What's Been Going On: Thursday, 21 July - Sunday, 25 July, 2022

Good morning, friends! Did you ever have a weekend so stressful that you were glad it was over? That’s what happened around here. Nothing major; everyone is still healthy and in one piece (*knocks on wood*), just those little bits of life that you don’t expect, and that exhaust you. I’ll skip the pleasantries here and get right into it!

Here’s what I’ve been up to the past few days.

 

Thursday, 21 July, 2022

After coffee, I wrote out the day’s blog post and had a whole heap of computer issues while doing it, causing me to have to rewrite part of it. Oh, technology… I got dressed and emptied the dishwasher, then ran it on a cleaning cycle. I scooped the litterbox and started another load of laundry, then folded and put away three loads of laundry (two of my husband’s, one of mine and my daughter’s).

I swept and tidied the living room, then I sat for a bit to rest my back. I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and then it was already time for lunch! Afterwards, I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the compost, and switched the laundry. And then it was time to read on the porch, where I finished Breaking Hate by Christian Picciolini.

My daughter was in top form this day, behavior-wise (can you hear my sarcasm???), and I ended up having to take away her kindle, which she was not thrilled about. I kept my cool through the whole thing (because her behavior stretched on for a good long while), but phew, it was tough. It was almost a relief when my husband got home and I had to go for a mammogram!

When I got home, I farted around on the computer a bit, then had an early dinner, and my son and I went on a 3-mile walk (would’ve been longer, but I got some, uh, aggressive affection from a neighborhood cat and I wanted to get home to put some antibiotic ointment on it. All is well!). I showered and poked around at the computer a little bit, then I pulled out my knitting and watched the January 6^th commission. This one was…a lot. They all are, but this one was tough to listen to. I hadn’t felt up to watching the first few, but I’m glad worked up to tuning in to the last three. They’ll reconvene in September.

My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Friday, 22 July, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted Friday’s post, then posted my review for Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata on my book blog. I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, got dressed and ready, then folded and put away the last of my husband’s laundry. His floordrobe is no more!!!

I tidied up the pile of stuff my daughter and husband had left on the couch, poked around at the computer a bit, and then it was time for an early brunch before we left for the counselor. On the way home, we stopped by Aldi for some hot dogs and ice cream (for a reason I’ll get to), and then we came home…to find that our air conditioner was not working. 83 degrees in the house, on a day in the 90’s. JOY.

But life goes on even when it’s toasty in the house, so I filled the dishwasher and sat down to complete the last bits of Language Arts homeschool prep! I made the list of books we’ll need and sent the list to my husband, so he can order them from Amazon. And then it was off to my daughter’s hearing test. No issues, just a check up because we realized she hadn’t had one in such a long time, and as expected, all was well. She was still REALLY anxious about it, though, and the hot dogs and ice cream were her choice for dinner, a way to give her something to look forward to after the test (my son and I had some black bean and corn empanadas instead). We also had tater tots, which…baking those was HOT.

I had dinner and sat down to an early Shabbat service with Central Synagogue in New York, knit for a bit, and then showered and did my Duolingo. I put my daughter to bed, read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of What We Do in the Shadows and one Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

Saturday, 23 July, 2022

After breakfast and coffee (and a very warm night!), I read my book. I filled and ran the dishwasher, wiped down the stovetop, and spent the rest of the morning reading. Too hot to do anything else.

After lunch, I took my daughter to the library. We ended up going to the library in the next town over, because ours had closed due to the power being out. She and I both grabbed a book from there, and when we went home, I made a batch of zucchini mushroom pasta in the Instant Pot (this stuff is weirdly good for how simple it is!) and cleaned up the kitchen.

And then the AC guys got there, so my daughter and I went upstairs to read with the bedroom door closed. Every time we left the room, we masked (apparently the guys didn’t seem thrilled about being asked to wear masks in the house, but tough luck, dudes. Our house, our rules. Seriously, why are grown adults such absolute TODDLERS about this???). We ate dinner up there as well, and afterwards, I took my daughter on a 2.5-mile walk, during which my dad called. Apparently, he had COVID last month; the Paxlovid his doctor’s office called in immediately helped, but he’s still got a dry cough. My grandmother, who has both Alzheimer’s and cancer, isn’t doing well, but that’s to be expected.

At home, I showered and put my daughter to bed (we finished reading Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park), and read my book.

And get this. The AC guys had been there most of the afternoon and evening…and hadn’t done anything. They needed a part they didn’t have…so they sat in the driveway for several hours??? We could NOT figure out what the heck they were doing, and my husband was getting extremely frustrated. Finally, when they said they would need to be there until like three in the morning, still might not get the job done, and wouldn’t be able to complete the job until maybe Tuesday, he sent them away and told them not to come back. Massively poor service on their account. My husband ended up calling the guy my sister-in-law and mother-in-law have used for their air conditioning, and he agreed to come over in the morning.

 

Sunday, 24 July, 2022

After another toasty night of sleep, I had breakfast and coffee, then wrote two book reviews. I got dressed and ready, and then I read a bunch of books to my daughter while the new AC guy was here. The first guys said our AC was dead and would need to be replaced, so we were prepared to suck it up and pay for that; this guy said it was just the capacitor that needed to be replaced, that eventually the whole unit will need to be replaced but that this one still has a few more years left in it. WHOA. What he did ended up being about one-sixth of the cost of what the first place was going to charge us. We saved multiple thousands of dollars by going with him!

I continued to read and had lunch, then we went to my sister-in-law’s so the kids could play and my husband could try to temporarily fix something in my sister-in-law’s house before her contractor came (turned out he couldn’t, but he tried!). My sister-in-law has a really great shady yard; it’s why we always go to her house so the kids can play outside. Our backyard is not only a lot smaller, but is also full sun and deeply uncomfortable for adults to sit out in and chat for hours!

At home, I threw together a quiche from the Complete Tightwad Gazette and some potatoes and onions in my microwave cooker thing (that basically just steams them, but it’s SO good!), with the help of my son. I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, and then sat down to eat dinner. I showered, showered my daughter, and did my Duolingo, then curled up to read The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman. It follows a girl learning about her great-grandmother’s experiences during the Holocaust, and even though it’s middle grade, it’s an absolute gut-punch of a book. I keep having to set it down and take a few moments, it’s that emotional.

My husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! I’m SO grateful the air conditioning was able to be repaired and it’s no longer so steamy in the house (and I can do my various housework chores without sweating like I’m the point guard of an NBA team). Saturday was an extremely long day for all of us, being so warm and trying to figure out what was going on with the first repairmen. I’m extremely glad we figured everything out, and I definitely won’t be taking our AC for granted.

I have an online class today, I have volunteer work to do, I need to make dinner, my daughter and I are going to the library in a bit, the kitchen needs to be cleaned, it’s the start of another busy week! Wishing you all a wonderful week. : )