Laundry day. We were supposed to be preparing to camp but now we‘re on fire again. :( Trying to find a replacement campground now.

#hyggehourreadathon

Reading with my daughter tonight.

Didn‘t finish many this month but my fave was definitely the tagged book.

1) One of the schools I worked at this week had this display.

2) Got a Dodgers history book to listen to on off days.

3) My kids went to their hometown and brought back this candy from a shop there that makes candy canes.

4) One of my kids volunteers at a food bank. They sent them home with a box of veggies. I made soup.

5) Finally found my copy of Burial Rights yesterday. Long story. Just disappointed I‘ll miss the discussion.

#5joysfriday

Gonna be honest. No class has ever terrified me like this one. I have to find a real library/non-profit to work with. It‘s not just theoretical. I did something similar for my undergrad but that was editing.

Me gusta este libro. I did try to write more in Spanish but there were too many words I still don‘t know. At least for writing/speaking. I can usually get what I read. In this case, a book about a child who collects words and then spreads them around because knowing words increases understanding of the world and the people around us. :)

English review for a Spanish book. I still have a lot to work on for my Spanish but this seems like a fun way to learn new words. Cute book about how “normal” is just a social construct and that everyone has worth, even if they are very different.

Not in the way it‘s been weaponized in our culture. And I am relieved yet saddened to see that I am not in the minority here in my response. Gratitude is a beautiful thing, but it is too often used as a cudgel and a gag on the suffering.

#mentalhealthmonday

#hyggehourreadathon

Sharing some of my favorite books with my kids.

I decided that my speech for Monday would be a compare/contrast between my two fave characters: William Blair from Tales of the Iron Rose and Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows. So I am reviewing the former because it‘s been a little while.

Went to the playground with the kids to play games.

This sounds really good.

I bought this after my brother was killed two years ago. Pulled it out because it was prodding me.

#grief
#poetry

#sundayfunday

After laundry, we went to the beach and built a sand compound. It was mostly a nice day. The beaches in our city are not popular with the rest of SoCal. They like LA & OC. There aren‘t a big crowds here. Of course, that‘s probably because of parking. It doesn‘t exist here. In fact, I got a notice on my car that I was parked illegally. 😬

#chatterday
#chatterday2025

Considering the current situation in DC, this book might be therapeutic right now. Especially for those of us who have children who are in this administration‘s cross-hairs. It sounds like it will have a lot of constructive and actionable information.

#autismmom
#disabilityjustice

Cross-stitch and crochet. They both require counting. Not sure what it is about counting, but somehow it calms me. I count a lot when I‘m stressed.

Yes, there are books. About 20 years ago, when Millennials rediscovered and revived the yarn arts (yes, I give them full credit), the tagged book was popular.

#serenesaturdays

This first line was too long to finger type. :D. The book is a doctoral thesis from the mid-70s.

#firstlinefridays
#late
#insomniapost

There was a sale at Target and birthday money to spend. It looks like I‘ll be reading a Lego instruction book tonight. :)

Needed this break before work this morning. So many ICE Gestapo raids here yesterday. ICE were even reported outside our school; many children did not show up yesterday. Most of the raids were at the farms. This is about destroying the country. Disrupting the food supply is exactly what an invading power would do.

Is this my 18th or 19th time through? Maybe more? 😂

#reread

#wdncw

We do not care that the Dodgers lost—six in a row for the first time since 2019. It‘s sad, but it‘s just baseball: a temporary diversion from reality, not meant to be a focus for all our emotions when there are real problems in the world. In short, Dodgers “fans” need to calm the freak down. It‘s a long season and we haven‘t ever played the all-star game yet. Sheesh.🙄 Get a grip people.

#mentalhealthmonday

I do the stuff my anxiety normally prevents me from doing. Eg. On Sunday I installed and used the vacuum system that came with my car that I got last year. Every time I looked at it I‘d freak out, afraid I‘d mess it up, etc. But after the incident with my son on Thursday (see previous post about 2 down from this) I must have needed to show myself I could still control something. :)

Tagging @CBee

Not exactly a review. :D

Thanks again for all the kind words and support earlier. ♥️ I‘m trying to take it easy & do things that calm me, like crochet 🧶 the blanket I‘m working on while listening to the Dodgers. (Dustin May has a no-hitter through five innings. 😊) I also bought a few new plants. 🌱 My reading 📖 was low because all the 📚 I‘m reading right now are heavy. Guess it‘s time to pull out Seis de Cuervos. 🐦‍⬛ 🤭

How are you taking care of yourself tonight?

Just got home from my youngest son‘s Reg‘l Ctr annual appt. The SW usually comes to us, but I thought it would be easier to go there. When we got home, he did not know where we were. Because it was not a normal place he goes, in that 2 hours (incl commute) he had become so disoriented I had to take his hand to lead him. It reminds me that my kids are the people this admin hates. I never have the privilege to be non-political.

#booksarepolitical

Gonna see 3000 strike outs tonight?

#dodgers
#otherhobbies

What we did at work this week. And by we, I mean not me; because, I have no crafting talent. I made the grapes and punched the leaves. Oh, and offered my van for transport to the school sites.

#classroomdecorating

#wdncw

I do (try to) not care that I had to take all my kids to the laundromat so they could do the laundry while I lay in the car and had my youngest read me the tagged Sonic book because I‘m under the weather. (My Fundamentalist upbringing makes me think that if I‘m not doing all the work, I am failing.)

So, I checked this book out through Libby from the library. Libby uses Kindle. Kindle puts this effing stupid pink line through the entire book. I know it‘s all because I checked out a couple more just to see and, yep, this stupid pink line. What is the purpose?

ETA: I checked Kindle on my laptop. It is not there. Only my phone. :/

#kindle
#libbyapp
#ebooks

Started this yesterday. It‘s a good read, just very sad. Green has not minced words about how white supremacy has killed millions upon millions of people just by doing nothing about TB in the so-called global south.

Ignore that blip at the beginning. I can‘t figure out how to get rid of it even though I did change it to a DNF.

#junereading
#storygraph

Happy Pride, y‘all.

#lovewins
#queerfam

I did not plan to go out this morning. But my mind and body were like, why aren‘t we getting up and going to the beach? It‘s so unusual to see them in agreement over something that I couldn‘t refuse. 😂

#beachreading

#chatterday2025

I was hoping to sleep in—HA! Work has started so my body rises before six regardless. ?

Today is PrideFest in the city I work in. I haven‘t been to theirs before so we‘re going to check it out.

Más práctica del español. More Spanish practice because my work wants me to get conversational. I can read it and have the speech down, but I‘ve never been good at la conversación.

Necesito más práctico con el español.

Morning reading.

Reading before work this morning. Summer is nice because work begins 30 minutes later than the school year so I have time to take a little walk.

This is what my youngest son is reading to me.

#childrensliterature
#momlife
#disabilitymom

#mentalhealthmonday

Late because work started back yesterday so I was busy, which was good for my mental health. I have ADHD so unless there‘s a “fire”, it‘s difficult for me to keep myself moving and focused. And with this mess in Iran, (and Dodgers having a travel day, lol), I would have probably been frozen in bed.

“We die because we don‘t matter in the non-disabled world.”

Note: This book is not easy.

If anyone doesn‘t believe this quote after everything we witnessed since the beginning of COVID, their heads are so deep in the sand they‘ve hit bedrock. I really feel this now that Trump‘s man RFK Jr is destroying the few things that were protecting my daughter and the governor of California is actively cutting services to disabled people.

#disability

#weeklyforecast

Back to work this week. The digital book is both audio and ebook, depending on my activity or mood. The physical is to read at work since we are not supposed to be using our phones in the office/classroom due to the nature of our work.

#disability

Follow up to yesterday. The sun was reflecting off of someone‘s car window and this was part of the result in the apartment. :)

Did some transplanting and planting with my daughter today. Glad I hadn‘t heard the news at that time because my daughter is pretty freaked out about all this political BS that‘s been going on since Jan 20. So it was a nice time for us.

#garden
#balconygarden
#summer

Perusing on my library app today.

#sewing
#sustainability

#chatterday2025

Today we are at the laundromat in the morning, then I will be working on getting some plants repotted; groceries; reading. I think that‘s all.

Crafts my kids did tonight at their queer hangout.

#queer
#family

#5joysfriday

1) Finally won a Table Topics at Toastmasters.
2) reading at the pool.
3-5) Day trip to Santa Barbara—gardens & library. At the library, I saw my favorite childhood book sitting on the shelf. :)

#firstlinefridays

“I believe in the disabled future.”