News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron, IL4, M11, and I went to a party with Aaron’s college friends. It was an outside party, and I followed IL4 around as he entertained himself with various toys, LEGOs, and, his fallback favorite, tape. He and M11 were disappointed 4.5 hours later when we left, but I was hungry and Aaron volunteered to leave.

Afterwards we went to a nearby Mongolian Grill that we both love, but is far from us. I thought IL4 wasn’t going to let us eat because he first didn’t like the look of the place, next wanted to sit in a different spot, and next wanted fries. We should have gone to McDonald’s first. That was our bad. But we managed to get him to quiet down and stop running away.

Sunday

Sunday I spent a good 3 hours cleaning, went to a production of Little Mermaid with D13, and went to dinner with Aaron. M11 went to Build-a-Bear with my dad.

Monday

Monday I made some delicious taco soup for Aaron’s lunch and finished my deep clean of the livingroom. M11 and IL4 each had an appointment, and D13 had 2. Afterwards, M11 and I took IL4 to the library using the stroller. Then, when I was dropping off M11 at acting class, IL4 fell asleep and I decided not to wake him up for soccer.

IL4 has decided my best friend Liz is henceforth his best friend. I can have M11. He wanted to send a letter to Liz, since I was writing letters. He wrote his name (ok, it was supposed to be his name, though it was missing a letter). Then he cut out the L stuck it in an envelope, and licked it (despite it being a lick-free envelope). I expected something more substantial than one letter when he said he wanted to send a letter. Then he freaked out because he didn’t like where I placed the stamp.

Tuesday

Tuesday I was worked on housecleaning some more. D13 had an appointment and M11 had swim lessons. I cooked some Jambalaya for Aaron’s lunches so he’d have a litte variety.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, after I finished job #1 and job #2, I coached soccer. IL4 did amazing! For him, I mean. He happily went on the field and actually ran around chasing the ball.

Thursday

Thursday I saw very little of the kids. I went almost immediately from work to work. Then I hung out with my friend Todd. I talked for a while with my sleep specialist, who suggested I stop driving altogether, and call insurance to see if I could get rides for the kids and myself to appointments. I guess I can try that out, but it doesn’t sound very convenient.

Friday

Friday was a relaxing day. After work, I had an estimate to remove the second tree in our back yard. M11 went to tap. Aaron, IL4, and I went to a local county park for IL4’s first tent camping experience. He loved the first evening.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Virginia
• 1 letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Bible
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

Reading to IL4

• Unicorn and Yeti: Fair and Square, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Super Rabbit Boy’s Team Up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham
• Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
• Bad Guys: Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey

M10 reading

• Working on presentation for Cyber Chip for Boy Scouts

D13 reading

• Legacy, by Shannon Messenger

Aaron reading

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

Media Completed

In the fourth Bad Guys book, our fearless friends (you can tell they’re fearless from the cover) battle hoards of zombie kittens. It was hilarious as usual. Perfect for IL4.

Steps

News

Saturday

Saturday was my big day. I had signed up for Mud Girl, which is a mud race for women of all shapes and sizes. I was feeling a bit anxious when I woke, but I forced myself to go anyway. And I made it! It was 3 miles with 17 obstacles. 4 of them I couldn’t do – two required more balance than I have (one was a tight rope) and two of them were impossible to do alone. Yes, I could have asked for help, but I’m shy. Apparently one doesn’t do this race alone, though, because the photographer at the end was really confused why my group hadn’t joined me for the picture. It never occurred to me that it was strange to go alone. But I didn’t see anyone else alone. Afterwards, I was too lazy to go through the hose off and change lines, so I drove home muddy.

M11, IL4, dad, Aaron and I then went to Olive Garden for dinner. I overate my calorie budget, but I don’t do that frequently and did work out that morning, so I guess it’s ok. Aaron and I went out afterwards for a few beers (M11 successfully babysat without dad killing one of the kids) and then we watched The Imitation Game.

Sunday

Sunday I slept in – I had intended on taking my dad to church, but I was tired. I worked for a while, Aaron took IL4 to swim lessons, and then we had a family day. It was D13’s choice, and she wanted to watch Psych.

Monday

Monday started out calmly enough. I made some split pea soup for Aaron’s lunches this week and took D13 to an appointment. While I was in the waiting room, I saw a post by a blogger friend, who said she had tried Jersey Mike’s and loved it. I’d never been there before, but had just been about to go to Subway, so I decided to try out Jersey Mike’s. It was totally worth it.

Then, I took IL4 to the post office and library in the stroller. It was a beautiful day, and a great walk. We did our usual library routine – play with toys, play on computer (he drew a rainbow with the correct color order!), pick out books, run and hide from mommy while her hands are full so she needs to cumbersomely peek down every aisle…

When I had him all strapped in again and left the library, half the sky was dark and the other half sunny. I had checked the weather before coming to the library, so I was confident it wasn’t going to rain. If it did, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The books were protected under the stroller.

Sure enough, we were dry when we arrived home. I situated IL4 in front of the TV, stuck the stroller in the garage, and brought in the books. Literally mere moments after my butt hit that chair, the front door creakily blew open (it doesn’t latch well). I got up to close it and looked outside. The wind was whipping the trees every which way.

I thought “Wow. If we had left only a few minutes later, we’d’ve been walking home in that.” Still. I just sat there listening to the thunder and watching the trees blow in the wind out the window. After 5-10 minutes, it was gone.

D13 went outside to turn the tomato plants upright (sweet girl). She popped her head back in. “Problem.” I raised my eyebrows. “Big problem.” She widened her eyes to help me read her thoughts. “What is it?” I unconcernedly asked. “The tree! Fell on the fence!”

Sure thing it had! This gigantic old tree in our backyard had a wide trunk and four sections came out, all with heavy branches. 3 of those sections fell, filling our entire yard, and some of our neighbor’s, with tree. The neighbor’s brand-new-last-year fence was crushed. I ran over next door to tell them to check on their ducks, since my tree was on their coop. Luckily the ducks were fine. The coop was really sturdy.

After that, I coached soccer and after some initial reluctance since we accidentally brought one of IL4’s frosting-“soup” concoctions in a water bottle thinking it was water, IL4 ran around on the field in his purple jersey.

Tuesday

Tuesday was hard. I came home from work to a grumpy M11. Then I had to drag said grouch to an amusement park with his sister, where they grouched at each other as we roasted in the 90 degree weather. We decided to leave early and go to lunch. But then they had a disagreement on whether it was ok to kill family if they were a zombie, and the grouchiness continued.

I had a tree guy over to look at the fallen tree. They’re coming on Friday to remove it. Then my friend Liz came over and we watched some Doctor Who. (We’re on series 6.) Then back to work.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, after job #1, I went to job #2, ran errands, then coached soccer. It was really, really hot. IL4 played on field once and in goal once. D13 came to help, since Aaron went out with his friends. I got my new glasses, but only M11 noticed.

Thursday

Thursday, I woke up slightly manic. My head was racing and it was also screaming at me. I muddled through my morning tasks at work and went to my sleep doctor for a follow up of my sleep test. The overnight one was normal – so no apnea or restless leg syndrome. The daytime one, where I took 5 20 minute naps every 2 hours, was off, though. I met the criteria for idiopathic hypersomnia because I fell asleep too fast in those naps. (Average is 8-15, mine was 5.) But she didn’t want to treat it because the treatment is a stimulant medication, which I can’t take because of my bipolar disorder. However, she thinks the drowsiness is from my medications and isn’t neurological.

On the way home, I got stalled on the busy interstate with no gas. First time I’ve ever run out of gas. Ooops. I called AAA, and let me tell you, the confidence with which he stood there filling my tank with cars buzzing by at 70mph inches from his butt was incredible.

After that, I went to get a massage with dad. I would have listened to an audiobook while getting massaged, but that day my brain was screaming at me. When that’s going on, the less outside stimulus, the better. So I just let my brain run wild while I got my massage. You know what? The massage made my mania go away. I wonder if that’s repeatable.

Aaron went to a BBQ with his friends in the evening, so I hung out with the kids.

Friday

Friday I tried to relax as much as I could while watching IL4. After work, I took him to speech therapy. We watched the fallen tree being removed. Later in the day I took M11 to tap dance. I tried to quit because I feel bad keeping the class back, but the teacher won’t let me if she has any say in it. Then I read while IL4 and M11 played in the newly cleared yard. We’re planning on getting our other big tree removed so it doesn’t fall, but they told me they’d come back another day to quote that – probably because they couldn’t get a good look at it with that big fallen tree all over our yard (it was a very large tree).

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Louisiana
• 1 letter Maine
• 1 letter Alberta, Canada

Reading to myself

• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
• Cursed, ed by Marie O’Regan
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Untangled, by Lisa Damour
• Mahabharata
• Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendson

Reading to IL4

• Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Cheer Up!, By Heather Ayris Burnell
• DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger
• Caveboy is a Hit!, By Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
• Unicorn and Yeti: Together!, By Heather Ayris Burnell

M10 reading

• Working on his Cyber Chip for Scouts

D13 reading

• Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
• Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
• Legacy, by Shannon Messenger

Aaron reading

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

Media Completed

In this 1830’s England alternate history / fantasy, 4 students join a prestigious translation institute which uses magical silver bars that the British Empire is using to oppress people in foreign lands. It is a book about the evils of colonialism. Babel has had a lot of rave reviews, but it was just ok to me. The magical concept was novel, but there was more etymology than necessary, making the book long. I also get the point made about violence being necessary to end oppression, though that message doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t think innocent people should die, regardless of what race they are.

In this third installment of the DJ Funkyfoot books, Mr Funkyfoot finally finds a fancy employer – a famous opera-singing pig. But he is very demanding – if in a fancy way.

Eva the owl finds a lost pony when returning home one day after a storm. This is another installment of the Owl Diaries, which is a cute series for 1st graders to read. It’s a Branches book, which is meant to introduce young kids to chapter books, though these are not chapter books. They are, however, longer than most picture books, and shaped like a big kid paperback.

Exercise / Weight Loss

Weight: X – 40lbs

Another 10lbs before I surpass my next goal of weighing less than Aaron.

News

Saturday

Saturday was delightful. We got up and managed to pack and get on the road before 11am. We drove the 4 hours to Lake Itasca fairly peacefully. IL4 was really the perfect little angel the whole way. And no potty accidents. He loved our cabin, loved the vista point, and loved wading across the headwaters of the Mississippi.

D13 managed to stay dry during the wading part, but I slipped and fell in twice trying to keep up with IL4, and because IL4 was holding on to me as he made the precariously large steps between the dry stones, I pulled him in on top of me both times. When we had crossed on the rocks for the third time, there was a woman standing on the other end laughing at my plight (in a friendly way). I told her “This is why you have kids at 20 instead of 40,” and she pointed to a 6-ish year old girl and said she’d had her at 54. 😱 She totally had me beat. IL4 and I finally gave up and waded fully in to both the Mississippi and Lake Itasca sides.

Because IL4 and I both were soaked (more so IL4, because he’s shorter), we went back to the cabin after that. I took a nap, IL4 watched YouTube on the phone (but only after he made two pots of coffee and we pried the coffee maker from his desperately clinging hands to prevent a third and final pot being spilled all over the cabin), D13 put together a puzzle, and Aaron read.

Sunday

Sunday we slept in. We went on a leisurely bike ride with IL4 on a Weehoo. I’ve never seen one of these things, but it seems a great introduction to bike riding. It’s a trailer-type thing for kids, where the kid can pedal and can learn the basics of balancing. I’m thinking of buying one for us, since it would last another 5 years. My one reservation is that I’m not sure it’ll fit in our car. I think I’m going to buy one, anyway. All else fails, we’d just have to stay local.

After that, we went back to the cabin and relaxed. IL4 fell asleep. When he awakened Aaron and I took him on a hike. The map suggested the trail was about 1 mile long, but I’d say it was closer to 3 miles. IL4 wouldn’t walk, and I thought carrying him a mile was doable, but about a mile in (guessing) he really wanted us to turn around, and we seriously thought we would be closer going straight than going back. But the trail just kept going, and IL4 was getting really heavy. Finally I turned on Alltrails on my phone to locate us. We weren’t on a trail according to Alltrails, but we could see that we were finally curving around towards our origin. So we kept on walking.

Later, we had a fire and made s’mores.

Monday

Monday we packed up and drove back home. It’s a 4-hour drive, so that took most of the day. IL4 was, again, very good on the car ride, but he was very ready to relax at home when we got there. Aaron went to pick M11 up from acting – he’d been at Boy Scout camp for the week (which he loved, but got homesick) and then at his mom’s while we were camping. Then she dropped him off at acting class.

I coached soccer, but didn’t take IL4 along, since he was so exhausted from camping. Then I picked M11 up from his Boy Scout meeting, and went to work.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I worked till 9am, took D13 to the orthodontist, took dad shopping and to the vascular specialist, took M11 to swim lessons, and took IL4 to get his soccer pictures. I needed to bribe him to behave. Afterwards, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Aaron.

Wednesday

Wednesday after work, I went directly to my other job. Then I drove home and picked up IL4 early from daycare so that he’d have more transition time between school and soccer. The strategy worked because, combined with bribing him with McDonald’s, we managed to get him to actually play. He was disappointed that he couldn’t be the goalie every time, but he actually stood on the field and even kicked the ball once, which was a huge improvement from last week.

Thursday

Thursday I went from work to work again, with a 1 hour nap in between. Immediately upon arriving home, I took M11 to Perkins, then to Feed My Starving Children, where we packed meals. After 30 minutes at home, I went back to work. I was home for 1.5 hours total, 1 of which I was asleep.

Friday

Friday after work, I took the boys to get haircuts. Then we picked up dad and went to the playground. We only stayed about an hour because we got hot, and then picked up D13 and went to Perkins. Later in the evening, M11 and I went to tap dance class. I’m in way over my head, but I’m mainly there to support M11, who didn’t want to do it alone.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 postcard Pennsylvania
• 1 postcard Texas
• 1 postcard Oklahoma
• 1 postcard Michigan
• 2 postcards Virginia
• 1 postcard Massachusetts
• 1 letter Belgium
• 1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

• Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor
• Don’t Turn Out the Lights, ed. by Jonathan Mayberry
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Throne of Glass, by Sara J Maas
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
• Bible
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Mr Ballen

Reading to IL4

• Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
• Unicorn and Yeti Together, by Ayris Burnell
• Superfly vs Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler
• Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham

D13 reading

• Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
• Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Aaron reading

• Homeland, by R A Salvatore

Media Completed

Sankofa is rumored to be adopted by Death herself. She can kill with supernatural powers. She wanders futuristic Ghana, homeless and shunned.

This novella is another great one from Ms Okorafor, who never fails to impress me. It was interesting enough to hold the attention of myself, my husband, and my 13 year old stepdaughter as we listened in one sitting on a car ride. The character is touching. There’s not a lot of plot, but it makes up for that in unique setting.

This is a fun little anthology of middle grade horror stories. Nothing too scary. Nothing too amazing.

In this third installment of the Super Fly series, Fred and Eugene have a falling out, and Crazy Cockroach takes advantage of their distraction. This is a cute book which IL4 found reasonably entertaining, though it might appeal more to ages 5-7. I’m guessing it’s 2nd grade reading level.

Games Played / Puzzles

Steps

News

Saturday

Saturday, I had an early lunch with D13. Then the whole family went to an outdoor adventure park. M11 didn’t weigh enough to zipline, so Aaron and the older kids did the aerial course (an obstacle course up in the trees) and IL4 did the ground course. They all had a lot of fun. Afterwards, Aaron and I went out to dinner.

Sunday

Sunday, Aaron and I drove M11 and a couple carloads of Boy Scouts to camp in Wisconsin. That took a good 7 hours out of the day. After a short time at home, I then went to my sleep study, where they hooked me up with wires on the scalp, chest, legs, finger, and face and told me to sleep. Surprisingly, I slept well.

Monday

Monday was sleep study day. I was awakened after 8 hours of sleep that night (6am), and told I would take a 20 minute nap at 8, 10, 12, 2, and 4. In the between times, I paced the hallways (I got a lot of steps in!), made phone calls, and caught up on my LibraryThing threads. I rushed home after my final nap, washed the goop out of my hair, and went to my first day of PreK/K soccer coaching. IL4 seemed a bit less mature than the rest as far as listening to instructions went, but he did better than I feared. So it was a good practice. I knew IL4 was a bit behind his peers on this level, but I thought putting him a team sport might help him gain maturity.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a calm day. I worked for most of it. Then my friend Liz came over and we grilled and watched Enola Holmes with Aaron and D13.

Wednesday

Wednesday IL4 had his second soccer practice. He played at first, but got really tired in the middle and stopped playing. I think he doesn’t eat enough at school to give him energy on Wednesdays. I will start picking him up early to give him food at home on soccer days.

Thursday

Thursday, I went on a 3 mile walk in the woods with dad. He brought his walking stick and went slowly, and he made it. It took 2 hours. After that, I took D13 to Valleyfair, which is a medium-sized amusement park. She wanted to ride all the rides that M11 won’t ride. Which was all the horrendous ones. The two that were super scary when I was a kid (Corkscrew and Wild Thing) were the tamest of the rides I rode with her. There was one where we hung upside down for what felt like 10 seconds, but was probably more like 5. It was long enough for me to ponder and then say aloud “You know, this part isn’t fun.” And for the person across from me to laugh.

At the end, D13 went on a “flying” ride where she dropped from an unbelievable height in freefall, and the swung out when the cord attached to her vest tightened. She loved it, but I think the adrenaline was too much because she threw up an hour later.

Aaron, IL4, dad, and I went to Olive Garden afterwards, and brought D13 Culver’s, since she was feeling better.

Friday

Friday, after speech therapy, D13, IL4, dad, and I went to Build-a-Bear and then had hibachi at Bennihana. D13 knew what was coming, but IL4 was horrified when the chef set the stove on fire. He jumped out of his chair and hid in a corner. But I coaxed him onto my lap, and then he immediately got back in his chair and was fine. He loved it when the chef juggled the eggs and landed one in his pocket and one in his hat. He asked: “Where’d the egg go?” So the chef pulled it out of his hat. To be entirely honest, I missed where the egg went too. 😂🤣

I relaxed for the rest of the day, which was well-deserved since on Fridays and Saturdays I try to take it easy. D13 and I finished up the evening watching the new horror movie M3gan. Aaron heard what we were going to watch and quickly exited the room. He doesn’t like horror, which still makes me laugh because he agreed to go to IT when we were dating. 🤣😂

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Wisconsin
• 1 letter Massachusetts
• 1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

• Don’t Turn Out the Lights, ed by Jonathan Mayberry
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Bible
• Cursed, ed by Marie O’Regan
• Mahabharata
• Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Reading to IL4

• Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham

D13 reading

• Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
• Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Aaron reading

• Homeland, by R A Salvatore

Media Completed

Steps

News

Saturday

Saturday I had my D&D game that Aaron and my friend Liz are part of. Then Aaron, D13, and I watched X-files for a while.

Sunday

Sunday started with the realization that I was in over my head with this coaching soccer thing. When I agreed to do it, they said they would provide instruction. I figured at the very least we’d have a rulebook emailed us and a meeting about what was expected of us. Nothing like that. In fact nothing at all. And now it would appear the first day of soccer is a game? How is that even possible? IL4 doesn’t know how to play soccer.

Then I arrived at work late because I was suffering from brain fog, and somehow arriving at 12:30 became leaving at 12:30. It’s a 30 minute drive. My client bit me on my shoulder when I helped her stand up and broke the skin. It was through the shirt, but since human bites are notoriously germy, I needed to make an appointment with a doctor.

After work, we played a game if Pandemic as a family.

Monday

Monday morning started with a run to the doctor to get a tetanus shot. The appointment was pretty uneventful, as the bite isn’t infected. Then I went to the pool with M11 and IL4. They enjoyed splashing around. M11 had his first acting class, which he enjoyed, followed by his presentation on baseball at the Boy Scout meeting.

Tuesday

On the Fourth of July I went with dad to a furniture store so he could buy a new recliner. Then we went to get another massage. This one was much more enjoyable, since my back was still tenderized from the last massage, so there were only a few painful moments. I also thought to listen to an audiobook while getting it, so I had something to occupy my over-active brain.

Aaron took M11 shopping for the last of his necessities for his upcoming Boy Scout camp.

We had been going to grill with my friend Liz, but it was raining on and off, and we chose to postpone. Instead we went out to dinner. Our at-home fireworks were next. IL4 enjoyed them until about half-way through when he either got bored or scared or it got too loud. His reasons were unclear, but he wanted to go inside.

Wednesday

Wednesday I went from work to work, with only a scrubbinging of the kitchen floor in between. I watched Lucifer at home while Aaron went to M11’s playoff game. Unfortunately they lost, but that means we can do the aerial course on Saturday (when the final playoff game would be if they’d won).

Thursday

Thursday M11 and I had a D&D oneshot. We both enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, M11 went fishing with a guy a met on Facebook. He had offered to help M11 catch a fish, clean it, and cook it for his merit badge. They didn’t catch anything, unfortunately.

Friday

Friday, IL4 had speech therapy. Then we relaxed the day until M11 and I had our first tap dance class. Afterwards, M11 told me my dancing made him feel a lot better about his own. Then M11 had a meeting with his Scout master and reached the rank of Scout!

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Wisconsin
• 1 letter California
• 1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Mahabharata
• Untangled, by Lisa Damour
• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
• Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendson

Reading to IL4

• Unicorn and Yeti: Friends Rock, by Ayris Burnell
• Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham

M10 reading

• Leather-working merit badge pamphlet

D13 reading

• 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater
• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger

Games Played

Exercise / Weight Loss / Sleep

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and M11 went to a tabletop D&D session and D13 and I watched Catching Killers on Netflix.

Sunday

Sunday M11 volunteered at a potluck with the Boy Scouts and then worked on his scout rank. IL4 slept through his swim lesson. I worked. Finally, M11 had a baseball game which got rained out.

Monday

Monday D13 had an appointment, IL4 had special education, and M11 got grounded for a rather ridiculous lie to get out of taking a shower. I was super productive, though I had hoped to take IL4 to the bike park to start learning to ride a bike, but he refused to budge and I figured he’d not enjoy himself out of spite if I took him against his will. At the end of the day, I went to my first overnight shift at my new job.

Tuesday

Tuesday was quite the day. I’d spent all night at work (asleep till 6am). Then I drove the 30 minutes to my other job. I was there an hour and a half early, so I took a nap in my car, slightly disrupting the life of the woman whose house I parked in front of. I worked there until 3:30pm, and then drove M11 directly to swim lessons, where I paced in the lobby to get my 5000 steps in. I finally had a reprieve from 5:45pm – 9:15pm, when I left for my next overnight shift. But it wasn’t much of a reprieve because M11 likes playing with IL4 at eardrum-shattering volumes when he’s grounded.

D13 and M11 went to a movie while I was at work – Elementals. (M11 isn’t allowed to come into thr livingroom when the TV is on, nor play on his tablet when he’s grounded. He can still text on his phone and leave the house.) M11 got heat exhaustion on the way back, and D13 had to text a friend to bring him water.

Wednesday

Wednesday after work, dad had an appointment and then he and I went to get a massage. It was a deep tissue massage, and I had a lot of knots, so it was actually rather painful. Then I took M11 to his baseball game.

Thursday

After work on Thursday, I took my friend Todd to a food shelf. Then I took D13 to a doctor appointment.

Friday

Friday I decided to take the day off so I spent most of the day just relaxing with IL4 and the kids. I tried to get IL4 to go to the library or pool or even out with Aaron for lunch, but he seemed to be in a rotten mood so I let him stay home. Hopefully next week will work out better.

IL4 had speech therapy. He’s working on his L sound and his he and she. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Aaron for lunch. At the end of the evening M11 went to his mom’s, Aaron playing this video game, and D13 and IL4 made a chocolate cake. IL4 wanted to know whose birthday it was, so D13 just said they were celebrating Polyphemus’s birthday. (Our kitten.)

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Mississippi
• 1 letter Oklahoma
• 1 letter Maryland
• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Michigan
• 1 letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by Ursula Vernon
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendson
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Untangled, by Lisa Damour
• Mr Ballen Podcast

Reading to IL4

• Into the Wild, by Doreen Cronin
• Unicorn and Yeti: Friends Rock
• Unicorn and Yeti: Stuck with You
• Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
• Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham
• Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
• Unicorn and Yeti: Cheer Up, by Ayris Burnell

M10 reading

• Working on leatherworking merit badge
• Working on baseball presentation to BSA

D13 reading

• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger
• Bus 57, by Dashka Slater

Media Completed

Cross-stitch

Exercise / Weight Loss

Weight: X – 38lbs

News

Saturday

Saturday, M11 went fishing with the Boy Scouts and caught a fish. He wasn’t very clear about how big or what kind. Aaron and I played D&D, which was a heavy role playing day (something I like, but doesn’t excite Aaron). Then M11 and I went to Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse in the theater.

Sunday

Sunday I worked with my new client for the second time. This time she was awake for a little while, and I started listening to a full-cast Jane Austen collection on Audible with her. She seemed to enjoy it, but it was hard to tell. IL4 had swim lessons, and M13 had a baseball game.

Monday

Monday was Juneteenth, so Aaron had the day off. After D13’s appointment, the family went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch then to the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Zoo. The kids all loved the Zoo. Then we played a game of Carcassonne. IL4 did not participate in the game, despite me picking a game he could somewhat play. M11 had a Boy Scout meeting later in the day and Aaron gamed with his friends.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, I had my first couple hours of training at the house I will be working overnight at. I met the man I’ll work with, a lovely elderly man, my coworker, and supervisor. I have to train in-house for 30 hours before I can be left alone with him.

The new stove and microwave were delivered, and they’re both delightful. Dad is very pleased with the stove – he says it’s much easier to cook his oatmeal (which was very difficult on the other stove).

M11 had his first summer swim lesson, and graduated to Red Cross level 4. M11, D13, my friend Liz, and I had a cross-stitch party. The kids love cross-stitch, and I finished Groot’s mouth.

Wednesday

Wednesday D13 had a doctor appointment early in the morning. Then I ran errands with my dad, went to Perkins with him, and walked with him to the post office and library. Later, M11 had a game, which they did great on.

Thursday

Thursday started with another appointment for D13 and band for M11. I then worked on creamy corn stew for Aaron (which I didn’t finish because I was too tired by the time the crock pot was done).

I had an appointment with my sleep doctor to discuss the at-home sleep test. I had been hoping I would be diagnosed with sleep apnea, because that yielded an easy solution to my excessive daytime drowsiness. But, alas, I don’t have sleep apnea. The doctor said the next step is to do a 24 hour sleep test, where I go in in the evening to sleep. Then I stay into the next evening, being prompted to take a 20 minute nap every 2 hours. Sounds delightful, if it were at home. 藍 I suggested that maybe my excessive daytime drowsiness wouldn’t happen that day, as it only happens about once a week. She said she thinks I’m tired all the time, I just think that’s normal. But isn’t it? I mean, everyone’s tired all the time. It’s a fact of life. She says it’s not normal with 8-9 hours of sleep every night (which is what I get.) So they should call me in a couple if weeks to schedule something, which I’m guessing will be months out, but I’m not sure.

After the doctor appointment, I went to work with my new daytime client. It was low-key. We listened to Jane Austen Audio Collection for a while, the listened to music for the rest of the time. I wrote two letters and got some reading done.

After work and dinner (I cooked chicken) Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Supernatural while D13 babysat. Then I fell deeply asleep at 8:30, because I was feeling excessive drowsiness and staying awake was becoming torture.

Friday

Friday started out with speech therapy, then a doctor appointment for IL4. He has graduated on from working on his v’s to his L’s. The doctor determined that he has not gained back all of his 3 pounds lost during that 3 day illness a couple weeks ago. He still has one pound to gain back.

After that, D13, M11, IL4, and I went to the pool. They seemed to really enjoy it, though IL4 threw a few mini temper tantrums and one large one. We left after the large one.

Aaron, M11, dad, and I went to Outback steakhouse for dinner.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Pennsylvania
• 1 letter California
• 1 letter Washington

Reading to myself

• Untangled, by Lisa Damour
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Jane Austen Collection on Audible
• Mahabharata
• Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by Ursula Vernon

Reading to IL4

• Unicorn and Yeti: Together, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• The Bad Guys in the Furball Strikes Back, by Aaron Blabey
• Unicorn and Yeti: Cheer Up, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Unicorn and Yeti, Stuck With You, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Society of Substitutes The Zoo Switcharoo, by Alan Katz
• Unicorn and Yeti: A Good Team, by Heather Ayris Burnell

M10 reading

• The River of Wind, by Kathryn Lasky
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer

D13 reading

• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday was my first really good day in a while – coming on the heels of several grumpy days. I worked for my new client, and she slept through most of it, so I got a little reading and cross-stitch completed. By that, I mean 24 complete cross stitches, because that’s all my ADHD brain can handle in one sitting. We had been going to grill, but it was raining, so instead we had Chinese. D13, Aaron, and I then watched Twins, because who doesn’t like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger fail to act? “Yackity-yak don’t talk back!” In Schwarzenegger English.

Sunday

Sunday was a good day for me, and a bad day for M11. I went to church with dad, wrote a letter, and cooked some sausage and potato stew for Aaron’s lunches this week (IL4 helped with the stew). IL4 fell asleep, and missed swim lessons. Our microwave died, and dad kindly bought us a new one. He threw in a new oven while he was at it. He offered a fridge, but that felt excessive. M11 was sick (sore throat, headache, fever of 104F (40C), throwing up). He probably caught whatever IL4 had next week. M11 had to miss his volunteer session at the VFW and his baseball game. Aaron ended the day by grilling and we watched Locke and Key on Netflix.

Monday

Monday I had been planning on taking the kids to the pool, but M11 had been sick the day before and I didn’t want to take him out. But I made some chickpea curry for Aaron’s lunches, and then took M11 to the doctor. As expected, he had a strep test, which was negative.

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling headachy and nauseated. I figured I had the same thing M11 and IL4 had, but maybe I just wanted to be sick so I could do nothing. 🤣😂 Seriously, though, I wasn’t feeling well, and sat on the lounger under my blanket all day listening to Mr Ballen with D13.

Wednesday

Wednesday I spent 8 hours training for my new overnight asleep job. Afterwards M11 had a baseball game. They were crushed as usual.

Thursday

Thursday I had another training day for my new job, and then had a date with Aaron – dinner and Netflix.

Friday

Friday was a really good day. I had assigned D13 the task of babysitting (for a reward) while I did my final day of training for my new job. But the training only took 3 hours instead of 8, so I was able to run a bunch of errands with dad (D13 said she’d give me “the day off” since she’d already expected to babysit all day.) Among other errands, we went to Kohl’s and bought 3 pairs of jeans. I bought one size down because they seemed to fit in the store, but after wearing one of them for a while, they stretched and started falling off my butt, too. So I think I’ll take the other two back and try for one size further down. Yay!

After work, Aaron had bowling with his co-workers and he got his first-ever turkey. I sat and finished the book I was reading.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Maine
• 1 letter North Dakota
• 1 letter Pennsylvania
• 1 letter Maine
• 1 letter Virginia

Reading / Listening to myself

• Bible
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Mr Ballen
• Homeland, by R A Salvatore

Reading to IL4

• Unicorn and Yeti: A Good Team, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Lunch Walks Among Us, by Jim Benton
• Eva and the New Owl, by Rebecca Elliot
• Eva’s Wildwood Bakery, by Rebecca Elliot
• Unicorn and Yeti: Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Unicorn and Yeti: Friends Rock, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Unicorn and Yeti: Fair and Square, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• The Bad Guys, by Aaron Blabey
• Unicorn and Yeti: Cheer Up, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Billy and the Monsters: Monsters Go to the Hospital, by Zanna Davidson
• The Bad Guys in Mission Unpluckable, by Aaron Blabey

M10 reading

• BSA Fishing Handbook

D13 reading

• Night Fall, by Shannon Messenger

Aaron reading

• Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston

Media Completed

Cross-stitch & Puzzles

Exercise / Weight Loss

I made my steps goal (5000) only on Friday. I didn’t meet my exercise goal (30-60 minutes) any day. But there’s always next week!

News

Saturday

Saturday morning I awoke really tired. I’d taken the home sleep test the night before, and that, combined with IL4’s feverish tossing and turning, made for a really bad night’s sleep. I had to nap a good couple of hours that morning, and then played D&D for most of the session. But then IL4 started screaming about “it” hurting so much, so I took his temp and it was almost 104F. So I hopped out of session, and Aaron and I took him to urgent care. There, he suddenly improved, and we were sent back home after a strep test and general assessment. A couple hours later he had a fever again, but there was no more screaming about pain.

Sunday

Sunday, IL4 still had a high temperature. He also didn’t eat AT ALL and drank 18oz of Sprite (his only fluids for the day), then threw up half of that. That really hit home, because the day before he also ate literally nothing and refused all drinks but soda. This was especially stressfull, as we put his medicine in morning and evening apple juices. I began to realize he had started refusing fluids and decreasing food starting on Thursday night. He hadn’t had his meds for 3 days. His urine output had significantly decreased, and I was worried I’d have to take him to the ER for dehydration, and only got 3 hours of sleep.

On top if that, M11 was feeling a little sick, so we kept him out of his game. It wasn’t whatever IL4 is suffering from.

I also had an interview for a day job. It seemed a nice fit due to its flexibility, so I decided to take it. Between 5-15 hours a week.

Monday

Monday was overwhelming. I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep. I thought I was going to have to take IL4 to the ER for dehydration, but I thought maybe the overnight diaper was a bit wet, so he was peeing. I was told by the nurse line that if he doesn’t pee for 12 hours, take him to ER.

Luckily, he ate a bit. No meds though, except his exlax, which M11 convinced him to eat by bribing him with Starburst. Again, this is because everything but the exlax has to be given in a liquid, and he was refusing to drink. But his fever was gone, at least. Unfortunately, he grabbed his ear and started crying, so maybe he has an ear infection?

D13 had an appointment during the day, and M11 got a first aid kit put together so he could work on the first aid merit badge. D13 and I watched the movie Stepmom, with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a better day. Aaron & I got all of IL4’s meds into him. I took him to the doctor, and she gave me an anti-nausea medication to help him drink more. She also x-rayed his gut. Good news! The impaction is history! Now we’re on “mush and push” stage.

Later that day, I took M11 to see a Saint Paul Saints game. We got half-way into the third inning before he got bored. But he did end up with a game ball. Some other kid handed it to him.

Wednesday

I was grumpy and unmotivated on Wednesday. I took M11 to his baseball game. He made good contact with the ball.

Thursday

Thursday was strangely productive given my rotten mood. I filled out onboarding paperwork for a new job, and accepted an offer for an overnight asleep job. That meant I had to quit both of my D&D campaigns, and that’s what’s putting me in my rotten mood. Droping my extracurriculars sucks. But that’ll give me time to write letters again, I guess. That can be tossed in an hour at a time instead of in a dedicated 4-5 hour time slot. I will now be making our budgeted amount, plus a little extra for my “fun” budget. In the evening, my dad took us out to eat. Aaron and I had been planning  on going on a date, but dad asks about once a week ro take us out, and usually one of us has an activity.

Friday

Friday I had second thoughts about quitting D&D. I still don’t think I can manage the weekly Wednesday game, as that’s a huge time commitment, but I can squeeze in the Saturday game.

I had meant to spend the day at the park and then a party after speech therapy, but I was having one of my super-drowsy episodes. I had fallen asleep in the car earlier in the week, and swerved into the next lane, so I decided to cancel my plans for the day. I wanted to be a safe and responsible driver.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 2 letters to Virginia
• 1 letter Pennsylvania
• 1 letter Michigan

Reading to myself

• No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
• Homeland, by R A Salvatore
• Mahabharata
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Democracy in Black, by Eddie S Glaude Jr
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Reading Biblical Literature (lectures), by Craig R Koester

Reading to IL4

• Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats, by David Bowles
• Super Rabbit Boy’s Time Jump, by Thomas Flintham
• Inspector Flytrap by Tom Angleberger
• Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Friends Rock, by Heather Ayris Burnell
• Llama Rocks the Cradle of Chaos, by Jonathan Stutzman
• Henry Heckelbeck Never Cheats, by Wanda Coven

M10 reading

• BSA Fishing Handbook

D13 reading

• Lodestar, by Shannon Messenger

Aaron reading

• Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston

Media Completed

Cross-stitch

Games

IL4, D13, and I played Carcassonne. It’s a 7+ game, but IL4 really wanted to join. Bizarrely, after a few explanations of where he could and couldn’t place a tile, he actually understood tile placement (though not strategy) and he won the game.

Exercise / Weight Loss

I located my jump rope. Now I need to add in 15 -30 minutes if jumping a couple times a day. It’s harder in days I’m watching IL4, but I just have to make it work so I can continue to lose weight without counting calories. I place a new goal of 30-60 minutes of raised heart rate plus 5000 steps a day. Starting next week (on Saturday).

News

Saturday

Saturday, I finished up my (presumably) last shift at my job. Now I am jobless. IL4 and I cooked some white chili for Aaron’s week of food. We made another attempt at evacuating IL4’s bowels with 4 caps of Miralax, but he didn’t poop all day. Then, overnight, he pooped all over our bed and on two of the three comforters. Unfortunately, our dryer is out of commission due to a SNAFU after the basement construction (we need to call HVAC on Tuesday). So we ran into a problem. Aaron cleared the gutters and grilled, because it was beautiful out. I ran some errands.

Sunday

Sunday was our first family day since baseball started. They didn’t have a Sunday game because of the holiday. IL4 fell asleep (his new ADHD med is doping him up, but that’s hopefully temporary), so we watched Psych for a few episodes.  We should have played a board game, but I was tired after a couple hours at the laundromat washing our poopy comforters. We also had a flat tire (D13 noticed).

There are green tomatoes on two of my tomato plants, and green beans on D13’s plant.

Monday

On Memorial Day, I went to the laundromat again (same reason as yesterday). Then I hung out with my friend Todd for a bit.

Tuesday

Tuesday was M11’s birthday. It started with an appointment for him. After he went to school, I had HVAC over to fix the dryer’s gas plumbing. Then I took the car to get an oil change and get the flat tire looked at. They said the tire was dead, but they may be able to bend the rim back to usable shape. They ordered a new tire to hopefully come in the next day.

At some point, the gastroenterologist called and told me to evacuate IL4’s bowels again, but to do it during the week so I can call if there’s a problem.

I picked up the birthday cake, which was decorated to look like a fire (it was really good, but I forgot to take a picture). When the kids got home, we had a nice dinner and cake. Then D13 taught M11 how to cross-stitch.

That evening, there was a problem with IL4’s bowels. (I hadn’t started the 4th evacuation yet.) He complaining that his tummy and butt hurt, like he did on the day he was really bloated. So I pressed on his belly, and it was soft down to his belly button, and then solidly firm under the belly button. I called immediately the next morning, but their nurse-line apparently consists of talking to voicemail and being called back within one business day. So I don’t know why I can’t just email.

Wednesday

Wednesday was day 1 of attempt 4 at evacuating IL4’s bowels. It started with a quick appointment to the doctor for D13 resulting in (weekly?) PT and a specialist referral. So I I could celebrate fewer summer appointments only for a short time. At the same time as calling for her PT intake, I made myself an appointment for my tailbone, which is still hurting while I sit for long periods (like for a show – that can be very uncomfortable). I wonder when it will stop hurting.

Then I played D&D for a while. It was fun, and IL4 fell asleep, so it was almost like doing it on a normal Wednesday.

IL4’s evacuation was so far unsuccessful with only two stools.

Thursday

Thursday was day two of bowel evacuation number four. I don’t know if we’re making progress or not. 🤦‍♀️ At the end of the day, D13 and I played a D&D oneshot. It was rather funny, because we ran into a swamp monster and made a run for it, and then negotiated our way out of the boss battle – so 4.5 hours with no fighting.

Friday

Friday, IL4 decided he didn’t like apple juice, so I didn’t get his 4 caps of Miralax in to him. After his speech therapy, he didn’t want to go to the library, so we just went home and had a relaxing day. After dinner, Aaron and I took IL4 outside to play tag.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
• Raising an Anxious Child, by Erika Miller – Gave up on this one
• Mort, by Terry Pratchett – Finished

Reading to IL4

• Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, by Dav Pilkey
• Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham
• Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham
• Society of Substitutes: The Great Escape, by Alan Katz
• Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
• DJ Funkyfoot: Give Cheese a Chance
• Llama Destroys the World, by Jonathan Stutzman
• Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse, by Jonathan Stutzman

M10 reading

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba
• Exile, by Kathryn Lasky

D13 reading

• Lodestar, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

Cross-stitch

Weight loss / exercise

Week’s weight: x – 29lbs