Update June 6, 2026

News

Saturday

Saturday, Dad treated the family to Perkins in the morning. Then, Aaron, my mother-in-law, and I went to the arboretum to see the flowers. We walked the 3-mile loop. It was very beautiful. Afterwards, M14 chose Outback Steakhouse as his birthday dinner. He opened presents afterwards and then we all had cake.

Sunday

Sunday, IL7, D16, Aaron, my mother-in-law, and I went to Color-Me-Mine to paint some ceramics. I did penguins, IL7 a Minecraft person, and D16 a princess. Later, IL7 had swim lessons.

Monday

Monday, Aaron to his mom to the airport for her trip home. I took IL7 to an appointment, took Dad to the gym, went to lunch with my sister and Dad, then took D16 to an appointment. After dinner, Aaron and I watched 2 episodes of Andor.

Tuesday

Tuesday was ok. After work, I took Dad to his physical therapy. I had an hour’s break which would turn into a half hour if I drove home, so I ate at Olive Garden while Dad took a nap in the car. Their soup and salad is pretty affordable.

Afterwards, I took Dad to respiratory therapy to see if he’s qualified for a backpack oxygen. He is. It was a mess getting there – very confusing. But getting back was ok, as all I needed to do was exit the parking lot, which was hard to get into (as was the building). After attacking my to-do list, I read for a while and wrote a letter.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took Dad to the gym and got in a workout for myself. I took IL7 to a couple of appointments, then Dad took everyone to Red Lobster, where we discussed organ donations and Newtonian physics. (Explaining organ donation to a 7 year old is awkward: “But it’s dead! It won’t pump blood anymore!” “Well…you see, the hospital is keeping the body alive, but the person is dead and then they take the heart while it’s still alive…”)

Thursday

Thursday, I had no appointments. Yay! I made some gumbo for Aaron’s lunches, did housework, ran some errands, hid for an hour and read, and made dinner. IL7 is trying to earn a prize for behaving during dinner, and that was number 3 of 10 times. Then IL7 had a ceremony where he ranked up from Tiger to Wolf in Cub Scouts. IL7 and I both rolled down the hill at the Cub Scouts ceremony, and it turns out I rolled a lot faster and straighter than him. I had trouble standing up. It turns out to be harder than in my 20s.

Friday

Friday, the kids were home from school on their first day of summer. Besides taking Dad to the gym and preparing for camping, I didn’t do much. Though preparing for camping was a lot, since I needed to clean up a bit so Dad wouldn’t get swamped while we were gone.

Aaron went to a team-builing day at a llama farm. He got to walk a llama.

In the late afternoon, we headed out to our campsite. IL7 enjoyed the fire and playing flashlight tag/hide and seek at night.

Reading to myself

Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens
Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem
The Week: Playing for Keeps
Fury of the Gods, by John Gwynne
The Illiad, by Homer
Witches Be Crazy, by Logan J Hunder
Mr Ballen Podcast
The Complete Essays of Montaigne
Books That Matter: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Leo Damrosch

Reading to IL7