- How to have a pod party.
- Blockbuster air bnb.
- I’m definitely feeling this as schools (and sports) start up.
- I love David Tennant.
- But was excited to hear this about Chris Eccleston. (He was way underrated.)
- I shocked my husband when I said I sometimes feel sad for him. (I do.)
- I don’t think that saying means what you think it means.
- This made me laugh, but also breaks my heart.
- I had the daybed. And I loved it.
- Is anyone else wondering about how crazy the holidays will be?
- The best way to freeze bananas.
- How soap kills the coronavirus (and other viruses).
- I can’t decide if I’ll read Midnight Sun.
- Still trying to turn Abe into a reader.
- And more reading suggestions.
- Anyone else in a spooky movie/book space?
- Incorrectly pegged me as an air sign.
- Science is so cool.
- This didn’t surprise me. At all.
- Thinking about family rituals lately.
- Dinner tonight.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
16) Just finished reading Salem’s Lot last week and Survivor Song this week. Survivor Song, beware, parallels many of the happenings of 2020. But I finished it in two days and I’m still thinking about it.
I looked up Survivor Song and it sounds very good. I think I want to read that. I never read Salem’s Lot. I read a few of Kong’s and when I read The Shining (in high school) I was so terrified I never read another.
Hi Kate,
I loved the article about the sayings. It’s fascinating that “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” was thinned down over time to its opposite meaning. I also love that it’s actually God that is in the details rather than the devil.
#8 is definitely both laugh out loud and heartbreaking.
I hadn’t yet thought about it, but yes, I can see that Thanksgiving and Christmas will indeed be a nightmare in the US.
I wish you were having better luck turning Abe into a reader. (My 15-year-old son would have found the last few months even harder had he not been a reader. I hope Abe does have some other hobbies he enjoys besides reading. My son could certainly do with some branching out in the hobby department!)
“Action is the antidote to despair”—it certainly is. Sometimes it’s so hard to know what action to take, though. And sometimes you take an action and it doesn’t work out. (I recently decided I need to quit my climate action group. I had such hopes at the outset and now I’m feeling so deflated.)
I hope you have a good weekend, Kate. (I’m going to pick up my sweater yarn tomorrow as it’s finally in.)
xo Marian
I did know that about blood/water. And the curiosity/satisfaction one but I love “God is in the details.” I think I prefer it that way. (I’m sure that’s not a surprise.)
I wish I was having better luck too!! He loves being read to and will listen to audio books. He’s just so social and reading feels so solitary. This has been especially hard on him (enough so that it has been VERY tempting to send him to school) but I keep trying with the books.
I’m so sorry the climate action group didn’t turn out the way you had hoped. At least you know.
And yay!!!! for sweater yarn! I *still* haven’t finished my socks but started a scarf anyway. I needed a change.
Take care!! So good to hear from you!!
Hi Kate! Ah!! They pegged me incorrectly for a water sign, but I’m an air sign. Great fun to hear from you. I’ve missed my pen pal:)
I’ve missed you too!! Funny that they got you wrong too!! And Santa in a mask made me chuckle too!!
It got me wrong, too. 🙂
Well, so much for that quiz!! I think that it’s gotten EVERYONE wrong.
—Santa wearing a mask definitely has me laughing!
—“An eye for an eye,” we say to mean revenge or retribution is justified. Gandhi actually said, “An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind,” meaning we should not seek revenge as it only harms us all. —Surprising that this was from Gandhi, although the full original context does follow Gandhi’s teachings.
I am deciding if I should leave Facebook now or in October before the election but now that I read the article about Christmas, I realize that I should probably leave now.
I hate our country so much right now and the people who made it this way are in such denial that is makes me sick.
Thank you for these blog posts.
They remind me of those advent calendars. Not sure if I have already said that before, so please forgive me if I am being repetitive but every link that I click on is a new fun thing to read. Like a treat.
Anna goes back to college today. She is still asleep in her bed upstairs and I am drinking my coffee and I am catching up on my blog reading in the quiet of the house before the start of the day.
This is my self-care. Thank you for this. 🙂
I have 32 friends on FB. Down from 36. And I’ve muted 5 of them. I’m related to all but two of them and they are my kids godparents. I stay for fun groups like yours and school information. Before though, I would definitely take breaks during election cycles. It’s too much (and is a contributing factor to the problems we face.) What is going on breaks my heart and makes me angry but I just keep reminding myself we will get through it. And we will.
Sending lots of hugs and love and happy thoughts. I’m glad this could help in some way and I LOVE that you think of it as one of those advent calendars. I hadn’t heard that before, but the description makes me happy!!
So I fall into a house painting project hole and I miss TWO posts from you! I actually saw this sometime on Saturday, but I didn’t have time to click on all the links until this morning. As you know, I love these Friday Find posts.
I had already been thinking about how hard the holidays are going to be. I feel as if we are some of the last families actually practicing social distancing. I do have a very small pod I’ve socialized with this summer (outside, keeping distance, etc.), but I won’t be able to see them in the winter because we’ll have to be inside. My parents won’t even let me visit under these summer conditions, and I’ve been fairly distraught about that. I haven’t seen them since February, and now likely won’t until next spring or summer. I was only thinking about the personal hardship, but hadn’t considered how it would be used to ramp up our culture wars. Blergh. So tired of so many things right now.
I will say this about the Patterson site–lots of good reads on there! And his books are really popular with kids, especially with some of our more reluctant readers. Also want to put a plug in for the idea that audiobooks are real books. I know it’s a different sort of skill and that it’s important to be able to read print, but he’s getting many of the same benefits from audio. Also, he’s lucky to have a parent working hard to instill love of books, in whatever format.
In terms of movies/books, I feel the way I did right after I had my kids: I can’t seem to get into anything that requires too much mental focus/effort. So, yes: Bring on the horror. And light comedy/romance. And intrigue/mystery/crime thriller. These are not usually my go-to genres. Midsommar (one of the recommended movies) was weird and creepy and horrific (and I liked it).
Finally, I had to share the job posting link on FB. Yes, hilarious in a heart-breaking way. Because it’s not that far from the truth. (True story: I got my first ELA teaching job in part because I agreed to also be a cheerleading coach. And teach Personal Finance, for which I was infinitely unqualified.)
Thank you for sharing all the good stuff you find. 🙂
I feel you on being the last people social distancing. Jesse’s parents, my parents, and I all have things that put us in the higher risk category so we haven’t visited since March. It’s been really hard. I’m so sorry you’re going through that too. I’m sad for the holidays. But I’ve been thinking of ways to make them special this year.
Thank you for the affirmation/validation on the reading. I never imagined I could end up with a kiddo who didn’t LOVE reading so I’m going to keep (gently) trying. I think it would be really helpful to him. Especially now.
I’m with you on my brain feeling a lot like post baby brain. I’m going to have to check out Midsommar.