Fatigue. My meds have been off this week, so I have been nauseated, having mood swings, and am achey all over. I haven’t had a fibro flare-up like this in a while, so it has been unpleasant to say the least.
Duolingo. I finished the Arabic skill tree on Duolingo a month or so ago, and I have been fighting to keep my streak going as I return to learning Spanish and reviewing French. I might have to start reviewing Arabic to get my language-learning mojo back so that I can really improve my Spanish. I have no idea why Arabic had me so gung-ho and Spanish doesn’t. Maybe it’s because Spanish is for work and not for me?
Zoom school. Circle time from 9:00-9:30 over Zoom is chaotic enough that I’ve had to bring other work to do downstairs with me and just make sure Daniel doesn’t run away from his school Chromebook. Otherwise, the chaos makes me ponder taking up rattlesnake-cuddling as a hobby. It’s also hard because Daniel is already apraxic and speaks super softly because I think he’s kind of shell-shocked at the intensity of circle time and all the kids talking.
What is working. One of the teachers got Daniel a BoomLearning account, and it has been wonderful. We can share screen on Zoom and work with his paraprofessional that way. He seems to like it, especially the math stuff, and I think it will work out really well for him as he doesn’t want to do workbook stuff.
Wildfires. The entire freaking West Coast is on fire. Smoke is hitting us in Washington, and I am banned by my family from going outside without a respirator on because of my crappy lungs. Woo. Just in case you’re denying climate change, IT’S WHAT IS CAUSING THESE FIRES TO BE SO BAD.
Election. Is anyone else wishing the election was over? Just me?
What is saving me. I’m re-reading all the Cackleberry Club mysteries by Laura Childs. I guess cozy murder mysteries are my catnip?
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I’m sorry it’s been a hard week. Everything is so much more challenging when you’re tired. I’ve been thinking of trying duolingo for the girls to start Spanish.
And yay for finding something that is working for Daniel! That’s exciting.
And yes, we are enjoying the Tour de France. It’s different, to be sure, but still fun to see. We watched a documentary on the 101 most influential events of the 20th century and the creation of the Tour was on there. That kinda surprised me, but I guess it is a huge deal in Europe.
Boom cards are great! That interface worked for my daughter’s speech sessions last spring. I’m hoping the therapist will use them again. But regular “class” meeting is a total bust. She hides so I’m running around with the Chromebook open trying to get her to look. The only time she would look or say anything to the teachers was when I dragged our kitten out so she could introduce him. (Her teacher isn’t even trying more than 1 kid at a time yet.) My school is supposed to start in person learning for special needs kids in 2 week though – I have my doubts.
Enjoy the books – I can’t find any new books to read so I’m doing puzzles. I like mysteries – recent series I did read were by LJ Ross – Inspector Ryan and Alexander Gregory. They’re a little darker than a cozy mystery. Have you ever read Anne George? Hers are wonderful.
I hope your health improves and that some rains finally come to save the West Coast.
You’re not the only one on the election. I just want it to be over with so everyone can stop hating other people’s guts. 🙁 I think I’m going to try and focus on local elections (school board, railroad commissioner, etc) at this point and just tune out the National one (I know who I’m gonna vote for at this point, so I see no reason to continue the torture). Turns out there’s no easy way to research local candidates, so I’m playing with the idea of trying to put together a website with a simple statement from school board candidates for my area so people can actually research…but that’s a pretty big project, so I dunno.
I’m impressed with the Duolingo. I’m the sort of person who will faithfully do lessons for a month, then suddenly quit. I REALLY need to learn Spanish though…I live in an area where a LOT of people speak it as their primary language (it’s the primary language spoken by old ladies chatting at the grocery store), so it’s kind of a necessary skill.