Hibernator's second 2024 thread

Puck was in front of me when I made this thread

Hi! I'm Rachel, 44yo caregiver of elderly and disabled. I have one son - IL5 - and two bonus kids - M11 & D14. For fun, I read, pen pal, and play Dungeons and Dragons. I have 25 pen pals. I am in 3 D&D campaigns. One is play-by-post and the others are by group voice-call.

I read a variety of books, though I have a leaning towards fantasy. My goal is to read 2 me-books a month and 4-5 books to the kids (mostly IL5, but I am reading to D14, too). That should get me to 75 quite handily. 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
15. Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor
16. Notebook of Doom: Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Troy Cummings
17. Press Start: Super Game Book, by Thomas Flintham

April Reads
18. Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett
19. Sydney and Taylor Take a Flying Leap, by Jacqueline Davies
20. The Fran that Time Forgot, by Jim Benton

Open for business!

Happy new thread!

>6 The_Hibernator: Thanks Lily

>8 The_Hibernator: your welcome!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel! Hopefully I will keep better track of this thread than I did the last.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy New Thread Rachel

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Happy new thread, Rachel.

Happy New Thread, Rachel. Love the Puck topper.

Thanks all!

Friday was fun. At least towards the middlish-end. I went from work to IL5's poop physical therapy then, after playing in the sandbox, we went to D14's appointment. We did that in the parking lot of the school. When we were done, D14 was dreading going back inside, so I guess I was feeling generous because told her she could go to the park with me instead. So off we headed to an indoor park, and IL5 played for 2 hours, and still wanted more. After dinner, M11, Aaron, and I watched Resident Alien.

Books read from:

St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman 30 minutes
Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 60
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 20 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Shark School: Deep-Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean 20 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham
Shark School: Deep-Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean

Time reading: 145 minutes

Saturday M11 worked on his drafting merit badge with a bunch of other kids. D14 cooked some mint chocolate fudge. Aaron painted the ceiling of IL5's room orange. In the afternoon, IL5, M11, D14, Dad, and I went to Nickelodeon Universe - the amusement park in the Mall of America. IL5 was unhappy even with the tiny "scary" rides, though M11 was fine with them and not the bigger scary rides. D14 wanted the bigger scary rides. But they all got as much as they wanted.

Books read from:

Shark School: Deep Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean 10 minutes
Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Shark School: Deep Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean 10 minutes
Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Time reading: 25 minutes

Sunday I worked for several hours. D14 played D&D. Then we ate take-home Buffalo Wild Wings and watched Resident Alien as a family.

Books read from:

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 75 minutes
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 19 minutes
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 22 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 116 minutes

In a post- apocalyptic world where cities are moving predators, London is trying to declare war on other settlements. Tom and Hester aim to stop the destruction. This had an ok premise, but had too many elements where it seemed like plot was going to be developed, then it wasn’t. It was 2 hours of thin plotlines and no character development. But it was ok to watch.

Obviously, I’ve seen this movie several times, but this time I got to watch it for the first time through the eyes of M11, who seemed to enjoy it.

This book is a somewhat personalized view of the opioid epidemic, mostly set in a smallish community in Virginia. There are descriptions of the lawsuits filed against big pharma, but mostly it is stories of people she interviewed. It was an interesting coverage of the problem – not the first I’ve read on the subject. I didn’t like her coverage of Ritalin, though. She made Ritalin into a gateway drug, and only pointed out the negative in it – thus perpetuating the stigma against putting one’s child on it. She pointed out that studies show that Ritalin doesn’t enhance the performance of the average person, but failed to point out that it does enhance the performance of people who truly have ADHD. So, overall this was a good book, though it was rather single-sighted about what the author viewed as right and wrong.

Beginning of February


Beginning of March

Monday was exhausting for no particular reason. It wasn't any busier than a normal day, but somehow seemed a bit extra. It started with me getting up early to organize myself before mobilizing IL5 for his appointment, but D14 wanted me to proofread her essay, and then M11 wanted an explanation of Planned Parenthood (the subject of the essay) which somehow became a racially charged uncomfy conversation. (M11 has not matured enough to separate what his white supremacist YouTubers say and his own opinion, so every once in a while a difficult conversation happens. He'll mature, though.) I was left without time to go through my morning ritual including absorbing my long to-do list and making an attack plan. In fact, I didn't get to that until 2pm, meaning I missed my window of opportunity for some if the tasks.

IL5 had a good speech therapy, though. He's up to 10th percentile in speech (from 5th last year). Yay! Then we played in the sandbox for a while before M11's appointment. Soon, I dropped IL5 off at preschool and dad had his cardiac rehab appointment, which is when I had time to go through my to-do list.

Later, I took IL5 to swim lessons. Aaron picked D14 up from an activity, dropped her at rehearsal, took M11 to Boy Scouts, and picked up D14 from rehearsal. (All three kids had to be somewhere at the same time, and Aaron got the brunt of that.)

I was pleased to go to work at 10pm so I could sleep.

Books read from:

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor 45 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 75 minutes

Tuesday Aaron and I met at the clinic for an appointment with D14. Then dad had a clinical pharmacist appointment, followed by a fitting for his dentures (finally!). Except they didn't fit him for his dentures, they filed down a bone that was sticking out and we made another appointment in two weeks for the fitting.

M11 was grounded when I got home because, despite all the help we could give, he still didn't finish his missing assignments by the end of the trimester. It feels like he simply chose to be grounded, when I'd given him so many chances and he knew he would get grounded.

However, he decided that he was going to go to the park on his bike, because he wanted to learn to ride. And, after Aaron pumped up his tires, he did it! He can ride a bike!

Books read from:

Great World Religions: Christianity, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 30 minutes

Wednesday dad had cardiac rehab in the morning. And, yay! He's being discharged after 3 more appointments!!!! I'm so excited for my calendar to open up. I have a couple new regular appointments to schedule, though, including much-needed therapy for myself since I burned myself out over the past 4 or so months of non-stop appointments. So, still with the appointments, but at least I'll have a place to vent and won't have to listen to dad bitch and moan about all of his appointments.

Next, I had an appointment with my sleep specialist. Nothing new on my sleep disorder other than an encouragement to actually take the meds before driving. Which promise I promptly forgot by the next day.

IL5 had an event at his preschool next, and I had to leave that early (after a trade-off with Aaron) to get to an appointment with D14. The event was mainly a bonding experience in which he was supposed to show me around his classroom, but he was over that in a matter of minutes.

M11 had rehearsal for the middle school play, as usual, and then D14, dad, Aaron, and I went out to Olive Garden. IL5 was asleep and we made a deal with M11 that he could watch TV despite being grounded if he stayed home with IL5.

No reading

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359104

Thursday after work I took D14 to an appointment, then I went to my day job. I was feeling a little sick at work - nauseated, cold, headachy. I wondered if I was coming down with norovirus since there's an outbreak at IL5's daycare, but after pacing around in a circle for 5000 steps my headache and nausea subsided and I was able to eat lunch and relax a little. (There was even more downtime at work than usual, thankfully. My client was just cheerfully watching TV.)

M11 had rehearsal in the afternoon. IL5 played with his Duplos all evening instead of watching TV, and I cooked a family dinner. So it was a good evening.

No reading

> 25 I have not read Dopesick but I have to agree with you about the author presenting Ritalin as a gateway drug, whereas in fact it is a great help for those with ADHD. My grand nephew that I mentioned, who has both mild autism and ADHD is taking Adderal, a drug similar to Ritalin and it is really helping him. I was surprised to find out that his dad is also now taking Vyvanse . His dad is 32 and a policeman. Apparently his mom suspected he had ADHD when he was a child, but the doctor dismissed it. He is feeling so much better now that he has been taking Vyvanse. It's also an amphetamine, but certainly a big help for Josh.

I hope you are feeling better soon, Rachel.

>33 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! I'm feeling better today. Still burned out, but not with the nausea I had on Thursday.

Yes, IL5 is on Ritalin, as am I (but for my sleep disorder). We are both really helped. I don't know if Ms Macy meant to sound so disparaging of Ritalin and Adderall, but she certainly came off that way.

On Friday morning, IL5 had a poop psychologist appointment in the morning and promised to do his "exercises on the toilet" 10 times a day, but later we realized he expected that to entail hand dumbbells.

Then IL5 and I went to an indoor park and we got our play on. I concentrated on being 100% in the moment instead of playing on my phone, which is sometimes hard for me when I'm burned out...and I've been pretty burned out, lately. So I was proud of myself for that. Then I went to McDonald's, where they totally messed up multiple times.

In the evening, the family watched some Resident Alien, and then I watched some Cobra Kai with dad.

Reading through last year's journal entry, I noticed that it said the orthodontist wanted to keep D14 in aligners for another "few weeks." Which was hilarious because she just graduated out of aligners 2 weeks ago.

Books read from:

Bible 15 minutes
Mahabharata 15 minutes
Great Courses: St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 60 minutes

Heya Rachel!

Happy new thread Rachel!

I never did get around to Do-You-Think-He-Saurus in the end.

>35 The_Hibernator: I can't blame IL for that literal interpretation 😂

>36 Owltherian: Hi Owl! Still haven't gotten D14 online. That's my bad.

>37 humouress: He really wanted those dumbbells. It was a disappointment. It's almost tempting to buy him some one-pounders, but he'd play with them for a day and quit.

On Saturday Aaron and I played D&D. We have a new player, who seemed pretty cool. Then we had a date to our favorite date place, which reopened under new ownership on Thursday. But we didn't stay long because they didn't have their liquor license yet, so we just ate and came home. We were going to try playing a board game downstairs for the rest of our date, but IL5 always takes me going downstairs as an invitation to go downstairs himself. So I tried to relax for the evening, but I was feeling pretty peevish. D14 and dad watched more Cobra Kai, so now I'm behind (that's not what I was peevish about). M11 is still grounded through Monday, so he was downstairs reading.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 10 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy's Time-Jump, by Thomas Flintham 20 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy's Time-Jump, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 30 minutes

>38 The_Hibernator: Its totally fine! Take your time.

My school blocked all three of those pictures T^T

>44 Owltherian: You're at school right now?

No, but im on my school computer and i cant get on this site without asking my father on my phone

Harry the hammerhead shark and his friends are bullied into entering a forbidden shipwreck, and Harry must think fast when disaster strikes. This is a cute chapter book aimed for 2nd grade level. My 5 year old enjoyed it – especially towards the exciting end

>46 Owltherian: Yeah, I was wondering if D14 will have the same problem since her phone is registered to an under 18 email and I think LT uses a Google sign-on. I'm going to put her on my computer.

>48 The_Hibernator: alrighty

Sunday, I worked and then Aaron, IL5, dad and I went to Olive Garden. D14 watched some Wednesday and then dad watched some Cobra Kai.

Books read from:

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 60 minutes
Mr Ballen 15 minutes
Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 90 minutes

hm, those are quite interesting books, i started reading Lake of Secrets by Lael Littke this weekend as well.

Just catching up with your new thread -- hi!

>51 Owltherian: If you like fantasy, Akata Witch is a great trilogy.

>52 foggidawn: Hi foggi!

>53 The_Hibernator: Ooh- i will have to check that out.

I didn't sleep well Sunday night, so I was really tired on Monday. The weather was beautiful, and I intended on walking to the library and doing some housework, but I slept all day. M11 had rehearsal in the afternoon, IL5 had swim lessons in the evening, and D14 had dress rehearsals.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen 45 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 75 minutes

On Tuesday after work, I took D14 to an appointment. I was going to take dad to an appointment after that, but he was sick, so instead I took a nap. I've been burnt out lately, so I'm not getting a lot done. In the afternoon, M11 had jazz band rehearsal. In the evening D14 had Mary Poppins dress rehearsal.

Books read from:

Great World Religions: Christianity, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 60 minutes

Wednesday I went from my night job pretty much straight to my day job. In the evening, Aaron, M11, and I watched Divergent while D14 was at rehearsal.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 30 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 60 minutes

>39 The_Hibernator: Glad to hear your date night place reopened!

Hey Rachel!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359262

>58 norabelle414: Thanks Nora. It's not as nice because it lacks the cozy couches that it used to have. But it's still pretty good. And close.

>59 Owltherian: Hi Lily!

>60 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver

>61 The_Hibernator: How are you today?

After work on Thursday, I played D&D for a couple hours and then took dad to a cardiac rehab appointment. Afterwards, I drove to a bakery a neighboring city to get some treats for everyone. I got 2 cupcakes - color coded by kid - for each kid. I then helped IL5 build a labyrinth out of boxes for the cats. We've been saving up boxes for it for a while. It also had some rocks and straws as obstacles. D14 was sick all day.

When Aaron got home, he ate his treat, then grabbed a pink cupcake and walked up to D14 and taunted her that he was going to eat it. She tried to convince him it was her cupcake and he wasn't supposed to eat it. I kept my mouth closed because I thought he was joking. Then he ATE the cupcake! He claimed that he really didn't know it was D14's. But he doesn't get to forget soon, since he started it by taunting her.

No reading

>63 The_Hibernator: Hmm. Sometimes you have to wonder if they really didn't know. My kids, especially my eldest is the same. I bought four pieces of cake (because there are four of us) and he had two or three of them. I'm pretty sure I taught him to count before he started kindy.

>64 humouress: Yeah, I'm really curious how he missed the color code. 🤷‍♀️

Friday after work, IL5 had an appointment with his poop physical therapist. We discussed taking a break for a while, but she said she still had more to work on with him. Then we had his well-child visit with his pediatrician. We decided to wait on the feeding therapy until the poop appointments had settled down. In the evening, D14 had her opening night for Mary Poppins. She really enjoyed it.

Books read from:

Mr Balin podcast 45 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 45 minutes

On Saturday, dad and I went to the afternoon show of Mary Poppins and Aaron went to the evening one. D14 did great.

No reading

In a world where almost everyone is separated into 5 factions, Beatrice doesn’t feel like she’s in the right faction…but when it comes to her coming-of-age test to see what her faction is, she comes up divergent – with no solid faction. She must hide this secret in a dangerous world.

I loved the book, but heard bad things about the movie, so I never watched it. By now, I’ve forgotten the book and forgotten the complaints about the movie, so I watched it with a fresh eye. It turned out to be an interesting movie. Not mind-blowing, but not bad.

Sophie and Agatha are best friends, but when Sophie wishes to be kidnapped and dropped into the School for Good, both Agatha and Sophie are taken. Except Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil and Agatha into the School for Good. This was a well-done movie, and I really enjoyed the story and light humor.

>69 The_Hibernator: I've seen these books around; I'll have a look.

>70 humouress: I've heard they're really good. I tried to get D14 to read them when she was 12, but she was going through a super picky phase. I'd like to read them myself.

Sunday I worked, the D14, dad, and I watched Irish Wish on Netflix. D14 had her 4th Mary Poppins play and M11 arrived back from camp.

Books read from:

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 45 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 60 minutes

Hiya Rachel!

Hi Lily! How are you today?

>74 The_Hibernator: Pretty good, kittens clawed my legs but it will heal & really wanting ice cream but my grandpa has to go to sleep soon so i cant ask him.

>75 Owltherian: There's always tomorrow for ice cream! 😊

Monday morning, IL5 had a speech therapy appointment. Afterwards, we went to the library. Usually IL5 wants to stay quite a while, but he just picked out a book and left. 🤷‍♀️ Then Aaron and I had an IEP meeting for IL5. It sounds like he's made plenty of progress on last year's goals and will get new goals in the upcoming year. In the evening, IL5 had swim lessons and M11 had Boy Scouts.

Books read from:

Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 24 minutes
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 45 minutes
Rise of the Earth Dragon, by Tracy West 26 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 140 minutes

>76 The_Hibernator: Heh, i found some in my grandparents freezer, so i ate some of that.

Tuesday after work I took D14 to two appointments, took dad to an appointment, then spent an hour sorting a month's worth of clean laundry for the family. (This is D14's job, but she got behind.) In the evening I had a therapy intake - thank God. I'm very burned out and I really need to let off steam in an appropriate environment. M11 had D&D later in the evening.

Books read from:

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 90 minutes
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 41 minutes
Great World Religions: Christianity, Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 12 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes
Game Over Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 218 minutes

I was watching TV for no particular reason last night and ended up watching The Bad Guys film which Wikipedia says is loosely based on Aaron Blabey’s books, if you’re interested in seeing it?

>80 humouress: Yeah, I actually haven't seen that one. I should try it out with the kids.

>80 humouress: >81 The_Hibernator: I’ve actually seen some of “The Bad Guys”—when my grandsons (8 yo and 12 yo) were visiting. They loved it, and I enjoyed it.

Karen O

>82 klobrien2: Good to hear! The books are hilarious.

I'm really happy with Wednesday. I stayed productive all day till the evening. I took M11 to his eating disorder appointment, and he's met his goal weight! Plus, he did a pushup in the evening, which is an improvement from his zero pushups at the beginning of his training for Boy Scouts. Then I took IL5 to his endocrinologist and a blood draw. D14 had a Mary Poppins production in the evening.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 135 minutes
Bible 15 minutes
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 25 minutes
Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 45 minutes
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes

Books finished:

Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson

Time reading: 250 minutes

>84 The_Hibernator: My empathy is with M on the pushups. I had to do some for boxing today; my coach said '30 pushups' which surprised me because my record is about 2 - if I do a full plank to touch-the-floor version you'd need a crane to get me back up again. Then he said 'That was a bit ambitious. 20' I think I managed 10 in the end (but half with knees down and half which were more of a shrug).

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359476

>85 humouress: Yeah, I hate pushups, too. M11 didn't have good form - his butt was too high and he didn't go all the way down, but it was a definite improvement from 0.

After work on Thursday I went from my overnight job to my day job. I played a D&D game on my phone and wrote some letters on my downtime at work. As usual all my client wanted is for me to sit in the room with her.

After work, I took D14 to her Mary Poppins play and then had a salmon dinner at home. M11 gave me a history lecture on the Napoleonic Wars and WWI based on some YouTube videos he's watched. He apparently loves history. Then M11 and Aaron played a game of Magic.

Books read from:

Mahabharata 30 minutes
Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor 45 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 60 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes
Great Courses: St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman

Books finished:

Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor

Time reading: 150 minutes

Friday I had no appointments! I took IL5 to a community center playground on a playdate with his friends. Then we had a one-sided snowball fight (he didn't throw any at me), followed by dinner with dad, Aaron, IL5, and me at a Mexican restaurant. M11 was with his mom and D14 at her play.

Books read from:

Great Courses: St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman 15 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 30 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy's Team-up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

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

Time reading: 60 minutes

Saturday was pretty laid back. I cooked some sausage stew for this week's lunches and played D&D. Aaron was at his friend's birthday party, D14 was at another showing of Mary Poppins, and M11 was with his mom.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 75 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 15 minutes
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 30 minutes
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 25 minutes
Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Racers, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 160 minutes

Maddie is broken hearted when the man she’s in love with falls for her friend. But when she flies to Ireland for their wedding, she makes a wish that goes awry. This was a very silly and rather over-used premise, and the movie was cheesy. But it was ok enough to finish.

In this set of lectures, Johnson discusses how Jesus is represented as a literary figure in both the canonical and apocryphal gospels. It’s an interesting exploration… especially how some information that seems canonical in Christian tradition are actually from the apocryphal gospels instead of the canonical ones.

In this third of a trilogy on Nigerian magic, Sunny grows into a mature witch who manages to keep her promise to a spider god. The trilogy is very good, unless you are looking for an action book. This story is mainly about plot setup and is not deep or full of action. It’s still quite enjoyable, though.

Heya Rachel!

Hey Owl! How are you?

Sunday, we were supposed to get 10 inches of snow, and were told to stay off the roads if possible. So I called in to my job (he said he wasn't feeling well enough to go out, anyway), and I spent the day at home. I spent 2 hours cooking a lasagna, wrote a letter, and vaguely went through my to-do list.

D14 had her D&D session, followed by the closing show of Mary Poppins. M11 got back from his mom's house and picked his activities for his week-long Boy Scout camp this summer. IL5 built LEGO bosses. And then...Aaron took D14 to the airport at 2am for her DC trip.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 105 minutes
Rise of the Earth Dragon, by Tracey West 10 minutes
Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham 15 minuted

Books finished:

Rise of the Earth Dragon, by Tracey West
Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 130 minutes

>96 The_Hibernator: Pretty good, not stressed suprisingly

10 inches of snow, at the end of March? Brrr!

>92 The_Hibernator: Loved Lindsey Lohan in "Freaky Friday" and others - was sorry to see her fall down the rabbit hole of drugs and drink.

If this movie means she is getting her life and career back on track , then three cheers!

>98 Owltherian: Good! Glad you're well!

>99 humouress: That's not all that surprising for Minnesota. March is generally the snowiest month. But this year it's the first major snow fall of the season. We only got dustings earlier.

>100 magicians_nephew: I agree. Her life really fell apart, and that's too bad. It's nice that she is able to act again. Even if the movies aren't as high budget as they used to be.

Monday was fun. I woke the M11 and IL5 up to go to Perkins with me and dad. Then dad went to his cardiac rehab discharge (yay!). Afterwards, I took M11 and IL5 to the trampoline park. They loved it. M11 really exhausted himself. D14 sent lots of texts about her first day in DC. It was a full day.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen Podcast 45 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 60 minutes

>100 magicians_nephew: >101 The_Hibernator: There's an interview with her as a fresh-faced 10 year old that I like. I was also sorry that it went wrong for her.

>101 The_Hibernator: Sadly i am stressed yet again due to my parents (the end of the quarter was today)

>103 humouress: Well, she seems to be doing well now. This is the second Netflix movie I've seen her in recently. Not the high quality ones, but still back to the job I assume she loves (or why else go back to it?)

>104 Owltherian: Are you saying your parents were disappointed with your grades? Or were those unrelated thoughts?

>105 The_Hibernator: Well lets just say they hate F's and i just so happened to barely get my F up to a D in the last day.

Tuesday I kept myself pretty busy during the day. After doing some tasks around the house, dad had a phone appointment. Then I tried riding the new stationary bike, but it was hurting my hip, so I stopped after 5 minutes. (I think maybe I had the seat too high?) Then I ran several errands - some of which had been on my to-do list for months. Afterwards, I picked up IL5 and took him to an appointment. Then I started relaxing. We ordered a pizza and watched a few episodes of Supernatural.

Books read from:

Great World Religions: Christianity, by Luke Timothy Johnson 30 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 135
Mr Ballen 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 195 minutes

Happy Wednesday, Rachel. Just checking in. It looks like all is well in MN. I sure enjoy see your family pics on FB. I hope those books are treating you well.

>108 msf59: Hey Mark! Yeah, things are going much better recently, as no one has had a new medical diagnosis or health crisis since the end of January. And we're thinning down the number of appointments, so I have more free time. And I'm enjoying the books I'm reading.

Wednesday was my first day off in about 6 months. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. I managed to not schedule anything between 9:30 when I got home from work and 5, when IL5 would get home. But family drama arose with my nephew, sister, and dad, and I got dragged in as a spectator and commenter. I spent some time consoling my sister and also some time expressing to my dad why my sister was angry (though apparently she wasn't acting very well, so it's hard to take her side). So I didn't get any reading done, which I was very much looking forward to. The incident even derailed the first hour of my next day, as I was so distracted that I forgot to pack for job #2, so I had to go home before going to my second job.

D14 had gone text silent on Wednesday, despite giving us blow-by-blow accounts of DC on Monday and Tuesday. M11 watched TV all day, because I was too put out to tell him to get off after 2 hours.

Books read from:

Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 45 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 45 minutes

Here's the Easter readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359643

I hope you and your family have a great Easter in the days ahead and that you get some time off Rachel. Well earned time! I'm glad your appointments are thinning out , and that you are enjoying your books.

>111 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>112 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! I have two more days off planned next month. One will be a day of cleaning and one a day of reading. Oh! Almost forgot I have a third day off for a date with Aaron (he took the day off work.) So that's almost one a week.

Thursday I went from job #1 to job #2. It was a relaxed day, and I was able to play D&D while my client watched TV. Upon coming home, I found dad and M11 in the middle of a Cobra Kai marathon. I cooked a salmon dinner, and then M11 and IL5 colored eggs. I focused the rest of the night on getting as much reading in as I could to see if I can still reach my weekly and monthly goals. I met my weekly goals with one day to spare, but I still need to finish 3 books to complete a monthly goal. I have 3 in mind... It's been a slow reading month. D14 arrived back from her trip, but I didn't see her, as I was in bed when she came in.

Books read from:

Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 45 minutes
Mahabharata 15 minutes
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain 77 minutes
The Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 51 minutes
Rise of the Baloon Goons, by Troy Cummings 22 minutes
Super Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 225 minutes

If I read 200 minutes a day for the next 3 days and focus on three particular books, I can not only get my 7 book goal met, but also my 3100 minute goal for March. I can do it!

Hi Rachel!

>115 The_Hibernator: Go for it!

>116 Owltherian: Hi Owl! How are you today?

>117 humouress: I am, Nina! Today may be harder than yesterday, though. I need to finish an hour of audiobook and have nowhere to drive...so I'm going to have to clean and exercise, neither of which sound fun. 🤣

Friday morning I had another go on the new exercise bike, and this time my hip didn't hurt. Though I got bored pretty quickly and got off. So now that I convinced myself to get on it, I need to convince myself to stay on it.

I took IL5 to an appointment, then took M11 and IL5 to Harriet Island - a historical park that M11 wanted to get a picture at for Minnesota Studies. We followed that up with the Children's museum. It was a mistake to take M11 there. He was bored silly and acting quite rude. IL5 loved it, though.

D14 hadn't been awake when we left, and she was gone with her mom before we got back, so I still haven't seen her post-trip.

In the evening, Aaron and I watched some Supernatural. I fell asleep, so now I have to catch up with the last episode. Finally, I spent a good chunk of time reading to get in my 200 minutes. I finished a book, so I'm in my way to meeting two last monthly goals.

Books read from:

Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier 45 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 75 minutes
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston 93 minutes
Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Troy Cummings 15 minutes

Books finished: Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston

Time reading: 228 minutes

>118 The_Hibernator: Im doing good, although yesterday i got yelled at by a teacher & kind of had a sensory attack due to an aluminum softball bat + almost got hit in the head with it.

>119 The_Hibernator: D14 hates gym class for reasons like that. She always gets hit by stuff.

>121 The_Hibernator: Oh, it was afterschool and someone threw it & it was 3 cenimeters from hitting my head.

>122 Owltherian: They threw it AT you? Like, they intended on it hitting you?

Exercise bikes and listening to audio books go together well for me.

>123 The_Hibernator: No, but they threw it in my direction not knowing i was going to be walking back to the stairs of my school.

>124 magicians_nephew: Yeah, I listen to audiobooks while I'm doing it, but I like to have something to do with my hands. Walking is fine because I'm swinging them. But on an exercise bike I'm just letting them sit there.

>125 Owltherian: I'm glad it wasn't on purpose.

>126 The_Hibernator: Yeah, i would have been very mad.

Saturday was a good day. I got on the exercise bike twice - each for 10 minutes - which is twice what I managed on Friday. In the afternoon, Aaron took the car for a tire rotation, and I walked to the library and then the playground with IL5. We found a new book in his favorite series, so he was thrilled. We all (minus D14, who was with her mom) watched Return of the King.

Books read from:

Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 45 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordon 45 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 58 minutes
Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Tory Cummings 22 minutes

Books finished:

Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Tory Cummings

Time reading: 170 minutes

I want to put a header onto my next thread but i don't know how to make it the right size.

>129 Owltherian: You mean the title of your thread? There will be a title box at the top of your thread next time you start one and you erase what's in there and name the new one.

>130 The_Hibernator: I have figured it out, and have made a new thread.

Easter was fun. There was way too much candy, the kids hunted eggs in the yard, IL5 had a ball playing with the plastic eggs (drawing on them and connecting them in strings since they were hinged), we had a ham dinner, then watched Resident Alien.

IL5 earned a cat by pooping in the toilet! He'd been promised one if he did it in March. Lo and behold, on the last day in March he pooped in the toilet.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 25 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Super Game Book, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy: Super Game Book, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 40 minutes

Total books finished in March:

Shark School: Deep Sea Disaster, by Davy Ocean
Jesus and the Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson
Akata Woman, by Nnedi Okorafor
Rise of the Earth Dragon, by Tracey West
Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Tory Cummings
Maleficent Seven, by Cameron Johnston
Super Rabbit Boy: Super Game Book, by Thomas Flintham

Rereads of kiddie books:

Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham
Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy's Time-Jump, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
Game Over Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
Super Rabbit Boy's Team-up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham
Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham
Super Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham

Currently reading for April:

Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett
Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordon
Maid, by Stephanie Land
Mahabharata
St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
Great World Religions: Christianity, by Luke Timothy Johnson
Bible
Me Ballen
Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
Unspeakable Mind, by Shaili Jain

Total time reading: 2942 minutes

>126 The_Hibernator: um ... I think you're not supposed to do anything with your hands on an exercise bike except hold onto the handles for safety ;0)

>134 humouress: How boring!

Drake is taken from his family to the king’s castle. There, he finds out that he is a dragon master. He meets Worm, his earth dragon, as well as three other kids and their dragons. This is a second grade reading level chapter book. The story is left open for the next in the series, but the plot of this book is pretty much completed. My 5 year old LOVED this book. He got very excited as I was reading it. My stepson read this to me when he was nearing 7 years old, and he loved it too.

A destructive army is ravaging the lands, creating an empire for a new goddess. Only 7 people stand in their way: a team of antiheros. They are a demonologist, a necromancer, a war-god, a vampire, an alchemist, an orc, and a pirate queen. Together, they fight a mighty battle.

This book is not polite. It is rude and crude and dark. It’s also exciting, humorous at times, and fun. Definitely a good read for fantasy lovers who are fond of moral ambiguity.

Monday worked out acceptably. I had intended on taking IL5 to the park before school, but I spent that time pondering between getting a barn kitten immediately or adopting from a rescue. In the end, we decided to go for the rescue, though I have to re-up Puck and Hero's vaccinations before they'll give us a cat. I hadn't realized they were behind on vaccinations.

After dropping IL5 at school, dad and I ran errands. Then dad struggled in an attempt to fix our broken storm door - he doesn't want us to buy a new one.

Then D14 had an appointment, IL5 had swim lessons, and M11 had Boy Scouts. M11 re-ran the mile for his rank-up. The last time he ran it, he got a time 7-something, and he was offended when Aaron and I told him he was mis-timed because he wasn't fast enough for that time. He wanted so badly for us to be wrong. But we were right. They miss-measured the mile. He ran it Monday and got 9-something. Which is much more telling of his fitness level, and is actually impressive for him. I couldn't run a mile that fast. Maybe I could run a 15 minute mile. 😂 I need to work on that.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 11 minutes
Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins 15 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 86 minutes

Monday worked out acceptably. I had intended on taking IL5 to the park before school, but I spent that time pondering between getting a barn kitten immediately or adopting from a rescue. In the end, we decided to go for the rescue, though I have to re-up Puck and Hero's vaccinations before they'll give us a cat. I hadn't realized they were behind on vaccinations.

After dropping IL5 at school, dad and I ran errands. Then dad struggled in an attempt to fix our broken storm door - he doesn't want us to buy a new one.

Then D14 had an appointment, IL5 had swim lessons, and M11 had Boy Scouts. M11 re-ran the mile for his rank-up. The last time he ran it, he got a time 7-something, and he was offended when Aaron and I told him he was mis-timed because he wasn't fast enough for that time. He wanted so badly for us to be wrong. But we were right. They miss-measured the mile. He ran it Monday and got 12-something. Which is much more telling of his fitness level. I couldn't run a mile that fast. Maybe I could run a 15 minute mile. 😂 I need to work on that.

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 11 minutes
Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins 15 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett 15 minutes

Books finished: Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett

Time reading: 86 minutes

Tuesday I took D14 to an appointment, worked on my cross-stitch, had a therapy session (yay!), took dad to an appointment, and cleaned the livingroom, which still needed some reorganizing after putting away the Christmas tree. In the evening, my friend Liz came over and we watched Doctor Who and cross-stitched.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 20 minutes
Bible 30 minutes
Mr Ballen 30 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 26 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 121 minutes

>119 The_Hibernator: Hoorah for being able to exercise sans pain!

The Maleficent Seven sounds like a hoot. What age range are they saying its for?

>141 The_Hibernator: Possibly, if your bored on the exercise bike- maybe listening to a book would help you focus and stay doing it, well until you need a break.

>144 figsfromthistle: Yeah, it didn't take long to figure out the problem, Anita.

>145 magicians_nephew: Hi Jim. Maleficent Seven is definitely an adult book, but D14 read and enjoyed it.

>146 Owltherian: I do listen to an audiobook. I just need something to do with my hands, or I'm bored.

Wednesday morning, I had an appointment right after work.. Then I ran errands and took M11 to an appointment. While all that was going on, some men came and put in our new porch railings, which are really nice and sturdy. I got to start reading to D14 again, since she's no longer really busy.

Books read from:

Bible 30 minites
Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier 60 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes
Exile, by Shannon Messenger 25 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 29 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 30 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 219

>147 The_Hibernator: Hmmm, maybe after a while you can grab a stress ball and squeeze that while doing it?

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359825

>149 Owltherian: I was thinking I'd try physically reading a book instead of listening to the audiobook. If I read on my phone, I can hold the safety handles with one hand.

>150 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>151 The_Hibernator: That is a good idea.

Thursday, I worked at my day job almost immediately after my night job. In the evening, I cross-stitched while watching Supernatural with Aaron.

Books read from:

Bible 30 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 75 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 120 minutes

I was never able to read a book while riding an exercise bike -- too much movement for my eyes to be able to focus on the text. Maybe some kind of fidget toy would keep your hands busy?

>155 foggidawn: Maybe. I'm going to try reading first. Just haven't been on the bike since I decided to try it. You'd think an audiobook would be distracting enough, wouldn't you?

On Friday morning I moved the furniture around in IL5's newly painted yellow and orange room (pictures coming soon). I had to get rid of one piece of furniture in order to make room for his new dresser, but otherwise, organizing the room went smoothly. After that, IL5 had an appointment, and then IL5, dad, and I went to a playground.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 30 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 45 minutes

>155 foggidawn: Ive walked and read a the same time, although being on a bike is different, and i cant even ride a bike without training wheels sadly T^T.

>158 Owltherian: Stationary bikes generally don't fall over. 😊

Saturday I slept in because I'd taken some NyQuil for a cough, and I was still feeling groggy in the morning. Aaron and I played D&D in the afternoon.

No reading

>159 The_Hibernator: Yeah, adding that fact, and they are pretty fun to do and be on, well if your distracted enough.

>161 Owltherian: I won't get on opportunity to try while reading on my phone till Tuesday, so we'll see!

On his first day in a new school, Alexander finds a weird notebook with monsters drawn in it. Then those balloons that dance in front of car dealerships attack! This book was funny and fun. My 5 year old loved having it read to him.

Three witches accidentally get involved when a tyrant kills the king. Chaos ensues. As usual, Pratchett wrote a funny, fun book with a reasonable plot line for a fantasy satire. Fantastic!

This is a choose-your-own-adventure book featuring the characters for my 5-yo’s beloved book series Press Start. He enjoyed it.

Beginning of March


Beginning of April

>162 The_Hibernator: Yep! We will see and whichever one works!

>158 Owltherian: I've never learned to ride a real bike, either. And I can sometimes read a book while walking on a treadmill -- and I've also been known to read a book while walking down a hallway, but I try not to do that in case I run into someone!

>173 foggidawn: Heh, i have fallen down the stairs because of it before, and it hurt a lot.

>172 Owltherian: yup!

Sunday I went to work. When I got home, the family went out to Red Lobster. I also set up an appointment to meet with a potential new kitten. The foster mom sounded skeptical that a 5 year old should get a kitten, so hopefully she gives us a chance.

Books read from:

Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 45 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 15 minutes
Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Sydney and Taylor Take a Flying Leap, by Jacqueline Davies 15 minutes

Books finished:

Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
Sydney and Taylor Take a Flying Leap, by Jacqueline Davies

Time reading: 90 minutes

>176 The_Hibernator: I got a kitten at about that age. It's not like there aren't adults in the house to make sure that the kitten is taken care of.

>176 The_Hibernator: Ahhhh, i love kittens! My grandparents foster for their humane society so they get baby kitties all the time!

>178 Owltherian: Yeah, kittens are fun.

>179 The_Hibernator: Kittens are adorable and will forever be cherished.

Monday Aaron and I attended Zoom meetings for transitioning IL5's IEP to kindergarten and D14's IEP to high school. Then, IL5 and I went to the library. He picked out a book on the Bush dynasty to read to him. We were unable to watch the eclipse because it was cloudy (boo!). I spent a good amount of time moving toys back into IL5's room. (J20 moved them all downstairs in a very disorganized way when he was in IL5's room, so moving them back in is a process.) I didn't quite finish, but he's happy with the result for now. Then a guy came to look at our tree stumps to give us a removal estimate. In the evening, Aaron went to a baseball parent meeting and I took IL5 to swim lessons.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 39 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 37 minutes
Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 30 minutes

Books finished:

Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 121 minutes

On Tuesday I ran errands, did yardwork, and took D14 to a dentist appointment.

Books read from:

Bible 30 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 75 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 60 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 26 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 206 minutes

Wednesday was anxiety-ridden. I hate vet appointments, and was dreading it all day. When I got home from my overnight job, I couldn't really get myself to do anything except take a nap until M11's dentist appointment. (Anxiety makes me very tired.)

When I got up from my nap, I went to the livingroom to pick up my book for the dentist appointment, and one of the cats had peed on it! I know cats pee in obvious places in order to get the attention of humans when they're sick or in pain. It's almost as if they knew the book would be obvious. It had to be either Polyphemus or Puck, because Hero doesn't get on the table. But, coincidentally, I was taking Puck to the vet that day. I dried off the book and set it down to dry further. I was already anxious, and it was a disappointment to not take the book to the appointment.

As I was leaving, I ran into dad, who was walking back from his dentist appointment. We had both expected him to get his dentures that day, but it was just another fitting. He has another fitting in 3 weeks, and will get the teeth in a further 3 weeks. We had been going to eat pizza that night to celebrate his new teeth.

M11's dentist appointment went smoothly. No cavities. They recommended further orthodontics, and I told them that we'd agreed with M11 that he didn't have to wear his retainer after the last set of braces as long as he realized we wouldn't pay for his second set of orthodontics. So, no, his crowded teeth and overbite is not something we'll do anything about when he won't actively participate in his orthodontics.

When I got home, I immediately stuffed Puck and Hero into cages. I'd been dreading that all week, because Puck is hard to get into a cage, but this was easy. Of course, they were howling, which bothered my anxiety. I was taking them to the vet to get updated on vaccinations, since I hadn't been responsible about their boosters over the years because vet appointments stress me out so much.

Puck ended up being a problem. First, we needed a urine sample to see if he had a bladder infection (related to the peeing in a strange place - that's a common reason to do that.) Then they discovered an ear infection, which could be the reason he (might have) peed on my book. But they also discovered that he had dropped 3 pounds since the last vet appointment, which they said was too much, and they needed bloodwork to see if there was an imbalance somewhere. Also distressing was the fact that both cats will have to come back in 3 weeks for another booster.

$600 later, I took the cats home. I called up the cat rescue organization and explained to them that we shouldn't come and look at the kitten we were going to buy because the cats still aren't "fully vaccinated." I dreaded telling the kids. They were looking forward to seeing the kitten. Then I took another nap.

We had pizza anyway. Dad gummed his.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 15 minutes
Bible 15 minutes
Exile, by Shannon Messenger 45 minutes
The Super Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham 15 minutes
Fran that Time Forgot, by Jim Benton 25 minutes
Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 30 minutes

Books finished:

The Super Side-Quest Test, by Thomas Flintham
Fran that Time Forgot, by Jim Benton

Time reading: 145 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359999

Sorry to read about the anxiety ridden vet visits, Rachel. And then back again. Our dog, Poppy is very challenging at the vets. In fact, my husband almost always takes her because she has to muzzled at the vets. She is just really anxious there and snaps at the vet. I have trouble getting the muzzle on, so Dave does that as he is much better at it.

>184 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>185 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Yup! So you totally get it. Vets are stressful.

Thursday I went from my night job to my day job, as usual on Thursdays. In the evening, Aaron and I finished watching the penultimate season of Supernatural. I tried putting ear cleaner in Puck's ears. He is supposed to get cleaning drops in his ears every 2 days. After putting in the cleaning drops, I'm supposed to stick my finger in his ear to scoop out the gunk. Then I'm also supposed to give him medicine in both ears every day for seven days. But Puck isn't a very compliant cat. I got in a squirt of ear cleaner to the right ear, but no finger-in-ear or medicine. I'll try alternating ears for a couple of weeks, then putting in medicine daily for a week. I don't think I'll ever be able to scoop the gunk, though. He'd never let me do that.

Books read from:

Bible 30 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 60 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 75 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 180 minutes

Friday IL5 had 3 appointments. Speech, PT, and the dentist. We decided he didn't need any more PT. So, yay! Another regular appointment off my agenda. The dentist appointment went really well. IL5 let the dentist look at and brush his teeth, and the dentist said that IL5's teeth looked great. I managed to successfully squirt the wax remover in Puck's ear without getting scratched. Then Aaron, D14, and I watched a couple episodes of X-Files.

I got the results of Puck's blood test and urine test on Friday. He has stage 2 kidney disease and microscopic amounts of blood in his urine (possibly from infection, possibly from inflammation of the bladder). He needs to have his kidney function rechecked in 3 months.

Books read from:

Bible 15 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 60 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 35 minutes
Press Start: Super Game Book!, by Thomas Flintham 20 minutes

Books finished:

Press Start: Super Game Book!, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 130 minutes

Have a great weekend, Rachel.

>189 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

Saturday dad and I drove a few hours each way to a nearby city to visit with my aunt, uncle, and some of their kids. There was a party for my cousin's 50th birthday, which was a lot of fun. I also got to meet an online friend that I've never met before. It was a lovely meeting.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 360 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 360 minutes

New yellow and orange room with Minecraft bedding.

Taylor decides he wants to fly, and Sydney isn’t supportive. But Taylor wants to fly anyway. This was a cute and very colorful story that kept my 5yo happily engaged.

Mad scientist Franny hates being laughed at. So when everyone found out her middle name was Kissyface, she was angry when they laughed. So she invented a time machine to change her name. This was a cute book, and my 5yo stayed engaged and loved the pictures.

In this penultimate season of Supernatural, sharks are jumped and things feel a bit crusty and old. I’m a bit exhausted by this series.

Sunday I worked. Aaron made chili. D14 pruned, dug rocks out of the bed, and dug around a stump so I could get it out. It was in 3 parts, and the two of us got 2 of them out before it got dark. IL5 also helped by digging up dirt from the pile D14 had made and moving it to another place, and patting it down. Luckily, we have lots of spare soil to fill in the hole.

Books read from:

Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 45 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 23 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 68 minutes

Monday started with back-to-back telehealth appointments for all three kids with the same doctor. Then I made beef stew, dropped IL5 off at school, ran to Best Buy, Home Depot, and Target. At Home Depot, I picked out a lovely green for our living room walls - which we'll paint when I've saved up some money - probably in Fall.

In the evening, I hurt my foot by putting my weight on it when it was asleep. The ankle rolled. The pain actually seems to be in the bone rather than a tendon, strangely. (I'm guessing because the pain is on the top of my foot, but I could be wrong.) Sometimes the foot doesn't hurt at all, but it was hurting enough to make it hard to sleep when I first went to bed.

IL5 said his most heinous part of his day was when Bobby poured ketchup in his hair. Bobby was surprised to learn that he had done that.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 30 minutes
The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 15 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 45 minutes

Reading about your busy life makes me tired, Rachel. I know why you feel the need to nap occasionally.Haha. I’m glad you are taking care of yourself along with your active family.

I also enjoy the photos you share with us. The orange and yellow bedroom turned out great. Very energizing! We bought a house with orange shag carpeting in the 1970’s. The kids loved it!

>199 Donna828: Hi Donna! I have a diary app on my phone where I write these blurbs, so I read last year's daily. (I've been doing it about a year and a half, so next year I'll see two posts per day, lol.) I feel strangely energized by reading about past me. 😁

Yes, I love IL5's room. I'm excited about the very happy green I picked for the living room. We won't paint for a few months (I need to save some money for it.) but it'll be so much fun!

Tuesday started with an appointment for D14. Then I had my therapy session. I was pissed to find out that after my first two sessions of unhelpful (to me) diagnostic appointments she told me that she's leaving the clinic, and I needed to find a new therapist. Since she was the only therapist at multiple agencies that fit my schedule, I don't want to go through the effort of finding a new one. So my time and money has been wasted. That put me in a very pissy mood. Then I had another appointment.

In the evening, M11 had his jazz band concert. He surprised us by having a solo! Though to be honest I knew he had a solo because I thought he'd told me, but in retrospect I think he just mumbled something about it to himself, and I overheard. But it was a surprise to his bio parents. Regardless, he did great.

Mr Ballen 45 minutes

Tuesday started with an appointment for D14. Then I had my therapy session. I was pissed to find out that after my first two sessions of unhelpful (to me) diagnostic appointments she told me that she's leaving the clinic, and I needed to find a new therapist. Since she was the only therapist at multiple agencies that fit my schedule, I don't want to go through the effort of finding a new one. So my time and money has been wasted. That put me in a very pissy mood. Then I had another appointment.

In the evening, M11 had his jazz band concert. He surprised us by having a solo! Though to be honest I knew he had a solo because I thought he'd told me, but in retrospect I think he just mumbled something about it to himself, and I overheard. But it was a surprise to his bio parents. Regardless, he did great.

Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes

Just catching up, Rachel. I was going to say 'yay, you're raising a family of readers' and then I took a closer look at >192 The_Hibernator: :0)

I like the orange and yellow room. I've never been brave enough to paint a ceiling anything other than white (though there are cloud stickers and glow-in-the-dark stars all over the kids' room ceiling).

Congratulations on M11's solo.

>203 humouress: Hey Nina! Well, IL5 does like being read to, though I'm starting to have difficulty finding time to do so. I leave for work at 9:30pm, so I want for him to be ready to be read to by 8:45. But lately he is slowing down his bedtime routine a lot - I think it's a combination of him being excited about his new room and just not being tired as quickly. I'll have to figure out how to get reading to him back into the routine with his new behaviors.

D14 is a reader, though.

Wednesday I had my first day of leisure in a year. Literally. A year. I read my last year's diary entry every day, and the last day that I took purely to myself popped up in my "last year today" section of my diary app. So I deserved a day off.

I got home from work at 9:30am, and had free-time till 4:15pm, when IL5 got off the bus. I couldn't get anyone to have lunch with me, so I had a soup and salad from Cafe Zupa. I wrote two letters, read for 90 minutes, and took a nap.

In the evening, M11 had his tech rehearsal for Music Man and I read to D14 while IL5 played with his cars.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 30 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 45 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 43 minutes
Exile, by Shannon Messenger 65 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 60 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 243 minutes

>205 The_Hibernator: How are you finding Eye of the World? Are you listening to it or reading it and is it a re-read for you? I need to go on to The Dragon Reborn (the fourth book) but my Robert Jordan's are trapped in one of my bookcases that I dare not open until I'm ready to deep clean it.

>206 humouress: I am liking Eye of the World, but I suspect it'll take a long time to finish. I am trying not to rush through because large books intimidate me. I've already taken one break from it. No, I have not read it in the past. I plan on slowly moving through the whole series in a very leisurely way.

Hi Rachel....

Hi Lily!

Im not in much of a good mood anymore sadly.

Here's the next readathon https://www.librarything.com/topic/360200

>207 The_Hibernator: I started a group read of The Wheel of Time a few years ago but I think only Anita (FAMeulstee) finished it. So i started (again) from the beginning. There's a link to the group read, where I included maps etc, at the top of my thread if you're interested.

>210 Owltherian: I'm sorry Lily. Hopefully your mood improves. What's wrong?

>211 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

>212 humouress: I'll check it out if I can find the link, Nina. I remember when you started it, but I'm way too slow for something like that. I need to read more variety and not spend all my time reading one series. I have no ability to focus like that.

Thursday I worked my day job after getting off my night job. M11 had opening night of his play, and Aaron and I went. He had a lot of lines, and he did fantastic.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 40 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 60 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 100 minutes

>213 The_Hibernator: Well it's better now, and the person who was being quite rude to me for quite a while is trying to be a nicer person and so she started fresh and my mood is a lot better because im helpful in this

>215 Owltherian: That's wonderful news, Lily. It's good that you're kind enough to give her a fresh start. That says great things about you.

>216 The_Hibernator: Yeah, lots of people would not let people like that do that, but I'm not lots of people aren't i? I try to be the kindest i can to people.

>214 The_Hibernator: Yay for M11!

>217 Owltherian: that's the way to be!

>218 humouress: Thanks Nina.

Friday I took IL5 to an appointment. After that, I had been going to take him to the park, but it was windy and ever-so-slightly snowing. Instead, I took him to Olive Garden, and we had a lovely chat. He decided he wanted to be an architect. M11 was going to be a graphic designer, D14 a psychologist, daddy a financial analyst, and "other mommy" a scientist.

After lunch, we relaxed the rest of the day. In the evening, we put up the glow-in-the-dark stars and solar system stickers in his room. I've got a few more toys to move back into his room, but otherwise his room is now totally set up.

Books read from:

Maid, by Stephanie Land 44 minutes
Game Over Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham 20 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 30 minutes

Books finished:

Game Over Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham

Time reading: 94 minutes

Hi Rachel! What a busy life you have. It's amazing you are getting so much reading in. How are you liking Maid ? I heard her speak a few years back.

>221 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! I have only recently started reading regularly again - now that Loki's old enough that I can be very distracted while sitting with him. Though, admittedly, most of my reading is actually audiobooks during commutes.

I am enjoying Maid. It's very interesting and educational. And sad. I haven't read Nickle and Dimed, but I like that Maid was written by someone who really went through it instead of who always could go back to a nice house and job.

Saturday I woke at 4am and couldn't fall back asleep again. So I got up at 8, cooked taco soup, ran to the library (using my self-service after-hours card to get me in), and ran to the store to buy carrots and an onion. I then was super tired and tried to sleep off my loss until my noon D&D game started. After D&D, Aaron and I went to our former date restaurant. It used to be really cozy, but it changed ownership and now doesn't have a liquor license or the comfy couches to relax on. So we ate dinner, then walked to a farther restaurant to have a few drinks.

M11's show's closing night was Saturday. His mom and D14 went. I slept the night in IL5's bed with him in hopes of transitioning him over to sleeping there... eventually alone. Besides him falling out once, it went well.

Books read from:

Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 90 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 90 minutes

Such cute pictures of Loki, Rachel. The Maid sounds interesting. I can't seem to find the right touchstone though. I enjoyed Nickel and Dimed several years ago. Good luck transitioning Loki over to his own bed. I'm not sure if my son and his wife have managed that yet with their two, aged 6 and 3. Fingers crossed.

>227 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Part of the problem with the touchstone is probably because there isn't a "the" before Maid. It's the second or third one down when I don't include "the." I will probably read Nickle and Dimed someday, though I think my next nonfiction physical book (as opposed to audio) will be Unspeakable Mind, about PTSD. I've already started it, so really should finish it.

I'm finishing up my second night of sleeping in this twin bed in IL5's room. This time, we put him on the inside to keep him from falling out. I figure at least having him get used to the room is good, then we can transition to just waiting till he falls asleep before leaving the room. It's certainly a process.

Sunday, after a calm day at work, we went out to dinner with dad for his birthday. Afterwards, I headed to bed early because I had a headache.

Books read from:

Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 45 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 45 minutes

Happy birthday Dad!

>230 humouress: lol Thanks Nina. I'll tell him.

Monday, I had a video visit with one of my inmate pen pals in the morning. They have kinks in their system so most of the time he couldn't hear what I was saying so he had to carry the conversation. I think it's terrible that they don't even care enough to give them good connections. Especially since I have to pay $10 for this visit.

I cleaned for a while, then took IL5 to the audiologist. He has to go yearly because he won't participate in the test during his physical with the pediatrician. He passed most of the test, but wouldn't participate in one of the activities, saying he was afraid.

Im the evening, we had Buffalo Wild Wings and watched Resident Alien as a family.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 23 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 45 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 68 minutes

Tuesday, Aaron took the day off work so we could hang out alone. We went to Benihana for lunch and then went axe-throwing. He wanted to remember that our top combined score was 44 so that we could beat it some other time. Then my friend Liz came over in the evening, and the family watched Doctor Who with her.

No reading

>233 The_Hibernator: Doctor Who is an amazing show, and i personally have rewatched it multiple times.

At 200+ posts behind, I have absolutely no chance of catching up, but wanted to check in anyway :)

>233 The_Hibernator: Yay for hanging out alone!

>232 The_Hibernator: Puts me in mind of one of my riders today (at Riding for the Disabled). He's really good, he's capable, sits nicely, is proactive with the commands, picks up instructions quickly though he's hearing impaired, so I don't know if he can hear what I'm saying, uses the reins etc etc. but signs (before and after riding) that he's a little bit scared of the horse. He doesn't act like he's scared at all.

>234 Owltherian: Yeah, we're watching it for the first time, at a rate of two episodes every two weeks or sometimes longer. We're just about to switch to the twelth doctor.

>235 alcottacre: unless they are actively commenting on my thread, I only get to my starred threads once a month. So I know how you feel about being behind!

>236 humouress: Well, maybe he's good at hiding his fear? Is this a camp where people come to learn to ride?

Wednesday dad had a short appointment, followed by D14's dentist appointment. Then dad and I went to a favorite Mongolian grill that is far away, so we don't go very often. I also cleaned, made phone calls off my to-do list, and read.

Books read from:

Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 32 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 30 minutes
Exile, by Shannon Messenger 56 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 163 minutes

>237 The_Hibernator: Its a great show, and i hope you like it!

>238 The_Hibernator: “ dad and I went to a favorite Mongolian grill”

Khan’s Mongolian? Love it. My late Mom called it “Magnolian Barbecue” once and we never let her forget it.

Hope you have a happy and restful weekend!

Karen O

I have fallen behind but wish you a wonderful, relaxing Friday!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360348

>239 Owltherian: Thanks Lily!

>240 klobrien2: Yes, it was Khan's. We drove 40 minutes to get to the one in Roseville after the one in Richfield closed. There are actually Mongolian Grills that are closer, but Khan's is so much better.

>241 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Don't worry. I'm always behind. I try to get to everyone's threads once a month, but I suspect I miss some of my friends occasionally despite my best efforts!

>242 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>243 The_Hibernator: You're very welcome Rachel!

Thursday I went to my day job. It was a relaxing day. Afterwards, I put fertilizer on the lawn. I had to do it by hand because it wouldn't fit through the hole in the push-spreader. After dinner, I played some Hot Takes with M11, then he taught me to play Magic.

Books read from:

Mr Ballen podcast 116 minutes
Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes 45 minutes
Maid, by Stephanie Land 53 minutes
Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust 28 minutes
Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins 58 minutes

Books finished:

Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes

Time reading: 300 minutes

Wow thats a lot of minutes for a podcast- i also would be listening to a podcast but i forgot my headphones & there is a pep rally today so its the worst day to forget them

>246 Owltherian: I was listening to it while spreading fertilizer on my lawn. That job took a while.

I'm surprised they let you use headphones and presumably your phone during school hours. That's nice for you.

>247 The_Hibernator: We arnt really allowed, but sometimes we are allowed to listen to music with our headphones on, and that explains the high minute time with the podcast.

>248 Owltherian: That's nice of them. It's good you can do that sometimes.

Friday I took IL5 to his speech therapy. I tried to get him a haircut, because he's getting very shaggy, but he was afraid to sit in the chair. He says he's ok if his hair gets as long as mine. Then we went to Bachman's to buy tomato, carrot, and watermelon plants, as well as some flowers for the planter in our front yard. The radish seeds, carrot plant and watermelon plant can be planted right away, though I'll wait another week or so for the tomato plants because I may need to be taken inside if the temperature drops.

Then, D14, M11, and I played a game of Unstoppable Unicorns. In the evening, Aaron, dad, and I watched a rather meh movie on HBO. (Gray Matter)

Books read from:

Bible 68 minutes
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan 89 minutes
Mr Ballen podcast 45 minutes
Dragons and Marshmallows, by Asia Citro 20 minutes

Books finished: none

Time reading: 222 minutes

>249 The_Hibernator: Yeah, we are allowed when we are just working instead of them teaching.