Friday links: 7 January, 2022

Good morning! Currently, it’s -2 degrees Fahrenheit here. I’m not even sure that’s a real temperature, but I’m glad I don’t need to go outside in it! I slept pretty terribly last night, so a nap may be in store at some point today. That, and more exercise. You’ll see why!

Here's what I found interesting online this week!

 

Home for the Holidays? Get Off the Couch!

Sitting is bad for you. We know that. But, it turns out, sitting…is REALLY bad for you. And we’re all sitting way, way too much. Probably more these days, when a lot of us are stuck in the house because of weather (hello, -2!) and desperately trying to stay safe from the world of COVID out there. But there are plenty of ways to remain active when we’re at home. YouTube has TONS of free workouts (yoga, Pilates, cardio routines, dance-based exercises. Do a search and pick one that appeals to you. It’s okay to start off slow and hit pause 23489274893 times to catch your breath. Ask me how I know…); so many of us have at-home exercise equipment that we use solely to store laundry (if you don’t, check your local Freecycle! Mine always has equipment people no longer want); doing chores and being active around the house also counts, so get that cleaning project done! And if nothing else fails, walk laps around the inside of your house. Exercise is an important part of staying healthy, and I’m definitely going to be keeping more of an eye on how often I get up after having read this.

 

Intimate portraits of a hospital COVID unit from a photojournalist-turned-nurse.

These aren’t the worst I’ve seen, but they’re still hard to look at. If you aren’t aware of how complex COVID treatment can look, this is a good introduction. And again, I’ll recommend the documentary The First Wave on Hulu. It's a difficult watch, but it really puts everything into perspective.

 

A day after giving birth, I was asked back to work. America needs paid family leave.

Oof. The United States likes to play pretend a lot. We like to pretend there’s no racism, that poor people are poor because they’re lazy, that anyone can succeed and become a billionaire no matter what your challenges, and we also like to pretend that childbirth is as simple as clipping off a hangnail. I’ve read stories of women going back to waitressing jobs four days after giving birth because she couldn’t afford to take more time off. That’s completely inhumane, not to mention completely dangerous. We need to do better.

 

A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, the State Used Welfare Funds to Take Her Son.

This is a situation I’ve seen play out in so many of the books I’ve read on poverty, and in real life. A friend of mine found herself unexpectedly pregnant, but didn’t realize it until extremely late in the pregnancy. She was also extremely low-income and couldn’t figure out a way to make things work financially, so even though she desperately wanted to parent her baby, she gave it up for adoption…and promptly suffered several mental breakdowns that required her to be hospitalized. Poverty causes trauma in myriad ways, and instead of addressing the root cause, we as a country criminalize poverty and cause more trauma to everyone involved. This is a devastating article with a story that’s far too common.

 

A hockey fan spotted a staffer’s suspicious mole from the stands, saving his life.

Ending on a happier note! A college student attending a hockey game saw a funky-looking mole on the back of an assistant equipment manager’s neck, so she tapped out a message to him on her cell phone to warn him, enlarged it, caught his attention, and held her phone up to the glass to show him. He did get it checked out (after dragging his feet a bit), and it turned out to be early-stage cancer, but they caught it in time before it spread. I love stories like this!

 

I hope you’re having a good week. It’s tough out there for everyone, in different ways (solidarity with my fellow parents of young children!), so please be kind- to others and to yourself. Be sure to leave yourself some time for whatever relaxes you and makes you feel whole, and I wish you a calm, peaceful weekend. : ) 

What's Been Going On: Monday, 3 January - Wednesday, 5 January, 2022

 Brrrr! It’s a cold one today. As I write this, it’s currently 5 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and I have no desire to go out whatsoever. Fortunately, other than taking the recycling out (which is located conveniently by my back door!), I don’t need to. Much better to stay inside my cozy, warm little house on days like today.

This week looks a little different. We ended up not sending our daughter back to school yet; her teacher told us, in response to the email we sent her, that they anticipated a lot of absences and that this week was just for review because of that, so we ended up not sending her at all. COVID numbers are far too high, so we’ve been doing our own thing and having plenty of fun together!

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

 

Monday, 3 January, 2022

(This was technically my daughter’s last day of winter break.)

After coffee and breakfast, I wrote my Monday post (I usually like to do this before the day of posting, but there’s not always time). After I posted it, I loaded and ran the dishwasher, tidied the living room, and then did various things on the computer while my husband and daughter played in the living room in front of me.

After lunch, we all went for a chilly three-mile walk. This took a lot longer than normal, because of the snow and ice (fortunately, no falling, only a few slides!). We live in a really active town, so the path was already well-trodden.

 

I took the garbage and recycling cans to the road when we got home (I was already warm from the walk, so I figured this was the best time!), then ran to the library to grab some books for my daughter. At home, I prepared another batch of oven-roasted Brussels sprouts and put a new bag in the trash can, then unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. Leftovers for dinner, along with those Brussels sprouts!

 

I did my Duolingo and showered, read more of Gory Details by Erika Engelhaupt, then watched two episodes of Killer in Plain Sight with my husband before bed.

 

Tuesday, 4 January, 2022

Breakfast and coffee, and then I got dressed, scooped the litterbox, filled and ran the dishwasher, and tidied the living room. And then it was time for not-quite-homeschool with my daughter! We read a bunch of library books that I’d picked up the day before, about the ocean, activism, simple machines, how things work around the house, and health. We had a lot of great discussions!

After lunch, I made my daughter do some writing, and then we worked on my Read Harder project of silent reading for 30 minutes. She read her Katie Kazoo book; I read American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood. When the timer went off, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, took out the compost, and made a pitcher of orange juice.

When my husband got home, I ran out to GFS to pick up some large containers of peanut butter and also ended up grabbing a bag of pierogies for dinner (total comfort food!). On the way there, the COVID testing line on Main Street was at least 20-25 cars long, at around 3pm. Yikes!

At home, I bagged up the bananas I’d chopped and froze a few days ago. Four bags of bananas, ready for smoothies and baking. Yum!

 

I brought in the trash and recycling cans, finished reading Gory Details by Erika Engelhaupt, and began reading Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods by Amelia Pang. Y’all…this book is utterly soul-crushing, and I’m not sure I can ever buy anything again in good conscience. Chinese forced labor is devastating, and there’s really no way to tell which products come from forced-labor camps. If you’ve ever bought a product made in China, you need to read this.

I boiled the pierogies for dinner while chatting with my sister-in-law, who is a teacher. Her school district, which is right down the road from ours, shut down for three days due to too many teachers and staff having COVID. No one left to teach. Ugh.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered (this is when my husband went over math with our daughter), read, and watched three episodes of Killer in Plain Sight with my husband before bed.

 

Wednesday, 5 January, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I made my grocery list. Not many good sales this week.

I wrote and posted my review for Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller on my book blog, and then it was time for fake homeschooling with my daughter! We read books about mermaids, school in other countries, vaccines, and how food gets from where it’s grown to our homes. Afterwards, I had her do some writing, and she killed it! I was so happy.

I wrote a review for Gory Details, and then it was time for lunch. We did my Read Harder reading, and then I finally got dressed, and when my husband got home, I was off to get groceries. It was extremely cold and fiercely windy, and my trunk wouldn’t open, but the light came on showing it was open- and I’m not strong enough to force it open or thump it closed. SO frustrating. I even cried a little trying to deal with this, but that was more due to everything ELSE going on. I’m so stressed out about sending my kiddo back to school next week; I just don’t think the kids are going to be safe there, unmasking at lunch, with as contagious as this Omicron variant is. (I’ll still be taking her out for lunch, but she’ll still be in class with those kids afterwards, and I’ve seen how poorly some of them mask…). Be kind to the parents in your lives right now; there are no good answers to anything and everyone I know with young children basically all feel like screaming and throwing up all the time because of the stress. (My husband got the trunk to close when I got home. PHEW.)

After hitting two grocery stores (no decent deals anywhere this week), I came home and did an hour of volunteer work, and then we had dinner- Chinese food for my husband’s birthday! I did my Duolingo and biked for 25 minutes (even though I didn’t want to!). I showered, put my daughter to bed, read Made in China, and watched three episodes of Killer in Plain Sight with my husband before bed.

 

And that’s it for now! My poor house is nowhere near as tidy as I would like it, but that’s what happens when you’re home all the time and trying to replicate school for a small child. I should have a little more time today that I can get things in better shape.

I hope wherever you are, you’re staying warm and HEALTHY. I don’t want any form of COVID, ‘mild’ or not, and I don’t want my daughter getting it either (kids can get long COVID as well; I’m not interested in a seven-year-old living the rest of her life with a medical condition that could have been prevented…). I’m really not sure what we’re going to do about school next week. There have been 13 reported cases at her school already this week, in two days, so…Stay tuned, I guess. It’s a whole entire saga…

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 30 December, 2021 - Sunday, 2 January, 2022

 Good morning and happy Monday! It’s a cold one here, currently just 6 degrees Fahrenheit. I slept a little funny on my right shoulder, so it’s pretty cranky with me, but I’m not going to let that stop me!

We got our first decent snowfall over the weekend. It snowed almost all day Saturday and a little bit into Sunday morning, leaving us with a little over four inches of snow. Everything is covered in a lovely mantle of white and looks so cheery!

Here’s what I’ve been up to lately!

 

Thursday, 30 December, 2021

After breakfast and coffee, I posted my Thursday post and did an hour of volunteer work. I unloaded, reloaded, and ran the dishwasher, did 20 minutes of Pilates, and then rested, because I was wiped out!

By this time, it was time for lunch (winter break means sleeping in a little later, so I don’t get quite as much done). Afterwards, I sat down for 30 minutes of my Read Harder project, and friends, I FINISHED The Joy of Sects by Peter Occhiogrosso!!! Almost 600 pages and I completed it. My first Read Harder book since 2020. Super proud of myself!

I dozed for a few minutes, then got up to unload the dishwasher. I sliced the bananas I’d bought on markdown on Wednesday, and chopped some on-sale peppers, then took everything out to the garage freezer to freeze.

 

I unloaded the dishwasher, took out all the compost (it was a lot!) and recycling, and reloaded the dishwasher. I sat down to do some cross-stitching, but the cat hopped onto my lap, so I figured I’d just leave him there and played on the computer instead. : )

I created a Google doc version of my want-to-read list. I have a paper version that I bring to the library whenever I go, but I figured it might be handy to keep a Google doc version as well; that way, I always have a copy with me, accessible on my phone, wherever I go! We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and finished putting together my Google doc list. I put my daughter to bed, read my book, and my husband and I watched two episodes of Killer in Plain Sight.

 

Friday, 31 December, 2021

I had breakfast and coffee, finished and posted my Friday post, and got dressed. I loaded and ran the dishwasher, wiped off the gross stovetop, then spent the rest of the morning turning my pile of old bread ends into bread crumbs. I’d been needing to get to this for a while, but had lacked motivation; it’s not my favorite of tasks! But I got it done and now have a huge bag of breadcrumbs to show for my efforts.

 

 

After lunch, I biked for 25 minutes, then picked out my new Read Harder book, American Literary Almanac, edited by Karen L. Rood. This has been sitting on my shelf for…over a decade, at least, so it’s time to take this bad boy down! I spent 30 minutes reading this, then spent the rest of the afternoon finishing Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller (I may have napped a little in there as well).

We had a dinner of appetizers from the grocery store. I did my Duolingo and showered, and began reading Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt (really loving this!!!). My husband and I watched three episodes of Killer in Plain Sight before going to bed well before midnight. We’re real party animals. ; )

 

Saturday, 1 January, 2022

Happy New Year!!!

After coffee, I posted my monthly update on my book blog (WordPress was being a BEAST. I don’t understand why WordPress is so consistently buggy and difficult to work with). I got dressed, then went out to gas up my car in preparation for the snow and cold that was coming. At home, I reloaded and ran the dishwasher, scooped the litterbox, took out the compost and recycling, then sat down to clean up my email. The snow started falling around this time and was super pretty. Check out our colorful visitor!

After lunch, I biked for 25 minutes, then did my 30 minutes of Read Harder. I tidied and swept the living room, unloaded and reloaded the dish washer, then mixed the dry ingredients for Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. I completed the first chapter of Prayerbook Hebrew The Easy Way (I had gone through the first few chapters this summer, but I’m starting over, just to make sure I get everything!), including making flashcards, because my Hebrew spelling could use the work!

I prepared the baked oatmeal and put it into the oven. I chopped and sauteed an onion and the rest of the mushrooms from my fridge and made scrambled eggs with those veggies to go with the dinner oatmeal. Breakfast for dinner is so fun! After we ate, I did my Duolingo, showered, read Gory Details, and my husband and I watched three episodes of Killer in Plain Site before bed.

 

Sunday, 2 January, 2022

Quiet day!

After coffee and breakfast, I loaded the dishwasher and prepared a batch of spicy black-eyed peas in the Instant Pot (no recipe; I had to use the Wayback Machine in order to retrieve it, since the website no longer exists. I would’ve made these on the 1^st, but I’d forgotten I had some! Forgive me, New Year!). I ran the dishwasher, helped my husband use the dehydrator for a project he was doing, and then sat down to work on my grandmother’s cross-stitch until lunch.

I continued cross-stitching after lunch while watching YouTube and Swans Crossing (a short-run teen soap opera that I loved when I was 12 and which is available in full on Tubi). I unloaded and ran the dishwasher to clean it, did a brief ten minute Pilates video, and put the rice in the rice cooker before settling back down to continue cross-stitching.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked for 25 minutes, showered, showered my daughter, then settled down under my heated throw to read Gory Details, and my husband and I watched three episodes of Killer in Plain Sight before bed.

 

And that’s it! Really not sure what this week will bring. I’m not feeling at all confident about sending my daughter to school this week. I wouldn’t go into a room with twenty other people for seven hours a day, five days a week, in a building with several hundred people; why would I do that to my child? Case numbers are ridiculous right now, and we’ve worked so hard to avoid COVID these past two years. I don’t want all our efforts to be for nothing. My husband has emailed her teacher to see if we can get take-home work if we keep her home this week. I don’t know what the answer will be, but I really don’t think sending her into a school full of kids who have traveled and spent time with who-knows-how-many-other-people over break, who are (often improperly) wearing cloth masks (which aren’t enough with Omicron) and sitting in the unmasked stew of the lunchroom for 25 minutes every day, is the right call here. Wish us luck; parenting during a pandemic is full of awful decisions with no clear answer.

Whatever you’re doing this week, I hope it’s a productive one, and you stay healthy and warm!

My list of goals for 2022

Good morning!

I’m forgoing my usual Friday Links post this week in order to bring you…

My 2022 goals!

It’s good to have something to work towards, right? Life has thrown quite a few curveballs at us in the past few years, and I know it’s possible that many or none of these will get done because of that (and if that’s the case, I’ll be kind to myself; it’s difficult to live through history like this!), but I like having at least a few things in mind to accomplish as I mosey through the year. From here on out, I’ll be updating my progress on this every month, so stay tuned to see how I do (or don’t do, as the case may be!).

Ready? Here we go!

 

2022 Goals

1. Read 100 books.

This is a goal I make every year, and I’ve made it every year since but two (both years that I had very young children). Some years I hit 100 fairly early in the year; other years, it’s not until August. Just as long as I hit 100, I’m happy!

SUB GOAL: Read all the ebooks on my list! The photo doesn’t show all of them, but it’s the majority. I’ve been kind of sitting on these books, waiting to see if the library was going to close down again, but if that happens, my plan is to focus on reading some of the books on my own shelf. Some of these have been sitting on my list far too long! I’ll get started on these as soon as I finish my current crop of library books. 

2. Sew at least one thing.

This is a big one! Sewing intimidates me; I have zero training as a seamstress. When it’s safe, whenever that is, I want to take a sewing class or two, but I’ve made skirts, pajama pants, aprons, and several Halloween costumes, all fairly simple stuff. I don’t yet have it planned out *what* I want to sew, just that I want to sew at least one item.

3. Knit at least one thing.

Doesn’t matter what, but I have a few ideas.

4. Crochet at least one thing.

Crochet is faster than knitting, but it uses more yarn, so I’m careful about how often I crochet things. I have a few ideas of what I might crochet, nothing big, but whatever I make will count!

5. Finish my grandmother’s cross-stitch.

Besides reading my 100 books, this is my first priority, and I’m well on my way there! It’s been sitting here for too long, and I’d love to surprise my mom with the finished product soon. I’m just doing the backstitching now, so this really shouldn’t take me too much longer.

6. Work my way through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way.

Another major priority. I’ve gone through Aleph Isn’t Tough by Linda Motzkin twice and I’m more than ready to move on, but the second in her series, Aleph Isn’t Enough, didn’t break down the language enough for me to feel comfortable moving past the first lesson. Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way by Joseph Anderson is a good bridge between the two books (my rabbi agrees!), so I’m resolving to tackle this whole book this year. I worked through a little of the book this past summer, but fell off when my daughter went back to school and my brain started panicking at all the alone time I had (thank you, antidepressant, for getting me back on track!). Here you can see the outside of the book, and a sample lesson.

7. Read at least one book in French

This is something I’ve done almost every year as an adult, though I’ve taken the last two years off (THANKS, PANDEMIC. Little hard to focus when everyone is home and noisy and all of virtual first grade is taking place seven feet away…). I have a HUGE collection of untranslated French novels, thanks to my wonderful Belgian mother-in-law, and it’s time to get back on track with this. I don’t have a book picked out yet, but I’ll update when I do.

BONUS

We all need about 2347893248932 more hours in our days in order to accomplish everything we truly want to, and I’m no different. I realize there’s a limit to my time, and the goals above are what I’ll be focusing my time on, but if I find myself with extra time on my hands, here’s where it will go.

A. Write something and get it published.

I accomplished this last year! Alma published an article I wrote in June, and I’m still extremely proud of that. Writing can be a hit-or-miss thing, so I may write a thousand articles and not get anything published, but…it’s a worthy goal!

B. Do at least six drawings.

Drawing is something I picked up during the pandemic. My daughter was worried about doing art class all alone, so I said I’d do art with her. It’s hard for me. I’m not a natural artist; my brain doesn’t make pictures very well (I have a hard time even clearly picturing things in my own house), so I’m still in the stages of working out how to draw based on other people’s pictures, but it’s a fun learning activity for me (even if my brain feels like soup when I’m done!). Some examples of past drawings:

 

 

C. Watch more Karl Johan

I had originally had this as watching more SKAM. SKAM is a Norwegian show that was popular a few years ago. I watched and absolutely adored the first three seasons and then never got around to watching the final season. Unfortunately, the show is no longer available outside of Norway, which is a huge bummer, because it was incredibly well-done, and I’d always meant to watch Season 4. But another favorite, Karl Johan, is still available, so I’ll watch more of that instead. This isn’t a relaxing thing for me; I’m nowhere near fluent in Norwegian and I have to pause the show often to look things up, so this is work. But it’s good work, and enjoyable, so it’s something I’d definitely like to get to if I have time.

 

That’s what I was able to come up with this year. I have plenty to read and learn and work towards. Notice that all of these things are things that can be done at home, using things I pretty much already have! I own so many books and a kindle, and I have access to many fabulous libraries; I have a HUGE stash of yarn and all the knitting needles and crochet hooks I need. I’d like to have other goals on here, like growing a larger garden, but things like that are deeply dependent on how my back is, and while it’s mostly fine now, it’s not been great through the pandemic as a whole, so I didn’t want to add anything super physical that I may not be able to complete due to no fault of my own.

It's going to be a busy year, and I’m looking forward to it!

What kind of goals do you have for this new year?

What's Been Going On: Monday, 27 December - Wednesday, 29 December, 2021

 Lazy, lazy week around here!

This is one of my favorite times of year. Not because of the holidays; more because of the coziness of it all. The weather is usually pretty gross, sloppy and cold; my husband is usually off of work because the lab is closed or, at the very least, slowed down quite a bit, so if he’s not off entirely like he is this week, he’s only going in briefly. My daughter is home from school. It’s a time of year to be cozy and lazy and snuggly, and that’s what we’ve been doing this week, for the most part.

Here's what’s been going on so far this week!

 

Monday, 27 December, 2021

After coffee and breakfast, I got dressed. I tidied my daughter’s room a bit and brought up the gifts that remained in the living room. And then it was time to take down the tree! Woohoo!!! (I really like having my living room back.) I got everything down and packed away, and I swept the living room floor.

I then sat down for a bit, because my back was pretty cranky, so I played on the computer a bit. I unloaded the dishwasher, and then it was time for lunch. Afterwards, we bundled up for a very cold and windy three-mile walk (lots of complaining from my daughter. Can’t blame her too much there).

I read and napped a bit under my heated throw, and then warmed the leftover chili for dinner. I did my Duolingo, loaded and ran the dishwasher, put the remains of dinner away, and showered. I read, finishing Knocked Down by Aileen Weintraub, and watched one episode of FBI Files with my husband.

 

Tuesday, 28 December, 2021

While having breakfast and coffee, I wrote two book reviews (which won’t be posted for several months, since they’re ARCs from NetGalley that won’t be commercially released for a while yet), which took a large chunk of the morning. I love getting books from NetGalley, but I definitely find reviewing those books to be a little more challenging, since I want to be as thorough and professional about them as I can.

I got dressed, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and ran it again, took out the compost, and then it was time for lunch. I wasn’t hugely hungry, but I had to eat because I had to drive my son to the doctor. We’d scheduled this appointment a while back, but of course it got scheduled for the ONE DAY where we got measurable snow. The roads were absolutely hideous the entire way there; we only saw one single plow the entire way there. I slid past our turn and had to take the next one, and probably didn’t go over 20 mph the entire time. My view when my son was in the building:

 

While my son was getting his physical and flu shot, I spent 30 minutes doing my Read Harder of The Joy of Sects by Peter Occhiogrosso. Fortunately, the drive home was much better; the plows had been out and the roads were clear. Phew!

At home, I tidied and swept the living room, pulling down the blue-and-silver garland I’d put up for Hanukkah (I stored it with the Christmas tree, since Hanukkah is late next year and will intersect with Christmas). I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, prepared a batch of Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts, and I chopped up an onion. I took out the compost, then came in to cook One Pan Pasta. 

After dinner, I biked for 25 minutes, showered, and put my daughter to bed. I began reading Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller.

When my husband came upstairs, we watched The First Wave on Hulu. It’s about the first wave of COVID-19 and showcases the horrors that took place at Long Island Jewish Hospital Medical Center in New York. I highly recommend it if you have the mental space to watch it. If you’ve lost a loved one to COVID, however, take care; this is absolutely not an easy watch, but it does a tremendous job of illustrating the suffering of the patients and the strain on the doctors and nurses caring for them- both physical and emotional. It’s by National Geographic; if you have cable, they may show it on that channel as well. There’s a LOT of suffering in this documentary, though, so be careful if you’re not quite feeling ready to witness that.

 

Wednesday, 29 December, 2021

Breakfast and coffee, grocery list, dressed, and I was out the door! I hit two grocery stores today; at the local store, in terms of good deals, I bought around four pounds of bananas, three containers of baba ghanoush, and two packages of cheese ends, all marked down, which made me happy!

At home, I put the groceries away and did an hour of volunteer work. I had to email the folks from the foundation with a question, but in the meantime, I began compiling lists of food pantries in Tennessee (and already began to rage about the 2374832749832 requirements some of these places have for people down on their luck, just trying to stay alive. There’s a whole lot of racist, classist, power tripping nonsense that goes on in far too many of these places, and the language they use to speak about or to their clients is often completely disrespectful and othering. I’ve got rage for DAYS about this).

After lunch, I loaded and ran the dishwasher, tidied the living room, scooped the litterbox, and folded and put away two loads of laundry. My daughter joined me for 30 minutes of Read Harder- I’m SO close to finishing this book!!! If we read tomorrow, I’ll likely get through it. I read Halfway Home for a bit, then dozed.

I threw the Aldi pizza (with mushrooms I chopped and added) into the oven, and after dinner, I sat down to write this post. I did my Duolingo and showered (skipped biking because my contacts were bothering me, so I just wanted to take them out, which turned out to be a terrible idea, since my legs were bothering me all night long too. I really needed that exercise!), then read for an hour before my husband came upstairs. We watched two episodes of Killer in Plain Sight (I think that’s what it was called) before going to bed.

 

That’s it for now! We’re supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow on Saturday, so that’ll make things interesting. I’m glad we at least have more time before my daughter goes back to school, because case numbers are so high around here that sending the kids back seems like an absolutely terrible idea. I don’t even know what to think about that right now.

I hope you’re all doing well and staying healthy! Laundry, volunteer work, and cleaning for me today, and we’ll see what else I can fit in. Definitely exercise of some kind! ; )

What's Been Going on: Thursday, 23 December - Sunday, 26 December, 2021

 Welcome to a new week! I hope however you spent this weekend, it was safe and you’ve entered this week healthy and relaxed. Any plans we might have thought of earlier were rearranged; one family member came down with a mild breakthrough case of Covid, and my mom, while testing negative on her rapid test, has all the symptoms of it. We’re all healthy and tested negative, however, so we were able to visit my father, which was wonderful.

 Here's what I’ve been up to lately!

 

Thursday, 23 December, 2021

After coffee and breakfast, I posted my Thursday post, scooped the litterbox, and loaded and ran the dishwasher. I published my review for American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadowy History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser on my book blog. And then I settled down for an hour of volunteer work.

We all had lunch and took a 3 mile walk together. My daughter and I did 30 minutes of Read Harder together (I’m getting so close to finishing this book!), and then, with all the best intentions of reading more of my regular book, I…took a nap. It happens!

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and put the cauliflower potato soup on to reheat. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo, showered, and put dinner away. I read for about an hour until my husband came upstairs, and we watched an episode of Cold Case Files before bed.

 

Friday, 24 December, 2021

I had breakfast and coffee, got dressed, and loaded the dishwasher. I then prepared a double batch of Grits Casserole (with vegetarian “sausage”); I make this for my family every Christmas morning, but it’s so much easier to prepare it the day before and shove it in the oven in the morning. I put some red and black beans in the Instant Pot to cook, folded and put away a load of laundry, started a new load in the washer, and folded and put away a second load.

I played on the computer a bit, talked with my Dad on the phone, and then it was time for lunch! Afterwards, we all took another 3-mile walk. This pond is on our walking route, behind my daughter’s school, and it’s always neat to see how it changes throughout the year.

I switched the laundry and started a second load, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and then prepared an Instant Pot full of sweet potato chili (no recipe, I just kind of wing it). My daughter helped me with my 30 minutes of Read Harder, then I read a little of my regular book before napping (again!). I read a lot more when I woke up, and then it was time for dinner.

I did my Duolingo, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, put dinner away, switched the laundry, then sat down to work on my grandma’s cross-stitch. I virtually attended my synagogue’s Shabbat services (small crowd; we have a lot of interfaith families! To be honest, I’m kind of expecting them to go back to all-virtual services soon. I know of a few synagogues that already have). It was an early service, so I was able to put my daughter to bed. I read for a bit, then my husband and I wrapped gifts while listening to a few episodes of Cold Case Files. I loathe wrapping presents (and I’m terrible at it!).

 

Saturday, 25 December, 2021

In the tradition of children everywhere, my daughter woke us up for the first time at 4:30 am. *blink blink* She got sent back to bed.

When we were finally ready to get up (somewhere around 7 am), I drank my coffee and put the casserole in the oven, and my daughter opened her gifts. She was pretty thrilled with all the fun art supplies, play makeup, games, and Squishmallows she got!

I got dressed and semi-tidied the living room (OY VEY!), and I spent the majority of the morning hanging out with my family, which was lovely.

We had a frozen lasagna for lunch, so we put that in the oven, set the timer for the 23847329743 minutes it takes to cook, then walked over to where my son lives (which is on our usual walking route). We grabbed him and completed our walking route, and he opened his gifts (he’s an adult, so his big gift was the promise of car tires, which he needs). He got me what’s essentially a stocking hanger (and it’s perfect for me; see picture), but it’ll sit on my piano year-round:

 

He also bought me tickets for a local movie theater’s showing of Live at the Met in June, where the theater (and theaters around the country do this) teams up to broadcast a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera; we’re going to see Hamlet. I’ve always wanted to attend one of these, so I’m pretty excited! It’s not until June, so plenty of time to be giddy with anticipation.

We all had lunch and spent the afternoon together; I gave my son a ride back to his place because he had a blister on his foot that was irritating him. I went upstairs to snuggle under the heated blanket my husband had given me and finished reading Challenging Pregnancy: A Journey Through the Politics and Science of Healthcare in America by Genevieve Grabman…and then I took a nap. Did you expect anything different???

We had leftovers for dinner, then I biked for 25 minutes, showered, and loaded and ran the dishwasher. I started a new book, Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir by Aileen Weintraub, and read that until my husband came upstairs. We watched most of an episode of The New Detectives, but we didn’t care for the style of the program that much (or the janky audio!), so we went to bed.

 

Sunday, 26 December, 2021

My daughter came into our bedroom at around 7 to wake us up, so I got her breakfast, scooped the litterbox, got dressed and ready, and headed off to Walmart. We needed squirrel food (it’s only fair that they get some right along with the birds!), along with a few gifts for my father and his wife. We hadn’t been sure when we were meeting with them; I was kind of waiting to see when we would meet up with everyone else and then play it by ear so we could make sure we were healthy. My dad is a Type 1 diabetic and I didn’t want to risk bringing anything to him. But since everyone else was sick, we didn’t visit anyone else, and we decided we’d get together this day, so off I went to grab a few gifts!

At home, I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the living room (my daughter’s gifts are still down here; we’ll get the living room fully back together this week!), including sweeping and taking out all the recycling we’d amassed, and the compost. My husband and daughter and I took rapid Covid tests, all negative!

My husband picked my son up and brought him back; his Covid test was also negative, so we were off for the hour-long drive to my dad’s house (I read my book on the way). We ate lunch together, my daughter played, we talked, it was just a really nice afternoon. We’re planning on repeating it again at some point when we’re sure it’s safe.

We drove home (I read the whole way home as well), and I got my daughter her dinner; I wasn’t quite hungry yet. I farted around a bit on the computer, then showered and showered my daughter, and then I had some dinner before putting her to bed. I crawled under my toasty electric throw and read until my husband came upstairs, and we watched two episodes of Unsolved (which I liked, but he didn’t, so I’m not sure if we’ll continue watching this one).

 

That it! I’d really love to get the living room back together this week; that means taking the Christmas tree down, so I need to get motivated enough to do that. The tree is currently in the spot for what we call my daughter’s ‘pandemic school desk,’ the desk she used all last year for remote learning. So, obviously case numbers are exploding all over right now, and I’m feeling increasingly uncomfortable about sending my kiddo back to school next week. I’m REALLY hoping the schools make the switch to go remote for a week or two to let everything settle down, or just cancel altogether and tack the extra week or two onto the end of the year. Otherwise, I’m heavily considering keeping her home for a bit. Even if Omicron isn’t quite as destructive as earlier variants, I still don’t want any of us getting this, especially not my still-developing, still-growing seven-year-old daughter. I don’t know. This is a really scary decision and I’m not sure what to do. Stay tuned!

Stay warm and toasty and safe, my friends. I hope whatever you’re doing this week, it’s productive and fun and you’re able to find some joy.

Friday Links: 24 December, 2021

 It’s Friday! Merry Christmas Eve, Shabbat Shalom, and welcome to the weekend (something everyone can celebrate!). I’ve got a busy day of house chores before me, but hopefully I’ll squeeze some time in there for some reading and relaxation. As I write this, it’s not quite 8 am, and I’ve got the cat snuggled up on my lap. Makes typing difficult, but he’s nice and warm and this makes him happy, so it’s all good.

Here's what I found interesting online this week!

 

In Praise of Scruffy Hospitality

How much do I love this article???

We invite people over (when it’s safe, that is!) and we stress out cleaning our homes to make it appear that no one actually lives in them, and we cook fancy food that takes ages to prepare and wastes time and money and resources. How necessary is it that we make our home into a museum, instead of being okay that our kid left a pile of drawings and crayons under the piano bench and our current knitting project is lying in a bag on the floor? Maybe those items could spark a conversation and deepen friendship (“Oh, I’ve always wanted to learn to knit, could you teach me?” “Wow, you must really love art. I have some old painting supplies I’m not using, would you like them?”). And are people coming over to see your house and eat fancy food, or are they coming to visit you? Definitely something to consider before you plan your next gathering.

 

It's Time to Stop Giving Gifts to Adults

YES, PLEASE.

It’s not that I’m not grateful- I very much am (my mom in particular is an excellent gift-giver and chooses gifts with a lot of thought). But it’s just so much pressure, and gift-giving is super unnecessary. If anything, a single, thoughtful gift that can be used up- a plate of cookies, a loaf of bread, something along those lines- would be better. Less waste, less pressure, and everyone has more time to spend on the things they want (and maybe more time to spend with each other as well!).

 

How to Get Rid of Throwaway Culture

I wish I could print this out on a poster and stick it to my wall.

I hate waste. Loathe it. And I also realize I can’t fix the problem of waste in this country or in this world all by myself. I can do my best to buy items with less packaging, but if all I can afford is the item with more packaging, well…

But I keep trying. My husband’s repair skills are pretty impressive (he replaced a burned-out fuse in my Instant Pot this year; he rewired one of my daughter’s toys in the past; he’s replaced small plastic bits and soldered things back together), and I’m pretty handy with sewing repairs. I reuse everything I can, buy used as often as possible, and I’m doing my best to instill those words in my daughter: “There is no such thing as away.”

And along those lines…

 

Why Shopping Should Be a Last Resort

I hate shopping. I tend to buy only the things I need. There’s a big glass canister at Walmart that I’ve had my eye on for years, for keeping flour in…but I have a really large plastic barrel that was originally a canister for cheese balls (given to me empty by my mom; she knew I’d have a use for it, and I did!), so I don’t need it. I have a terrible time finding gifts for anyone, because most of the things in stores look like such junk, junk that no one needs…This is a really great article that points out how we should be thinking about shopping. Buy new only when necessary, buy only what you can repair, and buy quality so that it lasts. And, of course, buy as little as possible.

And finally…

 

The Danger of Treating Body Parts Like Fast Fashion

How we think about our bodies and our looks is important, and so much of our culture is hellbent on making us dislike ourselves so they can sell us more stuff. If only we put on this outfit, we’ll finally look the way we want! If only we buy this makeup and that hair dye and schedule that procedure, we’ll look young again!

Who cares? Why can’t we be happy in the bodies we have? Being trendy is boring; being comfortable with what we have- gray hairs, spreading hips, cellulite and all- is revolutionary.

I’m 41; white hairs are starting to crop up in my dark brown hair like weeds in a garden. But not all weeds are bad; some are useful (hello, dandelions!) and should be celebrated, and that’s what I’m doing with my white hair. I’m lucky to have lived this long; not everyone else has been privileged enough to experience this. My stretch marks and soft belly are medals of honor from surviving two pregnancies. I’m not going to have the body I had when I was 16, and that’s okay. I can love my body for what it is right now, chronic pain and all, no matter what any company says. And so should you.

 

That’s it for this week! Merry Christmas, Shabbat Shalom, and I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Whatever your plans, whether you’re meeting with friends or family or ordering Chinese takeout, please be safe. So many people I know right now have breakthrough cases, and I have two family members who are sick with non-Covid viruses (so we’ll be meeting with grandparents on a later date). There’s still a lot of yuck going around out there, so test before you meet if at all possible, and please, please, please, stay safe.