News

Saturday

Saturday, M12, dad, and my mother-in-law went on a walk. I had lunch with my friend Liz. She updated me on her brother’s hospital stay (he’s not psychotic anymore). We discussed our bookclub book, “The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone.”

When I returned, my dad, my mother-in-law, Aaron, D14, IL5, and I went to the zoo. We went to see the bats for IL5, but saw the tropical animals and the sharks, too. D14 was excited to touch the sea anemones and starfish, as apparently that exhibit is usually closed.

In the evening, we had swordfish for dinner. D14 went to be cast in the school play. I finished reading “The Ghast in the Machine” to IL5.

Sunday

Sunday, we relaxed. M12 went on a walk with dad and my mother-in-law. I wrote a letter. D14 played D&D. Everyone except D14 went out to dinner. Then D14, mother-in-law, Aaron, and I played “Ticket to Ride.”

Monday

Monday, I took dad to see the vascular surgeon. He said the same thing the vascular doctor said – that dad doesn’t need surgery. So I’m at a loss as to why we were referred to him. Dad and I then killed some time at Barnes and Noble – buying two books for each D14 and IL5 (M12 doesn’t read). Afterwards, we went to dad’s PT.

D14 was pleased when she got home because she’d auditioned for the new school play. It will be “The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee.” She will find out tomorrow.

In the evening, Aaron, my mother-in-law, the kids, and I went to the Jack ‘o Lantern Spectacular at the zoo. 2000 carved pumpkins were on display – some of them very intricate. I thought it was going to be a bust because M12 was complaining about having to go. Then once we got there, IL5 wanted to go to the playground instead of on the jack ‘o lantern walk. But we herded them both in, and both boys really enjoyed the pumpkins. D14 was a little overstimulated by the end, and she’d been the one who was excited.

This was my mother-in-law’s last night with us, as she returns home on Tuesday.

Tuesday

Tuesday I went on a walk with dad. It was about 1 mile at 45 minutes per mile. He was pretty exhausted at the end. I had lunch with Aaron. In the evening, Aaron and I took IL5 to a park after dark, because we’d promised we would. He tripped in the dark and scratched his face. He now thinks parks are more fun in the daytime.

Wednesday

Wednesday I rode the exercise bike for the first time in a long time. I even rode 5 minutes longer than I intended. Later, I took dad to an appointment. Afterwards, we went to lunch. When IL5 got home, I took him to a playdate, which he really enjoyed. M12 weeded and prepared a bed for fresh wood chips. Then He played D&D. I read to D14. She didn’t get a callback for the play, but they could cast her in a smaller part, still.

Thursday

Thursday, I jumped on the exercise bike when I got home from work. Two days in a row! I took M12 to an appointment, and found out that he’d lost one pound. He’s probably not eating his snacks at school. I should write his teachers and have them spy on him in a week or so (after he’s gotten over losing a pound). Of course, there’s really no way of getting him to eat snacks at school. I guess I should just make him eat once an hour when he gets home?

Aaron had a meeting with a potential employer was offered a job. I think he’s eager to try out the new type of work, but it’s only part time for the first couple of months. Then, if he’s a good fit, he can switch to full time. He’d probably make more money than unemployment that way, but I worry that if it doesn’t work out, the amount of unemployment we get afterwards will be drastically reduced, because it’ll only be half of his part time earnings. Oh well.

We are also starting to suffer the consequences of switching insurance and having to start with the deductible again. IL5’s and D14’s weekly appointments are adding up. And the deductible will start all over again in January.

After Aaron’s meeting, Aaron, D14, M12, and I played Goonies Never Say Die. Then I got my bedroom and IL5’s room clean – I am 15 minutes short of my weekly cleaning goal. I’ll have to figure out what to do on Friday.

Friday

Friday was pretty calm. After my overnight job, I ran some errands, then took dad to an appointment. Then dad and I met Aaron at a favorite restaurant that we can’t take the kids to (they’re too picky). In the evening, Aaron gamed and dad and I watched The Visit. IL5 was tired, and screamed through the whole movie, so I didn’t read to him for very long at bedtime. Which is a shame, because I had some good reading planned.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• The Week: Abortion Activist?
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Life, the Universe, and Everything, by Douglas Adams
• The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
• Roam, by C H Armstrong
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett

Reading to IL5

• The Ghast in the Machine, by Nick Eliopulos
• Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun, by Andres Miedoso
• Fly Guy’s Amazing Tricks, by Tedd Arnold
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, by Mo Williams

D14 reading

• The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, by Holly Jackson
• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

In the 11th book of IL5’s favorite series, Desmond and Andre have a dance off with the Boogieman.

In this witches book, Agnes/Perdita runs off to Ankh-Morpork to sing opera. But Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have different ideas. Funny, as usual.

WTF

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday I woke up exhausted again, and then had a run-in with M12, who has been repeatedly acting impulsive. He was already grounded for 3 weeks before his most recent impulsive behavior, so I had to think of something more creative for a consequence. He is now my servent for the next two months. Saturday I made him walk to the grocery store and get some donut holes. Then he went on a walk with my dad.

I was in a bad mood when D&D started. Then my friend Liz wasn’t at D&D, and she eventually texted to say her brother had had a massive heart attack while watching his son’s soccer game. He’s currently sedated in the hospital on a bypass machine. He’ll probably be there for two weeks. 

The rest of the day was spent resting, since I was super tired.

Sunday

Sunday, Aaron, M12, IL5, and I went to Brick Fest (a LEGO festival). Both boys had a lot of fun. We separated so M12 and IL5 could do their own thing, so I only got pictures of IL5. He loved the huge bins of Duplo. D14 was playing D&D. In the evening, we all played D&D as a family. IL5 even joined us, but he didn’t like the role playing and was impatient to attack. First, he attacked an NPC with his firebolt. Luckily he missed. Then he attacked a giant squid that I threw in the middle of the role-playing. That almost killed him. Then, after the rest of the family solved the mystery that they were role-playing, a herd of 4 goblins attacked. IL5’s character took down two of them.

Monday

Monday I dropped dad off at an appointment (my sister was going to pick him up), and popped by a friend’s house for an hour. I hadn’t seen her in about 6 months, so it was good to catch up. M12 carried ten bags of yard waste to the curb for his time serving me, and then went to Boy Scouts. IL5 made some cat toys with his crafts. D14 was excited to find out that she could work crew at the shows that she’s been preparing the stage for despite not being able to make two of them.

Tuesday

Tuesday had nothing planned, since it was a day I was meant to work. So after my overnight job, I wrote two really long letters and then went to lunch with Aaron. In the evening, Aaron, D14, M12, and I played Goonies: Never Say Die. Then I played a night-night game with IL5 for 15 minutes before work. Today for his servant work, M12 attempted to sew on his Boy Scout patches. He’d disdained me gluing them on, and indeed the glue doesn’t work, apparently. But now he understands that sewing them on is really hard because they’re thick and tough. He seemed chagrinned for all his mocking. He only got two patches sewn on.

Wednesday

Wednesday I took dad to an appointment and ran errands with Aaron. M12 cleaned the livingroom and found the job very annoying. So now he understands how I feel. Aaron and I took IL5 to the playground in the evening.

Thursday

Aaron and I headed to D14’s parent-teacher-conferences after that. She’s doing pretty well! I was in a very stressed out mood due to the upcoming hearing, the poop, and another issue I’ll mention in a bit. So I got unnecessarily assertive when someone tried to take our place in line at a teacher’s table. I should have let it go. The system was very confusing, and she hadn’t noticed us sitting there when she walked up. I could have let it go and waited another 5 minutes, but I was in a bad mood.

The other thing that was stressing me out was my good friend’s brother’s issue. Remember how he had a massive heart attack last Saturday? Well, he was off the bypass machine and intubation. But, probably due to the sedatives he’d been on, he was psychotic and thought the hospital was a cult and that he had been attacked overnight by a nurse. So he checked himself out against medical advice, and was wandering the city in his hospital gown. His dad found him and took him to a different hospital, but the family had to sit with him to keep him calm. They did put a 72 hour hold on him, though, so he couldn’t abscond again. My friend was understandably upset, so she was texting me all day. Although I am happy to provide that outlet, it was difficult on top of all the other stress I was under. So my brain was fried by the end of the day, and I only read to IL5 for 10 minutes.

Friday

Friday I logged on to the custody hearing at 8:30am. They put me in a virtual waiting room, and there I stayed till 12:45pm, when they told me my testimony wouldn’t be needed. During those 4 hours, I cross-stitched, read, wrote my journal entry, played the Wordle, and texted with people. I had just started writing a letter when they told me I wouldn’t be needed.

In the end, they made some rather nasty threats to my client’s sons, forcing them to agree to losing custody. My client’s sons couldn’t argue their case because I was the only one of their respite workers who showed up.

After the hearing, I went to lunch with Aaron and my mother-in-law. My brain was pretty fried the rest of the day, so I got very little else done.

In the evening, Aaron, my mother-in-law, and I went to the play “The Curious Savage” to see the set D14 has been building. It was good.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen podcast
• The Week: Targeting Terror
• Roam, by C H Armstrong
• Life, the Universe, and Everything, by Douglas Adams
• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett

Reading to IL5

• 5-minute Super Hero Stories (DC Comics)
• Ghast in the Machine, by Nick Eliopulos

D14 reading

• Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
• Blood on the Beach, by Robin Stevenson and Sarah H Harvey

Media Completed

16 years ago Caitlin’s sister Olivia was kidnapped. Now, suddenly, she reappears as an adult, throwing Caitlin’s life out of whack. This was a very engaging book, and I had trouble stopping. But half of the big reveal was pretty predictable to me. I generally find thrillers pretty predictable, so I was pleased with not knowing half of the reveal. So I’d recommend it highly to those who like thrillers.

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron, IL5, and I hung out with the Cub Scouts. IL5 had a ball. First, he made a little boat that he raced later in the day. He raced against another Kindergartener, LH, who he’d been playing with a bit. Then he shot a bb gun. He didn’t hit the target, but he did a good job listening to our instructions. Then we went on a short hike. IL5 only made it about half way before we had to carry him. In the evening, he helped the other kids build a fort with fallen logs.

Sunday

Sunday we packed up camp and headed home. I worked for a few hours, then after dinner, IL5 wanted to take a bath and go to bed. (He wanted to try out the toy boat he built in the bathtub.) M12 and D14 both had great weekends.

Monday

Monday was relaxing while the kids were at school. I threw some taco soup in the slow cooker and then read for a while. Then I went out to lunch with Aaron. When IL5 got home, things started to get busy. First, I forgot that three of us had flu/covid shot appointments. Instead, after letting IL5 relax a little, I worked on a homework assignment and speech therapy with him. Then I cooked pork chops for M12’s meals for the week, and read to D14 for over an hour. Afterwards, I helped her with her homework. This time she had to compare the three Judeochristian religions to a book/series. She chose the one I’m reading to her now because she’s read it multiple times. She had mostly finished the assignments – she had 3 more comparisons to make. I helped with 2, but neither of us could come up with an element of Islam which was like the book.

Tuesday

Tuesday I went from my overnight job immediately to my day job. I used my downtime to read The Week magazine, cross-stitch while listening to Mr Ballen podcast, and write a couple letters. At home, I watched a Doctor Who episode with Aaron, Deirdre, and my friend Liz. Aaron followed that up by watching the VP debate. I walked in and out on it, because I was trying to get other stuff done.

Wednesday

Wednesday started out ok. I rushed home from my overnight job to get dad to an appointment that really needed to be 15 minutes later. It was physical therapy for his peripheral artery disease. I expected him to be resistant, like he was with the balance PT, but he was willing to cooperate. After brunch at home, dad and I went on a walk. It was a nice day for that.

Then I got some bad news from another respite worker of my day job. The state got a court order to take my client away from her son, so I no longer have that job. It’s bad timing because Aaron is unemployed. But what galls me is that the bully won. She’s really just getting even with him for yelling at her, when she set him up to yell by being a bully. She used an imperious tone of voice and a “you’re wrong” attitude from the moment I opened the door to her a couple weeks ago. And taking a woman in that state away from people that love her and the place she’s familiar with is abuse. That kind of thing kills people in that state.

Thursday

Thursday I had an unexpected day off since I had planned on being at work. I wrote two letters and made some necessary phone calls. In the evening, IL5 had a readathon at his school. He dressed in his Minecraft pajamas and his crocheted Loki hat and we went to the school. There were snacks and someone reading in the gymnasium. The parents were letting their kids literally scream across the gymnasium while the reading was going on, and I was embarrassed to be part of that very rude group. So we left.

Friday

Friday morning was a bit frustrating. There was a hearing in which my clients were objecting to having their mother taken away. It was 45 minutes of talking, with a decision that testimonies would be heard on Friday the 11th. So I have yet another pain in the ass hearing to attend. It doesn’t sound like they’re getting their mom back, but I’d feel bad not testifying.

Then I picked up dad at his physical therapy and kept myself busy for the rest of the day. Aaron and IL5 baked me a birthday cake, and then we went out to eat as a family to celebrate my birthday.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Lost Sci-Fi anthology
• The Wrong Daughter, by Dandy Smith
• The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
• Mr Ballen podcast
• The Week: A MAGA Fiasco

Reading to IL5

• Ghast in the Machine, by Nick Eliopulos
• Now Museum, Now You Don’t, by Andres Miedoso
• The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, by Mo Willems
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, by Mo Willems
• The Pigeon Has to Go To School, by Mo Willems
• Leonardo the Terrible Monster, by Mo Willems
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, by Mo Willems
• The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster, by Mo Willems
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie, by Mo Willems
• The Pigeon Needs a Bath, by Mo Willems

D14 reading

• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger
• 14 Ways to Die, by Vincent Ralph
• You Owe Me a Murder, by Eileen Cook

Media Completed

In this third installment, Sophie tries to discover more about the Black Swan and the rebel group. The books are getting better than previous ones, but are still a little “whatever” to me. Though I give it 4 stars because it’s fun to read to D14. There are lots of plot holes.

News

Saturday

Sunday I worked a good chunk of the day. Then I cooked salmon, drank several of IL5’s “potions” (concocted mainly of water and food coloring, though one of them had a suspiciously savory taste), read to IL5, and slept.

Sunday

Monday was a good day. After sending IL5 off in the bus and making white chili for my lunches this week, Aaron and I ran to Target, Kohl’s, and two Schuler’s to buy clothes for the kids. We had burgers for lunch, then ran one more errand. I relaxed for a couple of hours, then was disappointed by the movie “Uglies.”

Monday

Monday was a good day. After sending IL5 off in the bus and making white chili for my lunches this week, Aaron and I ran to Target, Kohl’s, and two Schuler’s to buy clothes for the kids. We had burgers for lunch, then ran one more errand. I relaxed for a couple of hours, then was disappointed by the movie “Uglies.”

Tuesday

Tuesday, I went directly from my overnight job to my day job. The day job was a bust. There was a complaint about my client’s son that he might not be caring for my client well enough. I had been there last week when the police arrived to do a wellness check on my client, so I already knew that this was going on.

A social worker rang the bell while I was working Tuesday and insisted on being let in. I told her that my client’s son wasn’t home, and I didn’t have permission to let her in. She stood there and tried to bully me into letting her in. Her: “You don’t understand. I’m a social worker from the county.” Me: “Well, I’m a respite worker. I can’t let you in without permission.”

Now, my client’s son’s phone was dead because he’d left it on the roof of his car a couple days ago. So finally I called my client’s other son to ask permission to let the social worker in. He wanted to talk to her, but she refused and said she’d call him later. She met with my client, whose dementia is progressed enough that no information can be garnered from her, then the social worker interviewed me. She did so in an entitled and supercilious tone of voice, though by that time I was already annoyed at her entitled behavior at the door, so my opinion of her tone was probably colored. During this time, my client’s other son called twice and M12 texted four times.

Then my client’s son came home early for a nap, but, of course he didn’t get one. She took on an even more supercilious, entitled tone when interviewing him. I asked if he wanted me to leave, and he said “no.” He lost his temper and yelled at the social worker, and she stomped out of the house. So I don’t know if I’m going to have this job by my next shift. And as I said before, I need this job while Aaron is unemployed.

At 5:30pm, I arrived home and ate dinner (Aaron cooked hamburgers and corn-on-the-cob). Then I cooked M12 some pork chops, filled pill boxes for 3 people, read to D14, and then helped her with her homework. It was stupid homework: she had to write a description of galaxies using 6 of 8 words. The description had to be precisely 20 words. What was the point in that? How did those 20 words help her learn?

Immediately after helping her, I went to work.

IL5 had been on a field trip Tuesday. He caught some grasshoppers and tried to catch a dragonfly, but it was too fast. I also sat with him in his room while helping D14, and that was all my time with him.

Wednesday

Wednesday after my overnight job, I took IL5 to a doctor appointment. Then Aaron and I ran some errands and went to Perkins with dad. Aaron then dropped dad and me off about 2.5 miles away and we walked home. In the evening, dad, Aaron, and I took IL5 to the playground. Then I helped D14 with her homework. This time it was comparative religions.

Thursday

Thursday I went from my overnight job to my day job. Then when IL5 got home, we took him to the open house at his school, then to his first-ever Cub Scout meeting. He got along with the kids – I don’t know where he gets the confidence to make new friends. They worked on learning the scout oath, though I’m pretty sure he wasn’t paying attention. He doesn’t need to earn his bobcat anyway. 藍 D14 went to the outside movie her school put on.

Friday

Friday after work, I took IL5 to an appointment, then did a virtual appointment with D14. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the Cub Scout camping trip. As soon as IL5 got home from school, Aaron and I hopped in the car with him and went to the campground. Aaron set up the tent in the near-dark and I struggled to keep track of IL5. In fact, at one point, he ran off and navigated the group campsite on his own because I couldn’t see him.

M12 stayed home with my dad for the weekend and D14 went to her mom’s.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen Podcast
• New Scientist: The Language of Reality
• The Week: Hitting Russia
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
• The Wrong Daughter, by Dandy Smith
• Alan Turning: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges
• The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wlkerson
• Lost Sci-Fi Anthology

Reading to IL5

• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, by Mo Willems
• The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, by Mo Willems
• Minecraft: Deep Dive!, by Nick Eliopulos
• Campfire Stories, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
• The Dead and the Dark, by Courtney Gould

Media Completed

Desmond and Andres go camping and tell scary stories. They meet a campfire ghost. Not the cutest of the Desmond Cole books, but good all the same. IL5 liked it.

In a dystopic land where at the age of 16 people undergo a surgery to make them beautiful, a girl nicknamed Squint learns what it is to be beautiful on the inside. I liked the movie up till the ending, which left the story hanging for a future movie.

This was an excellent biography of Alan Turing. It painted him in a sympathetic, yes honest light. It seemed well-researched, though sometimes I wondered where he got such private information. Did Turing have a journal? The descriptions of Turing’s theories and discoveries were well-written and clear, though math and computer science are not something I am particularly interested in, so I found my attention lagging during the very long descriptions. Overall, a great book.

News

Saturday

Saturday D14, dad, and I went to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It was pretty good – over-the-top, but that’s to be expected. IL5 and I hung out for a few hours after that – though he didn’t want to do any fun activity. That was while Aaron was at his board gaming group. Finally, I went out for drinks with a friend. IL5 really wanted me to read the same Desmond Cole book as Friday. I’m glad he’s enjoying them!

Sunday

Sunday, I worked until 5pm. In the evening, Aaron, dad, and I watched “Big Fat Liar.” I’m not sure what to think of that movie. It amused me all the way through, but it also is 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back.

Monday

Monday I worked till 5. I got a letter written and some reading done in my downtime. At home, Aaron cooked burgers. Then I made a quinoa salad for a couple upcoming lunches and some pork chops for M12’s upcoming dinners. IL5 enjoyed playing with LEGO at school. D14 had a “mostly ok” day. M12 seemed unexcited by his day.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a pain. I got off work an hour early so I could drive to the regional office and take the CPR class. When that was over, I had a two hour break before a second class, this one for self defense against belligerent clients. I spent the time trying to find out what my new insurance ID was so I could stop cancelling appointments.

I started by calling up my benefits hotline, since that’s what they told me to do when I signed up for my insurance. They didn’t want to help, and told me to call insurance. After going through another “check 2 if…” menu, and being unable to plug in my ID number when prompted, I got through to a person. She told me I didn’t have an account and hung up on me. Click. So I call benefits again, and they say I definitely have insurance, but refuse to call for me. So I call insurance again, and that person tells me I have no insurance. But they do a better job of looking for me and after 20 minutes with them, she finds my account – she’d misspelled my name. Then when I got home that day, my insurance card was in the mailbox. That’s 45 minutes I’ll never get back.

Then nobody came to teach my second class. Apparently, they didn’t have anyone signed up to teach it. But someone higher up found a couple of people, and made them teach us. They had somewhere to be, so taught the 2 hour class in 20 minutes.

In the evening, Liz came over and we watched Doctor Who. The kids didn’t have anything exciting to say about their days.

Wednesday

Wednesday was glorious. When I returned home from my overnight job, I took a 2 hour nap and then had a late lunch with Aaron. Then I read for a while. IL5 seemed excited about school when he got home and told me about his best friend (whose name he doesn’t know). M12’s day at school was “ok.” D14 had fun at crew. In the evening, I read to D14.

Thursday

Thursday was hard for me, but harder for my client’s son. I went directly from my overnight job to my day job, and stayed there till 5, so I only had 4 hours before going back to my overnight job. But that was expected. My client had deteriorated quite a bit from the last time I saw her, and my client’s son was very upset about it. He was like a black cloud, and he kept walking in and out of the house, instead of leaving, so his mood rubbed off on me. I was sitting there worrying what would happen if she passed and I lost my job while Aaron is unemployed. I am too picky for a job to be easy to find. I need a job between 9:30 and 3:00, that is only 2 days a week, not on Fridays, and doesn’t involve working with violent people. That’s an unreasonable amount of pickiness.

After my day job, Aaron, dad, IL5, and I went out to eat and D14 and M12 had fast food. Then we relaxed until I left for work.

Friday

Friday, I was super tired in the morning. My alarm went off at 7am at work like it usually does, but then I immediately fell back asleep (which is the first time that’s happened at work). At 7:40, I got a notification, and it felt like I had just closed my eyes for a moment. Luckily, I managed to scramble through the morning by skipping a few non-essential tasks.

Next, I took IL5 to speech therapy. Next, I’d made a last-minute appointment for dad for what he thought was an ear infection. It turned out to be a lot of fluid in the ears, so the doctor suggested Flonase and saline. Then we went to Target and then <shudder> Walmart for a tea kettle.

In the evening dad and I took IL5 to the playground.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• The Week: Triggered
• New Scientist: Breaking Free from OCD
• The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, by Jaclyn Moriarty
• The Wrong Daughter, by Dandy Smith
• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
• The Wrong Daughter, by Dandy Smith
• Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges

Reading to IL5

• The Sleepwalking Snowman, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater
• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her.)
• This Poison Heart, by Kalynn Bayron

Media Completed

Lydia Deetz and her daughter Astrid go back to her haunted family home for a funeral. Beetlejuice is called on in an emergency. This movie was funny in an over-the-top way. Very enjoyable.

Bronte Mettlestone is sent on an adventure when her parents die – she must fulfill the fairy-cross-stitched will or else her home town will be destroyed. This was a delightful middle-school fantasy.

Jason and his friend Kaylee travel to Los Angeles to call out a movie producer for stealing his paper. Stupid, yet funny.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I took IL5 to a friend’s birthday party at a bowling alley. His strategy was to aim the ramp at a bumper and let the ball bounce back and forth before getting most of the pins down. It was a more effective strategy than his friend was using – his dad carefully lined the ramp up perfectly straight.

After the party, I jumped into the D&D game with Aaron and friends a little late. I had already missed a close TPK. Luckily, one of us was left standing, albeit on his last few hit points, and he won the day. The rest of the party was revivified by a scale from my character’s patron, which she’d been carrying around since pretty close to the beginning of the campaign.

Then I cooked some meatloaf for dinner and tried to cook some jambalaya for this week’s lunches, but I didn’t have enough Andoulli sausages, so I had to place the rest of the cut up ingredients in a bowl overnight till I could get more. Meanwhile, Aaron played Spore with IL5.

The day was apparently unremarkable to M12 and D14.

Sunday

Sunday was uneventful. I was tired because I woke at 3am and slept fitfully the rest of the night. And dad was in a mood because he was annoyed at poor D14. I went to work and spent my downtime at work filling out a bunch of forms on my phone and writing a letter, so it was a productive day. I was exhausted when I got home, though, because of the lack of sleep. So I forgot to cook the jambalaya and chose not to cook dinner. The day was uneventful for the kids. IL5 took a long nap in the evening, but bedtime went smoothly, regardless.

Monday

Monday I worked. I had less downtime than usual this shift, but I did get a letter written and some reading done. When I got home, the family went out to eat (dad’s treat). Afterwards, I read to D14. The kids seemed to have unremarkable days.

Tuesday

Tuesday after work, I had some open time to get stuff on my to-do list done. Then I took M12 to an appointment. I ran errands (getting a nick in the windshield while at it). I made jambalaya for our lunches and then shrimp for dinner. Aaron and I watched an episode of Supernatural, then everyone watched the debate. That made me sick to my stomach, so I was glad to leave for work. But then my coworker had recorded it and was watching it when I got to work, so I had to REWATCH some of it! As soon as she left, I pulled the covers over my head and slept.

Wednesday

Wednesday I had a short break after lunch, and then I took dad to get his covid and flu shots. After that, we went to see his vascular doctor to discuss the results to his CT scan. Just like the test results said, the arteries to both kidneys, to the legs, and the big one headed to the lower part of the body were narrowed. Those, in combination with his narrowed carotid indicated a referral to a vascular surgeon. This doctor thinks the risk of surgery is high enough that it shouldn’t be done till dad can hardly move, so I’m not sure why the referral. I cooked salmon for dinner. Then we watched the first couple episodes of Witcher.

Aaron took the car in to get the chips in the windshield fixed, and the kids had good days. IL5 apparently painted some dots in school.

Thursday

Thursday I headed directly from work to work. My day job was pretty calm – my client slept the whole time – so I read and wrote a couple letters. I did nothing interesting that evening, but Aaron went to a networking party at Surly Brewing Company. Delightfully, he drank BEER. (He doesn’t drink beer.) He got the grapefruit one, and said it was good. D14 didn’t have crew, so she was home after school for pretty much the first time. Both older kids had no late homework, so they earned fast food.

Friday

Friday after work I took IL5 to speech therapy. Then, after a nap, I tried to go on a walk with dad, but he was having trouble breathing, so we came home. M12 went to his mom’s house after school, and D14 hung out with her friends. In the evening, we watched Beetlejuice.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Texas
• One letter Missouri
• One letter Michigan
• One letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
• New Scientist: Reclaiming Reality
• Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges
• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, by Jaclyn Moriarty
• Roam, by C H Armstrong
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan

Reading to IL5

• The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!, by Mo Willems

D14 reading

• 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater

Media Completed

Rand and his friend go on an adventure to save the world from Evil himself. This is the first time I read this classic novel. It was delightful. A very well-designed adventure.

The duckling gets a cookie. The pigeon is jealous. IL5 picked this book out from the school library and wanted me to read it right away. He then wanted all the other pigeon books, so I requested them for next week.

Andres and Desmond help out a friend who lost his snowman. IL5 is still loving these books. I’ll be sad when I reach the end of the series.

News

Saturday

Not much happened on Saturday. Aaron had a board gaming group that he hung out with, so I hung out with IL5 all day. I was super tired all day, so all I managed was about an hour of housework.

Sunday

Sunday I worked all day again. Then we ate Chinese food and relaxed.

Monday

Monday I wanted to take IL5 to the park, but he refused to go and I didn’t press it because I was super tired, anyway. The older kids got back from their grandpa’s – D14 went downstairs and M12 promptly fell asleep on the couch.

Tuesday

Tuesday was busy. Immediately after I got home from work, I took dad to an eye appointment. His eye prescription hasn’t changed! Then I ate breakfast as I called my benefits hotline to sign up for insurance. (We lost it when Aaron was laid off.) With no break, I took M12 to an appointment. He has gained 2 pounds! Only 2 more pounds to get to 25th percentile BMI. Then I ran errands.

At home, I helped D14 with her homework, then loaded dad’s, M12’s, and my pillboxes. Then pretty much immediately, my friend Liz came over for two hours and we watched Doctor Who with the family. I got 1.5 hours free-time before leaving for work again.

Tuesday was IL5’s first day of school. He said he enjoyed it, but he hasn’t made friends yet, because he doesn’t know how. D14 had a theater meeting, and she is excited to be in the fall play’s crew as well as helping with lighting on other events.

Wednesday

Wednesday after work, I took dad to a CT scan to check out his peripheral artery disease. The results didn’t sound good, but we’ll discuss with his vascular doctor next week to see what they mean. After that, I went to my day job. In the evening, I cooked dinner and read to D14.

D14 was excited about her activities on the theater crew after school, but not so excited about the Pacer. That’s a test in gym where she runs back and forth and they grade her on how many times she makes it. D14 also said she made a friend.

IL5 was excited about school. He apparently had a really fun time. He loved playing LEGO, which may have actually been his activity before school started. He even tried an oatmeal cookie at breakfast, which he said wasn’t good, but he enjoyed a chicken strip at lunch. He also said he made 20 friends.

Thursday

Thursday I went directly from my overnight job to my day job. I got home at 5:30. Aaron cooked burgers, then M12, Aaron, and I played Magic. M12 won. When M12 killed me, IL5 asked if I could respawn.

All three kids were rewarded fast food for not having any late assignments, though M12 said he was insulted that I bothered checking this early in the year. Everyone had another good day at school.

Friday

After work on Friday I ran some errands, then took my dad to a rather uneventful cardiologist appointment. Then, I had a glorious 3 hour nap before IL5 got home. I cooked steak for dinner, and then relaxed for the rest of the day. The kids all said they had an ok day at school.

Pictures

Letters Written

• One letter Texas
• One letter Maryland
• One letter Pennsylvania
• One letter Virginia
• One letter Maine
• One letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• The Week: The New Brand
• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, by Jaclyn Moriarty
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Alan Turing: The Enigma
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Newsweek: Feeling the Pinch

Reading to IL5

• Minecraft: Night of the Bats, by Nick Eliopulos
• Dungeon Academy: Goreball Scrimmage, by Dianne Walker
• Major Monster Mess, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater

Media Completed

Cassandra Web is a paramedic who doesn’t like being tied down. But then she starts seeing the future. This movie took a lot of suspension of disbelief. I know it’s about a superhero, and that was fine. But she stole a taxi, committed crimes with it, and drove it around for several days without drawing attention. Plus, she didn’t get a prison sentence for all the crimes she committed . 🤷‍♀️

Morgan and his friends are back in the game, and are also solving a bat problem in the real world. Cute late elementary school series. Nothing too special to me, but IL5 is loving it. The Minecraft aspect is so fun to him.

The Danger Club participates goreball game with visiting dragon students. This book read kind of like a quidditch match. Weird fantasy game rules were explained, then a blow-by-blow of the game commenced. I was never a fan of quidditch matches, and I wasn’t a fan of this book. IL5 seemed only partially interested, too. He kept saying he wanted me to continue, but he didn’t seem to be interested. I liked the other books in the series much better.

Andres and Desmond find out they smell like monsters, so they go monster-searching. This is IL5’s favorite series right now. He loved this installment.

Games Played

Cross-stitch

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I played our Escape the Underdark D&D campaign for the first time in 6 weeks. Then he played Spore with IL5 and I cooked dinner. In the evening, Aaron and I had a date at a board gaming cafe. We only stayed a little over an hour because my brain was fried, but it was fun.

Sunday

Sunday, I worked all day. Aaron cooked burgers, fries, and corn cobs for dinner. In the evening, IL5 watched M12 play Spore, and Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Supernatural. At bedtime, I finished up a Minecraft book that IL5 was really excited about.

Monday

Monday, I woke late because I had had a hard time falling asleep. I felt like half the day was gone. Aaron played Spore with IL5 and I made some chickpea curry and cooked M12’s pork chops for the week. (He warms them for dinner.) Then I took a short nap before D14’s high school orientation

The orientation consisted of an activity fair, which D14 found frustrating since she couldn’t find the D&D club table, a pep rally, which D14 found stressful because of the noise and crowd, and walking through her schedule so we could listen to each teacher talk for a while. The orientation was supposed to be 3 hours long, but they let us out after 2.5 hours due to severe weather. D14 and I had to walk around the parking lot searching for the car in the rain and wind because we couldn’t find the car. D14 was pretty stressed at the end.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I came home from work in the morning and filled dad’s, M12’s, and my pillboxes for the week, as usual. Dad was out of a prescription that had one refill left, but the automated system gave me an error message, and sent me to a human. The human said that dad’s doctor “closed.” I’m like: “What? He’s not closed!” So I called dad’s doctor up, and the phones were out. So I don’t know what’s going on, there.

After that wasn’t cleared up, Aaron and I rented a tiller. Aaron tilled the ground where the tree stumps used to be. When he was done with the first one, I began laying manure down on the tilled soil and mixing it with a pitchfork. I had moved 1880 pounds of manure before I was staggering around and decided I had had enough. I hadn’t even finished the big tilled area.

Aaron had finished tilling the other stump area, and had a meeting with his placement agency. When he was done, I’d stopped working, so he called it a day, too, since tilling was hard work and he was exhausted, too.

The family went out for steaks later in the evening, and then D14 and I sorted school supplies for the kids.

Wednesday

Wednesday was D14 and M12’s first day of school. Both went well. D14 auditioned for the school play and didn’t make it to callbacks, but still hopes to do crew. M12 signed up for wiffleball as his “Irish Time,” which is his mid-day break.

Aaron took dad to his audiologist appointment, and then to the clinic that we were having difficulty contacting. Their phones and computers were down. They tried to relay my message, but unfortunately some more info from me is needed, so I’ll have to try calling until their phones work.

Then Aaron and I mixed the rest of the manure with dirt on the tilled land. He used a roller to flatten the area as much as possible, then put down the grass seed. We used some cloth that has seed in it, and apparently the cloth will dissolve and the seeds plant themselves. I helped by pinning them to the ground so they don’t blow away. We will water 3x daily until the grass comes in I guess?

I then picked up IL5 for his literacy assessment. I sat on the floor of the gym while waiting and he curled in a ball in my lap and tucked his head in. I don’t know if he was tired or overwhelmed by the people and noise. But he seemed to like his teacher. She said he did well, though didn’t listen to instructions well – which problem I forewarned her of in an email (warning her not to assume he doesn’t understand the instructions, which is tempting to new people). I also warned her about his speech, refusal to poop in the toilet, ADHD, and dislike of eating at school. She seemed to appreciate the warning. But she may have just been being polite, of course.

After his literacy assessment, I went to the library to pick up the next minecraft book in the series I started reading to IL5), then to the grocery store and to pick up cupcakes to add variety to M12’s high-calorie snacks (he has to eat one a day to keep his weight up).

I read to D14 – Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger – and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Thursday

Thursday morning was rough. I got off work at 9am and drove home a different route than usual because of construction. I missed my turn, which dumped me off somewhere that added 10 minutes to my trip home, then I got stuck behind a train for another few minutes. I only had 15 minutes to prepare to leave for my next job. When I left for my day job, I stopped for gas, but had trouble with the chip reader in the gas pump, which means I can’t get my card out of the pump till it reads the chip. So I had to wiggle the card around for a while until it read. Frustrated, I decided to take my anxiety meds because I was getting all worked up. But when I opened my bottle, it exploded red Crystal Light on my favorite sweatshirt. So I told my client I’d be 15 minutes late and went home to take care of the sweatshirt.

I worked till 5, but it was a calm day, and I was able to calm down and get a few things done like sending emails, making some necessary purchases on Amazon, writing letters, and reading.

There was a severe thunderstorm watch on the way home, but I was only sprinkled on. However, the roads were flooded and a signal out when I got to my city. The electricity was out at my home when I arrived. Aaron had been cooking chili. So we went to Olive Garden for dinner because he couldn’t finish in the dark on an electric stove. On the way out the door, Freyja, one of our kittens, made the usual dash for the door and experienced rain for the first time. I hoped he would show an ability to turn around and ask to get back in, but instead he hunkered down and waited for me to rescue him.

After dinner, the electricity was back on, and Aaron finished the chili. We sat and chatted about the book I was reading, and eventually D14 and M12 joined the conversation, because my book is a conversation-starter. Then I left for work at 9:30pm.

Aaron had managed to get several errands and tasks on his honey-do list Thursday

Friday

Friday after work, I took IL5 to speech therapy. Then I took a nap and did some reading before helping D14 in a virtual appointment, then taking her to an in-person appointment. Upon returning home, the older kids left with their mom for their grandpa’s. I sat and chatted with Aaron until he went downstairs for his weekly gaming session. In a while, I put IL5 to bed, and collapsed under my blankets.

Letters Written

• One letter Michigan
• Two letters Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• The Week: Wave Rider
• Newsweek: A Class of Their Own
• New Scientist: Mission to Europa
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges
• Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
• Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett

Reading to IL5

• Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles: Into the Game, by Nick Eliopulos
• Desmond Cole and the Scary Library Shusher, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
• The 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater

Media Completed

Morgan and his friends get VR goggles that transport them into Minecraft for realsies. Cute book which was mostly character and setting development for a series.

Mr Osaka is having a midlife crisis. He quits his job and explores his purpose in life. Life seems surreal and out-of-control. He meets strange women who twist his life in unexpected ways. Like all other Murakami books I’ve read, I was kept interested by the narrative even though I was often thinking “What? Really?” It’s a suspend-your-disbelief sort of story. Very well done.

Desmond and Andres have a school project at the Kersville Public Library. They are both excited about the books. But then they start flying off the shelves. As usual, this Desmond Cole book was appealing to IL5. Cute story and black-and-white drawings. About second grade reading level.

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron, IL5, and I went to lunch with my friend Liz. Then we went to the bookstore to buy 2 Minecraft books for IL5. They are way above the level I’ve been reading to him, and he didn’t even ask for them to be read to him in the evening – he was excited about the next Desmond Cole book I had out from the library. But he had requested Minecraft books, so there you go. The rest of the day was spent with a couple chores and reading.

Sunday

Sunday I deep cleaned the kitchen, including junk drawers, played Spore with IL5, and read. In the evening, the family played D&D. IL5 was especially wound up Sunday night and was very recalcitrant at bedtime. I was beginning to despair by about 12:30am.

Monday

Monday I accidentally slept through swim lessons for IL5. I turned my alarm off at 9 and fell back asleep till 11:15. Oh well. D14 helped out at the middle school library. M12, IL5, Aaron and I went to the pool and had a lot of fun, though IL5 threw a temper tantrum when we left. Then we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings with D14. By then, we didn’t have enough transition time to get IL5 cheerfully to soccer, so we skipped that too. M12 went to Boy Scouts. Freyja, one of the kittens, dashed out the door when I left for work, and I had to chase him down. So I ordered a tag with our phone number on it, and hope it comes before he escapes longer-term. People around here tend to grab up kitties.

Tuesday

Tuesday I did chores, had a virtual appointment for myself, and then an in-person appointment for IL5. I played LEGO with IL5 when we were done – I had some LEGO I had intended on giving him when we were visiting his grandma, but we didn’t go, so I gave them to him Tuesday. Then my friend Liz came over and D14 & Aaron joined us as we watched a little Doctor Who. We discovered dad has better without-glasses bision than me. I’m going to be so blind at his age!

Wednesday

Wednesday I got home from work at 9:20am, left for my second job at 9:55am, got home at 5:30pm, and left for work again at 9:25pm. That gave me 4.5 hours of non-work time, some of which was spent doing necessary tasks instead of relaxing. Aaron took IL5 to soccer, then played Spore with him when they got home.

Thursday

Thursday, I repeated Wednesday’s schedule. So by the time my shift is over on Friday morning, I’ll have had 9 hours off work in a 60 hour period of time. D14 watched the last episode of Monk. Dad and I watched the first episode of Queen’s Gambit.

Friday

Friday after work I mainly relaxed until the afternoon, when IL5 was ready to go on a bike ride. I had carefully picked a park with no playground, so that he’d actually ride his bike, but there was a lake beach, and he wanted to play in the sand after only a short jaunt on his bike. I’ll have to find another park for biking.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Behave, by Robert Sapolsky
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
• The Week: Good Catch?
• New Scientist: Oceans in Chaos
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Newsweek
• Nurk, by Ursula Vernon
• Alan Turing: The Enigma, Andrew Hodges

Reading to IL5

• Night of the Zombie Zookeeper, by Andres Miedoso

D14 reading

• Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her.)

Media Completed

Andres and Desmond go on a field trip to the zoo, and run into a zombie. For second or third grade.  Loki loves these books and chooses to read them ASAP.

Nurk wants to go on an adventure like his grandmother, but is afraid of getting his socks wet. For third or fourth grade. Very cute and mildly funny. (Read it to myself, not IL5.)

News

Saturday

Saturday I mostly spent in bed, as did Aaron. D14 watched IL5, but had a headache at the end of the day and Aaron took over. The most I did was order a few essential groceries, McDonald’s, and pizza to be delivered, cancel our pet-feeder, and publish my blog. That was exhausting (even though my blog is mostly complete by Saturday morning, it was the hardest).

Sunday

Sunday Aaron was feeling much better, and I was able to stay out of bed for most of the day. I was even able to put IL5 to bed, though my voice didn’t hold out for much reading.

Monday

Monday I was feeling a bit foggy-brained in the morning, but otherwise I was ok. I took dad to the doctor for an appointment for a new-this-week back pain. She wasn’t very helpful. She diagnosed him with back pain and assigned him physical therapy. So I played appointment-roulette and moved stuff around until I got 3 PT appointments scheduled. Then later in the day, I was putting lidocaine on his back, and realized the pain was exactly where his last broken rib was. He probably rebroke it while COVID-coughing. This hopefully means I can cancel the PT appointments.

The trip to the doctor tired me out, so I took it easy for the rest of the day except for cooking dinner. I played some Spore with IL5. Then Aaron took IL5 to soccer. M12, dad, and I watched “Taken,” which dad complained was too dark and over-the-top. His complaint about “Identity Thief” the day before was that it was too silly and over-the-top. So I can’t win.

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling a bit fatigued, and pushed myself more than I should have. I did some laundry and other chores, played Spore with IL5, did some cooking for the week, and then crashed for 3 hours. While I was asleep, D14 cooked the meatloaf I had been planning on cooking for dinner. Then I did a couple more chores, but I still had energy to read to IL5 before bed. Aaron applied to a few jobs, did some chores, and played Spore with IL5.

Wednesday

Wednesday I was still feeling fatigued, but I managed to wash a load of dishes. Aaron weeded and played Spore with IL5. I tried reading to D14, but my voice wasn’t holding out. IL5 stood happily on the soccer field while his teammates played.

Thursday

Thursday I felt pretty much normal. I ran some errands, played Spore with IL5, did things on my to-do list and cooked shrimp for dinner. Aaron had a honey-do list which he completed. D14, Dad, and Aaron watched Seventh Son in the evening, then D14 and I watched Penelope.

Friday

Friday I was feeling pretty good, besides a little pokiness in the morning. I played Spore with IL5, did some chores, took a walk with dad, and read. I had been hoping to go to the pool, but it was too cool out. Aaron did chores and watched “Land of Bad.” The kids went out to dinner with their mom.

Letters Written

• One letter Arizona

Reading to myself

• Nurk, by Ursula Vernon
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan

Reading to IL5

• Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep!, by Thomas Flintham
• Surf’s Up, Creepy Stuff!, by Andres Miedoso
• The Goat Who Chewed Too Much, by Tom Angleberger
• Super Game Book!, by Thomas Flintham
• Bear Country, by Doreen Cronin

D14 reading

• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)

Media Completed

Diana steals Sandy Patterson’s identity and uses it to commit crimes and max out credit cards. So he sets out to bring her to justice. This is a silly, over-the-top comedy of an unlikely friendship. It made an entertaining evening with my dad (who didn’t really like it).

Bryan Mills’ 17-year-old daughter goes to Europe to be a band groupie. She is kidnapped on the first day, and Mills goes on a rampage to find her. This is an old favorite of a lot of people. I enjoyed my rewatch. Dad thought it was too dark and over-the-top for his tastes.

Andres and Desmond go to an awesome beach and settle in for a nice day. But then mersurfers start mixing up the action. IL5 is really enjoying this series. It takes me about a half hour to read one of these books, and he enjoys the whole thing.

The chicks go in search of their missing human, Barbara. Funny. Cute. Enjoyable.

Games Played