What's Been Going On: Monday, 11 April - Wednesday, 13 April, 2022

 Good morning, friends! It’s been a seriously rough week around here…but, as always, there’s reason for hope. Even though I’d like nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep for about eleventeen thousand hours…

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

 

Monday, 11 April, 2022

I had coffee and edited and posted Monday’s post, then got dressed.

My daughter came out of her room, upset because she couldn’t find something. I’ve shown pictures of her room before; it looks like someone took a toy store and shook it as hard as possible before setting it back down. It’s no surprise she can’t find anything there. This turned into a full-blown tantrum, but I managed to get her settled down enough to start math.

Spelling, however, caused another tantrum, and that took so long to stop that we only had time to read a book about how water has been made safe to drink throughout history. Pausing for lunch was a relief.

Unfortunately, she had another tantrum about her messy room after lunch (and blamed her friend for messing it up. Said friend hasn’t been in our house since December of 2021, and I’ve cleaned her room multiple times since then…). Once she calmed down, we finished the biography of Roald Dahl, and we began a book on photography during the Great Depression.

When my husband got home, I fled the house for errands, because hoo boy, did I need a break. I stopped by Walgreens to pick up two inhalers, went around the block to the library so I could return some books, picked up a few items at Walmart, then went next door to Sam’s Club for various things (hummus, vegan acai bowls, carrots, toilet paper, yogurt, and some chickpea spinach nuggets, and a chicken for my husband).

At home, my daughter threw another fit. I heated the chickpea nuggets, and we had dinner. I did my Duolingo, then did a 31-minute yoga video. I showered and put dinner away, then read my book. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Tuesday, 12 April, 2022

After coffee, I finished reading Self-Reg by Stuart Shanker, and got dressed. I loaded the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen, and then it was time for the first tantrum of the day.

By this point, I was exhausted. I just couldn’t fight her anymore, so I went into the kitchen and prepared a batch of tomatoes for roasting. They went into the oven, and I ran the dishwasher and swept and tidied the living room. I spent the morning knitting and reading, instead of doing school. Not quite my ideal for a weekday.

After lunch, I blended the roasted tomatoes in the food processor, cleaned up, and lay down on the bed. I needed it, badly. I’d had a stress-induced muscle spasm in my neck that morning that made everything from my neck to my ribcage hurt (and it’s still incredibly painful). My husband got home and took our daughter out for a walk, and I made a batch of cookies and prepared the salad and salad dressing.

I hung out on the computer for a bit and picked out a new library ebook (This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith), then boiled the spaghetti and heated the sauce. We had dinner, I did my Duolingo and ran the dishwasher, then I did a 27-minute yoga video to relieve tension. I showered and put dinner away, put my daughter to bed, and read my book. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Wednesday, 13 April, 2022

After coffee, I made out my grocery list. My husband and I had decided that our daughter might be receptive to a chart that marked the days without a tantrum or argument, so I grabbed one of her rewritable board toys to make that…and she immediately started arguing with me about using it (I didn’t even get a chance to explain what it was for), and I was just done for the day. How much constant arguing and tantrum-throwing can one parent be expected to handle??? (This isn’t entirely new behavior; she’s always been one to argue over everything. In my Facebook memories the other day was a post about how, when she was two, she asked me to read a sign for her, and when I told her what it said, she threw a huge tantrum, screaming that I was WRONG. There was also the time she was obsessed with ballet, so we found a YouTube kids’ ballet class, and within a minute, she threw a tantrum, wailing and screaming that that was NOT ballet and the teacher was WRONG. OY.)

I sent my daughter to her room before I started to yell (I hate yelling), then emptied and refilled the dishwasher. I did an hour of volunteer work (Tennessee really doesn’t have a lot of organizations that offer help for victims of sexual assault…), then I went upstairs and lay down and cried for a bit. Just so totally worn out.

After lunch, my daughter was settled enough to work through a unit of math, and we worked on spelling and Language Arts as well. We finished reading the book on photography in the Great Depression, and I made her a page of math and spelling to do when I was gone.

I stopped at three separate grocery stores (lots of produce this week!), then ran – quite literally – to the library to return books and grab another; a storm was on the way and I wanted to get home before the 60+ mph winds started. I did get completely soaked bringing in the groceries!

I put the groceries away and cooked the pizza, and we had dinner. My neck and shoulders were really sore, so I skipped exercising for the night and took a shower. I put my daughter to bed – we finished reading What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge and started reading Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield. I read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

The good part, the reason for hope, is that tomorrow, my daughter and I have an appointment with a counseling practice about 15 minutes away. They were able to get her in right away with a therapist with over 20 years of experience. She and I very obviously need some new tools in our collective toolbox to help her manage her disappointments and frustrations. I don’t want her behavior struggles destroying her education, and I definitely need strategies for pulling her out of her tantrums and shutting down her arguments when they get started. Nothing I’ve tried has helped or been effective so far, so I’m crossing all the things that this therapist can help us forge a healthier relationship and get my daughter started down a path of better behavior. Wish us luck!

I very much hope your week is going smoother than mine!

 

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 7 April - Sunday, 10 April, 2022

 Good morning! It’s Monday again, and we’ve technically got 31 days left until the official start of summer vacation (not that I’m counting). We’ll still do some schoolwork over the summer, just a more relaxed version, and - I’m looking forward to this – we’ll be able to do it outside! (Watch it snow all summer long…)

Last week was a pretty rough school week, not gonna lie, but it ended on a good note. I’m keeping a close eye on it, though, because I absolutely don’t want that to turn into a regular thing.

Here’s what I was up to the second half of last week! (No pictures this week; nothing all that photographable!)

 

Thursday, 7 April, 2022

After coffee, I edited and posted Thursday’s post, then posted my review of The Third Daughter by Talia Carner over on my book blog.

I got dressed, and my daughter went into an immediate tantrum even before we started school, so I headed into the kitchen to give both of us some space. I made an Instant Pot full of lentil soup and a batch of corn muffins, took out the recycling, folded and put away a load of laundry, and swept the kitchen floor. My daughter and I had another long conversation about her behavior and the importance of education, and then we spent the rest of the morning finishing reading her book about pirates.

After lunch, I spent some time looking for some local counselors who see children, because we may have to go down that road in order to help her learn how to manage her feelings of frustration (I did find one that seems good, so I’m hanging on to their number for now). I started a load of laundry, and then it was back to work. We finished the book on Passover, started a biography of Roald Dahl (since my daughter recently read Matilda), read a little bit from her book on outdoor science, then did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading.

I was emotionally exhausted and dozed for a bit after school, but woke up so I could have a phone conversation with a financial adviser from our bank. I switched the laundry and bumbled around on the computer for a bit, and then it was time for dinner.

I did a 36-minute yoga video (seemed like a good day for yoga, to relieve stress!), then showered and put dinner away. I put my daughter to bed, read for a while, and watched one episode of Deadly Women with my husband before bed.

 

Friday, 8 April, 2022

After coffee, I wrote and posted my Friday post, then got dressed.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Malawi). We did math (still working with coins; she’s now showing how to make, say, 65 cents two different ways with coins), then headed into Language Arts and spelling (I did question her beforehand to see if she felt like she could handle new spelling words. My daughter has massive anxiety about being perfect, though I’m constantly telling her and demonstrating that being perfect doesn’t exist and attempting it isn’t necessary, that giving our best effort is what’s important). She did just fine. : ) We did 15 minutes of journal writing, and then I got lunch - vegetarian “chicken” – into the oven.

After lunch, we read more of the Roald Dahl biography, two chapters of history, more of the outdoor science book, and then we started a book on Egyptian mythology, which she really seemed to enjoy. We did our 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and then we were done for the day. No tantrums!!!! \o/

I hung out on the computer for a while, and then it was time for dinner. I did my Duolingo, then did a 27-minute cardio and strength-training workout. I showered, knit, and virtually attended my synagogue’s Shabbat services. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 9 April, 2022

Lazyish day! I finally went in for the blood draw my doctor had ordered a few weeks back (my cholesterol and triglycerides are high, ugh), then came home for breakfast and coffee. I got a bunch of stuff done on the computer, and then it was time for lunch (apparently half the county was there for bloodwork that day; it took a lot longer than I had hoped).

I spent the afternoon reading, trying to catch up on some of the books I’ve got backed up. I might have also snuck a little nap in there as well!

I came downstairs and emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, took out the compost and recycling, and then went to pick my son up. He was coming over for dinner, but I gave him a haircut as well, which he desperately needed. He has ridiculously curly hair, so instead of his hair growing long, it just grows…out. Like a bush. Or a sheep, like my daughter likes to call him.

We had dinner together and hung out for a bit, then I took him home and did my Duolingo. I showered, loaded and ran the dishwasher, tidied the living room, and put my daughter to bed. I read more of my book (almost finished!), and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 10 April, 2022

Coffee and working on this post made up a good portion of the morning! I got dressed (which took a while, trying to figure out what to wear to do volunteer work at the synagogue. While I’m not mentally anxious when I’m around people, my body tends to be like, “Uh, yeah, remember how we freak out when we’re around people???” and I sweat like a rainforest, so I had to find something that wasn’t going to make me overheat but that wouldn’t show me being a sweaty beast!). I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, then took out the compost.

I spent a little time on the computer, then chopped up some broccoli, got it into the Instant Pot to steam, and took the stems out to the compost. Back to the computer, then back to the kitchen, where I made a batch of Bananadoodle dough, put the dough in the fridge, and took the peels out to the compost. Back to the computer, and then it was time for lunch (and a trip to the compost with the pear trimmings).

I chopped up and sauteed an onion and some garlic as part of our dinner later. My husband and daughter left to go to visit his sister, and I prepared a batch of Impossibly Easy Vegetable Pie with the broccoli. I filled and ran the dishwasher, then sat down to finish reading Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women & Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evangelicalism by Deborah Jian Lee (which I read for my volunteer job’s new book club, and which turned out to be both fascinating and well-written).

And then it was time to head out the door! I had signed up to pack ‘boredom buster bags’ at the synagogue for kids whose families are part of a local homeless shelter program, so I, along with about nine or ten other Jewish folks, put together activity kits for kids who don’t have a lot to do in the hotel rooms they’re being put up in. It’s a small thing – I know other members of our synagogue focus on advocating for affordable housing, which is so, so necessary – but hopefully the kids will enjoy them. : )

At home, I got the casserole in the oven and hung out on the computer while it baked, then ate and left to pick up some yarn across town from Freecycle. When I got home, I went for a four-mile walk (VERY windy; my earbuds kept getting blown out of my ears and half the time I could only hear the wind and not my music!), then showered, showered my daughter, and did my Duolingo. I put my daughter to bed and read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before going to bed, where I slept terribly.

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I’m crossing my fingers that today is an easy day, because I’m not sure that I have the patience for anything else! So, 31 official school days left, which isn’t bad. I *think* we’ll have a few extra days of math, but I was going to do some math with her over the summer, so that’s no big deal. The rest of our summer will be just relaxed reading and learning and maybe a bunch of outdoor field trips. We're lucky to have a ton of forest preserves around us, and I've always thought it would be fun to visit all of them. Maybe we'll make that a thing this summer. :)

Hope your week is off to a wonderful and well-rested start!!!

Friday links: 8 April, 2022

 It’s Friday, and I’m ready for a nap. A long, hibernation-style nap. Just wake me up when the temperatures are consistently above 75, okay?

Yesterday was another rough day with my daughter. Her first tantrum occurred before school even started, and it wore me out; I ended up falling asleep after school. I think I need to find a professional with experience working with kids to help us out here, and I may have a lead on one in the area. She obviously doesn’t like her behavior when it’s like this, and Lord knows I don’t either, but I’m also not an endless fount of patience and could use some guidance as to how to best help her handle her big feelings. Crossing my fingers that we can find someone to point us in the right direction. : )

I haven’t spent much time online this week, so I don’t have much, but here’s what I did find that’s interesting!

 

Coronavirus Hong Kong: ‘Omicron strain causes 7 times more deaths among hospitalized children than influenza’

I worry a lot that we’re going to end up with an entire generation of kids with completely preventable challenges that we have no societal structures to deal with. It’s not like life has ever been easy being disabled, especially in countries that don’t have great social systems (or here in the ‘just-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-and-think-positive’ US system of care). But a generation of kids with a massive amount of, say, learning disabilities? A huge percentage of kids with various forms of physical challenges? We’re not prepared, and as a society, we’ve never truly cared about the disabled. This is going to be a disaster.

And now this. Seven times more death than the flu. Even if the vast majority of kids get a mild case of COVID and recover normally…what happens when their best friend doesn’t? How do they deal with their sibling goes to the hospital and never comes home, or when the kid who sits in front of them at school suddenly isn’t there and doesn’t ever come back? All the people who roll their eyes while insisting that COVID doesn’t affect kids never seem to have an answer when you bring up COVID deaths, adult or pediatric, and how kids are expected to cope (the number of cases I’ve seen where kids- young kids- have lost both parents to COVID is beyond horrifying). Keep the kids in your life safe, folks.

 

There were 1,145 unique books challenged in US schools between July and March.

Book banning is something that gets my goat in a big, big way.

Look. Kids will usually put down books they’re not ready for, or that make them uncomfortable in any way. If the book is too hard, the subject matter too complex, or if it’s too scary (or boring), the vast majority of them aren’t going to keep plugging away at it, because kids just aren’t built like that. And for the kids that do read tougher books with more complex subjects- great! Awesome! Have a conversation with them about it. Talk to them. Figure out what they learned, what they think, how the book matches up with the values you’ve tried to instill in them (or doesn’t match up, and what all of this means). This whole parenting technique of ‘My child mustn’t know about the existence of these things I don’t like! I’m completely incapable of having difficult or uncomfortable conversations with my child, so I’ll just throw a tantrum about needing to instead!’ baffles me. My daughter, who turns 8 in three weeks, knows about periods. My son, who is almost 20, is completely comfortable discussing periods (why shouldn’t he be? Half the population gets them, or has gotten one at some point. He may be a husband and/or father one day and *should* be comfortable discussing them). We’ve always discussed the hard subjects, like war and suffering and death, health issues, gender, religion, etc., openly and honestly. I was fortunate enough to have parents who allowed me free reign over my reading life and I’ve extended this to my children as well. Anything they can read about and have questions about, we can discuss.

The number of parents out there who don’t want their children to grow into mature, thoughtful adults worries me. Case in point: in one of my Facebook book groups, we had a mom ask a while back if Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was an appropriate read for her 17-year-old son.

Excuse me, WHAT?!?!?!??

Lady, your son is like four seconds away from being a legal adult. How are you STILL monitoring what he reads? WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD?!?!??

I still think about this all the time. How on earth is that young man going to be prepared to make adult decisions for himself if his mom is still controlling what he reads at age 17???

Let your kids read. If you’re worried about what’s in the book, read it with them. Banning books for everyone else just because it makes you uncomfortable is gross and wrong.

 

Mattel Releases First Carbon Neutral Toys and Tesla Matchbox Car Made from 99% Recyclable Materials

Hurray! Used is still better than new, and repurposed better than recycled, but making toys out of recycled material is definitely a step in the right direction. I’m hopeful for a day where the vast majority of things we can purchase are made of recycled and/or reclaimed materials. The earth deserves to be taken care of, and we can do so much better than what we’re doing now. This is definitely a step in the right direction!

 

That’s all I’ve got for this week. This is going to be a busy weekend. I have a TON of reading to catch up on; I’m hoping my son can come over for dinner on Saturday; Sunday, my N95 and I are going to pack boredom-buster bags for kids at my synagogue, for the local rotating homeless shelter program. I’d like to find some time to sit and knit, but we’ll see if that happens, especially with all the reading I need to get done (and the usual other stuff, like exercise).

Wishing you all a lovely, relaxing weekend. Shalom, friends. : )

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

 Well, it’s definitely been a grinding ‘back to the old grind’ this week! *cringe* I’d say I’m more than ready for the weekend, but it’s bound to be a busy one, so let’s just say I’m ready for summer and call that good, eh?

Phew. Kids are exhausting. Homeschooling is exhausting. Housework is exhausting. That’s basically the long and the short of it!

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

 

Monday, 4 April, 2022

After coffee, I edited and posted my Monday post, got dressed, then posted my review for Outsmart Waste on my book blog.

We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Macau), did some math (more coins!), then started a book about unusual schools around the world (our library has quite a few books on this topic; I think they’re good for my daughter to read so she can see how good she’s always had it, both in public school and at home). We read some more of her book on outdoor science, and then read more of Unbored. I like this book so much, I think we’re going to buy a used copy. : )

After lunch, I brought in a bag of chopped green pepper from the garage freezer and cooked a pan of onion, garlic, and peppers, then emptied and refilled the dishwasher.

Back to school! We did spelling (my poor perfectionist kiddo freaked out and I had to talk her down). We read more about the brothers Grimm, did two chapters of history, and read more about pirates. We did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and then did 15 minutes of journaling. This is mostly so my daughter can practice her writing, but I’m guessing it’ll be good for me as well. : )

I prepared a breakfast casserole, collected and took out the garbage and the compost, and hauled the cans to the road. I replaced both trash bags (kitchen and bathroom), then filled and ran the dishwasher. The casserole went into the oven, and I knit while watching YouTube for just a bit.

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked for 30 minutes while reading Rescuing Jesus for my nonprofit’s bookclub, showered, put my daughter to bed, and read my other books. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022

After coffee, I posted my review for The Intimacy Experiment over on my book blog. I got dressed, then tidied the living room and swept.

My daughter and I started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Macedonia). We did math, and then she had a meltdown. I think she was hungry (she hadn’t eaten much of her breakfast), along with being tired and worn out from math (coins aren’t easy for her, so I think they cost her a lot of energy. Pun not intended!). I made her eat a banana, and then she snuggled on my lap while we did the rest of the morning’s work. We read from her book on outdoor science, read another chapter in the book on Passover, and then read more from her book about schools around the world.

After lunch, I chopped a bunch of broccoli and steamed it in the Instant Pot, took out the compost, and emptied and refilled the dishwasher. My daughter and I did spelling and Language Arts, then finished the book on the brothers Grimm. We did two chapters of her history book, did 30 minutes of Read Harder/silent reading, and 15 minutes of journal writing.

I got the pasta in the Instant Pot to make this Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheddar Pasta. My husband and daughter went for a walk, so I settled down to do some volunteer work, and of course after about 30 minutes, the internet died. So I ate early and headed out the door myself for what was probably a 4.5 mile walk. My hips were screaming by the time I got home, but it was worth it!

 

Our friend the heron has returned to the pond! Always nice when it comes back. : )

At home, I did my Duolingo, showered, put dinner away, and put my daughter to bed. I read for a little bit (my daughter kept coming in, so not much reading got done. I kept warning her that she was going to be tired in the morning and neither of us would like her behavior because of it…), and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Wednesday, 6 April, 2022

 After coffee, I made out my grocery list (solid meh. Nothing good on sale), and got dressed. We started our school day with On This Day in History and geography (Madagascar). We did math, and my daughter seriously dragged her feet doing her math problems, taking 20 minutes to only complete 16 problems (and these are easy things she absolutely knows, like 10+3. Sigh). We spent the rest of the time before lunch reading a really long book about the Plymouth colony and the Wampanoag Indians around the time what’s referred to as The First Thanksgiving was held.

After lunch, I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. We did spelling, and once again, my daughter freaked out and threw a tantrum (and her whiteboard), so yet again, we had another really long talk about her behavior, about negative self-talk, and about how she’s cheating herself out of valuable education time when we have to spend so much time every day addressing her behavior like this. It’s exhausting for all of us. (And no, she wasn’t doing this at school when she was in public school, but there were a lot of days when she’d have an outburst or two when she came home. She’s really, really good at holding it in until she’s home with her ‘safe’ people, so this is absolutely nothing new. If something doesn’t go her way, tantrum. If she doesn’t get something perfect on the first try, tantrum. She’s been like this since she was born. It’s why I’m reading Self-Reg by Stuart Shanker now, to try to help her get on a more even keel.)

When I finally got her calmed down, we finished reading the book on Plymouth, and finished the book on schools around the world, and we called it a day. I left for groceries and ran into the thrift store while I was in the next town over. I grabbed my daughter two books for her upcoming birthday (a set of Judy Moody books and a book of fairy tales) and two pairs of shoes (what I was mostly there for). Groceries wasn’t anything too exciting; only about 30%, MAYBE, are masked, which is…disappointing.

At home, I put the groceries away, then sat down to start in on more volunteer work. I baked the pizza, and I kept working all throughout dinner and afterwards. I worked up until I showered, then I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher while beginning to listen to a presentation by Dr. Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core. He was speaking with the local parent education group (he also comes from this area!), and I’d read his book, Acts of Faith, last fall. Super fascinating guy, with an amazing message about the necessity for religious literacy in pluralistic societies. I was sad he only spoke for an hour!

I did my Duolingo, worked on this post, and read for just a little bit. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

And that’s it! We’re up and ready to do it all over again (hopefully with a little less tantrumming? Yes? Please???). I think I’m going to keep it simple for dinner tonight, maybe some lentil soup and corn muffins. It’s supposed to be rainy, so that’ll mean another indoor workout of some sort (I’m still SO sore from my other constant workouts lately. All these workouts better have me looking like the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition in a few months…), and hopefully some extra reading, since I’m so behind!

I hope your week is going a little smoother than mine! : )

What's Been Going On: Thursday, 31 March - Sunday, 3 April, 2022

 Back to the old grind! It’s Monday, and our spring break is over. Boy, did we need that. It was a really fun week of not doing all that much, and it was awesome. I enjoy homeschooling, but it definitely has been a bit of a culture shock to be dropped back into it so quickly. I’ve come to the realization that I can relax a little, though; we have no plans to send her back to school anytime soon, and at this point, she doesn’t want to go back. She does miss her friends, but she’s enjoying the more relaxed pace, the one-on-one attention, and the Mama snuggles. She told me at bedtime the other night that she doesn’t want to go back (which is so sweet, but also kind of sad). She’s eventually going to need some sort of activities with other kids, so we’ll see what things look like as the weather warms up. I have a few ideas of some safe-ish things we may be able to plan. : )

Here's what the second half of our so-very-relaxing spring break looked like!

 

Thursday, 31 March, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote and posted my Thursday post, then edited and posted my review for Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes over on my book blog.

I pulled out my guitar and messed around with it for a bit. I’m not very good, but I can play enough to sing along, so I did that until it was lunchtime. My daughter was amusing herself with various toys, so I curled up with my book and finished reading Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson. I ran to the library to pick up a book from Interlibrary Loan and a functioning DVD copy of Matilda (the last one didn’t work, so we had to wait to watch it until this one came in). I began reading Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life by Stuart Shanker. My online secular homeschool group sang the praises of this book and it sounded like exactly what my daughter needs, so I’m crossing my fingers that this helps me help her. So far, I’m *really* liking it!

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, then did a 20-minute low-imact HASFit workout, showered, and did about 15 more minutes of volunteer work to kill time before putting my daughter to bed. She and I are reading What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. It’s a little old-fashioned and I don’t know how well it’s held up, but if there are parts that haven’t, that’ll just provide things for us to discuss. I continued reading my book after she went to bed, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Friday, 1 April, 2022

Slept ‘til noon, ordered take-out for every meal, and hired a housecleaner.

APRIL FOOL! After having coffee, I posted my monthly roundup post over at my book blog, wrote and posted my Friday post, got dressed and ready, and headed off the tantrum my daughter was brewing up (she has a *really* hard time coping when things don’t go her way. This morning, it was because her doll’s hair didn’t curl the way she thought it ought to, and she was to the point where she was starting to throw things and saying she never wanted to play with dolls EVER AGAIN. See why I thought that Self-Reg book might help??? It already helped me talk her down out of this one).

We headed to the library to pick up another Interlibrary Loan book that had come in, and then headed out of town to a second library, who had in stock the book the nonprofit I volunteer with is featuring for their first book club selection; the meeting is in ten days. SO, if you’re counting, I’m currently reading a chapter per day of Self-Reg; as much as I can fit in of The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer; Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women, and Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evangelicalism by Deborah Jian Lee for the nonprofit (this is actually really fascinating!); I have a copy of Wild Edibles: A Practical Guide to Foraging, with Easy Identification of 60 Edible Plants and 67 Recipes by Sergei Boutenko waiting for me. And, since we start back with school today, I’ll be reading Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History again every day for 30 minutes. Plus there’s What Katy Did on those nights it’s my turn to do bedtime!

I need about thirty extra hours in the day.

At home, I filled and ran the dishwasher, took out the recycling and compost, and tidied the living room. We had lunch and I dozed for a little bit, then read until we went out for a three-mile walk. I made a one-pot pasta for dinner (this is when we watched Matilda), then showered, and put dinner away. I knit while watching YouTube, until it was time to virtually attend Shabbat services. When that was finished, I read, and my husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Saturday, 2 April, 2022

After breakfast and coffee, I wrote a book review, cleaned the kitchen, took out the compost, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, took a few things out to the garage that had been waiting for someone to take them out, and chopped and froze a bunch of bananas. I tossed the peels in the compost and put a batch of chickpeas on to cook in the Instant Pot. I sautéed up a batch of onions, garlic, ginger, and spinach to go into dinner later, then got dressed and started a load of laundry.

I wrote two more book reviews, and it was time for lunch. I switched the laundry, then folded and put away two loads of laundry from, uh, last week sometime? Maybe? We all get behind; it happens. I loaded and ran the dishwasher, then made a coconut milk, chickpea & spinach curry with the mixture from earlier. I got the rice going in the rice cooker, and then settled down to knit while watching YouTube.

I switched the laundry, folded and put away another load, emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and knit some more. After dinner, I did my Duolingo, biked 30 minutes while reading Rescuing Jesus, showered, put my daughter to bed, and read my other books. My husband and I watched one episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

Sunday, 3 April, 2022

Busy day! After coffee, I wrote and posted my monthly goal update here, then got dressed. I stripped the bedding and threw that in the wash, got the dishes in the dishwasher, and took out the recycling. My daughter and I went over to Five Below so I could pick up some 4lb weights for the workouts I’ve been doing (heavy hardcover books and jars of salsa- no, I’m not kidding!- work okay, but they’re not optimal, and I was living in fear of breaking a jar of salsa!). We stopped by Michael’s, which is nearby, but they didn’t have what I needed, so we drove a little down the road to JoAnn’s for the sock yarn needles I needed.

At home, I switched the laundry, and it was time for lunch. I filled and ran the dishwasher, pressed a block of tofu, chopped potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and took the compost out. I worked on my knitting while watching YouTube, then got the potatoes in the Instant Pot as soon as the dishwasher stopped running. 

I knit for about an hour, then I unloaded the dishes and put the sheets back on the bed, and it was time to prepare the rest of dinner. I mashed the potatoes, heated the corn, roasted the Brussels sprouts, air-fried the tofu, and made a batch of vegan gravy, all for Vegan Mashed Potato Bowls. This was SUPER good. It definitely won’t be a weeknight meal, that’s for sure; there were just too many moving parts and things to get ready for this to be a regular thing, but this definitely won’t be the last time I make this! YUM!!!

After dinner, I did my Duolingo, put dinner away, filled and ran the dishwasher, switched the laundry, and did a 22-minute HASFit workout focused on…the butt. There’s just no nice way to say that, haha! Since so much of my chronic pain is in my hips and glute muscles, anything that focuses on this area is good for me, and who can’t use a good butt workout now and then? I was SO sweaty and gross when this was done, but it felt good (and painful, but let’s face it, I’m going to be in pain no matter what I do, so I might as well also be in shape!).

I showered, showered my daughter, switched the laundry and put the comforter back on the bed. I worked on this post, then went upstairs to read in bed. My husband and I watched an episode of Deadly Women before bed.

 

And that’s it! We’re about to get our day started (if I can convince my daughter get dressed, that is!). Plenty of things to do today, but we’re going to start off slow. I want to make sure she has coins and their values down pat before we move on to anything else.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to this new week! : )

Monthly Goals Update: March 2022

 Here we are again, at the start of another new month! I keep having to remind myself that slow progress on my projects is still progress, and I don’t have to get everything done all at once. I’m doing my best, and that’s all anyone can ask for (especially me. No one is harder on me than I am on myself!). Life looks a little different than it did when I made out this list, so I need to adjust accordingly. It’s tough!

Here's where I’m at so far, in terms of my goals for the year.

 

Read 100 books.

 

March wasn’t a great month for reading, unfortunately, but I’m picking the pace up a little right now. I have zero doubt I’ll make this goal for the year, though. Summer and long, lazy days of reading on my backyard swing are coming!!!

 

Subgoal: read all the ebooks on my list.

No progress on this one. I still have the original ten books on my list!

 

Sew at least one thing.

Not yet. I do think I know what’s going on with my sewing machine (I think it’s a problem with one of the spool pins), so that’ll be helpful. Next up will be trying to see if I can fix it or if it needs to see a sewing machine doctor!

 

Knit at least one thing.

In progress! My log cabin blanket is coming along swimmingly!

 

I have other projects in mind here. I want to knit some lightweight produce bags so I can move away from using those plastic bags when I buy produce. I also have a bunch of sock yarn that I bought at a thrift store years ago that I would like to turn into some socks, so I may go back and forth between these projects and the blanket. : )

 

Crochet at least one thing.

Nothing picked out yet.

 

Finish my grandmother’s cross-stitch.

Completed!

  

Work my way through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way.

No progress on this this month; I haven’t made the time to study. Possessive endings are really intimidating to me, so I’ve been putting off studying, but I’ve actually got the book open next to me now!

 

Read at least one book in French.

So, I said when I started this that I was going to read Le Petit Prince and something else, but with homeschooling devouring SO much of my time, I may have to count Le Petit Prince as my one book and consider anything else I manage to squeeze in as gravy. This is one of those ways I’m going to try to be flexible!

No progress on this this month, but I’m going to work on this a bit this afternoon. : )

 

Bonuses: write something and get it published.

LOLOLOLOLOL no writing has been done.

 

Do at least six drawings.

NOPE.

 

Watch more Karl Johan.

Absolutely not.

 

I suppose it’s not as bad as I originally feared! I’m just going to have to give myself some leeway. Progress is being made around here: on Friday, my daughter wrote me a note, and every word was spelled correctly. Her spelling was nowhere near as good two months ago, so I’m absolutely thrilled about the progress she’s making learning at home. If I have to slow my goals and progress down a little so she can grow, I’m happy to do it.

Onward to making progress in April, friends! We can do it! How was your March?

Friday links: 1 April, 2022

Good morning, friends! This is probably the first time in ages that I’ve been sad to see Friday, since it means this amazing spring break is slowly coming to an end. We’ve had such an awesome, relaxing week around here, where we really didn’t do much at all and that was exactly what we needed. I’m reading a book right now that’s causing me to rethink a few things about how I homeschool, and we may need to change some things up, but I think it’ll help if we do.

I hope you’ve had a similarly relaxing week. The weather has been absolutely gross here, with rain and even some snow, but it hasn’t affected at all how much we’ve enjoyed this week. We’ve got a bunch of errands to run this morning, so at least we’ll get out of the house for a little bit!

Here’s what I found interesting online this week!

 

Microplastics found in human blood for first time

EEP. This is really, really not good. Not surprising, of course, but not good. One of the books I read recently said that the ocean has basically become ‘plastic chowder’ because of all the plastic floating around in it (micro- and otherwise); perhaps we humans are becoming plastic chowder as well? Absolutely terrible. : (

But, along those lines, there’s always hope…

 

Okra: a new hero in the fight against microplastics

All hail okra! Whether you enjoy eating that slimy little vegetable or not (I do!), okra is lending a hand in the fight to remove microplastics from our drinking water. That slime? It’s useful! How cool is that? So even if you’re not interested in chowing down, you can still be grateful that okra exists, because it may help solve problems other than, “What can we put into this gumbo to thicken it?”

 

Woman, Flabbergasted at Thrift Store’s Prices, Calls Them Out by Sharing 14 Examples

If you’re in the US, you’ve likely noticed a lot of thrift stores raising their prices to absolutely ridiculous levels. No, Goodwill, I actually *don’t* want to pay $7.99 for a t-shirt with a large grease stain on the front, nor do I want to pay three dollars for something that I KNOW came from The Dollar Tree. It’s gotten so bad that I won’t shop at Goodwill anymore, which is a shame. If these stores lowered their prices, they’d move more stuff and end up making more money. Instead, they alienate their customers by overcharging for absolutely everything. I envy those of you who have more local charity shops. We have a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store that isn’t bad at all; our Salvation Army was still decently priced (at least for clothing; their books were ridiculously priced and I didn’t even bother looking at them), but they closed, as did our Savers. I’m hoping we’re actually able to have some yard sales this year, as my daughter is going to start outgrowing all her clothing…

 

Fast fashion: European Union reveals fast fashion crackdown

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, how I love this. I don’t suppose there’s any hope of the US following in the EU’s footsteps, but it would be nice. Not only is the EU requiring manufacturers to ensure their clothes are ‘eco-friendly and hard-wearing,’ they’ll be providing consumers with more info on ‘how to reuse, repair, and recycle their clothes.’ YES PLEASE. This is AMAZING, and I want something like this here so badly. Clothing that doesn’t shred in the wash? YES PLEASE. (My favorite dress, which I’d only worn a few times, absolutely shredded in the laundry one day. I was so upset. I’ve never had clothing do that before. Clothing shouldn’t do that.)

 

That’s all I’ve got for this week. We might try to hit up a local forest preserve this weekend if the weather holds up, but I’m not holding my breath. In any case, I’ve got a TON of reading to do – two interlibrary loan books came in, big fat ones about foraging; I just started a book about behavior medication that will hopefully help me help my daughter; and the nonprofit I volunteer with announced a book club meeting in two weeks, so I need to read that selection as well! If anyone could point me in the direction of the place where I can get more hours in the day, I’d be super grateful…

I'll be back on Sunday for an update on monthly goals (here's a brief preview: not much has been done, haha! Such is life).

Wishing you all a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Shalom, friends. : )