What's Been Going On: Thursday, 14 July - Sunday, 17 July, 2022

Good morning, all! This weekend actually went by pretty slowly, which is nice. I’ve been staying off social media and the internet it general – for the most part; I’m not super hardcore about it – on Shabbat, and it’s been really nice to have that little 25-ish hour break from…everything. Plus I spent a good portion of the weekend outside, either walking or sitting and chatting with my sister-in-law (which also happened on Thursday), so I feel pretty refreshed. Hopefully your weekend was just as lovely!

Here's what I got up to the second half of last week!

 

Thursday, 14 July, 2022

After coffee and breakfast, I posted my Thursday post, then posted my review for Go Back to Where You Came From by Wajahat Ali on my book blog. I got dressed and ready, then filled and ran the dishwasher and sat back down to write multiple book reviews. I made lunch and packed all our picnic things up, then my daughter and I drove about half an hour away to the most wonderful park. We didn’t get to the playground proper this time; we’ll definitely go back and do that at some point, because it looks super fun, but we met up with my sister-in-law and nephew (and my mother-in-law joined us for a shorter period of time) to spend some time in nature. There’s this fairly shallow creek (the highest it got in the section we were in was mid-calf on me, and I’m tall), and the kids played in here for over four hours. Check out these pictures!!!

 

This was a SUPER fun day for the kids. My daughter was absolutely filthy when we got home, and they had a great time throwing stones, building a worm house out of large rocks, picking up dead crayfish, and rolling around in the water. Super gorgeous place and what a delight to just let the kids be kids. We’ll definitely be going back there!

When we got home, I immediately showered my daughter (creeks are creeks, and as clean as this one was, it still smelled like a creek!), then showered myself – I didn’t get in like the kids did, but I did take my shoes off and walk a good portion of it, plus I’d just been sitting outside all day, chatting with my sister-in-law, so the shower felt really good. My husband made macaroni and cheese for dinner, so we ate and I did my Duolingo. I put my daughter to bed, read for a little bit, then went to bed early with a headache (I hadn’t slept well the night before, so it had been a long day. Fun, but long!).

 

Friday, 15 July, 2022

After coffee, I wrote out my Friday post and emptied, refilled and ran the dishwasher. I put some black beans in the Instant Pot, took out the recycling, scooped the litterbox, then got dressed and ready. I did some random tidying around the house, did some computer things, and then it was time for an early lunch before we headed to the counselor.

My daughter was in top form this day, completely unable to sit down the entire time, so along with some other things (including her speech patterns), her counselor hinted that ADD/ADHD might be in play here. He didn’t even have to finish his sentence before I told him, “Dad has ADD, so this wouldn’t surprise me one bit.” This is something he and I have both suspected since before our daughter was in kindergarten. The counselor said he doesn’t necessarily like to make formal diagnoses this young; they’re just labels and provide a framework towards what we’d be working at anyway, and wouldn’t do anything different in terms of the care he’s providing her. All of which makes complete sense. I’ll likely do some reading on this in the near future; it’s not something I deal with, so learning about it and understanding how her brain works will help me understand and parent her better, and do everything I can so she can be successful in whatever way she chooses in her life. : )

At home, I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then made a bean and rice casserole. I relaxed on the computer for a bit, then got the casserole in the oven and read for a while. I had an early dinner, then joined Central Synagogue in New York for Shabbat services (their d’var Torah this week was absolutely fabulous and inspiring!). I knit for a bit, ran the dishwasher, showered, did my Duolingo, then read. My husband and I watched the two new episodes of What We Do in the Shadows before going to bed.

 

Saturday, 16 July, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I emptied and refilled and ran the dishwasher, then got dressed and ready. I read for a bit, and I got up to throw out a bunch of old makeup I haven’t worn or used at all since the pandemic started (thanks, book about minimalism!). I also organized the top two shelves in the bathroom while I was in there. Then my son and I set off on a 4.7 mile walk around the area. We walked the other way down the trail we had gone down last time, which took us by some new and interesting plants, which I can now identify, thanks to the iNaturalist app! Cutleaf teasel and common ragweed here:

 

It was REALLY humid out, so this was a bit of a tough walk for me, but we made it. At home, I ate lunch, dozed for a little bit, then read my book. And then we were off to my sister-in-law’s, so the kids could play together outside. I knit and finished another stripe on my log cabin blanket. We had Chinese food for dinner, which was super tasty; I had the curry tofu with rice, which is always so good.

At home, I showered, did my Duolingo, then put my daughter to bed. I read and finished The Joy of Less by Francine Jay, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Sunday, 17 July, 2022

After coffee, I buckled down and cranked out FIVE book reviews! (I skipped one; Sisters in Hate by Seywood Darby was excellent, about female white nationalists, but I don’t need to call any attention to my Jewish self by putting up a review for that one.) I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, then got dressed and folded a load of laundry. I started a load in the washer, then came to the living room to work on this post.

I had lunch, then knit while attending a virtual talk on Yiddish. I switched the laundry, and then it was off to the Science Surplus store, where I bought the two maps I needed: a US map, and a world map. I know far too many people who don’t know where the states and countries are (or who reach adulthood not knowing that there’s a state in the US called New Mexico), and I want my daughter to have a stronger grasp on geography than that!

At home, I read Trashed by Derf Backderf, a graphic novel, in its entirety, and then, since my husband spilled my container of yeast all over the floor, it was off to GFS for more yeast, another bag of bread flour, and peanut butter. I was getting a little low on peanut butter, so we were going to take a trip there this week, and like any well-prepared homemaker, I already had one extra vacuum-sealed four-pound bag of yeast on the shelves, but I like to keep extra around, since I do use it frequently! (When the pandemic hit and everyone was scrambling for toilet paper and yeast, I was fully stocked on both. Smooth sailing here!) We also picked up a cheap pizza for dinner for him and me (my husband and daughter had made a cheeseburger pizza from her pizza cookbook; obviously not something Jewish vegetarian me eats!), along with a marked-down cinnamon Danish. : )

At home, I threw the pizza in and we ate, then I filled and ran the dishwasher and did my Duolingo. I showered, then browsed through some virtual Jewish programming scheduled for the upcoming weeks, and I signed up for two programs. Gotta keep my brain active! I started reading Refugee High: Coming of Age in America by Elly Fishman, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! My son is going to mow the back part of the lawn this morning, we’re going to do a drop off at Goodwill, we’re making a run to Ikea, and we’ll stop by Sam’s Club on the way back! And there’s all the other stuff in there as well: cooking, cleaning, volunteer work, a walk in there somewhere, the usual. It’ll be a full day, and I’m looking forward to it!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!