Update Week 51

Hi All! I had no new pictures to use as a topper for this update, so I am using an old picture of Othello, who crossed over to the great baby-bunny hell several years ago. (She was hell on earth to baby bunnies. I think that was her undoing. I think she finally died of feline tularemia from eating infected bunnies. It was going around Minnesota at the time. But while alive, she kept our yard well rid of the pests.)

This past week was the POLAR VORTEX. Yup. It was cold outside. D and M were home all week until Friday, and since we had just started new feeding therapy rules with M (no screens unless you earn it by eating your “power portion”) it was a stressful four days. I spent most of my time thinking up healthy meals for the kids with food that we already had in the house (My shopping hadn’t included Polar Vortex Holiday meal plans, and I wasn’t going out in THAT weather to get some new food!), monitoring the kids for a half hour every meal and 15 minutes every snack because of the “open / closed” kitchen rule, and trying to encourage M and D to entertain themselves instead of using me as a personal entertainment system. Yes, I’m willing to play games sometimes. But whining “nobody wants to play with meeeeeeee” over and over doesn’t make me want to play. lol

Last night, today, and tonight, I’m all alone with IL. D has some treasured alone time with her mom. Aaron and M are at Cub Scout Camp. My plan was to do all sorts of useful stuff that I couldn’t get done over the Polar Vortex Holiday. The house is figuratively trashed. (I had to imagine what a literally trashed house would look like for a moment there….hee hee) But I MAY end up taking the time to read and enjoy the quiet since everyone else is doing something fun and special.

I downloaded the Walk to Mordor App this week (available on iOS and Android). It lacks bells and whistles, but it has lovely goals along the way. Right now, I’m on my way to my encounter with the Black Riders. In case you’re wondering, the app designers decided it’s 1927 miles to Mordor from Bag End – at least the path that Frodo followed. Eventually, I want to do some real hiking to get some miles packed in, but for now, I’m stuck with a small car that won’t fit the stroller and a baby who refuses to be carried in one of those front carriers. When he’s big enough, hopefully he’ll agree to be carried in a hiking backpack. That’s not quite as tight as the front carrier for younger babies. I have made 10 miles since Thursday (by a 2000 steps per mile conversion). Which, according to my calorie-counting app tells me I’m low-active. That is: Polar Vortex active.

Currently Reading

I may try to cram in some reading time this weekend – hopefully pumping through The Walking Dead before I need to return it to the library and wait another 4 months to get through the queue again. I’m really reading Gulliver’s Travels this time. I have told you I was was going to for a while, but have failed to actually follow through. (For one reason or another.) But this time I’m already a few hours in.

Completed

I’ve already finished the next Dresden book, even though the goal was one a month. I just needed some light reading after The Overstory. The Ranger’s Apprentice is another series I plan on completing this year, at the rate of about one per month. The first was excellent.