Meme, catch-up, and some books
Belated Friday Five, gacked from 
thesmallhobbit and spiffikins:
1) What are you doing this spring that you weren't doing 1 year ago?
Substitute teaching/library work. Grad school. TKD in person. (TKD at all!)
2) What pandemic precautions are you still taking?
Masking indoors when shopping or at school, using hand sanitizer when I get back to my car, washing my hands for 20+ seconds when I get home.
3) What's a safety rule that's very important to you?
Seat belts. Sunscreen if you're going to be outside for awhile.
4) What plants are blooming where you live?
A lot of blooms are over, but I think hydrangea and azaleas are blooming? (Well, and my tomatoes are starting to produce flowers!)
5) What was your most memorable summer job?
Probably the summer I worked at our local city hall, the summer I turned 20 (between junior and senior years of college). It was my first full-time, regular M-F, 9-5 job, and it was interesting to learn how city-level government worked. The job itself wasn't super-thrilling - I mostly did word processing/photocopying/filing for the city manager (the highest non-elected person) and the city council/mayor - but I still learned a bit about other workings.
Very little progress on getting my dad out here. With the help of A Place For Mom, I visited three memory care centers the week of May 17-21. However, then my APFM coordinator suddenly had to leave and I was handed over to someone else who has not been as good about setting me up with appointments, so I didn't see anything last week and I'm v frustrated. I mean, if I had to pick a place from the first week, I could, but none of them felt quite right. I really wanted to place him within a month and now half of that time is gone already. Will started looking for an Elder Law attorney in OR this week since I hadn't had time, and found some potential candidates but we haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet. Sigh.
Meanwhile, my mother has come down with shingles - on her face. Although it's not IN her eye, it's affected the tissue *around* her eye, making it swollen. Poor lady. It's been about a week, though, so hopefully it will start healing soon.
As for me: I've substituted a lot, dealt with the newly-planted veggie garden (weeds are doing well, thanks for asking - will be spending time this weekend weeding), handled the usual chores and errands, hosted a house guest for the first time in 18 months (college friend of Will and Rob's) last week, and gone to TKD in person twice (last Sat and last night) - SUPER SUPER happy about that.
(I came home from TKD last night and was greeted at the door by Two, who handed me a bowl with a brownie ice cream sundae in it. Everyone should get this sort of homecoming!)
It's a long weekend here - Memorial Day on Mon, which is normally the unofficial start of summer. We've had quite a few summery days already, though! Ironically, this weekend is chilly and wet - although I'm not complaining, honestly, because we desperately need the rain. It's been a very dry year so far.
My summer term (one class: Children's Lit) begins on Tues. We had the first two weeks' readings in advance, since it involved a huge pile of picture books - that way we had plenty of time to track them down at our local libraries. I'm looking forward to this class overall - look up "John Schumacher" or "Mr. Schu" (his usual nickname - even as a professor) in conjunction with children's lit or school libraries, and you'll see he's actually kind of a famous guy. He only teaches in summer (someone else teaches during the academic year) and I specifically waited for summer for this course, as I've heard he's the absolute best to learn from.
I've recently read:
Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake, which I borrowed from the library (e-book) and read on my flight home from OR. It's about a middle-school girl who loses her home in a tornado and struggles to find her footing as her family deals with the aftermath. On top of that, she's coming to grips with the realization that she likes girls. This was an emotionally challenging book, given the various stresses in Ivy's life, but it was well done. I liked that it didn't necessarily have a happy ending, but it did have a hopeful, positive ending, if that makes sense.
Dodger by PTerry, also borrowed from the library (e-book). It's not a Discworld book, but rather is set in 19th-century England, with fictional inclusion of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli and other historical figures, plus Sweeney Todd. Dodger is a 17-year-old orphan who (barely) makes a living finding things that have been swept/dropped into the sewers under the city. When he helps rescue a woman who is fleeing some captors - and the woman turns out to be rather important to some people on the Continent - his life is turned upside down in a matter of days. It's not the laugh-a-minute that Discworld books are, but it was still a fun story, and I did chuckle here and there.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. I'd heard a lot of positive buzz about it, so when it was a Kindle DotD, I snapped it up. It features a 12-year-old Black girl from the projects, and is similar to Harry Potter/The Iron Trial/The Unwanted series etc in that she discovers she has magical powers when she is unexpectedly introduced to a supernatural world and related "schooling." However, Amari's particular powers are normally associated with evil within this world, and so she faces significant shunning, on top of the fact that she's not a "legacy" as many of the other children are - where their parents/grandparents/etc are also members of this supernatural society. Amari's main focus isn't just on passing all the trials so she can become a Junior Agent - her main focus is on finding her brother Quintin (10 years older) who disappeared 6 months ago while also working for this society. She makes some friends who help her in her search; one of those friends - his sister was Quintin's (non-romantic) partner, and she's missing, too. This was a fun, imaginative story with some interesting twists, and I'll definitely keep my eye out for the next book in the series (due next year).
I also finished reading aloud Spy School: Revolution by Stuart Gibbs, to Two. It's the latest in the series about a middle school boy training to be a CIA agent at spy school. Like Rick Riordan, Gibbs' writing is infused with a lot of humor, making these fun reads. Now we're reading Becky Albertalli's latest, Kate In Waiting, another fun read so far.
Time to go find lunch. And maybe do something other than sitting on my ass all day. :P
thesmallhobbit and spiffikins:1) What are you doing this spring that you weren't doing 1 year ago?
Substitute teaching/library work. Grad school. TKD in person. (TKD at all!)
2) What pandemic precautions are you still taking?
Masking indoors when shopping or at school, using hand sanitizer when I get back to my car, washing my hands for 20+ seconds when I get home.
3) What's a safety rule that's very important to you?
Seat belts. Sunscreen if you're going to be outside for awhile.
4) What plants are blooming where you live?
A lot of blooms are over, but I think hydrangea and azaleas are blooming? (Well, and my tomatoes are starting to produce flowers!)
5) What was your most memorable summer job?
Probably the summer I worked at our local city hall, the summer I turned 20 (between junior and senior years of college). It was my first full-time, regular M-F, 9-5 job, and it was interesting to learn how city-level government worked. The job itself wasn't super-thrilling - I mostly did word processing/photocopying/filing for the city manager (the highest non-elected person) and the city council/mayor - but I still learned a bit about other workings.
Very little progress on getting my dad out here. With the help of A Place For Mom, I visited three memory care centers the week of May 17-21. However, then my APFM coordinator suddenly had to leave and I was handed over to someone else who has not been as good about setting me up with appointments, so I didn't see anything last week and I'm v frustrated. I mean, if I had to pick a place from the first week, I could, but none of them felt quite right. I really wanted to place him within a month and now half of that time is gone already. Will started looking for an Elder Law attorney in OR this week since I hadn't had time, and found some potential candidates but we haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet. Sigh.
Meanwhile, my mother has come down with shingles - on her face. Although it's not IN her eye, it's affected the tissue *around* her eye, making it swollen. Poor lady. It's been about a week, though, so hopefully it will start healing soon.
As for me: I've substituted a lot, dealt with the newly-planted veggie garden (weeds are doing well, thanks for asking - will be spending time this weekend weeding), handled the usual chores and errands, hosted a house guest for the first time in 18 months (college friend of Will and Rob's) last week, and gone to TKD in person twice (last Sat and last night) - SUPER SUPER happy about that.
(I came home from TKD last night and was greeted at the door by Two, who handed me a bowl with a brownie ice cream sundae in it. Everyone should get this sort of homecoming!)
It's a long weekend here - Memorial Day on Mon, which is normally the unofficial start of summer. We've had quite a few summery days already, though! Ironically, this weekend is chilly and wet - although I'm not complaining, honestly, because we desperately need the rain. It's been a very dry year so far.
My summer term (one class: Children's Lit) begins on Tues. We had the first two weeks' readings in advance, since it involved a huge pile of picture books - that way we had plenty of time to track them down at our local libraries. I'm looking forward to this class overall - look up "John Schumacher" or "Mr. Schu" (his usual nickname - even as a professor) in conjunction with children's lit or school libraries, and you'll see he's actually kind of a famous guy. He only teaches in summer (someone else teaches during the academic year) and I specifically waited for summer for this course, as I've heard he's the absolute best to learn from.
I've recently read:
Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake, which I borrowed from the library (e-book) and read on my flight home from OR. It's about a middle-school girl who loses her home in a tornado and struggles to find her footing as her family deals with the aftermath. On top of that, she's coming to grips with the realization that she likes girls. This was an emotionally challenging book, given the various stresses in Ivy's life, but it was well done. I liked that it didn't necessarily have a happy ending, but it did have a hopeful, positive ending, if that makes sense.
Dodger by PTerry, also borrowed from the library (e-book). It's not a Discworld book, but rather is set in 19th-century England, with fictional inclusion of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli and other historical figures, plus Sweeney Todd. Dodger is a 17-year-old orphan who (barely) makes a living finding things that have been swept/dropped into the sewers under the city. When he helps rescue a woman who is fleeing some captors - and the woman turns out to be rather important to some people on the Continent - his life is turned upside down in a matter of days. It's not the laugh-a-minute that Discworld books are, but it was still a fun story, and I did chuckle here and there.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. I'd heard a lot of positive buzz about it, so when it was a Kindle DotD, I snapped it up. It features a 12-year-old Black girl from the projects, and is similar to Harry Potter/The Iron Trial/The Unwanted series etc in that she discovers she has magical powers when she is unexpectedly introduced to a supernatural world and related "schooling." However, Amari's particular powers are normally associated with evil within this world, and so she faces significant shunning, on top of the fact that she's not a "legacy" as many of the other children are - where their parents/grandparents/etc are also members of this supernatural society. Amari's main focus isn't just on passing all the trials so she can become a Junior Agent - her main focus is on finding her brother Quintin (10 years older) who disappeared 6 months ago while also working for this society. She makes some friends who help her in her search; one of those friends - his sister was Quintin's (non-romantic) partner, and she's missing, too. This was a fun, imaginative story with some interesting twists, and I'll definitely keep my eye out for the next book in the series (due next year).
I also finished reading aloud Spy School: Revolution by Stuart Gibbs, to Two. It's the latest in the series about a middle school boy training to be a CIA agent at spy school. Like Rick Riordan, Gibbs' writing is infused with a lot of humor, making these fun reads. Now we're reading Becky Albertalli's latest, Kate In Waiting, another fun read so far.
Time to go find lunch. And maybe do something other than sitting on my ass all day. :P