The past week
Oof. I spent about eight hours (well, with a couple of breaks for lunch and such here and there) dealing with rocks today. On the one hand, it wasn't really strenuous work, as I was just sitting on the ground, using my hands to move small decorative stone away from the roses, away from weeds, etc, using my weed-digging tool to pry rocks out of intrusive grass, the sort of stuff that can't be done with shovels. But I. Am. Beat. My carpal tunnels hurt on both wrists, I have really sore fingertips, especially on my right hand - and that's despite wearing protective gloves most of the day. My back is tired from being hunched over, and in general I feel like. wrung out dishrag.
I have essentially finished my library school application - personal statement and resume are done as of yesterday, as is all the name-rank-serial number sorts of stuff, but I can't hit "submit" until I hear back from my former librarian, to ensure I'm using the correct email address for them to use, to request the letter of recommendation.
And speaking of libraries, looks like I'll get to help with the books in the last full week of June - they'll be asking people to bring back the elementary school library books the second week of June, then letting the books sit a week to de-germ themselves, before we check everything back in and shelve them. Not sure yet which days I'll be put to work, and I suspect I won't be paid, but it will feel good to be useful again.
I feel like a lot of this past week got away with me, that I was doing stuff without really getting anything done. A ridiculous amount of time was spent online shopping for a) birthday presents for a few upcoming people b) graduation cap decoration ideas and c) a white grad dress for MiniPlu. The graduation cap is because MiniPlu technically has two to decorate - the official red one, and the unofficial white cap/gown set I got off Amazon because MiniPlu doesn't like the sudden switch to red and wanted the white for photo purposes. And she's terribly indecisive, so after agonizing over multiple ideas for the unofficial white cap, she finally asked if I would be willing to decorate it and surprise her. Let's just say, between the bday gifts and the grad cap, I spent a lot of time on Etsy and Amazon this week. :-P
So, anyway, I spent a lot of time on the computer without getting much actually DONE, and I had to sacrifice an afternoon to drive my SIL around to an appointment and other necessary local errands when she was unexpectedly in some pain and didn't feel up to driving, and there were other errands for me, and other things that cropped up, and my own inability to stay focused, and just ... gah. Not my most productive week.
MiniPlu had to settle on a white dress she's not entirely thrilled by, because she has her heart set on wearing it for the virtual ceremony next week. We've been given clearance by the governor to have a REAL (socially-distanced) ceremony after July 6th, and have now been told to save July 8th for that purpose. The virtual ceremony is Tues/Wed, though (MiniPlu, being in the first half of the alphabet, will be on Tues) and even though nobody will see the dress, she still wanted to have it - which meant finding something that could be handled with curbside pickup or quick Amazon delivery because there wasn't time, with longer shipping these days, for her to get anything else.
The HS teachers came around on Wed, hand-delivering the seniors' caps/gowns/honor stoles/cords/etc, along with ... a custom mask with the school's logo on it, LOL! I mean, it's good to make sure everyone has a mask, since they'll be required at both the virtual and real graduation events, but still. I think it's hilarious. Most of the kids seemed to get teachers they'd had (and liked) - MiniPlu got her AP-HUG teacher, and she was SO happy! The teachers almost all chose to - out of their own money - get each kid on their list a small gift. MiniPlu got a bag of snacks and candy. Other kids got a small gift card, or, a custom-frosted cookie with their name on it or like, a kid who was known for liking art got a sketchpad, things like that.
We are now allowed to have socially-distanced outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, which feels like a lot, tbh. I think 10 is safer. But, anyway, I've been allowing MiniPlu to get together with a couple of her friends as long as they can be outdoors and socially distanced. They're meeting up tomorrow to decorate their grad caps together, on someone's large front porch. And hopefully we can have a small outdoor gathering for her birthday in mid-July.
Finished reading Wayward Son, the sequel to Rainbow Rowell's Carry On, aloud to Two. There's more of an emotional aspect to this that was lacking in the first book, I think, but it was still enjoyable, despite those moments of hurt. Looks like a third book is being planned, although I'm assuming we'll have to wait for that, since Wayward Son only just came out.
As for the protests and the riots ... I understand the anger. We should be long beyond this kind of knee-jerk racist reacting. But could we stop rioting, please? It only hurts people who had nothing to do with it. And MLKjr believed in peaceful protests.
Oh, and hey. Non-American friends: What's it like to live in a country with an intelligent, competent leader? Because we certainly haven't got one of those. :P
I have essentially finished my library school application - personal statement and resume are done as of yesterday, as is all the name-rank-serial number sorts of stuff, but I can't hit "submit" until I hear back from my former librarian, to ensure I'm using the correct email address for them to use, to request the letter of recommendation.
And speaking of libraries, looks like I'll get to help with the books in the last full week of June - they'll be asking people to bring back the elementary school library books the second week of June, then letting the books sit a week to de-germ themselves, before we check everything back in and shelve them. Not sure yet which days I'll be put to work, and I suspect I won't be paid, but it will feel good to be useful again.
I feel like a lot of this past week got away with me, that I was doing stuff without really getting anything done. A ridiculous amount of time was spent online shopping for a) birthday presents for a few upcoming people b) graduation cap decoration ideas and c) a white grad dress for MiniPlu. The graduation cap is because MiniPlu technically has two to decorate - the official red one, and the unofficial white cap/gown set I got off Amazon because MiniPlu doesn't like the sudden switch to red and wanted the white for photo purposes. And she's terribly indecisive, so after agonizing over multiple ideas for the unofficial white cap, she finally asked if I would be willing to decorate it and surprise her. Let's just say, between the bday gifts and the grad cap, I spent a lot of time on Etsy and Amazon this week. :-P
So, anyway, I spent a lot of time on the computer without getting much actually DONE, and I had to sacrifice an afternoon to drive my SIL around to an appointment and other necessary local errands when she was unexpectedly in some pain and didn't feel up to driving, and there were other errands for me, and other things that cropped up, and my own inability to stay focused, and just ... gah. Not my most productive week.
MiniPlu had to settle on a white dress she's not entirely thrilled by, because she has her heart set on wearing it for the virtual ceremony next week. We've been given clearance by the governor to have a REAL (socially-distanced) ceremony after July 6th, and have now been told to save July 8th for that purpose. The virtual ceremony is Tues/Wed, though (MiniPlu, being in the first half of the alphabet, will be on Tues) and even though nobody will see the dress, she still wanted to have it - which meant finding something that could be handled with curbside pickup or quick Amazon delivery because there wasn't time, with longer shipping these days, for her to get anything else.
The HS teachers came around on Wed, hand-delivering the seniors' caps/gowns/honor stoles/cords/etc, along with ... a custom mask with the school's logo on it, LOL! I mean, it's good to make sure everyone has a mask, since they'll be required at both the virtual and real graduation events, but still. I think it's hilarious. Most of the kids seemed to get teachers they'd had (and liked) - MiniPlu got her AP-HUG teacher, and she was SO happy! The teachers almost all chose to - out of their own money - get each kid on their list a small gift. MiniPlu got a bag of snacks and candy. Other kids got a small gift card, or, a custom-frosted cookie with their name on it or like, a kid who was known for liking art got a sketchpad, things like that.
We are now allowed to have socially-distanced outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, which feels like a lot, tbh. I think 10 is safer. But, anyway, I've been allowing MiniPlu to get together with a couple of her friends as long as they can be outdoors and socially distanced. They're meeting up tomorrow to decorate their grad caps together, on someone's large front porch. And hopefully we can have a small outdoor gathering for her birthday in mid-July.
Finished reading Wayward Son, the sequel to Rainbow Rowell's Carry On, aloud to Two. There's more of an emotional aspect to this that was lacking in the first book, I think, but it was still enjoyable, despite those moments of hurt. Looks like a third book is being planned, although I'm assuming we'll have to wait for that, since Wayward Son only just came out.
As for the protests and the riots ... I understand the anger. We should be long beyond this kind of knee-jerk racist reacting. But could we stop rioting, please? It only hurts people who had nothing to do with it. And MLKjr believed in peaceful protests.
Oh, and hey. Non-American friends: What's it like to live in a country with an intelligent, competent leader? Because we certainly haven't got one of those. :P