What's Been Going On: Monday, 4 July - Wednesday, 6 July, 2022

How is it Thursday already? Holiday weeks are so weird; the time goes by differently, I swear. The summer is flying by!

It’s been a tough and kind of frightening week around here, but I’ll get into that a little more tomorrow. We’ve got the potential for more storms tonight; we’ve already had a bunch this week. Our neighbor down the block had a fairly large tree branch fall in their yard (it scraped their garage and dented the gutter, but that looked like the extent of the damage, thankfully). We have no trees within falling distance (this was not the case a year ago, and we came within millimeters of a massive tree crushing our house. We got so, so lucky), but the storms still scare me a little.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to so far this week!

 

Monday, 4 July, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted Monday’s post. I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, started a loaf of bread, and got a batch of chickpeas in the Instant Pot.

I got dressed, started a load of laundry, and folded and put away two loads that had been waiting for me in the laundry room for *mumblemumblereallylongtime*. Then I settled in for an hour of volunteer work, beginning a file for food pantries in Alabama. So far, it seems like there’s a shortage of people in Alabama who know how to make a website. IF these places have one (and a lot of them DON’T – this is something I’ve been utterly shocked by, how many businesses just do not have websites), they’re poorly built, not maintained, and lacking in necessary information (how do you have a church website without a phone number or address?!!?!??). Despite those pesky cultural stereotypes, there are plenty of intelligent people in Alabama; I’m really not sure what the problem is here.

I wrote a few book reviews, and then it was time for lunch. I strained the chickpeas and left them out to cool, set the bread to rise, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and made a batch of hummus. I wrote a few more book reviews (I was *really* behind), then baked the bread, made a batch of salad dressing, and grilled some zucchini on my George Foreman grill/panini press.

I switched the laundry and folded and put another load away, then spent some time horrified on the computer, following the aftermath of the shooting at the 4^th of July parade in Highland Park (I’ll talk more about this tomorrow). Then I put our giant veggie sandwich together. A layer of hummus, grilled zucchini, roasted red peppers, cucumber, tomato, a drizzle of Italian salad dressing. It was SO good!

I packed the sandwich up, did my Duolingo, and we went off to have a picnic with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. We chatted and ate, then I pulled out my knitting to work on while we chatted. We watched the fireworks from a nearby parking lot, and then it was home to shower and head to bed, since it was late.

 

Tuesday, 5 July, 2022

I ran the dishwasher and had coffee, then I started in on another hour of volunteer work.

I know I’ve spoken before about how completely dehumanizing some of the language food pantries use to speak to and about their clients is. Referring to them as ‘downtrodden,’ acting as though they’re immature children who can’t be trusted, charging them for bags and boxes (YO, if they can’t afford food, they can’t afford bags, Einstein…). But the one I read on this day truly took the cake. Imagine you’re struggling. You’ve lost your job, your car is about to be repossessed because of this, you can’t figure out how to pay the rent, your kids have lost all their fun activities and they understand, but you know they’re feeling bad about it. You’re struggling and you’re feeling terrible about yourself when, in looking for some help, you read this:

 "Each person or family we serve is like the grains of sand in the oyster. They may start off as an irritant, but we help them to develop into the valuable pearl they are."

 I’m not kidding when I said I gasped out loud when I read that. An irritant??? That’s NOT the comparison you should be making when describing the people you’re there to serve!!! These are human beings with inherent worth. They're worthy just because they exist. Helping people eat is literally the lowest bar there is, and you’re there acting like you’re so great for doing them a favor, and they’re worthless without you? What kind of abusive, self-serving GARBAGE is that? And this is a CHURCH saying this!!! (And the churches are the worst about this, of every denomination, Catholic and Protestant. The civic agencies don't use this kind of language. I've been doing this for over a year at this point and have never seen a civic agency or organization speak down to their clients.)

I am so completely and utterly appalled, y’all. If you're out there in the name of God, I expect better.

I had a late breakfast, then my daughter and I were off to run errands. We dropped off some library books, ran to Trader Joe’s for a gift card and flowers for my neighbors (they plowed our driveway every time it snowed this past year and I REALLY appreciate that), then went to a library in a neighboring town. I hadn’t been there since before the pandemic, but it doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon, so I figured going back wasn’t a big deal now (and it’s not like I’m going to be hanging out there for hours and hours. I have a list when I go in, I get my books, then I go). I came out with a whole big bag of books!

At home, we had lunch, then I emptied and refilled the dishwasher and brought in broccoli from the garage freezer. I made the batter for the quiche from The Complete Tightwad Gazette, then my daughter and I ran the flowers and gift card to our neighbor, who was very appreciative. I tidied the living room, then settled down to read the graphic novels Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Harold Schechter, and It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot. In between, I made a batch of potatoes, took out the compost, and baked the quiche.

We had dinner and I did my Duolingo, then I showered and put dinner away. I started reading Empty the Pews by Chrissy Stroop (no walking this night; it was in the upper 90’s with humidity in the 70’s; walking outside was like walking into a brick wall). At one point, my daughter walked in, so I read her the last few pages of the Horrible Histories book we’ve been reading. My husband and I watched one episode of Stranger Things before bed.

 

Wednesday, 6 July, 2022

I had coffee and made my grocery list, then posted a long post of mini-reviews on my book blog. I got dressed, sharpened pencils, and then my daughter and I settled down for a unit of math. (She’s also been asking me when we’re going to start spelling! Quite a change from the kid who fought spelling with a passion in second grade!)

I prepared the math for the next day, then it was time for lunch. I did a bunch of homeschool prep and wiped down the bathroom counter in the middle of it all. My son and I went for groceries when my husband got home; we went to two stores and came home with marked-down mushrooms and snack peppers. No great sales this week, but the week after a holiday is almost always lacking in sales, so no surprises there.

I did a bunch more homeschool prep when we got home, in addition to cooking the pizza. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, and my son and I went on a 2.8-mile walk. I showered and put my daughter to bed; she and I started reading Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. I continued reading my book, and my husband and I watched an episode of Stranger Things before bed.

 

And that’s it! I’ve still got two units of the Language Arts curriculum to go through, figuring out what we need and what we’ll be doing so I can be prepared for it. I’m going to write up a whole document that lays out our whole year, to keep around as reference so I can check everything off as we go along. My state doesn’t require much at all from us in terms of oversight, but I like having everything squared away, just in case. Plus it’ll keep us on track throughout the year! I’ve got to figure out what’s for dinner tonight, and my daughter and I are doing more math in a bit, but that’s about all on the docket for today.

 

Hoping that you’re all having a good week so far!