Another long-delayed update
Argh. I actually failed to do a proper update for ALL of November. Several times I would think, "I need to post to LJ/DW, absolutely, positively today!" And then the day would slip away from me.
So, to sum up:
I substituted usually about 2x/week, worked at the library one morning/week, and squeezed in my schoolwork the rest of the time. I was at the middle school for all my sub jobs except one, and I was frequently shuffled around to serve as two or three different teachers in one day, depending on where need was greatest. (Yes, they're still short-staffed on subs, why do you ask?)
We had a nice Thanksgiving - just the 7 of us, as usual, with way too much food, but it was all very delicious food. :D We did all our Black Friday weekend shopping online (*coughcough a LOT of online shopping), except for one brief stop I made at Target for an item I couldn't order online. We put up almost all our holiday decorations that weekend - outdoor lights on Friday, and indoor stuff on Sat, including decorating my BIL/SIL's artificial tree. We plan to get our real tree this coming weekend. :)
I've already received a few holiday cards: Thank you thesmallhobbit and lanai! ♥
I finished and posted my Yuletide story (WAY in advance for once) and finished the rough draft of my term paper. (Draft was day before Thanksgiving, final due next week.) Now I'm working on the highly-involved final tech project. Whee.
Our school district planned to be 100% virtual the week after Thanksgiving, in case people were stupid and gathered with others. That way, anyone who came down sick would not have exposed anyone at school. Unfortunately, with skyrocketing cases in the country and our state, and more cases popping up at the high school than I was aware of, they announced yesterday that school would remain 100% virtual until 11 Jan 2021. Which means I'm essentially out of a job. Again. And kids' learning will take a hit. Again. And parents will struggle. Again. I'm just so frustrated. I wish there was a way to allow the younger kids to still attend in person, as they benefit the most from it, and, as far as I know, we'd had ZERO cases at the elementary school so far this year. I knew it was likely we'd have to shutter at some point, but I admit I'm also really disappointed.
MiniPlu has had a couple of near-misses with Covid exposure. So far, we're all staying safe, thank goodness, but I've started to wear double masks when I have to go into a store, and she's going to start wearing both a mask and a face shield when she goes to work.
My BIL had his temporary colostomy reversed on Monday; thankfully, they were able to do this procedure laparoscopically, rather than the giant incision they had to do for his Sept surgery, so he was able to come home today (Thurs) and is clearly in much less pain than before.
I am beyond terrified for the future of our country. Wasn't it supposed to get better after the election?
In books, I finished reading Chainbreaker by Tara Sim, the second book in the Timekeeper trilogy. I think I liked this one even more than the first; it's largely set in 1870s India, which makes for an interesting look at British/Indian tensions. We also learn a lot more about the clock spirit we met in the first book. I'm hoping someone will pluck the third book off my Amazon list. :D (Meanwhile, I'm reading Timekeeper aloud to Two.)
Speaking of read-alouds: prior to Timekeeper, I read aloud Rick Riordan's final book in the Trials of Apollo series, The Tower of Nero. Since it had only just come out, this was a new book for both of us, and it was as enjoyable as most Riordan books are, fun and entertaining, and a nice way to wrap up the series. I'm wondering what mythological system Riordan is going to write next.
I also read Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - apparently a prose-based adaptation of a graphic novel series? It was ... interesting. I liked the setting and the overall plot concepts, but I found the characters to be completely insufferable. Since I haven't read the original graphic novels, I don't know how much is due to SRB's propensity for writing characters with absolutely no social awareness, and how much is SRB just following what was already laid out in the previous format. But the fact that ALL four boys had absolutely NO social awareness just felt ridiculous. It was one thing when Elliot had that in In Other Lands, because his classmates were largely pretty perceptive. But to have all four main characters be unbelievably clueless just grated on me. On the other hand, this book ended on kind of a cliffhanger for the m/m pairing and I want to see them get their HEA so ... maybe I'll look for the sequel when it's released next spring.
I managed to squeeze in a Paint Nite last weekend. Hopefully I can post about that soon. Ish.
I've been short-changing myself on sleep all week so I'm going to crash now. But, uh, hi, and sorry for being MIA so much!
So, to sum up:
I substituted usually about 2x/week, worked at the library one morning/week, and squeezed in my schoolwork the rest of the time. I was at the middle school for all my sub jobs except one, and I was frequently shuffled around to serve as two or three different teachers in one day, depending on where need was greatest. (Yes, they're still short-staffed on subs, why do you ask?)
We had a nice Thanksgiving - just the 7 of us, as usual, with way too much food, but it was all very delicious food. :D We did all our Black Friday weekend shopping online (*coughcough a LOT of online shopping), except for one brief stop I made at Target for an item I couldn't order online. We put up almost all our holiday decorations that weekend - outdoor lights on Friday, and indoor stuff on Sat, including decorating my BIL/SIL's artificial tree. We plan to get our real tree this coming weekend. :)
I've already received a few holiday cards: Thank you thesmallhobbit and lanai! ♥
I finished and posted my Yuletide story (WAY in advance for once) and finished the rough draft of my term paper. (Draft was day before Thanksgiving, final due next week.) Now I'm working on the highly-involved final tech project. Whee.
Our school district planned to be 100% virtual the week after Thanksgiving, in case people were stupid and gathered with others. That way, anyone who came down sick would not have exposed anyone at school. Unfortunately, with skyrocketing cases in the country and our state, and more cases popping up at the high school than I was aware of, they announced yesterday that school would remain 100% virtual until 11 Jan 2021. Which means I'm essentially out of a job. Again. And kids' learning will take a hit. Again. And parents will struggle. Again. I'm just so frustrated. I wish there was a way to allow the younger kids to still attend in person, as they benefit the most from it, and, as far as I know, we'd had ZERO cases at the elementary school so far this year. I knew it was likely we'd have to shutter at some point, but I admit I'm also really disappointed.
MiniPlu has had a couple of near-misses with Covid exposure. So far, we're all staying safe, thank goodness, but I've started to wear double masks when I have to go into a store, and she's going to start wearing both a mask and a face shield when she goes to work.
My BIL had his temporary colostomy reversed on Monday; thankfully, they were able to do this procedure laparoscopically, rather than the giant incision they had to do for his Sept surgery, so he was able to come home today (Thurs) and is clearly in much less pain than before.
I am beyond terrified for the future of our country. Wasn't it supposed to get better after the election?
In books, I finished reading Chainbreaker by Tara Sim, the second book in the Timekeeper trilogy. I think I liked this one even more than the first; it's largely set in 1870s India, which makes for an interesting look at British/Indian tensions. We also learn a lot more about the clock spirit we met in the first book. I'm hoping someone will pluck the third book off my Amazon list. :D (Meanwhile, I'm reading Timekeeper aloud to Two.)
Speaking of read-alouds: prior to Timekeeper, I read aloud Rick Riordan's final book in the Trials of Apollo series, The Tower of Nero. Since it had only just come out, this was a new book for both of us, and it was as enjoyable as most Riordan books are, fun and entertaining, and a nice way to wrap up the series. I'm wondering what mythological system Riordan is going to write next.
I also read Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - apparently a prose-based adaptation of a graphic novel series? It was ... interesting. I liked the setting and the overall plot concepts, but I found the characters to be completely insufferable. Since I haven't read the original graphic novels, I don't know how much is due to SRB's propensity for writing characters with absolutely no social awareness, and how much is SRB just following what was already laid out in the previous format. But the fact that ALL four boys had absolutely NO social awareness just felt ridiculous. It was one thing when Elliot had that in In Other Lands, because his classmates were largely pretty perceptive. But to have all four main characters be unbelievably clueless just grated on me. On the other hand, this book ended on kind of a cliffhanger for the m/m pairing and I want to see them get their HEA so ... maybe I'll look for the sequel when it's released next spring.
I managed to squeeze in a Paint Nite last weekend. Hopefully I can post about that soon. Ish.
I've been short-changing myself on sleep all week so I'm going to crash now. But, uh, hi, and sorry for being MIA so much!