Update August 12, 2023

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Saturday

Saturday was the full day of our tent camping trip (IL4, Aaron, and me). We slept in, cooked sausages for breakfast, played in the playground, hiked about three fourths of a mile, cooked burgers, and had a fire. IL4 was a little grumpy before passing out in the tent, tightly clutching a random piece of bread, but he otherwise enjoyed himself.

Sunday

We broke camp pretty quickly Sunday morning because neither of us had any caffeine left. Plus I needed to get to work. But then we all had dinner together and watched Grey’s Anatomy (season 1) as a family.

Monday

After D13’s morning appointment on Monday, I bleached M11’s hair and dyed D13’s (black) and IL4’s (blue) hair. IL4 then wanted to dye my hair red, but I told him that I didn’t have any more bleach, and D13 said my hair would have to be brown. IL4 went into the kitchen and dumped the cocoa down the sink, trying to prepare some brown dye for me. Apparently he didn’t notice my hair is already brown.

Later, I coached soccer. I let IL4 sleep through the game because he was probably tired after being jacked up all day. M11 had acting class followed by Boy Scouts.

Tuesday

Tuesday, D13 started a culinary class through the school district. She made some pasta. I tried going on a walk with dad, but he had difficulty after climbing down a steep hiking path and had to crawl back up. So we went home. It was about three quarters of a mile round-trip. M11 had his penultimate swim lesson, and then the family ate out at Outback.

Wednesday

Wednesday, D13 made egg rolls for her culinary class. They were delicious. Later, IL4 played soccer. He’s getting so much better! He actually runs around after the ball, and even got in the knot of kids trying to kick the ball a couple of times.

Thursday

Thursday D13 had her last culinary class, where she made cookies.

Friday

Friday went great, I got all my weekly house cleaning goals done (thanks to Aaron, who scrubbed the bathroom floors), and took IL4, dad, and Deirdre for a walk to the library. IL4 picked out a lovely book in cybersecurity. Then we picked up M11 and went to Perkins. By the time we got home, IL4 was asleep, so dad, D13, and I ran errands so IL4 could sleep more.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Massachusetts
• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Pennsylvania
• 1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
• Mahabharata
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Bible
• Death With Interruptions, by Jose Saramago

Reading to IL4

• Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
• Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
• Bad Guys: Intergalactic Gas, by Aaron Blabey
• Henry Heckelbeck and the Haunted Hideout, by Wanda Coven
• Unicorn and Yeti: Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Unicorn and Yeti: Fair and Square, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue, by Paige Braddock

M10 reading

• Working on Cyber Chip for Boy Scouts

D13 reading

• Unlocked, by Shannon Messenger
• Stellarlune, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

The Good Guys Club blast off into space to find the evil Dr Marmalade. This is another hilarious installment. I love these books, and so does IL4.

In this installment, Henry is looking for a hideout for himself and his friends. But he gets more than he bargained for when he finds out the hideout is haunted. This is a cute book that IL4 enjoyed.

In this 1959 thought experiment, scientists use surgery to make a mouse named Algernon intelligent. The success is so great, they try it out on a man with developmental disability, too. When Charlie becomes a genius, the way he interacts with others and the way he understands their intents often made me wish he had remained the way he had been. This book was ahead of its time in demonstrating that people with developmental disabilities are just as much people with a quality of life as those without a disability. (In fact, I think there are still people who don’t see that to this day, as some of the choices on who gets a respirator would show during the pandemic.) I was surprised at how little cringe the book had, given that it was published before deinstitutionalization and the use of person-first language. Yes, it did use terms that were politically incorrect, but that is to be expected based on the publication date. Overall, I would suggest this book to just about anyone, teen and older.

This is a cute graphic novel about some pond creatures that go on a mission to stop construction of a road over their habitat. It was perfect to read to a 4-year-old, with adorable pictures, humor, and a good story.

In this second installment of 13th Street, the cousins Malia, Dante, and Ivan are joined by two new adventurers as their school bus is kidnapped into 13th street. They must vanquish giant fire-breathing ferrets to return home. This was a cute mini-chapter-book which occasionally congratulates the reader on how many words they’ve read.

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