What's Been Going On: Thursday, 7 April - Sunday, 10 April, 2022

 Good morning! It’s Monday again, and we’ve technically got 31 days left until the official start of summer vacation (not that I’m counting). We’ll still do some schoolwork over the summer, just a more relaxed version, and - I’m looking forward to this – we’ll be able to do it outside! (Watch it snow all summer long…)

Last week was a pretty rough school week, not gonna lie, but it ended on a good note. I’m keeping a close eye on it, though, because I absolutely don’t want that to turn into a regular thing.

Here’s what I was up to the second half of last week! (No pictures this week; nothing all that photographable!)

 

Thursday, 7 April, 2022

After coffee, I edited and posted Thursday’s post, then posted my review of The Third Daughter by Talia Carner over on my book blog.

I got dressed, and my daughter went into an immediate tantrum even before we started school, so I headed into the kitchen to give both of us some space. I made an Instant Pot full of lentil soup and a batch of corn muffins, took out the recycling, folded and put away a load of laundry, and swept the kitchen floor. My daughter and I had another long conversation about her behavior and the importance of education, and then we spent the rest of the morning finishing reading her book about pirates.

After lunch, I spent some time looking for some local counselors who see children, because we may have to go down that road in order to help her learn how to manage her feelings of frustration (I did find one that seems good, so I’m hanging on to their number for now). I started a load of laundry, and then it was back to work. We finished the book on Passover, started a biography of Roald Dahl (since my daughter recently read Matilda), read a little bit from her book on outdoor science, then did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading.

I was emotionally exhausted and dozed for a bit after school, but woke up so I could have a phone conversation with a financial adviser from our bank. I switched the laundry and bumbled around on the computer for a bit, and then it was time for dinner.

I did a 36-minute yoga video (seemed like a good day for yoga, to relieve stress!), then showered and put dinner away. I put my daughter to bed, read for a while, and watched one episode of Deadly Women with my husband before bed.

 

Friday, 8 April, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post, then got dressed.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Malawi). We did math (still working with coins; she’s now showing how to make, say, 65 cents two different ways with coins), then headed into Language Arts and spelling (I did question her beforehand to see if she felt like she could handle new spelling words. My daughter has massive anxiety about being perfect, though I’m constantly telling her and demonstrating that being perfect doesn’t exist and attempting it isn’t necessary, that giving our best effort is what’s important). She did just fine. : ) We did 15 minutes of journal writing, and then I got lunch - vegetarian “chicken” – into the oven.

After lunch, we read more of the Roald Dahl biography, two chapters of history, more of the outdoor science book, and then we started a book on Egyptian mythology, which she really seemed to enjoy. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and then we were done for the day. No tantrums!!!! \o/

I hung out on the computer for a while, and then it was time for dinner. I did my Duolingo, then did a 27-minute cardio and strength-training workout. I showered, knit, and virtually attended my synagogue’s Shabbat services. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 9 April, 2022

Lazyish day! I finally went in for the blood draw my doctor had ordered a few weeks back (my cholesterol and triglycerides are high, ugh), then came home for breakfast and coffee. I got a bunch of stuff done on the computer, and then it was time for lunch (apparently half the county was there for bloodwork that day; it took a lot longer than I had hoped).

I spent the afternoon reading, trying to catch up on some of the books I’ve got backed up. I might have also snuck a little nap in there as well!

I came downstairs and emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, and then went to pick my son up. He was coming over for dinner, but I gave him a haircut as well, which he desperately needed. He has ridiculously curly hair, so instead of his hair growing long, it just grows…out. Like a bush. Or a sheep, like my daughter likes to call him.

We had dinner together and hung out for a bit, then I took him home and did my Duolingo. I showered, loaded and ran the dishwasher, tidied the living room, and put my daughter to bed. I read more of my book (almost finished!), and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 10 April, 2022

Coffee and working on this post made up a good portion of the morning! I got dressed (which took a while, trying to figure out what to wear to do volunteer work at the synagogue. While I’m not mentally anxious when I’m around people, my body tends to be like, “Uh, yeah, remember how we freak out when we’re around people???” and I sweat like a rainforest, so I had to find something that wasn’t going to make me overheat but that wouldn’t show me being a sweaty beast!). I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then took out the compost.

I spent a little time on the computer, then chopped up some broccoli, got it into the Instant Pot to steam, and took the stems out to the compost. Back to the computer, then back to the kitchen, where I made a batch of Bananadoodle dough, put the dough in the fridge, and took the peels out to the compost. Back to the computer, and then it was time for lunch (and a trip to the compost with the pear trimmings).

I chopped up and sauteed an onion and some garlic as part of our dinner later. My husband and daughter left to go to visit his sister, and I prepared a batch of Impossibly Easy Vegetable Pie with the broccoli. I filled and ran the dishwasher, then sat down to finish reading Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women & Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evangelicalism by Deborah Jian Lee (which I read for my volunteer job’s new book club, and which turned out to be both fascinating and well-written).

And then it was time to head out the door! I had signed up to pack ‘boredom buster bags’ at the synagogue for kids whose families are part of a local homeless shelter program, so I, along with about nine or ten other Jewish folks, put together activity kits for kids who don’t have a lot to do in the hotel rooms they’re being put up in. It’s a small thing – I know other members of our synagogue focus on advocating for affordable housing, which is so, so necessary – but hopefully the kids will enjoy them. : )

At home, I got the casserole in the oven and hung out on the computer while it baked, then ate and left to pick up some yarn across town from Freecycle. When I got home, I went for a four-mile walk (VERY windy; my earbuds kept getting blown out of my ears and half the time I could only hear the wind and not my music!), then showered, showered my daughter, and did my Duolingo. I put my daughter to bed and read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed, where I slept terribly.

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I’m crossing my fingers that today is an easy day, because I’m not sure that I have the patience for anything else! So, 31 official school days left, which isn’t bad. I *think* we’ll have a few extra days of math, but I was going to do some math with her over the summer, so that’s no big deal. The rest of our summer will be just relaxed reading and learning and maybe a bunch of outdoor field trips. We're lucky to have a ton of forest preserves around us, and I've always thought it would be fun to visit all of them. Maybe we'll make that a thing this summer. :)

Hope your week is off to a wonderful and well-rested start!!!