Humans of New York: Stories, by Brandon Stanton

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Thistle

hony-storiesThis book really needs no introduction. Stanton photographs people in NYC (and elsewhere when traveling) and asks them questions. The last Humans of New York book I read contained mostly photos, where as this one was photos paired with the stories of the people in them. Hence the title.

I first came across HoNY quite a long time ago, and have been following Stanton’s photographic journey via facebook and instagram ever since. He posts often, and I miss a lot, so reading this book was a fun little mix of stories I’ve already experienced and brand new ones to me. I enjoyed the reading so much, picking the book up here and there to read a couple stories at a time and spread the experience out. Stanton has a wonderful eye for seeing people, and if you aren’t already following HoNY, I highly recommend it.

I wanted to share one personal reason why this book, and the project in general, appeals to me so much. It comes from my trip to Niagara Falls with my family last year. Niagara, of course, is this giant tourist trap. Thousands of people from all over the world crowd the place. I remember walking around and observing people of every size, shape, color, age, and ability. Though I’m white, I grew up first in an area that was mostly African-American, and then in an area that was mostly Latino. The few times I’ve lived in mostly-white communities have made me very uncomfortable, and I’m never more comfortable than when surrounded by a whole variety of ethnicities, languages, foods, and cultures.

At Niagara, after nearly a year in a part of Massachusetts that was mostly white-or-Asian, I was surrounded by a huge diversity of people again. I was struck by the beauty of it, and it hit home for me not for the first time in my life: I simply do not understand how people can’t see the beauty in diversity! We have such a limited notion of “beauty” or “right” or “good” in too many parts of this country. The media flattens us, even when they try to diversify by gender or race. How often do you see extremely dark-skinned, short men from India, or obese women who don’t have a specific body shape, or people with major birth defects, or American women with shaved heads or burkas, or elderly bearded men wearing dresses and nail polish? Because these people – and so many others – exist. They are all around us, if we open our eyes, and it is beautiful.

Brandon Stanton opens his eyes. He sees the people around him. He lives in a place filled with an amazing diversity of people, and he captures their stories. He shows the world to us through different eyes, and it’s my fervent hope that one day, everyone can see just how beautiful this diversity is, and love it, and wish for it, and see it everywhere – around them, on TV, in books, in politics, at churches, in schools…not just places like NYC or Niagara. I admit, I get so tired of homogeny, and I want this whole country to be the melting pot we claim it is.

Posted in 2016, Adult, Visual | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #27: Cursed Feet

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Thistle

buttonI imagine most people have trouble with one part of their body or another. Me? My feet. Stupid, cursed feet.

  • I was born with crooked feet, not bad enough to be called club feet, but bad enough to need casting for several months to straighten.
  • All through childhood and adolescence, I suffered from random foot maladies, like a sudden tightening of tendons that wouldn’t relax for months, making it impossible to walk properly.
  • Because of my foot issues, I’ve never been terribly good at lower body sports. As a super-fit swimmer and cross-trainer in my teens, I couldn’t run a lap around the track, but could easily do 20+ pullups. For years, I could walk faster than I could run. To this day, running a fast mile for me is still around an 11-minute mile.
  • I’ve suffered stress fractures and odd muscle growth patterns through my legs because of my feet. Unlike most people, when I’m injured, my feet roll out instead of in. The picture below shows the angle well. I felt like I was standing normally here.
  • I have to be super careful about shoes. If the shoes are even slightly wrong for my feet, they can cause major injuries, or make mild injuries worse. I would have healed from my seven-month-old ankle sprain months ago if not for a particular pair of shoes…

feet

And so on. Seriously. My feet are cursed, and that curse travels up into shins, knees, hips…and beyond that, I then end up with many poor walking/running habits. I tend to walk with straight legs, like a toddler learning how to walk. I keep all my joints very stiff, leading to strained muscles and tendons. I look almost straight down, watching to make sure I don’t trip. The above collage, clockwise from top left, show my straight-legged walk, a major stress fracture xray, staring down as a walk, and standing on the outside edge of my right foot while thinking I was standing straight.

It really is quite ridiculous, and yet I keep going. Walking, running, stretching, foam-rolling, trying to keep my legs and feet from completely falling apart…

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Forgetting Time, by Sharon Guskin (audio)

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Thistle

forgetting timeNoah is a disturbed four year old, and his mother, Janie, doesn’t know how to help. Doctors and therapists can do nothing for him. Noah is growing ever worse, terrified of water, knowledge of things he’s had no exposure to, and convinced that he wants to go home to his “other mother.” Jerome is an aging therapist and researcher into the highly disrespected field of reincarnation studies. He has studied thousands of cases of children who seem to remember former lives, with proof via scientific method to back up his research. Now, however, he’s losing his grasp of language, a degenerative disorder called aphasia, and Noah’s case might help him bring his research into a more public light.

I loved every second of this book. You know that experience when you’ve been reading books, and they’ve been good books, and you’ve been satisfied with those you’ve completed, only to come across something that totally blows you out of the water and makes you realize that “good” and “great” are two vastly different categories? That. This book was great.

I’m not sure my description really explains the tone of this book. It’s easy to read that and think that this is paranormal or science fiction. And yes, the book does have a speculative element. However, the entire thing is grounded in philosophy, theology, and science. It takes place in the real world, with real people, and all the evidence of reincarnation may not really be evidence, no matter how convincing.

It’s not really about the speculative element, anyway. It’s about the people. It’s about a single mother trying to cope with her son’s problems. It’s about a man trying to cope with the loss of his functioning as he ages. It’s about a boy trying to cope with nightmares and phobias. It’s about another mother coping with grief, and a daughter coping with the loss of her mother, and a teenager coping with the breakup of a family, and a man coping with the mistakes of his life. It’s about tragedy, and pain, and family, and the little moments that ripple outwards to touch so many lives. Yes, there is a speculative element – maybe – but this is a quiet, literary book of psychological exploration, and it was beautiful, so very beautiful.

My only regret is that I went through it so fast. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Pittu and Susan Bennett, and I could not stop listening. It only took two days to finish, when I was trying not to finish it that quickly. I worry that by flying through the book so fast, it won’t stay with me in the long run, and this is one that I really want to stay with me. I think there will likely be a reread in my future!

Posted in 2016, 2020, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Things I’ve Learned About Single Momhood

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Thistle

The biggest issue with your spouse working for a company in another state is the potential time spent in that other state. For the second time this year, Jason just got home from a week in Nashville. From Easter until late on April Fool’s, I was a single parent again. The last time he was gone, I was adjusting to a new medication, and somehow all three of my kids managed to come down with the stomach flu. Seriously. This time, we had a far easier time of things, but between these weeks with Jason away, I’ve learned some things about single momhood.

1. I’m really not going to cook all that much.
I hate cooking. I always have. It’s not that I can’t cook, because I can, and I’m actually pretty good at it. I just hate doing it. The only time it’s even semi-pleasant is when I’m making something I really love and have an audiobook that I’m so into that I’m looking for excuses to keep listening to it. Most of the time, though, I’d rather everyone make sandwiches, or order pizza, or pull out frozen emergencies meals.

2. Bonus: When you don’t cook much, the kitchen stays mostly clean.
The boys enjoyed having fewer kitchen-related chores. On the downside, it’s harder to run the dishwasher often enough when there’s mostly cereal bowls and spoons to wash. Hmm, what else can we fit in here…?

3. Juggling the schedule is tough with one driver.
In the mornings, the two younger boys had to let themselves out of the house via garage, because I was dropping Morrigan off at the time. In the afternoons, Morrigan had to find a ride home because I was waiting for the bus to drop off the younger boys. On days with after school activities, I found myself leaving the house and coming home sometimes three times in a row. Also: it’s important to make sure no appointments are scheduled in single momhood week, because it’s simply not going to happen. (How do you full-time single moms handle it??)

4. Waking up at 6:15 sucks.
Does that sound whiny? Oh well. I’m the sort of person who cannot live on fewer than eight hours of sleep, and it’s better if I get more. After three babies, the biggest lesson I learned is that I cannot get up over and over in the night. I will be completely sick and wasted after two days. Thank goodness Jason can get up at night without really waking up, or we might never have made it past those infancy stages. Jason is an early bird, and gets up around 6ish even when he doesn’t have to. I, on the other hand, prefer to sleep in just a bit longer, maybe to 6:45 or 7:00. Don’t have that choice on single-mom weeks. And then coffee becomes my best friend.

5. It’s a terrible idea to change up medicines right before your spouse leaves town.
Things worked out well in January, but not so much this time. One of my medicine tweaks, started just before Jason left, caused me to get really sick. At one point, I was literally asking my kids if they knew what to do if I fainted, which was a legitimate concern. By Monday afternoon, I had to untweak that medicine back to what it had been, regardless of whether or not the side effects would eventually minimize. Too risky when there isn’t another adult in the house for emergencies!

6. Technology is awesome.
I wholeheartedly love facetime.

7. There is nothing better than the moment your spouse gets home.
Even better if he finagles his way onto earlier flights and arrives at 9:15 instead of midnight. Woohoo!

The End.

Posted in Personal | Tagged | 7 Comments

Sunday Coffee – A Quarter Gone

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Thistle

IMG_4397It’s hard to believe 2016 is a quarter over already. It seems to have gone particularly fast this year, though for me perhaps that’s because of how time dragged for almost two years, before exploding into massive change this past March. Seems everything really changed for me this month. I got a new diagnosis, and new medications that have really helped. With that medicine, my body and brain suddenly had a hundred times more energy, and I started feeling GOOD for the first time in years. I began writing again, and wrote all but three days after beginning on March 7th. I exercised all but six days last month. I met up with friends and family eleven times (yay social!), and left the house nearly every single day (a marker of less depression for me). I even managed to (mostly) keep my house clean!

My book-life was equally changed. Since late December, I’ve been in the mood for multi-reads, and have been reading and listening to the same books over and over. I listened to one 49-hour audiobook six times. Many of my books came from revisiting old favorites, and a giant chunk of my reading (over half!) were from a single author (Brandon Sanderson). It was like my brain didn’t want to take in anything new, but instead wanted to hunker down with old friends for comfort.

However, with the changes in medicine, energy, writing, health, etc, my book-life suddenly shifted as well. I found myself grabbing tons of random books at the library to try out, and seeking out downloadable audiobooks. Continuing to revisit those multi-read books no longer appealed to me. I didn’t read much that was new in March – only two of my six reads – but the mental shift has happened. I’m looking forward to new things in April, including the upcoming Readathon as a way to try out a bunch of possible new reads!

Certainly, this first quarter of 2016 has been an interesting one. Seventeen books read, eight of them rereads, eight of them on audio, no nonfiction to speak of, only one book not in the sci-fi/fantasy category. Beyond the rereads, best book of the year so far is, hands down, Words of Radiance. It’ll take a lot to top that one this year! I kinda wonder what the competition will be like. Maybe Stiefvater’s Raven King, which finally comes out this month…

Library
IMG_4466Super happy to have a bunch of library holds come in this week! I’m looking forward to all three of these: Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke, A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann (been waiting for this one to be released for nearly three years!!), and The Woman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell, which came to me both in print and audio, so I’ll have to see which is better. Happy reading, y’all!

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 8 Comments

Love in Lowercase, by Francesc Miralles

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Thistle

love in lowercaseSamuel de Juan is a mid-30s professor living a solitary life when a cat shows up on his doorstep on New Year’s. Little did he know (ha!), by opening his door to that cat, Samuel would open his life up to a whole group of new people.

(Sorry, “little did he know” makes me think of Stranger Than Fiction every time.)

I hardly know what to say about this book. It’s difficult to place, genre-wise – kind of a cross between literary, surreal, and rom-com. The writing is simple and sparse (though it’s hard to know for sure, given this is translated from the Spanish), and the characters are very larger than life. Reading it felt almost like reading a dream, but with enough of a consistent story that it was still followable.

The experience was interesting, and ultimately enjoyable. I feel like I’ve read other books that are similar, or that gave off that same strange realism/surrealism mix, but I can’t pinpoint any specifically. It was the sort of book that gave me an impression of the writing styled to match the narrator’s internal state, which in itself was fascinating.

Posted in 2016, Adult, Prose | Tagged | 2 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #26: Yoga Camp

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Thistle

buttonA year ago, I started researching yoga as a therapy technique for my complex PTSD. I checked out videos from the library and asked friends online for suggestions. That led me to Yoga With Adriene. Over the summer months, I began using yoga in a very limited way, mostly focused on certain poses when I was started dissociating. Only in the fall did I try to start with a regular yoga practice, choosing Adriene’s 30 days of yoga program from Jan 2015. Though of course I then managed to sprain my foot and ankle right after finishing my day two workout. Boo.

childs poseAs 2016 began, I decided to follow along with Adriene’s 30-day Yoga Camp, going from January 2nd to 31st. I did well…until day 5. The previous evening, there had been a little family emergency that took several days to deal with. Yoga stopped being a priority. When I could finally work on it again, I resigned myself to starting over from the beginning, really wanting to hit it 30 days in a row. Then I thought, you know what? I have three teen boys and an absolutely crazy schedule. It’s not going to happen! And rather than keep on starting over from Day 1, I’m just going to keep going forward.

March 29, Day 30. Yes, it took me three whole months, but I made it. I finished this 30-day Yoga Camp. It was a wonderful, if sporadic, experience, and I took home a lot of great things:

  • It is possible for me to increase my flexibility. Slowly. A little. I’ve never been flexible, not when I was tiny and athletic and doing every kind of exercise and stretch known to man. But by the end of these three months, I can get my heels all the way down during downward dog on some days, and I can reach past my toes almost to my wrists, and I can hug my legs to my chest, and I can open my legs past a 90-degree angle – none of which I could do at the beginning.
  • My foot, now seven months post-sprain, is still healing. I had to modify certain poses to accommodate it, and certainly can’t balance well on that leg. Warrior I with that foot turned out? Yowch. However, the Camp has been helping me to build strength, balance, and flexibility back into that foot, and along with my therapy exercises, it is getting so much better!
  • I will do child’s post as extended child’s pose 99% of the time, and I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty for “breaking” the rules. Wide knees, belly dropped between them, arms above my head and cradling my elbows (see above pic). This is my go-to PTSD safety pose, and it calms me every time.
  • My back and neck feel about a thousand times better when I do yoga. It gets all the kinks out, and my muscles grow looser but stronger, allowing me to get the kinks out on my own outside of practice. Both my husband and my chiropractor have noticed a change in my back and neck muscles, as well as in how self-adjusting my body has become through yoga.
  • I am a strong person. Yes, I may weigh over 200 lbs, but I have a ton of muscle. There was very little in the workouts that I couldn’t do, beyond what would have stressed my injured ankle. Total confidence builder.
  • The Camp had daily mantras. The mantra from Day 26 struck me in particular: I attract ___. (fill in the blank) At first, I had no idea what to say. Health? Love? Good words for my manuscript-in-progress? An agent and a book deal? (ha!) But then it struck me, and just felt right: I attract READERS. Yes!
  • Yoga is so much better in a semi-dark, cool room wearing nothing but light pjs (or less if no one is home!).

I have loved doing this Yoga Camp, and don’t plan to stop yoga any time soon. I hope to keep it as part of my life several times a week, and maybe this fall, I’ll get back to that original 30 Days of Yoga from 2015 that I had to abandon this past year!

A note on test results:
The rest of my extensive blood work came back. Most of what it said came as no surprise, though I did find out I’m extremely low on vitamin D despite being in the sun (without sunscreen – don’t lecture me, there’s a medical reason for this!) quite often. I’ve started a supplement for it, and also now have specific dietary requirements tailored to my health and genetics per this test. Follow up in six months with another extensive blood test. Point being that my doctors are really getting down to the causes of the medical problems from the last year, and are (hopefully) helping to put me on the path to healing.

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Sunday Coffee – Graphic Audio

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Thistle

IMG_4373Earlier this week, I read a blog post from Brandon Sanderson that mentioned a website called Graphic Audio. A regular audiobook involves a narrator (or several) reading the text of the book, unabridged. Graphic Audio productions, on the other hand, act out the book, complete with sound effects and interactive dialog, etc. The tagline of the website is “a movie in your mind.”

Prior to learning about this website, I’d heard of a couple audiobooks that were more than just straight readings. The audio version of Hugo Cabret, for instance, replaces the extensive artwork of the book with sound effects to get across the story in a similar way as the art. While I haven’t listened to either, I know there are dramatizations that audio-act versions of Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Wells’ War of the Worlds (the latter produced via radio early last century). I’d guess these two are similar to those put out by Graphic Audio. Similar concept, anyway.

I listened to the preview of the Graphic Audio version of A Way of Kings, included in Sanderson’s blog post. It was an interesting experience – though admittedly, I’d rather read or hear about a spear being thrust through someone’s leg, rather than listen to the sound of it as it happens. I’m squeamish that way. The thing is, I’m still boggled by the term “a movie in your mind.” Because really, isn’t that what a normal audiobook is?

Audiobooks aren’t for everyone, I know. I love them myself, but I’m also very picky about them. The right narrator is crucial (example: I don’t listen to YA on audio very often because the readers tend to portray teens as perpetually whiny in a very unrealistic way). The ability to listen at the right speed is crucial (no way in hell that I’m going to listen to the excruciatingly slow pace of most audios – I want them to speak at regular dialog speed!). The right kind of book is crucial (in other words, it has to create a movie in my mind).

When I read a book, I get lost in the world of that book. My brain begins to imagine the things that are happening, so that I barely see the words on the page**. When I listen to an audiobook, a similar thing happens, except that absolutely no part of my brain is focusing on words on a page. It’s more similar to daydreaming, except someone else is guiding the dreams. The right kind of book makes a wonderful mind-movie. (Notably, this is why I don’t listen to most literary novels on audio, unless they are performed instead of read, and why I do listen to nonfiction on audio, because I have a difficult time seeing beyond page-words when I read nonfiction.)

I would love to experience a few more of those Graphic Audios. I imagine they’d be a fascinating experience, and quite different from reading, audiobooking (that should be a word), and movie-watching. I’ve long wanted to try out the dramatization of War of the Worlds, despite not liking the book itself. I’m all for different medias and experiences helping to create a rounder understanding of a work of art! Though perhaps I’ll try with a book that isn’t going to make me squeamish. I vehemently do not want to hear the sounds of ripping entrails or characters vomiting…

Library
IMG_4367Decided to go kinda crazy at my library this week. Some of these books are from new-to-me authors. Some are authors I’d like to try again. Some are books I’ve never heard of. In all likelihood, only one or two of them will make it past my five-page trial. I think my brain is coming out of reread mode. From top to bottom:

  • The Forgetting Time – Sharon Guskin (audio)
  • Girl at War – Sara Novic
  • My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry – Fredrik Backman
  • The Map of the Sky – Felix Palma
  • Purity – Jonathan Franzen
  • The City & the City – China Mieville
  • Humans of New York: Stories – Brandon Stanton

Any of these you recommend in particular?

**Bizarrely, my brain hasn’t figured out how to branch away from the screen into imagination when it comes to ebooks, which is why I don’t read them often. I’m sure one day, the right synapses will connect. A decade ago, I wrote all my stories/novels by hand because my brain wouldn’t write/create while I typed, and then one day, it was like a switch had flipped, and I could. I had a similar flip in 2010 when it came to audiobooks, and I’m sure ebooks will have their day, too. Yay for constantly growing brainpower!

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Breaking Up With Ipsy

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Thistle

About a year ago, I made the decision to start wearing makeup for the first time pretty much in my entire life. The goal was to try for a month. Then I kept wearing it, and in the summer, signed up for Ipsy as a way of trying out different kinds of products. In the beginning, I loved the program. After the first few months, I grew wary. This month, I canceled my subscription.

Two factors decided me. The first is to do with Ipsy itself. I’m not sure if my stylist just didn’t pay attention to my requests and preferences, or if the company simply doesn’t care what they send you. Either way, I kept ending up with products I’d specifically asked not to receive. For three months in a row, for example, I received eyebrow-related products. All three months, plus in my introductory survey, I said I had no interest in eyebrow stuff. And yet, the products kept coming. Then I started receiving stuff like perfume, to which I’m allergic – something I stated in the introductory survey. Since about October, I haven’t liked the majority of what’s come in my packages. The monthly cost, though small, no longer seems worth it.

IMG_4363

(just plain me)

Second, and probably more important, are the changes that I’ve gone through myself. When I began wearing makeup a year ago, I was in a place of insecurity and reinvention. I started dressing up as a way to try to make myself feel better, and indeed it was nice when people paid me compliments. But honestly, I’m just not a makeup person. The stuff takes too much time, and the more stable, confident, and secure in myself I am, the less I’m inclined to wear it. I think I may have used makeup maybe twice or three times in 2016 so far. I just don’t care to take the effort.

Most people, I know, would see that as a sign of depression, but for me, it’s the opposite. Depression makes me more likely to act different from my normal self, in an attempt to defeat the depression. If I wanted to dress up but didn’t have the energy, sure, that would be depression. The fact that I never even think about makeup anymore shows that I’ve gotten past that place of insecurity and reinvention. I’m starting to feel more comfortable with my true self again.

I probably won’t stop wearing makeup altogether, but I certainly have no need for a subscription any longer, especially one that ignores my preferences.

Posted in Personal | 12 Comments

A Day in the Life of…a writer and SAHM (on spring break)

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Thistle

A-Day-in-the-LifeA Day in the Life is an event hosted by Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity. She’s posted this for the last couple years, though this is my first participating. Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking I’d participate this year, either, until a day came up about a week ago that made me think, hmm, maybe it would be fun to have a day’s snapshot to look back on!

As a writer and stay at home mom, my schedule varies wildly from day to day. My boys are 15 (freshman), 13 (8th grade), and 12 (6th grade). My husband works from home (or from Starbucks or the library on days when it’s easier to work outside the house), and our family collectively attends about 25 doctor appointments a month. We’re a mess! We’re a triple-puberty, moved-across-the-country-twice-in-one-year, mental-health-issues-galore, booknerd, gamer-nerd, wacky, zany household. The day I chose to record my time was right smack in the middle of spring break, with all five of us home instead of three off to school.

March 16th, 2016

IMG_43257:00 am – I’m up, by necessity instead of choice. Still adjusting to the time change and it feels way too early. Laurence (my youngest) is up, too, because both of us have chiropractor appointments this morning. As he showers and has breakfast, I go through my morning rituals. I make coffee (using my brand new kettle for the first time!), feed the cats, post the day’s blog, go through my email, write in my journals, and draw my tarot card for the day (Knight of Wands). Eventually, though it’s really too early for breakfast, I have a biscuit and two chocolate-covered strawberries from the bouquet Jason brought me the day before (Edible Arrangements).

8:50 am – Laurence and I leave to go to the chiropractor. We’re the only two in the family who enjoy going, and he hasn’t been since the Christmas break. I particularly need a bone in my injured foot adjusted! We’ve been seeing this chiropractor for nine years and I love him to pieces. On the way to the appointment, L and I end up talking about how various religions have different “correct” ways to pray.

9:45 am – The chiropractor visit is done, and we stop by HEB, our grocery store, on the way home. We need to pick up a few things: yogurt, eggs, baby spinach, and honey.

IMG_433010:15 am – I put up the groceries, while Laurence rushes outside to start the lawn-mowing. He’s excited that it’s cool enough outside and he’s going to get paid to mow the lawn. He’s our youngest, but also the one who takes advantage of money-making opportunities. Jason moves to work outside to keep an eye on him, and Ambrose (middle child) goes with him to work on his own programming project. Morrigan (my oldest) is cloistered away in his room, reading or hiding or designing Magic decks. The house is relatively quiet. Time to write!

For the next almost-two hours, I work on the next chapter in my current manuscript-in-progress, stopping only for iced coffee and a few chocolate-covered apple-slices (Edible Arrangements again). This chapter is (generally) about a priest retrieved by a soldier to return to the capitol to investigate the unexplained murder of a fellow priest. Progress goes well, a good 2000+ words written and the chapter finished before the family comes together for lunch. Success!

Noon – Lunch is a haphazard and quick affair involving leftover pizza. I did at least make a salad with mine…

IMG_432912:30 pm – Time for audio! I put on my current audiobook (The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson), and alternate doing a couple lines of crochet on my current WIP with afternoon fitness/therapy work: yoga (32 mins, Yoga With Adriene), ankle therapy for my injured ankle, foam rolling (even though I really hate foam rolling!!!), and finally, showering for the day. Yes, I know. It happens. I have three kids…

IMG_43273:00 pm – Yogurt…mmm… –>

3:30 pm – So most of my planned day is done by now, lots of Xs in my bullet journal, with a few things waiting for later in the evening. The audiobook goes back on, with earbuds now, as I random-pants my way through the rest of the afternoon and early evening. A few more lines of crochet. Cleaning out my French press. Taking out the waste baskets around the house. Catching up on some paperwork like health insurance tracking and receipts. Playing around on facebook and other internet rabbit holes. Chasing the boys to make sure they get their chores done for the day. Eventually, I settle into my recliner and absently watch as the boys play Zelda and Super Smash Bros, now that Jason is done with work for the day. Once the allotted video game time is over, the boys and I watch an episode of NCIS together (Grounded, from season 12) – they’ve almost watched the entire backlog now! Jason is making fun of the show, so I “make” him rub my feet in recompense. Ha!

IMG_43366:15 pm – Tired of sitting around, I decide to take a leisurely 45-min walk around the neighborhood while Jason and Laurence make dinner (his turn today). Of course, I have my audiobook to accompany me. And while I’m out, the boys take the trash to the curb – the last chore besides dishes for the night!

7:00 pm – Dinner time! Tonight we have meatball-porcupines on rice with roasted asparagus on the side. Most nights, we choose a topic to discuss at dinner. Jason asks us questions and we see what we can all come up with. Dinner topic this night was “children’s TV shows,” because we’d been talking about Veggie Tales and Thomas the Tank Engine as the dinner began. Dinner is quick tonight, and Morrigan rushes to do the after-dinner dishes (his turn today) so we can play a game.

7:30 pm – After dinner, we put Scene-It on in “party play” mode, and spend an hour answering movie trivia questions together. None of us are big movie people, which means we fail often, but it’s fun, and in party-play mode, none of the boys feel like they’re failing or losing, which is a common game-problem in our family!

IMG_43268:30 pm – Lights out is around 9:00 pm in our house, so around 8:30, we move into prep-for-bed mode. I gather up the electronics and lock them away in our room (necessary precaution with preteen/teen boys!!), lock the doors, turn off the ceiling fans, feed the cats, and tidy the living room. While the boys get in their pajamas (or complain they don’t need pajamas) and brush their teeth, I stir up my nightly liquid magnesium citrate supplement (to help me sleep) and drink. The boys give us stuffed animals – they live on the back of our headboard for a week before going back to them. Tonight it’s a small frog and a giant Ugly Doll from Ambrose and Laurence (nothing from Morrigan). There is a flurry of hugs, multiple rounds, as they try to stay up later than 9:00, and eventually lights go out. Jason and I retreat to our room.

IMG_43289:15 (ish) pm – Now it’s time to relax just a bit before bed. I change into my PJs after skinbrushing (feels sooooo good), brush my teeth, and do a few more lines of crochet while I listen to a tiny bit more of my audiobook. When Jason is also ready for the night, we plan our days together. Then we lay back and just talk until we’re ready to sleep, which comes around 10:20 pm tonight (a bit later than usual, because again, still adjusting to the time change).

11:15 pm – Finally fall asleep after multiple interruptions, including 1) shouting teens outside who play basketball two houses away to all hours of the night, 2) some bizarre flashing lights that are near blinding even through wooden blinds, 3) Morrigan coming to check up on what said flashing lights are, and 4) a cat in heat yowling and fighting outside our window. It’s a good thing I don’t have to get up until 8:00 the next morning!!

It’s not exactly a typical day, but typical-enough for us, with all our crazy circumstances. Hopefully I didn’t bore anyone! Thanks, Trish, for hosting this event!

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