News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I had D&D. It was the last session of the campaign. We killed the big baddies. I am ambivalent about it ending. It’ll be nice to have my Saturdays free again, but it was a really fun campaign. It was almost 3 years long.

Afterwards, we all went to Perkins for D15’s early birthday celebration. Then she unwrapped presents. She seemed genuinely thrilled by all of them.

Sunday

Sunday we ate the cake for D15’s birthday. It had the picture of an alicorn. I made some sausage stew for Aaron’s lunches, and salmon for dinner. IL6 fell asleep, so I decided to skip swim lessons, since sleep is more important.

Monday

Monday didn’t go as planned. It started fine. I took IL6 to his morning appointment, then took dad to the gym.

Then I got stuck in an online conversation with a friend who was angry at me and claimed I was intentionally attacking her. She thinks that I am angry that we disagree about Russia, and have been attacking her ever since that conversation. (Previously, she had given her reasons for supporting Russia, and I said I disagree, but there’s no point in arguing about it.) I honestly couldn’t care less what her opinion on Russia is – she lives in Russia, so it makes sense she’d support them. I tried smoothing it over. But I didn’t know what I was doing wrong, and she claimed I did and apologizing doesn’t work unless you change the behavior. We had had a bit of an argument a while back when she called me “obtuse,” and I’d been very cautious ever since then, but apparently what I call “cautious” she calls “passive aggressive.” She kicked me out of the group. It was disappointing.

Then I had a virtual appointment and picked D15 up from school. When IL6 got home, he, D15, Dad, and I went to Color-Me-Mine. D15 painted a yak and IL6 painted a whale spoon holder.

On the way back, IL6 pointed out “boy Wendy’s,” which he’d mentioned before, but we couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Boy Wendy’s” is KFC, forevermore known as “Wendell’s.” IL6 promised that if I got him some KFC he would eat it. In the end, he tasted the chicken and ate a few potato wedges.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment and had a virtual appointment for myself. In the evening, my friend Liz popped by and we watched Doctor Who with D15 and Aaron.

Wednesday

Wednesday I finished a letter, read, and ran errands. I took dad to the gym and hung out on the treadmill for 45 minutes. There was an IEP meeting for IL6. That went pretty well, and I am confident the new IEP will be to my liking. D15 was at practice for Quiz Bowl. Then I took IL6 to an appointment followed by faith formation.

Thursday

Thursday I had set aside the whole day, 9:30 – 3:45 to fix the Switch with Nintendo customer service. I started the morning by writing a letter, instead, lol. But at 11, I spent 20 minutes, troubleshooting with ChatGPT), on how to get to a human. There was then a lot of troubleshooting with the human, and we fixed the problem at 1:30. So not so bad! We didn’t even have to factory reset! I took dad to the gym. I got on the treadmill, but dad was ready to go 8 minutes into my workout. I read a little, and then went to D15’s Quiz Bowl competition. I was surprised to find out that I was the only parent to go. Isn’t it just as important as a sport? I was glad I was there because they need someone rooting them on.

Friday

Friday I took D15 to her surgery consult. We decided to get some more scans of her knees before deciding if we do surgery, since the doctor was on the fence.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Survey of Hinduism by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him by Tracy Borman
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• The Week: Hard to Swallow
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan
• Breathless, by David Quammen
• One Piece Volume 1-3, by Eiichiro Oda

Reading to IL5

• Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon
• Fins of Fury by Mo O’Hara
• Dogman: A Tale of Two Kitties, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

Wendell is having nightmares, so Danny and Suki enter his dreams to save him from going insane.

This history describes not only the life of Henry VIII, but also the histories of powerful men he worked with through his reign. I found the book well-written, and it seemed well-researched.

The stories of Orka, Varg, and Elvar continues in this second book of the Bloodsworn Saga. Despite being long, the book holds attention throughout. It is exciting. It has good world-building and good character development.

Petey finds that being a dad is more than he’d bargained for.

Tom and Pradeep have two more adventures: one, a camping trip where a monster is prowling; the second a plot to kidnap all the paranormal pets in the area.

News

Saturday

Saturday IL6 had a stomach ache because he hadn’t pooped in several days. I tried giving him a bath to relax him, but it didn’t help. I spent a couple hours massaging his belly. M13 watched anime. I read and cross-stitched. I also made some white chili for Aaron’s lunches. Aaron cooked some red chili for dinner. 

Sunday

Sunday, I took IL6 to swim lessons. D15 came home from her mom’s and we all (minus Dad an IL6) played Pandemic Legacy. This time, we won the game. M13 built a Duplo tower all the way to the ceiling, and it managed to stay up all night.

Monday

Monday I took IL6 to an appointment, took dad to the gym, and took M13 to an appointment. I read to D15 at the end of the day. IL6 played his new computer game and M13 watched anime.

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling a little off from vivid dreams the night before. I took D15 to an appointment, followed by an appointment for IL6. Aaron had the day off for Veteran’s Day. He and I went out for a couple beers. In the evening, I played Minecraft with IL6, and Aaron spent an hour in line at Culver’s – there was a fundraiser for the middle school band. 

Wednesday

Wednesday I made Aaron a new pinto bean recipe for his lunches and took dad to the gym. I had to pick D15 up from school because she hurt her kneecap again. I took IL6 to an appointment and then faith Formation while Aaron took D15 to orthopedic urgent care to check out her knee. After much thought, the doctor decided to refer her to a surgeon.

Thursday

Thursday I had an appointment in the morning. I read a lot. Dad had an appointment in the afternoon. Then I played D&D.

Friday

Friday, Aaron got up 30 minutes early to get D15 to school (as she usually walks). I  took IL6 to an appointment, dropped dad off at the gym, picked D15 up from school, and picked up dad from the gym. Aaron made hamburgers for dinner.I got lots of reading done.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• The Week: Mainstreaming Hate
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• New Scientist: Runaway Aging
• Gulag Archipelago Part 2, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• March Book 3, by John Lewis
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger

Reading to IL5

• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• Waking the Rainbow Dragon, by Tracey West

D14 reading

• Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Media Completed

The Dragon Masters bring rain back to a foreign land by saving a rainbow dragon.

In the final installment of Lewis’ graphic memoir, more people die, more marches happen, and a federal law is finally made. This series was educational and heartbreaking.

When people think a cursed hound attacks a man, Holmes and Watson explore the mystery. This is my favorite of the series so far.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I made some beef stew for Aaron’s lunches for the next week, watched IL6 play Pikuniku, then played D&D with Aaron and my friend Liz. This was our first time playing in a while, and it looks like we’re expecting only another 1 or 2 sessions left. I will be sad to see our Saturday sessions disappear, but I enjoyed the extra time in October while our DM was on a trip.

IL6 wanted to play Spore after that, and I wrote a letter while he did that. I cooked shrimp dinner, and read for the rest of the evening.

Sunday

Sunday I was very productive and got a lot of reading done. The kids relaxed and Aaron shopped. IL6 had swim lessons.

Monday

Monday, I took IL6 to an appointment, then I went to the gym with Dad. I finally started stitches on my gigantic unicorn cross-stitch project. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment. We relaxed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a good day. I took D15 to an appointment then ran some errands, including voting. I took M13 to an appointment. I got reading and cross-stitch done. Dad took us out to Olive Garden. IL6 made his invented “toast sandwich” – toast, catsup, chicken nugget, cheese – and took a huge bite. Aaron and I also each took a bite.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I started the morning using CharGPT to determine what was wrong with IL6’s Minecraft game on Switch. After an hour, ChatGPT decided it was corrupt data, and had me do a factory reset. But I haven’t seen the results of the factory reset, because at that time, I had to go to the gym for Dad’s personal trainer appointment. Despite being extremely frustrated and worried that nothing was ever going to fix this problem (a worry I still have the next morning), I was on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

After the gym, I went to a doctor appointment for myself, and then ran errands. I even did my shopping errand at Walmart instead of Cub because it’s so much less expensive. (I hate Walmart. Like…bread is in Aisle A 35. But A stops at 29, and A35 is back in the opposite direction. Apparently the numbers act like a U? I had to ask, because the numbers no longer are displayed after 29. I was so frustrated, I was mumbling hateful things under my breath. Which happens a lot when I go to Walmart.) After school, I took IL6 to an appointment, then to faith formation.

Thursday

Thursday I kept busy. I spent a good chunk of time continuing to try to fix the problem on the Switch. It turns out ChatGPT says the Switch is corrupt and will have to be reformatted by Nintendo, using a computer. I needed to reserve a time to do that, so have set aside a day in a couple of weeks. In the evening, the kids played Mario kart and I played D&D.

Friday

Friday was a good day. I took IL6 to an appointment, then went to the gym with my dad. I was on the treadmill for an hour. I got some cross-stitch done. And lots of reading. M13 watched lots of Anime, D15 went to her mom’s, and IL6 watched YouTube and played LEGO.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• The Week: Ballroom Blitz
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading to IL5

• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• The End of Orson Eerie, by Jack Chabert
• Dogman Unleashed, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

The hall monitors face one final battle when the town tours Eerie Elementary.

In this book of Sherlock Holmes short stories, the brilliant detective solves mystery after mystery. He is much more likable in this book than the last ones. Enjoyable.

Petey the Cat hatches another plot. This time creating a cardboard version of himself which tries to take over the world. Very funny.

News

Saturday

Saturday, I made Aaron gumbo for this week’s lunches. Then I downloaded a bunch of free software so IL6 could eventually program Minecraft mods. Or at least figure out that he can’t program in java. I also played Minecraft with him. We had chicken for dinner, then I relaxed while Aaron played Minecraft with IL6.

Sunday

Sunday IL6, M13, Liz, her nephew, and I went to Olive Garden. Liz and I discussed our book and picked a new one. Afterwards, IL6 and I chatted with ChatGPT to figure out where we went wrong in our java coding. It told me I downloaded the wrong Forge, so I downloaded the other one. That was all we had time for that day.

IL6 and I went to swim lessons, then we played Minecraft. Aaron went to buy pumpkins for carving, then he, Dad, and I went to Outback. Then Aaron, the kids, and I carved pumpkins.

Monday

Monday all three kids had a telehealth appointment, then I drove IL6 to an appointment a half hour away. When we got back to school, I realized we’d forgotten his jacket. I took dad to the gym, and I stayed on the treadmill for an hour. Then I drove an hour round-trip to get IL6’s jacket. After spaghetti dinner, I tried to program a mod in Minecraft and ran into a problem I don’t know how to solve. IL6 was not pleased.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I took D15 and then M13 to appointments. I did some chores. In the evening, my friend Liz came over and we watched Doctor Who.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took dad to the gym then exhausted myself running a bunch of errands. After school, I took IL6 to an appointment. Then Aaron, M13, and I went to parent-teacher conferences. He’s mostly doing pretty well. IL6 and I tried to play Minecraft, but ran into a frustrating glitch that I will have to figure out.

Thursday

Thursday I was very tired. I had a telehealth appointment, then took a nap. Dad had an in-home nurse appointment.  We went to IL6’s parent-teacher conference. He’s pretty solid in math. Then we went to IL6’s Cub Scout award ceremony.

Friday

Friday IL6 had a telehealth appointment that I let him sleep through. Then he had an in-clinic appointment. The rest of the day was relaxing. Aaron went in to the office for a team-building exercise and they built LEGOs. He got to keep his R2D2. In the evening, IL6 dressed up like a cobra and D16 dressed up like a witch and they went trick-or-treating. They got quite the haul. Along with candy, D16 scored a Jesus, a potato, and a banana. She gave the Jesus to IL6, because he was disappointed that he didn’t get one. He has placed it with his toy dinosaurs.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
• The Week: Gunboat Diplomacy
• Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman 
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
• A Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Mr Ballen Podcast
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading to IL5

• Dogman, by Dav Pilkey
• The SeaQuel by Mo O’Hara
• Fins of Fury, by Mo O’Hara
• Bad Guys in Let the Games Begin, by Aaron Blabey

Media Completed

When a cop and his dog get partly blown up, they decide to save the cop’s body by putting the dog’s head on its shoulders. Then Dogman battles an evil mayor’s plot.

In this second book of “My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish” Tom and Sandeep take Frankie on a vacation. This book is just as good as the first book. It is humorous and has great pictures.

Maurice has learned to talk. Why? So have a bunch of rats. They team up with a piper boy. But when they enter one town, they have to deal with the unexpected. This was very cute, though I felt the beginning was a bit slow.

Team A begins a huge competition while team B rushes to catch up.

News

Saturday

Saturday we relaxed. I cooked some jambalaya for Aaron and did several things on my to-do list. Dad took us all out to Red Lobster.

Sunday

Sunday we relaxed for the morning. I played Minecraft with IL6 and took him to swim lessons. Then he, my mother-in-law, Aaron, and I went to the library. He picked out some music. I got some books.

Monday

Monday I drove my mother-in-law to the airport, then went to Perkins with Dad. I took Dad to the gym, and stayed on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment, but the provider no-showed. I thus had more time to do other stuff. I was supposed to go to M13’s soccer game, but it was raining, and I didn’t want to sit out in the rain with IL6. I played Minecraft with IL6. I read to D15 in the evening while Aaron went to M13’s Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. He got a merit badge. 

Tuesday

Tuesday I was feeling more worn out than usual. I decided to stop “forgetting” to use my happy lamp. I had not been trying to remember.

I took D15 to an appointment almost immediately upon getting home from work, then took dad to an urgent appointment immediately after that. Then I sat there and felt overwhelmed.

Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Andor in the evening. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Which is a change from nights.

Wednesday

Wednesday I got some letter-writing, chores, and reading done. I took dad to the gym and then worked out on the treadmill. In the evening, I took IL6 to an appointment, then to faith formation. He really likes faith formation and was excited about the creation story. He talked about how God created the dinosaurs before us and asked how long that took. I told him millions of years in Earth years but 6 days in God days.

Thursday

Thursday I had two telehealth appointments, then took the car into the shop. In the evening, IL6 went with Aaron to the elementary school’s trunk or treat event. He had a lot of fun. I took M13 to a meeting at the school about his upcoming DC trip.

Friday

Friday I worked on a pen pal letter, took IL6 to an appointment, and took dad to the gym. I worked out on the treadmill. After IL6 got home, he insisted I play 2-player Piku Niku with him. I tried to prove it was impossible, but he just plugged the Switch remote into the computer and proved me wrong. We finished a level, much to my surprise. It was very difficult to me.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• Sojourn, by R A Salvatore
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
• Journey Through the Radiant Citadel

Reading to IL5

• When Fairies Go Bad, by Ursula Vernon
• Dogman, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

In this third book of The Dark Elf Trilogy, Drizzt learns to navigate the world above the underdark. It had a good mixture of character development and action. I enjoyed it.

Danny, Wendell, and Christiana have to travel to Faerie to save Danny’s mom. Like all other Dragonbreath books, it was a delight.

News

Saturday

Saturday I woke up late. I took dad on a bunch of errands. Helped IL6 play Pikuniku while I wrote a letter. Aaron mowed the lawn and made chili for dinner. IL6 and I finished the Captain Underpants series, which was bittersweet.

Sunday

Sunday I slept in again accidentally and missed Mass. I made some chickpea curry for Aaron’s lunches this week and played Minecraft with IL6. Then he had swim lessons, and I made shrimp for dinner. After dinner, the family (minus dad), played Pandemic Legacy and lost pretty quickly. This is a form of Pandemic where you play it 12-13 times, and the each game affects the following games. Then I read to IL6.

Monday

Monday, I took IL6 to occupational therapy and we discussed eating. We are going to start feeding therapy again to see if we can get him to gain weight. Then I took dad to the gym, where I got 45 minutes of treadmill time. I ran some errands after the gym. After school, I took IL6 to watch M13’s soccer game. In the evening, IL6 and I played Minecraft.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment and then went to a car mechanic appointment. They are going to replace the part for free (which is wonderful!), but the part won’t get here till Monday. It must be coming from Japan.

In the afternoon, IL6 made a game in Scratch – we even had to ask ChatGPT about a bit of code, so he was doing new ideas that were complicated enough that I couldn’t figure it out myself (though it was clear when it was pointed out.

In the evening, my friend Liz came over and she, Aaron, D15, and I watched Doctor Who. D15 is more pleased at the episodes now that they aren’t campy anymore. Then I played Minecraft with IL6.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took Dad to the gym. I worked out an hour on the treadmill. I read. I took IL6 to his appointment, but the provider cancelled last minute. I read some more, including the new Desmond Cole book to IL6.

Thursday

Thursday, immediately after work, I had a telehealth appointment, then another teleheath appointment. My mother-in-law arrived, and she, Dad, D15, and I went to lunch with her. In the late afternoon, Dad had an at-home appointment. Then IL6 went to Cub Scouts, and apparently did a great job participating.

Friday

Friday IL6, D15, my mother-in-law, and I went to a farm to pick apples. We rode the hay ride and walked along the orchard. IL6 and I ran in the “hamster wheel,” buried him in the corn pit, and ran around the hay bales. The hamster wheel was exhausting. I cooked shrimp for dinner, then we relaxed for the evening.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Pandemic, by Sonia Shah
• Sojourn, by R A Salvatore
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, by Tracy Borman
• The Week: Under Siege
• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
• Hunger of the Gods, by John Gwynne
• The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones

Reading to IL5

• Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir-Stinks-A-Lot, by Dav Pilkey
• Chill of the Ice Dragon, by Tracey West
• Beast Mode Unleashed, by Andres Miedoso
• Double-O Dodo, by Tom Angleberger

Media Completed

In this final book in the Captain Underpants series, George and Harold battle a stinky, mind controlling gym teacher with the adults they could trust the most. Again, excellent. I’m sad the series is over.

The Dragon Masters help a new friend battle a giant. Cute.

In this brand new Desmond Cole book, he and Andres deal with a three-headed dog named Bubbles. Always IL6’s favorite series.

This book started out really good. It mostly covered cholera as an example of pandemics, but mentioned several others. The benefit of mostly focusing on cholera meant that the history could be covered in more detail. The book was a bit alarmist, but on the other hand, she was right that a pandemic was on its way (COVID-19 happened after original publication). I didn’t like the penultimate chapter, as it covered a bunch of iffy science and was poorly edited. Some of what Shah said made no sense no matter how many times I read it. But overall it was an informative book.

In this classic about the (Jungian) psychology of myth, Campbell covers a large variety of myth, including the rarely-studied African myth. He did focus on Christian “myths” a lot. It wasn’t very exciting to me because I kind of pooh-pooh Jungian psychology. Campbell also spoke rudely about the myths, calling the absurd, or the like.

Didi and Koko Dodo must find the kidnapped Queen. This is now IL6’s favorite Didi Dodo book.

News

Saturday

Saturday was my birthday. I got some reading done and played Minecraft with IL6.

Sunday

Sunday I rested again, preparing for another busy week. I got in some napping and some reading. D15 played D&D. The family went out to Red Lobster for my birthday.

Monday

Monday I took IL6 to an appointment, then I went to the gym with Dad. I managed an hour on the treadmill. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment. Then I wrote a letter. In the afternoon, IL6 and I went to M13’s soccer game. I read to D15. M13 went to Boy Scouts.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment then had lunch with Aaron. I made some baked beans for Aaron’s lunches for the rest of the week. In the evening, IL6 had “curriculum night” at the school, where he showed us around to look at what he’s been doing in school. Aaron played Minecraft with IL6. M13 had soccer practice.

Wednesday

Wednesday I went to the gym with dad then ran errands. In the afternoon, M13 had a soccer game that his mom attended. I took IL6 to an appointment, then faith formation. He learned about Noah.

Thursday

Thursday, I had a parenting seminar for kids with autism, then went on a lunch date with Aaron. Dad’s nurse practitioner came for an appointment. In the evening Aaron and I went to parent-teacher conferences at the high school. D15 is doing really well. All the teachers love her.

Friday

Friday I went to Perkins with Dad then took IL6 to his appointment. I took dad to the gym then read till early evening. Aaron and I took IL6 to Gabby’s Dollhouse movie, and he was almost as excited as he was about the Minecraft movie. Then he and IL6 watched K-Pop Demon Hunters, I read, and Aaron played his computer game with his friends.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• My Brain is Different, by Monzusu
• Exile, by R A Salvatore
• The Week: Enemies List
• Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
• New Scientist: Do Black Holes Really Exist?
• Sojourn, by R A Salvatore
• Pandemic, by Sonia Shah

Reading to IL5

• Robo-Dodo Rumble, by Tom Angleberger
• My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish: The Sea-quel, by Mo O’Hara
• The Bad Guys in The Others?!, by Aaron Blabey
• The Art Show Attacks, by Jack Chabert
• Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir-Stinks-A-Lot, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

Didi Dodo and Koko Dodo deal with a robot dodo who is trying to put Koko out of business. IL6 loved it.

The team tries to reunite with The Others in tow. Very funny.

Review in separate post due to it being an ARC review.

In this fifth book of Keepers of the Lost Cities, Sophie and her friends continue to battle the Neverseen. I’m not really enjoying these books much. There’s lots of moments where the characters just don’t do things that would be in character. There are plot holes. Too much effort to use big words. But I’m enjoying reading it to Deirdre.

After living alone in the underdark for 10 years, Drizzt looks for company. His mother still hunts him. This was exciting, with good battle scenes and kept to the world-building that a Dungeons and Dragons book should have. The characters were reasonably well-developed. Overall a good second book.

D15 wanted me to read this manga. It is very important that she strongly relate to characters in books, so this was a powerful book to her. It is a series of short manga essays about ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities. I found it boring at first. Then I was interested in the Japanese point of view on these things. Then I started to feel a little heartsick due to all the toxic teachers and parents. Is this what it’s like? Or was the artist choosing a certain type of essay?

The hall monitors save the students, staff, and faculty from an angry art show.

In this second book of the Nampesheisit series, Anequs continues pursuing her romantic interests and studying how to be a dragoneer. At the same time she has to deal with politics of two angry parties, neither of which is perfect.

This was a great follow-up of “To Shape a Dragon’s breath.” All characters developed quite a bit from their beginnings in the first book. The world-building continued to be great. The cultural clashes were interesting. I did feel that the book started out slowly, as it focused quite a long time on angsty teen romance, and that’s not what I read books for. Overall, though, it was a fantastic followup.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron, M13, and I got COVID shots. My arm started hurting so bad later that day that I was having difficulty lifting it. I spent the day recovering from a headache and a bad mood (for the second day in a row).

Sunday

Sunday I woke with a headache and dad woke with chest pains, so we skipped Mass. I mostly read and worked on a few odd jobs around the house till it was time for IL6’s swim lessons. When Aaron got home from picking up D15 at her mom’s house, the family went to Outback Steakhouse. Then IL6 worked on his homework and we read longer as a reward.

Monday

Monday was busy for me. IL6 had an appointment where he showed me he knew how to put on his socks and shoes, despite acting like he can’t do it at home. The little rascal.

Luckily the elementary school is right next to the middle school, because I had to immediately run there and pick up M13. I took him to the orthodontist.

Pretty quickly after that I took dad to the gym and got a workout in myself. Then I got IL6 off the bus and took him to M13’s soccer game. He even watched a while before going back to his phone. M13 did great (as far as I’m concerned, he didn’t think so).

In the evening I read to D15.

Tuesday

Tuesday I took D15 to an appointment downtown, which is always a pain parking. Then I ran errands with dad. After school I watched IL6 play Pikuniku whole writing letters. After dinner, Aaron and I watched two episodes of Andor.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took D15 to an appointment, then took dad to the gym for his personal trainer appointment. I got a good amount of exercising done, and stopped as soon as I became tired because I wanted to conserve energy.In between my stuff, I got some reading done.

After school, IL6 had an appointment, then faith formation. He remained quiet in the church, but he was very squirmy. He found the class more interesting.

M13 had a soccer game that his mom went to. D15 had Best Buddies (where she hung out with special ed students). Aaron worked till 8pm.

Thursday

Thursday I woke feeling overwhelmed. I took a half hour nap at home then had a seminar for learning how to parent a child with autism. I still have not learned anything, but it was nice talking. After that, I took an hour nap and woke feeling better. Dad’s nurse practitioner came to visit. Then in the evening, I played D&D. M13 had soccer practice. Aaron worked till 9:20pm.

Friday

Friday, I wrote a letter, took IL6 to an appointment, and then took Dad to the gym for his personal trainer appointment. I worked out on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I got lots of reading done. M13 went to soccer practice. Aaron worked till 8:30pm.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Pandemic, by Sonia Shah
• Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey
• The Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
• To Ride a Rising Storm, by Moniquil Blackgoose
• Exile, by R A Salvatore
• Mr Ballen podcast

Reading to IL5

• Diary of a Minecraft Zombie: Book 2, by Zack Zombie
• Roar of the Thunder Dragon, by Tracey West
• Revenge of the Horned Bunnies, by Ursula Vernon

Media Completed

In this Western-style dystopia Esther runs away from her dad for fear of marrying a man. She thinks being lesbian is despicable, as the laws say. But the group she joins just happens to be LGBTQ as well. This book has good world-building and character development and is fun as a concept. It is light on plot, but was pretty good anyway.

Zack Zombie deals with bullies. It is full of typos and isn’t particularly interesting. The pictures are few and unoriginal.

The dragon masters defend their dragons against a mean dragon master who wants to steal their dragons. Reasonably good with nice pictures. IL6 seems more interested in humor books, but he seems cool with this series.

Danny and Wendell go to summer camp, only to find out that someone was kidnapping jackalopes. Very awesome book.

News

Saturday

Saturday Aaron and I played D&D in the early afternoon. D15 and IL6 took turns playing Diablo on the switch. In the evening Aaron played a computer game with his friends.

Sunday

Sunday I accidentally slept in till 10:30 and missed Mass. I spent a good chunk of time writing a letter while IL6 programmed on Scratch. Then he had swim lessons.

Monday

Monday I went to the gym with dad and walked on the treadmill while he worked with his personal trainer. I think he overdid it, because he really struggled later when he walked to the post office. Aaron and I had a telehealth appointment. M13 played on the computer with IL6, then went to Boy Scouts. I read to D15.

Tuesday

Tuesday was busy. I had 3 back-to-back appointments. The first allowed only a 20 minute break after arriving home from work. I took D15 to her weekly appointment, then M13 to an appointment (he’s gained half a pound – he was worried soccer would make him lose weight). Finally, I took him to the dentist. He, D15, and I played Ticket to Ride, and laughed at the placement of some of the cities, as usual. M13 won. Later, my friend Liz came over to watch Doctor Who with Aaron and D15. After that, I struggled to stay awake till it was time to leave for work.

Wednesday

Wednesday M13 had his tooth extraction. He was bleeding for several hours, and we had to replace the gauze every half hour. I dropped dad off and picked him up from the gym. I took IL6 to an appointment.

Thursday

Thursday was a nice day. I woke up thinking I wouldn’t have enough time to get through everything, but then the day cleared up.

First, I called the surgeon’s office about M13’s popped stitch, and they said it was fine – which meant I didn’t have to take him back in for a new one. Then, the clinic called and cancelled my telehealth appointment in the middle of the day.

That left enough time for dad and myself to go to Perkins for breakfast. Then I went to urgent care for something that turned out to not be urgent. Good thing I didn’t drop everything the day before and rush in. Aaron wouldn’t have been able to deal with M13’s bleeding mouth and work at the same time.

I did a few relaxing tasks and took a half hour nap. Dad had a visit from his in-home nurse practitioner. Then I played D&D. The game was fun. I finished IL6’s cross-stitched Creeper and began sorting the floss for D15’s gigantic unicorn. The unicorn will probably take me years, so I may work on smaller projects at the same time. I’ll also have to find more time to cross-stitch.

M13 played Minecraft with IL6, and then IL6 spent some time hanging out in the room with me while I played D&D.

Friday

Friday I took IL6 to speech therapy. Then M13, D15, and IL6 went to Perkins with me and dad. I dropped the older two off at home, then ran to the gym with Dad and IL6. IL6 played on my phone for about 45 minutes, then explored the gym. He could walk on the treadmill and almost use the arm curl machine.

In the evening, I cooked pork chops for IL6, M13, and Dad. Aaron cooked hamburgers for me and himself. Aaron played a computer game with his friend and IL6 and I read.

Reading to myself

• Pandemic, by Sonia Shah
• To Ride a Rising Storm,  by Moniquil Blackgoose
• The Week: A Nation Torn
• Lodestar, by Shannon Messenger
• A Survey of Hinduism, by Klaus K Klostermaier
• God’s Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World, by Cullen Murphy
• Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey
• Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

Reading to IL5

• Didi Dodo Future Spy: Recipe for Disaster, by Tom Angleberger
• Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000, by Dav Pilkey

Media Completed

In this excellent set of lectures Professor Hoak not only describes the reign of Henry VIII, but also some of the important people of the time. I found the lectures engaging and informative. It added to other information I’ve read on the subject.

George and Harold deal with life as doubles and eventually with the return of the Turbo Toilet 2000.