News

Saturday

Saturday IL5 and I went to The Big Bounce. He was so excited. He spent about 15-20 minutes in each of the bouncy houses, loving every one. There was a huge slide that was an effort to climb up, and he went down about 5 times. I had to come up with him to put him in the burlap sack, and to drag him out of the way at the bottom – so no rest for me. It started raining about a half hour in, and we stayed a little over an hour.

After that was Aaron and my D&D session. It was a lot of fun. I also got cross-stitch done while playing. So, bonus! I’m slow at it, but it’s still coming along.

Then, Aaron and I went to a Mexican restaurant for a date. We also went to Barnes and Nobel, for some extra spicy fun. We’re very wild.

IL5 fell asleep on the couch in the late evening, and we switched him to his bed. Usually, Aaron or I sleep with him in his room, because he says he’s afraid to sleep alone. So I got to sleep in the big bed for the first time in months (I sleep on a couch while at work 4 days a week, and share a twin with IL5 the other 3). We managed to convince him sleeping alone was a good thing on Sunday morning, though I doubt he’ll volunteer for it any time soon. The plan is to start leaving the room when he falls asleep, but Aaron generally falls asleep before him, and doesn’t wake afterwards. I think we need a united front on that plan, so I haven’t been leaving him either.

Sunday

On Sunday, I worked for a while. Afterwards, Aaron, the kids, and I lost a game of Pandemic. We had been going to win the game on the next turn, so it was disappointing. Then we ate a steak dinner, and watched a few episodes of Resident Alien. The kittens slept in the bedroom with me and IL5, and Freyja licked my face all night, making it difficult to sleep. But it was cute, I suppose.

Monday

Monday IL5 had swim lessons. I tried to go to the library afterwards, but IL5 wasn’t in the mood. He generally loves the library, so I decided not to force it. I cooked some Jambalaya for Aaron and my lunches for the week, I did dad’s laundry and scrubbed the bathroom floors. Then I cooked BBQ chicken for dinner. M12 had Boy Scouts – he finished the requirements to rank up to second class. The kittens were out upstairs all day without incident, so in the evening, we opened the basement door and let them roam free.

Tuesday

Tuesday I got a speeding ticket on my way home from work. I always speed up too high when I get on a road because I have a heavy foot. When I notice I’m going too fast, I slow down. The officer caught me right after I started slowing down. But he decreased the speed on the ticket so it wouldn’t hit my insurance, which was nice.

Then I took dad to a doctor appointment, followed by lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Their calorie contents are really high! I finally just scanned through the menu for the lowest calorie item and ordered it. And I was still really hungry by the end of the day because I didn’t get enough volume of food.

In the afternoon, I crunched numbers to see how many bags of manure I needed to buy for the grass-seeding project in our back yard. The answer was 34 40-pound bags, mixed 1:3 with dirt. This sounds like a huge project. I didn’t realize how big it was. But D14 says she’ll help me mix the soil for a “reward.” She means tablet time, but maybe I’ll pay her a bit, too. Kind of a little of both, since it’ll be hard work.

In the evening I had a bit of an anxiety attack because the boys’ baseball organization decided to have games despite the tornado watch. I realized that tornado watches usually result in no tornado, but it still bothered me that they were making the choice to have games when the watch was specifically there to tell people to stay near shelters. It really pissed me off. Aaron thought maybe my anxiety was making it seem worse than it actually was, so I was going to at least send M12 to his game (as I thought he’d be the one who would be disappointed to not go). But when I jokingly suggested we sacrifice M12 to the tornado and keep IL5 home, M12 let us know that he’d rather sacrifice IL5 to the tornado. Apparently going out in a tornado watch wasn’t worth it to him. In his words “I don’t like tornadoes.”

In the evening I sort of sat and read my book while the kids distracted me with various antics. But I finished, so apparently progress was made on the book.

Wednesday

Wednesday I started a roast in the morning. M12 had an appointment, and we got his updated goal weight (he needs to gain another 5 pounds). We also decided to try a meal plan written on the calendar to ensure some variety over the summer. We’ll see if it works.

Aaron made tacos for lunch, then I took IL5 to his opthalmologist appointment. I had to bribe him with a new stuffie to cooperate, and felt I was being manipulated. Because he could have cooperated without the stuffie and he refused – he just started struggling and saying “no, no, no.” Saying he was afraid, which obviously he wasn’t, given how easily he cooperated after I bribed him.

After that, I took D14 and M11 to choose shoes. They both had their toes right up to the ends of their old shoes, and claimed they “fit fine.” M11 had holes in his soles.

I contemplated starting some lifestyle changes to help myself not get dementia when I am older. Those would include becoming an egg-and-dairy-eating pescatarian, except on special occasions like Thanksgiving, changing from soda to tea (to get rid of the artificial sweetener), and exercising more. The exercising more goal I’ve been working on for over a year, so we’ll see. Maybe not getting dementia is a better motivator? One of my biggest fears (second only to losing a child) is rotting away in a memory care unit with no visitors. Which is probably inevitable. But I can try, I guess.

In the evening, I read to D14.

Thursday

Thursday, M12 and my dad took a bus to Perkins while I went to work. In the evening, I took M12 to his baseball game (he made good contact with the ball).

Friday

Friday, IL5 had speech therapy. Then we relaxed at home the rest of the day. I had been planning on taking him to the park, but it was raining. Likewise, the library was out because their parking lot is closed and you have to walk down the street – sitting in the library wet didn’t seem appealing.

M12 packed for his BSA camp, but then I found out through a string of circumstances that I accidentally didn’t sign him up for camp. I’m not sure how that happened, as I thought I had signed him up for the whole year. I asked if he could go, anyway, and waited impatiently for a reply. In the meantime, I found a fun activity to do on Saturday if he couldn’t go.

In the early evening, we were getting ready to play a board game, when a last minute reply came back saying someone had backed out, and Malcolm could come. So off he went.

At about 8, I started feeling super cold, headachy, body achy and really tired. I put on two pairs of pants, a hoodie covering a sweatshirt, and a blanket. I was still cold. I thought maybe I was sick. But I had a long bedtime process left for IL5 and some paperwork to fill out for M12’s camp. So I sucked it up.

The next morning I felt better, except for a residual headache, and I realized that maybe my problem was that I had switched from 6-8 diet sodas a day to about 4 cups of tea. I thought the tea would replace the caffeine without including so much aspartame. (Aspartame intake is a risk factor in dementia, and I’m trying to decrease my chances of getting Alzheimer’s when I’m older.) So I drank one diet soda, and my headache went away. I’ll continue with tea for the rest of the day and see how I feel.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Massachusetts
• One letter Texas

Reading to myself

• Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett
• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
• Mr Ballen podcast
• The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, by Thomas Morris
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Madam Bovary, by Gustav Flaubert
• Bible

Reading to IL5

• How to Merit in Monsters, by Matthew Cody
• Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

D14 reading

• Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J Maas
• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her.)

Media Completed

At summer camp “Troop Dweeb” think they are losers – bottom of the barrel. Things change when they discover monsters. This is a cute book with advanced second or early third grade reading level. It was fun.

In this first book of the sequel series to Fablehaven, Seth and Kendra must go to a dragon sanctuary and try to appease angry dragons. I liked it, though not as much as the later books in the Fablehaven series. A lot of it was set-up for the following books, though there was some action, too. I’m excited to read the rest of the series.

Death is retired for growing a personality. Chaos ensues. Funny, though not my favorite Discworld book.

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday we relaxed at the campground for the first and last parts of the day, with a short hike in the middle.

Sunday

Sunday we headed back home from the campground. In the afternoon, D14, M11, and I went to The Big Bounce, with the world’s largest bounce house. They bounced for about one hour, and got tired. Then I dropped M11 off for his weeklong visit with his mom. D14, Aaron, and I watched the first episode of His Dark Materials.

Monday

Monday after some errands with IL5, I made some sausage and potato stew for our lunches this week. The kittens were in IL5’s room for the day, which meant he wanted to spend a lot of time in his room, but I didn’t want him in there alone because he’d let them out and then we’d have to hunt them down. It was a balance between me getting stuff done, and sitting in the room with him. But at least he enjoyed the kittens. Maybe I should bring them up more often. IL5 had swim lessons in the late morning. D14 started summer school at the high school.

Tuesday

Tuesday I worked my day job. My client was very spunky. In the evening, I took IL5 to t-ball. He did a great job. He was on task the whole time and even stopped a ball that rolled his direction.

Wednesday

Wednesday I had a maintenance on the car, followed by a session 0 D&D session for M12’s new game. His Tuesday game collapsed, so I searched for another game for him and found this Pokemon D&D session. D14 went on a field trip to Feed My Starving Children, and really enjoyed herself.

In the afternoon, I had a dentist appointment (no concerns). Then I spent a few hours putting away laundry and cleaning the livingroom. I have now completed deep cleans of our bedroom, IL5’s room, and the livingroom. I will now focus my spare time on preparing manure/soil for seeding the bare spots from stump removal. We’re also seeding a couple of spots that we removed rocks or a sub-par fire ring from.

M12 had his new D&D session in the evening, and really enjoyed it.

Thursday

Thursday I worked my day job. I found an exercise routine that I can split up into 5 minute chunks here and there, and mostly completed it. I generally hate online exercise routines because they make my knees groan. My knees literally make noises, and I worry that the exercises are harmful rather than helpful. But these exercises were from the Mayo Clinic, and they were very gentle on my knees.

I realize I’m supposed to get some certain number of continuous aerobic exercise daily, but I’ve been trying to work up to that. My bariatric physical therapist wanted two half hour chunks of time, and this was at a time when I had a lot of appointments to take the kids to, so I only managed that amount at about 3 times a week, and she expressed disappointment in me and told me I just wasn’t prioritizing exercise, which is true…but isn’t my kids’ health more important? I deserved a “good job, now try to increase it to daily” instead of “you aren’t being good enough.” That put a bad taste in my mouth about exercise that has lasted over a year now. I’m trying to get over it, but I’m making slow progress.

Anyway, if I do those exercises on days I have work (because I can do it in small chunks while at my day job) or days I’m watching IL5 (because I can’t go downstairs to the exercise bike while watching him), and then do the exercise bike on the other two days, I’ll actually be exercising daily. It’s worth a try.

IL5 had t-ball in the evening. While Aaron and he were doing that, D14 and I played Ticket to Ride. Then I read to her.

Friday

Friday IL5, D14, and I went to Perkins for breakfast. Then D14, IL5, and I went to the pool. IL5 did a great job moving in chest deep water, and I think it’s helping him learn to kick and move independently, instead of being held by the coach, like he is in swim lessons. We’ll go to the pool as much as we can this summer.

After the pool, I got McDonald’s for IL5, and a one pound cookie for D14, Aaron, and dad. I relaxed at home later, as I try to do on Fridays and Saturdays.

I had been planning on going to Olive Garden on Sunday, as I promised IL5, but realized that Sunday was Father’s Day, and I didn’t want to fight the crowd, so we went with dad, IL5, me, and Aaron. It was beyond my calorie budget, but I was already ahead from last week, and subtracted a few calories on my planned meals for the next week’s plan – which seems doable given last week’s experience. I’m only trying to lose half a pound a week.

Letters Written

• One letter New York
• One letter Louisiana
• One letter Virginia
• One letter Maryland

Reading to myself

• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
• The Book of Dragons, ed. Jonathan Strahan
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible
• The Mystery of Exploding Teeth, by Thomas Morris
• Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

Reading to IL5

• Bok Bok Boom, by Cyndi Marko
• Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham
• Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham

D14 reading

• Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
• The Storm Crow, by Kalyn Josephson

Media Completed

Max McCandles falls in love with a beautiful young woman who has been brought back from death through brain transplant. But the lady, Bella, must learn what it is to be human. This was a fascinating book that held me to the end. It is “literary” in nature, but not so much that a fluff-reader would be turned off.

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday M12 went to an 8 hour party. That mom must be a saint – putting up with 6 middle schoolers for 8 hours. He really enjoyed himself, though. Aaron and I played D&D in the afternoon. In the evening, M12 and Aaron went to his birthday surprise (a virtual reality cafe).

Sunday

Sunday I worked my day job – it was a calm workday. D14 had her D&D session in the afternoon. In the evening, M12 and I had his birthday D&D session. M12’s character insisted I was the bad guy, and refused to fight with me. But I guess if that’s the way he wants to play, it was HIS birthday activity.

Monday

Monday, Aaron, IL5, and I awoke early and drove both cars to the mechanic. Then I drove Aaron to work and went to Perkins with dad and IL5. Then dad grabbed a bus to the Mall of America and I took IL5 to the library. He was REALLY excited about the books I got out, so instead of hanging out in the library, we went directly home to read both books immediately. That felt good.

About this time, the mechanic called to say that they didn’t have the parts they needed for the car – they’d ordered it, but the package that arrived was missing some parts. This mechanic has been helpful in the past, so I wasn’t angry.

Then, I worked on my spring cleaning of the livingroom. (The house hasn’t had a good deep clean, clutter removal, since maybe September, when D14, dad, IL5, and I all had major health issues for several months, and my days were packed with 2-3 appointments a day.) I’ve finished my bedroom and IL5’s room (which got messy again), and started with the livingroom. I also did dad’s laundry….so I was productive.

After dropping IL5 at school at 1:20, I picked up Aaron at work, and we went to pick up the car at the mechanic. Then I ran errands.

M12 watched his documentary on the US (he’s into history now). D14 chatted about her field day. When IL5 got home, he wanted to get out a large toy, and I said he had to clean his room first. So he moved the blanket, pillow, and bedroll that we sleep on because he won’t sleep alone in his room yet (we’re working in that.) He put the blanket and pillow on his bed, and dragged the gigantic bedroll into our room. Then he told me his roon was clean. I thought it was a good effort, even if it wasn’t what I was looking for, so I helped him clean the toys off his floor and vaccumed the room. Then I brought out his castle toy.

Shortly after that ordeal, he wanted to play in his sandbox outside, so I got him dressed in his swim suit for lessons, then we went out and played. At swim lessons, I dropped my phone and broke the screen. I chose not to be pissed off and to be excited about buying a phone with a longer-acting battery. I mean, I’m a little pissed at myself. But it was an accident, and I do my best.

After swim lessons, IL5 wanted more time in the sandbox, so Aaron and I weeded while IL5 played in the sandbox for an hour. Then I was done with the day, so I did the minimum for a couple of hours before going to my night job.

Tuesday

Tuesday, after arriving home from my overnight job, I immediately took dad to his doctor appointment. I then ran errands and did some yardwork (slowly preparing some spots for seeding grass in the fall). I was going to remove a shrub stump – I’d cut it down to a nub in early spring, but it has since become a leafy shrub again, so I have to cut it down again before I remove it. Disgusted, I went in the house and amused myself in other ways for my last free half hour.

I picked up IL5 from his water day at school and took him to an appointment. Upon getting home, I hit my productivity limit for the day and, besides making dinner, I was unproductive until I left for my night job. D14 and I watched the first two episodes of Monk and IL5 slept all evening.

Wednesday

Wednesday I took Sake and Freyja to their first vet appointment. They were both negative for feline leukemia and heartworm. Sake is female and Freyja is male. I ran errands after that. And that was pretty much my day. Again, I crashed in productivity towards the end. It was the kids’ last day of school. D14 is now a highschooler and IL5 is a kindergartener. I harvested IL5’s carrots

Thursday

Thursday I worked my day job. On my way home, I picked up IL5 at daycare. At that time, dad texted to ask if I could take him to the ER. He thought he had a broken rib. The day before, he’d been standing on the bus waiting for the bus to stop, when the driver slammed on the brakes and dad went flying forward into the windshield. He hadn’t told me the fall was that bad, or I’d have taken him in right away. After an X-ray, a CT scan, and 5.5 hours in the ER, he was diagnosed with a broken rib.

I missed IL5’s daycare graduation, for which he wore a cap and gown, but Aaron made it. M12 also hit a pitch in baseball, which he was proud of.

Friday

Friday after speech therapy, the family went to Olive Garden for lunch, then Aaron, IL5, and I went camping. It was a relaxing evening…with a little “officer – bad guy” and IL5 calling mommy’s phone, saying he was the mailman. About midnight, I left the tent and sat in a chair, but hid in the tent in fear when a large animal (deer?) started snuffling around several feet from me. I couldn’t tell what it was without my glasses, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a bear. But I’ve never heard a deer snuffle.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Pennsylvania
• One Letter Maryland

Reading to myself

• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
• The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth by Thomas Morris
• Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray

Reading to IL5

• Let’s Get Cracking, by Cyndi Marko
• Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
• Heroes on the Side, by Cyndi Marko
• The Birdy-Snatchers, by Cyndi Marko

D14 reading

• The Storm Crow, by Kalyn Joseohson
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)

Media Completed

My 5 year old loved the first book of this series so much that he wanted to rush into getting the next ones. I still haven’t gotten the second book, but this is the third. Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop fight zombies. Very cute.

In this fourth installment, Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop fight baddies in New Yolk City. Cute.

Sophie’s adventures in the lost cities continue as she is given the job of taking care of an alicorn and helping Alden on an errand. But she has to deal with the black swan. I liked this book better than the first in the series, which was weak on plot. Not that this plot was deep…but it existed.

Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop face Dr Screech when he chickennaps an opera singer. My 5-year-old is loving these books.

Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop fight Dr Strangebok as she kidnaps dinosaurs. Cute book.

News

Saturday

Saturday, Aaron, IL5, and I slept in till about 10:30am. We ate a quick breakfast, and then went on a short hike. Unfortunately, we had to turn around after about 1.5 miles (so 3 miles round trip) because my foot felt like it was getting a blister. Next time, I’ll bring my hiking shoes camping.

After the half-successful hike, we went to a playground and to the lake to wade. Upon returning to the campsite, we relaxed in the tent during some rain, and called it a night after another fire and some brats in the evening.

Sunday

Sunday I enjoyed listening to the whip-poor-wills overnight. It was raining in the morning, so we skipped breakfast and headed home. After putting away the camping gear, we ran some errands and did some housework.

Monday

Monday Aaron and I had planned on cleaning the garage, but it was raining. So we were productive indoors instead. The older kids arrived home happy from their trip to see their grandpa. I read to D14 in the evening. We are almost done with our book.

Tuesday

Tuesday I went from my night job to my day job. Dad got his dentures fixed (they didn’t fit quite right).

I spent a chunk of the day doing last-minute preparations for M11’s birthday on Thursday. I had known his birthday was upcoming, but totally forgot that it required ordering of a cake and buying of presents. But I ordered a beholder cake (it took a bit of back-and-forth with the bakery, since they were confused about what I wanted), bought a boardgame for Bobby’s present (Pandemic Legacy Season 1), & planned a D&D oneshot with a professional DM for my present (it’ll be on Sunday). Aaron also brainstormed his present.

At home, M11 and I created our characters (he’s a tortle rogue named Zion and I’m a giff fighter named Reek). Then the family went out to dinner for M11’s birthday.

Wednesday

Wednesday I ran errands in the morning. Then I took dad to get a basal cell carcinoma removed from his arm. In the afternoon, I meant to do some yardwork because it was a beautiful day, but I accidentally fell asleep for an hour. In the evening, I took M11 to baseball practice. He hit the ball four times! Then I read to D14. She was hoping we’d finish the book, but we didn’t have enough time before I left for my overnight job.

Thursday

Thursday I went from work to work, as usual. I left my dayjob early because IL5 had a pre-K graduation. The class sang a couple songs, then each told the parents what they wanted to be when they grew up. IL5 said he wanted to be a superhero.

M12’s birthday celebration went well. The cake was meant to be a beholder, but the cake bakers didn’t get my instructions quite right. It was still pretty awesome-looking. M12 seemed pleased with the boardgame he got from my dad and with the toy that IL5 pulled out of his own toy chest and wrapped for M12.

Friday

Friday was a relaxing day, for the most part. I had intended on taking IL5 to the library, but he didn’t want to go. After a trip to the grocery store, I really didn’t want to go, either, so we relaxed at home. I got some reading done.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Massachusetts
• One letter Maine
• One letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
• This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Motar and Max Gladstone
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain
• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro

D14 reading

• Exile, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V E Schwab

Media Completed

Red and Blue are on opposite sides of the time war. Yet somehow they fall in love. This is the story of their romance. It is poetic, engaging, and creative.

This is a book about PTSD, written by an expert on the subject. It’s supposed to be a medical review of PTSD with symptoms, causes, and treatments, with snippets about patients to create a personal component. But the snippets about patients tended to feel a bit forced to me. Sometimes, she included examples of people presenting the symptoms, while admitting she never got the chance to question them about their trauma history. Having a trauma history is a major diagnostic criterion of PTSD last I heard. The bits that were medical were short and didn’t have enough detail, except the portions about psychiatric treatment, which was, unfortunately, the part that interested me the least. I am more interested in psychological treatment. Not that I think medicine is useless – I just don’t find them interesting. So, overall, I could have spent my time better than reading this book. On the other hand, that’s my fault, as I could have given up at any time.

An elderly couple go on a journey of self discovery. They stumble upon adventurers out to slay a dragon. This was a good book. Very thoughtful and wistful. 

Cross-stich

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I played D&D while IL5 watched YouTube and played with LEGOs. It was a good game. In the evening, we watched Turtles All the Way Down, though I missed a big chunk of it because IL5 wanted a bath and he looked like he could use a relaxing activity. I was, sadly, too tired to read to him that night. Not sure why I was so tired.

Sunday

Sunday I worked my day job, then went on an anniversary date with Aaron. We walked to a bar and sat and chatted.

Monday

Monday started with a video visit with one of my inmate penpals.

I was going to take M11 in to urgent care because his eye swelled up quite a bit at Boy Scout camp last weekend. When he got up in the morning, it was still swollen, so I kept him home from school. But by the time I was ready to take him in (after the visit), his eye was down to almost normal. 🤷‍♀️

I made some gumbo, took the boys to school, and made some phone calls (so not a largely productive day). In the evening D14 had an award ceremony for graduating from middle school with greater than 3.5 GPA. And M11 had a band concert. Luckily, the award ceremony ended in plenty of time to get to the concert, so we were able to support both kids. IL5 ended up coming along because the babysitter bailed. But he was very well-behaved.

Tuesday

Tuesday, M11 had an appointment in the morning, then I went to Perkins with dad, and cleaned. IL5 had an appointment, then I cleaned some more as D14 made meatloaf. Baseball was cancelled due to a storm. D14 brought the kittens upstairs. Sake is quite the runner.

Wednesday

Wednesday dad got his teeth! I’ve never seen him with healthy teeth before, so he looked….interesting. He wanted Cub chicken for dinner because he couldn’t eat it for four months while he had no teeth.

After getting an oil change, I intended on spraying the dandelions. But I realized I’d bought a spray that needed to be hooked to a yard hose. So I got a hose out, but couldn’t get it screwed on because there’s too much calcification in the threads. So I read a book instead of spraying the dandelions.

More bad news of the day was that the basement is leaking again. Starting literally RIGHT where they stopped drilling for the drain tiles last year. (They stopped where they did because we would have to move the water softener, and figure out what to do about the shower and bathroom.) So now we need to decide if we put drain tiles in the whole rest of the basement, or if we need to break it into more financially manageable chunks.

However, something good did happen Wednesday. IL5 went on a field trip and caught a fish. He was really excited about it.

Thursday

Thursday I worked and played D&D. M11 had a baseball game, and IL5 had a t-ball practice. M11’s team got creamed, but that happens sometimes. IL5 had Ritalin before his practice, and it seemed to help with concentrating. The kids were especially loud today, and M11 was especially argumentative.

Friday

Friday, Aaron had taken the day off work so we could go camping. First, we went to Perkins with dad and IL5, then to IL5’s speech therapy. Then we packed up and headed out. The traffic was horrendous. It was supposed to take us 1 hour 45 minutes to drive. But the traffic resulted in an extra hour being added to that. IL5 was luckily quite patient, all things considered. At the campground, we ate burgers and corn, had a fire, and slept early because it got cold. D14 and M11 were visiting their grandpa with their mom.   

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Belgium
• One letter Texas

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen podcast
• The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible
• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull

Reading to IL5

• Kung Pow Chicken: Let’s Get Cracking!, by Cyndi Marko

D14 reading

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V E Schwab
• Hidden Girl, by Lisa Wysocky and Shyima Hall

Media Completed

Gordon and Benny became superheros after falling into a vat of glowing goo. When chickens around town start losing their feathers, the two must save the town. Cute and interesting to my 5 year old. Second grade reading level.

Elodie is guilted into marrying a prince to get a huge payout for her father – the lord of a backwaters land. But she must save herself from a dragon when things don’t go as she suspects. This was a fantastic movie.

Weight Loss

53.5 pounds lost

News

Saturday

Saturday I worked my day job because I didn’t want to work Mother’s Day. I’d already signed up for Wednesday to make up for the missed day, but they asked if I’d be willing to work Saturday as well.

Aaron went board gaming with his friends in the late afternoon. Dad, IL5, and I walked to a nearby playground. It was hard getting the kiddo to walk back, and I got tired of carrying him, but we made it eventually.

Sunday

Sunday (Mother’s Day), I went grocery shopping – mostly by accident. I just wanted to go to buy some milk and make Aaron do the grocery shopping (as I really dislike shopping for groceries for some reason), but dad and D14 both wanted to come along, and it seemed silly to have 3 people just to buy milk. (Most weeks I make a pickup order at Target, and Aaron runs to get it and a few items at another store.)

After Aaron and I cooked bacon and pancakes, Aaron went to buy some pants and some few groceries I forgot on my shopping trip, and D14, IL5 and I went to the pet store for essentials as well as a few toys and scratching posts for the new kittens. Then we went to the craft store to buy M11 some popsicle sticks for his school project.

Shortly after the shopping, everyone but dad piled into the car and we went to meet the kittens we plan on getting. They were both very cute. IL5 did a good job of petting gently.

In the evening, Aaron grilled and M11 continued to work on his school project. We got an episode of Locke & Key watched while eating. I cooked some Jambalaya for Aaron and my lunches for the week. Then IL5 fell asleep while I was reading to him.

Monday

Monday, M11 had a virtual appointment. Then I spent some time cleaning while IL5 was playing with LEGO. After dropping IL5 at school in the afternoon, I ran some errands and then relaxed a bit. I finished Groot’s head (except his eyes) on my cross-stitch! In the evening, I took IL5 to swim lessons and M11 went to a meeting to plan for Whitewater rafting camp this coming weekend.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a bit frustrating to me. D14 and I both had appointments, then I was going to spray the dandelions on our yard – something I worked myself up to through all the morning. I was really going to do it. Then the opthalmologist dilated my eyes. And it was soooo bright outside. It was very frustrating.

Then, I got an email telling me the rescue was rejecting our application for the kittens. This made me livid because the rejection came from a conversation I had 6 weeks ago with a woman who told me “I don’t think this will be a good fit.” I literally asked her “Should I look somewhere else? I don’t want to waste time.” And she said “no, that’s not what I’m saying.” Then they wasted my time for the next 6 weeks. So disrespectful!

In the evening, Aaron took M11 to baseball and I took IL5 to T-ball. I hear M11 got home after being walked to first, but to be fair, they were terrible pitches. IL5 has focus issues. He seems to love the idea of playing, and he hit the ball all three times he was up, but (like several of the kids) didn’t know to run the bases. That was fine, but he wandered randomly around the outfield…or sat down to play in the dirt. It’s tempting to give him Ritalin to see if it helps, but that seems a misuse of it.

Wednesday

Wednesday was full of excitement. Polyphemus went to the vet to get his teeth cleaned (an expensive procedure). The tooth that appeared loose fell out, and they pulled 4 more teeth in hopes that the periodontal disease wouldn’t spread to the rest of the mouth.

After an appointment for myself, I worked my day job, went to pick up Polyphemus from the vet, then drove 2 hours each way to pick up a couple of kittens. Yes, that’s a long drive, but I was being picky about the cats because I wanted good house cats. Immediately after dropping the kittens off at home, I went back to my night job.

The kids all squealed in excitement about the kittens. Even M11, who thought he didn’t want a kitten.

The kittens’ names are Sake and Freyja.

Thursday

Thursday, I worked my day job and played D&D. There wasn’t a total party kill, but we got close. Aaron took IL5 to T-ball (he seemed taken aback by the fact that players can’t get out in T-ball), and I took M11 to baseball.

Friday

Friday, after speech therapy, IL5 and I went to a park for a playdate. There was a big vehicle show. IL5 was intrigued by the construction vehicles. He also played for a bit in the playground.

In the afternoon, I helped M11 finish packing for Boy Scout camp (whitewater rafting). D14 went to their mom’s, so in the evening, Aaron, IL5, dad, and I went out to eat.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Maine
• One letter Maryland

Reading to myself

• Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett
• Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain
• Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
• Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible
• The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reading to IL5

• Society of Substitutes: Frenemies, by Alan Katz
• Time Jumpers: Stealing the Sword, by Wendy Mass

Media Completed

Snowball, a classroom hamster grows to ginormous proportion, and decides to take over the world. Noah, the evil ferret, must team up with Mrs Worthy and Milton to stop her. Cute. Funny. A good installment to this series.

Magrat inherits a fairy godmother wand, and goes with Nanny Ogg and Nanny Weatherwax to save a young woman from marrying a prince. Very humorous, as are all of Pratchett’s books.

Chase and Ava find a mysterious suitcase at a flea market and it takes them back to King Arthur’s time. Cute. Nothing special, but entertaining enough.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I played D&D. Aaron’s character died. We still have a chance to revivify him, but we may not be able to, because we’re in the middle of a battle which may take a while, and revivify has to be used in a certain amount of time.

After D&D, Aaron grilled, and then IL5, Aaron, and I hung out in the car, which is something IL5 had been begging me to do all day. He likes being able to sit in the passenger seat. I got to read to IL5 in the evening, which is something I missed doing on Friday night because my brain was broken.

Sunday

Sunday I worked. I was in a mood, so we didn’t have family day, nor did I manage to read to IL5. 😒

Monday

Monday was productive. I went to breakfast with dad and IL5, then we all went to a small playground afterwards. It was a beautiful day, and dad and I took turns playing with him on the structure.

Then I took D14 to an appointment, and IL5 to school. I ran to the bakery and picked up a cake for teachers and staff of all 3 schools the kids are in, then drove to the schools to drop the cakes off. I made phone calls, and planted the carrots.

In the evening, Aaron took IL5 to swim lessons and I took M11 to Boy Scouts. M11 ran the mile in 10 minutes 55 seconds, which is a huge improvement, but since he hasn’t actually tried to improve by working out, it didn’t count towards earning his Tenderfoot rank. He also improved on the stretch, sit-ups, and push-ups. He asked me to remind him to exercise this month so he can rank up.

Before work, I got some reading done.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took Polyphemus to the vet. She said that Polyphemus may have a loose tooth, and she wanted to clean the teeth under anesthesia to check it out. At first I refused, but later in the day, I thought about how bad Polyphemus’ breath is, and that may be an indication of rot or decay. I discussed it with Aaron, and we decided that it may be better to take care of the tooth than to let Polyphemus get sick.

Then, I started looking at 2-month-old kittens from the rescue. I was torn between getting two and getting one, because I don’t want 5 cats, but I feel like a kitten that young needs another kitten that young. I don’t know…I am still strongly ambivalent. I asked Aaron, and he was strongly ambivalent, too. I had to make the decision quickly because I had already contacted the rescue, and they were waiting for my answer. I drafted an email saying that I wanted two kittens. Then I drafted an email saying I wanted only one kitten, and ended up sending the one saying two. Aaron subsequently told me that one kitten gave him fewer heart palpitations, and that Hero was going to be very upset by the new cats. He had a point, but it was too late. I’d already gotten two cats on hold.

IL5 had an appointment Tuesday, followed by baseball for M11 and T-ball for IL5. IL5 was with me, and I had a hard time not bursting on to the field to tell him to stop running around in circles and actually listen. The good thing is that he was excited by the T-ball the whole time. Then he played at the playground for a while. M11 was thrilled because he hit a ball during his practice.

Wednesday

Wednesday we decided that perhaps the best solution to Hero being bullied by four cats (if we end up getting two more) is just keeping her in our bedroom all the time. If she doesn’t cooperate, that’s her problem. But we’ll give it a try. I have to rearrange and declutter the room before we can do that, though.

Then I went to therapy. I am not certain about my therapist, but I’ll give her a bit longer of a try. I feel like she validates me so profusely that it feels fake. I know she’s not trying to be fake, so I’ve been tolerating it.

After therapy, I went to lunch with dad and then we went to a sporting-goods store to buy him some weights. He wants to get back to using his arm at full mobility, which takes a long time after a shoulder break.

The stumps were removed from our back yard while we were gone – there are now two big grass-free areas. My neighbor told me that grass won’t grow there unless I fertilize the area with nitrogen. Good to know!

In the evening, D14 had her audition for a community play (Frozen Jr) and M11 had a swim test for the Boy Scouts.

Thursday

Thursday I worked my day job and played D&D. Aaron took IL5 to T-ball, and I took M11 to baseball. In the evening, I read to D14.

Friday

Friday after IL5’s speech therapy we were supposed to go to the park. He loves “the big playground,” but for some reason wanted to go to the McDonald’s Playplace. So I read while he ate and played for over an hour. Then we went to the library, where he played with the toys/computer/chessboard and picked out books for over an hour.

In the evening, Aaron and I watched Supernatural until it was time for him to game with his friends. D14, M11, and I drove out of the suburbs at 10pm to see the Northern Lights, but all we saw are streaks in the sky without color.

Letters Written

• One letter Louisiana
• One letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen podcast
• Maid, by Stephanie Land
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible
• Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett
• Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain

Reading to IL5

• Stinky Cecil and Mudslide Mayhem, by Paige Braddock
• Billy and the Mini Monsters: Monsters on the Loose, by Zanna Davidson

D14 reading

• The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell
• Stepsister, by Jennifer Donnelly
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger – I’m reading this to her

Media Completed

Cecil’s house floods, and he and his friends need to find out why the pond water is rising. Like the first two books in the series, this is a cute graphic novel and my 5-year-old had lots of questions about the animals in it.

Rabo Karabekian is a washed up artist when he meets a widow who convinces him to write his autobiography. In a very non-romantic way, she breathes life into him. This book wasn’t as funny as I’d expected. I’d remembered finding another of Vonnegut’s books funny (I forget which one), and expected the same from this one. It did have a little dry situational humor, but wasn’t a satire. Regardless, the story kept me coming back for more, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was curious what he had locked in that potato barn. 

Billy’s mini-monster friends want to come to school with him, but Billy is reluctant. They come anyway. Cute, colorful, funny. Definitely a good addition to the series.

This is Land’s story of raising her young daughter in poverty while slaving away at a thankless job that didn’t pay the rent. It’s about being a woman in recovery from domestic violence. And about the way the middle class judge the poverty-stricken.

This was interesting, heartbreaking, and real. The prose flowed easily and the story progressed naturally. Land is a very articulate woman, which is fortunate since not all people in difficult situations are able to tell their story in an engaging way.

I did have a couple of qualms about the book, but they were all quibbles. Like, why is she pointing out that her child’s father can’t swim, as if that somehow provides further proof he was a bad dad? Didn’t we have enough evidence of that? It seemed a little vindictive to bring it up.

Overall, though, I thought Maid was an excellent view of what many women must be experiencing.

News

Saturday

Saturday was a fun day for IL5. First, he, Liz, and I went to Olive Garden together. Liz and I discussed our book club book, and chatted. IL5 built a haunted cave on Minecraft with spooky signs like “I kill you” and “I see you.” It also had rocks that floated and chains and zombies.

I returned to find my 83-year-old dad mowing our lawn – presumably because he heard me say I was going to do it on Wednesday. Which is silly, because I was specifically going to do it on Wednesday so that he didn’t feel like he had to do it. I give up.

I then took IL5 to a playdate at a friend’s house. He loved his friend’s LEGO. It was hard tearing him away to do anything else.

In the evening, Aaron and I won The Night Cage (a cooperative tile-laying boardgame.)

Sunday

Sunday, I worked till late afternoon. Then we all went out to dinner and played a couple games of Unstoppable Unicorns. In the evening, I read to IL5 (I’m only able to read to him 3 days a week now, because he only wants to listen before going to sleep, and he’s started going to sleep later. So I can only read to him when I don’t work in the evening.)

Monday

Monday, I did laundry and went to Home Depot to buy a wheelbarrow wheel replacement. Dad was on a mission to fix that flat. In the evening, I took IL5 to swim lessons.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D14 to an appointment, which was frustrating, because the practitioner is leaving the clinic, and we’ll need to find another. After the appointment, I spent some time finding someone else, then I packed up Puck and Hero so they could get a distemper booster. Just one more cat to vaccinate, then we can get IL5’s kitten. Part of me regrets not just taking the barn kitten that someone offered. This shelter adopting is a lot of work. The boys were supposed to have baseball, but their practices were cancelled due to rain. So the we all started the second season of Resident Alien.

Wednesday

Wednesday I took dad to his penultimate denture fitting – 3 weeks, and he’ll have teeth! Then I went to meet my new therapist. I’m still feeling frustrated at my other one leaving after 3 appointments, but  this one seemed on-task and goal oriented, and also supported my need to use sessions to vent. So maybe it was a good change. The other diagnosed me with “adjustment disorder” after 2 sessions of diagnostic questions, which seems odd since I have both bipolar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

After the appointment, I had a lunch date with Aaron, then dug in the raised beds to prepare them for IL5’s vegetable garden. I didn’t quite finish – I have 15 more minutes of work, but my phone was about to die and I was waiting on a call, so I had to go inside. In the evening, I read to D14 for an hour. It’s a fun way to spend quality time.

Thursday

Thursday I had a good game of D&D, and I worked a day shift. It was raining, so baseball was cancelled again. That also meant I wasn’t able to finish digging in the raised beds. In the evening, I played Magic with D14 and M11.

Friday

Friday was great. After speech therapy for IL5, we took advantage of a beautiful day and went to the park with some of his friends. I got to chat with their mom, so it was fun for everyone. Then we went home and he played outside while I finished clearing the raised bed, and planted tomatoes and the watermelon, which got its own raised bed. I still have the carrots and radishes to go. Then the family went to Perkins for dinner.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter Texas
• Two letters Maine
• One letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen podcast
• Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Maid, by Stephanie Land
• Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan

Reading to IL5

• Narwhal’s Otter Friend, by Ben Clanton
• Dragons and Marshmallows, by Asia Citro

D14 reading

• Winter, by Marissa Meyer
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger

Media Completed

Zoey has to help a baby dragon when her mom goes on a trip. My 5-year-old loved the story of this little dragon and loved speculating what he would eat. Very good book.

Jelly is jealous of Narwhal’s otter friend. This is cute and funny. We enjoyed this installment of the series.

Games Played

Cross-stitch

News

Saturday

Saturday I woke at 4am and couldn’t fall back asleep again. So I got up at 8, cooked taco soup, ran to the library (using my self-service after-hours card to get me in), and ran to the store to buy carrots and an onion. I then was super tired and tried to sleep off my loss until my noon D&D game started. After D&D, Aaron and I went to our former date restaurant. It used to be really cozy, but it changed ownership and now doesn’t have a liquor license or the comfy couches to relax on. So we ate dinner, then walked to a farther restaurant to have a few drinks.

M11’s show’s closing night was Saturday. His mom and D14 went. I slept the night in IL5’s bed with him in hopes of transitioning him over to sleeping there… eventually alone. Besides him falling out once, it went well.

Sunday

Sunday, after a calm day at work, we went out to dinner with dad for his birthday. Afterwards, I headed to bed early because I had a headache.

Monday

Monday, I had a video visit with one of my inmate pen pals in the morning. They have kinks in their system so most of the time he couldn’t hear what I was saying so he had to carry the conversation. I think it’s terrible that they don’t even care enough to give them good connections. Especially since I have to pay $10 for this visit.

I cleaned for a while, then took IL5 to the audiologist. He has to go yearly because he won’t participate in the test during his physical with the pediatrician. He passed most of the test, but wouldn’t participate in one of the activities, saying he was afraid. 

In the evening, we had Buffalo Wild Wings and watched Resident Alien as a family.

Tuesday

Tuesday, Aaron took the day off work so we could hang out alone. We went to Benihana for lunch and then went axe-throwing. He wanted to remember that our top combined score was 44 so that we could beat it some other time. Then my friend Liz came over in the evening, and the family watched Doctor Who with her.

Wednesday

Wednesday dad had a short appointment, followed by D14’s dentist appointment. Then dad and I went to a favorite Mongolian grill that is far away, so we don’t go very often. I also cleaned, made phone calls off my to-do list, and read.

Thursday

Thursday I went to my day job. It was a relaxing day. Afterwards, I put fertilizer on the lawn. I had to do it by hand because it wouldn’t fit through the hole in the push-spreader. After dinner, I played some Hot Takes with M11, then he taught me to play Magic.

Friday

Friday I took IL5 to his speech therapy. I tried to get him a haircut, because he’s getting very shaggy, but he was afraid to sit in the chair. He says he’s ok if his hair gets as long as mine. Then we went to Bachman’s to buy tomato, carrot, and watermelon plants, as well as some flowers for the planter in our front yard. The radish seeds, carrot plant and watermelon plant can be planted right away, though I’ll wait another week or so for the tomato plants because I may need to be taken inside if the temperature drops.

Then, D14, M11, and I played a game of Unstoppable Unicorns. In the evening, Aaron, dad, and I watched a rather meh movie on HBO. (Gray Matter)

Letters Written

• One letter Massachusetts
• One letter Virginia
• One letter Iowa
• One letter New Mexico

Reading to myself

• Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Maid, by Stephanie Land
• Mr Ballen podcast
• Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Bible

D14 reading

• Fairest, by Marissa Meyer
• Winter, by Marissa Meyer

Aaron reading

• Book of Night, by Holly Black

Media Completed

This story follows 3 students at McMasters Conservatory which teaches people to murder and get away with it. It’s a fun satire, that I suggest if you don’t mind the subject matter.

Aurora has powers, and her mom trains her hard to control them. Disaster occurs when she disobeys her mother. This had an interesting premise and reasonable acting, though the story just didn’t engage me much. Though I that could be because I find action more interesting than drama, and this was drama with a rather superficial plot.

Games played

News

Saturday

Saturday dad and I drove a few hours each way to a nearby city to visit with my aunt, uncle, and some of their kids. There was a party for my cousin’s 50th birthday, which was a lot of fun. I also got to meet an online friend that I’ve never met before. It was a lovely meeting.

Sunday

Sunday I worked. Aaron made chili. D14 pruned, dug rocks out of the bed, and dug around a stump so I could get it out. It was in 3 parts, and the two of us got 2 of them out before it got dark. IL5 also helped by digging up dirt from the pile D14 had made and moving it to another place, and patting it down. Luckily, we have lots of spare soil to fill in the hole.

Monday

Monday started with back-to-back telehealth appointments for all three kids with the same doctor. Then I made beef stew, dropped IL5 off at school, ran to Best Buy, Home Depot, and Target. At Home Depot, I picked out a lovely green for our living room walls – which we’ll paint when I’ve saved up some money – probably in Fall.

In the evening, I hurt my foot by putting my weight on it when it was asleep. The ankle rolled. The pain actually seems to be in the bone rather than a tendon, strangely. (I’m guessing because the pain is on the top of my foot, but I could be wrong.) Sometimes the foot doesn’t hurt at all, but it was hurting enough to make it hard to sleep when I first went to bed.

IL5 said his most heinous part of his day was when Bobby poured ketchup in his hair. Bobby was surprised to learn that he had done that.

Tuesday

Tuesday started with an appointment for D14. Then I had my therapy session. I was pissed to find out that after my first two sessions of unhelpful (to me) diagnostic appointments she told me that she’s leaving the clinic, and I needed to find a new therapist. Since she was the only therapist at multiple agencies that fit my schedule, I don’t want to go through the effort of finding a new one. So my time and money has been wasted. That put me in a very pissy mood. Then I had another appointment.

In the evening, M11 had his jazz band concert. He surprised us by having a solo! Though to be honest I knew he had a solo because I thought he’d told me, but in retrospect I think he just mumbled something about it to himself, and I overheard. But it was a surprise to his bio parents. Regardless, he did great.

Wednesday

Wednesday I had my first day of leisure in a year. Literally. A year. I read my last year’s diary entry every day, and the last day that I took purely to myself popped up in my “last year today” section of my diary app. So I deserved a day off.

I got home from work at 9:30am, and had free-time till 4:15pm, when IL5 got off the bus. I couldn’t get anyone to have lunch with me, so I had a soup and salad from Cafe Zupa. I wrote two letters, read for 90 minutes, and took a nap.

In the evening, M11 had his tech rehearsal for Music Man and I read to D14 while IL5 played with his cars.

Thursday

Thursday I worked my day job after getting off my night job. M11 had opening night of his play, and Aaron and I went. He had a lot of lines, and he did fantastic.

Friday

Friday I took IL5 to an appointment. After that, I had been going to take him to the park, but it was windy and ever-so-slightly snowing. Instead, I took him to Olive Garden, and we had a lovely chat. He decided he wanted to be an architect. M11 was going to be a graphic designer, D14 a psychologist, daddy a financial analyst, and “other mommy” a scientist.

After lunch, we relaxed the rest of the day. In the evening, we put up the glow-in-the-dark stars and solar system stickers in his room. I’ve got a few more toys to move back into his room, but otherwise his room is now totally set up.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• One letter North Dakota
• One letter Michigan
• One letter Pennsylvania
• One letter Maryland

Reading to myself

• Mr Ballen podcast
• Maid, by Stephanie Land
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Bible

Reading to IL5

• Game Over Super Rabbit Boy!, by Thomas Flintham

D14 reading

• Cress, by Marissa Meyer
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger (reading this together)
• Fairest, by Marissa Meyer

Aaron reading

• Book of Night, by Holly Black