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Saturday
Saturday, Aaron, IL5, and I slept in till about 10:30am. We ate a quick breakfast, and then went on a short hike. Unfortunately, we had to turn around after about 1.5 miles (so 3 miles round trip) because my foot felt like it was getting a blister. Next time, I’ll bring my hiking shoes camping.
After the half-successful hike, we went to a playground and to the lake to wade. Upon returning to the campsite, we relaxed in the tent during some rain, and called it a night after another fire and some brats in the evening.
Sunday
Sunday I enjoyed listening to the whip-poor-wills overnight. It was raining in the morning, so we skipped breakfast and headed home. After putting away the camping gear, we ran some errands and did some housework.
Monday
Monday Aaron and I had planned on cleaning the garage, but it was raining. So we were productive indoors instead. The older kids arrived home happy from their trip to see their grandpa. I read to D14 in the evening. We are almost done with our book.
Tuesday
Tuesday I went from my night job to my day job. Dad got his dentures fixed (they didn’t fit quite right).
I spent a chunk of the day doing last-minute preparations for M11’s birthday on Thursday. I had known his birthday was upcoming, but totally forgot that it required ordering of a cake and buying of presents. But I ordered a beholder cake (it took a bit of back-and-forth with the bakery, since they were confused about what I wanted), bought a boardgame for Bobby’s present (Pandemic Legacy Season 1), & planned a D&D oneshot with a professional DM for my present (it’ll be on Sunday). Aaron also brainstormed his present.
At home, M11 and I created our characters (he’s a tortle rogue named Zion and I’m a giff fighter named Reek). Then the family went out to dinner for M11’s birthday.
Wednesday
Wednesday I ran errands in the morning. Then I took dad to get a basal cell carcinoma removed from his arm. In the afternoon, I meant to do some yardwork because it was a beautiful day, but I accidentally fell asleep for an hour. In the evening, I took M11 to baseball practice. He hit the ball four times! Then I read to D14. She was hoping we’d finish the book, but we didn’t have enough time before I left for my overnight job.
Thursday
Thursday I went from work to work, as usual. I left my dayjob early because IL5 had a pre-K graduation. The class sang a couple songs, then each told the parents what they wanted to be when they grew up. IL5 said he wanted to be a superhero.
M12’s birthday celebration went well. The cake was meant to be a beholder, but the cake bakers didn’t get my instructions quite right. It was still pretty awesome-looking. M12 seemed pleased with the boardgame he got from my dad and with the toy that IL5 pulled out of his own toy chest and wrapped for M12.
Friday
Friday was a relaxing day, for the most part. I had intended on taking IL5 to the library, but he didn’t want to go. After a trip to the grocery store, I really didn’t want to go, either, so we relaxed at home. I got some reading done.
Week’s Photos
Letters Written
- One letter Massachusetts
- One letter Maine
- One letter Massachusetts
Reading to myself
- Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
- This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Motar and Max Gladstone
- Mr Ballen podcast
- Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
- The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
D14 reading
- Exile, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V E Schwab
Media Completed
Red and Blue are on opposite sides of the time war. Yet somehow they fall in love. This is the story of their romance. It is poetic, engaging, and creative.
This is a book about PTSD, written by an expert on the subject. It’s supposed to be a medical review of PTSD with symptoms, causes, and treatments, with snippets about patients to create a personal component. But the snippets about patients tended to feel a bit forced to me. Sometimes, she included examples of people presenting the symptoms, while admitting she never got the chance to question them about their trauma history. Having a trauma history is a major diagnostic criterion of PTSD last I heard. The bits that were medical were short and didn’t have enough detail, except the portions about psychiatric treatment, which was, unfortunately, the part that interested me the least. I am more interested in psychological treatment. Not that I think medicine is useless – I just don’t find them interesting. So, overall, I could have spent my time better than reading this book. On the other hand, that’s my fault, as I could have given up at any time.
An elderly couple go on a journey of self discovery. They stumble upon adventurers out to slay a dragon. This was a good book. Very thoughtful and wistful.
Cross-stich
Hibernator's Library 