What's Been Going On: Monday, 9 May - Wednesday, 11 May, 2022

It’s HOT.

Remember last week, when I was still wearing two pair of socks to keep my feet warm in the house? Now we’re having record highs, and last night, it got up to 89 degrees in the house. PHEW.

But it’s all good and while we turned the AC on so that we could sleep without melting, I’m loving it. My swing is out on the back porch and I’ve been able to spend many happy hours reading on it already. I don’t think anything relaxes me more than reading on that swing. It’s my happy place

It’s been a pretty chill beginning to the week! Not temperature-wise, but I’ve adjusted a few things in our schedule to make sure I get my outside reading time in. It makes such a huge difference in my mood! Do you find that time outside helps you as well?

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

 

Monday, 9 May, 2022

I woke up early and decided to get out of bed so I could finish writing Monday’s post. I edited it and posted it, then posted my review of Chosen by Stephen Mills over on my book blog (warning: this book review contains mentions of childhood sexual abuse, since that’s the topic of the book) and on NetGalley. I had breakfast and coffee, then did 20 minutes of volunteer work. I got dressed, took out the compost, filled and ran the dishwasher, and we did a fast cleaning blitz of the living room before starting schoolwork.

We did On This Day in History and Geography (Namibia), followed by math. While my daughter worked on her math sheets, I cooked the soyrizo for dinner. Spelling was rough; my kiddo is so hard on herself when she gets things wrong (even when it’s the first time she’s encountered a word! I’ve definitely mentioned that to her counselor). We did Language Arts, and then it was time for lunch.

I squeezed in 30 minutes of volunteer work during our lunch break, then it was time for school outside! We did two chapters of history, one chapter of Be the Change, a little bit of Lighthouses for Kids, and some fashion history. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading (I’m reading The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music History; my daughter is reading more Judy Moody books), and then I headed inside for a few minutes to make Spanish rice in the rice cooker. And then it was time to read out on the swing! I started reading Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African-American Jew by Michael W. Twitty, from NetGalley. SO relaxing to read while I swing!

I emptied the dishwasher and refilled it, took out the recycling, and made a box of macaroni and cheese for my daughter (soyrizo is a little too spicy for her yet!). We had dinner and I did my Duolingo, then I biked for 30 sweaty minutes. Ewwwww. I showered, put dinner away, then put my daughter to bed (we began reading Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander). I continued reading my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Tuesday, 10 May, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I filled and ran the dishwasher, then got dressed. I did 30 minutes of volunteer work, and then we started school.

We did On This Day in History and geography (Nauru, which I hadn’t heard of before this!), math, spelling (which went much smoother!) and Language Arts, and then it was time for lunch! (We start at 8:30; lunch starts at 11-ish. Some days this all goes quickly enough that we have room to cram in something else, but it doesn’t always happen.)

After lunch, I chopped and steamed some veggies, took out the compost, then made peanut sauce (I always add mint) and put the tofu on to press. We watched an episode of Horrible Histories, and then it was time to take school outside!

We read two chapters of history, thus finishing our history book with the signing and ratifying of the Constitution; I think we’ll leave history there and pick it up in the fall. We read one Hans Christian Andersen story, one chapter of Be the Change, and some Lighthouses for Kids. We read more fashion history, then did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading. And then it was time for me to relax and read on the swing! Unfortunately, I had a headache, but I still enjoyed every moment.

I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then boiled some rice noodles to go with the tofu, veggies and peanut sauce (I love this dish, and it’s even better cold the next day). After dinner, I did my Duolingo and showered, then went back outside to read on the swing! I read upstairs after going in, and my husband and I watched an episode of Unusual Suspects before going to bed.

 

Wednesday, 11 May, 2022

PHEW. Hot day!

I had coffee and dealt with the gross parade of ants that had made their way into my living room, then scooped the litterbox. I filled and ran the dishwasher, wiped down the countertops, and got dressed. My daughter and I cleaned up the living room and I swept, then I started a load of laundry.

We started school with On This Day in History and geography (Nepal), then did math. We paused to watch a TED talk on food waste by Tristram Stuart. We did Language Arts and spelling, and then it was lunch time.

I did 30 minutes of volunteer work during our break and switched the laundry and emptied and refilled the dishwasher (87 degrees in the house!). Then I squeezed in 10 more minutes while my daughter was watching an episode of Horrible Histories. School outside involved one chapter of Be the Change, one Hans Christian Andersen story, some fashion history, and we finished Lighthouses for Kids. I left my daughter doing her math and spelling work with my husband, and it was off to groceries with me!

No great deals, but at least I got some veggies on sale. There’s road construction on the road to one of my grocery stores, so that meant an extra twenty minutes there each way in traffic. Ew. After hitting two stores, I returned home and put the groceries away, and cooked the pizza (89 degrees in the house! Double ew). We broke down and turned the A/C on after dinner. I did my Duolingo and showered, then read out on the swing. I put my daughter to bed and finished reading Koshersoul, then picked up Tiny House: Live Small, Dream Big by Brent Heavener. My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed, but I barely slept, yikes!

 

And that’s it! I should have some good news for Monday’s post *crosses fingers* but I’m sitting on that info so that I don’t jinx it. If what I’m not talking about pans out, it should happen on Friday and will take up part of my day, so we’ll see!

It’s gearing up to be possibly rainy here throughout the weekend, so I don’t know how much reading I’ll get done on my swing – but if that’s the case, I have plenty of knitting I can do and a bunch of documentaries bookmarked, so either way, I’ll be perfectly fine. Hope you’re all staying cool out there!