Update March 2, 2024

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Saturday

Saturday, I made some taco soup for this week’s lunches, then played D&D with Aaron and my friend Liz. It was a fun session in which we accomplished a goal we’d had for about a year. I cooked meatloaf for dinner, then Aaron and I watched Mortal Engines, which was a rather pointless movie. IL5 spent most of the day playing with his Duplos and LEGO.

Sunday

I spent a chunk of Sunday at work. M11 got back from Boy Scout camp in the morning (he said he had fun). In the evening, M11, Aaron, and I watched The Two Towers.

Monday

Monday started with a virtual doctor appointment for myself, then a cardiac rehab appointment for dad. I had to drag IL5 along to that appointment, but he behaved there, and at McDonald’s afterwards. Then D14 had an orthodontist appointment. She is done with her alligners! She’s moving on to a retainer for 4 months, and that’s it!

Tuesday

Tuesday I ran errands, then picked up D14 for an appointment. It was virtual, so we were able to have it in the car in the school parking lot. Then I had a virtual appointment with my doctor. I have been having dry-eye problems. She suggested that, in addition to the drops I tried out, I should put a warm compress on my eyes. If that doesn’t work, see an opthalmologist. Then D14 had another two appointments. In the evening, my friend Liz came over and we watched Doctor Who as a family.

Wednesday

Wednesday after work, I took dad to two appointments (his LAST physical therapy appointment for his arm, and his cardiac rehab). Then I took D14 to her penultimate knee physical therapy appointment.

IL5 was supposed to have an endocrinology appointment, but there was a funeral procession planned for the first responders that were killed on duty in a recent shoot-out. Of all the roads in that sprawling suburb, they planned for it to block traffic going to the hospital and clinics. So the clinic called me up to reschedule. Which was nice, because it was the fourth of five appointments scheduled for that day. Instead, I sorted through my grandma’s picture album for a genealogy project.

After that, I went to the last appointment with D14. Immediately following that, I took D14 to Mary Poppins rehearsal.

When I finally arrived home and relieved Aaron of IL5 duty, M11 and Aaron went to Starbucks to work on his 10 missing school assignments. M10 finished 8 of them in an hour. Which makes me wonder why they weren’t turned in on time. I think it’s his ADHD.

Aaron has promised IL5 a cat if he makes a big poop in the toilet. So after naming the cat Sake (I picked the spelling), he tried really hard to poop. Unfortunately, no luck. But he has a month to try.

Thursday

Well, I just checked my journal entry from last year and I had huge plans for that summer. And most of that stuff actually happened. Despite having much less planned this year, I’ll go over it now:

I think I’ll do a 5k by the end of the summer. Training will be difficult, as I won’t have time during the weekdays to run 5k, but I thought if I jogged 5k every Saturday and sprinted around the block a few times a day during the week that would be enough?

D14 will audition for Frozen Junior. M11 is on the waitlist for swim lessons (apparently the spots fill up within 8 hours of opening enrollment) and will play baseball. Plus he’ll be in Boy Scouts – with camp once a month. IL5 will continue his lessons at the swim school, but will also take lessons at the district for swim safety. He will be in T-ball and soccer.

Thursday I went directly from night job to day job. I played D&D on my downtime at work (I just pop out of the game when I’m needed). In the evening, I went to a meeting about D14’s school trip to DC in March. She’s not going to be getting much sleep on that trip!

At IL5’s school, the lockdown alarm went off accidentally and scared the poo out of the teachers. We got an email from IL5’s teacher saying it was “really scary.” IL5 thought it was fun. Apparently they’re supposed to lock the door, turn out the lights, and hide in a huddle out of view of the door.

Friday

Friday was fun. At least towards the middlish-end. I went from work to IL5’s poop physical therapy then, after playing in the sandbox, we went to D14’s appointment. We did that in the parking lot of the school. When we were done, D14 was dreading going back inside, so I guess I was feeling generous because told her she could go to the park with me instead. So off we headed to an indoor park, and IL5 played for 2 hours, and still wanted more. After dinner, M11, Aaron, and I watched Resident Alien.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

2 letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor
Dopesick, by Beth Macy
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson
Mr Ballen Podcast
Maleficent Seven, Cameron Johnson
Great Courses: Great World Religions: Christianity, by Luke Timothy Johnson
Bible
Mahabharata

Reading to IL5

Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham

M11 reading

Forest of Wonders, by Linda Sue Park

D14 reading

Heir of Fire, by Sarah J Maas

Aaron reading

The Book of Night, By Holly Black

Media Completed

In a post- apocalyptic world where cities are moving predators, London is trying to declare war on other settlements. Tom and Hester aim to stop the destruction. This had an ok premise, but had too many elements where it seemed like plot was going to be developed, then it wasn’t. It was 2 hours of thin plotlines and no character development. But it was ok to watch.

Obviously, I’ve seen this movie several times, but this time I got to watch it for the first time through the eyes of M11, who seemed to enjoy it.

This book is a somewhat personalized view of the opioid epidemic, mostly set in a smallish community in Virginia. There are descriptions of the lawsuits filed against big pharma, but mostly it is stories of people she interviewed. It was an interesting coverage of the problem – not the first I’ve read on the subject. I didn’t like her coverage of Ritalin, though. She made Ritalin into a gateway drug, and only pointed out the negative in it – thus perpetuating the stigma against putting one’s child on it. She pointed out that studies show that Ritalin doesn’t enhance the performance of the average person, but failed to point out that it does enhance the performance of people who truly have ADHD. So, overall this was a good book, though it was rather single-sighted about what the author viewed as right and wrong.