Update March 8, 2025

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Saturday

Saturday I went to Olive Garden with Liz, M12, IL6, and Liz’s nephew. Later Aaron went to a board gaming party with his friends. I read to D15, and Aaron made pancakes for dinner (because IL6 wanted something “healthy”).

Sunday

Sunday Deirdre played D&D and made some eggrolls. Malcolm had band rehearsal.

Monday

Monday I ran errands, made calls, and read. I worked out for an hour, too. Aaron had his first day of work. He was hoping that he would be able to work at the office, but it turned out they didn’t have space for him, so he’s going to work from home. (He doesn’t like the distractions at home.) M12 had Boy Scouts in the evening. Aaron went to the gym. I read to D15.

Tuesday

Tuesday I stayed home waiting for the contractor to come to look at D15’s room. He’s going to fix the walls, paint, and put in carpet. While waiting, I cleaned my bedroom and did laundry, but the vacuum kept breaking the circuit, so I had to call an electrician. I made some phone calls, as well. In the evening, we were expecting a blizzard, so I called in to work.

Wednesday

Wednesday was hectic. IL6 woke me up at 5am needing a bath. I went back to sleep after the bath, but then when I got up at 8, I realized I’d have to remove at least 6 inches of snow off the driveway to get my car out. Aaron was going to start the snow blower for me, but the garage wouldn’t open. So I walked to the hardware store to buy a shovel (about a mile each way). I got about a sidewalk’s width of the wake cleared and sat down to rest. The neighbor took pity on me and rescued me with his snow blower.

Almost immediately after that, I went to my physical trainer for 30 minutes, then stayed at the gym for another 40 minutes for dad’s personal trainer appointment. But she noticed how tired I was and showed me the water massage bed when I was done.

While I was gone, IL6 and D15 built a snow fort.

It was Ash Wednesday, a fast day, and I wasn’t going to eat until sundown, but I thought I was going to faint, so I ate an orange and some cashews to hold me over.

Then, I was going nonstop until 4pm with stuff that absolutely needed to be done. (For instance, Wednesday is the day I do dad’s laundry and make his bed.)

At 4 I left with IL6 to tour the Delta hangar with a small group of Cub Scouts. The GPS took us to the wrong building, so we walked around until we found a worker who pointed us to the right building. It was a quarter mile walk from where we parked.

IL6 loved the hangar. He got to see a huge 250 seat plane. The first class was crazy. It had little private pods, and the chairs changed to beds. He also got to sit in a pilot’s seat. On the way back to the car, I was carrying him and slipped on ice and fell, dropping him. I thought he hit his head hard, so I tore off his hat and looked. He had been about to cry, but was startled by my intense questioning about his head. Apparently he hit his butt and elbow. A nice man pulled over to ask if we were ok, but I had already ascertained that he was fine, and I wasn’t even bruised.

I was thrilled to eat when I got home. M12 was on his bed playing D&D, and promised to make the bed after D&D. I’m not sure I believe he’ll really do that. (I clean his bedding weekly because he’s allergic to dust. I throw it in with dad’s laundry.)

I went to work early to relieve the coworker who had been there for the last 36 hours.

Thursday

Thursday I ran errands after work, got an oil change, and went to the gym. When IL6 got home, we had a snowball fight and built a snowman. D15 continued work on her fort. I cooked dinner and then sat with IL6 in his room. I read to D15 and chatted with Aaron the rest of the evening.

Keeping my diet was really easy today, and I wonder if it’s due to the hormone changes from the fast the day before. I may try a light intermittent fast where on MWF I eat only a light amount of fruits, veggies, and nuts till dinner (except on days where I have a social reason to eat otherwise), and see if the decreased calories make me feel more satiated the next day. It possibly won’t last like all my other diet change attempts, but I commit to trying it out for a from Friday through next Friday.

Friday

Friday I went immediately from work to an appointment for IL6, followed by another appointment for IL6. The electrician popped by to tell us we needed a new vacuum. I tried an Alfredo recipe which, while quite edible, was a complete failure. Apparently Alfredo sauce takes talent, and I am not a chef. I was tired and didn’t do much for the rest of the day. M12 went to his mom’s, and Aaron played a computer game with his friends.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

The Week: MAGA Military
Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull
A Hat Full of Sky, by Terry Pratchett
The Economist: The Would-be King
The Life of Elizabeth I, by Allison Weir
The Economist: The Don’s New World Order
The Week: Tasting Victory 28 minutes
The Sign of Four, by Arthur Conan Doyle
Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull
Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
Confessions of Saint Augustine, by William R Cook and Ronald R Herman

Reading to IL5

Chomp of the Meat-Eating Vegetables, by Troy Cummings
The Ghost of Grotteskew, by Guy Bass

D14 reading

Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger
This Book Won’t Burn, by Samira Ahmed

Media Completed

Andrew and his friends are faced with gigantic man-eating vegetables. IL6 is enjoying this series.

Tiffany goes to be an assistant witch, but has to deal with something weird chasing her. I enjoyed the book, though again it didn’t have as many jokes (or I missed them) than adult Discworld books.

This history of Elizabeth I of England is well-written and easy to read. It focused a lot on her flirting with various men and her refusal to name a successor. Some things that I was specifically interested in – her treatment of Catholics among her subjects was not covered. It was referred to in passing, saying she executed fewer Catholics than Mary I killed protestants. In fact, I feel that, other than some personality comments, she was painted in a positive light. I am also wondering about the politics of the time and what she accomplished in her youth other than flirting.

In this set of lectures Saint Augustine’s Confessions is explained in a way that is clear and concise. It is not a replacement for reading the book, however. It’s meant to supplement the book. I chose to listen to it in advance of reading Confessions.