Good Things Friday (139) and Link Love
October 22, 2021
1. We got all the flu shots! We took a combination of all the ideas for JB: had them go first to “show Smol it’ll be ok”, they brought a comfort toy, and I intended to put on a song on my phone for a distraction. The song didn’t work as planned, but it worked out in the end. They started panicking a bit at the moment the needle came out but I showed them the phone screen with the video loading and the shot was done before it loaded fully. They then served as distraction for Smol and they were super proud of themselves that neither of them screamed. Just a few small tears but it was all in all not traumatic or eardrum bursting like in every other session. Yay!
2. I am very very slowly learning my way around my sewing machine so that I can teach the kids basic sewing someday. I managed to wind two bobbins today and cut out a pattern for a project I’d like to do by the end of the year. There’s something really satisfying about doing a little bit of a craft, making a bit of something instead of solely consuming. Crafting is still consuming but that’s just a part of it.
3. A reader let me know that something I wrote helped them, and that was incredibly heartwarming. I can hope that what I share helps people but I never know unless they tell me. I’m grateful it was helpful to them and I’m grateful they shared with me.
4. I tackled the many boxes of kids’ clothes that have been in a state of disarray as I searched out bigger clothes for Smol from their hand me down boxes and organized JB’s outgrown clothes into more boxes for sharing with friends and family depending on the size and kid. I put away five organized boxes, have 2 organized boxes for donation, have two more boxes to go through or just set aside, and refreshed JB’s clothing with the next size up. It feels really good to have that squared away.
5. I planted (used one gloved hand to dig around random parts of soil in our container, and dropped them in) a few sprouting potatoes and sweet potatoes. Will they grow? I don’t know! Let’s find out!
6. I showed off my cricket capture and release skills. Nice to know I can still impress PiC after 15 or so years. I assume he was impressed, anyway.
7. Medium batch cooking! I made a big pot of coconut lime chicken curry and put away 2 medium containers to freeze for later. We had the remainder for dinner. If I can make 3 meals like this on weekends, it would help resolve our dinner dilemmas at least. But one was a nice start.
Challenges this week: Brain therapy was rough. Quite a few revelations about the feelings I’ve repressed along with overwhelming feelings of grief for all our losses this year.
Every joint in my body is upset this week. I assume it’s because of the storm front that’s moved in or moving in. It hurts hurts hurts.
I’m working through a tough period at work. I hate this aspect of my job. It’s necessary and it’s necessary to do the best job I can and that turns on a lot of pressure valves that I don’t like. I’m doing my best to remind myself that no matter how I feel about it, this is just work and it’ll be fine or it won’t be and we’ll work through that too. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just my anxiety that makes me feel that it is.
I tweeted this grumpily the other day but in some ways it should be comforting:
I did the best I could / and it wasn’t good enough. / But it has to be good enough /because it was the best I could do.
‘Impossible’ Particle Discovery Adds Key Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle
One author (Cassandra Khaw) I really like popping by and sharing their new book at another author I really like’s (Scalzi, Whatever) blog! I really like reading just about anything she writes.
YAY for not-awful shot experience!! It helps me when they’re quick and no-fuss, sounds like maybe they were nice and speedy for JB too.
SO great that you’ll hopefully normalize using a sewing machine for your kiddos. I didn’t learn young and now half-think it’s too late. (I know it’s not – but the daunt factor is high.) I quit girl scouts when our project was going to be sewing our own uniforms, but in retrospect that would have been a great experience.
Yes it was nice and quick, plus all the distractions made a BIG difference. We’ll need to do the same thing for their COVID shot whenever that happens.
Feel free to come be daunted with me! I have had this machine since January. Time being an issue, I have only just opened the box and started learning what the pieces are and how to wind a bobbin. That’s all I’ve got so far. Next up is threading the needle and inserting the bobbin and after that it feels like the wild wooly West as far as what I do next. I can only get about 10-30 minutes per weekend to test my chops so the progress is going to be so slow 😁 You’re more than welcome to muddle through with me if you were so inspired. I’ll share the project I’d like to try in my next Friday update. I’m debating which to start with when I finally figure out the essential workings of the machine.