The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly at the Caffeinated Reviewer! It's an opportunity to share news, post a recap for the previous week, showcase books, and highlight what's planned for the week ahead.
News:
If your child is done with school for the year, I envy you. We still have three more weeks. Apparently, the school year starts later in Virginia? We started in Texas, so it feels like this year is never going to end. The coronavirus and homeschooling haven't helped. It's starting to feel like summer, so it would be nice if we could act like it's summer too! We actually inflated the swimming pool the other day, and the monsters spent HOURS outside. They loved it! Thankfully, Jacob was home, so he stayed out there with them while I got some stuff done inside.
Our caterpillars have pupated (formed into chrysalides)! We're going to move them to their habitat today, so they'll have room when they emerge as butterflies! It's such an amazing process. Squirming, wriggling caterpillars are transforming themselves into beautiful butterflies with wings! Can you imagine crawling around for the first half of your life, only to fly endlessly for the duration? Our son has been learning about life cycles at school, so it's been nice to have something he can see firsthand.
I miss having my husband home during the week, but we're slowly developing a new routine. Everything is starting to reopen around here (even the beaches), so I have a feeling things will get worse before they get better. When I get groceries, very few people are actually wearing masks (definitely not staying six feet apart) and only a handful of employees working at the store have one on. They're handling everyone's groceries, yet not taking all of the necessary precautions. IT'S SO FRUSTRATING. When did life start to mean so little? If you're not worried about yourself, at least help keep other people safe. Children have started contracting the virus with devastating results, and I don't want my children to die because someone else feels like this pandemic is a hoax, or that wearing a mask would be a waste of their time. It hurts NO ONE for you to wear a mask, but has the potential to help EVERYONE else.
Previous week on the blog:
- Sunday: NA
- Monday: Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab (★★★★☆) Review
- Tuesday: NA
- Wednesday: My Weekly Pull [116] & Can't-Wait Wednesday [91] Post
- Thursday: NA
- Friday: NA
- Saturday: Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith (★★★★☆) Review
What I'm currently reading:
Love Songs & Other Lies by Jessica Pennington 🎧
Changeling (The Oddmire, #1) by William Ritter
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
- I started the audiobook for Love Songs & Other Lies, and I'm really enjoying it so far! I'm only an hour or so into it, but I have a feeling it's going to be full of drama. It's one that has been on my TBR for a while, so I'm happy I'm finally finding the time for it.
- I started the first book in The Oddmire series with my son last night, so I haven't read enough to form an opinion yet. I hope it's good, since our last book (Spark and the League of Ursus) wasn't a hit.
- I am enjoying The Jane Austen Society way more than I thought I would! I've never been the biggest Austen fan (the terminology and phrasing typically go over my head), but this book is making me want to read Austen so I can share the love these characters so clearly have for her stories.
- The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a book I won several weeks ago, but that only arrived recently. I opened it immediately to read a few pages, and it's DARK. I cannot wait to see where the story goes!
What I plan on reading next:
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Out Now: Queer We Go Again! by Saundra Mitchell & Various
The Court of Miracles (A Court of Miracles, #1) by Kester Grant
What I'm watching:
Avatar: The Last Airbender is on Netflix! Obviously, that's what we've watched all weekend! ;)
Challenge updates:
- Audiobook Challenge 12 / 50+
- Beat the Backlist Challenge 23 / 110
- Discussion Challenge 2 / 1-10
- Goodreads Challenge 180 / 365
Current giveaways:
Don't forget to enter my Twitter Giveaway for an ARC of Mary Kay Andrews' Hello, Summer! It might not have been the beachy romance I was expecting, but the murder mystery was wonderfully written. :) You can read my review here!
My son's store still requires the employees and customers to wear masks, so that's a relief for me. I forgot to ask him about the grocery store when he went shopping yesterday. Our city has no oversight for the opening levels. We are still in phase one and eat-in dining doesn't go into effect until phase three, but two restaurants have opened up their dining areas and no one in government seems to care. 😞 Our numbers have already started going up. 😑
ReplyDeleteYay for the pool! Here in NYS our kids don't get out of school until post mid-June and they don't go back until the first week in September. 🏫
Have a wonderful week! 🌞
The beaches just reopened here for Memorial Day, and they also opened up a lot of the restaurants in the area to accommodate everyone visiting for the weekend. You KNOW people aren't going to be wearing masks at the beach, and it's very unlikely they'll stay 6 feet a part. I'm just waiting for our numbers to go up. I really wish our president would take this pandemic more seriously, instead of trying to get himself to a golf course.
DeleteHis last day of school is the 11th! Two more weeks. <3
How wonderful that your kids get to observe the lifecycle. It fantastic to have that to leverage, when learning about it. Has your son been making any observations or collecting any sort of data? That would have been cool to do some low level analysis of. I adored Love Songs & Other Lies. It's still my favorite of Pennington's books. Hope it keeps your interest.
ReplyDeleteHe's currently collecting weather data for a chart his has to complete over the next two weeks! The kids were just really interested in seeing the caterpillars change into butterflies. :) We plan on doing it again, so maybe I'll apply your suggestion! I think he would enjoy it. I have about 2 hours left in the audio for Love Songs & Other Lies, and I'm loving it! <3
DeleteWhen does the school year normally end for you? My husband is at a public school and our school year usually goes September 1 until late June, but they're cutting class I think to mid June. They're still doing summer school which I think is brave.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy our mayor and governor are no-nonsense about COVID. You have to wear a mask in establishments so I feel a bit better seeing it there (not that people are social distancing) but the public parks are hell.
Amber Elise @ Du Livre
Normally, the school year is over at the end of May! I asked his teacher this week, and she said we'll have class until June 11th. I didn't have an exact date, just noticed that the classwork we were doing continued on for a while. :) I haven't heard anything about summer school, but they did officially cancel graduations.
DeleteMy kids keep asking to go to a playground, but I know it's not a good idea. If people aren't wearing masks at stores or social distancing, there's no way they're taking the appropriate measures with their kids at public parks. Our governor seemed to be no-nonsense, which is why I was surprised he opened the beaches for Memorial Day. I think Jacob said something about our gov being a doctor too? Maybe he used to be? I haven't lived her long enough to learn everything, haha.
Schools here in England are supposed to start reopening from 1st June. The government are staggering it, giving access to particular year groups. Our academic year usually ends around 20th July.
ReplyDeleteWe've been open for the children of key workers all through the pandemic.
The restrictions are being relaxed here too, I know we're heading towards another peak as people are being idiots here too.
All you can do is make sure you and your lovely family keep taking precautions. 😷
stay safe 💜
Wow! I'm surprised they're allowing kids back at school this year. That was one of the first things they cancelled when this all started. They're even considering not allowing students back in the fall. Can you imagine?
DeleteI know. We're being as safe as we can possibly be, but it's hard when over half the population isn't taking this seriously. My neighbors think it's a hoax.
I think I read Love Songs & Other Lies but I can't remember what I thought lol
ReplyDeleteAt our supermarket the workers are required to wear masks but at least 1/2 have their noses hanging out. It's super frustrating.
Oddly enough, it's my local (very small town) Walmart where I feel safest. They are all wearing masks, wipe everything down between customers and there are rarely more than 10 people there int he morning. There's also a higher end grocery store in Vancouver that is excellent about things so we've been making the drive there.
What kind of butterflies??!!! I miss my garden. We don't have many butterflies out here at all. Only a few tiny sulfurs. Lots of hummingbirds though.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
It was one of the first things I was approved for on NetGalley when I started blogging again, and I'm JUST now getting to it. I'm using Hoopla to knock out some of my older ARCs. :)
DeleteUgh, seriously? I've noticed that too. Why wear a mask if you're not going to cover your nose? They know they can still contract the virus through their nostrils, right? Not just breathe it in through their mouths? People.
Most of the cashiers aren't even wearing masks when I go, and they seem to think they don't have to speak to me since I'm wearing one. My voice may be muffled when I speak, but my ears work, and I can still have a conversation. If I find a store taking this pandemic seriously, I'll go there every time. You're lucky you've found one! <3
Painted Lady butterflies! There are SO MANY butterflies here, and different types (the zebra-looking ones are my favorite)! We love watching them hover around our flowers. Arcee stares at them through the sliding door and just flicks his tail, haha. Cats. I haven't seen any hummingbirds! Lots of robins and doves though.
Yeah I don't get the mask thing. Or the lack of social distancing. Although with so many people getting their news from dubious sources, maybe it's no wonder there are so many airheads not taking this seriously. Aggravates me to no end. They've worn masks in Asia for years, surely we can do it to help prevent th spread?
ReplyDeleteLove the butterfly thing! So awesome.
3 weeks. wow. And yeah it's starting to feel like summer here also. It got hot today for Memorial Day haha! Had to turn the air on. :)
Have a good week!!!
Someone could be asymptomatic and feel fine, yet pass the virus on to numerous people in a single outing. It's scary. I don't know how to make people take something like this seriously. It's a fucking PANDEMIC, and still people want to claim it's a hoax. Why can't we all just do our part to keep people safe, regardless of the "inconvenience"?
DeleteI'm loving the butterfly thing too! ;) They started emerging today!! So exciting!! We saw them as caterpillars, and now they have wings and are flying around. <3
Our AC has been on for several weeks now, haha.
"When I get groceries, very few people are actually wearing masks (definitely not staying six feet apart) and only a handful of employees working at the store have one on."
ReplyDeleteSo there's never been a rule about that? Yeah, I remember you saying something about the lack of masks before...What a shame.
We are in stage 2 now, and the shops have reopened a week ago. Everyone wears masks around here, but in other regions there have been crowds taking bars and clubs by storm without even wearing one. At least the police did their thing during the weekend, and charges were pressed.
Have you heard about the places reopening that won't allow people with masks to come in? They've dubbed their businesses "mask-free zones". Ridiculous. How is that fair or safe? It's like they WANT the virus to infect them and everyone else that visits. I'm so over the stupidity of people.
DeleteWhere did it happen? Are they crazy?
DeleteOur schools went back full time this week, but as our school year runs Jan-Dec, it’s only Term 2 of 4 here. I’m sorry that so many aren’t taking the risks seriously. If you can leave grocery shopping til late afternoon evening when the store is less likely to be busy. Works for me.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great reading week
I had no idea there were schools that essentially functioned throughout an entire year! We've always had the summers off. How much time to they get off between terms? I tried online shopping, but the wait is long, and they don't always grab the right things. The substitutions are rarely appropriate. I'll try going later in the evenings! Thanks. :)
DeleteI'm really surprised that so few grocery store workers are wearing masks! I would think that would be mandatory.
ReplyDeleteI wish it were. They're handing items people take into their homes, and interacting with countless customers during the day. How is it not mandatory for them to take basic precautions? When it first started, they were wiping down card readers between each customer, but now it's like they don't care anymore.
DeleteThree more weeks of school? Ugh. I keep seeing most people saying they're done, or are wrapping things up this week. School into mid-June sounds really long. I'm seeing the same thing here with people skipping masks and not distancing. It's like they decided it was over and just moved on. Uh, maybe you and I missed that big announcement? Like you said, it hurts no one to wear a mask... so why not just do it? Gah!
ReplyDeleteYou're the first person that seems to also think mid-June is long! It seems to be normal for everyone else, haha. June 11th is the official last day (almost there). I really hate that people are acting like it's over. We're still in the midst of a pandemic, the numbers steadily increase every day, and people are going to the beach and bars like they did before. It's madness.
DeleteI'm glad things are slowly reopening in your neck of the woods! Washington - at least our county, anyway - is still closed, and we'll remain closed for the rest of this week. We're not sure if it will extend into June yet. My kiddos aren't in school yet, but our on-base school says they may not open for the next year, so we're up in the air about Kindergarten next year!
ReplyDeleteWhich Washington are you? State or DC? If you're in DC, we're practically neighbors! :) We'll have to get together once the pandemic is manageable and under control. <3 They reopened the beaches here for Memorial Day, but most businesses are still closed until June 1st. We've heard that too! Schools may not reopen in the fall, so my son would essentially start 1st grade at home.
DeleteSorry people aren't taking the virus seriously there. Pretty much everyone wears masks around here, so that's good. You're right that things are probably going to get worse again.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
It doesn't help that our president isn't taking it seriously. He's supposed to set an example, yet he refuses to wear a mask and continues to shake people's hands. He was recently seen at a golf course, so I think that says a lot.
DeleteThese people who aren't socially distancing and staying safe must all be Slytherins! Smart Ravenclaws like you and Hufflepuffs like me value being smart and working for the good of others! We're still in full lockdown here and I'll be staying in it when things re-open in the coming weeks as I fear a second wave.
ReplyDeleteIt would be really cool to get to watch the caterpillars change and then see the beautiful butterflies!
Haha! You're probably right. Maybe they're just Muggles? ;) They've reopened the beaches here for Memorial Day, and I believe other business will officially open on the 1st. We're definitely going to see an increase in positive cases, because people refuse to take this seriously.
DeleteThey started emerging this morning! 8/10 so far! It's been so fun watching them change. :)