going outside to chase varmints away from my chickens. Actually, I hate doing this, and even though the coop is secure, I can’t stand it when there’s a raccoon prowling around my girls. The dogs and I tracked in plenty of mud chasing one away last night.

breakfast burritos

Rebel Potions wax melts. Being home has made me really appreciate making our house smell awesome all the time and I love that these melts are shaped like little skulls, come in yummy flavors and are made in Missouri by a small business.

switching back to a simpler lesson planner. The pretty, more complicated one a then-friend suggested was nice, but going through all my old paperwork makes me realize how simpler and easier those old cheapies were.

cats playing with toys dusted in catnip

Little Book Eater reopening

seeing other people’s screens through screen share. I’ve seen several in the past week and wanted to ask what model they’re using because wow, those look cool.

reading when the Internet is out (which was a few times in the past week) and I can’t sleep (which is always, but will hopefully change once our mattress is here Friday!). This week I read Batgirl: A League of Her Own, Take a Hint Dani Brown, Mine Forever and On the Island. Of them all, I loved one, liked one and didn’t care for the other two. It felt like being that 12-year-old who read a book or two a day (three in the summer!) again, but with more exhaustion and trouble focusing.

the Intercultural Competence Inventory. I’m so excited to be a part of a 4-H group forming learning circles using this tool.

a clean house It was for about four minutes on Wednesday morning. Ha! It’s way too muddy for it to be clean. I’m lucky if I keep the dogs clean.

a beautiful program on Black opera composers. I hope I get a recording because I’d love to listen to it all again, but even if not, I have the handout and can look it all up to listen to it.

the Tetris Effect soundtrack! Indy likes to play while I’m writing on the rare occasion he’s home and not working on something, and I love the soothing music. I found a playlist on YouTube featuring the songs and I’m looking forward to using it at work.

weekend takeout plans. That’s usually our most exciting event. Wood Sprite also has a distant visit with a friend coming up, and we can’t wait to use Swimply again once it warms up. I’m also looking at a bunch of trails we haven’t visited yet for some hiking and biking.

exchanging oils with my sister from a distance. She brought me some Hygge from Hexennacht and it’s heaven.

how excited the dogs get if they even hear me mention “walk”

cats sleeping in circles. Sally and Gizmo make little cinnamon roll shapes everywhere. Pumpkin, on the other hand… she’s often too anxious to relax. She’s usually at my side, perching and purring like an alert gargoyle who’s trying to look unalert. She’s waiting for me to crash so she can sleep on me, I swear. 24/7.

What are you loving this week?

Blogs, Writing

Pass the Equality Act

February 24, 2021 sarajschmidt Leave a comment

There is no room for discrimination in 2021.

Animal Report
The First Engendered Species Clone is Here

Weird Animal Report
Strange Facts About Animal Sex

Politics Report
Pass the Equality Act

Female Talk
Fans Aren’t Fans of Megan Thee Stallion’s Harper’s Bazaar Photo Shoot

Garden Report
Listen to the Forest All Over the World!

Hungry Bloggers
Arby’s Has A Meat Mountain Sandwich

Just Sara

The Tuesday Currents

February 24, 2021 sarajschmidt Leave a comment

This week I am…

cleaning out more nooks and crannies with Wood Sprite and finding things to donate

introducing the chicks to “squirmy worms,” which really don’t squirm since it’s just what we call freeze-dried mealworms

counting down the days until our mattress substitution gets here. I don’t sleep well on a good day, and since we had “the rock” delivered I haven’t had more than three hours a night. I’m exhausted.

completing classes and trainings and attending meetings

writing about bears, classic poetry, Prodigal Son and more

missing our snow! I know not everyone loves it but it sure is pretty when it’s here. I’m definitely glad it’s warmer for everyone. I just can’t stand the idea of summer coming with all of its bugs and heat, but I may feel differently this year. Summer will mean more outdoor distanced visits for Wood Sprite, who really needs those, and some swimming via Swimply, which we all need.

cleaning out the office so we can re-arrange and paint it. We’re getting rid of a few things to make more space and it’s going much more slowly than it did in my 20s when I would rearrange the entire apartment in a day! Of course, we had much less stuff back then, and a small apartment versus our house.

recovering from eating way too much Cajun food!

cursing my blinky computer. I fixed it for a while but after a reset it went back to its old ways.

catching up my journal bit by bit. I’ve never been this behind since the kiddo was a baby! I’m so used to killing time in it while waiting outside of classes but since Covid, there’s none of that time anymore.

looking for a new dentist. Who do you love? We adored ours and then he retired. Most of his staff, including our favorite hygienist, also left after the new guy took over. We gave these changes a chance for two years but we just can’t anymore. It’s hard to find someone new when you’re social distancing.

playing all of the original Star Wars movies on loop while I write. Speaking of tropes, there are some major themes getting on my nerves, but there’s so much I love that I keep playing them anyway. I feel pretty lucky to have so much newer media without as much BS when it comes to diverse characters and women.

watching some new-to-me shows! I am not very fond of The Luminaries, but I’ve only seen one episode. I may just quit because I read reviews calling it a “stuffy throwback” and that’s exactly how it feels. After seeing Queen’s Gambit I’ve got higher expectations for my media these days. I don’t have a lot of patience for the old tropes featuring women anymore. Shows I’m loving include Queen Sugar and The Equalizer (the new one starring Queen Latifah). Indy and I are still watching Prodigal Son together and really enjoying it, although it seems like they went so far in the first season they didn’t leave themselves much room in this one.

experimenting with new coffee flavors. So far salted chocolate mocha is winning.

loving this week’s book club pick, Take a Hint, Dani Brown. I love Talia Hibbert and was really looking forward to this one. It’s not disappointing!