April 8, 2022
1. Finally found the scrub brush I vaguely remembered and cleaned up my garden shears. (Though I did slice a flap of skin off my finger doing it. Ouch.)
2. I cooked! Deviled eggs and panko baked chicken thighs! And Smol Acrobat even liked the deviled egg. Much amazement.
3. We survived both of PiC’s hybrid on site work days with less angst than before. I don’t know what got us through this week better than last but I hope next week will be better than this week was.
Challenges this week: I had a prolonged day of feeling like a terrible parent and it fueled a severe pain spike.
I’ve been feeling very sad about the loss of a dear friend lately. They’re not gone-gone, but they’re gone from my life and I miss them a lot. I uncharacteristically sought out a Rabbi’s writings in search of some kind of comfort. I happen to appreciate Rabbi Ruttenberg’s writing a lot so this seemed an appropriate text. It didn’t actually bring me any comfort but I wasn’t really expecting that. It did give me something to mull over when I have mental capacity for it: The Trauma of the Golden Calf: Terror, Loss, Technical and Adaptive Challenges
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April 1, 2022
1. I can hide under my covers and check out books from the library on my phone and read them. 8 year old me would be SO JEALOUS of this kind of access.
2. There’s an earring maker whose crafts I love admiring but have held back from buying anything for a bit because Smol keeps ripping out my earrings and it’s not fun. I did find a pair that are perfect for a Christmas gift for a friend and since I was paying for shipping anyway, decided to pick out one bright colorful pair to go with my bright colorful dresses I bought a couple years ago. I normally avoid bright and colorful but I’ve been thinking that I could try branching out a little and even accessorize! I only agonized over spending the money a little bit. For a while.
3. This Direct Aid campaign to help Afghani citizens in dire need passed their goal but I think we should keep contributing as much as long as we are able. I’m really glad that Shep shared this last week.
Challenges this week: The top of my foot has been swollen for a week and I haven’t been able to convince it to stop. If it sticks around a few more days, I’m naming it.
We’re acutely aware of the continued devastation that Russian is wreaking on Ukraine and it’s all horrible.
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March 25, 2022
1. I wish I’d also gotten the manufacturer coupon to stack with the deal but I found our usual brand shampoo and conditioner (2 each) from Walgreens for $20 (before tax) and $5 Walgreens reward cash, making it $7.50 for a pair. I’d have had to buy 5 sets plus their $10 off $40 to come close to the same pricing from Target.
2. Smol’s very vocal but has only experimented with lots of different sounds without any real attempt to assign meaning to them yet. Still. They still don’t call any of us anything, we are just “high pitched excited shriek”. So it was a real shocker when they were asking for apples and SAID “Ah-pa” several times. Practically a word!
Giving
I’ll do another round of donations to support refugees in Ukraine and trans kids in the states.
Shep shared to their friend Jelena and friends’ campaign to provide food and supplies for those in Afghanistan.
Arlan Hamilton shared Beauty 2 the Streetz.
Challenges this week: Kid germs are the pits.
We’re having to schedule activities for JB and family plans through the end of summer but we still know nothing about under-5 vaccines. Sigh. I’m using this NPR page to keep an eye on the status of the review of vaccines. This latest on Moderna efficacy has me disheartened. I feel like I’m grasping at straws trying to find hope in the CNN overview.
Return to work has been especially rough on the adults.
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March 18, 2022
1. It continues to be the little things. I figured out my egg peeling problem had nothing to do with my cooking and cooling methods but rather my cracking method. I went back to my original thousand taps to crack it all around method and we’re all clear now.
2. Speaking of good and eggs, Bentocart menu options were too limited. Either the menu items weren’t appealing or they were wildly overpriced. We tried Good Eggs this week instead.
A friend shared this fundraiser: Help House Two Native Elders Part 2
Challenges this week: talked to JB about our family’s experience as refugees, to help them understand the situation many people globally face.
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March 11, 2022
1. I had a massage on Friday that really helped my muscles loosen up and bonus didn’t have a massive pain rebound afterward. I still needed to lay down and rest more than half the day Saturday and a few hours pm Sunday but that’s still a bit of improvement.
Challenges this week: everything.
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March 4, 2022
1. Donated to support HIAS’ Ukraine crisis response.
2. Donated to World Central Kitchen to support feeding Ukrainian refugees.
3. Went down this list of how to help and support Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion.
4. Donated to OutMemphis to support the Alternate Spring Break that helps trans people with name changes.
5. Donated to Project C.U.R.E. to supply humanitarian assistance, medical supplies and equipment to the people of Ukraine.
6. Donated to Equality Texas.
7. Donated to the Young Center to help support unaccompanied and separated children facing deportation. No children should be forced to face legal proceedings alone and yet our system does this to them.
8. Supported a friend’s crowdfunding to escape Arkansas.
9. Once in a long while, Smol has a looooong nap. Sunday morning was one of those days. I did some work AND laid down for a little bit. I’m generally primed for missing out on rest because babies have a sensor to wake up the minute a mom’s head hits a pillow but today allowed for some leisure. I also didn’t work that much, just enough to set up my other time zone people in order for their Monday, and started backing up my files to my external hard drive. Since the external hard drive is massive, I’ve decided that instead of trying to only replace the changed files, I’ll copy over the full set of files on a semi regular basis without worrying over the duplicates over time. I have so much space on there, it shouldn’t matter. After several versions of back ups, I’ll delete the oldest ones but I don’t need to waste time on that for a long while.
Challenges this week: Not sure it needs to be said? Ukraine. Attacks on trans kids and their families in Texas are already starting to result in investigations of parents (though a limited stay on that specific one was issued), the situation in Kabul is terrible, the GOP continues to attack all kinds of right including reproductive rights and voting rights.
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February 25, 2022
1. I’d forgotten how I once dreamed of horses. I wanted my life to revolve around dogs and horses. I devoured every story I could, Misty of Chinoteague, The Black Stallion, series of girls and racehorse books that I can’t remember the title of now, to the real stories about Man o’War, Secretariat and Seabiscuit. Watching a short clip of Secretariot brought tears to my eyes remembering how much I loved riding and grooming horses. Watching all of Secretariat’s Triple Crown races turned me into a faucet. I am grateful that my parents indulged paying for my riding lessons if I could get a ride there. I wonder if I can ever do that again.
Challenges this week: So many terrible things happening in the world. Gov Abbott is trying to attack trans kids in Texas, Florida is putting kids at increased risk of abuse, abortion rights are under fire everywhere, and now Russia invading Ukraine. It’s all awful.
Rabbi Danya calls us to action.
Urge your lawmakers to support the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA):
Monday, the Senate has its first vote on WHPA (the Women’s Health Protection Act), the bill that would legalize abortion federally even if SCOTUS overturned Roe. It has already passed the House.
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