News
Saturday
Saturday I woke up exhausted again, and then had a run-in with M12, who has been repeatedly acting impulsive. He was already grounded for 3 weeks before his most recent impulsive behavior, so I had to think of something more creative for a consequence. He is now my servent for the next two months. Saturday I made him walk to the grocery store and get some donut holes. Then he went on a walk with my dad.
I was in a bad mood when D&D started. Then my friend Liz wasn’t at D&D, and she eventually texted to say her brother had had a massive heart attack while watching his son’s soccer game. He’s currently sedated in the hospital on a bypass machine. He’ll probably be there for two weeks.
The rest of the day was spent resting, since I was super tired.
Sunday
Sunday, Aaron, M12, IL5, and I went to Brick Fest (a LEGO festival). Both boys had a lot of fun. We separated so M12 and IL5 could do their own thing, so I only got pictures of IL5. He loved the huge bins of Duplo. D14 was playing D&D. In the evening, we all played D&D as a family. IL5 even joined us, but he didn’t like the role playing and was impatient to attack. First, he attacked an NPC with his firebolt. Luckily he missed. Then he attacked a giant squid that I threw in the middle of the role-playing. That almost killed him. Then, after the rest of the family solved the mystery that they were role-playing, a herd of 4 goblins attacked. IL5’s character took down two of them.
Monday
Monday I dropped dad off at an appointment (my sister was going to pick him up), and popped by a friend’s house for an hour. I hadn’t seen her in about 6 months, so it was good to catch up. M12 carried ten bags of yard waste to the curb for his time serving me, and then went to Boy Scouts. IL5 made some cat toys with his crafts. D14 was excited to find out that she could work crew at the shows that she’s been preparing the stage for despite not being able to make two of them.
Tuesday
Tuesday had nothing planned, since it was a day I was meant to work. So after my overnight job, I wrote two really long letters and then went to lunch with Aaron. In the evening, Aaron, D14, M12, and I played Goonies: Never Say Die. Then I played a night-night game with IL5 for 15 minutes before work. Today for his servant work, M12 attempted to sew on his Boy Scout patches. He’d disdained me gluing them on, and indeed the glue doesn’t work, apparently. But now he understands that sewing them on is really hard because they’re thick and tough. He seemed chagrinned for all his mocking. He only got two patches sewn on.
Wednesday
Wednesday I took dad to an appointment and ran errands with Aaron. M12 cleaned the livingroom and found the job very annoying. So now he understands how I feel. Aaron and I took IL5 to the playground in the evening.
Thursday
Aaron and I headed to D14’s parent-teacher-conferences after that. She’s doing pretty well! I was in a very stressed out mood due to the upcoming hearing, the poop, and another issue I’ll mention in a bit. So I got unnecessarily assertive when someone tried to take our place in line at a teacher’s table. I should have let it go. The system was very confusing, and she hadn’t noticed us sitting there when she walked up. I could have let it go and waited another 5 minutes, but I was in a bad mood.
The other thing that was stressing me out was my good friend’s brother’s issue. Remember how he had a massive heart attack last Saturday? Well, he was off the bypass machine and intubation. But, probably due to the sedatives he’d been on, he was psychotic and thought the hospital was a cult and that he had been attacked overnight by a nurse. So he checked himself out against medical advice, and was wandering the city in his hospital gown. His dad found him and took him to a different hospital, but the family had to sit with him to keep him calm. They did put a 72 hour hold on him, though, so he couldn’t abscond again. My friend was understandably upset, so she was texting me all day. Although I am happy to provide that outlet, it was difficult on top of all the other stress I was under. So my brain was fried by the end of the day, and I only read to IL5 for 10 minutes.
Friday
Friday I logged on to the custody hearing at 8:30am. They put me in a virtual waiting room, and there I stayed till 12:45pm, when they told me my testimony wouldn’t be needed. During those 4 hours, I cross-stitched, read, wrote my journal entry, played the Wordle, and texted with people. I had just started writing a letter when they told me I wouldn’t be needed.
In the end, they made some rather nasty threats to my client’s sons, forcing them to agree to losing custody. My client’s sons couldn’t argue their case because I was the only one of their respite workers who showed up.
After the hearing, I went to lunch with Aaron and my mother-in-law. My brain was pretty fried the rest of the day, so I got very little else done.
In the evening, Aaron, my mother-in-law, and I went to the play “The Curious Savage” to see the set D14 has been building. It was good.
Week’s Photos
Reading to myself
- Mr Ballen podcast
- The Week: Targeting Terror
- Roam, by C H Armstrong
- Life, the Universe, and Everything, by Douglas Adams
- Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
- Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
Reading to IL5
- 5-minute Super Hero Stories (DC Comics)
- Ghast in the Machine, by Nick Eliopulos
D14 reading
- Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
- Blood on the Beach, by Robin Stevenson and Sarah H Harvey
Media Completed
16 years ago Caitlin’s sister Olivia was kidnapped. Now, suddenly, she reappears as an adult, throwing Caitlin’s life out of whack. This was a very engaging book, and I had trouble stopping. But half of the big reveal was pretty predictable to me. I generally find thrillers pretty predictable, so I was pleased with not knowing half of the reveal. So I’d recommend it highly to those who like thrillers.
Games Played
Hibernator's Library 