News

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.

Stitch Head meets the ghost of a terrible man Mauly Crackbone. IL6 loved this one.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I played D&D, then we played Luigi’s Mansion with IL6.

Sunday

Sunday I cooked a turkey dinner for Aaron’s birthday. (It had been intended to be cooked on Thursday, but I made a mistake ordering the brine, so we cooked it on Sunday, instead.) My friend Liz came over for dinner to celebrate. I invite my friends over for Aaron’s birthday. That’s how I roll.

Monday

Monday I took M12 to an appointment, and then took IL6 to an appointment. After that, I let D15 drive. She got on the streets for the first time today, and didn’t run any stop signs. I was still feeling the never-ending tiredness I’ve felt since being sick two weeks ago, so I rested for a while, then read to D15. Then I talked to Aaron till it was time to go to work.

Tuesday

Tuesday after work, I almost immediately took D15 to her appointment. Then I ran some errands, worked on my to-do list, and read. In the evening, Liz came over and the family ate pizza and watched Doctor Who.

Wednesday

Wednesday Dad and I both had a personal trainer appointment at the gym. I let D15 drive again – she successfully backed out of the driveway, drove around the side-roads, and pulled back in the driveway. Speed while turning needs a lot of work. After dinner, I read to D15, then went in early to work.

Thursday

Thursday I relaxed. I took a nap, went to lunch with Aaron, and even watched a little TV. Aaron took D15 to get a henna tattoo. IL6 programmed the computer and then went to Cub Scouts. M12 played a computer game online with a friend.

Friday

Friday, I went directly from work to two appointments for IL6. Then Aaron and I ran some errands (our last weekday of running errands before he starts his new job). In the evening, dad treated us to Outback Steakhouse.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• 12 World Religions, by Jason Boyett
• New Scientist: Our Quantum Future
• The Economist: The Would-be King
• A Hat Full of Sky, by Terry Pratchett
• The Life of Elizabeth I, by Allison Weir
• March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
• The Week: Maga Military

Reading to IL5

• The Yellow Bus, by Loren Long
• The Bubble Gum Blob, by Andres Miedoso
• The Pirate’s Eye, by Guy Bass
• Bad Hair Day, by Jim Benton

D14 reading

• I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai
• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

A yellow bus lives its life.

Stitch Head decides it’s time to leave Castle Grotteskew when his master leaves permanently. This book was very enjoyable, and IL6 enjoyed it, but it was a little long for him. I will split the third book into pieces of once a week.

In this second book in John Lewis’ graphic memoir he goes on Freedom Rides. It was heartbreaking. Very good drawings.

Franny’s pigtails go rogue.

News

Saturday

Saturday had a slow beginning, but I perked up towards the end. IL6 wrote another program on my computer, and played a bit of LEGO. D15 relaxed, as did Aaron.

Sunday

Sunday was productive. I got lots done on my to-do list, read a lot, and took D15 driving in a parking lot. Much to her chagrin, she missed two stop signs, so I wouldn’t take her on the roads.

Monday

Monday was another productive day – the second really good day in a row. In fact, I feel like since I started taking 90 minutes to read a news magazine daily I have actually become more, rather than less, productive.

The kids had the day off school. IL6 programmed a new game and played LEGOs. D15 and M12 watched  videos. Aaron, dad, and I went to the gym for an hour, then Aaron and I ran a couple of errands. I also got a bunch of reading and some cross-stitch in.

Tuesday

Monday was exhausting. Immediately after returning from work, we jumped one of the cars. Then I woke M12 and D15 to eat and get ready, respectively. I took care of some stuff with IL6. D15 and I went to her appointment. Immediately following that, I took M12 and IL6 to the library because M12 needed to do his homework from all the school he missed last week. I played with IL6 for about an hour before he picked books. He ran in the library repeatedly, and I didn’t stop him.

Then I went to the pharmacy to pick up dad’s meds, and ended up stuck in the line for 20 minutes because the pharmacist was at lunch. I loaded dad, M12, and my pill minders, only I was missing two meds, and I thought I’d ordered them last week, but apparently I didn’t confirm. Then M12 wanted McDonald’s, and I felt that I should get it for him because D15 had had a Jersey Mike’s sandwich earlier.

Finally, at 3:30, I had a break and was able to look at my personal goals, which had been ignored all day. But I was too stressed to do them, so I wrote a letter, cooked dinner, and played LEGO with IL6 for 35 minutes while the food was in the oven. I was beat at the end of all that, so spent the rest of the evening talking to Aaron before going to work again.

Aaron, did entertain IL6 for about an hour on his computer game, which gave me time for the pill boxes, but mainly because I reminded IL6 that he hadn’t played on dad’s computer for a while.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a great day it was Aaron’s 50th birthday. After an hour at the gym, he and I had a date. While on our date, he got a job offer! And a good one, too. 😊

I spent a good chunk of time reading in the afternoon, and then when IL6 got home, we all went out to family dinner for Aaron’s birthday. Then Aaron and I chatted while the kids played on screens. M12 was actually playing with a friend on a computer game, which is a new activity for him. I like the social aspect of that.

Thursday

Thursday I woke a little light-headed. I don’t think I was sick, I think I was just burnt out from trying to catch up after getting behind while I was sick the week before. But because I couldn’t stand very long at a time, I just spent the whole day reading and doing just the basic things that needed to get done. IL6 programed my computer with me for a while in the afternoon.

Friday

Friday, I took IL6 to two appointments, then drove dad to the gym and picked up my niece and nephew from school. Later, dad took IL6, Aaron, and me to Red Lobster. Afterwards IL6 and I played Luigi’s Mansion and Aaron gamed with his friends. M12 was at scout camp, and D15 was with her mom.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• New Scientist: Dark Side of the Microbiome
• The Economist: Battle for the Pentagon
• The Ravenswood Witch, by Jenni Keer
• Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull
• Diary of A Young Girl, by Anne Frank
• The Week: Collision Course
• Mr Ballen podcast
• New Scientist: Our Quantum Future

Reading to IL5

• Time to Clown Around, by Andres Miedoso
• The Pirate’s Eye, by Guy Bass

D14 reading

• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

IL6 was so excited when we found out we missed a Desmond Cole book when we read them all. In this one, Andres is afraid of clowns.

Gerald starts sneezing and thinks it’s Piggy making him sneeze.

When a young woman is running away from the law, she stumbles into a mysterious man who pretends she is his wife to keep her safe. This book was great with a bit of a surprise, though the big reveal was obvious from the beginning.

News

Saturday

Saturday IL6 and Aaron were supposed to go to Cub Scout Polar camp, but he had forgotten his snowpants at school, and we didn’t have a spare. Not only was it snowing, but it was in the single digits temperature. So he stayed home. 😭 Aaron and I played Dungeons and Dragons, then I dyed D15’s hair blue.

Sunday

Sunday….well…apparently I remember nothing about Sunday. Maybe something happened? I slept poorly due to nausea and M12 sicker than me.

Monday

Sunday night, both M12 and I were nauseated – and M12 was repeatedly vomiting. In the morning, he felt fine, but I was groggy and had awful body aches. I slept all day. In the afternoon, Aaron was supposed to take D15 to her permit test, but he had misplaced her (and M12’s) birth certificate. D15 was so disappointed. 😭Then M12 became short of breath, so I dragged myself to the thermometer and took his temperature. It was 104.5. I slept the rest of the evening/night till 1am.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a disaster at first. I had stayed home from work because I was sick, so I was there to be awakened when D15 started throwing up and got diarrhea. Then she let me know we had a leak in the basement. It was a failed pipe.

Aaron turned off the water, but then I had to take D15 to the toilet at Perkins and the gas station (2 times), and Aaron took her to the toilet at our grocery store. She threw up most of the day, and ran a 103.4 fever. M12 was also home because of his fever on Monday, and had another low-grade fever on Tuesday.

Good news: the pipe was fixed by about 11am. Plus Aaron got a copy of the older kids’ birth certificates. I set up an appointment for D15 to take the permit test on Wednesday at a 48 minute drive away. It’s the closest we could get. We figured she couldn’t be at school, but would probably be ok for taking the test.

IL5 worked on coding a new game on my computer with my help. He’s getting really good at it, considering he can’t read. He learns so fast. The teacher did say he learns visually. He threw up rather dramatically at the end of the day.

Wednesday

Wednesday, all three kids were home sick, and dad was pretty darned sick, too. I went to the gym, but started feeling lightheaded, so I came home.

I was trying to take it easy and get the basic tasks done for the day and get a lot of reading in. But IL6 wanted to program his game on the computer, and we spent 2 hours doing that.

D15, who wasn’t actually sick (she just had to stay out of school because she’d vomited within 24 hours), took the permit test in a city 48 minutes away (because that was the closest next-day appointment) and passed. Aaron took her out driving in the parking lot, but wouldn’t let her drive faster than 5 mph, which I think is excessively slow, but I guess I didn’t see if she was doing poorly with her breaking and steering.

Thursday

Thursday, I had a lot of unexpected housework to do, and felt very overwhelmed. But Aaron did the dishes when I said I was overwhelmed, so that was nice.

When IL6 got home, he wanted to play the computer game he had coded. It was 3-person, so at first M12 joined us, then Aaron joined us. After that, IL6 coded a 1-person game. All these games are pretty much identical in function, but not in appearance, so I really need to help him branch out. Not sure how to do that, though, because he is very strong-willed. On the other hand, he actually knows how to code that game with minimal assistance from me.

In the evening, I read while IL6 was at Cub Scouts, and then again in IL6’s room for a quarter hour before the older kids decided to come in and either have an anxiety attack (D15), or make lots of noise (M12 with IL6).. 

Friday

Friday, IL6 had two appointments in the morning. Then, after dropping him off at school, I only managed to finish a little housework before he arrived home again. He programmed a computer game for a while, then Aaron and I went out for a Valentine’s Day date. I was a little concerned it would be crowded, but we went somewhere that didn’t seem like it would be a popular Valentine’s Day destination, and scored – we were seated right away.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• The Economist: Scam Inc
• The Ravenswood Witch, by Jenni Keer
• March Book 1, by John Lewis, Andrew Ayden, and Nate Powel
• The Week: Musk’s Rampage
• The Life of Elizabeth I, by Allison Weir
• New Scientist: The Dark Side of Your Microbiome
• 12 World Religions, by Jason Boyett

Reading to IL5

• Stitch Head: The Pirate’s Eye, by Guy Bass
• The Frandidate, by Jim Benton

D14 reading

• Crazy Wanda, by Terry Goodkind
• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

John Lewis tells a couple of kids about his youth and organizing sit-ins in Nashville. This graphic novel is drawn well, and holds the reader’s interests.

Fran wants to run for president of her class, but has difficulty appealing as a candidate. So she creates a skin which changes into (and says) whatever each voter wants. Funny and cute.

News

Saturday

Saturday IL6 had a birthday party to go for his triplet friends. It was at a kids’ gymnastics gymnasium. He loved it for the first hour, but then they decided to make it structured, and he got bored and came back to me. (I think the gymnasium was trying to drum up interest in their gymnastics classes by having a “lesson.”)

After the party, I wrote a letter, then Aaron and I went to D15’s play. There were two 45 minute plays, and she was very proud of being able to bow twice.

Sunday

Sunday we all relaxed. M12 went to band. In the evening, we played D&D as a family.

Monday

Monday was pretty productive. I dived into my to-do list, took dad to an appointment, the bank, and a nail salon. Since I had finished a good chunk of stuff by then, I read The Economist until IL6 got home. When M12 got home from auditions for the middle school play, I started cooking meatloaf. M12 then went to Boy Scouts and I finally programmed in Scratch with IL6 again. He learned a lesson on saving when he accidentally deleted something that we couldn’t get back, and we had to go back to a previous save. He lost some work, but he survived.

Tuesday

Tuesday Aaron and I took D15 to an appointment, and then we exercised. D15 did tech crew work after school. M12 had jazz band rehearsal.

When IL6 got home, he wanted to program the computer more (he’s really catching on), but what he wanted to do wasn’t possible, and he wouldn’t believe me. Then M12 tried to do it, and he said it was impossible, and IL6 believed him.

Wednesday

Wednesday started with me taking dad to the gym – we were both going to work out. But then I discovered that the wheel had fallen off his walker, so I told dad that we needed to look for the nut and bolt. It had fallen out somewhere. Dad said “Oh! Do you need me to come along?” Like, umm. Well it IS your walker. But, whatever. I left him there and went searching for the bolt. I didn’t find it. I returned 30 minutes later for my workout with my personal trainer.

Then Aaron and I went to a pub while waiting for our car to get an oil change.

Later, we went to parent-teacher conferences for the boys. They are both doing well. All teachers gave glowing reviews.

Thursday

Thursday was a relaxing day. The boys had no school, so dad took us all to Perkins. Then we relaxed at home. I read to D15 in the evening.

Friday

On Friday, I took IL6 to an appointment and then tried to take him to a second appointment, but it was cancelled. Then I took him for a haircut. Following that, I took IL6 and M12 to the library, and then D15 to a doctor’s appointment. In the evening, dad took us out to dinner.

Reading to myself

• The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
• Human Acts, by Han Kang
• 12 Major World Religions, by Jason Boyett
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Life of Elizabeth I, by Allison Weir
• The Economist: Revolt Against Regulation
• The Week: Immigration Offensive
• Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull
• Ravenswood Witch, by Jenni Keer

Reading to IL5

• Attack of the Shadow Smashers, by Troy Cummings
• Jo Bright and the Seven Bots, by Deborah Underwood and Meg Hunter
• The Kiss Box, by Bonny Verburg and Henry Cole
• The Fran With Four Brains, by Jim Benton

D14 reading

• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger
• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Aaron reading

• Fury of the Gods, by John Gwynne

Media Completed

A young bear learns to separate temporarily from his mom.

Retelling of Snow White

Alexander and his team fight shadow monsters. IL6 loved it.

Fran builds some bots to help her get stuff done.

In this heartbreaking novel, Han Kang explores how people must have felt in the aftermath of the Gwangju uprising (where about 2000 people were massacred for protesting). I had not heard about this real event in 1980, and it was terrible to behold in this novel. Human Acts was eloquently written – I see why Han Kang won the Nobel Prize.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I slept in. Then we played D&D for 4 hours. I had told IL6 I would teach him to code a game, so I downloaded Scratch, but then was having difficulty figuring it out. So I told him I needed to watch a tutorial. However, I was too tired for a tutorial, so, despite trying to watch one, I took a nap. For the rest of the evening. And through the night till just after 4am. I fell back to sleep around 6am.

Sunday

Sunday started with me trying to program an easy game with IL6 on Scratch (A kids’ programming language developed by MIT). He actually picked it up surprisingly well. We ran into a bug I was trying to fix, but he didn’t have the patience to fix it, so his mind on what he wanted to do, and screamed at me when I continued trying to solve the original problem. I didn’t know how to do the new thing he wanted to do, either, though Malcolm rather snottily explained how to program in a very simplistic sort of way that I’d understood even before watching the tutorial, because apparently he thinks I’m stupid. I told IL6 that I would figure it out alone, and we could continue tomorrow. We stopped at 11am.

I then looked at my phone. My friend Liz had texted at 10:30 to ask if she should come for our trip to Olive Garden for our book club meeting at 11. Oops. I told her “yes?” And started to get IL6 ready, as Aaron was out. Then, Liz asked if her nephew could come along, so I invited M12, and it turned out to be a party.

A little after getting home, I took M12 to band, then headed to the library with IL6. They had gotten rid of his favorite toys, but had acquired a new one that he wanted to play with. Someone else was playing with it, so he wanted to wait. But the computer was broken, and we’d picked out books, and I was super tired again, so to IL6’s dismay we went home. I felt bad.

Then I zonked out for 2 hours in IL6’s bed, while he played on his phone on the bed. And that was pretty much the end of the evening.

Monday

Monday Aaron and I went to the gym and ran errands. I figured out how to do what IL6 wanted to do while programming the game. But then he didn’t actually want to program when he got home, despite reminding me about it in the morning.

In the evening, dad took us to Red Lobster for dinner. Then IL6 wanted to hang out in his room, so I got some reading done. My cross-stitch of the creeper is coming along much faster than the one of Groot. I think because I’m more experienced. It is a lot more complex that Groot, though.

Tuesday

Tuesday I went to the gym, then to lunch, then to errands with dad and Aaron.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I got up at 5am and started the 3 hour drive to get to my aunt’s funeral. It was a beautiful service and nice seeing everyone, but at the end my social battery was drained and I had a headache, so I didn’t socialize long. I drove back home that night.

Thursday

Thursday I had little motivation to do anything. I washed dad’s laundry and ran some small errands. I read and cross-stitched for a little while. (The pattern is difficult because there are so many shades of green in one- or two-pixel areas, making the counting a pain.) IL6 had Cub Scouts. D15 had play rehearsal. M12 went skiing after school with some friends.

Friday

Friday started with two appointments for IL6. Then I wrote a couple of letters and read for a while. D15 had the first night of her play, which she says went well.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Beyond These Walls, by Tony Platt
• Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi
• Mahabharata
• The Life of Elizabeth I, by Allison Weir
• Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank
• Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull
• Human Acts, by Han Kang

Reading to IL5

• The End of the Overworld, by Nick Eliopulos
• The Leaf Thief, by Alice Hemming
• Beach Bummer, by Ryan T Higgins
• We are Growing, by Mo Willems
• Here Comes Teacher Cat, by Deborah Underwood
• Hidden Gem, by Linda Liu

D14 reading

• Girl in the Moon, by Terry Goodkind
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
• Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Media Completed

A squirrel wonders where all the leaves are going.

A bear is dragged along to the beach.

Some grass figures out what it’s like to grow as unique blades.

A cat has to substitute teach a class, and learns to enjoy it.

This is a major Hindu spiritual work, one of the (if not the) oldest spiritual texts as well as the longest epic poem in existence. This audiobook, despite being abridged, was about 45 hours, and it took me about a year to read. The story was interesting (to me) and ok in terms of ease of following. Not much previous knowledge was necessary.

A rock discovers it’s awesome.

In the second book of this African fantasy trilogy, the 3 main characters fight for their differing visions of what is best for their country. This is an interesting and well-written book, based on the emotions it elicited in me. They weren’t all positive emotions, but I feel like any book that gets the feels is well-written. (As long as I’m getting feels the author suggested.)

Eggasaurus Inc. misunderstands the intents of a kid.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I drove dad 3 hours south to visit my aunt. She is very cheerful and says she doesn’t see herself dying any time soon. The pneumonia has turned out to be antibiotic resistant, but she is not in multiple organ failure as my cousin made it sound on Friday night. She was pretty tired, though. The visit took place from noon till seven, so I was pretty exhausted by the end of the visit. Dad and I then went to the hotel and a restaurant.

IL6 had his Pinewood Derby, and came in 39th out of 58th.

Sunday

Sunday dad and I went to church with dad, cousins Bob and Steve, and my uncle. Then dad and I had breakfast at Perkins, and visited my aunt. Before leaving, dad and went to dinner at Olive Garden with Steve.

IL6 was thrilled to see me when I got home, and demanded my attention. D15 was in an unusually chatty mood, too.

Monday

Monday we woke everyone up at 7 (despite it being a holiday), and stuck the cats in bedrooms. Workers came with their jackhammers to dig a trench where they’re placing the drain tile.

D15 and IL6 didn’t like the noise, so after their virtual appointment, we all piled into the car to go to Olive Garden (that’s where IL6 asked to go). We usually go to one in the suburb north of us, but M12 had an appointment right across from an Olive Garden in a suburb two cities to the west. So Aaron dropped D15, IL6, and I off there and drove off to the appointment. IL6 was crying so hard because he wanted to go to the other Olive Garden. It was -14 degrees out, and he just stood there outside crying. Finally I bribed him to go in with Dairy Queen later.

When the workers left, I let the cats out of the bedrooms. About an hour later, I realized I hadn’t seen Freyja since letting them out. But D15 said she’d seen him, so I dropped it. A couple hours later, I went looking for him.

Downstairs, I heard him meowing for help. It took a couple minutes to pinpoint it, since whenever I started looking, he stopped meowing. Finally, I found him in the area between the ceiling of the basement and the floor of the first level. He wouldn’t step down into my hands, so finally I wedged a large container about half-way up under the place Freyja was looking out. After I walked away, he jumped down using the container. Why do cats go places they can’t get out of?

Later that night, I noticed smoke pouring out of a greasy skillet on the stove. Dad had accidentally started the burner under it. I took it off the burner before it burst into flame. Then I pressed the check button on the smoke detector. It was dead! But we survived, and I guess we are fine. And now we know we need a new smoke

Tuesday

Tuesday, dad and I went to the gym with dad – I lifted weights with my legs and then walked on the treadmill.

The kids had the day off school because of the -40°F windchill. So they got to listen to more work downstairs. Freyja seemed to handle it a little better today.

I got a call from my cousin saying that  on Monday my aunt crashed and is close to passing. It’s a bit surprising, since she seemed weak but ok on Sunday.

In the evening, my friend Liz came over, and we watched Doctor Who and ate pizza.

Wednesday

Wednesday Aaron and I went to the gym. Then he, dad, and I drove to the elementary school and asked to look in the lost-and-found. We found IL6’s missing hat and coat! I had hoped they’d eventually make it to the lost-and-found. He likes the replacement coat better than the original, but he’d really missed that hat.

Then we went to Olive Garden to see if D15 had left her coat there. She had. (How you accidentally leave your coat somewhere when the temperature is below zero is beyond me.) We decided to eat since we were there.

IL6 was thrilled to see his hat when he got home. Then he played Spore on the computer with M12 for a couple hours, which was kind of M12. D15 had rehearsal.

I got news that my aunt was probably going to die overnight or Thursday, and was unable to read or do much because of grief. Hopefully Thursday will be better for at least reading.

Thursday

Thursday IL6 and I had a useless appointment in which the provider told us there’s nothing she could do, and she wishes she’d called to tell us not to come in.

Aaron and I finished a couple of errands. We went to the gym. In the evening, we went to D15’s parent-teacher conferences. She is doing well.

That night, my aunt passed. I guess I feel relieved that she’s not suffering anymore.

Friday

Friday I took IL6 to an appointment, then relaxed for the rest of the day. Except, I did make a phone call to insurance about IL6’s med – which apparently will simply not be covered by insurance.

M12 went to board game camp and D15 went to visit her mom. Dad went to my sister’s overnight, and IL6 took a 1.5 hour bath. So it was a calm night.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett
• The Week: Agony in Los Angeles
• Mahabharata
• Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi
• Beyond These Walls, by Tony Platt
• Wrath of the Dragon King, by Brandon Mull

Reading to IL5

• The Day of the Night Crawlers, by Troy Cummings

D14 reading

• Girl in the Moon, by Terry Goodkind

Aaron reading

• Fury of the Gods, by John Gwynne

Media Completed

Tiffany wants to be a witch, but has no one to teach her. However, when her brother is kidnapped she must convince some tiny men to help her use withcy powers to bring the brother back. This wasn’t as funny as the witch novels, but was pretty cute.

Alexander and Rip figure out why night crawlers are invading their town. IL6 was excited to read this book after he remembered the first book. It did not disappoint.

Franny develops a crazy dangerous bomb, but Igor eats it. She has to shrink herself and be snorted up Igor’s nose to retrieve it. Cute story. IL6 was pretty excited to read more about Franny’s creations.

Dog races the strawberry. Very cute.

Seth and Kendra need to beat the dragon king when he declares war on them. This was very interesting second book to the series.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron, IL6, and I went to M12’s band concert. It was really well-done. Later in the night, I started my cross-stitch pattern (a baby Creeper for IL6).

Sunday

Sunday, we all relaxed. I went to the gym and wrote letters. Aaron and I had a date.

Monday

Monday was a good day. IL6 had two appointments. The second was a blood draw, which, as always, was this huge ordeal. After dropping him at school, Aaron and I ran our errands. Then dad took us to Perkins. I wrote two letters. I worked on my to-do list.

Dad paid for Aaron to get a gym membership and personal trainer (he’s paying mine, too). I have faith he’ll exercise his butt off and I won’t almost beat him at arm wresting anymore. (Yes, I’m poking at you, Aaron. I clearly would have won if you hadn’t cheated. 😝)

When D15 got home, she was upset about some strange 3-day assignment in which she was supposed to pretend to be Italy and compete with other “countries” for parts of Africa. She didn’t like hurting the pretend people. I emailed the teacher and asked if this was supposed to help students empathize with the people being colonized. She said yes, but she didn’t think people were getting it, so she had decided to drop the assignment.

I read to D15 and played LEGOs with IL6.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took M12 to the eating disorder doctor, and she told him he needs to eat more if he wants to grow during puberty. He is now worried he will end up shorter than D15. Part of the problem is that he asked me if he would be taller than D15 and I answered “I hope so.”

M12 had a school band concert. He did great. Not only did Aaron and I go, but we saw where he sat, which apparently was important to M12. (I’m not sure what made him think we didn’t pick him out when he went to his seat. Maybe because all 7th graders look alike?)

The rest of the day was encompassed with some teen drama with D15. At the end of the day, I told Aaron I couldn’t wait to go to work so I could sleep, and IL6 offered to go into his room with me so that I could take a nap on his bed. He took my nap really seriously, because after getting up at 8:45 to tell dad and M12 to take their meds, I came back and sat on the bed with my head in my hands. After a minute or so, IL6 said “mommy, why aren’t you sleeping?” 😊

Wednesday

Wednesday we had D15’s intake for therapy.

Then we went to the pharmacy and tried to pick up IL5’s prescription. The pharmacy said they didn’t get the script from the doctor. I said “That’s odd. This is the second time they’ve said they’ve sent it, then it didn’t get here.”

I messaged the doctor and said their script didn’t make it, again. And could they send a sample to the office nearby so we wouldn’t run out, as promised on Monday by the provider.

The patient care coordinator said they never sent the script, and they didn’t send the sample because the script was now sent. But that is exactly what the provider said on Monday “I just sent it now, it wasn’t sent before.” I have 100% faith they sent it all three times, and that their system is glitching and not sending it and that now I will run out of the med because the patient care coordinator didn’t send the sample to the nearby office, as the provider promised.

After school, I took IL5 to McDonald’s for a playdate. He really enjoyed himself. Immediately upon returning home, dad took us to Olive Garden, but my sleeping disorder hit on the way to Olive Garden, and I fell asleep in the car. I could hardly keep my eyes open during dinner, plus the ice in my drink made me cold.

Upon getting home, I fell asleep again until it was time to work. IL5 joined me and played on my phone. At work, I immediately pulled the blanket over my head, did some last minute stuff on my phone, stuck my head out, and slept soundly until 6am.

Thursday

Thursday was wonderful – I had zero appointments. I could have used it to get lots of stuff done, but I caught up on letters (I had 6 this week), used my Groot wax seal Santa got me, and I read. In the evening, IL6 went to Cub Scouts and checked in his Pinewood Derby car. Then he made a cute card for me. He even wrote “I love mom” on it with hearts he drew himself. (That reminds me, he’s been getting hearts with “E(2) IL6” written in them, lately. I asked who E(2) was, but all he said was “I think E(2) loves me.” I should see if I can get hold of E(2)’s mom for play dates. Right now, he has 3 friends – triplets – S, E(1), and M(2).)

Oh, and IL6’s med was there. (Blush)

Friday

Friday morning, I started at work, hearing that my aunt was in the hospital with sepsis. She’s 86, so it’s not a good sign. However, they cleared it up by the end of the day and sent her back to the rehab facility. She does have multiple organ failure, though, so she has been put on hospice starting Saturday. Dad and I were already going to visit her this weekend, so we decided it was a good idea to go despite the recent hospitalization.

I took IL6 to an appointment. I meant to take him to a second appointment, but when I got there it didn’t exist. 🤷‍♀️

Aaron and I went to the gym to weight lift and walk on the treadmill. Then Aaron cooked chili, and I sat with IL6 in his room.

Reading to myself

• The Mystery of Exploding Teeth, by Thomas Morris
• Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi
• Beyond these Walls, by Tony Platt
• Wrath of the Dragon King, by Brandon Mull
• Mahabharata

Reading to IL5

• Golem’s Game, by Nick Eliopulos

D14 reading

• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)

Aaron reading

• The Fury of the Gods, John Gwynne

Media Completed

In this amusing bit of nonfiction, Morris includes stories about weird medical incidents throughout the centuries. The stories were short, and well-researched. Some of them seemed a bit unlikely, but he admitted that although he got the stories from medical journals, the stories may not be true. I enjoyed reading this.

Penelope is given a saber-toothed cat for a pet, but has a lot of difficulty controlling it. A cute story that IL6 liked.

This is the penultimate book in the Stonesword Chronicles. Our intrepid Minecraft players must face some challenges alone. IL6 is enjoying the series.

News

Saturday

Saturday flew by more quickly than expected. I got a slow start to the day – getting nothing done before our weekly Skype call with my mother-in-law. After the call, I put some chicken chili ingredients in the crock pot. IL6 wanted to “make something with sugar as an ingredient.” So we made a chocolate cake. I wasn’t expecting it to turn out well, since I was letting IL6 be imprecise with the measurements. But it actually turned out really well!

I then went to the gym and had a relaxing 2.5 mile-per-hour stroll on the treadmill (so enough to get my pulse up a little, but I could still type on my phone).

After a short nap, I made a meatloaf in the instant pot. I’m still trying to figure out how to use the instant pot, so it took some troubleshooting to figure out that my problem was that I needed water to build pressure.

Then I cross-stitched and read while sitting in IL6’s room with him. Aaron and dad watched TV. IL6 and M12 watched YouTube.

I lost 1.9 pounds this week, but I gained 1 pound last week so I’m still on track at an average of one pound a week. I have 8 pounds to go to get to the weight I was when I met Aaron (my next goal). Maybe 2 months?

Sunday

Sunday, I went to church with dad in the morning. In the afternoon, M12 went to band rehearsal and D15 came back from her mom’s. In the evening, Aaron and I played LEGOs with IL6.

Really, the only interesting thing that happened had to do with the laundry. In October, I bought a bunch of 5T pants for IL6. A week or so later, all but a couple were missing. We decided there was a missing laundry basket and looked and looked for it. Finally, we bought some more 5T pants. Fastforward to Sunday. I was putting away laundry and discovered a bunch of 4T-5T socks (which had all been decommissioned months ago), as well as some 4T pants (also decommissioned months ago). I realized that somehow, without us knowing how, the missing laundry basket with all the missing 5T pants (plus some small stuff that got through at that time) got reintegrated into our laundry when D15 sorted the last gigantic pile of laundry. So now we won’t run out of pants, at least.

Monday

Monday, Aaron and I ran a bunch of errands. They had accumulated over the past two weeks while IL6 was home. We had so many, we didn’t finish them all. Then I went to the gym.

At home, I cooked bacon (IL6 had requested some the day before), washed the skillet, cooked 3 pork chops for M12’s dinners this week, washed the skillet, was about to cook some shrimp in it, but decided I was done with cooking for the day.

In the evening, I read to D15 while M12 was at Boy Scouts.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a long day. For about two months, I’ve had trouble with my eyesight, and I recently noticed it was just in my right eye. That was stressful, because I wondered if it was something like a cataract. But I was mostly thinking I would wait until my next eye exam to get it looked at unless it got significantly worse.

Then, Tuesday morning, my eye started stinging and suddenly the vision got really bad. As I was driving home, several floaters appeared. That was stressful, combined with the vision issues, so I called opthamology when I got home they had an appointment available in 20 minutes, and it takes 20 minutes to drive there, so I took it.

Then dad came out of his bedroom and veeeeerrrrry slooooooowly told me that he was going to my sister’s tonight, and could I fill his pillbox before I left? Argh! So I filled for Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning as fast as I safely could, then rushed out the door with Aaron.

There was no need to rush, because the doctor kept us waiting for an hour. When she examined my eye, she said the eyes were dry and that my right cornea had a harmless condition in which it was bumpy instead of smooth. That would make the dry eye impact the right eye more than the left eye. She told me to take tear eye drops 4-6 times a day.

She also said she saw floaters in my right eye, but it otherwise appeared healthy. She said I’m a bit young to start getting floaters, but that it was harmless if it was just the “jelly at the back of the eye.” Of course, she doesn’t know that it’s the jelly, but it sounded like a reasonable suggestion. She wanted me to come back in 4-6 weeks to check the status of my floaters.

Aaron drove me home, since I couldn’t drive with my eyes dilated. We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings on the way home.

Another stressful thing that happened: dad let my homeless nephew J20 into the house at 2am Tuesday morning. They trashed the kitchen, ate our frozen pizza, Texas toast, 2 Tupperware containers of spaghetti, and left a brand new package of frozen fries out to thaw. (Aaron later found two heaping plates of food set out to spoil, so they didn’t eat all this, they only cooked it.) They crashed in the basement, scaring M12, who thought we were being robbed, and scaring D14 when she got up in the morning. They broke the light in the laundry room (though it was probably from the 1950’s and was on its way out, anyway). They stole 3 of D15’s chargers, including the one for her school iPad. Luckily, they left the iPad.

Then in the evening, some unrelated stuff that I shouldn’t share happened, but it was also stressful.

Wednesday

In the morning, I took M12 to a doctor’s appointment. Then I ran some errands with Aaron, made some phone calls, and wrote a letter. Aaron installed new lights in our laundry room and closet so that we had strings on our lights again.

One of the errands we ran is to run to the post office and tell them that our mailbox lock is jammed. They told us it was probably frozen, and to spray deicer in there. We sprayed a whole bottle in. No luck. We tried a hair drier, no luck. I had put our mail on hold so we’d have access to new mail, but they delivered yesterday’s anyway. So we have 3 days of mail stuck in the box.

Thursday

Thursday I went to the gym and spent a couple hours cleaning. I cooked swordfish for dinner, and took D15 to Joanne Fabric to get some yarn for her blanket for IL6.

When I opened up the oven after preheating it to 400F for 20-30 minutes, I found the well-cooked pizza that J20 and his friend left sitting, uncooked, in the oven when they were here.

Friday

Friday I took IL6 to meet his new therapist (for his fear of pooping), and we both liked her. Then I took him to speech therapy. After that, dad, Aaron, and I ran some errands and went to lunch. We got the mailbox lock ordered – it should come in next week. In the evening, I cooked salmon, then Aaron, D15, and IL6 cleaned IL6’s room.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Mahabharata
• Wrath of the Dragon King, by Brandon Mull
• The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E M Anderson
• Mr Ballen podcast
• The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, by Thomas Morris

Reading to IL5

• Diary of a Roblox Pro: Monster Escape, by Avi Avatar
• Never a Doll Moment, by Andres Miedoso
• Hold on to Your Heads, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger
• Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kid

Media Completed

Ari Avatar is dared to go into an abandoned warehouse and discovers a monster. Not too clever, but IL6 liked it.

Desmond and Andres visit Desmond’s grandma’s house, where they encounter a houseful of creepy dolls.

To her surprise, Edna discovers she’s the chosen one. She has to leave retirement to save people from rampaging dragons. So cute and funny.

Desmond and Andres go to a thrift store to buy a raincoat. There, they get attacked by a headless mannequin. I’m sad to say this is the last published Desmond Cole book as of the beginning of 2025. IL6 will be so disappointed.

News

Saturday

Saturday I woke up feeling dizzy and nauseated. I’m not sure if I had a stomach bug or was stressed about some unknown factor. Norovirus is going around the area, but if that’s what I had, it was a very mild case.

I had promised my dad I’d take him to Barnes and Noble to buy a calendar, so we all piled into the car because I thought it would be a nice way to get IL6 out of the house. But he threw a temper tantrum in the store because we didn’t buy him a toy. Then we stopped by Best Buy to pick up a new laptop that my mother-in-law bought as a Christmas present since mine finally bit the dust. I had thought getting up and moving around would shake the sick feeling (it would have if it were stress), but I felt downright miserable on the car ride home.

At home, I slept about 3 hours, and ended up feeling groggy, but not miserable. I listened to an audiobook while cross-stitching, and then read. IL6 snuck his way into staying up late by starting to play with his LEGOs right at bedtime, making me feel bad to stop him. Sneaky sneak.

Sunday

Sunday I woke up at 5am (after falling asleep at midnight) to discover that my dad hadn’t come home. He had gone out with my sister the day before, and not come back. I texted him, as he often texts at 5am. No answer. I checked that his pill box was still on his dresser (as an indication of him planning to stay at my sister’s). It was there. He needs to take his meds on time or his stent will clot, potentially leading to sudden death. I knew he wasn’t in a nearby hospital, because I’d be getting updates from them on my phone. My mind was going over all the reasons for these events, and I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Then I got hold of him at 9. He had stayed at my sister’s house. He’d taken just 24 hours’ worth of meds with him. And he forgot to tell me.

About this time, IL6 got up and immediately started playing with his LEGOs. That took a few hours of Aaron putting a set together and then me playing with his little LEGO guys and bosses he’d built. Then IL6 played with the Switch for a few hours. (That also takes a lot of parental attention.)

I tried to bully through what felt like a cold and fatigue. But really my only accomplishment (with Aaron), was to get the basement shifted around for the inspection of the new electrical panel. Other than that, I read and cross-stitched.

Monday

Monday morning I had a video appointment with IL6’s doctor. I’d made it over a month ago to discuss testing IL6 for auditory processing disorder. We agreed eventually that we would get him tested both for auditory processing disorder and autism, as both of those could lead to difficulties speaking.

Later in the morning, I took dad to his last cardiac rehab appointment before “graduation.” We’re both excited to be done. We had another appointment in the same (rather far away) area, so we went to Perkins for lunch, then to the audiologist for a hearing aid adjustment. She turned them up 5 decibels and now he cringes when IL6 talks.

I sat with IL6 in his room until dinner, during which I continued setting up my new computer. Then shrimp for dinner, crafting with IL6, and more sitting in his room (this time reading).

Tuesday

Tuesday I went to the gym with dad – he signed me up for 12 weeks of personal training, which will start next week. I guess it’s probably a good idea to learn how to lose weight.

Later in the day, I checked things off my to-do list, as well as going out to lunch with Aaron, dad, and IL6. I got the basement tidied for the work this week, and got some work done in the livingroom. IL6 and I made a toilet monster out of pipe cleaners and duct tape. In the evening I read. At 10, IL6 and I started a readathon for 2 hours. We finished 2 books.

Wednesday

Wednesday I slept until 2 because I had forgotten to take my evening med the night before and went into withdrawal. Soon, the kids got home from their mom’s, and we all opened Christmas presents. Then they played the Switch, and Dad, Aaron, D15, and I went to Red Lobster. In the evening, I read.

Thursday

Thursday started out with a call from the asbestos removal company – they were supposed to come on Friday to remove our tiles, but had to move it out to the following Thursday because they didn’t plan well. Which is infuriating because we had it scheduled out months ago. And because we’ve already taken out our plumbing, so that means we’ll have 6 people and one bathroom for AT LEAST a week longer IF the people who are drilling can reschedule easily. And because D15 can’t sleep in her room till it’s done. And because the other people were supposed to come and drill on Monday, and now we have to move them. And those people never called me back about rescheduling, so I have to call them again. These asbestos people will not be getting further business from us.

Then, I went by the school to pick up IL6’s jacket and hat, only they didn’t have it. You see, on the last day before winter break, I brought IL6 back to school after an appointment, but the classroom was at lunch, so the administrative assistant said IL6 should stay in the office till the class was done with lunch. So IL6 took off his jacket and hat and sat at the table with the duplos. Then they didn’t bring his jacket and hat back to the classroom with him. So I stopped by to check the lost and found, but it wasn’t there. IL6 was really sad to lose that hat.

IL6 was sent home from school early with an elevated temperature, headache, sore throat, and cough. When I got home at maybe 11, he had a fever of 103.something. So I gave him a Tylenol. At about 4, I checked his temperature again, and it was 103.9. After some hemming and hawing, Aaron and I took him to urgent care. Three hours later, we had a tentative diagnosis of “flu-like virus.” He was tested for strep (negative), flu, and COVID.

In the afternoon, so after IL6’s first temperature and before his second, I took dad to his “graduation” from cardiac rehab. So, yay! That’s 3 fewer appointments a week I have to go to.

Friday

I took a break on Friday. I wrote a letter and took a nap.

I went to the gym and had my first meeting with my personal trainer. We discussed that I didn’t need to lose weight as long as I lost fat, but I would assume I could be in good physical condition without being almost bariatric, as I have been a good weight in the past.

I also read the instruction manual of my new instant pot that Aaron got me for Christmas. I used it to cook our salmon in 42 fewer minutes than it usually takes me. That was fun. Saturday, I will try out meatloaf.

M12 tried out his new drone that he got from Aaron for Christmas. He really enjoyed it. D15 went to her mom’s house for the weekend. IL5 learned to play Mario Kart.

In the evening, I read and cross-stitched.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Wrath of the Dragon King, by Brandon Mull
• The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher, by E M Anderson
• Mahabharata
• The Week
• The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth by Thomas Morris

Reading to IL5

• To Bee, or Not to Bee, by Nick Eliopulos
• I’m Your Biggest Phantom, by Andres Miedoso
• The Witch Get Witcher, by Andres Miedoso
• Diary of a Roblox Pro: Monster Escape, by Avi Avatar

D14 reading

• Counting by 7’s, by Holly Goldberg

Media Completed

This is another installment of the Desmond Cole series which IL6 loves. Excellent, as usual.

And another installment of the Desmond Cole series. IL6 loved this one as well.

The fourth book of the Stonesword Chronicles is about our group of Minecrafters trying to find yet another piece of their friend. Cute book in cute series. IL6 is enjoying it.

The witches fight some vampires that are trying to take over Lancre. Funny, as most Discworld books.