Hibernator's fourth 2024 thread

Hi! I'm Rachel, 44yo caregiver of elderly and disabled. I have one son - IL5 - and two bonus kids - M12 & D14. For fun, I read, pen pal, and play Dungeons and Dragons. I have 25 pen pals. I am in 2 D&D campaigns. One is play-by-post and the other is by group voice-call.

I read a variety of books, though I have a leaning towards fantasy. The books I read to IL5 are mainly picture-chapter books that take a few days to read, but I will include any new non-chapter books I read to him as well.

I think this is my 11th year in this group, but I could be mistaken. I notice other people count, so I thought I'd throw that in there.

I finished 112 books last year.

January Reads
1. Do-You-Think-He-Saurus, by Aaron Blabey
2. Baxter is Missing, by Rebecca Elliot
3. Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett
4. Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: The Haunted House Next Door, by Andres Miedoso
5. Mr Cooper is Super, by Dan Gutman
6. Bad Kitty vs Uncle Murray, by Nick Bruel
7. Horrorstor, by Grady Hendrix
8. The Shocking Shark Showdown, by David Bowles

February Reads
9. The School is Alive!, by Jack Chabert
10. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
11. The Beast of Soggy Moor, by Martin Howard
12. Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams
13. Dopesick, by Beth Macy

March Reads
14. Shark School: Deep Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean
15. Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson
16. Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor
17. Notebook of Doom: Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Troy Cummings
18. Press Start: Super Game Book, by Thomas Flintham

April Reads
18. Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett
20. Sydney and Taylor Take a Flying Leap, by Jacqueline Davies
21. The Fran that Time Forgot, by Jim Benton
22. Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes
23. Narwhal's Otter Friend, by Ben Clanton
24. Dragons and Marshmallows, by Asia Citro

May Reads
25. Stinky Cecil in Mudslide Mayhem, by Paige Braddock
26. Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut
27. Billy and the Mini Monsters: Monsters on the Loose, by Zanna Davidson
28. Maid, by Stephanie Land
29. Society of Substitutes: Frenemies, by Alan Katz
30. Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett
31. Time Jumpers: Stealing the Sword, by Wendy Mass
32. Kung Pow Chicken: Let's Get Cracking, by Cyndi Marko
33. This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Motar and Max Gladstone
34. Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain
35. The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro

June Reads
36. The Birdy Snatchers, by Cyndi Marko
37. Heroes on the Side, by Cyndi Marko
38. Exile, by Shannon Messenger
39. Bok Bok Boom, by Cyndi Marko
40. Jurassic Peck, by Cyndi Marko
41. Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray
42. How to Merit in Monsters, by Matthew Cody
43. Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull
44. Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett
45. Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
46. Looniverse: Stranger Things, by David Lubar
47. The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins

July Reads

48. Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett
49. The Haunted Library, by Dori Hillestad Butler
50. Henry Heckelbeck Dinosaur Hunter, by Wanda Coven

August Reads

51. When Glitter Met Glue, by Karen Kilpatrick
52. The Three Little Guinea Pigs, by Erica S Perl
53. Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
54. Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes, Do They?, by Andres Miedoso
55. Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham
56. Surf's Up, Creepy Stuff, by Andres Miedoso
57. Bear Country: Bearly a Misadventure, by Doreen Cronin
58. Night of the Zombie Zookeeper, by Andres Miedoso
59. Nurk, by Ursula Vernon
60. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami

Open hereafter!

Happy new thread, Rachel.

Happy new one!

Thanks Paul and Anita!

Monday, Aaron's sister Kate was in town, so the kids and I went bowling with her family. IL5 really enjoyed learning to bowl. In the evening, we went out to a "gaming restaurant" which had pinball machines and arcade games. It was a fun time.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 108 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 20 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 128 minutes

Happy new one, Rachel!

Happy New Thread!

Thanks Jim and Rhian!

Tuesday, D14 had a virtual appointment, then I went to work. In the evening, my friend Liz was over and we watched Inception with dad and the kids. Aaron was at a Twins game with his sister Kate.

Books read from:

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel 35 minutes
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 54 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 70 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 23 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 20 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 202 minutes

Happy New Thread!

Here's the Fourth of July readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361826

Thanks Silver!

Wednesday started with an appointment for D14. Then I had lunch with dad and ran errands. Feeling super tired, I took a nap with four cats. In the evening, Aaron grilled.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 45 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 45 minutes

>22 The_Hibernator: I will be very curious to see what you think of the Alan Turing book when you are done with it.

Happy 4th of July! I hope you have a great one.

Happy new thread too!!

Happy new thread!

happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel! Hope you had a good 4th. The gaming restaurant sounds like fun :)

>14 The_Hibernator: I must say I am jealous of your gaming restaurant and wish we had one here. Our local game store is 30+ miles away.

I hope you have a fantastic Friday, Rachel!

>23 alcottacre: >27 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm not very far into it, but I enjoyed the dramatization movie

We actually have several gaming restaurants in the area. This one didn't have board games, mostly arcade and pinball. Plus pool and darts.

>24 _Zoe_: >25 banjo123: >26 bell7: Thanks Zoe, Rhonda, and Mary!

On Independence Day it was raining. I cleaned some rooms (avoiding IL5's room because it's overwhelming). The family played M12's game The Goonies: Never Say Die. The rules made it seem scarier than it was. It was fairly easy and fun. It's a progressive game, with 5 sessions. In the evening, Aaron and I watched Supernatural. We're on season 15. That's only taken 6.5 years.

Books read from:

Alan Turing The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 20 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 45 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham 12 minutes

Books finished: Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 77 minutes

Friday I took IL5 to his speech therapy and then we went to the pool with M12. They really enjoyed themselves, but M12 wanted to leave before IL5 was ready. After dinner, I read to D14.

Books read from:

Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 37 minutes
Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 43 min
Llama Destroys the World, by Jonathan Stutzman 10 minutes
Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse, by Jonathan Stutzman 10 minutes
Llama Rocks the Cradle of Chaos, by Jonathan Stutzman 10 minutes

Books finished:

Llama Destroys the World, by Jonathan Stutzman
Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse, by Jonathan Stutzman
Llama Rocks the Cradle of Chaos, by Jonathan Stutzman

Time reading: 110 minutes

Dom Cobb is recruited to introduce an idea into someone’s head. This movie was mind-bending and a bit confusing.

Happy new thread Rachel!

Beginning of June


Beginning of July

>32 Owltherian: Thanks Lily! Good to see you!

>34 The_Hibernator: Your welcome, im here for about a week, and its the week before my bday!

Saturday was a busy day for me. I had lunch at Olive Garden with my friend Liz. I took IL5 along for the ride. Liz and I discussed Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray and picked our next book. Then we picked up D14 and went to Michaels for crafting supplies. Usually I let IL5 craft with whatever is lying around the house, but I thought maybe he'd have fun with some pipecleaners and construction paper. He had a lot of fun when we got home.

Then Aaron and I ran a bunch of errands, including getting a new tent (the old one broke), popping by the pet store to get clippers for the kittens, going to get some manure for our yardwork, and stopping by two pharmacies for prescriptions.

In the evening, I met another friend, Estelle, at a brewery and had a nice chat. I got a flight, and really liked all the beers I tried.

The next morning, dad said he'd probably had a heart attack while Aaron and I were running errands, but he didn't call 911 because "it would scare D14." More likely, he just didn't want to go to the hospital.

Books read from:

Robo Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham 12 minutes
The Haunted Library, by Dori Hillestad Butler 23 minutes

Books finished:

Robo Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 35 minutes

Hi there!! Happy reading.

>33 The_Hibernator: so cute!!

>37 Berly: thanks Kim!

Sunday M12 left for his week-long Boy Scout Camp.

I worked during the day. In the evening, I had a another date with a friend. This was someone I met on the app Bumble BFF. I started chatting with people one day when I was stuck somewhere with my phone. This person and I got along well. She wanted to meet up, so we made plans for dinner.

On the day of, I messaged to see if we were still meeting, and she didn't answer. I was worried that if I skipped, she would go and I would stand her up. So I drove a half hour to have sushi alone. About a half hour after she was supposed to meet me, she messaged with the excuse that she only got 5 hours of sleep, and then spent the day doing things around the house with her boyfriend. (She only said sorry for not meeting me, not that she didn't tell me she wasn't coming.) Then she changed the topic. When I didn't answer, a few hours later she said sorry (again, no mention that she could have told me she wasn't coming), but her legs really hurt, and she wouldn't have been good company. Could we meet up during the week?

So I answered and told her that I was annoyed that she didn't tell me she wasn't coming, and that wasting people's time is really rude.

Aaron went out with his good friend Genevive for dinner. She was in town for a convention.

Books read from:

Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 111 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 42 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 153 minutes

Monday I took it easy. IL5 had swim lessons. I was thinking of taking him to ride his bike somewhere, but it was supposed to rain (it didn't). Anyway, I was tired from not sleeping well. So we relaxed except for some minor housework.

Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 48 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 25 minutes
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 26 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 23 minutes
Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished: Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 137 minutes

Happy new thread! Sounds like online friend dates work out a lot like online romantic dates in terms of getting stood up, etc. Sorry that one didn't work out for you. I'll bet she was nervous, but that doesn't excuse a lack of communication.

>41 foggidawn: I guess she could have been nervous, but it was a pretty low investment meeting. I mean, either we get along or we don't. If we don't, why would we want to be friends. 🤷‍♀️

Tuesday was productive. It started with a virtual appointment for D14. Then Aaron and I cleaned the garage. He took the day off especially. It would have taken me (alone) 5 hours to clean that garage, instead of about 2.5 hours with Aaron. It was quite the workout, and I didn't feel like cooking afterwards, so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. After that, Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Supernatural.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 35 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 47 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 82 minutes

>33 The_Hibernator: Progress!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Rachel!

Hi Stasia! Yeah, I only get about 45 minutes of cross-stitch done a week, because that's all my brain can take, but I love making progress!

Wednesday D14 had a virtual appointment. Then I rested during most of the day. D14, Aaron, dad and I had lunch together. Dad and I took the old garage chemicals and some old computers to the county recycling center, and ran a couple other errands. I cooked shrimp for dinner.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 20 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 46 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 37 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 103 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361941

Thursday IL5 had an appointment. I was feeling very fatigued and thought maybe I was sick, so I called into my day job. I got some reading done.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 52 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 55 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 31 minutes
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 36 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 174 minutes

The Alan Turing Book is a real favorite of mine. Does his life justice and worked extra hard to help non math nerds understand what his achievement really was.

The Benedict Cummerbatch movie is such a good movie but it gets so many things about Turing's life just WRONG! that my historian red alert alarm just never stops sounding. The book is better.

>49 magicians_nephew: I liked the movie, Jim, but I recognized while watching that it was a dramatization that fictionalized his life. I am enjoying the book.

Friday I still wasn't feeling well, but it was clearly a mental health thing and not a virus, so I went ahead with my day. Not that I had much choice for some of it.

First, I took IL5 to a playdate with his friends at a splash pad. They had a lot of fun. D14 made some chocolate chip cookies while we were gone. Then I left and picked up M12 from Boy Scout camp. We had a pleasant ride home.

When I got home I was exhausted from my tumultuous mental health that day, and struggled to stay awake while I was putting IL5 to bed.

No reading

Hi Rachel! just want to add a quick note to say that mental health IS health; so it's fair to take it easy if you are having a bad mental health day.

Though of course sometimes with both mental and physical health it can be worth it to power through, and sometimes activity helps.

Happy Sunday, Rachel. Love the topper. The kids are getting so big. Any camping trips planned?

>52 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! I totally agree. I wasn't trying to disrespect mental health. I was trying to say that I was not contagious and needed to go ahead with at least some parts of the day. I didn't have to do the play-date, granted, but it didn't hurt me any.

>53 msf59: Hi Mark! Yes, we will go on a camping trip next weekend. Just to a local park, but it'll still be fun!

Saturday I spent the morning cooking - baked beans for this week's lunches for Aaron and me, quinoa salad for meals for me, and pork chops for M12's week. In the evening, Aaron and I had a date. We went out to dinner at a new (to Aaron) restaurant where we had a coupon, and then walked from home to a tavern.

Books read from:

Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 15 minutes

Sunday I worked, and then Aaron, dad, and I had dinner out. I got to bed after midnight due to IL5's dawdling. Then at 3am, dad woke us up saying he had chest pain and pressure. The EMTs wanted him to go to the hospital, but seemed to want me to drive him there. So we are sitting in the ER as I write this.

Books read from:

Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 75 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 42 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy's Team-Up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham 19 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy's Team-Up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 136 minutes

Monday, I spent from 3:30 - 6:00am at the hospital with dad. They decided to admit him and do an angioplasty, so I went home to sleep, as it was unlikely they'd rush to get that done. It wasn't really easy to sleep, though, since at 8am my phone started beeping and ringing away.

I kept myself busy during the day. IL5 had swim lessons. Then I worked on cleaning the house. I even read for a little while.

In the evening, I took IL5 to soccer. I found out that I had missed the first week. Apparently it started last week. 🤷‍♀️ Oh well. IL5 did better than last year - he stayed on the field when he was supposed to be on, and stayed off when he was supposed to be off. Maybe by the end of the season, he'll notice the ball.

M12 had a Court of Honor at Boy Scouts and was awarded his tenderfoot rank, and the climbing and astronomy merit badges.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 43 minutes
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 79 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 22 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 144 minutes

Remembering fondly (mostly) my Boy Scout days.

I got up to Star Scout (I forget how many Merit Badges that is) before i quit.

Does he get the "Boys Life" magazine?

>59 magicians_nephew: No, Jim. He's not much of a reader, so I don't get him stuff like that. He does really enjoy Boy Scouts, and wants to be an Eagle Scout, but he's really not advancing hard enough.

Happy new thread Rachel!

I hope your dad is okay. The cross stitch is coming along well.

I hope your dad is okay. You have a such a busy life, I can't imagine. Good for you, taking a mental health day off. I'm sure you needed it.

>61 humouress: >62 vancouverdeb: Hi Nina and Deb! Dad is fine. It was a boring hospital visit. Cross-stitch is only about 45 minutes a week, because that's what my ADHD can handle, but I like the progress.

Yeah, I definitely need mental health days sometimes. I'm glad I finally have the leisure for that. Once the school year starts, I'll have Fridays mostly off, too, besides a mid-day appointment. I'm looking forward to 3 days a week of maybe- relaxation time. Can't relax every day due to appointments and cleaning, but sometimes I can sit and read!

Tuesday, I rushed home from work and did a few necessary things, then had a virtual appointment with D14 and Aaron. Immediately afterwards, I went to the hospital, in hopes they'd release dad. I was there all day. I took a nap by pushing two chairs together and curled up in a ball. I went through my phone to-dos. I read. I watched YouTube. Finally, at 6pm, they released him, only having done a stress test. Which came up uninteresting.

On the way home, we popped over to a hotel to help my homeless nephew J20 a room. Then, we went home, and I did a few more necessary things before work.

IL5 had soccer pictures, but we think they'll not work out because the coach gave another kid IL5's order sheet, so there will be two under his name. Oh well. We have T-ball pictures.

Books read from:

Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett 12 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 34 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 38 minutes
Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 41 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 56 minutes

Books finished: 140 minutes

Wednesday, I went to Perkins with M12 and dad. Then dad and I ran errands. Dad had an ultrasound on his leg, checking for peripheral artery disease, and I didn't like the sound of the results, but we won't follow up with the doctor till next Wednesday. After the appointment, dad and I ran another errand.

In the evening, I took IL5 to soccer. He kicked the ball (in the correct direction) and he was very proud. Most of the time he was happily running around in circles on the wrong part of the field. But he seems to enjoy being out there, as well as going to the playground afterwards. (We played "monster" in the bushes.)

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 15 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 82 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 97 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362118

Thanks Silver!

On Thursday I went to my day job, then we all watched Whose Line is it anyway after a salmon dinner.

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 143 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 70 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 50 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 263

Friday, IL5 had speech therapy. Then I spent the day preparing to camp. I cooked swordfish steak for the first time that evening, and it was quite delicious. Then M12, IL5, Aaron, and I left for our camping trip. It was a campground only 15 minutes from home, so we still had plenty of time to have a fire after the tent was set up. M12 burned some of his old math homework.

Books read from:
Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 30 minutes
Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 25 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 56 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham 20 minutes
The Haunted Library, by Dori Hillestad Butler 18 minutes

Books finished:
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
The Haunted Library, by Dori Hillestad Butler

Time reading: 149 minutes

Saturday we mostly relaxed. I spent campground lounging time to write 6 of the 9 letters I need to write this week. We went to the playground and got overheated, then we sat in the Air conditioning in McDonald's and got Dairy Queen. Aaron and IL5 had a water fight. Aaron, M12, and I played 2 games of Exploding Kittens. We played a form of flashlight tag, but IL5 didn't like the rules once he got tagged, and threw a temper tantrum. I got him in the car to take him home, and he said he was ok to go back to his sleeping bag, now. So we all went to sleep.

Books read from:

Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 15 minutes

I avoided reading anything because I didn't want to read a heavy book on a camping trip.

Sunday, we woke up to rain on the tent. We quickly broke camp and drove away. We had about enough time for us to unpack the car and me to take a bath before it was time for me to go to work. When I got home, I cooked a quick dinner and then I DM'd our first family session of D&D. It feels like 4 hours' worth of preparation led to 1 hour of game play, so maybe I'm doing it wrong. How do professional DM's make any money? They must accept small hourly compensation in exchange for liking their jobs.

Books read from:

Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 72 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy's Time-Jump, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Dinosaur Hunter, by Wanda Coven 17 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy's Time-Jump, by Thomas Flintham
Dinosaur Hunter, by Wanda Coven

Time reading: 104 minutes

Monday was relaxing. All three kids had a virtual appointment in the morning. Afterwards, we met with Aaron at Buffalo Wild Wings for a lunch date. I tried to convince IL5 to play outside, go to the library, and play with crafts, but he wasn't interested and I didn't push. I cooked pork chops for M12, split pea soup for Aaron's week's lunches, and meatloaf for dinner. I washed dad's laundry. And I relaxed.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 94 minutes
Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 51 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 175 minutes

I know neither of these pictures is special to you, but one of the cats in the picture hates other cats and hides in my bedroom all the time. This is a weird two moments where she coexisted.

Tuesday started with a virtual appointment for D14. After that one, we were supposed to talk to the orthodontist tech for her final appointment, but we were having trouble getting pictures of her teeth to send to them. But they helped us figure it out, and we ended up scanning her teeth with my phone and rescheduling the appointment for later in the day.

I took M12 to get a haircut - he'd been annoyed at the length of his hair. I then picked up IL5 for a virtual appointment. Afterwards, he and I went to the library. He played with the toys and on the computer, then picked out books.

D14 had her orthodontist appointment, and was told she's good, no more appointments. Yay! She's done! Then my friend Liz came over and she helped D14 learn the magic loop in crochet and we watched a couple episodes of Doctor Who. David Capaldi made his appearance.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 43 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 14 minutes
Ophie's Ghosts, by Justina Ireland 25 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 82 minutes

>74 The_Hibernator: My local library does not have the Turning book that you mention, but recently I was able to pick up a graphic novel about Turing that Mary (bell7) enjoyed and am hopeful that I will get to it soon. Alan Turing's work during WWII in helping to save so many lives is inspirational and what happened afterwards was a tragedy.

>75 alcottacre: Yes, so tragic. Things like that should never happen. 😭

Wednesday, pretty quickly on the heels of arriving home from work, I jumped on a virtual appointment for D14. Then, I took dad to see his vascular doctor, who said dad's peripheral artery disease is a lot worse than last year. He wants dad to start physical therapy three times a week, and to do further testing.

Because we were a distance from home at that appointment, and in two hours dad had another appointment that was in the same area, we just stayed in the area and went to the fancy upscale Perkins to kill time.

His second appointment was just a follow-up with his primary after his hospital visit, so nothing new there. Then we rushed home, and I shoved three cats in cages. Puck didn't fall for the tuna-in-cage trick again. He saw me put it in the cage and skedaddled. I had to recruit D14 to close the cage. I risked my arms and hands to grab Puck and shove him in. Freyja was easy, but he was so terrified at the vet he was shaking. Then Sake also scrambled and struggled. I think I may do one cat at a time with the vet from now on because they see another cat going in a cage and run.

After the vet appointment, Aaron and I took IL5 to soccer. As usual, he ran around in happy circles a lot, but this time he ran after the ball a few times - and kicked it again. He also was goalie once, and was great at paying attention. Though not at stopping the ball, but there's nothing wrong with room for improvement. He's enjoying himself, which matters more.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Alan Hodges 48 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 13 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 82 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 143 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362248

Thursday I went from work to work, with a half hour break in between. Then I ran errands, relaxed, and went back to work. Aaron stayed home from work, so he did the school shopping! I had been DREADING that task.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 42 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 112 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 26 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 179 minutes

Friday morning I had a meet-and-greet with the petsitter that will be coming during our vacation in August. She is pet CPR certified. I wonder how many pets she does CPR on? Then I horribly lost at a game of Magic against M12.

In the early afternoon, dad had peripheral artery disease physical therapy. I had been dreading it, because I didn't want to take him to three appointments a week again. I managed to set up medical transportation for him (for future appointments - this was his first), but he was resistant to trying it out. However, at the appointment, he was acting confused and wobbly, making me hesitant to be sending him on appointments alone, anyway. The therapist didn't want to work with him, because she said he was too wobbly. She wanted him to go to physical therapy. Probably for the best, because dad took a disliking to the therapist and refused to ever go back. I suppose if we ever get the referral again, we'll go to the facility farther away to get a different therapist. I'm a little skeptical the wobbliness is going to go away with physical therapy, and don't know if dad will consent to the physical therapy, because it was the other therapist who referred him. Maybe I can manage not to tell him who referred him.

After the appointment, dad wanted to go to lunch. I wasn't in the mood, but dad really enjoys going to lunch. I could have told him the truth - that I had been planning on taking IL5 out on his bike, and I'd really rather do that, but I felt bad about being annoyed at him when he wasn't feeling well...and who knew if IL5 would actually want to go? I wasn't in the mood to drag IL5 kicking and screaming to a bike ride, and if I told dad that I didn't want to go to lunch because I was taking IL5 on a bike ride, then I actually had to make it happen regardless of IL5's feelings on the subject. Then, of course, dad pressed his luck and asked me to go for a walk, but Deirdre wasn't in the mood to babysit more and I didn't think dad was steady enough. Besides, he was really stressing me out.

In the evening, I was sitting on the couch waiting for my 24hr readathon to start, when D14 started asking me questions about it. I asked her if she wanted to join. She seemed excited by the idea. Then Aaron agreed to join us too. (Though then he bailed after one hour to play his weekly game with his friends.)

Books read from:

Alan Turing The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 20 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 64 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 99 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 17 minutes
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel 61 minutes
Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 23 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 284 minutes

Saturday I continued my readathon, but I got close to the same number of minutes read for all day Saturday as I did on Friday night from 7pm till midnight. It was fun, though. I've been trying to take days off for reading once a month for a while, but haven't found the right day. Maybe I should take a "relaxation weekend" once a month where I don't try to be productive - I just do my hobbies.

In the evening, D14, my friend Liz, and I went to Little Shop of Horrors at the Guthrie theater. They did a fantastic job! It was the Aquacentennial in Minneapolis, though, so we had to compete with traffic that slowed our trip home by 30 minutes. 20 of that was just sitting in line at the parking ramp.

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 88 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 51 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 43 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 104 minutes
The Three Little Guinea Pigs, by Erica S Perl 5 minutes
When Glitter Met Glue, by Karen Kilpatrick 5 minutes

Books finished:

The Three Little Guinea Pigs, by Erica S Perl
When Glitter Met Glue, by Karen Kilpatrick

Time reading: 296 minutes

When Kaz is blown away from everything he knows, he meets Claire, a young solid who can see ghosts. They solve a mystery together. This was a cute book with nice pictures.

Henry goes on a field trip and digs for dinosaurs. As usual for this series, cute and engaging. Good ratio of pictures to words.

>82 The_Hibernator: The Haunted Library looks like fun.

>84 magicians_nephew: Yeah, some of these early reader chapter books are really good.

Sunday, I exercised on the stationary bike for a short stint, then went to work. Afterwards, D14 and I went to Frozen Junior, which was well-done. I took her to dinner, then home. We might have had family night afterwards, but one and then the other adolescent was occupied. So I called an early night for IL5 and myself. (Since IL5 cooperated, I guess he was tired, too.)

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 52 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham 16 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 32 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 100 minutes

Monday was a difficult day. I had to cancel all of IL5's activities because he hadn't pooped properly in 8 days and I was trying really hard to get him to poop. No success, though.

On top of that, dad started the morning screaming at me because I asked him to tell me how far he walked and for how long so that we could keep track for the next peripheral artery disease physical therapist. I guess it reminded him about how angry he was at the last therapist, so he took it out on me.

Because the day was so stressful, I mostly relaxed, trying to keep myself functional. In the evening, I read to D14 for over an hour, and she had a fun time listening to my theories about her book. We did that while sitting with IL5 in his bed because he wanted to cuddle under a blanket in bed, as he wasn't feeling well.

Then, the hard day continued when I got a letter telling me one of my pen pals had died. He'd been sick for a while and hadn't been answering my letters, but I'd kept writing because I knew how much letters can brighten up a life. That makes two non-RL friends to die recently.

Books read from:

Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 77 minutes
Alan Turing, by Andrew Hodges 29 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 39 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 145 minutes

Tuesday was busy. After arriving home for work, I tried to fill the pillboxes for dad, M12, and myself, but only finished dad's because I realized that I had forgotten to pick up his prescriptions last week, and I had to go get them. (So of course I never got to mine or M12's, which became apparent when M12 went to take them in the evening.)

Then dad and I went to his dermatology appointment, followed closely by a virtual appointment with D14. I had to leave that appointment early to get to dad's balance PT intake. Dad, thankfully, seemed pleased with with the therapist, and actually did his exercises later that night.

Before driving home, I needed to call dad's doctor's office to tell his clinical pharmacist that we would be 15 minutes late to her phone appointment, but luckily she was running late, too.

I was relaxing after that busy day, when IL5's gastroenterologist's nurse called and suggested we try magnesium citrate to get him to poop, and that she'd talk to the gastroenterologist and get back to me Wednesday. I told her I would do my best, and rushed off to the drug store.

IL5, of course, didn't drink the magnesium citrate after any amount of cajoling and bribing. He didn't even try it. And because we cajoled him to drink that, he decided not to drink anything we wanted him to drink...so we switched to trying to bribe and cajole him into drinking his normal daily laxatives. That became a big argument, because he wanted Dairy Queen, and we wouldn't give him Dairy Queen until he drank his daily laxatives. That went on over an hour until finally he said "ok, I'll take ice cream from the freezer instead." That sounded like a stalemate-breaker to me, so I gave him some ice cream from the freezer. After eating that, he agreed to drink the medicine. I went to work before seeing that happen. He thus completed his 9th day without pooping.

While the cajoling was going on, M12, Aaron, and I played a game of Settlers of Catan.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 93 minutes

Books finished:

Time reading: 93 minutes

>87 The_Hibernator: Sorry things have been rough lately and sorry you lost another friend.

And, as per usual, your days are filled with appointments. Hang in there! Glad to see you are fitting in some reading time. Take care.

Hi Kim! For some reason it was a huge bummer to me both when Anita died and my pen pal. Even though I really didn't know them closely. They were both such kind, wonderful people. And I generally have a pretty logical "people die" feeling about death. I think pregnancy changed my hormones. Probably not for the worst.

Wednesday was a tough day. Aaron's work downsized and he got laid off. Everyone was stressed about that.

IL5 pooped overnight, but not 10 days' worth. I got a call from his gastroenterologist and they ordered an x-ray and told us to go in on Thusday or Friday if he didn't contine pooping.

Aaron and I took M12's trombone in for maintenance ($400, and they'll have it for 6-8 weeks. They gave us a loaner, though.) M12 hadn't been taking it apart and putting it away daily, despite being told to, and I suspect it was stepped on. New rule: put it away, or he's grounded.

Then Aaron and I picked up some cupcakes - something we've been buying from a bakery to help M12 keep his weight on. I don't get any, but I color code the rest so there's no confusion.

And then we spent some of my saved up for-fun money to go out and eat and get lunch and a beer. We needed to discuss plans for insurance, etc. Luckily I can get insurance through my job. Probably not great insurance, but we'll get by. We left D14 babysitting, and when we got home, D14 was babysitting while on a video call appointment. I felt so bad that I forgot about her appointment. It was supposed to be a private appointment, so it wasn't on my personal schedule, and I just forgot. But both she and the provider were very understanding.

Then I had a bariatric MD appointment. She prescribed a med she thought my insurance might cover, since the ozempic is a no-go. This one has a generic, and isn't necessarily a weight loss med, so might slip by. Of course, my insurance is about to change, but I doubt it's better than what we had.

Then I called insurance and made sure my insurance covers step-kids, as they need to be on my dental and will qualify for Minnesota care through the state for medical (they'd have to switch dentists with Minnesota Care dental). My insurance will cover them, thankfully.

After that, I wasted time sitting around feeling stressed. Soccer was cancelled due to rain, so now I have 12 kids' worth of snacks to get rid of.

No reading

Sorry to hear about Aaron getting laid off - that's not good.

Sending good thoughts for both of you and the kids too

Hi Rachel. I am sorry you lost your pen pal friend and that Aaron got laid off from his job. When it rains… ☔️

I admire your attitude so much. Your plate is overflowing yet you take the setbacks in stride. I know you are hurting inside. Please remember to take care of yourself so you can keep on being the rock of your family. 💝

I'm so sorry about Aaron's job!

Very impressed that D remembered and signed on for her appointment even though you forgot about it! At her age I would have forgotten or panicked.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362397

>92 magicians_nephew: >93 Donna828: >94 norabelle414: Thanks for the support Jim, Donna, and Nora.

>93 Donna828: I generally reward myself with a quarter for every task I complete daily, a dollar every weekly goal, and two dollars every monthly goals, and put it in my fun budget for the family. I can't do that now, but since Aaron is home, I'll reward myself with an hour of extra reading time per 25 points (worth $25 usually). He can take some of my appointments and tasks. That'll count as self care for the time being.

>94 norabelle414: Yes, D isvery mature.

>95 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

Thursday, I took IL5 to an appointment and then Aaron took him to get an x-ray while I was at work. I worked a couple hours extra to help save money, and it was a bit disorienting to get home at 5:30. But if they let me do so while Aaron is searching for a job, I'll do that.

D14 had a friend E spending the night, and M12 was playing a fun computer game that IL5 really wanted to play and felt left out with E around, so Aaron got out his computer and we played the game with IL5 for the rest of the night.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 86 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 86 minutes

Total books finished in July:

The Haunted Library, by Dori Hillestad Butler
Henry Heckelbeck Dinosaur Hunter, by Wanda Coven
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett
The Three Little Guinea Pigs, by Erica S Perl
When Glitter Met Glue, by Karen Kilpatrick

Friday morning after work, I took IL5 to speech therapy. Then we packed up the cars and headed out for our last camping trip of the year. (Just the guys and me, again. D14 is with her mom.) We set up tent and chatted for the evening. IL5's x-ray results came in while we were lounging. Apparently the radiologist found a "small-to-moderate stool burden," but the gastroenterologist disagreed and said it was "a larger burden." They will call on Monday with further steps, so I get to worry all weekend about potential hospitalization.

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 114 minutes
Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 129 minutes

>98 The_Hibernator: Considering how much you have going on, Rachel, that looks like a good reading month to me!

>99 The_Hibernator: I am sorry to hear about the potential hospitalization and hope all works out there.

Try and have a super Saturday, Rachel!

>100 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! It was really only one book for myself, the rest were all to IL5. However, I'm in the middle of some long books and I'm not a fast reader, so I'm fine with this reading month.

Hopefully he won't need hospitalization. Though there were whispers of it last time I talked to the nurse, so I just don't know.

Saturday we relaxed at the campground for a long time. Then we went on a short walk, and went to a bar and grill at a nearby town for dinner. It poured rain in the night. M12 couldn't sleep because of his allergies, so after trying a few different things, he decided just to sleep in the car. He then woke us up at 6am because: "The sun's up!"

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 30 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 45 minutes

Hope all works out with IL and the pooping. What a worry!

I am trying to revive the Oregon Meet-up thread---it's here https://www.librarything.com/topic/356633#n8561501

Hi Rachel.

I'm sorry to read that Aaron got laid off and hope he finds a good job soon. Take good care of yourself in addition to all the things you do for your dad, your kids, Aaron, and the world in general!

>104 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! Hopefully he finds a job quickly. He has good references, but he'll be combatting ageism. (He's 49.) We can't survive on my income.

Sunday we packed up camp (after letting IL5 and Aaron sleep in to 8:30). The evening at home was pretty relaxing, with not much going on. IL5 was pretty thrilled about the second Desmond Cole book, so I promised to get more from the library.

Books read from:

Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier 88 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 64 minutes
Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes, Do They?, by Andres Miedoso 30 minutes

Books finished:

Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes, Do They?, by Andres Miedoso
Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Time reading: 182 minutes

Hi Rachel, so sorry about Aaron's job. Quite a worry with all you have going on. I bet he finds something fast, though.

Are you still planning the Oregon trip? It looks like the 17th for lunch is the best meet-up time

>107 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! Yes, I'm still coming! I was worried for a while that IL5 would be hospitalized that week, and I'd have to stay home with him while everyone else went on vacation, but his doctor said she thought it could be cleared up out-patient.

Monday IL5 had swim lessons. Aaron met with HR about his severance package, and got a call-back about a job. The gastroenterologist got back to me and said that hospitalization won't be necessary to get IL5 clear. They want us to give him yet more daily laxatives. I'm not 100% certain giving him 3 Exlax, 1-2 Dulcolax, and 2 tsp of Calm Magnesium a day is good for his gut in the long-term. I read to D14 in the evening.

Books read from:

Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 54 minutes
Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 76 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 130 minutes

Readathon

Little Shop of Horrors

IL5's photography skills

This is a sweet story of friendship where each friend brings out good qualities in the other. IL5 wanted me to buy him glitter glue after reading this book.

The Three Little Guinea Pigs was a twist on the three little pigs. Cute

Aaron, M12, and myself


IL5 and Aaron

>109 The_Hibernator: I am so very glad to hear that your son does not need hospitalization! I am sure that is a load off your mind as well.

>110 The_Hibernator: Love it!

>115 The_Hibernator: Always love to see games hitting the table!

>116 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Yes, I really love board games. Aaron actually has a board gaming group every other Saturday that I'm invited to, but I'd need to find someone to watch IL5, and M12 doesn't have the perseverance to watch him for that long, so the weekend has to correspond with a weekend D14 is around. But I think when those things coincide, I'll do it.

Tuesday was calm. D14 had a video appointment with Aaron and myself. I had 3 hours to relax - I took a nap and read. Aaron had an interview with a placement company. He also ran errands and weeded so I could rest.

I used to pay myself 25c for every task completed on my to-do list, $1 for every weekly goal, and $2 for every monthly goal. The money goes to my fun budget for the family (and myself). But while Aaron's looking for a job, I switched to a point system where each dollar converts to a point, and I pay 25 points an hour for time off where Aaron does "my work." He has kindly agreed to this.

In the evening my friend Liz came over, and we all watched Doctor Who (except M12 and IL5 who were playing Spore and Creature Creator respectively). IL5 was thrilled when the new Press Start book arrived in the mail - I had pre-ordered it months ago. Instantly, he saw the ad for the next book that won't be out for another several months. He paused his video so I could read the new book to him (usually he only wants to read at bedtime, so I only get to read to him on the three days a week I don't work nights). So that was fun for both of us.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 56 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 55 minutes
Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 27 minutes

Books finished:

Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 153 minutes

Wednesday felt a bit long and lonely. I went almost directly from my overnight job to my day job, and didn't get home till 5:30pm. There's no one to talk to at either job, due to my clients not really being verbal, and the day job is simply sitting around (though I bring books, work, and cross-stitch with me).

When I got home, I really wanted to stay home, but I also wanted to talk, and Aaron was taking IL5 to soccer. So I went along. IL5 didn't do what the coach told him to do at all. I'm wondering how he's going to handle kindergarten. I guess he really belongs in a Montessori that actually follows the original Montessori structure (letting kids pick their educational activity) rather than the college-prep-during-kindergarten structure that so many people associate it with (not sure when the spirit of the teaching structure changed). But we can't afford a private school, so IL5 is going to have to learn to do what he's told...which I don't see happening quickly. I don't know if he doesn't hear the instructions (his ADHD), doesn't understand the instructions (his language difficulties), or just doesn't like the instructions (personality). Plus he is hyperactive - gets up and runs around in circles for no reason - so how is he going to sit still for kindergarten? Plus his inability to clearly talk. Plus his fear of the toilet. I'm actually scared of kindergarten.

Books read from:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 67 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 22 min
Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel 21 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 42 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 152 minutes

>119 The_Hibernator: Five year old soccer is generally pretty chaotic; I remember when my daughter started playing soccer, and there was very little focus on the field. Luckily her coaches were very chill.
Hopefully you will have a good IEP team when kindergarten starts. I know that a lot of schools are hesitant to give kids the support they need, so it's lucky that IL has such a good advocate.

Looking forward to seeing you soon... anything in particular that you wanted from the meet-up? I thought if you wanted to do Powell's we could go to Deschute's brewery first; but if you'd like to try somewhere new, there are lots of options.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362545

>120 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! IL5's IEP team has been good for special ed preschool. We just had bad experiences with D14 when she was young (and on and off through elementary school) with teachers that simply didn't like her because of her anxiety. So I worry we'll get something similar for IL5 once we have him mainstreamed into the regular classroom.

Unfortunately, Aaron and I both have COVID and we chose not to go on the vacation. It's very disappointing, but I guess it's best the symptoms started before the flight.

>121 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver! I probably won't be reading this weekend, but I cheer you on.

Thursday was another long day of going directly from overnight job to day job, and then arriving back home at 5:30pm. Dad was out of bed - he'd been bedridden by a virus for a couple days. We had a quick dinner, and then I started feeling super tired. Then the awful chills. I put on long underwear under my clothes and still felt cold. Finally, I decided the responsible thing to do is take a COVID test so that I don't expose my overnight client (again). The test had a very faint pink line that Aaron couldn't see, but D14, M12, and I could see. So I called in to work and went straight to bed.

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 30 minutes

Friday I was very sick. Aaron called his mom and they decided we would not have our trip to Oregon in the morning. Aaron started having symptoms by Friday evening.

No reading

I am so sorry that you got hit with Covid! I hope you have a quick recovery.

Best wishes to you and your family!

Karen O

Oh no!! I am sorry to hear about Aaron's job and now Covid. Hang in there and take care. Hope things look up very soon. We'll miss you out here on the cancelled vacation. Hugs.

>127 Berly: Hi Kim! Yeah bith of those are real bummers. I was really looking forward to the meetup and reading to IL5 every night instead of just on weekends when I don't work.

Saturday I mostly spent in bed, as did Aaron. D14 watched IL5, but had a headache at the end of the day and Aaron took over. The most I did was order a few essential groceries, McDonald's, and pizza to be delivered, cancel our pet-feeder, and publish my blog. That was exhausting (even though my blog is mostly complete by Saturday morning, it was the hardest).

No reading

Sorry to hear about the COVID and cancelled trip! Any chance the virus your dad had was COVID?

Sorry to hear you are sick, my friend. COVID can really knock the pins out from under you. Take care and feel better soon

I'm so sorry you got COVID and had to cancel your trip! What a bummer. I hope you get some rest.

So sorry about the COVID, Rachel.

>130 ronincats: Hi Roni! Yeah, we're assuming the virus my dad had was COVID. Though now he's having abdominal pain that started around the same time, but bad enough that he admits he needs a doctor. So who knows what's going on with him. 🤷‍♀️ I know COVID can cause gut issues, but his pain seems more than an irritable gut.

>131 magicians_nephew: Hi Jim! I'm on the road to recovery, so all told this was my least horrible experience with COVID. But they were certainly all awful!

>132 norabelle414: Thanks Nora! My week will hopefully stay empty. There are no appointments scheduled, swim lessons were cancelled due to water heater issue, so all we have is soccer. So lots of time to rest.

>133 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! Yeah, it's a bummer. I'm getting better, but losing the vacation stinks!

Sunday Aaron was feeling much better, and I was able to stay out of bed for most of the day. I was even able to put IL5 to bed, though my voice didn't hold out for much reading.

Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Monday I was feeling a bit foggy-brained in the morning, but otherwise I was ok. I took dad to the doctor for an appointment for a new-this-week back pain. She wasn't very helpful. She diagnosed him with back pain and assigned him physical therapy. So I played appointment-roulette and moved stuff around until I got 3 PT appointments scheduled. Then later in the day, I was putting lidocaine on his back, and realized the pain was exactly where his last broken rib was. He probably rebroke it while COVID-coughing. This hopefully means I can cancel the PT appointments.

The trip to the doctor tired me out, so I took it easy for the rest of the day except for cooking dinner. I played some Spore with IL5. Then Aaron took IL5 to soccer. M12, dad, and I watched "Taken," which dad complained was too dark and over-the-top. His complaint about "Identity Thief" the day before was that it was too silly and over-the-top. So I can't win.

No reading

Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

In this humorous anthology Holly and Justine introduce stories which demonstrate each of their points – which are better: zombies or unicorns. I listened to this with M12, and both of us found it funny and refreshing.

Andres and Desmond have another ghostly adventure, this time with haunted bikes. IL5 absolutely loved this book, and its ghosts. He asked me to get more of the books.

Mega Mole Girl must rescue Super Rabbit Boy and all the other heroes of Super World. IL5 has made us read this book to him 3 days in a row.

Tuesday I was feeling a bit fatigued, and pushed myself more than I should have. I did some laundry and other chores, played Spore with IL5, did some cooking for the week, and then crashed for 3 hours. While I was asleep, D14 cooked the meatloaf I had been planning on cooking for dinner. Then I did a couple more chores, but I still had energy to read to IL5 before bed. Aaron applied to a few jobs, did some chores, and played Spore with IL5.

Books read from:

Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 15 minutes
Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep!, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Surf's Up, Creepy Stuff!, by Andres Miedoso 27 minutes

Books finished:

Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep!, by Thomas Flintham
Surf's Up, Creepy Stuff!, by Andres Miedoso

Time reading: 57 minutes

Wednesday I was still feeling fatigued, but I managed to wash a load of dishes. Aaron weeded and played Spore with IL5. I tried reading to D14, but my voice wasn't holding out. IL5 stood happily on the soccer field while his teammates played.

Books read from:

Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 20 minutes
Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 35 minutes
The Goat Who Chewed Too Much, by Tom Angleberger 38 minutes

Books finished:

The Goat Who Chewed Too Much, by Tom Angleberger

Time reading: 93 minutes

I'm so sorry to read about Aaron's job and I hope he finds something very quickly. That must be really hard. I'm glad your step daughter is able to work on puzzles with the puzzle keeper. We used to have a felt roll up thing for puzzles when our kids were younger and we all did a puzzle together and it was a great. Now I have a puzzle board that tilts, which is nice for my back and neck. Best wishes to IL as he starts Kindergarten. My niece's son who has mild autism and ADHD starts kindergarten at a regular school, but hopefully they have the right supports in place for him at the school. He's on medication and has been attending a special centre for young children with autism. I think the school conferred with the Autism centre as well as my niece and her husband. He will also continue to attend the autism centre three times a week, so I hope it all goes well.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362683

>143 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Good luck to your neice's son! Hopefully they have a good support system in place. I sounded like I sit around worrying about IL5's school all the time. I really don't. It's just the day I wrote that I was feeling insecure about it. He's very stubborn and not a people-pleaser at all. He just does his own thing.

>144 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver! I'm back in action with reading, but am still trying to take it easy from activities, so I guess it's the perfect weekend for a readathon.

Thursday I felt pretty much normal. I ran some errands, played Spore with IL5, did things on my to-do list and cooked shrimp for dinner. Aaron had a honey-do list which he completed. D14, Dad, and Aaron watched Seventh Son in the evening, then D14 and I watched Penelope.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 75 minutes
Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham 16 minutes
Bear Country, by Doreen Cronin 16 minutes

Books finished:

Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 107 minutes

>117 The_Hibernator: I wish we had a local gaming group but since we do not, I am happy that Kerry is willing to game with me!

>119 The_Hibernator: I hope IL5 is able to handle kindergarten. I wish there was something constructive that I could add.

>146 The_Hibernator: I am glad to hear that you are feeling better and hope that everyone else is feeling better as well.

>147 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I guess I'm more worried about whether the teacher can handle IL5. He's definitely not a people-pleaser. He takes about 5 minutes to accept "no" as an answer, unless he throws a temper tantrum, which lasts longer. I make him sound like a brat, but he's also pretty sweet most of the time. He's a very joyful boy.

Yes, everyone is feeling better - even dad, who was the most sick.

Friday I was feeling pretty good, besides a little pokiness in the morning. I played Spore with IL5, did some chores, took a walk with dad, and read. I had been hoping to go to the pool, but it was too cool out. Aaron did chores and watched "Land of Bad." The kids went out to dinner with their mom.

Books read from:

Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 92 minutes
Super Game Book!, by Thomas Flintham 14 minutes
Bear Country, by Doreen Cronin 21 minutes

Books finished:

Super Game Book!, by Thomas Flintham
Bear Country, by Doreen Cronin

Time reading: 127 minutes

Hi Rachel. I’m glad the adults in your family are over the Covid visit. It’s going around here too. I do not want to go through that again.

School starts on Monday here in Southwest Missouri. I hope IL hits it off with his teacher. It can be such a fun year if it gets off to a good start.

>150 Donna828: Thanks Donna! I hope he hits it off with his teacher too!

School starts on a week from Wednesday for the older kids and on the following Tuesday for IL5. It's coming up quickly!

Good luck not catching COVID.

Saturday Aaron, IL5, and I went to lunch with my friend Liz. Then we went to the bookstore to buy 2 Minecraft books for IL5. They are way above the level I've been reading to him, and he didn't even ask for them to be read to him in the evening - he was excited about the next Desmond Cole book I had out from the library. But he had requested Minecraft books, so there you go. The rest of the day was spent with a couple chores and reading.

Books read from:

The Week: A Good Catch? 23 minutes
Wind Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 76 minutes
New Scientist: Oceans in Chaos 50 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 33 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 31 minutes
Night of the Zombie Zookeeper, by Andres Miedoso 31 minutes

Books finished:

Night of the Zombie Zookeeper, by Andres Miedoso

Time reading: 244 minutes

Sunday I deep cleaned the kitchen, including junk drawers, played Spore with IL5, and read. In the evening, the family played D&D. IL5 was especially wound up Sunday night and was very recalcitrant at bedtime. I was beginning to despair by about 12:30am.

Books read from:

The Week: A Good Catch? 33 minutes
New Scientist: Oceans in Chaos 46 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 58 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 55 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 31 minutes
Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles: Into the Game!, by Nick Eliopulos 27 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 250 minutes

Oops

Monday I accidentally slept through swim lessons for IL5. I turned my alarm off at 9 and fell back asleep till 11:15. Oh well. M12, IL5, Aaron and I went to the pool and had a lot of fun, though IL5 threw a temper tantrum when we left. Then we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings with D14. By then, we didn't have enough transition time to get IL5 cheerfully to soccer, so we skipped that too. M12 went to Boy Scouts. Freyja, one of the kittens, dashed out the door when I left for work, and I had to chase him down. So I ordered a tag with our phone number on it, and hope it comes before he escapes longer-term. People around here tend to grab up kitties.

Books read from:

The Week: A Good Catch? 5 minutes
Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 55 minutes
New Scientist: Oceans in Chaos 20 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 24 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 37 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 141 minutes

Diana steals Sandy Patterson’s identity and uses it to commit crimes and max out credit cards. So he sets out to bring her to justice. This is a silly, over-the-top comedy of an unlikely friendship. It made an entertaining evening with my dad (who didn’t really like it).

Bryan Mills’ 17-year-old daughter goes to Europe to be a band groupie. She is kidnapped on the first day, and Mills goes on a rampage to find her. This is an old favorite of a lot of people. I enjoyed my rewatch. Dad thought it was too dark and over-the-top for his tastes.

Andres and Desmond go to an awesome beach and settle in for a nice day. But then mersurfers start mixing up the action. IL5 is really enjoying this series. It takes me about a half hour to read one of these books, and he enjoys the whole thing.

The chicks go in search of their missing human, Barbara. Funny. Cute. Enjoyable.

>157 The_Hibernator: I am with your dad on this one, but my husband loves Liam Neeson and has watched the movie several times.

Have a terrific Tuesday, Rachel!

>160 alcottacre: It was very dark. But I like action.

Tuesday I did chores, had a virtual appointment for myself, and then an in-person appointment for IL5. I played LEGO with IL5 when we were done - I had some LEGO I had intended on giving him when we were visiting his grandma, but we didn't go, so I gave them to him Tuesday. Then my friend Liz came over and D14 & Aaron joined us as we watched a little Doctor Who.

Books read from:

New Scientist: Oceans in Chaos 10 minutes
Newsweek: A New Cold War? 13 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 49 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 31 minutes
The Week: A Good Catch? 18 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 34 minutes
Nurk, by Ursula Vernon 21 minutes

Books finished:

Nurk, by Ursula Vernon

Time reading: 176 minutes

Wednesday I got home from work at 9:20am, left for my second job at 9:55am, got home at 5:30pm, and left for work again at 9:25pm. That gave me 4.5 hours of non-work time, some of which was spent doing necessary tasks instead of relaxing. Aaron took IL5 to soccer, then played Spore with him when they got home.

Books read from:

Newsweek: A New Cold War? 21 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 14 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 44 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 117 minutes
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett 62 minutes
Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel 23 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 18 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 299 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362808

Thursday, I repeated Wednesday's schedule. So by the time my shift is over on Friday morning, I'll have had 9 hours off work in a 60 hour period of time. D14 watched the last episode of Monk. Dad and I watched the first episode of Queen's Gambit.

Books read from:

Newsweek 8 minutes
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett 74 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 74 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 44 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 53 minutes
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel 35 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 22 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 310 minutes

(I have time to read at work and while commuting)

>164 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>159 The_Hibernator: That book looks fun to read

Popped in to see how you are doing with Wind Up Bird Chronicle. I'm on page 496 (of 607) in the paperback edition. I'm hoping to finish it soon although I'm also reading several others at the same time. I suspect that you must be getting close to the end, too - hooray for someone still working on the group read to discuss it with.

Boo, hiss on the Covid as well as Aaron being laid off.

Glad your sticking with the Alan Turing book. It's a good one

Oh, that covid. My sister phoned today and she has covid. She is concerned because she and her husband are off to Germany for a holiday , September1st. She'll be over covid by then, but will Mike, her husband get it too ? He's sleeping downstairs and when he comes upstairs he wears a mask. I hope he won't get it!

>167 louisisaloafofbreb: Yeah, it's a cute series Louis.

>168 streamsong: Hi Janet! Yes, I'm close to the end of Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It's strange, but interesting. I have 3 hours left, so I will probably finish it this week. It's nice to have someone else just finishing up.

>169 magicians_nephew: Hi Jim! Yes, I'm enjoying it. It'll take me a while because I listen to nonfiction on my way to and from work so I get 160 minutes listened to per week. But it's good!

>170 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Hopefully your sister gets to go on her trip. I can attest to how frustrating it is to plan a trip and then have it ruined by COVID.

Friday after work I mainly relaxed until the afternoon, when IL5 was ready to go on a bike ride. I had carefully picked a park with no playground, so that he'd actually ride his bike, but there was a lake beach, and he wanted to play in the sand after only a short jaunt on his bike. I'll have to find another park for biking.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 10 minutes
Alan Turing, by Andrew Hodges 23 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 50 minutes
Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles: Into the Game!, by Nick Eliopulos 17 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 100 minutes

Saturday Aaron and I played our Escape the Underdark D&D campaign for the first time in 6 weeks. Then he played Spore with IL5 and I cooked dinner. In the evening, Aaron and I had a date at a board gaming cafe. We only stayed a little over an hour because my brain was fried, but it was fun.

Books read from:

The Week: Wave Rider 22 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 33 minutes
New Scientist: Mission to Europa 8 minutes
Newsweek: A Class of Their Own 17 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 32 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 21 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 133 minutes

>171 The_Hibernator: I can tell by the cover its adorable

>174 louisisaloafofbreb: Yeah, I'm really enjoying reading some of these books to my son. Luckily he likes the same types of books that I do.

Sunday, I worked all day. Aaron cooked burgers, fries, and corn cobs for dinner. In the evening, IL5 watched M12 play Spore, and Aaron and I watched a couple episodes of Supernatural. At bedtime, I finished up a Minecraft book that IL5 was really excited about.

Books read from:

The Week: Wave Rider 27 minutes
New Scientist: Mission to Europa 45 minutes
Newsweek: A Class of Their Own 8 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 60 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 17 minutes
Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles: Into the Game!, by Nick Eliopulos 40 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 50 minutes

Books finished:

Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles: Into the Game!, by Nick Eliopulos

Time reading: 244 minutes

>175 The_Hibernator: ooooh, funnn, i dont really like the books my family reads bc they don't have any to read anyways, butttt I'm glad you and your son have something to bond over

Hi, Rachel. Just checking in. How is Wind Up Bird coming along? How is the audio version?

We will be leaving on the Big Trip on Friday. We will pass by you on our way west on I90. We will be staying near Jackson MN, on our first night. Looks like a lovely campground, looking out over a lake. I hope you can follow some of our adventures.

>177 louisisaloafofbreb: Hi Louis! Yeah, I read to my stepdaughter once a week, too. I'm reading her favorite series to her: Keeper of the Lost Cities. It's definitely a nice way to bond.

>178 msf59: Hi Mark! I'll keep an eye on your thread to follow your trip. I THINK I'll finish Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this week. I have 2 hours left, but I don't seem to have a lit of opportunities to listen this week. The audio version is pretty good, though his voice for May is probably more funny than Murakami intended. 😁

Monday, I woke late because I had had a hard time falling asleep. I felt like half the day was gone. Aaron played Spore with IL5 and I made some chickpea curry and cooked M12's pork chops for the week. (He warms them for dinner.) Then I took a short nap before D14's high school orientation

The orientation consisted of an activity fair, which D14 found frustrating since she couldn't find the D&D club table, a pep rally, which D14 found stressful because of the noise and crowd, and walking through her schedule so we could listen to each teacher talk for a while. The orientation was supposed to be 3 hours long, but they let us out after 2.5 hours due to severe weather. D14 and I had to walk around the parking lot searching for the car in the rain and wind because we couldn't find the car. D14 was pretty stressed at the end.

Books read from:

The Week: Wave Rider 27 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 19 minutes
New Scientist: Mission to Europa 26 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 72 minutes

>179 The_Hibernator: Ooh, ive heard of that but never had read it

>181 louisisaloafofbreb: It's good. I like the second and third books more than the first, though.

IL5 wearing the scarf D14 crocheted for him.

Andres and Desmond go on a field trip to the zoo, and run into a zombie. For second or third grade. Loki loves these books and chooses to read them ASAP.

Nurk wants to go on an adventure like his grandmother, but is afraid of getting his socks wet. For third or fourth grade. Very cute and mildly funny. (Read it to myself, not IL5.)

Tuesday, I came home from work in the morning and filled dad's, M12's, and my pillboxes for the week, as usual. Dad was out of a prescription that had one refill left, but the automated system gave me an error message, and sent me to a human. The human said that dad's doctor "closed." I'm like: "What? He's not closed!" So I called dad's doctor up, and the phones were out. So I don't know what's going on, there.

After that wasn't cleared up, Aaron and I rented a tiller. Aaron tilled the ground where the tree stumps used to be. When he was done with the first one, I began laying manure down on the tilled soil and mixing it with a pitchfork. I had moved 1880 pounds of manure before I was staggering around and decided I had had enough. I hadn't even finished the big tilled area.

Aaron had finished tilling the other stump area, and had a meeting with his placement agency. When he was done, I'd stopped working, so he called it a day, too, since tilling was hard work and he was exhausted, too.

The family went out for steaks later in the evening, and then D14 and I sorted school supplies for the kids.

Books read from:

Alan Turing: the Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 41 minutes
The Week: Wave Rider 10 minutes
New Scientist: Mission to Europa 8 minutes
Newsweek: A Class of Their Own 18 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 77 minutes

>182 The_Hibernator: I was reading Scythe but i just ended up donating it because i just couldn't get into it honestly. But! Ive always wanted to read that series.

>194 louisisaloafofbreb: You should try it. It's going well for me, and D14 loves it. I think I'm on the third book, averaging 30 pages a week.

Wednesday was D14 and M12's first day of school. Both went well. D14 auditioned for the school play and didn't make it to callbacks, but still hopes to do crew. M12 signed up for wiffleball as his "Irish Time," which is his mid-day break.

Aaron took dad to his audiologist appointment, and then to the clinic that we were having difficulty contacting. Their phones and computers were down. They tried to relay my message, but unfortunately some more info from me is needed, so I'll have to try calling until their phones work.

Then Aaron and I mixed the rest of the manure with dirt on the tilled land. He used a roller to flatten the area as much as possible, then put down the grass seed. We used some cloth that has seed in it, and apparently the cloth will dissolve and the seeds plant themselves. I helped by pinning them to the ground so they don't blow away. We will water 3x daily until the grass comes in I guess?

I then picked up IL5 for his literacy assessment. I sat on the floor of the gym while waiting and he curled in a ball in my lap and tucked his head in. I don't know if he was tired or overwhelmed by the people and noise. But he seemed to like his teacher. She said he did well, though didn't listen to instructions well - which problem I forewarned her of in an email (warning her not to assume he doesn't understand the instructions, which is tempting to new people). I also warned her about his speech, refusal to poop in the toilet, ADHD, and dislike of eating at school. She seemed to appreciate the warning. But she may have just been being polite, of course.

After his literacy assessment, I went to the library to pick up the next minecraft book in the series I started reading to IL5), then to the grocery store and to pick up cupcakes to add variety to M12's high-calorie snacks (he has to eat one a day to keep his weight up).

I read to D14 - Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger - and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Media read from:

The Week: Wave Rider 11 minutes
New Scientist: Mission to Europa 16 minutes
Newsweek: A Class of Their Own 9 minutes
Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 43 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 41 minutes
Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger 48 minutes

Media finished:

The Week: Wave Rider
New Scientist: Mission to Europa
Newsweek: A Class of their Own

Time reading: 168 minutes

Here's the Labor Day readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/363002

Thursday morning was rough. I got off work at 9am and drove home a different route than usual because of construction. I missed my turn, which dumped me off somewhere that added 10 minutes to my trip home, then I got stuck behind a train for another few minutes. I only had 15 minutes to prepare to leave for my next job. When I left for my day job, I stopped for gas, but had trouble with the chip reader in the gas pump, which means I can't get my card out of the pump till it reads the chip. So I had to wiggle the card around for a while until it read. Frustrated, I decided to take my anxiety meds because I was getting all worked up. But when I opened my bottle, it exploded red Crystal Light on my favorite sweatshirt. So I told my client I'd be 15 minutes late and went home to take care of the sweatshirt.

I worked till 5, but it was a calm day, and I was able to calm down and get a few things done like sending emails, making some necessary purchases on Amazon, writing letters, and reading.

There was a severe thunderstorm watch on the way home, but I was only sprinkled on. However, the roads were flooded and a signal out when I got to my city. The electricity was out at my home when I arrived. Aaron had been cooking chili. So we went to Olive Garden for dinner because he couldn't finish in the dark on an electric stove. On the way out the door, Freyja, one of our kittens, made the usual dash for the door and experienced rain for the first time. I hoped he would show an ability to turn around and ask to get back in, but instead he hunkered down and waited for me to rescue him.

After dinner, the electricity was back on, and Aaron finished the chili. We sat and chatted about the book I was reading, and eventually D14 and M12 joined the conversation, because my book is a conversation-starter. Then I left for work at 9:30pm.

Aaron had managed to get several errands and tasks on his honey-do list Thursday.

Media read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 53 minutes
Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami 54 minutes
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett 39 minutes
Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel 43 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 41 minutes

Media finished: none

Time reading: 230 minutes

I'm glad things look promising for IL with his teacher. I hope his start at school goes well.

>199 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! I think he'll do ok. Hopefully.

Friday after work, I took IL5 to speech therapy. Then I took a nap and did some reading before helping D14 in a virtual appointment, then taking her to an in-person appointment. Upon returning home, the older kids left with their mom for their grandpa's. I sat and chatted with Aaron until he went downstairs for his weekly gaming session. In a while, I put IL5 to bed, and collapsed under my blankets.

Media read from:

Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges 22 minutes
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 23 minutes
The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, by Jaclyn Moriarty 20 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 47 minutes
Mr Ballen Podcast 73 minutes
Desmond Cole and the Scary Library Shusher, by Andres Miedoso 34 minutes

Media finished:

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
Desmond Cole and the Scary Library Shusher, by Andres Miedoso

Time reading: 219 minutes

Not much happened on Saturday. Aaron had a board gaming group that he hung out with, so I hung out with IL5 all day. I was super tired all day, so all I managed was about an hour of housework.

Media read from:

The Week: The New Brand 25 minutes
Behave, by Robert Sapolsky 76 minutes
Minecraft Woodsword: Night of the Bats, by Nick Eliopulos 41 minutes

Media finished: none

Time reading: 142 minutes