Rachel is totally active now

D13


M11 and myself


IL4

Hi all! I'm Rachel, 43yo mom of IL4, and stepmom of D13 and M10. For a living, I am a caregiver for the disabled and elderly. For fun, I read a variety of books - both fiction and nonfiction. I also write pen pal letters, to people all around Europe and the Americas. (So far, I haven't succeeded in ensnaring a pen pal from Asia or Africa, and my pals from Australia keep disappearing.)

This year, my goal is to be active in this group. I have been moderately successful in the past couple of months of 2022, and hope to continue. (I'm not succeeding so far.) I also hope to actually finish 75 books.

Books read in January
1. To Shape A Dragon's Breath, by Moniquill Blackgoose
2. Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
3. A Mother's Reckoning, by Sue Klebold
4. Inspector Flytrap, by Tom Angleberger
5. Inspector Flytrap The President's Mane is Missing, by Tom Angleberger
6. Inspector Flytrap in the Goat Who Chewed Too Much, by Tom Angleberger
7. Simon and Chester Super Sleepover, by Cale Atkinson
8. Didi Dodo Recipe for Disaster, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
9. Two Headed Chicken, by Tom Angleberger

Books read in February

10. When Stars are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson
11. Didi Dodo Future Spy Robo-Dodo Rumble, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
12. Didi Dodo Double-O Dodo, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
13. Sixteen Scandals, by Sophie Jordan
14. Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, by Nick Bruel
15. The Chicken Squad, by Doreen Cronin

Books read in March

16. Eva's Treetop Festival, by Rebecca Elliott
17. Zealot, by Reza Aslan
18. The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken, by Doreen Cronin
19. DJ Funkyfoot Butler for Hire, by Tom Angleberger
20. The Yeti Files: Meet the Bigfeet, by Kevin Sherry
21. The Yeti Files: Monsters on the Run, by Kevin Sherry
22. Eva Sees a Ghost, by Rebecca Elliot
23. The Yeti Files: Attack of the Kraken, by Kevin Sherry
24. Henry Heckelbeck Gets a Dragon, by Wanda Coven

Books read in April
25. Simon and Chester Super Family!, By Cale Atkinson
26. Gallant, by VE Schwab
27. Simon and Chester Super Detectives!, By Cale Atkinson
28. Superfly the World's Smallest Superhero, by Todd H Doodler
29. The Adventures of Caveboy, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
30. Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
31. Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!, By Thomas Flintham
32. Super Rabbit Racers!, by Thomas Flintham
33. super Rabbit Boy vs. Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
34. Owl Diaries: A Woodland Wedding, by Rebecca Elliott
35. Press Start: Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
36. Press Start: The Super Side Quest, by Thomas Flintham
37. Super Rabbit Boy's Time Jump, by Thomas Flintham
38. Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham
39. Super Rabbit Boy's Team up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham

Books read in May
40. Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
41. Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
42. Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham
43. Revenge of the Roach, by Todd H Doodler
44. Super Rabbit Boy All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham
45. Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham
46. Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

Books read in June
47. Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, by Dav Pilkey
48. Society of Substitutes: The Great Escape, by Alan Katz
49. DJ Funkyfoot: Give Cheese a Chance, by Tom Angleberger
50.Gallant, by V E Schwab
51. No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
52. Battle of the Bad Breath Bats, by David Bowles
53. Democracy in Black, by Eddie S Glaude Jr
54. Reading Biblical Literature, (lectures), by Craig R Koester
55. Lunch Walks Among us, by Jim Benton
56. Eva and the New Owl, by Rebecca Elliott
57. Eva's Wildwood Bakery, by Rebecca Elliot
58. The Bad Guys, by Aaron Blabey
59. Homeland, by R A Salvatore
60. The Bad Guys in Mission Unpluckable, by Aaron Blabey
61. Billy and the Monsters: Monsters Go to the Hospital, by Zanna Davidson
62. The Bad Guys in the Furball Strikes Back, by Aaron Blabey
63. Into the Wild Another Misadventure, by Doreen Cronin
64. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by Ursula Vernon

Books Read in July

65. Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor
66. Superfly vs. Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler
67. Don't Turn Out the Lights, ed by Jonathan Mayberry
68. Babel, by R F Kuang
69. DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger
70. Caveboy is a Hit, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
71. Eva and the Lost Pony, by Rachel Elliot

Books Read in August

72. Bad Guys in Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey

>1 The_Hibernator: Wowzer, Rachel, everyone is growing up so quickly!

>7 The_Hibernator: Good to see we both had good reading months in June.

Happy new thread. xx

Good to see you , Rachel! Lovely pictures of you and the kids. Happy New Thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel! (I love your glasses, by the way!)

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel!

>10 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! June was a good reading month for me. Mostly because I count any chapter books I read IL4 even if they are 2nd grade reading level. But I did finish four books for myself, too, which is good for me.

Thanks Deb, Lavinia, and Anitas!

Saturday I had my D&D game that Aaron and my friend Liz are part of. Then Aaron, D13, and I watched X-files for a while.

No reading on Saturday.

Sunday started with the realization that I was in over my head with this coaching soccer thing. When I agreed to do it, they said they would provide instruction. I figured at the very least we'd have a rulebook emailed us and a meeting about what was expected of us. Nothing like that. In fact nothing at all. And now it would appear the first day of soccer is a game? How is that even possible? IL4 doesn't know how to play soccer.

Then I arrived at work late because I was suffering from brain fog, and somehow arriving at 12:30 became leaving at 12:30. It's a 30 minute drive. My client bit me on my shoulder when I helped her stand up and broke the skin. It was through the shirt, but since human bites are notoriously germy, I needed to make an appointment with a doctor.

After work, we played a game if Pandemic as a family.

Unicorn and Yeti: Friends Rock, by Ayris Burnell; Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Thanks Jim, foggi, and Karen!

Monday morning started with a run to the doctor to get a tetanus shot. The appointment was pretty uneventful, as the bite isn't infected. Then I went to the pool with M11 and IL4. They enjoyed splashing around. M11 had his first acting class, which he enjoyed, followed by his presentation on baseball at the Boy Scout meeting.

Babel, by R F Kuang, Mahabharata

On the Fourth of July I went with dad to a furniture store so he could buy a new recliner. Then we went to get another massage. This one was much more enjoyable, since my back was still tenderized from the last massage, so there were only a few painful moments. I also thought to listen to an audiobook while getting it, so I had something to occupy my over-active brain.

Aaron took M11 shopping for the last of his necessities for his upcoming Boy Scout camp.

We had been going to grill with my friend Liz, but it was raining on and off, and we chose to postpone. Instead we went out to dinner. Our at-home fireworks were next. IL4 enjoyed them until about half-way through when he either got bored or scared or it got too loud. His reasons were unclear, but he wanted to go inside.

Babel, by R F Kuang; Untangled, by Lisa Damour; Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Wednesday I went from work to work, with only a scrubbinging of the kitchen floor in between. I watched Lucifer at home while Aaron went to M11's playoff game. Unfortunately they lost, but that means we can do the aerial course on Saturday (when the final playoff game would be if they'd won).

Babel, by R F Kuang, Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen, Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Mass

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352063

Thanks Stasia and Silver

Happy new thread, Rachel. Nice pictures of the kids up top. They look a lot bigger than I remember!

Thursday M11 and I had a D&D oneshot. We both enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, M11 went fishing with a guy a met on Facebook. He had offered to help M11 catch a fish, clean it, and cook it for his merit badge. They didn't catch anything, unfortunately.

Didn't read on Thursday.

Friday, IL4 had speech therapy. Then we relaxed the day until M11 and I had our first tap dance class. Afterwards, M11 told me my dancing made him feel a lot better about his own. Then M11 had a meeting with his Scout master and reached the rank of Scout!

No reading on Friday

>29 Familyhistorian: Yup Meg! They're getting big!

Saturday, I had an early lunch with D13. Then the whole family went to an outdoor adventure park. M11 didn't weigh enough to zipline, so Aaron and the older kids did the aerial course (an obstacle course up in the trees) and IL4 did the ground course. They all had a lot of fun. Afterwards, Aaron and I went out to dinner.

Don't Turn Out the Lights, ed by Jonathan Mayberry; Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham

Sunday, Aaron and I drove M11 and a couple carloads of Boy Scouts to camp in Wisconsin. That took a good 7 hours out of the day. After a short time at home, I then went to my sleep study, where they hooked me up with wires on the scalp, chest, legs, finger, and face and told me to sleep. Surprisingly, I slept well.

Babel, by R F Kuang; How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

>34 The_Hibernator: Aaron and I drove M11 and a couple carloads of Boy Scouts to camp in Wisconsin

Wow, Rachel... that's dedication!!

You stay so busy, Rachel, how you cope, I do not know! Bravo you! How do you feel about the sleep study? Do you usually sleep poorly and so it's a disappointment that they did not record your difficult sleeping nights?

>36 vancouverdeb: I sleep very well - nice and deeply, actually. The problem is that I have excessive daytime drowsiness, sometimes leading to falling asleep while driving. All they've determined is that it's not sleep apnea. Yesterday's all day study was to determine if it's narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia. I don't know if I want such a diagnosis or not. The solution to both is stimulant medication, which is almost surely going to activate my bipolar disorder. If it's not one problem, it's another.

>35 PlatinumWarlock: Yeah, I like to help out with things like that to show Malcolm we care about his activities.

Monday was sleep study day. I was awakened after 8 hours of sleep that night (6am), and told I would take a 20 minute nap at 8, 10, 12, 2, and 4. In the between times, I paced the hallways (I got a lot of steps in!), made phone calls, and caught up on my LibraryThing threads. I rushed home after my final nap, washed the goop out of my hair, and went to my first day of PreK/K soccer coaching. IL4 seemed a bit less mature than the rest as far as listening to instructions went, but he did better than I feared. So it was a good practice. I knew IL4 was a bit behind his peers on this level, but I thought putting him a team sport might help him gain maturity.

Babel, by R F Kuang, Bible

It sounds like you are having wonderful family time.

I hope they get to the bottom of your sleep problems. DD has a similar issue and takes medication to help her stay away during the daytime.

>40 streamsong: Hi Janet! My goal this year was to spend more family time. Not that I wasn't before, but I wanted to make more of an effort to make sure it happened frequently instead of sporadically.

Yes, I would really like to fix the sleeping problem. Trying to get more than 8-9 hours of sleep seems excessive.

The paper towel roll is Green from Rainbow friends. IL4 made him.





IL4 took a selfie while I squinted blindly through my bifocals at the computer





Lined up to watch the fireworks



M11 fishing with guy I met on Facebook

Reading to IL4

Unicorn and Yeti: Friends Rock, by Ayris Burnell
Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham

M10 reading

Leather-working merit badge pamphlet

D13 reading

57 Bus, by Dashka Slater
Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger

Happy New Thread, Rachel. I have really enjoyed watching your lovely children grow up right here on LT. I am looking forward to hearing about your summer camping trip.

>44 msf59: Thanks Mark! I'm eager to go to Itasca this weekend!

Tuesday was a calm day. I worked for most of it. Then my friend Liz came over and we grilled and watched Enola Holmes with Aaron and D13.

Babel, by R F Kuang; Bible; Cursed, ed. by Marie O'Regan

Wednesday IL4 had his second soccer practice. He played at first, but got really tired in the middle and stopped playing. I think he doesn't eat enough at school to give him energy on Wednesdays. I will start picking him up early to give him food at home on soccer days.

Mahabharata; Babel, by R F Kuang

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352222

Thanks Silver! I'm going camping this weekend, and will do some listening on the drive there, but that's about it.

Thursday, I went on a 3 mile walk in the woods with dad. He brought his walking stick and went slowly, and he made it. It took 2 hours. After that, I took D13 to Valleyfair, which is a medium-sized amusement park. She wanted to ride all the rides that M11 won't ride. Which was all the horrendous ones. The two that were super scary when I was a kid (Corkscrew and Wild Thing) were the tamest of the rides I rode with her. There was one where we hung upside down for what felt like 10 seconds, but was probably more like 5. It was long enough for me to ponder and then say aloud "You know, this part isn't fun." And for the person across from me to laugh.

At the end, D13 went on a "flying" ride where she dropped from an unbelievable height in freefall, and the swung out when the cord attached to her vest tightened. She loved it, but I think the adrenaline was too much because she threw up an hour later.

Aaron, IL4, dad, and I went to Olive Garden afterwards, and brough D13 Culver's, since she was feeling better.

Mr Ballen podcast; Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen

Friday, after speech therapy, D13, IL4, dad, and I went to Build-a-Bear and then had hibachi at Bennihana. D13 knew what was coming, but IL4 was horrified when the chef set the stove on fire. He jumped out of his chair and hid in a corner. But I coaxed him onto my lap, and then he immediately got back in his chair and was fine. He loved it when the chef juggled the eggs and landed one in his pocket and one in his hat. He asked: "Where'd the egg go?" So the chef pulled it out of his hat. To be entirely honest, I missed where the egg went too. 😂🤣

I relaxed for the rest of the day, which was well-deserved since on Fridays and Saturdays I try to take it easy. D13 and I finished up the evening watching the new horror movie M3gan. Aaron heard what we were going to watch and quickly exited the room. He doesn't like horror, which still makes me laugh because he agreed to go to IT when we were dating. 🤣😂

Mr Ballen podcast

That was the smile I had before riding every intense ride once. Then I let her ride alone for a while. 🤣😂

Posing with our Build a Bears

Puck (in front) and Polyphemus (the one-eyed one)

Letters Written

1 letter Wisconsin
1 letter Massachusetts
1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

Don’t Turn Out the Lights, ed by Jonathan Mayberry
Babel, by R F Kuang
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Bible
Cursed, ed by Marie O’Regan
Mahabharata
Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen
Mr Ballen Podcast
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Reading to IL4

Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham
Sparkly New Friends, by Ayris Burnell

D13 reading

Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Aaron reading

Homeland, by R A Salvatore

Media completed

M3GAN
Enola Holmes

Saturday was delightful. We got up and managed to pack and get on the road before 11am. We drove the 4 hours to Lake Itasca fairly peacefully. IL4 was really the perfect little angel the whole way. And no potty accidents. He loved our cabin, loved the vista point, and loved wading across the headwaters of the Mississippi.

D13 managed to stay dry during the wading part, but I slipped and fell in twice trying to keep up with IL4, and because IL4 was holding on to me as he made the precariously large steps between the dry stones, I pulled him in on top of me both times. When we had crossed on the rocks for the third time, there was a woman standing on the other end laughing at my plight (in a friendly way). I told her "This is why you have kids at 20 instead of 40," and she pointed to a 6-ish year old girl and said she'd had her at 54. 😱 She totally had me beat. IL4 and I finally gave up and waded fully in to both the Mississippi and Lake Itasca sides.

Because IL4 and I both were soaked (more so IL4, because he's shorter), we went back to the cabin after that. I took a nap, IL4 watched YouTube on the phone (but only after he made two pots of coffee and we pried the coffee maker from his desperately clinging hands to prevent a third and final pot being spilled all over the cabin), D13 put together a puzzle, and Aaron read.

Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunday we slept in. We went on a leisurely bike ride with IL4 on a Weehoo. I've never seen one of these things, but it seems a great introduction to bike riding. It's a trailer-type thing for kids, where the kid can pedal and can learn the basics of balancing. I'm thinking of buying one for us, since it would last another 5 years. My one reservation is that I'm not sure it'll fit in our car. I think I'm going to buy one, anyway. All else fails, we'd just have to stay local.

After that, we went back to the cabin and relaxed. IL4 fell asleep. When he awakened Aaron and I took him on a hike. The map suggested the trail was about 1 mile long, but I'd say it was closer to 3 miles. IL4 wouldn't walk, and I thought carrying him a mile was doable, but about a mile in (guessing) he really wanted us to turn around, and we seriously thought we would be closer going straight than going back. But the trail just kept going, and IL4 was getting really heavy. Finally I turned on Alltrails on my phone to locate us. We weren't on a trail according to Alltrails, but we could see that we were finally curving around towards our origin. So we kept on walking.

Later, we had a fire and made s'mores.

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Educated, by Tara Westover

Monday we packed up and drove back home. It's a 4-hour drive, so that took most of the day. IL4 was, again, very good on the car ride, but he was very ready to relax at home when we got there. Aaron went to pick M11 up from acting - he'd been at Boy Scout camp for the week (which he loved, but got homesick) and then at his mom's while we were camping. Then she dropped him off at acting class.

I coached soccer, but didn't take IL4 along, since he was so exhausted from camping. Then I picked M11 up from his Boy Scout meeting, and went to work.

Don't Turn Out the Lights, ed. By Jonathan Mayberry
Educated, by Tara Westover

Educated was a great read, Rachel. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I confess I never liked camp. I always got homesick. In fact, I only went once to Brownie camp in grade 2 or 3. I didn't realize that I had caught rubella, aka German Measles until I arrived home and my mom and my dad's cousin, a nurse, noticed I had spots and a bit of a fever. Perhaps that partially explains that. I still got the rubella vaccine a year later. My mom had a friend who caught rubella during pregnancy at the same time my mom was pregnant with me. My mom did not catch it, but that made her very careful. The child born to her friend was a son who was blind due to Rubella.

>68 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Don't all Brownie-aged kids get homesick at camp? This was Malcolm's first time away from home longer than 36 hours. It's not surprising he got homesick. I told him it probably wouldn't be as bad next year, but he didn't have to go.

Rubella is scary! I'm glad your mom didn't catch it and that you're ok.

Tuesday, I worked till 9am, took D13 to the orthodontist, took dad shopping and to the vascular specialist, took M11 to swim lessons, and took IL4 to get his soccer pictures. I needed to bribe him to behave. Afterwards, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Aaron.

How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

Hi Rachel. I love your thread with all the wonderful pictures of you and your kiddos. They are so lucky to have such an involved and fun mother. I'm sorry to hear about your sleep troubles, especially the times you might fall asleep while driving. Scary! I hope the doctors find something that helps. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

>70 The_Hibernator: What's your bribe of choice for IL4, Rachel? (I don't miss those days!!)

>31 The_Hibernator: Congrats to M11 on making Scout! Quite an accomplishment.

>72 PlatinumWarlock: I start out small with chocolate or a thin mint, and move up to Dairy Queen and McDonald's for the bigger bribes. Chocolate got him to sit still for the photos.

>73 norabelle414: Yeah, he was pretty happy about it. Thanks!

Wednesday after work, I went directly to my other job. Then I drove home and picked up IL4 early from daycare so that he'd have more transition time between school and soccer. The strategy worked because, combined with bribing him with McDonald's, we managed to get him to actually play. He was disappointed that he couldn't be the goalie every time, but he actually stood on the field and even kicked the ball once, which was a huge improvement from last week.

No reading. 😱

>74 The_Hibernator: Well done... it's good to have a hierarchy of bribes!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352404

>77 PlatinumWarlock: Yeah, bigger things need bigger bribes.

>78 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

Thursday I went from work to work again, with a 1 hour nap in between. Immediately upon arriving home, I took M11 to Perkins, then to Feed My Starving Children, where we packed meals. After 30 minutes at home, I went back to work. I was home for 1.5 hours total, 1 of which I was asleep.

Bible
Babel, by R F Kuang
Educated, by Tara Westover

>71 Donna828: oops Donna, I missed replying to you! I'm glad I scrolled up and found your message!

Thank you for your kind words. I hope they have a solution to the tiredness, too. Part of me still thinks it's just low-level burnout.

Friday after work, I took the boys to get haircuts. Then we picked up dad and went to the playground. We only stayed about an hour because we got hot, and then picked up D13 and went to Perkins. Later in the evening, M11 and I went to tap dance class. I'm in way over my head, but I'm mainly there to support M11, who didn't want to do it alone.

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Educated, by Tara Westover
Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham
Super Fly vs Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler

Saturday was my big day. I had signed up for Mud Girl, which is a mud race for women of all shapes and sizes. I was feeling a bit anxious when I woke, but I forced myself to go anyway. And I made it! It was 3 miles with 17 obstacles. 4 of them I couldn't do - two required more balance than I have (one was a tight rope) and two of them were impossible to do alone. Yes, I could have asked for help, but I'm shy. Apparently one doesn't do this race alone, though, because the photographer at the end was really confused why my group hadn't joined me for the picture. It never occurred to me that it was strange to go alone. But I didn't see anyone else alone. Afterwards, I was too lazy to go through the hose off and change lines, so I drove home muddy.

M11, IL4, dad, Aaron and I then went to Olive Garden for dinner. I overate my calorie budget, but I don't do that frequently and did work out that morning, so I guess it's ok. Aaron and I went out afterwards for a few beers (M11 successfully babysat without dad killing one of the kids) and then we watched The Imitation Game.

Babel, by R F Kuang
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Unicorn and Yeti: Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell

>83 The_Hibernator: I find it really annoying that a lot of events just expect no one does anything alone. Glad you had fun anyway!

>84 norabelle414: Yeah, it was surprising to me that I was unique in that. I mean, you'd think there'd be plenty of people like me that want to do a mud race, but whose friends aren't interested in joining. 🤷‍♀️

Sunday I slept in - I had intended on taking my dad to church, but I was tired. I worked for a while, Aaron took IL4 to swim lessons, and then we had a family day. It was D13's choice, and she wanted to watch Psych.

Cursed, by Marie O'Regan
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Unicorn and Yeti: Cheer Up!, By Heather Ayris Burnell

Letters Written

1 postcard Pennsylvania
1 postcard Texas
1 postcard Oklahoma
1 postcard Michigan
2 postcards Virginia
1 postcard Massachusetts
1 letter Belgium
1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor
Don’t Turn Out the Lights, ed. by Jonathan Mayberry
Educated, by Tara Westover
Throne of Glass, by Sara J Maas
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Bible
Babel, by R F Kuang
Mr Ballen

Reading to IL4

Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
Unicorn and Yeti Together, by Ayris Burnell
Superfly vs Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler
Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham

D13 reading

Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Aaron reading

Homeland, by R A Salvatore

View from our cabin

Vista view

Sankofa is rumored to be adopted by Death herself. She can kill with supernatural powers. She wanders futuristic Ghana, homeless and shunned.

This novella is another great one from Ms Okorafor, who never fails to impress me. It was interesting enough to hold the attention of myself, my husband, and my 13 year old stepdaughter as we listened in one sitting on a car ride. The character is touching. There’s not a lot of plot, but it makes up for that in unique setting.

Looks like a lot of fun was had by all!

This is a fun little anthology of middle grade horror stories. Nothing too scary. Nothing too amazing.

In this third installment of the Super Fly series, Fred and Eugene have a falling out, and Crazy Cockroach takes advantage of their distraction. This is a cute book which IL4 found reasonably entertaining, though it might appeal more to ages 5-7. I’m guessing it’s 2nd grade reading level.

>103 foggidawn: Hi Foggi! You snuck in there. I almost missed you. Yes, we had lots of fun!

Monday started out calmly enough. I made some split pea soup for Aaron's lunches this week and took D13 to an appointment. While I was in the waiting room, I saw a post by a blogger friend, who said she had tried Jersey Mike's and loved it. I'd never been there before, but had just been about to go to Subway, so I decided to try out Jersey Mike's. It was totally worth it.

Then, I took IL4 to the post office and library in the stroller. It was a beautiful day, and a great walk. We did our usual library routine - play with toys, play on computer (he drew a rainbow with the correct color order!), pick out books, run and hide from mommy while her hands are full so she needs to cumbersomely peek down every aisle...

When I had him all strapped in again and left the library, half the sky was dark and the other half sunny. I had checked the weather before coming to the library, so I was confident it wasn't going to rain. If it did, it wouldn't be the end of the world. The books were protected under the stroller.

Sure enough, we were dry when we arrived home. I situated IL4 in front of the TV, stuck the stroller in the garage, and brought in the books. Literally mere moments after my butt hit that chair, the front door creakily blew open (it doesn't latch well). I got up to close it and looked outside. The wind was whipping the trees every which way.

I thought "Wow. If we had left only a few minutes later, we'd've been walking home in that." Still. I just sat there listening to the thunder and watching the trees blow in the wind out the window. After 5-10 minutes, it was gone.

D13 went outside to turn the tomato plants upright (sweet girl). She popped her head back in. "Problem." I raised my eyebrows. "Big problem." She widened her eyes to help me read her thoughts. "What is it?" I unconcernedly asked. "The tree! Fell on the fence!"

Sure thing it had! This gigantic old tree in our backyard had a wide trunk and four sections came out, all with heavy branches. 3 of those sections fell, filling our entire yard, and some of our neighbor's, with tree. The neighbor's brand-new-last-year fence was crushed. I ran over next door to tell them to check on their ducks, since my tree was on their coop. Luckily the ducks were fine. The coop was really sturdy.

After that, I coached soccer and after some initial reluctance since we accidentally brought one of IL4's frosting-"soup" concoctions in a water bottle thinking it was water, IL4 ran around on the field in his purple jersey.

Listened to Mr Ballen

>107 The_Hibernator: Aw, yeah, Jersey Mike's is way better than Subway! Sorry about your tree -- glad the neighbor's ducks were okay.

>108 foggidawn: Yeah, Subway isn't really all that great. I just love their selection of vegetables. Which is a plus over Jersey Mike's and Jimmy John's. I love my pickles! But the Subway franchise is soul-sucking and they recently changed their sweet onion sauce to sweet onion teriyaki, which I was unhappy about.

Tuesday was hard. I came home from work to a grumpy M11. Then I had to drag said grouch to an amusement park with his sister, where they grouched at each other as we roasted in the 90 degree weather. We decided to leave early and go to lunch. But then they had a disagreement on whether it was ok to kill family if they were a zombie, and the grouchiness continued.

I had a tree guy over to look at the fallen tree. They're coming on Friday to remove it. Then my friend Liz came over and we watched some Doctor Who. (We're on series 6.) Then back to work.

Untangled, by Lisa Damour
Cursed, ed by Marie O'Regan
Mr Ballen Podcast

>110 The_Hibernator: ...a disagreement on whether it was ok to kill family if they were a zombie...

Hmm. Interesting debate. Frankly, I'd WANT my family to kill me if I turned into a zombie, but that doesn't necessarily remove the moral question. This would be a great question for my 21yo, who always has interesting perspectives on such issues.

>111 PlatinumWarlock: Well, I wouldn't want to live as a zombie. Basically, D13 said their mom made her promise to kill her if she (their mom) was a zombie. M11 got upset because he wanted to be a zombie with his mom so they could be together. He was crying about this. (Both kids have attachment issues from seeing so little of their mom).

On a side note, I mentioned this conversation to their mom by text, just as a forewarning that it was a touchy subject. She disappeared from the conversation for a bit, then came back and said "Sorry, I'm having a panic attack about the zombie scenario."

I'm like: ummmm....I don't know what to answer to that, so I'll just stay quiet.

>112 The_Hibernator: Yeah, sometimes better to stay out of it... and I can imagine that M11 - and his mom - found this conversation upsetting!

How it went in my house:

>113 PlatinumWarlock: Yeah, that's how I think about it. I wouldn't exactly be alive, so just end it before I kill someone.

>110 The_Hibernator: >111 PlatinumWarlock: >112 The_Hibernator: >113 PlatinumWarlock: >114 The_Hibernator: Interesting (and kinda funny(except for tears)) conversation! Wow, that’s a lot of parantheses!

Karen O

>115 klobrien2: I've thought about the subject before, but it never occurred to me that anyone would consider being a zombie together as a romantic notion.

On Wednesday, after job #1, I went to job #2, ran errands, the coached soccer. It was really, really hot. Il4 played on field once and in goal once. D13 came to help, since Aaron went out with his friends. I got my new glasses, but only D13 noticed.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Mr Ballen podcast
Mahabharata

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352566

Thanks Silver! We'll see if I manage to read much. I'll be at a party all day Saturday.

Thursday, I woke up slightly manic. My head was racing and it was also screaming at me. I muddled through my morning tasks at work and went to my sleep doctor for a follow up of my sleep test. The overnight one was normal - so no apnea or restless leg syndrome. The daytime one, where I took 5 20 minute naps every 2 hours, was off, though. I met the criteria for idiopathic hypersomnia because I fell asleep too fast in those naps. (Average is 8-15, mine was 5.) But she didn't want to treat it because the treatment is a stimulant medication, which I can't take because of my bipolar disorder. However, she thinks the drowsiness is from my medications and isn't neurological.

On the way home, I got stalled on the busy interstate with no gas. First time I've ever run out of gas. Ooops. I called AAA, and let me tell you, the confidence with which he stood there filling my tank with cars buzzing by at 70mph inches from his butt was incredible.

After that, I went to get a massage with dad. I would have listened to an audiobook while getting massaged, but that day my brain was screaming at me. When that's going on, the less outside stimulus, the better. So I just let my brain run wild while I got my massage. You know what? The massage made my mania go away. I wonder if that's repeatable.

Aaron went to a BBQ with his friends in the evening, so I hung out with the kids.

Loki and Sigyn, Lea Svendsen
Caveboy is a Hit, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Unicorn and Yeti: Together, by Heather Ayris Burnell

>121 The_Hibernator: ...the confidence with which he stood there filling my tank with cars buzzing by at 70mph inches from his butt was incredible.

Ha!!! Yeah, I can imagine!

Nice outcome of the massage. I think you should get several more to see if you can repeat the results. In the interest of science, of course. 😉

>122 PlatinumWarlock: Good plan! Actually, I'm not manic anymore. If it was the massage (and I suspect it was, but I'll try again next time), then that is a fantastic solution to the problem of mania.

Friday I tried to relax as much as I can while watching IL4. After work, I took him to speech therapy. We watched the fallen tree being removed. Later in the day I took M11 to tap dance. I tried to quit because I feel bad keeping the class back, but the teacher won't let me if she has any say in it. Then I read while IL4 and M11 played in the newly cleared yard. We're planning on getting our other big tree removed so it doesn't fall, but they told me they'd come back another day to quote that - probably because they couldn't get a good look at it with that big fallen tree all over our yard (it was a very large tree).

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Educated, by Tara Westover
Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen

Saturday Aaron, IL4, M11, and I went to a party with Aaron's college friends. It was an outside party, and I followed IL4 around as he entertained himself with various toys, LEGOs, and, his fallback favorite, tape. He and M11 were disappointed 4.5 hours later when we left, but I was hungry and Aaron volunteered to leave.

Afterwards we went to a nearby Mongolian Grill that we both love, but is far from us. I thought IL4 wasn't going to let us eat because he first didn't like the look of the place, next wanted to sit in a different spot, and next wanted fries. We should have gone to McDonald's first. That was our bad. But we managed to get him to quiet down and stop running away.

No reading

Gosh Rachel; you sound busier than ever. And I've said it before and other people have said it too but wow! the kids are growing fast. Lots of lovely photos and your cabin trip sounds like you had a good time (despite getting soaked).

>126 humouress: Hi Nina! Yeah, the glamping was a lot of fun, and since I remember Janet posting a picture of IL4 on here when he was born, you guys have seen him grow up from the beginning. And D13 was 7 and M11 was 5 when I met them.

Sunday I spent a good 3 hours cleaning, went to a production of Little Mermaid with D13, and went to dinner with Aaron. M11 went to Build-a-Bear with my dad.

No books read again.

>128 The_Hibernator: Despite not getting any books read Sunday, it still sounds like a productive day!

>129 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Yeah, it was productive. The house does look a lot better now! And the play was fun.

Monday I made some delicious taco soup for Aaron's lunch and finished my deep clean of the livingroom. M11 and IL4 each had an appointment, and D13 had 2. Afterwards, M11 and I took IL4 to the library using the stroller. Then, when I was dropping off M11 at acting class, IL4 fell asleep and I decided not to wake him up for soccer.

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Educated, by Tara Westover

Tuesday I was worked on housecleaning some more. D13 had an appointment and M11 had swim lessons. I cooked some Jambalaya for Aaron's lunches so he'd have a litte variety.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Bible
Educated, by Tara Westover

On Wednesday, after I finished job #1 and job #2, I coached soccer. IL4 did amazing! For him, I mean. He happily went on the field and actually ran around chasing the ball.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Bible

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352748

Thanks Silver!

Thursday I saw very little of the kids. I went almost immediately from work to work. Then I hung out with my friend Todd. I talked for a while with my sleep specialist, who suggested I stop driving altogether, and call insurance to see if I could get rides for the kids and myself to appointments. I guess I can try that out, but it doesn't sound very convenient.

Friday was a relaxing day. After work, I had an estimate to remove the second tree in our back yard. M11 went to tap. Aaron, IL4, and I went to a local county park for IL4's first tent camping experience. He loved the first evening.

Saturday was the full day of our tent camping trip (IL4, Aaron, and me). We slept in, cooked sausages for breakfast, played in the playground, hiked about three fourths of a mile, cooked burgers, and had a fire. IL4 was a little grumpy before taking a nap, but otherwise enjoyed himself.

Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
Bad Guys: Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey
Bad Guys: Intergalactic Gas, by Aaron Blabey
Throne of glass, by Sarah J Mass

Letters Written

1 letter Louisiana
1 letter Maine
1 letter Alberta, Canada
1 letter Virginia
1 letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

Babel, by R F Kuang
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Cursed, ed by Marie O’Regan
Mr Ballen podcast
Untangled, by Lisa Damour
Mahabharata
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas
Educated, by Tara Westover
Bible
Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendson

Reading to IL4

Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
Unicorn and Yeti: Cheer Up!, By Heather Ayris Burnell
DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger
Caveboy is a Hit!, By Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Unicorn and Yeti: Together!, By Heather Ayris Burnell
Unicorn and Yeti: Fair and Square, by Heather Ayris Burnell
Super Rabbit Boy’s Team Up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
Bad Guys: Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey

M10 reading

Working on his Cyber Chip for Scouts

D13 reading

Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
Legacy, by Shannon Messenger

Aaron reading

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

Babel, by R F Kuang 3.5*

In this 1830’s England alternate history / fantasy, 4 students join a prestigious translation institute which uses magical silver bars that the British Empire is using to oppress people in foreign lands. It is a book about the evils of colonialism. Babel has had a lot of rave reviews, but it was just ok to me. The magical concept was novel, but there was more etymology than necessary, making the book long. I also get the point made about violence being necessary to end oppression, though that message doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t think innocent people should die, regardless of what race they are.

DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger 4.5*

In this third installment of the DJ Funkyfoot books, Mr Funkyfoot finally finds a fancy employer – a famous opera-singing pig. But he is very demanding – if in a fancy way.

Caveboy is a Hit, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen 3.5*

Caveboy plays baseskull with his new friends. They learn to be a team. Cute and colorful, but nothing special. Approprite for a first or second grade reader, but appealed to my 4 year old.

Eva and the Lost Pony, by Rachel Elliot 3.5*

Eva the owl finds a lost pony when returning home one day after a storm. This is another installment of the Owl Diaries, which is a cute series for 1st graders to read. It’s a Branches book, which is meant to introduce young kids to chapter books, though these are not chapter books. They are, however, longer than most picture books, and shaped like a big kid paperback.

Bad Guys Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey 5*

In the fourth Bad Guys book, our fearless friends (you can tell they’re fearless from the cover) battle hoards of zombie kittens. It was hilarious as usual. Perfect for IL4.

We broke camp pretty quickly Sunday morning because neither of us had any caffeine left. Plus I needed to get to work. But then we all had dinner together and watched Grey's Anatomy (season 1) as a family.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Mr Ballen Podcast
Mahabharata
Grey's Anatomy Season 1
Henry Heckelbeck and the Haunted Hideout, by Wanda Coven
Unicorn and Yeti Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell

After D13's morning appointment on Monday, I bleached M11's hair and dyed D13's (black) and IL4's (blue) hair. IL4 then wanted to dye my hair red, but I told him that I didn't have any more bleach, and D13 said my hair would have to be brown. IL4 went into the kitchen and dumped the cocoa down the sink, trying to prepare some brown dye for me. Apparently he didn't notice my hair is already brown.

Later, I coached soccer. I let IL4 sleep through the game because he was probably tired after being jacked up all day. M11 had acting class followed by Boy Scouts.

Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen
Mr Ballen Podcast
Educated, by Tara Westover

Tuesday, D13 started a culinary class through the school district. She made some pasta. I tried going on a walk with dad, but he had difficulty after climbing down a steep hiking path and had to crawl back up. So we went home. It was about three quarters of a mile round-trip. M11 had his penultimate swim lesson, and then the family ate out at Outback.

Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendsen
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Unicorn and Yeti: Fair and Square, by Heather Ayris Burnell
The Fire-breathing Ferret Fiasco, by David Bowles

Wednesday, D13 made egg rolls for her culinary class. They were delicious. Later, IL4 played soccer. He's getting so much better! He actually runs around after the ball, and even got in the knot of kids trying to kick the ball a couple of times.

Death With Interruptions, by Jose Saramago
Bible
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

Sweet Thursday, Rachel. Your camping spot looks lovely. How did it go? We are camping next weekend, in a state park in IL. Our first time there.

BTW- Your images are enormous. 😁

>152 msf59: Have fun camping Mark! Yes, the campground was rather isolated considering it was a regional park. I was quite happy with it. We're going to try a state park in September. M11 was complaining that we always camp when he's not around, so I threw in an extra camping trip

I didn't realize my pictures were too big. Thanks for letting me know. I do all of my LT stuff on my phone. I'll resize them from now on.

>137 The_Hibernator: That looks like a lot of fun! A friend of mine has a team and always asks me if I want to join but I always decline. Perhaps next time I will say yes :)

>151 The_Hibernator: Egg rolls sound delicious!

Happy rest of the week reads :)

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/352884

Good for you, doing the mud run, Rachel! And what a fun camping trip you had.

>154 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I think it's worth trying out once and seeing if you like it, if you're active enough. I probably won't do it again, but maybe I will.

>155 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver! It's D&D weekend, so I won't get a lot of reading done.

>156 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! Yeah, it was a lot of fun, even if there were obstacles I'd rather not do again, lol.

Thursday D13 had her last culinary class, where she made cookies.

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
Death with Interruptions, by Jose Saramago
Bible
Mahabharata

Friday went great, I got all my weekly house cleaning goals done (thanks to Aaron, who scrubbed the bathroom floors), and took IL4, dad, and Deirdre for a walk to the library. IL4 picked out a lovely book in cybersecurity. Then we picked up M11 and went to Perkins. By the time we got home, IL4 was asleep, so dad, Deirdre, and I ran errands so IL4 could sleep more.

Mahabharata
Death with Interruptions, by Jose Saramago
Educated, by Tara Westover
Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue, by Paige Braddock
The Fire-Breathing Ferret Fiasco, by David Bowles

I love all the pics! Thanks for sharing them.

>143 The_Hibernator: Despite your reservations about the book, I am adding it to the BlackHole. I love alternate history books.

>160 alcottacre: Lots of people loved Babel, Stasia. It definitely had some strengths.