News

Saturday

Saturday dad got out of the hospital. D16 was starting to get sick. IL7, Aaron and I played Minecraft. M13 watched TV. In the end, the family finally got to go out to Red Lobster for IL7’s birthday.

Sunday

Sunday was busy as usual. I made some taco soup, caught up on housework, and played Minecraft with IL7. Aaron, IL7, and I went to swim lessons, and he dunked his head under the water. M13 and IL7 played with the magnetic tiles. D16 played D&D.

Monday

Monday was a busy day. IL7 had an appointment, followed by an appointment for me. I had lots of tasks to do since Dad just got out of the hospital and we’re about to go on vacation. Then I took IL7 Christmas shopping. I spent a couple hours wrapping presents, and finished about half of it. Glad I started early.

Tuesday

Tuesday the high schools were closed because someone on the internet was threatening to shoot up more than one of the district’s schools. D16 stayed home, but they kept the middle school and elementary schools open.

I was supposed to take D16 to an appointment, but it was cancelled by the provider, so I was able to finish wrapping presents. That took forever!

Aaron and I had a video appointment and then we were supposed to have an IEP meeting for D16. She, Aaron, and I sat on the bed waiting for the Zoom link to work, then it was rescheduled for Friday. Such a waste of a half hour.

My dad’s at home nurse came to do an after-hospital visit. That went smoothly. Then IL6 played his new computer game while I wrote a letter. 

In the evening, my friend Liz came and we watched Doctor Who with Aaron, Dad, and D16.

Wednesday

Wednesday I got the rest of the Christmas cards mailed and ran errands. There seems to be a multi-step process to make sure everyone has enough meds to make it through the vacation.

In the evening, I took IL7 to an appointment, followed by faith formation. I actually got an hour of reading done! Dad’s SpO2 was in the low 80’s all day.

Thursday

Thursday, I took Dad to his primary care provider to follow-up after his hospital visit. His PCP seemed pretty dire about Dad’s oxygen levels, which was worrisome. Dad wanted to stop by the gym to talk to his physical trainer, but she wasn’t around. I popped by the library with IL7. Then I played D&D in the evening.

Friday

Friday I made the hard decision to stay home for Christmas because of Dad’s unstable health. (The family is going to visit my in-laws for a week.) I had thought Dad was going to be angry, since he’d gotten angry when I suggested it a week earlier, but he actually seemed relieved. However, it was a sad decision, since I didn’t really want to separate from the family for Christmas. But I’ll read to IL7 by video call instead of in person before he goes to bed at night, and I’ll celebrate Christmas with my friend, who is also alone on Christmas this year.

I took IL7 to an appointment and attempted l yet another IEP meeting for D16. Again, the Zoom link failed. I picked up M13, who was sick, and ran to get a COVID/flu test (negative).  Aaron decided if M13 had a fever in the morning, they wouldn’t go, either.

To finish the day off, we opened presents to each other (Santa hadn’t come yet), then packed. Except M13. Apparently he missed the packing memo.

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• The History of the Ancient World, by Susan Wise Bauer
• Determined, by Robert Sapolsky
• One Piece Volumes 7-9, by Eiichiro Oda
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan

Reading to IL7

• Knight-Napped, by Ursula Vernon
• Double Creature Feature, by Andrea Miedoso
• Lord of the Fleas, by Dav Pilkey

IL7 Reading

• The Frail Snail on the Trail, by Brian P Cleary

Media Completed

The crew wants to save Nami from some fishman pirates.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron went to the DFL coffee meeting before talking to his mom. I made chickpea curry. M13, Dad and I went Christmas shopping. Aaron and IL6 also went Christmas shopping.

Sunday

Sunday we celebrated IL7’s birthday. We had a cake with cake pop eyeballs and presents and played D&D, where the group battled mirror world Shrek and Fiona. (Which is what IL7 wanted to do.) IL7 and I also built a snowman. The snow was very dry and powdery, so it ended up being a very small snowman that we squashed together using body heat. The head exploded as soon as we stuck the carrot in, so we had to get creative. We dyed IL7’s hair purple, too. It turned out really nice. He had a high fever by the end of the night, though.

Monday

Monday IL7 was sick. He had a high fever and was lethargic. I took him to urgent care. He has “A viral infection” and a mild ear infection. We played his new Mario game on the Switch.

Tuesday

Tuesday IL7 was home sick again. He still had a fever, but was feeling much better. I cooked some Southwestern chicken and rice for Aaron’s lunches, pork chops for IL7 and M13, and meatloaf for dinner. Right about the time I was finally going to settle down and read, dad asked me to call an ambulance because he was having chest pain. I told him to take a nitroglycerin, and it went away. Then he couldn’t catch his breath, so we gave him the nebulizer at the suggestion of the on-call nurse. He also had a fever. I stayed home from work because there was a snowstorm. Getting IL7 to take his antibiotic was like pulling his teeth.

Wednesday

Wednesday M13 had a virtual appointment, then I got him McDonald’s and took him to school. IL7 was home sick again, so I played Super Mario 3D World with him, which was fun. We were trying really hard to get all the stars, and we finished levels 1-1 and 1-2 (multiple times each because some stars are hard to get). 

At that point, dad said he thought he had pneumonia and that he couldn’t get out of the chair. I gave him a nebulizer and called 911. After 5 hours in the ER, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and checked in to the hospital. 

Aaron went to a tour of a magnet school D16 is interested in attending. It is a science-based one, located at the zoo. 

Thursday

Thursday IL7 was still home sick. Aaron sat with him for the day. I took D16 to an appointment, then went to visit dad in the hospital. The social worker called and said dad was cleared by physical therapy to be released – with in-home physical therapy for a while. She said the doctor said he could maybe be released Friday. Dad’s at-home nurse came to visit, as well.

Friday

Friday, Dad was still in the hospital and IL7 was still home sick (though it was the first day all week that he didn’t have a fever). I played Minecraft with IL7 and did a bunch of laundry. IL7 also wrote a Scratch program. M13 played on the computer. When Aaron was off work at 5, I went to visit Dad.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Determined, by Robert Sapolsky
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• Gulag Archipelago Part 3, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• A History of the Ancient World, by Susan Wise Bauer
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel

Media Completed

Danny, Wendell, and Christiana use mad detective skills to investigate Danny’s grandfather’s missing dentures.

Tom and Pradeep take Frankie to an aquarium, where he is almost eaten by an octopus. Then they try to audition for My Pet’s Got Talent

Snake and Wolf battle it out.

The narrator of this story is a spy for the communists during the Vietnam war. It describes a lot of complaints about how the US handled the war. It was much more character/situation-based than plot based. Very well written, and thought-provoking.

Reading to IL5

• The Case of the Toxic Mutants, by Ursula Vernon
• Bad Guys in the Serpent and the Beast, by Aaron Blabey
• The Night of the Zombie Zookeeper, by Andres Miedoso
• Jurassic Carp, by Mo O’Hara

D14 reading

• Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by A. F. Steadman
• Skandar and the Phantom Rider, by A. F. Steadman

News

Saturday

Saturday we all mostly relaxed, besides getting some housework and the shoveling done. IL6 and I played Minecraft. IL6 played Spore. Aaron and I chatted.

Sunday

Sunday IL6 and Aaron played Diablo. IL6 and I went to the library. IL6 and M13 played Minecraft. D15 dyed her hair a darker pink, but it didn’t show up this time, either. And the family went out to Olive Garden.

Monday

Monday, I took IL6 to an appointment and then dad to the gym. After the gym, dad was more out of breath than usual, and I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to connect the nebulizer. The instructions were “connect the tubing and add the medicine.” It was unclear how to do either at first.

While I was giving dad the nebulizer, the middle school called to tell me M13 had been sitting in the office for 45 minutes waiting for me. I had accidentally said I would pick him up Monday instead of Tuesday. Oops! I had a virtual appointment later.

D13 came home upset because she didn’t mesh well with her personal finance teacher. M13 went to Boy Scouts and then played Kirby with IL6.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D16 to an appointment. M13 was supposed to have an appointment, but they cancelled. Instead, I took Dad to get a pedicure and made some phone calls. I got some reading in since Aaron was playing a game with his friends. IL6 made a Super Mario Maker level for M13.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning, I had a chat with a friend in the morning. Then I took Dad to the gym. I didn’t work out because I was was tired, but I sat in the sauna for a while. I took M13 to an appointment then cross-stitched. In the late afternoon, I took IL6 to an appointment, then faith formation.

Thursday

Thursday, D16 had an appointment right after work, and dad had an appointment in the middle of the day. I got some reading and writing done. I played D&D in the evening while Aaron went to a DFL happy hour and M13 played Mario Kart with IL6.

Friday

Friday I took dad to the gym, but he threw up and we had to go home. M13 played Minecraft with IL6. Aaron played computer games with his friends.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Gulag Archipelago Volume 3, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Breathless, by David Quammen
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• One Piece Volumes 4-6, by Eiichiro Oda
• History of the Ancient World, by Susan Wise Bauer

Reading to IL5

• Live and Let Swim, by Mo O’Hara
• Dogman and Catkid, by Dav Pilkey
• Shine of the Silver Dragon, by Tracey West

Media Completed

Dogman and Lil’ Petey stop Petey’s evil plan to make Lil’ Petey evil and to take over the city with a giant taco.

Monkey D Luffy and his crew save a town from cat pirates. Then they seek out a cook, but the cook’s ship is attacked by pirates. Zoro fights the world’s greatest swordsman.

Dan Jones describes the Plantagenets from the first to the last king. This is surprisingly engaging (I was expecting a little dry). I would definitely suggest to people interested in monarchs.

The Dragon Masters race to save an important key from Mordred.

News

Saturday

Saturday was calm. Aaron and IL6 went to an overnight Cub Scout event, and apparently IL6 was social for a short while. I read to D15. I got to sleep in a bed – a rare occurrence.

Sunday

Sunday, Aaron and IL6 returned from the overnight Cub Scout event. He had a lot of fun. He fell asleep before swim lessons, though, and we decided he needed sleep after sleeping on concrete (he rolled off his matt). Dad was sick, so we didn’t go to Mass.

I made some chicken noodle soup for Aaron’s lunches. I made a new D&D character for IL6. It’s a half spider/half cat wizard named Hippopotamus. I made spaghetti for dinner. Aaron shopped and picked up M13 from his mom’s house.

In the evening, we played D&D.

Monday

Monday, IL6 woke with a fever, which hovered all day between 103-104F. I decided if it got up to 104.5, I’d take him into urgent care, but it didn’t. IL6 wanted me to check his temperature every half hour to hour all day. He threw up twice. Dad was also sick with the same bug.

I read, did laundry, cross-stitched, wrote a letter, played Minecraft with IL6, and helped Aaron make dinner. D15 walked around school all day without crutches. She was concerned about her knee when she got home, but it didn’t hurt. M13 and Aaron played Axis and Allies in the evening.

Tuesday

Tuesday IL6 was home again, because he’d had a fever within 24 hours of the school day. In the evening, Aaron and I watched an episode of Andor.

Wednesday

Wednesday there was a “blizzard” which had maybe half an inch of snow blowing around. The wind actually blew me backwards when I first stepped out, and I had to lean into the wind to get to my car. I told dad to cancel his appointments because it was too windy for him to step out. So, instead I had a nice break. The older kids left with their mom.

Thursday

On Thanksgiving, I got home from work to find the kitchen trashed. I knew I couldn’t cook like that, so I cleaned it. I cooked turkey, stuffing, sausage and veggies, and au gratin potatoes. We also had a key lime pie.  It was just Aaron, IL6, and me.

Friday

Friday was a relaxing day. We ate leftovers. Dad and I went to the gym. IL6 took two naps. I read. Aaron played board games with friends.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Breathless, by David Quammen
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• One Piece 1-3, by Eiichiro Oda
• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger
• One Piece 4-6, by Eiichiro Oda
• Gulag Archipelago Part 2, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• Gulag Archipelago Volume 3, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn

Reading to IL5

• Bad Guys in Look Who’s Talking, by Aaron Blabey
• The Sleepwalking Snowman, by Andres Miedoso
• Live and Let Swim, by Mo O’Hara

Media Completed

A boy eats a gum-gum fruit and becomes a gummy man. He sails around randomly looking for a crew so he can be a pirate captain. Good start to the manga series.

Wolf and Short Fuse continue their journey.

This is a continuation of Solzhenitzyn’s recounting of the gulag prisons in Russia. Not exciting reading, but an important work.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I had D&D. It was the last session of the campaign. We killed the big baddies. I am ambivalent about it ending. It’ll be nice to have my Saturdays free again, but it was a really fun campaign. It was almost 3 years long.

Afterwards, we all went to Perkins for D15’s early birthday celebration. Then she unwrapped presents. She seemed genuinely thrilled by all of them.

Sunday

Sunday we ate the cake for D15’s birthday. It had the picture of an alicorn. I made some sausage stew for Aaron’s lunches, and salmon for dinner. IL6 fell asleep, so I decided to skip swim lessons, since sleep is more important.

Monday

Monday didn’t go as planned. It started fine. I took IL6 to his morning appointment, then took dad to the gym.

Then I got stuck in an online conversation with a friend who was angry at me and claimed I was intentionally attacking her. She thinks that I am angry that we disagree about Russia, and have been attacking her ever since that conversation. (Previously, she had given her reasons for supporting Russia, and I said I disagree, but there’s no point in arguing about it.) I honestly couldn’t care less what her opinion on Russia is – she lives in Russia, so it makes sense she’d support them. I tried smoothing it over. But I didn’t know what I was doing wrong, and she claimed I did and apologizing doesn’t work unless you change the behavior. We had had a bit of an argument a while back when she called me “obtuse,” and I’d been very cautious ever since then, but apparently what I call “cautious” she calls “passive aggressive.” She kicked me out of the group. It was disappointing.

Then I had a virtual appointment and picked D15 up from school. When IL6 got home, he, D15, Dad, and I went to Color-Me-Mine. D15 painted a yak and IL6 painted a whale spoon holder.

On the way back, IL6 pointed out “boy Wendy’s,” which he’d mentioned before, but we couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Boy Wendy’s” is KFC, forevermore known as “Wendell’s.” IL6 promised that if I got him some KFC he would eat it. In the end, he tasted the chicken and ate a few potato wedges.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment and had a virtual appointment for myself. In the evening, my friend Liz popped by and we watched Doctor Who with D15 and Aaron.

Wednesday

Wednesday I finished a letter, read, and ran errands. I took dad to the gym and hung out on the treadmill for 45 minutes. There was an IEP meeting for IL6. That went pretty well, and I am confident the new IEP will be to my liking. D15 was at practice for Quiz Bowl. Then I took IL6 to an appointment followed by faith formation.

Thursday

Thursday I had set aside the whole day, 9:30 – 3:45 to fix the Switch with Nintendo customer service. I started the morning by writing a letter, instead, lol. But at 11, I spent 20 minutes, troubleshooting with ChatGPT), on how to get to a human. There was then a lot of troubleshooting with the human, and we fixed the problem at 1:30. So not so bad! We didn’t even have to factory reset! I took dad to the gym. I got on the treadmill, but dad was ready to go 8 minutes into my workout. I read a little, and then went to D15’s Quiz Bowl competition. I was surprised to find out that I was the only parent to go. Isn’t it just as important as a sport? I was glad I was there because they need someone rooting them on.

Friday

Friday I took D15 to her surgery consult. We decided to get some more scans of her knees before deciding if we do surgery, since the doctor was on the fence.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Survey of Hinduism by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him by Tracy Borman
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• The Week: Hard to Swallow
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• Breathless, by David Quammen
• One Piece Volume 1-3, by Eiichiro Oda

Reading to IL5

• Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon
• Fins of Fury by Mo O’Hara
• Dogman: A Tale of Two Kitties, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

Wendell is having nightmares, so Danny and Suki enter his dreams to save him from going insane.

This history describes not only the life of Henry VIII, but also the histories of powerful men he worked with through his reign. I found the book well-written, and it seemed well-researched.

The stories of Orka, Varg, and Elvar continues in this second book of the Bloodsworn Saga. Despite being long, the book holds attention throughout. It is exciting. It has good world-building and good character development.

Petey finds that being a dad is more than he’d bargained for.

Tom and Pradeep have two more adventures: one, a camping trip where a monster is prowling; the second a plot to kidnap all the paranormal pets in the area.

News

Saturday

Saturday IL6 had a stomach ache because he hadn’t pooped in several days. I tried giving him a bath to relax him, but it didn’t help. I spent a couple hours massaging his belly. M13 watched anime. I read and cross-stitched. I also made some white chili for Aaron’s lunches. Aaron cooked some red chili for dinner. 

Sunday

Sunday, I took IL6 to swim lessons. D15 came home from her mom’s and we all (minus Dad an IL6) played Pandemic Legacy. This time, we won the game. M13 built a Duplo tower all the way to the ceiling, and it managed to stay up all night.

Monday

Monday I took IL6 to an appointment, took dad to the gym, and took M13 to an appointment. I read to D15 at the end of the day. IL6 played his new computer game and M13 watched anime.

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling a little off from vivid dreams the night before. I took D15 to an appointment, followed by an appointment for IL6. Aaron had the day off for Veteran’s Day. He and I went out for a couple beers. In the evening, I played Minecraft with IL6, and Aaron spent an hour in line at Culver’s – there was a fundraiser for the middle school band. 

Wednesday

Wednesday I made Aaron a new pinto bean recipe for his lunches and took dad to the gym. I had to pick D15 up from school because she hurt her kneecap again. I took IL6 to an appointment and then faith Formation while Aaron took D15 to orthopedic urgent care to check out her knee. After much thought, the doctor decided to refer her to a surgeon.

Thursday

Thursday I had an appointment in the morning. I read a lot. Dad had an appointment in the afternoon. Then I played D&D.

Friday

Friday, Aaron got up 30 minutes early to get D15 to school (as she usually walks). I  took IL6 to an appointment, dropped dad off at the gym, picked D15 up from school, and picked up dad from the gym. Aaron made hamburgers for dinner.I got lots of reading done.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• The Week: Mainstreaming Hate
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• New Scientist: Runaway Aging
• Gulag Archipelago Part 2, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• March Book 3, by John Lewis
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger

Reading to IL5

• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• Waking the Rainbow Dragon, by Tracey West

D14 reading

• Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Media Completed

The Dragon Masters bring rain back to a foreign land by saving a rainbow dragon.

In the final installment of Lewis’ graphic memoir, more people die, more marches happen, and a federal law is finally made. This series was educational and heartbreaking.

When people think a cursed hound attacks a man, Holmes and Watson explore the mystery. This is my favorite of the series so far.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I made some beef stew for Aaron’s lunches for the next week, watched IL6 play Pikuniku, then played D&D with Aaron and my friend Liz. This was our first time playing in a while, and it looks like we’re expecting only another 1 or 2 sessions left. I will be sad to see our Saturday sessions disappear, but I enjoyed the extra time in October while our DM was on a trip.

IL6 wanted to play Spore after that, and I wrote a letter while he did that. I cooked shrimp dinner, and read for the rest of the evening.

Sunday

Sunday I was very productive and got a lot of reading done. The kids relaxed and Aaron shopped. IL6 had swim lessons.

Monday

Monday, I took IL6 to an appointment, then I went to the gym with Dad. I finally started stitches on my gigantic unicorn cross-stitch project. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment. We relaxed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a good day. I took D15 to an appointment then ran some errands, including voting. I took M13 to an appointment. I got reading and cross-stitch done. Dad took us out to Olive Garden. IL6 made his invented “toast sandwich” – toast, catsup, chicken nugget, cheese – and took a huge bite. Aaron and I also each took a bite.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I started the morning using CharGPT to determine what was wrong with IL6’s Minecraft game on Switch. After an hour, ChatGPT decided it was corrupt data, and had me do a factory reset. But I haven’t seen the results of the factory reset, because at that time, I had to go to the gym for Dad’s personal trainer appointment. Despite being extremely frustrated and worried that nothing was ever going to fix this problem (a worry I still have the next morning), I was on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

After the gym, I went to a doctor appointment for myself, and then ran errands. I even did my shopping errand at Walmart instead of Cub because it’s so much less expensive. (I hate Walmart. Like…bread is in Aisle A 35. But A stops at 29, and A35 is back in the opposite direction. Apparently the numbers act like a U? I had to ask, because the numbers no longer are displayed after 29. I was so frustrated, I was mumbling hateful things under my breath. Which happens a lot when I go to Walmart.) After school, I took IL6 to an appointment, then to faith formation.

Thursday

Thursday I kept busy. I spent a good chunk of time continuing to try to fix the problem on the Switch. It turns out ChatGPT says the Switch is corrupt and will have to be reformatted by Nintendo, using a computer. I needed to reserve a time to do that, so have set aside a day in a couple of weeks. In the evening, the kids played Mario kart and I played D&D.

Friday

Friday was a good day. I took IL6 to an appointment, then went to the gym with my dad. I was on the treadmill for an hour. I got some cross-stitch done. And lots of reading. M13 watched lots of Anime, D15 went to her mom’s, and IL6 watched YouTube and played LEGO.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• The Week: Ballroom Blitz
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading to IL5

• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• The End of Orson Eerie, by Jack Chabert
• Dogman Unleashed, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

The hall monitors face one final battle when the town tours Eerie Elementary.

In this book of Sherlock Holmes short stories, the brilliant detective solves mystery after mystery. He is much more likable in this book than the last ones. Enjoyable.

Petey the Cat hatches another plot. This time creating a cardboard version of himself which tries to take over the world. Very funny.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I made Aaron gumbo for this week’s lunches. Then I downloaded a bunch of free software so IL6 could eventually program Minecraft mods. Or at least figure out that he can’t program in java. I also played Minecraft with him. We had chicken for dinner, then I relaxed while Aaron played Minecraft with IL6.

Sunday

Sunday IL6, M13, Liz, her nephew, and I went to Olive Garden. Liz and I discussed our book and picked a new one. Afterwards, IL6 and I chatted with ChatGPT to figure out where we went wrong in our java coding. It told me I downloaded the wrong Forge, so I downloaded the other one. That was all we had time for that day.

IL6 and I went to swim lessons, then we played Minecraft. Aaron went to buy pumpkins for carving, then he, Dad, and I went to Outback. Then Aaron, the kids, and I carved pumpkins.

Monday

Monday all three kids had a telehealth appointment, then I drove IL6 to an appointment a half hour away. When we got back to school, I realized we’d forgotten his jacket. I took dad to the gym, and I stayed on the treadmill for an hour. Then I drove an hour round-trip to get IL6’s jacket. After spaghetti dinner, I tried to program a mod in Minecraft and ran into a problem I don’t know how to solve. IL6 was not pleased.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I took D15 and then M13 to appointments. I did some chores. In the evening, my friend Liz came over and we watched Doctor Who.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took dad to the gym then exhausted myself running a bunch of errands. After school, I took IL6 to an appointment. Then Aaron, M13, and I went to parent-teacher conferences. He’s mostly doing pretty well. IL6 and I tried to play Minecraft, but ran into a frustrating glitch that I will have to figure out.

Thursday

Thursday I was very tired. I had a telehealth appointment, then took a nap. Dad had an in-home nurse appointment.  We went to IL6’s parent-teacher conference. He’s pretty solid in math. Then we went to IL6’s Cub Scout award ceremony.

Friday

Friday IL6 had a telehealth appointment that I let him sleep through. Then he had an in-clinic appointment. The rest of the day was relaxing. Aaron went in to the office for a team-building exercise and they built LEGOs. He got to keep his R2D2. In the evening, IL6 dressed up like a cobra and D16 dressed up like a witch and they went trick-or-treating. They got quite the haul. Along with candy, D16 scored a Jesus, a potato, and a banana. She gave the Jesus to IL6, because he was disappointed that he didn’t get one. He has placed it with his toy dinosaurs.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• The Week: Gunboat Diplomacy
• Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman 
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
• A Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading to IL5

• Dogman, by Dav Pilkey
• The SeaQuel by Mo O’Hara
• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• Bad Guys in Let the Games Begin, by Aaron Blabey

Media Completed

When a cop and his dog get partly blown up, they decide to save the cop’s body by putting the dog’s head on its shoulders. Then Dogman battles an evil mayor’s plot.

In this second book of “My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish” Tom and Sandeep take Frankie on a vacation. This book is just as good as the first book. It is humorous and has great pictures.

Maurice has learned to talk. Why? So have a bunch of rats. They team up with a piper boy. But when they enter one town, they have to deal with the unexpected. This was very cute, though I felt the beginning was a bit slow.

Team A begins a huge competition while team B rushes to catch up.

News

Saturday

Saturday we relaxed. I cooked some jambalaya for Aaron and did several things on my to-do list. Dad took us all out to Red Lobster.

Sunday

Sunday we relaxed for the morning. I played Minecraft with IL6 and took him to swim lessons. Then he, my mother-in-law, Aaron, and I went to the library. He picked out some music. I got some books.

Monday

Monday I drove my mother-in-law to the airport, then went to Perkins with Dad. I took Dad to the gym, and stayed on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment, but the provider no-showed. I thus had more time to do other stuff. I was supposed to go to M13’s soccer game, but it was raining, and I didn’t want to sit out in the rain with IL6. I played Minecraft with IL6. I read to D15 in the evening while Aaron went to M13’s Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. He got a merit badge. 

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling more worn out than usual. I decided to stop “forgetting” to use my happy lamp. I had not been trying to remember.

I took D15 to an appointment almost immediately upon getting home from work, then took dad to an urgent appointment immediately after that. Then I sat there and felt overwhelmed.

Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Andor in the evening. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Which is a change from nights.

Wednesday

Wednesday I got some letter-writing, chores, and reading done. I took dad to the gym and then worked out on the treadmill. In the evening, I took IL6 to an appointment, then to faith formation. He really likes faith formation and was excited about the creation story. He talked about how God created the dinosaurs before us and asked how long that took. I told him millions of years in Earth years but 6 days in God days.

Thursday

Thursday I had two telehealth appointments, then took the car into the shop. In the evening, IL6 went with Aaron to the elementary school’s trunk or treat event. He had a lot of fun. I took M13 to a meeting at the school about his upcoming DC trip.

Friday

Friday I worked on a pen pal letter, took IL6 to an appointment, and took dad to the gym. I worked out on the treadmill. After IL6 got home, he insisted I play 2-player Piku Niku with him. I tried to prove it was impossible, but he just plugged the Switch remote into the computer and proved me wrong. We finished a level, much to my surprise. It was very difficult to me.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• Sojourn, by R A Salvatore
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
• Journey Through the Radiant Citadel

Reading to IL5

• When Fairies Go Bad, by Ursula Vernon
• Dogman, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

In this third book of The Dark Elf Trilogy, Drizzt learns to navigate the world above the underdark. It had a good mixture of character development and action. I enjoyed it.

Danny, Wendell, and Christiana have to travel to Faerie to save Danny’s mom. Like all other Dragonbreath books, it was a delight.

News

Saturday

Saturday I woke up late. I took dad on a bunch of errands. Helped IL6 play Pikuniku while I wrote a letter. Aaron mowed the lawn and made chili for dinner. IL6 and I finished the Captain Underpants series, which was bittersweet.

Sunday

Sunday I slept in again accidentally and missed Mass. I made some chickpea curry for Aaron’s lunches this week and played Minecraft with IL6. Then he had swim lessons, and I made shrimp for dinner. After dinner, the family (minus dad), played Pandemic Legacy and lost pretty quickly. This is a form of Pandemic where you play it 12-13 times, and the each game affects the following games. Then I read to IL6.

Monday

Monday, I took IL6 to occupational therapy and we discussed eating. We are going to start feeding therapy again to see if we can get him to gain weight. Then I took dad to the gym, where I got 45 minutes of treadmill time. I ran some errands after the gym. After school, I took IL6 to watch M13’s soccer game. In the evening, IL6 and I played Minecraft.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment and then went to a car mechanic appointment. They are going to replace the part for free (which is wonderful!), but the part won’t get here till Monday. It must be coming from Japan.

In the afternoon, IL6 made a game in Scratch – we even had to ask ChatGPT about a bit of code, so he was doing new ideas that were complicated enough that I couldn’t figure it out myself (though it was clear when it was pointed out.

In the evening, my friend Liz came over and she, Aaron, D15, and I watched Doctor Who. D15 is more pleased at the episodes now that they aren’t campy anymore. Then I played Minecraft with IL6.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took Dad to the gym. I worked out an hour on the treadmill. I read. I took IL6 to his appointment, but the provider cancelled last minute. I read some more, including the new Desmond Cole book to IL6.

Thursday

Thursday, immediately after work, I had a telehealth appointment, then another teleheath appointment. My mother-in-law arrived, and she, Dad, D15, and I went to lunch with her. In the late afternoon, Dad had an at-home appointment. Then IL6 went to Cub Scouts, and apparently did a great job participating.

Friday

Friday IL6, D15, my mother-in-law, and I went to a farm to pick apples. We rode the hay ride and walked along the orchard. IL6 and I ran in the “hamster wheel,” buried him in the corn pit, and ran around the hay bales. The hamster wheel was exhausting. I cooked shrimp for dinner, then we relaxed for the evening.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Pandemic, by Sonia Shah
• Sojourn, by R A Salvatore
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• The Week: Under Siege
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones

Reading to IL5

• Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir-Stinks-A-Lot, by Dav Pilkey
• Chill of the Ice Dragon, by Tracey West
• Beast Mode Unleashed, by Andres Miedoso
• Double-O Dodo, by Tom Angleberger

Media Completed

In this final book in the Captain Underpants series, George and Harold battle a stinky, mind controlling gym teacher with the adults they could trust the most. Again, excellent. I’m sad the series is over.

The Dragon Masters help a new friend battle a giant. Cute.

In this brand new Desmond Cole book, he and Andres deal with a three-headed dog named Bubbles. Always IL6’s favorite series.

This book started out really good. It mostly covered cholera as an example of pandemics, but mentioned several others. The benefit of mostly focusing on cholera meant that the history could be covered in more detail. The book was a bit alarmist, but on the other hand, she was right that a pandemic was on its way (COVID-19 happened after original publication). I didn’t like the penultimate chapter, as it covered a bunch of iffy science and was poorly edited. Some of what Shah said made no sense no matter how many times I read it. But overall it was an informative book.

In this classic about the (Jungian) psychology of myth, Campbell covers a large variety of myth, including the rarely-studied African myth. He did focus on Christian “myths” a lot. It wasn’t very exciting to me because I kind of pooh-pooh Jungian psychology. Campbell also spoke rudely about the myths, calling the absurd, or the like.

Didi and Koko Dodo must find the kidnapped Queen. This is now IL6’s favorite Didi Dodo book.