (this is probably the most likely answer) or if there’s something wrong with the machine, but nothing I tried made my stitches turn out right. Not straight stitches, not zigzag stitches, the tension was messed up on everything. I’m going to have to play with this a little bit with some scrap fabric and figure out what the deal is. I ended up stitching the entire rip by hand, down and back again. It’s not perfect, but it should hold, and really, that’s all I care about!

 

By the time I finished sewing, it was lunch time. Afterwards, I got to work finishing the second knit square for my friend’s memorial blankets. I watched some YouTube videos while I knit. It’s been ages since I knit anything where I had to pay close attention and count while I knit, but this was a good project to get back into that. I think they turned out well. (If you haven’t seen my last post, my friend, who passed away last month, LOVED spiders. These squares are going into two blankets, knit and crocheted by our friend group, for her two kids, who are almost the exact same ages as my kids.)

 

With my knitting finished, I headed to the kitchen and prepared a breakfast casserole for dinner, with onion, garlic, peppers, and zucchini thrown in, then sat down to work on this post. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, then biked for thirty minutes and showered. I put the no-longer-ripped sheet back on the bed, then I put dinner away and filled and ran the dishwasher. I put my daughter to bed- we started reading Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb- and I read my book. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed (and I kept waking up through the night. Hmph).

 

That’s it! Really, not a bad weekend. I had been worried, since I had so much to do, but I got everything on my list done and still had a bit of time to do other things. Being that productive feels good.

We’ve got an exciting week coming up, with something special coming up on Wednesday, so I’m looking forward to that! Happy Valentine’s day, friends!