The Hibernator Starts a New Year with New Resolutions and a New Baby

Well, here I am at 12:43am making my 75ers thread for 2019. IL is awake and fussy, and my "baby shift" starts at midnight. So thought I'd make some use of the time as I hold a pacifier in his mouth with one hand.

Hi! I'm Rachel (the_hibernator). I am a homemaker and caretaker of aging parents. I have 2 step-kids (D: 9yo and M: 6yo - middle image with Aaron and IL), one biological son (IL: born December 7, 2018). My nephews are J (14 - holding IL on left), B (4 - right picture), and my niece is L (3 - right picture). I have three cats: Myra (left), Puck (top), Hero (right).



My reading goal for the year is 150, including children's books for IL & my own reading.




My weight loss goal is to get to 140lbs from my current post baby weight size. I hope to do that by training for a "walking marathon" happening in September. That is contingent upon my figuring out how to use the enigmatic baby wrap thing to strap IL to me.




I have made some overly ambitious reading projects which I do not expect to necessarily finish in one year, but I've been slowly slogging through. They are below.

2019 books read

1. Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
2. America's Champion Swimmer, by David A Adler
3. Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion
4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle
5. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, by Eileen Christelow
6. Clifford Cares, by Normon Bridewell
7. On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman
8. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle
9. Frozen: Melt My Heart
10. Where's Spot, by Eric Hill
11. The Elephant and the Bad Baby, by Elfrida Vipont
12. Tiger in my Soup, by Kashmira Sheath
13. Good Night, Alfie Atkins, by Gunilla Bergstrom
14. Bedtime for Frances, by Russell Hoban
15. The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
16. Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
17. Vote Loki, by Christopher Hastings
18. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
19. Rosie's Walk, by Pat Hutchkins

Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

This is a project starting in August 2018 – I would like to read books from a larger variety of international authors (especially books in translation), so I will keep track of the international authors I read, marking them on this map and listing the book below. I will only list one book per country – my favorite.

Spain

Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes

United Kingdom (UK)

The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H. G. Wells

United States of America (USA)

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

This is a project starting in October 2018. I would like to read a greater variety of nonfiction works - and especially to get some off of Mt. TBR. So I created a list from the Dewey Decimal system and am making an effort to read one of each. I will try to finish by the end of 2019, but I'm not going to force myself into it. I have lots to read. I'm not going to double-check that my books actually fall into these categories at a library. I'm being a bit fast and loose.

100 Philosophy - To Be Machine, by Mark O'Connell

150 Psychology

170 Ethics

200 Religion

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

320 Political science

330 Economics

360 Social problems & social services – Them, by Ben Sasse

390 Customs, etiquette, & folklore

500 Science

520 Astronomy

530 Physics - Einstein's Cosmos, by Michio Kaku

540 Chemistry

550 Earth sciences & geology

560 Fossils & prehistoric life

570 Biology – The Re-Origin of Species, by Torill Kornfeldt

580 Plants

590 Animals (Zoology) -The Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery

610 Medicine & health -The Vaccine Race, by Meredith Wadman

900 History

910 Geography & travel

920 Biography & genealogy

930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

940 History of Europe

950 History of Asia

960 History of Africa

970 History of North America

980 History of South America

In order to increase the variety of fiction books I've read, I modified a list of genres and subgenres off of Wikipedia, and hope to read one of each. (Of course, I will read many of some.) This project started in October 2018, and I try (but will not force myself) to fill as many in as possible by the end of 2019.

Adventure novel
Romance
Historical romance –The Witch of Willow Hall, by Hester Fox
Contemporary romance
Historical fiction - The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Historical Mystery
Holocaust Novels
Prehistoric fiction
Literary fiction
Mathematical fiction
Metafiction
Slave narrative - Currently Reading Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan
Occupational Fiction
Political fiction
Pulp fiction
Christian fiction
Christian science fiction / fantasy
Contemporary Christian fiction
Historical Christian Fiction
Islamic fiction
Jewish fiction
Saga
Fantasy
Epic / high fantasy
Ancient history fantasy
Medieval fantasy
Low fantasy - The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
Urban fantasy
Paranormal romance
Comic fantasy
Contemporary fantasy
Dark fantasy
Magic realism
Retelling myth/fairy tale
Superhero fantasy - Black Panther: Nation Under Our Feet, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Horror The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
Supernatural / paranormal
Ghost story
Monster literature
Vampire fiction
Werewolf fiction
Occult detective - Dresden Files (series incomplete)
Science fiction
Alien invasion
Post-apocalyptic – The Passage (series incomplete), by Justin Cronin
Cyberpunk
Biopunk
Steampunk
Dystopian
Hard science fiction
Military science fiction
Parallel universe, aka alternative universe
Alternative history
Space opera
Speculative cross-genre fiction
Climate fiction (cli-fi) - The Overstory, by Richard Powers
Slipstream
Weird fiction
Suspense fiction
Crime fiction
Detective fiction
Mystery fiction
Thriller
Legal thriller
Medical thriller
Political thriller
Spy fiction
Psychological thriller
Techno-thriller
Urban fiction
Westerns
Women’s fiction
LGBT fiction

I very likely won't finish the POPSUGAR Challenge, but here is an idea of what I will attempt to read for it:

1. A book becoming a movie in 2019 - Chaos Walking (series)
2. A book that makes you nostalgic - Pride and Prejudice
3. A book written by a musician - My New Teacher and Me
4. A Book that should be turned into a movie - Ranger's Apprentice series
5. A Book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads - Brave New World

6. A Book with a plant in the title or cover - The One and Only Ivan
7. A reread of a favorite book - Crime and Punishment
8. A book about a hobby - Furiously Happy
9. A book you meant to read in 2018 - The Scarlet Letter
10. A book with "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title - High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society

11. A Book with an item of clothing on the cover: Scythe
12. A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore - I Am Risen, by Kiersten White
13. A book published posthumously - Wives and Daughters
14. A book you see someone reading on a TV or a movie - Midsummer Night's Dream
16. A book with a question in the title - Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
17. A book set on a college or university campus - Magicians
18. A book about someone with a superpower - Steelheart
19. A book told from multiple POV - Overstory
20. A book set in space - Binti

21. A book by two female authors - Magesterium series
22. A book with a title that contains "salty" "sweet" "bitter" or "spicy" - Salt: A World History
23. A book set in Scandinavia - A Man Called Ove
24. A book that takes place in a single day - Comedy of Errors
25. A debut novel - A Man Called Ove

26. A book that's published in 2019 - Any of my NetGalley books published in 2019
27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature - Dresden Files (series)
28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire - Between the World and Me
29. A book with "love" in the title - Love's Labor Lost
30. A book featuring an amateur detective - The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

31. A book about a family - Wives and Daughters
32. A book written by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America - Stay With Me
33.A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title - The Breakthrough
34. A book that includes a wedding - I'm sure I'll come up with one
35.A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter - Washington Black

36. A ghost story - Infidel: Other challenges Mt TBR
37. A book with a two word title - Gulliver's Travels
38. A novel based on a true story - Alias Grace
39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
40. freebie

ADVANCED

41. Choose Your Own Adventure - I'll find one
42. "own voices" book - Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
43. Read a book during the season it is set in
44. A LitRPG book
45. Unconventionally named or numbered or chapterless book - Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
46. Two books that share the same name - Feed
47. A Book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom - Merchant of Venice
48. Book set in an abbey, cloister, monastary, vicarage, or convent - Name of the Rose

Happy almost New Year, Rachel :-)

Hiyah, Rachel! Happy new thread!

Lovely to see you setting up a thread, Rachel. I look forward to keeping up with all your reading in 2019.

New Baby!!

Congratulations, Mama!!

Hi Rachel, stopping by to wish you a fabulous reading year in 2019, and to drop a star so I can find my way back here. Love the thread topper pics!

Happy New Year & New Thread! Starred you!

Thanks for stopping by Nora, Jim, Micky, Kim, Lori, and Rhian!

Happy New Year everyone!

Fun pictures Rachel - I'll be following along. Wishing you plenty of sleep in 2019.

Happy New Year, Rachel! Wishing you a wonderful year with your family.

Love all your reading projects, so I will be following along.

Rachel, your reading ambitions are impressive. I'll be cheering you on. Glad to see you thriving.

Congratulations on the little one and happy reading in 2019.

Happy new thread and Happy new year, Rachel! Congratulations on your newest addition! Looks like 2019 is going to be a busy and wonderful year for you!

Happy reading in 2019, Rachel!

Hope you have a great 2019!

As to your weight loss goals from your 2018 thread, that's great to try for! All I can say as a mom of 2 is to just take it easy for a while and enjoy being a mom without trying to lose too much weight at once. The hormones can be crazy for 8-12 weeks and you don't need to add stress of weight loss on top of that. That's just my 2cents though after doing it twice. Elissa is 18 months and I just lost the last of her baby weight but I still have 10lbs left over from Chloe and she is four! lol

Hi Rachel! Dropping off my star and enjoying your pictures. I especially love the one of the kitties on the bed with Washington Black.

Happy New Year and happy new thread! And congratulations on your new addition to your family!

I wish you from my heart a healthy 2019 filled with happiness, satisfaction, laughter and lots of good books.

Happy New Year, Rachel & family and Happy New Thread. Looking forward to sharing another year of books with you! Have an exciting year with that new addition.

Hi Rachel, happy reading in 2019.

Happy New Year, Rachel, and belated congratulations on the new little member of the family, too!

Happy New Year, Rachel. Congrats on the new little one. You will have a busy year! Good luck getting some reading done.

Happy New Year! congrats on the new addition to your family

Happy New Year! Congrats on your new baby!
I'll keep an eye on your thread

Happy new year, and congratuations on the new baby! Wishing you a year full of good reading.

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Rachel, this year.

Happy New Year and congrats on that beautiful baby! Dropping a star so I can keep up with your excellent reading lists!

looking forward to following your reading, etc, in 2019!

Dropping off my star, Rachel!

Happy New Year Rachel! And happy new thread!



Wishing you and your family the best for 2019.

Echoing >20 ChelleBearss: Chelle - don't stress about losing the baby weight. It'll happen. In the meantime, there's more important stuff to stress about do ;0)

Happy 2019!! Congrats on your new little one! I hope you had a joyful holiday season!

At last I said “Uncle Tom? Tell me the Poddy Story—“

“At Your Age?”

“Please.” I crawled up on his knees. “I want to sit in your lap once more and hear it. I need to.”

“All right” he said and put his arms around me. “Once upon a time long long ago when the world was young, in a specially favored city lived a little girl named Poddy. All day long she was busy like a ticking clock. Tick Tick Tick went her heels, tick tick tick went her knitting needles, and most especially tick tick tick went her busy little mind. Her hair was the color of buttercups in the spring , her eyes were the changing blue of sunshine playing down through the spring floods, her nose had not made up its mind what it would be, her mouth was shaped like a question mark. She greeted the world as an unopened present and there was no badness in her anywhere.

“One Day Poddy –“

I stopped him. “But I’m not young any longer . . . and I don’t think the world was ever young!”

“Here’s my hanky”, he said “Blow your nose. I never did tell you the end of it Poddy you always fell asleep. It ends with a miracle”.

“A truly miracle?”

“Yes. This is the end. Poddy grew up and had another Poddy. And then the world was young again.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s all there ever is. But it’s enough”

-- Robert A. Heinlein - Podkayne of Mars

Hi Rachel!

Happy new year and happy first thread of 2019.

I'm happy for you. Be gentle with yourself and take a bit of time to just relax and savor the accomplishments of the last several years.

Happy new year! Looking forward to following along!

>38 magicians_nephew: Love that. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Rachel!!

Hi, Rachel! Happy New Year and congrats on your little guy...from another Rachel, who also has a little boy who was born in December (of 2017). I've got you starred!

Sounds like you have a busy year ahead of you, Rachel. Enjoy IL's first year, any reading you manage is a bonus.

Congratulations Rachel and happy new year.

>38 magicians_nephew: Beautiful. Thank you.

I'm sure you're busy enjoying your little miracle, Rachel.

Sending love to you and your family, Rachel, and hoping you can sneak in a nap sometime soon.

>5 The_Hibernator: I picked up The Witch of Willow Hall at the Boston Book Festival and had a nice chat with the author - first books are always exciting.

Happy New Year, Rachel! Congratulations on the baby!

Happy New Year, Rachel! Nice family photos up top. Our daughter is doing that pop sugar challenge, too. Our challenge, as my wife says, will be trying to clear our tbr shelves. Ha!

Happy New Year! I've seen this Pop Sugar Challenge in a few threads today, hmm... maybe I'll check it out...

Happy new year.
I wish, that you may find a good and solid path in 2019

Happy New Year! Baby is here?!? Congratulations! He's gorgeous. I hope you are getting as much rest as possible and enjoying as much as possible. Those beautiful and exhausting infant days go fast.

>14 charl08: Hi Charlotte! I'm already sleep deprived in 2019, lol. But perhaps tonight will be different? Who knows! Happy New Year.

>15 EllaTim: Thanks for the follow! I have a lot of projects going on, but a lot of it will be dabbling in this one and that one. Not sure I'll finish any challenge straight through. That would require too much rigor.

>16 AuntieClio: Thanks Stephanie! I always start out the year with a bunch of goals, and then they peter off as the year goes on. But maybe this year will be different because some of them are vague enough that I can still read whatever I suits me in the moment.

>17 Kristelh: Thanks Kristel!

>18 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda! Yes, I expect this year to be very busy. :)

>19 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>20 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! Yes, everyone keeps telling me I should take it easy and not worry about the baby weight. I don't plan on beating myself up if I don't make my goals or anything. And so far, I'm having trouble finding time to exercise. Taking care of a baby, two step-kids, and my parents takes up a lot of time, even with Aaron helping out as much as he does. Plus I have all the cleaning to do, being the stay-at-home parent. Still, just doing that stuff should keep me active. :)

>21 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen! I'm particularly fond of that picture that captured all three cats at once. :)

>22 foggidawn: Thanks Foggi!

>23 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara!

>24 msf59: Thanks Mark!

>25 richardderus: Thanks Richard!

>26 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary

>27 harrygbutler: Thanks Harry!

>28 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

>29 figsfromthistle: Thanks Figs!

>30 vikzen: Thanks Victoria!

>31 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie!

>32 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! I totally need all those things.

>33 Miss_Moneypenny: Thanks Miss_Moneypenny

>34 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>35 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

>36 humouress: Thanks Nina! I know...trying not to stress about it. But it's also nice to have goals. The baby fat is actually getting smaller faster than I expected. I still have the gut, but I can squeeze uncomfortably into some of my old clothes already.

>37 jennyifer24: Thanks Jennyifer!

>38 magicians_nephew: Hi Jim! Thanks for dropping a little Heinlein on my thread!

>39 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. I'm not too great at being gentle with myself, I guess. I always have so many things I want to do. My therapist's mantra is "self-care, self-care, self-care."

>40 Foxen: Thanks Katie

>41 Berly: Hi Kim!

>42 aktakukac: Hi Rachel! Your baby is pretty young too! Hope you post lots of pictures. :)

>43 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! I agree, reading time is a bonus. But I'm getting some audiobook listened to at least, and am reading to IL.

>44 fairywings: Thanks Adrienne!

>45 humouress: Sure am Nina!

>46 Matke: Thanks Gail!

>47 magicians_nephew: I loved Witch of Willow Hall. How nice that you met the author, I bet she was excited about her new book.

>48 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia!

>49 jnwelch: Hi Joe! My TBR shelves are so diverse that doing the POPSUGAR challenge is a way of clearing them. :)

>50 dk_phoenix: Hi Faith! I generally don't finish the challenge because I don't like narrowing down my choices. I just like having challenges to make sure that I get a variety of books read. Then I don't stress about them. But they're fun!

>51 paulstalder: Thanks Paul!

>52 nittnut: Hi Jenn! Yes, the baby came. Seems fast, doesn't it. But he's already grown so much. EEK!

2018 Book #47 To Be a Machine, by Mark O'Connell

Summary Believe it or not, transhumanism (the alteration of humans using technology in order to improve upon the human in some way), is becoming more and more mainstream. In this well-researched book, journalist Mark O’Connell records his journeys through transhumanism conferences, meetings with rich, well-connected transhumanist individuals, and a crazy bus-ride with a person who was “running for president” and wanted to make people live forever.

My Thoughts Like the author, I am skeptical that transhumanism is really a great development for mankind. It feels a little – well – wrong to change one’s body to “improve upon it.” And I don’t want to live forever. However, I think the book was very interesting and expressed some interesting arguments in favor of transhumanism. Despite the author’s skepticism, he portrayed transhumanists in a positive light, and remained impartial. The book was well-researched, and I certainly feel more educated on the subject now. I would suggest this book to people who are interested in technology waves of the future with a dash of philosophy.

Note that I'm still catching up on reviews from 2018. That is not my first book of 2019.

This last week went well. During the weekend, Aaron and I each spent special time with each kid without the baby around. Aaron took both kids (separately) to an inside amusement park. I took D to get a mani / pedi and bought her this gigantic cake at Buffalo Wild Wings. I have not had time to do something with M yet, but the plan is to go to that Spiderverse movie and dinner either tomorrow or Monday.

Because we found the owner of the cat my sister and J rescued, my dad decided he wanted a kitten as a mouser. So we procured a kitten for him. He asked mom multiple times what she wanted to name her, and mom answered “is she staying?” every time. So her name is now Is-she. I wanted to name her Mothra, but was voted down by dad. 🙂



I went out for New Year’s Eve with my friend Todd. I didn’t get a picture of him, but I got a selfie:



We were wearing all red and black. 🙂 Aaron was sweet enough to watch the kids for the evening, for which I’m really grateful. He, D, and M stayed up till midnight to watch the ball drop. So we were all tired in the morning.

We have decided to sign M up for chess lessons starting Sunday. He’s resistant to change, so I hope he doesn’t object too much. He loves chess and is good at it for a self-taught 6-year-old. (In the sense that he can almost beat me, not in the sense that he is a child prodigy.)

Reading this upcoming week



Mimesis and Greece in the Bronze Age are both long-term reads, which I’m sort of alternating through. But I’m in the mood to read just a chapter or so of each soon.

Completed last week

>59 The_Hibernator: I really loved Into the Spider-Verse, I hope you like it!

Cute kitten!!

Hi, Rachel! Lovely new thread you have here--lots of wonderful photos.

Did you see that Robert Alter has a new The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, complete in three volumes? I am lusting after that set of books!

Have a very happy new year!

Karen O.

>59 The_Hibernator: - I love Is-she's colouring! What a sweetie! Great "red/black" look for your New Year's eve outing.

Hi Rachel! Sounds like your new year is off to a good start... hope you get some sleep soon.

>60 norabelle414: Hi Nora! I'll let you know what I think. And, yes, isn't she adorable? I'm quite glad I went the Craigslist route.

>61 klobrien2: No, I didn't know Alter had a new translation of the Hebrew Bible out. How delightful! Thanks for sharing Karen!

>62 lkernagh: Yes, I love the pastel calico look, Lori!

>63 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda! My first week has gone well, and I've even completed 10 books towards my goal of 150. At that rate, I'll finish about 500 books this year. Of course, I'm counting the little books I'm reading with the kids (they count, right?). But I'm trying to get through the list of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up with IL. :) At least until he grows sick of me because I've read into the teen section and he's still three years old. lol

Belated Happy New Year, Rachel! Wow, you started the new year full of energy, with lots of activities! :o

Love the kitten story. Also love how you and Aaron make sure the older kids don‘t get too jealous and can spend quality time with you alone. All the very best to you and your family!

Stopping by to add my belated happy new year wishes to you and the family Rachel!

>65 Deern: Thanks Nathalie! Yes, spending time with the older kids has been working out very well so far. Hopefully we actually keep it up instead of letting it slide.

>66 souloftherose: Thanks Heather! You too!

On the Agenda for today:

IL and I will go to a 1 month checkup and then I will take my car in for repairs. I probably won't be able to pick it up today, so luckily I can borrow my dad's car (which he's not supposed to be using, of course). M has a cubscout meeting later today, but Aaron will take him to that. If I get any reading done, I hope it'll be American Overdose as well as some books I got out of the library for IL.

2018 book #39: Beyond These Walls, by Tony Platt

Summary Dr Platt, a well-established criminologist, outlines the history and current state of incarceration in the US. He covers topics such as how women and minorities as overly-impacted by the harsh sentences, the overpopulated prisons, and the enforced deportations of documented and undocumented immigrants. He warns us that past efforts at reforming the system have actually resulted in changes for the worse. He urges that change needs to happen from the top down, rather than from the bottom up – in other words, we need to change how the people at the top think about incarceration, and not focus only on punishing the people at the bottom (i.e. cops and prison guards) for the failures of the system. He suggests that if we punished white collar crimes (especially those that affect thousands of people) with the same ferocity as crimes of the poor, then reform would happen faster – since the people who have power to do something about the problem will witness the problem first hand.

My Thoughts I admit, at first I didn’t think I was going to like this book. It started out slow – detail-heavy, with too many statistics listed in sentence after sentence. However, I started getting more into the narrative by the second or third chapter, when Platt started including more information on each event spoken about, instead of just listing events. By the end of the book, I was quite enjoying the educational aspects of the book. This is a topic that I have read a bit on, but not extensively, so I can say that it is a good book for a lay-person trying to educate herself on the history of incarceration in the US. Platt’s views on how we got where we are today, and some of his suggestions of how to look at reform differently (i.e. from the top down and by putting more white-collar people in prison) are definitely food for thought. This is a well-researched book, with lots of important information. It’s not fast reading, but it is worthwhile.

Dropping by to see how mamma-hood is treating you. You're busier with a one-month old than I was until my kids got to pre-school age! Except for that, you're balancing your time with all your kids nicely.

I like the story of Is-she's name; I'm glad your dad talked you out of Mothra :0) You know, my mum always answers a question with a question. It's really frustrating not being able to get a straight answer out of her.

Spiderverse was so much fun; I went to see it with the kids because my husband wasn't interested in a 'cartoon' but I think he missed out.

>69 The_Hibernator: Sounds good. You've reminded me that I really wanted to read that book about the prison librarian... (title escapes me). Your schedule sounds super busy, glad you're still getting the time to read too.

>69 The_Hibernator: And onto the TBR it leaps. "Thanks" awfully.

*glowers off to Ammy*

He's so gracious, isn't he?

>70 humouress: Mammahood is treating me well, Nina, except that I got spit-up on and peed on within a half hour. lol. As the older kids were yelling "I need my ______" That has been my morning. So pretty standard. :)

Spiderverse was a delight. I got several really good laughs out of it.

>71 charl08: I think I know what book you're talking about Charlotte. Yes, I have been super busy lately, but I guess that's what happens when you have a baby, two kids, and parents that need to be taken care of.

>72 richardderus: Lol, Richard, close your eyes next time you enter my thread?

>73 humouress: Indeed.

Well, this morning was not the best of mornings for me. I have been getting to bed after my 6pm bedtime since Saturday night, and it finally caught up with me this morning. I had to wake Aaron up an hour early to take the squirmy baby so I could catch an extra hour of sleep before the day started. It helped, but my brain is still foggy. Besides getting peed on and spit up on within a half-hour's time, I also found Malcolm pretending to wash his hands by running the water with his hands held firmly down at his sides. So I scolded him about water conservation and lying, and bought three kids books on water conservation from Amazon. Hopefully they make an impression on him. And hopefully they don't start a "if it's yellow let it mellow" trend, because we have been working so hard on getting him to flush the toilet!

On the agenda for today: This morning I'm dropping IL off at my parent's house and catching a shuttle to the car place. Apparently, my brake pads were worn down dangerously, but it's all fixed now. I'll pick up my car, and then rush back to pick up D for a doctor's appointment. Then I'll hopefully have some time to go grocery shopping (though come to think of it, I don't even know what we need right now, sigh) and then do some things around the house, if IL will let me put him down for any period of time. (He wouldn't yesterday, for some reason. Just cried within a minute or two of being put down.) After that, we have another step in the process of getting D assessed for autism (which I don't think she has). So. Busy day. And I'm already feeling disorganized and not ready....

>75 The_Hibernator: Ugh - that does sound like a busy day. Hope you get through everything ok and manage to get to bed early enough tonight.

>76 souloftherose: ugh. You know what? Forget that. I'm going to take the day off in between the two appointments. That's about 6 hours of reading time freed up. Laundry can wait.

>77 The_Hibernator: Good thinking, Rachel. You have to grab those moments when you can.

I hope that, by the time you read this, you're positively zen in your ability to relax and recharge your batteries.

(See?! That was gracious!)

>78 Crazymamie: Well, I didn't get much reading done, but I bought The Hate U Give movie and started watching before I ran out of time. I'll try to continue snatching some personal time for the next few days until I feel a bit better.

>79 humouress: Lol. Thanks Nina!

>80 richardderus: I felt much more zen after a while. :)

>81 The_Hibernator: Sounds like a very good plan.

Yesterday, I found some interesting old items when I emptied out the cupboard and drawer of mouse nest and chewings and poo at my parent's house. I accidentally got into the project when I heard a squeaking from the drawer, and pulled it open to see about 6-7 mice in there. They all ran to the cupboard. I'm hoping that now that they have to build a new nest and find a new food source WITH a new cat around (who does, indeed, chase mice) they'll give up and mostly go away. :) But that didn't really add much rest to my "rest" yesterday. And I got a little rest when I came home, except I told the kids they couldn't watch screens till 6, and they are incapable of self-entertaining. So....well, not much personal time. I'll try to snatch some over the next few days while they're at school.

On the Agenda today:

I've got some personal time until about noon, when I have a therapist appointment followed by an appointment to find out about baptizing IL. Then I'll get home just before the kids arrive, so not much free time (since they're not allowed to watch screens until 6). Luckily, no more meetings tonight, so I'll be able to go to bed on time. Plus, I told D that she could play on the computer as long as she was doing the math problems that are her homework. And M could play on my tablet as long as he was doing chess puzzles. Figured the screens are incentive enough to get them to do something productive for a while. I told M that the more puzzles he does, the more he's going to win at chess. That's a big motivator for him - winning. lol

Hi Rachel and a late Happy New Year!

Happy Mama hood! It looks like all are thriving and IL is growing so quickly!

Scheduling personal time is a very good thing. It's like the standard airplane spiel. You need to put on your own oxygen mask in order to help others. Or as a councilor once told me, you need to fill up your own cup in order to pour blessings down on others.

I like the way you're going back to pick up un-reviewed books from 2018. I have quite a few of those, too and hope to get some if not all reviewed.

I loved Into the Spiderverse and want to see it again!

I see that The Hate You Give has mixed movie reviews. I'll be interested to see what you think of it. I nominated it my RL book club for this year, so will be doing a reread towards summer.

>83 The_Hibernator: I remember that my eldest (effectively an only child for his first five years) couldn't entertain himself which limited my me time; if I left him by himself and there was no noise, that was the danger sign of him getting into mischief. My younger son would quite happily entertain himself; if it got quiet and I checked on him, he'd be playing contentedly by himself. He loves Lego.

Right now, he's sitting next to me making paper aeroplanes (a fad he had when he was younger, so I bought lots of craft books on them. I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone and a) clear out their more childish things without having to throw them out wholesale and b) keep him occupied during the holidays while trying to prevent him resorting to screens). We have lots of sticker books, too. DK do a nice educational series (dinosaurs and so on) but I don't know if your two are too old for stickers. Maybe they can read board books to IL :0)

>84 streamsong: Hi Janet! I'm still working on The Hate U Give, as I have no time to watch at the moment. But I should have some time today. This and Friday will be good days for me to have some me time before D and M get home.

>85 humouress: Hi Nina! Luckily, they don't get into much trouble. They just sit around and complain about having nothing to do and how I'm mean for not letting them watch screens. They are both fairly well behaved, it's just that they have a horrible addiction to screens. I'm trying to wean them off, but there's only so much I can do when they want to use me as a personal entertainment system. I told them that entertaining themselves is a part of growing up, but they don't really care much. lol. Oh well. I guess I have to deal with what I've got.

Yesterday went well, though I got very little personal time. That'll be for today and tomorrow. We did get an extra special dinner with the entire family, including my sister's family, at my parent's house. I picked up some Olive Garden to go.

On the Agenda today: Finally, we are getting the final assessment for Deirdre's autism. From the first two, the therapist thinks that she probably doesn't have it, but he thinks this final assessment will yield some important information. We'll see. After that, I'll have several hours of free time. Yay! And then M and D both have therapy. I'm sort of dreading M's therapy, because today he's going to find out that his mom isn't going to be doing therapy with him anymore. In the kill-the-messenger philosophy, he will blame me (he's already upset at me that today isn't a mommy therapy night and told me he hates me because I'm not letting him hang out with his mom). I told him that it's his mom's choice when to hang out with him - it's never mine. I don't think he believed me. :( I wish Aaron could be the messenger this time, but it's a timing issue. I always seem to end up the messenger with mommy flakiness with him.

>88 The_Hibernator: I loved that series, I was really happy when my boys decided it wasn't too hard for them anymore.

On the Agenda for today:

Nothing but swim lessons at 4! Yay! Free time!

Finished The Hate U Give movie yesterday. It was fantastic, though the ending was a change from the book.

Hi Rachel!

When Jenna was young, if she complained of boredom I told her that I could find chores for her to do if she couldn't entertain herself. That usually got her motivated. Of course this is pre-screen. I don't know how I'd deal with it now, though. She always had chores to do, ever since about 3, simply because she was a member of the family and we all worked together for the family.

I'm glad to hear that you're carving out Free Time for yourself.

>91 karenmarie: Well, if they use the word "bored" they have to do chores. But they are careful not to use that word anymore. They just say "I don't know what to do." I'm not going to FORCE them to do chores if they say that, but I will suggest chores. They have actually done a not-so-bad job of entertaining themselves lately. I'm quite proud of them.

The screens are such a huge problem because Aaron is addicted to video games. When he was a single father, he would let them watch screens all day while he played on his computer all day. It was his way of coping with the depression of being a single father. He is much better now, but the damage has already been done.

A friend loaned me her copy of The Hate U Give. I guess I should get to it. Too many books calling to me right now.

>88 The_Hibernator: Yes, I replied on your message in the Group Reads: Organizational Thread

Happy Friday, Rachel. I hope you had a good week. I am toying with going to upper Minnesota for some birding, next month and would probably spend a night in the Twin Cities. A Meet Up may be possible. Of course, I will base it on the weather and we know anything can happen in mid-Feb. I will let you know.

>93 BLBera: Yes, Beth, you should definitely get to The Hate U Give - but make sure you're in the mood to read something difficult. I cried so many times when I read the book (and watched the movie).

>94 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! That will be fun if you join Morphy and me. Now we just have to get Morphy to be more active on LT this year. lol Hopefully she'll have a better year this year.

>95 msf59: That would be great if we could have a meet-up Mark! There are several of us who live here in the Twin Cities. Beth (BLBera) lives somewhere in MN - though I don't know where. Morphy lives in MN, though she's been a bit homebound - hopefully she could get out for a little meetup. I'll ask her. Katie (cammykitty) lives here, too. There's also another Katie, but she hasn't been active lately (as far as I've noticed) and I've forgotten her id. ETA: oh! And Erik!

Tuesday, I had a couple of appointments, AND I cleaned the horrendous mouse-nest out of my parents kitchen. I hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten since I’d moved out. Since then, the cat has apparently been catching about three mice a day, so hopefully their mouse problem will be at an end soon. If they just go away, then they won’t have to deal with the cat, right? 🙂

Anyway, the week was a series of appointments scattered around, with me trying to eek out some reading time as well as some time to do the necessary things of life. Yesterday, Aaron took M snow tubing, paid for the entrance, and then M refused to even try. 😦 Aaron was pretty upset.

My mom got an a “walking EEG” which means she was all wired up but still able to move around freely. We’ll see if she’s been suffering any petit mal seizures. Those could have an effect on her memory. Also, D finally got her autism assessment. I still don’t think she has autism, and I think everyone else now agrees with me, too. But the assessor said that he’d have some interesting information regardless.

Planned for the weekend: today, D will cook us dinner. Which means that Aaron and I will spend the entire afternoon helping her cook dinner. We have decided I’ll take the make-the-shopping-list and the shopping part and he can take the cooking part. That will make accomplishing all the important things we have to do this weekend very difficult. Tomorrow, I will have a “girl’s day” with D and niece L. I’m also inviting my friend Liz, because I was already supposed to hang out with her when my sister suddenly sprung girl’s night on me. (She was planning on taking M and nephew B out for boy’s night, and L assumed I’d do the same with her and D.) I’m thinking we’ll do something craftsy. Maybe teach them to crochet? Can you teach a precocious 3yo to crochet? I don’t know how to crochet either, but Liz does.

P.S. M tells me that staring at a screen will rot my brain. I’m trying to explain the difference between doing something productive like composing a post and watching TV. He doesn’t believe me.

Reading this upcoming week



This week, I hope to finish and review The Merchant of Venice (coming up on Tuesday). I’m starting The Ruins of Gorlan as a part of a year-long read of Ranger’s Apprentice series with Morphy and Anita. Anyone is welcome to join. And I’m FINALLY listening to Overstory.

Completed this week



I finished two books this week: The Scarlet Letter and The One and Only Ivan. I watched three movies: Into the Spiderverse, The Hate U Give, and another version of Twelfth Night. All three were really good, though I preferred the other version of Twelfth Night that I watched a week or two ago.

Acquired



Since I plan on reading these books soon, I broke down and ordered them on audible. It was one of those days when I wanted to start something light – then I went ahead and started Overstory anyway. lol

The rot your brain comment made me laugh Rachel! Kids can be so quick thinking.

Good luck with your crafts for girls night. I think I'd go for something more basic: scratch pad art or bead bracelets (but then I am not craft gifted!!)

>97 The_Hibernator:

Finger crocheting can be a lot of fun for little ones - and can be done together!

(Re: mice = based on many cats and too many years of experience =

Yes, a good mouser cat will keep mice at bay, but the only permanent solution
is to completely SEAL the house, from soffits to foundation.

Depending on your weather, this is best done by teams of carpentry-minded people
in the late spring or early summer. By Autumn, mice have moved back in.

Mice will even eat through the mortar in old foundations.)

We get mice in the walls every winter but they don't really do anything (except make little nests in the insulation, I suppose) so we don't bother trying to eradicate them. If they get into the attics and crawlspaces and start trying to gnaw on Christmas decorations we'll put in a mousetrap. And kitty keeps the population outdoors at bay so there's never a colony.

Such darling pictures of IL!

I hope your weekend plans are going well, Rachel.

>97 The_Hibernator: He seems to have already grown so much. And he‘s so present, already, feet in full movement! Imagine rows of little hearts posted here and me grinning sheepishly at the pics! :D

IL is so cute!

Hello, Rachel! Thanks for stopping by to say hello! Seems you're off to a roaring start in 2019. Good luck with the genre spread and the nonfiction range.

>98 charl08: Hi Charlotte! The kids enjoyed learning to crochet, and were about as good at it as I am. Well, at least D was as good. That's not saying much. lol. She hand crocheted a long chain. I'll put pictures up on next week's update. :)

>99 m.belljackson: Yes, the house needs to be sealed, but they also have many other projects to work on in their house and they'll need to figure out which is most important to them. They need to redo their entire basement - ceiling to floor - for instance. Last year they replanted their lawn and the year before they put in new windows. Maybe next year the project will be to get rid of the mice.

>100 PawsforThought: I think they've had mice for a long time, even when I was living with them with three cats. However, the mouse problem became a Mouse Problem when I moved out last year. They are everywhere. They just dash about the house with no fear whatsoever. J is afraid of mice (it's kind of funny to see a 14 yo boy afraid of mice). So this is a problem that needs to be taken care of.

>101 karenmarie: Thanks Karen!

>102 Familyhistorian: They went very well, Meg!

>103 Deern: Hi Nathalie! Yes, he is very alert and looking around at his environment. He's even started to smile a little bit. Like REAL smiles, not is-he-farting? smiles.

>104 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>105 justchris: Thanks Chris!

Well, this weekend was a mess. On Saturday, Nephew J had run away from home (just to my parent's house) because he'd gotten into an altercation with my sister. He claims that she physically attacked him, and she claims that he physically attacked her. He said he wasn't feeling safe living there anymore, and was ok living with his dad, me, or my parents, but NOT with her. So I contacted his dad, decided my house was best of those three options, and started looking for lawyers. My sister had found him by the end of the day, of course.

Next day, J ran away again. This time, to his neighbor's. He apparently decided that he would turn his mom in for dealing marijuana - which is something he'll probably regret. He called his dad to come pick him up. When I found out, I called his dad and warned him that he'll get a kidnapping charge if he takes J. He needs to get temporary custody. This is something that hadn't occurred to J's father. So when he got to town, he took J to the police station to turn my sister in and get temporary custody. But the police don't care about marijuana anymore. So they told him to take J home.

At this point, I was feeling the relationship between J and his mother had degraded to dangerously toxic levels, and CPS needed to get involved. Because regardless of who is hitting whom (I'm guessing it went two ways) there is violence going on, and the younger kids shouldn't be seeing that. Nor should either J or my sister have to deal with it. On top of that, if my sister is indeed dealing drugs out of her house (and it would appear she is), then she shouldn't have two small children and a teenager living there. I'm all for the legalization of marijuana, but she needs to run a legit operation or else she is endangering her children.

So I called CPS, the person I talked to "hoped" she could get the case assigned, but wasn't entirely sure I had enough to go on. (Yes, by the way, I feel very guilty calling CPS on my sister - but I saw no other choice at that moment because I know that she can be violent and I was worried about J's safety.)

Today, I will be calling J's therapist to see if he can eek out any more information from J, and possibly be taken more seriously by CPS. I will be calling lawyers and hopefully making an appointment. I feel terrible getting involved like this, because I feel that I am betraying my sister and damaging the relationship beyond repair. Does that mean I am choosing to help J by abandoning the younger kids to their mother's whims?

I also have my 5 week post-partum followup. Hopefully that, at least, will go well.

D didn't end up cooking her meal on Saturday, because we didn't get the food on time. But the hand crocheting went well on Sunday, despite my being distracted by all the goings on with J.

>69 The_Hibernator: Adding that one to the BlackHole!

>107 The_Hibernator: Sorry to hear that the weekend was a disaster. I hope this week turns out better.

Gads, Rachel. What a sad thing about your nephew, all around. Keep taking care of yourself as you are Super Mom, Super Wife, Super Aunt, and Super Child.

>106 The_Hibernator: Can't your parents simply get an exterminator in? What does it mean to get the house 'sealed'?

>106 The_Hibernator: Yeah, that sounds like a real colony of mice.

>107 The_Hibernator: {{{Rachel}}}

I just hope they all realize how fortunate they are that you're organized and fearless, of course after they all get the stuff together.

>108 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia! Yesterday was difficult too, but hopefully it'll get better from here on out. :)

>109 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm not sure exactly what "sealed" means, but I've heard of people doing it before. They could get an exterminator in...I'm not sure why they never have. Probably because they'd have to leave the house for a while?

>110 PawsforThought: Yup, Paws, it's pretty intense. They're all over the place.

>111 richardderus: Thanks Richard! It's good to have support.

Well, yesterday was hard, as Colette realized that CPS had been called on her and she gave me a blow by blow description of who they were interviewing and what they were asking. Talking to the lawyer didn't achieve anything, as she said there was nothing she could do. What she said made sense - she said the only thing that will make the courts change their mind is if J keeps running away.

On the agenda for today: Today I will go to my therapist, which is sorely needed. Then I will spend the rest of the day reading and cleaning. I might take a bit of a nap, as well. Generally IL will let me take a nap if I cuddle with him while I'm doing it. And cuddling is good for him. :)

It makes me so sad that a child needs to run away repeatedly before the system will accept that he feels unsafe in a house with physical violence.

What does your sister think about J staying with you informally, whenever he feels like it? Could it be phrased as helping her out? "Just send J over here to cool down whenever there's a conflict; he can stay as long as he wants."

>114 _Zoe_: She doesn't approve of me having him over for the night at all. I'm not sure why, but she has been angry at me on and off for various reasons for almost a year now. I'm not sure why. She tends to be a very angry person.

>113 The_Hibernator: I might take a bit of a nap, as well. Generally IL will let me take a nap if I cuddle with him while I'm doing it. And cuddling is good for him. :) The first rule of naps is nap when the baby naps, depending on how tired you are. I was very tired for pretty much the first 6 months after Jenna was born, so naps were very important. For me. She stopped taking an afternoon nap way before the books said she would. *smile*

107> This sounds very hard with no good choices for anyone involved, especially caring family members like you who want to see the situation improve but have little/no legal authority to intervene. I suppose J could try becoming an emancipated minor and then make his own choice about where to live. But I expect that option is no easier than any of the others.

You aren't abandoning the younger kids. You're doing your best to support the sibling who is better able to put on his own oxygen mask. That is the first rule in a crisis--put on your own oxygen mask first. I'll be sending you and your relatives good thoughts and hoping that there's some improvement. All kids deserve a loving, safe, supportive home (and childhood).

I hope your upcoming appointment goes well. Belated congratulations on your new family member.

omg Rachel; you have so much on your plate with the kids and the mice. I don't envy you, but I'm in awe of how you get it all done. Take care of yourself, too.

I've learned that various members of my family (my sons, myself, my nieces) don't deal well with geckos, spiders, frogs, cockroaches ... I haven't the heart to kill cockroaches, but it needs to be done, so I'll stay to watch it (slippery little so and sos they are) and yell for help until someone comes and does it for me. Hypocritical, I know.

>113 The_Hibernator: I remember when my eldest first started kindy, he'd come home wiped out and sleep for ages so I got my 'me' time. Then I had to lie down with him to get him to fall asleep. Then I got used to having a nap while cuddling him. But then we got to the point where I'd be asleep and he'd be wandering around unsupervised (only in the living room, because he was fenced in by safety gates) - and that was the end of my daytime naps. I mean his naps.

Happy Wednesday, Rachel. I hope your week is going well. I also loved The Hate U Give and want to see the film version. If you liked that one, you might also enjoy The Poet X, my current audio. This one is in verse and beautifully done.

>116 karenmarie: Hi Karen. Yeah, people keep telling me to sleep when he's sleeping...but how am I supposed to get any housework done that way? Or any of the other stuff I'm supposed to be doing? But I DO try. Luckily, I am doing fairly well on the sleepiness count. I don't HAVE to take naps most days. Just some of the days. I have a lot more energy now than I did all the way through my pregnancy.

>117 justchris: Thanks Chris! Things with my family have always been dramatic, it just always seems to happen at an inconvenient time, no? lol. Anyway, things will improve eventually, and I'll try not to concentrate on the negative things as long as they aren't slapping me in the face at any given moment. :)

>118 humouress: I don't like killing mice, Nina. I'm ok with a cat doing it, and feel a little bad when a human does it. Strange, no?

That's kind of how my first day of pneumonia went when I was pregnant. I was feeling really tired for some reason - I had no idea why - and I was babysitting my sister's younger kids as well as watching M and D. I turned on the TV and slept on the couch while they ran crazy around the house. I tried to keep an ear out for trouble, but, really, I was asleep. Luckily, D kept the little ones in check. lol My sister got there and thought I was faking the fatigue. lol I showed her!

>119 msf59: Hi Mark! I do plan on listening to The Poet X. It was, I think, the National Book Award winner for YA? I've heard great things about it.

On the agenda for today: Nothing. That's right, nothing. I've cancelled my dentist appointment and will spend the day reading, napping, and getting the laundry folded. (Ok. I'll wash another load of dishes. But that's it.)

Maybe by tomorrow I'll be myself again, and be able to get more stuff done around the house. :)

Thanks to Richard, I have found a new challenge to NOT complete this year. But it's always fun pretending I will. The Bookish Reading Challenge

A book you bought for the cover - Ranger's Apprentice, by John Flanagan

A book by an author you’ve met - My New Teacher and Me, by Weird Al Yankovic

A book you’re embarrassed you haven’t read yet - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

A book that is under 220 pages - Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

A book that came out the year you were born - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

A book whose title uses alliteration - Clifford Cares, by Norman Bridewell

A book in your best friend’s favorite genre - Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse

A book from an independent publisher - Roam, by C. H. Armstrong

A book you borrowed from the library - Harry The Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion

A book featuring a fictional language - Harry Potter (Parseltongue)

A book won in a raffle - Chaos Walking, by Patrick Ness

A book about going on a quest - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling

A book set in a city you’ve visited - Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis

A book with a dust jacket - I'm sure I'll find one

A book by two or more authors - Magesterium series, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

A book that is over 1000 pages - A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth

A book that’s been out for less than a month - Netgalley books

A book with a name in the title - The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

A book from a genre you want to read more of - Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher

A book written by a Native American author - On the Rez, by Ian Frazier

A book with an asexual character - The Invisible Orientation, by Julia Sondra Decker

A book you were given as a gift - Hey Kiddo, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

A book translated from Spanish - Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

An award-winning graphic novel - Hey Kiddo, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

A book featuring a false confession - The Trial, by Franz Kafka

A book you meant to read in 2018 - Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A book featuring a memorable cat - Harry Potter

A book set in South America - Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A book by an author you’ve never heard of before - Netgalley choice

A book featuring a nonbinary protagonist - Magnus Chase, by Rick Riordan

A book about intersectional feminism - We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I think this counts?)

A book with a place in the title - Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis

A book by an author you’re thankful for - Becoming, by Michele Obama

A book signed by the author - The Dancing Master, by Julie Klassen

A book set in Africa - Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

A book about mental health - Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson

A book written by an immigrant - We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A retelling - Circe, by Madeline Miller

A book about incarceration - The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander

A book recommended by an author - Evicted, by Matthew Desmond

A book with a person of color on the cover - I'm sure I'll find one

A book by an author who uses a pen name - The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Gailbraith

A book whose title includes a verb - Roam, by C. H. Armstrong

A book recommended by a librarian - Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse

A book being adapted in 2019 - Chaos Walking, by Patrick Ness (I assume adapted for a movie or such)?

>122 The_Hibernator: *preens*

You're so organized you picked the books out already! I'm going up without a net: I'm reading as and when I want to, no reference to the meme...I'll fit the books I've read into it if I can.

Hello Rachel! I hope your day is going well.

>122 The_Hibernator: This looks like an excellent challenge to NOT complete. I have not chosen my next audio, though I have a couple in mind. I may just draw a straw from this challenge and see what happens.

Wow, what a tough situation with J and your sister, Rachel. Kudos to you for trying to get it sorted.

I loved The Ranger's Apprentice series way back when, but this unfortunately is not the year for a re-read - my wife and I have committed to trying to get books off our bulging tbr shelves. I'll look forward to following your and Morphy's comments on it.

Hi Rachel!

>122 The_Hibernator: Our book club will be reading Circe for the June discussion. Good luck on the challenge.

Since I'm filling my thread with challenges that I won't finish, maybe I'll add the Read Harder Challenge.

An epistolary novel or collection of letters - The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
An alternate history novel - Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger
A book by a woman and/or AOC (Author of Color) that won a literary award in 2018 - Stay With Me, by J. Lynn
A humor book - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
A book by a journalist or about journalism - I'm sure I"ll read one of those
A book by an AOC set in or about space - Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America - 1491, by Charles C Mann
An #ownvoices book set in Oceania - Does My Head Look Big in This?, by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads - Maelstrom, by D. J. Shuette
A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman - Stay With Me, by J. Lynn
A book of manga - I can find one
A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character - The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate?
A book by or about someone that identifies as neurodiverse - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
A cozy mystery - The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
A book of mythology or folklore - Vanishing Hitchhiker, by Jan Harold
An historical romance by an AOC - The Preacher's Promise, by Piper Huguley
A business book - Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe, by Roger McNamee
A novel by a trans or nonbinary author - I don't care what the author is, so I'm going for character: Magnus Chase, by Rick Riordan
A book of nonviolent true crime - Bad Blood, by Lorna Sage
A book written in prison - Conversations with myself, by Nelson Mandela
A comic by an LGBTQIA creator - again, don't care about an author's sexual preferences: Honor Girl, by Maggie Thrash
A children’s or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009 - Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
A self-published book - Maelstrom, by D. J. Schuette

>123 richardderus: Hi Richard! I love challenges mainly because they make me think about what books are on my TBR that will count. That gives me ideas for what to read, even though I know that I won't finish any of my challenges in one year. And that's fine by me. :)

>124 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! Lol! You like not completing challenges too, eh?

>125 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I've started the first book now, and am really enjoying it! I can't wait to read the whole series.

>126 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks, though I know I won't finish any of my challenges - I just use them for ideas.

Yesterday was such a good day until the end. I got all the laundry sorted, and can fold it today. I did other cleaning too, and spent a lot of time reading and relaxing. The end of the day was tough since at about 2 IL started fussing and wouldn't let me put him down. That lasted till about 6. D wanted to bake some cupcakes, which for some unknown reason I let her do. But she is far from independent and incapable of following directions on her own. That meant a lot of putting IL down, which meant a lot of calming him down again once I was able to pick him back up.

Today, I plan on doing the same as yesterday, only involving cleaning up around the house and folding the laundry. I was originally supposed to meet with Morphy, but I don't feel quite myself yet after the stress of this weekend. I just need another day off before I get back to the grind.

>129 The_Hibernator: I am so pleased for your sake that you know how to take care of yourself. It's just not the best idea to shove yourself around. There are enough people willing to take that behavior on as it is.

I hope it's a restful emotional day for you today.

>130 richardderus: Sometimes I'm better at taking care of myself than others, Richard. Though I do try to take "mental health" days when things get really bad. :) I wish more people would. The world would be a more calm place.

Yesterday was another good day, and I think I'm back to my normal self again. I had plans today for a playdate with a woman I met through a step-mom support group, (she also has two skids 85% of the time, is a stay-at-home-mom, has her own baby, and is having to work through the IEP/504 system for the skids mostly through her own work - so she's pretty much my clone, lol). We were going to go to the zoo. But then M started throwing up and claimed he couldn't breathe. He really seemed to be breathing just fine, so I called a pediatrician and made an appointment. I was in there by 8:30 and checking him for strep (negative). But no playdate at the zoo and no swim lessons today.

So, my plans for today are kind of up in the air. I'll probably let the kids zone out in front of the TV, since M is feeling so bad. That means I have another day mostly to myself (other than taking care of IL and cleaning up puke occasionally...oh, and I guess feeding D). I'll try to get some reading done.

Despite Friday starting out with difficulties, M recovered quite well and we ended up having a nice day. I got lots of stuff done, and some napping too.

On the agenda for today: shopping, housework, finish watching Merchant of Venice. Maybe I'll have another date night with Aaron.

Hi Rachel! Glad yesterday improved.

I hope today goes well.

Glad your day got better. I don't think there is anything wrong with letting the kids have a tv day so the adults can have down time. Chloe's tablet is charging and she will probably get quite a bit of time with it after lunch as Nate and I both woke with headaches today.

Glad to hear M is feeling OK and that you are getting so me time Rachel. Nice to know you've found a 'clone' too!! Does she read?

>134 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! Yesterday went quite well. I got most of the stuff done that I wanted to get done, and even managed half of a date night with Aaron. I fell asleep during our movie, but woke up refreshed.

>135 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! I think I feel a little more guilt than I should about TV days. If they weren't SO addicted, and it didn't seem to happen at least once a week, I'd feel better about it. Though we do have M in Cub Scouts and chess lessons now. And D is in Girl Scouts and often signs up for short-term activities, I feel.a little better. If only they would exercise. They are very sedentary. Though thin as reeds.

>136 charl08: Hi Charlotte! I haven't talked to her about reading yet. This was to be our first meeting. I will certainly ask when we meet.

Yesterday went really well, as I said above. Today will have a full day of taking my parents to church, picking up the kids at Perkins, cleaning, reading, and cooking salmon for dinner. It's already marinating!

>137 The_Hibernator: Does their school do some sort of gym class? Although Chloe doesn't exercise, per se, she does get gym class and outdoor time at school every day.

Hope your day is going well! And I hope things end up working out OK with your sister and nephew. He is lucky to have you in his life.

>139 ChelleBearss: Yes, Chelle, they get some gym time at school, but not every day. We have tried signing them up for activities like Tai Kwon Do, which they got really excited about at first, but then they decided they didn't like it because "it hurts." They refuse to learn to ride their bikes (not that they can during the winter). We have managed to convince them into swim lessons, though those are mostly floating around in a small roped off area of a pool. Maybe I can teach them to ride their bikes next year? Hopefully?

>140 banjo123: Things are getting bad with J and my sister, Rhonda. But my weekend is going well.

Good morning everyone! Yesterday was a good day. I didn't get any reading done, but I did get a gigantic shopping trip. One of those where I couldn't fit all the bags in my cart when it was all packed up. We got our Christmas tree down, finally. Yay! Aaron and I had a lovely salmon dinner, while M ate nothing and D ate ham. And we played a game of Pandemic.

Today is Martin Luther King Junior day, so I'll be spending it trying to figure out how to keep the kids from watching TV while still accomplishing stuff myself. That will probably be a failure, but maybe I'll get some good board games in. The kids are allowed to watch TV after breakfast until noon, and then again at 6-8.

I plan on starting my exercise routine today, as I finally got the go-ahead from my doc last week. Today, I will ride the stationary bike and do a stretching routine. That'll all have to happen before noon, obviously. Hopefully I can get some reading done before noon, too.

Wow! I am behind here. New kittens chasing mice; sorry to hear about your nephew and sister; LOVE the pics of IL -- yikes! So much happening. Glad to hear you are feeling good about things and that you got the okay to start up exercising. Take care of yourself. Best wishes to you and yours.

>143 Berly: Hey Kim! Thanks for stopping by. I didn't get much exercise done yesterday. About 4 minutes is all I could handle at a time on the stationary bike (it only has one resistance setting), and then the baby started crying for the next 4 hours. 3 bottles and 3 diaper changes later I had him asleep on my chest, and I started getting phone calls. Drama, drama everywhere and not a jot of sleep. lol. He slept will that night though.

****

So things with my sister and J have really heated up. I have come clean to my sister about a lot of stuff that happened, and we agreed to go to counseling together to work out our differences. As for J, he is worse off than I thought. Not only is his mom a very difficult person to live with (for reasons suggested above), but he seems to be delusional as well as having hallucinations. So who knows what is true and what isn't anymore? Colette lies like a log, and J doesn't seem to have a grip on reality at the moment. I think his depression has finally gone off the deep end and he's a danger to himself. I wish he were in a hospital. My sister couldn't deal with him last night, so he stayed at my parent's house, but now she's talking about not wanting him back in her house at all. I suggested a home for boys which is suited for his circumstances. It is not far from the Twin Cities, but she doesn't want to call the county and ask for financial help right now because she is angry and has other things to do. I respect that. But I hope that she comes around to doing that, because I think it would be good for them to get a separation and he can no longer live with me because he is too angry at me for agreeing with my sister that he needs psychiatric help. (He made some really bizarre accusations which clearly weren't true, which is why I believe he's delusional.) I had to remind my sister that now is the time he needs her the most - when he's suffering from a mental illness, and she seemed receptive to that.

On the agenda for today: I'm visiting Morphy. We were going to discuss The Ruins of Gorlan, but I didn't have time to finish it last night, and I don't think she's even started it. lol. That'll take up a good chunk of the day, since it takes 45 minutes each way. I can finish up The Overstory and start another book while I'm driving. Other than that, just dishes, laundry, and a quick run to buy a few items at the store.

>144 The_Hibernator: Sorry to read your nephew has such a hard time.

Have fun with Morphy, I just started The Ruins of Gorlan :-)

I hope you and Miz Morphy had a great meet-up! Sad to read about your family issues reaching a crisis. The best words I can offer are: Once the head forms, relief isn't far off.

*smooch*

Hi, Rachel. Finally getting around to visiting the threads for the first time in a while. Congrats on your precious little boy! He is lovely! Sorry to hear that you're having family issues right now - not easy at any time, but can be especially frustrating when you have a new little one and are suffering from lack of sleep.

I recall telling my husband the weekend before I was due with our first son to enjoy sleeping in because we wouldn't get to for a long time. I think it was something like 13 years after Beckham was born that we were finally able to sleep in (Keegan is 3 years younger and was around 10 when he stopped waking us up at 7 am on the weekends)!! We get plenty of sleep now, but don't get to spend as much time with our sons because they have other things to do now.

My advice for housekeeping is just to get done what absolutely needs to get done, like making sure everyone has food to eat and clean clothes - other things can always wait until there is time. My husband and I always used to have an immaculate (and white/beige) house before kids, but we realized long ago that we would never regret not having dusted, but we would regret not having spent more time with the kids!

ETA - good to know that there is someone else signing up for a bunch of reading challenges that probably won't get finished. I think I've signed up for a ton and I know I won't finish most of them.

Sorry about your nephew and your sister and all that they are going through. Best wishes to you, too, as you help them navigate things.

Very jealous that you got to hang out with Morphy! : )

Chill on the housework and get all the sleep you can!

You may have done this already, but it might be good to have Suicide Prevention people involved.

Things can escalate quickly and unpredictably with untreated mental health problems.

>145 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita! I'm really enjoying Ruins of Gorlan. I'm going to TRY to finish it today. See if IL cooperates.

>146 richardderus: Thanks Richard! Morphy and I had a great meet-up, and hopefully we'll find a good time next month to do the same. :)

>147 rretzler: Hi Robin! Well, the house is far from pristine, but there's some level of cleaning that needs to be done just for upkeep with two children, a messy husband, and a baby. You're right, though, I do need to spend more quality time with the kids instead of plunking them in front of the TV and trying to get housework done! Thanks for the reminder.

>148 Berly: Hi Kim! I am doing terribly on the sleeping front. And on the housework front for that matter. But at least I'm keeping the kitchen moderately tidy. (Within my own levels of "reasonable" that is.)

>149 m.belljackson: Hi! Yes, we have discussed suicide prevention. There is an excellent mobile crisis unit in their county that my sister can call if things get rough. The problem is that this is BOTH of them. They BOTH have mental illness problems, and right now they're playing off each other.

Hi All! Had a hectic day yesterday with a plan for the whole day ruined when my mom suddenly said "you know I have a dentist appointment at 2, right?" I just barely made it home from the dentist on time to meet the kids after school. I was also overwhelmed by being stuck between my sister, J, and my dad. I'm trying to be at peace with all three of them, but that's impossible. And I don't want to pick sides - my sister and J are both mentally ill and acting bizarre, and my dad has been having personality changes since his TIA that make him more angry and difficult to deal with.

On the agenda for today: Feeding therapy intake for M. Haircut for M. Me-time? Maybe? Just maybe?

Hi Rachel!

You've got way too much going on. At a bare minimum couldn't you get someone to do some of the housecleaning/laundry for you? The house doesn't have to be immaculate, but I always felt good after my cleaning ladies had come and I didn't feel panicky about things.

'Feeding therapy' intake?

>152 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I feel bad asking about getting professional help right now because last year was very expensive for us, and we have so many medical issues among us that money is tight. But I agree, that would be glorious.

Ooof. That feeding therapy appointment was intense. It was three hours long, and now I need to sit down and read all the suggestions because there was so much information that I'm certain I missed half of it. And I'd really like for M to eat better. They did say that he's borderline malnurished and has low muscle tone and fat.

>154 The_Hibernator: The stress of *reading* about feeding therapy was too much for me. I hope this passage in your life smoothes out a bit and SOON. *hugs*

You certainly have your hands full. Sending calmer waves towards you and your family.

>127 The_Hibernator: Sounds like a batch of great challenges to get in on. What is the first book of the "Parasol Protectorate" series?

Hi all! Today is my IL's baptism, and I realized yesterday that I don't have anything to wear because the godfather asked what he should wear. Yikes! All my nice clothes are small or tight around my no-longer-pregnant belly. And that doesn't look as cute when you're NOT pregnant. Oh well, *shrug. I'll do my best.

The food therapy is on pause because M is with his mom for the weekend. But we tried out some of the techniques on D, who threw up (literally) when she ate the white of a boiled egg. We are supposed to expose them to new foods, even if they go to waste.

I'll answer above messages when I'm typing on my computer. Everything's so small on the phone.

Morning, Rachel. Happy Sunday. Have a good time at the baptism and I hope you find something to wear. Grins...

i am really enjoying Alif the Unseen. Have you read it? If not, it seems like your cuppa.

>155 richardderus: Hi Richard! I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed as I navigate the waters of *unspoken* therapy. We successfully got D to eat all of her broccoli yesterday!

>156 figsfromthistle: Thanks Figs!

>157 magicians_nephew: Hi Jim! The first book is Soulless. It was pretty good. I probably won't get anywhere close to finishing any of the challenges, but it gives me an idea of how to add variety to my reading.

>159 msf59: I have heard good things about Alif the Unseen, Mark. I'm glad you think I'll like it. I'll see if I can fit it in this year.

A lot going on in your life right now, Rachel! Here's hoping that things calm down for you soon.

>161 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Yes there is a lot going on in my life. I'm having trouble keeping up with it!

Hi Rachel!

I hope the baptism went well and that today's a good one for you.

I certainly understand when money's tight. I gave up my cleaning ladies at the end of December and am trying to figure out a schedule of what and when.