Book 1: 2022
Erak’s Ransom is the Seventh novel in the Ranger’s Apprentice series, by John Flannagan. This series is set in a fantasy world much like medieval Earth. In this installment, Will must save his friend Erak, who has been taken hostage by a people based loosely upon the Arabs. Erak’s Ransom is set out of place chronologically from the previous book, which is a decision I don’t understand. Otherwise, I found it quite enjoyable. 4 stars!
My Classics Club list got kind of old when I got married and had a kid and couldn’t read as much. Here’s a shiny new one.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The whole family caught COVID over Thanksgiving, and I’m just getting back on my feet! Here’s to hoping for a better 2022!
There was a big snowstorm – 12 inches. D12 helped shovel and M9 wiped snow off the cars. We also went sledding.
We decorated the Christmas tree.
My friend and IL3’s Godmother came over to visit while the older kids were with their mom.
D12 loves her new bellbottoms.
I finished listening to Last Girl Ghosted, by Lisa Unger. It was my 17th book of 2021. It’s a thriller about a woman that meets a mysterious man online. When she’s ghosted, she goes on a search to find out more about him.
I also finished Moby Dick, by Herman Melville! Despite it being a bit of a slog at times, I really enjoyed it.
Hi all! It’s been a while again! Everyone in the house has COVID, and I have pneumonia on top. It’s been a mess, but everyone is getting better.
The ER was packed on one of my attempts to go there. About 30 people sitting in the waiting room, some sleeping on the floor. Yikes! I turned around and went back home.
Since last writing, I finished a book that needs no introduction: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
IL2 got to throw some snowballs.
IL2 took a great picture of his dad.
IL2 went to Urgent Care with a fever of 103.3, and got an X-ray for a cough that has been hanging in for its fifth week now.
And D12 had her birthday. She got a 5 pound cookie.
I finished The German Girl by Lily Graham. It is about a set of Jewish twins from WWII Germany. It was bittersweet, and a nice little story. According to Goodreads, it’s my 15th book this year. I’m going to try for 25 books this year since I am reading more now. Maybe unrealistic. But I’m trying!
The Book Blogger Hop prompt this week is: Do you use Goodreads as the main website to keep track of what you have read? If not, please share what you use. I use both Goodreads and LibraryThing to keep track of books. To be honest, I’ve found that LibraryThing has a social network preferable to GoodReads. I am in the 75 Book Challenge for 2021 group in LibraryThing, and the Radical Reading group in GoodReads.
Well, our tenant Becki was diagnosed with COVID on Tuesday, Aaron on Friday, and myself (again!?) on Saturday. I wasn’t feeling well on Friday, but have been feeling fine since. Aaron is starting to feel sick on Sunday. Becki was pretty sick from the beginning, but has avoided the hospital. M9 was exposed at school 2 times and once at gymnastics in the past month. D11’s school has 27 confirmed cases in one week. I can’t get them vaccinated until they are no longer closely exposed within 14 days…but how is that supposed to happen? Minnesota is a hotspot at the moment. I guess this is going to be a way of life from now on.
After a pause in logging steps for my virtual Ring Road trip, I started up again. Here is my second postcard.
It snowed and IL2 had a fun time throwing snowballs.
Hi all! I have been so very busy lately. I was sick on and off for a while, but haven’t been sick for weeks. I was working 65 hours a week for a while, but am down to 45. Maybe I should keep it that way. It gives me more time for things like this.
I finished one book since my last post: The Siege of Macindaw, by John Flannagan. It is a book in the middle school series The Ranger’s Apprentice. I highly recommend the series to people who enjoy middle school books. It’s kind of a middle ages type of setting.
Deirdre and her friend got their ears pierced. They were both really brave! It was hard on both because of their anxiety, which makes the fact that they did it a proud moment.
Afterwards, we went axe throwing.
We went apple and pumpkin picking afterwards.
We dyed Deirdre’s hair, and sprayed the boys’ with temporary spray.
We decorated pumpkins.
The kids dressed up for Halloween and trick-or-treated. Deirdre was Marie Antoinette, Malcolm Jason, and Loki a ninja.
And Loki got into my makeup.
Hi all! Good to “see” you. A lot has happened. IL2 started preschool. D11 and M8 are doing well in school and gymnastics. I have been feeling super duper tired on and off due to the post-COVID. According to the internet (though not to my doctor) I now have long COVID.
I will update in pictures again, this time trying some videos, too.
Aaron started LARPing again, and part of hos costume included handcuffs. He checked that the key worked before-hand, and then he put the cuffs on his wrist, when the key stopped working. I wanted to go to the store and buy some bolt cutters, but he insisted on sawing them off. He only broke the kin a little.
Puck actually sat on someone else’s lap.
We got a family photo for Loki’s preschool.
Loki loves this little old dress of Deirdre’s. We didn’t get a good photo of it, though.
My friend Raj and I went axe-throwing.
I gave up on Walk to Mordor, which was a lot of work, for a virtual tour of Ring Road in Iceland. It’s 828 miles. I want to do the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Virtual trails,
The impossible list was invented by Joel Runyon. He wanted not a bucket list of individually easy things to do, but a list of things that felt impossible. My list is probably a little long, but I had Fun with it. I have described my quarterly focus here.
Health & Fitness
Travel / Adventure
Environment
Education and Reading
Hobbies
For my Soul
Financial Health
Hi! It’s been a while, so I think I will mostly update by pictures:
That’s Myra.
That’s Puck.
That’s Hero.
Good picture of the kids, which Walgreens won’t print because it shows too much skin.
D11 and I had a good time going out on an impromptu date.
IL2 plays fetch.
I made some delicious gumbo.
Aaron finished one of our beds, which we’ve decided will house tulips.
We went to the park, and tired out the boys.
I started writing inmates who either had life sentences without parole or death sentences. I thought maybe they were in more need of solace. About half of them have written back. So I have many pen pals now. I’m getting letters faster than I can write back.
I took some new jobs to get myself over 40 hours a week – mainly asleep shifts. The extra money will help us pay off our new home equity loan, which goes along with our new bathroom. It will also pay for IL2 to go to preschool.
The older kids have enrolled in gymnastics.
I had a breakthrough case of COVID while Aaron and the older kids were in Oregon on vacation. I had to take care of IL2 alone while I could hardly stay awake.
Aaron and I started going out on dates. He’s also going to start Werewolf LARPing.
The Dixie fire got a mere 3 miles from my late grandmother’s house.
Loki wore clothes.
That’s it! Hopefully I’ll write more frequently now. 🤣😂
Hi all! Things are still moving along here…We’ve been busy. We got someone to come in and look at our dishwasher. The motor was full of debris including a plastic zip-tie and some plaster. It still galls me that the previous owner of our house lied about it working. They’ll come in some time next week to get a new motor installed.
We got an estimate of $18k to bring our electrical wiring up to code. They refused to do the small amount of work we requested until they brought the house “up to code.” I called another electrician who said that it was common for some companies to use scare tactics to get people to pay gigantic bills. He said he’d come look at the house, but it almost certainly wouldn’t be in the tens of thousands range.
We had a home warranty send out a plumber to look at our leaks. He announced that he couldn’t find a leak, so he shook the toilet until water started pouring out. Our basement flooded. The warranty company at first claimed that they had sent the plumber’s report out to approvals. Then several days later claimed they’d never received the plumber’s report, nor the report for the dishwasher. More lies. We got rid of the warranty and called our own plumber and mechanic. We’re getting a new toilet installed next week.
We still have a bunch of unpacking to do.
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